Black Friday Deals!!!!

I always love to go out shopping on Black Friday. Last year I took my daughter with me, and we had a great time. Our adventure started about 3:30 a.m. and ended about 9:00 a.m. I'm not sure if I like it because of the deals, but I know that I like the thrill of being in a crowd. And I really like to people watch. People get so crazy when they are trying to get a good deal on things. It's like their inner demons come out as they rush into the store and wrestle with others to get that one COOL gift.

My husband thinks that I am crazy for even wanting to go out so early. He would much rather stay in bed and shop online without the crowds. Now, I know that a lot of you are like my husband, and would rather stay in bed. So that is why I am doing this post. Amazon has already started their Black Friday Deals. They started today!

Amazon searched for the best Black Friday deals everywhere--including deals other stores are planning--so they can meet or beat their prices and bring them to you even earlier. These limited-supply offers will go quickly but they will add new ones throughout the day, every day this week, so you can skip the long lines and still save a bundle.

Click Here To Start Your Shopping Today

My Bread Cornucopia

A couple of years ago I had the opportunity of hosting Thanksgiving Dinner at my house. I was thrilled at the chance I had to decorate and get ready for such an event. I decided to make a Cornucopia out of bread to hold my home-made rolls. It was a little tricky to make, but in the end it turned out really cute and was well worth the effort. If any of you are feeling adventurous this year, I will post the instructions so that you can give it a try. I wish I would have taken step by step pictures as I made this, but unfortunately I wasn't a blogger back then. Hopefully you can do it with just the instructions. You can also email me if you have any questions.

Bread Cornucopia

Ingredients and materials:

Colander

Aluminum foil

Vegetable oil

2 loaves of frozen bread dough (I used my own bread dough)

Egg wash (used as paste)

Cooking brush

Wrap a colander with aluminum foil and spray with vegetable oil.

Let the frozen dough thaw (but not rise), then roll one over the colander. Use egg wash as a paste to attach the bread around the colander. Once it's attached, egg-wash the entire surface.

Cut the other loaf of bread dough into strips. Lay the strips of dough from the top to the bottom and tuck inside the colander. Lace the cornucopia with the dough strips, basketweave style.

Egg-wash the complete surface again and twist the bottom together. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

**This portion is just for show, not to be eaten.

In Loving Memory of Kevin's Youth.....My First Tombstone Cake

A dear friend of ours turned 40 today. His wife surprised him with a HUGE party. It was a funeral for his youth. I was so lucky to be able to make the cake. (Be sure to click on the picture to get a better look at the details.)

This cake was a lot bigger than it looks in the picture. It took more than 5 dozen eggs and a half a gallon of oil. The top portion of the tombstone was made using rice crispy treats (5 recipes). My husband, Jim, helped out a lot with this cake. He started by drafting it out on the computer for me, and he even marbled the fondant. Isn't he good?

Here is the back of the cake.

Almost everyone came to the party dressed in black.

Here is the birthday boy, Kevin... aka Bishop McEvoy. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

It was such a fun party. I am glad that I got to be a part of it.

Pumpkin Sheet Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting

We got to go to many parties this weekend for Halloween and Birthdays. We ended up taking a Pumpkin Sheet Cake to two of the parties. I really enjoy pumpkin cake, pumpkin cookies, and really anything that is made of pumpkin. But this pumpkin sheet cake is the MOST DELICIOUS pumpkin cake that I have ever eaten. It is super moist. For this reason I am going to share the recipe with you. I think EVERYONE needs to try it.

Like the Candy Corn Sugar Cookies that I made, this recipe also comes from Tina at Mommy's Kitchen. I really love her site, because she has a monthly menu and she posts recipes for all of her meals. They are easy, practical meals that anybody can make. And of course, she also has delicious desserts and treats. Stepping into her blog is like stepping into her kitchen. So thank you Tina, for having such an AMAZING site.

Pumpkin Sheet Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting

15 oz. can pumpkin (I used Banana Squash that I had baked)

2 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs, beaten

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt

In a mixing bowl, beat the pumpkin, sugar, and oil. Add eggs and mix well. Combine the dry ingredients and add to the pumpkin mixture, beating until well blended. Pour into a greased 10X15 inch baking pan.

Bake for 25-35 minutes at 350 degrees.

Cool the cake completely and then frost it with the cream cheese frosting. Here's what you'll need for the frosting:

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 stick butter, softened (1/2 cup)

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 1/4 cups powdered sugar

5-6 tsp. milk

Beat the butter and cream cheese together. Add the vanilla and blend till smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar and mix well. Add the milk a bit at a time until you get it to a spreadable consistency. Spread on top of the sheet cake.

You can also top this cake with some chopped pecans or walnuts, but that is optional.

I hope you give this cake a try and enjoy it as much as we did. DELICIOUS!

Candy Corn Sugar Cookies

Are you looking for that perfect, last minute Halloween treat to make? I came across these adorable sugar cookies on a fun blog that I follow. Tina over at Mommy’s Kitchen had them as a feature on her site this month.

