Ninjago cake

Here's a picture of a cake I created for an adorable, now 6 years old, boy named Bryce.  Because he's a huge Lego fan, he asked his parents if he could have a Lego themed birthday cake.  Bryce decided he would love to have a Ninjago character cake but of just the head and face.  So this is what I came up with......

To created the head I baked four 10" round cakes.  I torte and filled all four cakes and then stacked each cake with a layer of buttercream in-between.  I then inserted a few dowels for added stability and crumb coated the cake with additional buttercream.  Next I covered the cake with a yellow color fondant for skin tone and then I wrapped it with a green color fondant to represent the Ninjago face mask.  For the last step I added the "menacing" fondant eyes, hahaha.  Voila`, a Ninjago cake!

For the true peanut butter fan

If you love peanut butter, then I have the cookie for you!  They boast a delicious peanut butter flavor without being overly sweet.  Warning - these cookies are incredibly crunchy, so if you're looking for a chewy cookie look elsewhere.  The crunchy outside plus smooth center