You can make these cookies using your favorite sugar cookie recipe, or you can just purchase the refrigerated dough from your supermarket. Here is the recipe that I used (and I doubled it):

Ingredients:

3 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, sift before measuring

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ sup butter, room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla

½ cup sour cream

Preparation:

Into a bowl, sift together the sifted flour, baking soda, and salt. In a mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla with an electric mixer. Beat for 2 minutes. Add sour cream and half of the sifted dry ingredients; beat 1 minute. Stir in remaining dry ingredients with a wooden spoon. Divide dough in thirds. Add orange food coloring to one of the portions, and yellow to another.

Line an 8-inch square pan with waxed paper and press yellow dough in the bottom.

Next, press the orange dough on top of the yellow dough.

Then press the plain white dough on top. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Pull the dough out of the baking dish, and cut into ¼ inch thick slices.

Cut the slices into triangles, and place on a greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes. My cookies came out perfect at 8 minutes.

Happy Halloween!

Here's A Little About Me!

I am crazy about a lot of things. I am especially crazy about my adorable kids and my wonderful husband. Their love, kindness, and smiles are enough to make anyone happy. I am crazy about baking, and filling my home with a yummy aroma that is inviting to anyone. I am crazy about serving others. The joy that I get from doing acts of kindness for others is unbelievable. Most of all, I am crazy about life!

The Easiest Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

These pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are quick, easy, and delicious. Since pumpkins seem to be in abundance this time of year, you can either use fresh pumpkin or canned pumpkin. I chose to use canned pumpkin.

3 Simple Ingredients:

1 box Spice Cake Mix

1 Small Can (15 oz.) Pumpkin

1 12 oz. bag of Chocolate Chips

Start by mixing the pumpkin and the cake mix together. You don't need the oil or eggs. Just the dry mix.

Mix it together well, and add the chocolate chips.

Mix well, and scoop onto a greased cookie sheet. I always use a non stick cooking spray.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. Your home will smell inviting, and you will have a delicious treat! I hope you enjoy these cookies as much as my kids do.

Megan's Diamond Shaped Wedding Cake

Tonight was Megan's wedding reception, and I was able to make her cake for her. This three-tiered cake was amazing! The top layer was a white cake with a raspberry filling. The middle layer was a chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream filling, and the bottom layer was a carrot cake with a buttercream filling. I did chocolate fondant for the first time ever. And I was extremely surprised at how easy it was to make and work with. I will share the recipe at the bottom of this post. Be sure to click on the top picture to get a better view of the details.

The reception was beautiful! I was really glad to be a part of it.

For the Chocolate Fondant, I mostly followed the Wilton recipe. I changed it by using real chocolate instead of the chocolate candy melts. The texture was perfect.

Wilton Chocolate Fondant

Ingredients:

14 ounces dark cocoa candy melts

1/2 cup light corn syrup

24 ounce package Wilton Fondant

Brown Icing Color (optional)

Black Icing Color (optional)

Makes: About 2 pounds chocolate fondant (this cake took about 10 pounds).

Instructions:

Melt Candy Melts following package directions. Add corn syrup; stir to blend. Turn out mixture onto waxed paper; let stand at room temperature to dry and harden several hours. Wrap well and store at room temperature until ready to continue with recipe.

Knead small portions of candy mixture until soft and pliable. Knead softened mixture into fondant until smooth and evenly colored. If darker color is desired, knead in icing color.

Brown and Blue Wedding Desserts.....It Was Megan's Great Day!

My friend Megan got married today, and I made some goodies for her special day. With brown and blue as the colors, the possibilities were endless. I started with some cupcakes.....white and chocolate. The chocolate cupcakes had a rich chocolate buttercream frosting with grated chocolate on top. The white cupcakes were topped with a buttercream frosting also.

I also made my Mint Brownie Bites. When I made these before, I was able to just buy Dove Chocolate hearts, because it was close to Valentines Day. Well, I learned that chocolate hearts are impossible to find in the fall. I ended up buying a heart candy mold so that I could make my own chocolate hearts. They were delicious!

I made Cake Balls with a Spice Cake and Cream Cheese frosting.

And I made Cheese Cake Balls. I will have to give you detailed instructions on these little delicacies in a later post. But, I can tell you that they melt in your mouth. The cheesecake was covered with Milk Chocolate, and topped with toasted hazelnuts.

What a beautiful Wedding. Thank you Megan and Taylor, for letting me be a part of your special day.

My next project......Megan's Wedding Cake for her reception next week! It will be a lot of fun.

Ashley's Cupcake Decorating Birthday Party

Ashley had an AWESOME birthday party this weekend!

We had a great group of kids, and we kept things simple. We had the kids do some balloon relay races. They also got to take a swing at a pinata.

The big attraction of the party was cupcake decorating. They had so many choices to make! They could take a strawberry, white, or chocolate cupcake.

They could top it off with strawberry, vanilla, or chocolate frosting.

The many toppings were endless. The kids could choose from M&M's, Dots, Candy Corns, Gummy Bears, and Chocolate chips.

And every child likes sprinkles, right?

Here they are making their creations.

And the pictures say it all......

And yes, I even made one!

What a great day! Happy Birthday Ashley!

A What? A Peach Upside Down Cake!

My Dad gave me some peaches the other day off of his tree. I didn't have quite enough to get a canning operation going, so I went on a quest to find a yummy peach dessert recipe. I came across a lot of peach pie recipes, and they all looked great. But when I found this recipe for a Peach Upside Down Cake, I just had to try it. It turned out AMAZING! It was almost like a peach cobbler, and was especially wonderful served warm with a scoop of ice cream.

Start by heating your oven to 325 degrees. Butter a 9-inch square or round cake pan, or spray with baking spray. Peel and pit the peaches, slice thinly.

Fruit Mixture:

3 peaches, peeled, thinly sliced, about 2 cups of slices (I think I used 4 or 5 peaches)

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 scant teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 Tablespoons melted butter

Toss the peaches with the brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and 3 tablespoons of melted butter. Arrange the peach mixture in the prepared baking pan.
Cake:

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, stirred before measuring

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup butter, room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

2/3 cup milk

Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a bowl. In a large mixing bowl with electric mixer, beat butter with the sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, vanilla extract, and almond flavoring. Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture, alternating with the milk, beating just until blended. Spoon the batter over the peach slices.
Gently spread it around to cover the peaches.
Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Invert the hot cake onto a platter or cake plate and let stand for about 5 minutes. Remove the pan and scrape up any fruit slices clinging to the pan and arrnage them over the cake.
Like I said before, it was especially wonderful served warm with a scoop of ice cream.

Dipped Oreo Pops.......Delicious!

I have always enjoyed sitting down with some Oreos and a big glass of milk. I had no idea that the possibilities were endless when it came to making yummy treats with them. I thought I would give these delicacies a try. Dipped Oreo Pops!

They were so incredibly easy to make, and mouth-watering delicious too. These pops work best when you have the double stuffed Oreos. Start by shoving a sucker stick or a popsicle stick in the middle. They hold up pretty well. I learned pretty quick that you can't push it in too far, because the cookie will break. So only go about half way.

Melt your chocolate or candy melts. I used Chocolate Mint candy melts, and melted them quickly in the microwave oven (30 second intervals works best, stirring between each).

Then take those cute little cookies for a swim.

I stick my pops in foam until they harden. You can decorate them anyway you would like. I think they would be really cute for Halloween with pumpkins or spiders on them.

Enjoy!

My dear friend Melissa shared this recipe with me, and of course I had to try it. She also gave me permission to put it on my blog. THANK YOU VERY MUCH MELISSA!

Any of you who know me well, know that my favorite ice cream is cookie mint. So, of course, I instantly took a liking to this recipe. It was really easy to make, and very delicious in the end.

Here are the 3 main ingredients:

A Boxed Brownie Mix, Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, and Andes Mints. There’s no way you could go wrong with these, right?

Grasshopper Brownies

Ingredients

2 boxes of any regular brownie mix (I used 1 family size mix)

6 Tbsp. Flour

About 10 Tbsp. Butter (plus more for pan)

About ½ cup milk

4 eggs

1 package chocolate sandwich cookies

2 bags Andes thin mints

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9” X 13” pan. Cover bottom of pan with parchment paper. Allow a few inches of paper to rise above the long sides of the pan. These will serve as handles to remove the brownies later. Butter the parchment paper.

Make brownies according to package directions with the following exceptions:

- Add 6 Tbsp. Flour to the mix

- Replace oil with melted butter

- Replace water with milk

Chop 1 ½ bags thin mints into coarse chunks. Place sandwich cookies in a large plastic bag and break into pieces with hands and a rolling pin. Stir mints and cookies into brownies by hand- batter will be very thick.

Spoon batter evenly into pan. Bake for 45-55 minutes. Remove pan from oven and cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Use parchment paper “handles” to lift brownies from pan and cool completely on wire rack. Cut brownies into preferred serving size and store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Looking good, right?

How about now?

Mmmmm.... Delicious! What is amazing about these brownies is that you get a little crunch from the cookies and some gooiness from the melted mints. I will be making these again and again!

Chocolatey, Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cupcakes

It’s been a while since I last posted anything here. And really, I have no excuse except that I’m trying to lose weight. Sometimes I wonder why I didn’t start a Fitness blog! Maybe that’s to come. Anyway, we have a great abundance of Zucchini this year, so I’ve been on a quest to find ways to get my kids to eat it. To be totally honest, I didn’t like zucchini when I was young either. But now I really quite enjoy it. I made a casserole the other night and loaded it with zucchini, and the kids gobbled it up. They LOVED it!

Well, today I got creative with the Zucchini again. This time around I decided to try some Chocolatey, Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cupcakes. They turned out Really good. And they taste so DELICIOUS!

For those of you who also have a great abundance of Zucchini, here is the recipe for you to try.

Chocolate, Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cupcakes

Ingredients:

1-1/4 cups butter, softened

1-1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup baking cocoa

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 cup grated zucchini

1 cup grated carrots (I just substituted another cup of zucchini)

Chocolate Chips

1 Directions:

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternately with yogurt, beating well after each addition. Fold in zucchini, carrots, and chocolate chips.

Fill paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350° for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely. Frost cupcakes. Yield: 21 cupcakes.

I frosted my cupcakes with a chocolate fudge frosting that I like to make. Here is that recipe....

Chocolate Fudge Frosting

1 stick butter

6 tablespoons milk

4 tablespoons cocoa

3 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Bring to boil butter, milk, and cocoa. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat well and spread on warm cupcakes.

Next I grated a little chocolate to top it off. I hope you give these a try, and enjoy them as much as we did!

Cake Pops Without The Sticks? Part 2

1 Boxed Spice Cake + A Spoonful of Cream Cheese Frosting + A Spoonful of Coconut Pecan Frosting + Vanilla Candy Melts = The most delicious, mouth-watering treat you could EVER eat!

I know, I know..... You're thinking, "Didn't she already post about the 4th of July Cake Pops?" Well, I did. But, I made more! And these little gems were to die for.

First of all, bake a spice cake. You can use any recipe you would like. I just used a boxed cake mix due to lack of time. Follow the directions on the box to make your cake.

Once the cake is baked, crumble it into a large bowl. Stir in a spoonful of cream cheese frosting, and a spoonul of Coconut Pecan Frosting ( Again, I used the little store-bought tubs of frosting all for the sake of time.) Mix it well. I like to use my hands to make sure it gets well mixed.

Roll it into balls, and dip them into your melted candymelts. Easy as Pie!

Cake Pops Without The Sticks? Incredible!!!

I thought these little treats would be fun to take to my party on the 4th of July. They may not look real pretty, but BOY ARE THEY DELICIOUS! And easy to make, too. Chocolate cake with a hard chocolate mint shell....mmmmm.

Start by making your favorite kind of cake (in this case, I just used a boxed chocolate cake mix). Just follow the directions on the box and bake it. After it cools, crumble it up into a bowl. Stir in some frosting so that the cake crumbs will form into balls. One cake made about 55 (quarter-sized) balls.

Now here's the fun part. After I had all the balls rolled and onto a cookie sheet, I started to melt my candy melts. I bought my chocolate mint candy melts at Hobby Lobby. You can also buy them at Michael's or Gygi's or anywhere else that sells candy making supplies.

To melt the candy melts, just put them in a dish in the microwave. Stir them every 30 seconds until they are melted and smooth. Then send the little cake balls for a swim. I dipped them and put them on waxed paper until they hardened. Oh, and I added a few stars for fun.

For detailed instructions on how to make Cake Pops with the sucker sticks, check out www.bakerella.com . She has some really cute 4th of July cake pops on there.

Have a great 4th of July everyone!!!

Stephanie’s Whimsical Wedding Cake

This cake had whimsical written all over it when Stephanie brought me a drawing of how she wanted it to look. She is such an artist. Swirls, stripes, and daisies adorned this beautiful Tiffany blue and coral pink cake. The bottom tier was a white cake with raspberry filling, and the middle and top tiers were both chocolate cake with a chocolate butter cream filling. The cake got it’s shine from an edible white luster dust, which I painted on each layer. I made the daisies out of fondant a few days prior to the wedding. Be sure to click on the picture below to see all the great details.

I am really pleased with how this cake turned out. Thanks Stephanie, for letting me create your vision!

Apple Tart.....Another Paula Deen Favorite

Hey ya'all! I am really starting to enjoy making Paula Deen recipes, because they always turn out so yummy. My family quite enjoys me making them as well. And if you're lucky, maybe you can stop by when I happen to make one. DELICIOUS! I've also learned that a good Paula Deen dessert in my kitchen is great bribery to get my kids to eat their dinner (yes, even broccoli). The sour cream adds a unique, yet delicious flavor. I also changed it up a little by sprinkling a little cinnamon on top. So give this one a try....I'm sure you'll love it. Let me know how it turns out!

Paula Deen's Apple Tart

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature

2 tablespoons sour cream

Filling:

About 6 medium apples, peeled, pitted, and sliced

3 large egg yolks

3/4 cup sour cream

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Glaze:

1/2 cup apricot preserves or jelly

1 tablespoon frozen orange juice concentrate

Mint, for garnish

Whipped topping, for garnish

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

To make the crust:

Place the flour, butter, and sour cream in a food processor and pulse to combine. When the dough has formed a ball, pat with lightly floured hands into the bottom and sides of an ungreased 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom and 1/2-inch sides, or a round au gratin dish. Bake for about 18 minutes, until the crust is set but not browned. Let cool while preparing the filling.

Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F.

To make the filling:

Peel and thickly slice the apples. Arrange the apple slices in overlapping circles on top of the crust, until it's completely covered. Overfill the crust, as apples will shrink during cooking.

Combine the egg yolks, sour cream, sugar, and flour and beat until smooth. Pour the mixture over the apples. Place the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake for about 1 hour, until the custard sets and is pale golden in color. Cover with an aluminum foil tent if the crust gets too dark. Transfer the tart pan to a wire rack to cool. When cool, remove the side wall of the pan.

To make the glaze:

Combine the preserves or jelly and orange juice. Spread with a pastry brush over the top of the warm tart. Serve the tart warm, at room temperature or chilled. Garnish with fresh mint.

We ate our tart with ice cream on top. It made it extra good! I bet it would also be great with whipping cream. Now I'm off to start a wedding cake. I'll be posting that next, so stay tuned!

Strawberry Rhubarb Pastry

My dear husband came in from the farm the other day with this......

and these.....

which inspired a strawberry rhubarb pastry. His favorite dessert.

I cannot take credit for this, because the only thing that I did to help with it was eat it. But I will share the recipe so that you, too, can make this super yummy dessert.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pastry

First of all, take 1 1/2 cups of flour

1/2 cup of sugar

2 eggs

and 1/2 cup butter or margarine.

Cut in the butter and mix it all together. Press in the bottom of a 9X13 pan.

Next, prepare the rhubarb and strawberries by rinsing and cutting them.

Stir together the rhubarb, strawberries, (about 1 quart)

and 1 (3 ounce) box of strawberry or raspberry Jello, and put on top of the crust.

Then you will make a crumb topping by mixing 1 cup of flour and 1 cup of sugar and cutting in 1/4 cup of butter. Sprinkle on top.

Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, or until it starts to get bubbly in the middle.

Then serve it up warm! It is especially good with vanilla ice cream on top. Yum!

I Made Lemon Blossoms Y'all!

For any of you who don't know......I'M A HUGE PAULA DEEN FAN! Well, I was talking with my friend Sara the other day, and she said that she had a Paula recipe that she wanted to try. Of course I had to try it as well. These Lemon Blossoms are AMAZINGLY delicious, and easy to make. I decided to make some to take to a family party today. It turns out...I'm not the only one who thought they were AMAZINGLY delicious! Everybody loved them.

Here is the recipe, so that each of you can make and try these wonderful delicacies.

PAULA DEEN'S LEMON BLOSSOMS

1 (18.25 oz. box) yellow cake mix

1 (3.4 oz.) instant lemon flavored pudding mix (I used the cook and serve because that's what I had on hand)

4 large eggs

3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided

4 cups confectioners' sugar

1 tablespoon lemon zest (about 1 lemon)

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

3 tablespoons water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray miniature muffin pans with nonstick cooking spray (I like to use the cooking spray that has flour in it. I've never had a cake or muffin stick yet). In a large bowl, combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, and 3/4 cup oil. Beat for 2 minutes. Spoon 1 tablespoon of the batter (I use the small Pampered Chef scoop) into each muffin tin, and bake for 12 minutes. Turn the cakes onto a cloth towel.

In a medium bowl, sift confectioners' sugar. Add lemon zest, lemon juice, remaining 3 tablespoons oil, and water, stirring until smooth. Dip the cakes into the glaze while they are still warm, covering as much of the cake as possible. Place the cakes on a wire rack with wax paper underneath to catch the drips. Let the glaze set thoroughly before storing in an airtight container.

AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS!

An Adorable Cupcake Pin Cushion....Up for grabs!

Isn't this the most adorable and yummy looking pin cushion you have ever seen?  I know it's not edible....but it's a CUPCAKE!  One of my good friends  started a blog called Whimsy by Victoria.

Victoria is really talented at decorating and making adorable handbags, aprons, pin cushions, and more.  She also gives a lot of home decorating tips on a budget.  Well, if you check out her blog she is giving away one of these cute pin cushions.  All you have to do is go to her blog and comment on her post to be entered.  She is also giving away this adorable bag.  It is her Whimsy Signature bag.  So, check out her blog, and if you like it become a follower.  She would be happy to see you there.    http://whimsybyvictoria.blogspot.com/

Her giveaway ends on June 3rd, so be sure to visit soon.  I hope you win!

Erin's Birthday Surprise!

Erin's really good friend threw her a surprise birthday party tonight. It was so much fun! The best part was that she didn't even have a clue that it was going to happen. She was really surprised.

Her friend organized the entire thing, and asked me if I would make the cake. She said she had a poem that she wanted me to make the cake around. So, you have to read the poem for this cake to make sense.

Erin was just 8 years old

She wanted to be 9.

Her friend held a birthday party so we'd know

Her birthday had arrived.

Her mother made a birthday cake

Decorated fine,

A park, a stream, a dog, a girl

All having a great time.

Then your mother put a number on

To show the birthday year.

Oh, no! In icing pink and sweet

It says you're 8, not 9!

So now you must be 8 again

Until next May, and so

Just go to sleep and do not eat

Because you must not grow.

When Erin's birthday comes again

In the year 2010

Should she turn 9 at last, or skip ahead,

Should she be 10 then?

Cody's Soccer Ball Cake

I made this Soccer Ball Cake for a good friend of mine who was celebrating her son's birthday. The bottom is a white sheet cake with a raspberry filling. The green frosting was piped on to look like grass (It looked pretty cool). I made the fudge marble soccer ball using the Wilton 3D sports ball pan. I attached the ball to the sheet cake with a dowel so that it wouldn't roll away. This was ONE COOL CAKE! Be sure to click on the picture to see the details.

Rachel's Daisy Wedding Cake

Here is the cake that I've been working on this week. 3 Tiers of white cake with raspberry filling. I made the daisies out of fondant. This cake was a lot of fun to make!

French Vanilla Cake With Raspberry Filling

Yesterday I got bored and decided to practice basket weaving on a cake. I still need a little more practice, but it was a lot of fun to make. The cake was delicious too! Click here to get instructions on how to basket weave your own cake.

S'MORE BROWNIES ANYONE?

I had so many of my readers tell me that they made and really enjoyed the Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies that I posted. So I decided to add S’more Brownies for everyone to look at, drool over, and to try.

One of my favorite things to do in the summertime is go camping. Well, not really. But I do enjoy the s’mores that usually go along with all of our camping trips. Since it is not quite warm enough to do the camping thing yet, I decided to make brownies with a s’more twist. I think you will really enjoy them. We sure did! I asked each of my children (my little bakers in training) to tell me how they would describe these brownies after they took the first bite…….

Erin said, “Delicious, gooey, and better than good!”

Ryan said, “Yummy and gooey. They really do taste like S’mores!”

Ashley said, “I like them, but they are so gooey Mom. They are yummy in my tummy.”

Adam said, “More…more….more…..”

So that about sums them up. They were simple to make. A bag of marshmallows, a boxed brownie mix, some graham crackers, a little butter, and some sugar is all it took to make these delicious wonders.

I started by making a graham cracker crust. I crushed about 16 graham crackers, and mixed them with ½ cup of butter, and ¼ cup of sugar. I pressed it into a 9X13 inch pan and let it bake for about 7 minutes. Next, I mixed up the brownie mix (according to the directions on the package), and poured it on top of the graham cracker crust. Then I baked it according to the package directions as well.

After the brownies cooled, I stacked large marshmallows over the entire top and stuck them under the broiler just long enough to toast them. Mmmmm…… It even smelled like the toasted marshmallows from camping.

I really loved them, but when I make them again, I think I will cut the marshmallows in half or use mini marshmallows instead. That might reduce some of the gooey-ness. But if you like gooey-ness, you will love the large marshmallows! I hope you try them out. Let me know what you think.

Thank You Bakerella!!!

Bakerella is famous for her Cake Pops. She makes really cute pops for all of the holidays, and this time around I couldn’t resist trying them! My friend Sara and I spent an entire day decorating our cute little creations (some of which are pictured above).

We started by baking cakes from a cake mix. After the cakes baked and cooled, we crumbled them into a bowl and mixed them with frosting. Next, we rolled them into balls (about the size of a quarter). The balls needed to go in the freezer for a few minutes while we melted our candy melts. It was necessary to dip the lollipop sticks into the chocolate melts before putting them into the balls. This made it so the balls wouldn’t fall off the sticks. Once the balls were all on sticks, we placed them into foam blocks and put them back into the freezer. After a few minutes we were able to dip the cake pops into candy melts and decorate away. It’s amazing what you can do with cake sprinkles and confetti! For more details on how to make Bakerella’s Famous Cake Pops check out her website at http://bakerella.blogspot.com/2008/08/hope-these-put-smile-on-your-face.html

Cake and Cookie Decorating Birthday Party

I got asked to teach cake decorating at a birthday party last night!  I was totally in my element, not only with the cake decorating, but I love to hang out with the young girls. They are always so much fun to be around.  I guess it makes me feel young again.  My daughter was invited to this party and came home saying it was one of the best parties she had ever been to, so that was great to hear.  I think everyone had a good time.  I know I did.

At the beginning of the party, each girl got to paint a pot in bright Spring colors (since it was the first day of spring).  They got pretty creative, and the pots were all very cute and unique.  It was fun to see their personalities come out while painting.

While the adorable pots were drying, the girls were given aprons to decorate.  All cake decorators need a good apron!

The girls even posed for a picture sporting their new aprons.

Next, I showed them a few cake decorating techniques using a delicious buttercream frosting, and various tips.  I taught them a lot of the basics.

I had sugar cookies on sticks for them to decorate.  They all did an AWESOME job.  It was fun to see how different all of the cookies were.  There sure was a lot of giggling going on.

The end result was phenomenal!  The cookie bouquets turned out really well, and everyone had a great time.

Banana Split Cake

Last weekend I took a trip to Denver to spend some time with my sister. We always have so much fun together. One of the things that we like to do when we get together is shop. So, we went to a couple hobby and home décor stores, and I came across a set of mini cake pans that I couldn’t pass up. I know, I know….I’m starting to wonder why I get so excited about such things. But I HAD to have this set. It is the Wilton Tasty-Fill Mini Cake Pan Set.

The set has 4 mini pans, and a recipe booklet. I immediately went to the recipe book to see what I could make, and this is what I came up with…….

A DELICIOUS BANANA SPLIT CAKE!!! Now if I have you drooling over your computer screen, keep in mind that you (YES YOU!) can also make this cake. I will tell you step by step how to make it.

I started out with a basic banana cake recipe:

½ Cup Butter (softened)

1 Cup Sugar

1 egg

½ Cup Butter Milk

1 Cup Mashed Bananas

1 t. Soda

2 Cups Flour

¼ t. Salt

**Cream sugar, egg, and butter. Add bananas and soda. Add balance of ingredients. Mix well. Next put ½ cup of batter into each mini cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Let cool before taking cakes out of pans.

Wrap the cakes in plastic wrap and put them in the freezer for a couple hours. Then pull them out to put the filling in, which is softened strawberry ice cream. Mmmmm….. After filling with strawberry ice cream, stack 2 cakes together (so the filling is inside). Return them to the freezer so the ice cream can set back up. Just before you are ready to serve these delicious little delicacies, pull them out of the freezer and frost with whipping cream. The only thing that could make this any better would be chocolate, but….. You are in luck! You pour ice cream toppings on top of the whipping cream. On this particular cake I used chocolate, strawberry, and caramel toppings. I also chopped up some peanuts, and topped it off with a cute little cherry. DELICIOUS!!!

Now, if you would like to give this cake a try, you can click on the link over to the left of my blog to purchase these fun pans. I imagine I will be using mine a lot!

Raspberry Lemon Gem Cookies

DON'T THESE LOOK DELICIOUS?

Most of us have made cookies before using a cake mix. Well, that's what I did this time around, but I put my own twist on things. I have always liked lemon cakes with raspberry filling, so I thought I would try a lemon COOKIE with a raspberry filling. I started with a lemon cake mix. Next I added 2 eggs, 2 Tablespoons Canola Oil, 2 Tablespoons water, and a teaspoon of Vanilla Flavoring. After mixing all the ingredients together, I dropped the dough by the teaspoonful on a lightly greased cookie sheet. I made a well in the center of each cookie, which I did by pressing in a greased melon baller. I'm sure there are other ways to do it. Then I put seedless raspberry preserves in the center of each one.

I baked them at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. After they cooled completely, I melted white chocolate and drizzled it on top of the cookies. What an AWESOME finish to an AWESOME cookie! These cookies were a perfect Family Home Evening treat. Definitely give them a try, and let me know what you think. MMMMMM......

FuN FuN FuN

The first 3 people to respond to this post will get something made by me!

My choice.

For you.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!

2- What I create will be just for you.

3- It'll be done this year.

4- You have no clue what it's going to be.

5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 3 people who do the same on your blog.

The first 3 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a

FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me!

Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it! Who's in?

Fruit Pizza...A Perfect Spring Dessert

This is one of those desserts that I absolutely love, but have never made before. As I was grocery shopping the other day, I came across a display of blueberries and strawberries on sale. I couldn't pass up a good deal on such delicacies. So, thus came the FRUIT PIZZA!

This was such an easy treat to make. A simple sugar cookie dough created the base. And it was topped with a cream cheese frosting. After a little slicing, I loaded all the fruit on. Mmmm......

I will definitely be earning "Brownie Points" (or should I say "Pizza Points") with the family tonight.

Delicious Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies

I found a blog that I really enjoy reading on a regular basis. It is www.bakerella.blogspot.com. On her blog, Bakerella offers a lot of cute, fun, and delicious recipe ideas for others to try. I saw this recipe and had to give it a try.

You simply make your favorite brownie recipe, and your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. Take big spoonfuls of the cookie dough and press it into the brownie batter. Looking good, right? Oh, it gets even better.

After they bake, you need to let them cool completely. Then pour on some chocolate ganache. (I will include my chocolate ganache recipe at the bottom of this post)

You need to allow the chocolate ganache some time to set up before you cut into it. I know, you need a lot of patience! But it is all worth it in the end. Mmmmmm.......

Don't they look AWESOME? They were fun to make, and they taste great too.

Chocolate Ganache Recipe

8 oz. Semi Sweet Chocolate (I used semi sweet chocolate chips)

3/4 Cup Heavy whipping cream

2 Tablespoons Butter

1/2 t. vanilla (optional)

Bring the whipping cream and butter to a boil over medium heat. Pour over the chocolate in a bowl. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes. Whisk until blended and creamy. Pour over your brownies, or whatever dessert you are making. Let it set up and you are good to go. This recipe can also be used to make chocolate truffles.

Valentine Mint Brownie Bites

I made these Mint Brownie Bites to give out to friends and family for Valentine's Day. I started by making brownies in mini muffin tins. Next I made a buttercream frosting and added pink food coloring and a drop of mint extract. I topped off the treat with a heart-shaped Dove chocolate. Simple and Delicious!

Give this treat a try, and let me know what you think. Also, if you have some good Valentine's Day treat ideas of your own, I would love to hear about them. HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Dad's Favorite Cake To Make

Jim loves to make the kids his famous Ice Cream Cake for their birthdays! It seems to be the favorite dessert at our house. He starts with just a brick of ice cream, and tops it with bananas, scoops of more ice cream, whipping cream, and any kind of topping you can think of. With this cake, you have to sing "Happy Birthday" and blow out the candles really fast. Otherwise you end up with Birthday Soup. What a delicious treat!

Panda Cupcakes for a Kickin' Kung Fu Panda Party

This year we decided to surprise Ryan with a Kung Fu Panda birthday party. He had no idea we were going to do this. We invited a bunch of his friends over for the excitement. Each of the kids were given a foam sword and a balloon. They were asked to keep the balloons off of the ground, and they could only use their swords. It turned into a giant sword fight, but the kids had a blast! After the sword game, each of the kids were able to make an oragami frog. Then they were given a bowl of noodles and chopsticks, where they had to eat the noodles only using the chopsticks. Then they got to eat the yummy panda cupcakes (which were decorated with mini oreos and mini chocolate chips) and ice cream. Party favors were given out in Chinese "Take Out" boxes. What a fun party!

Happy Birthday Ryan!!!

M*A*S*H Cake

This cake was requested for a M*A*S*H themed birthday party. It is a carrot cake with cream cheese filling and toasted pecans. It should be pretty delicious!

The Making of the Tree Cake

I've had a lot of people ask me how I made the Christmas Tree Cake, so I decided to post pictures of the making. There is a one-inch dowel going down the center, and then I supported each layer with small dowels. The trunk of the tree was a 6 inch round cake. The three tree levels were 12", 10", and 8". Each a different flavor, and trimmed just to the right size (thanks to my hubby who drafted it out in Auto Cad for me). Each level was crumb coated with a butter cream frosting, and covered with a home made marshmallow fondant. I painted the fondant with an edible luster dust which gives it a shine. The round decorations were cut out of fondant, and the swirls were piped on with a green butter cream. The tree skirt is made with fondant, and the fringe was piped on with frosting using a grass tip. This was such a fun cake to make. I'm aching to make another creation.

Christmas Tree Cake

Here is the Christmas Tree cake that I made this weekend. The trunk and bottom layer were both chocolate cake with a chocolate cream filling. The middle layer was a lemon cake, and the top layer was a white cake. It was very cute and very delicious! Be sure to click on the picture to get a better look at the details.

Family Fun With Gingerbread

Every year we let the kids decorate gingerbread cookies to hang on the Christmas tree. Here are the creations for this year's tree. Along with the cookies, the kids also make paper chains, and popcorn strings to decorate with. This is one tradition the kids will never forget. The kids are proud of their home made decorations!

R2D2 Cake

Here is the cake in progress. The body is made up of white cakes filled with a lemon cream cheese filling. The round top is also a white cake, and the legs are made with rice crispy treats. They were then crumb coated with buttercream frosting, and finished off with a lemon flavored marshmallow fondant.

Here he is all finished and ready for Alex's birthday party. He was definitely the hit of the party!

My Decadent German Chocolate Cake With Dutch Chocolate Ganache

So here is the cake that I've been aching to bake. It was very rich and very delicious! German Chocolate Cake with a Dutch Chocolate Ganache. The filling was made by carmalizing Sweetened Condensed Milk and adding toasted pecans and toasted coconut. I will definitely be making this one again!

Ashley's Castle

A beautiful castle for a beautiful little princess. Both the 10 inch and 6 inch layers were made with a strawberry cake, because Ashley's favorite color is pink. The filling was a strawberry mousse, and it was topped with buttercream frosting. It was quite delicious!

Amanda's Wedding Cake

This is my first wedding cake, and it was SO much fun to make! I'm so glad I had the chance to do it.

A Monster Truck Jam for Adam!

A 16 inch cake for a 1 year old??? I wanted to practice making a large cake, so therefore Adam got it for his Birthday. The cake was really moist, with 38 eggs, 16 cups of sugar, 5 cups of butter, and 16 cups of flour, among other ingredients. It is an almond flavored white cake with a chocolate mousse filling. It is topped with a green buttercream frosting and chocolate ganache. The dirt is so lifelike! Everybody thought that I brought it in from the garden. It is actually crushed graham crackers and oreos. Oh, and the candy rocks are edible. The cake tasted even better than it looks! Adam sure enjoyed it.

I Went A Little Topsy Turvy!

For Erin's Birthday and Baptism I decided to make her a Topsy Turvy cake. Each level has chocolate cake, white cake, and strawberry cake with a buttercream filling. This whimsical cake was a big hit at the party!

Gumpaste and Fondant Class

Here is my final cake for the Gum paste and Fondant Class. It is a cherry chip cake with an almond buttercream filling. I topped it with a home made marshmallow fondant. The daisies were also made out of fondant. I have taken all four courses that Wilton has to offer, and I loved each one. I would highly recommend them to anyone.

I FINISHED COURSE TWO!

Well, I did it! Tonight I finished the Wilton Course 2 at Hobby Lobby. The instructor was Lori Cottrell, who made it a lot of fun. Throughout this course I mainly learned how to make flowers out of frosting and royal icing. My final cake was an oval strawberry cake with a cream cheese filling. It had basket weaving on the sides and a rope border. All of the flowers are made with royal icing. The flowers include Apple Blossoms, Violets, Mums, Daffodils, Victorian Roses, Pansies, Daisies, Primroses, and Rose Buds. I really enjoy decorating cakes and can't wait to start Wilton Course 4 at Hobby Lobby next week. It is a gumpaste and fondant class, which will run four weeks.

Chocolate Mint Delight

Doesn't this look delectable? I made this cake for the dessert auction at our church. It is a chocolate fudge cake with chocolate fudge frosting. It is topped with Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies and the sides are covered with Mint Chocolate Pirouette Cookies. The shell border is made with a Chocolate Mint Buttercream Frosting. This cake is sure to be a hit at the auction tonight!

My Lily Tier Cake

This cake was my final project for Wilton Course 3. I made the lilies and leaves with royal icing a few days ahead of time. The 6 inch and 10 inch tiers are both lemon cake with a homemade raspberry filling. I crumbcoated them with a buttercream frosting and then topped them with a homemade marshmallow, lemon fondant. I thought it turned out very well. A perfect cake for Easter. Too bad Easter is still a couple weeks away.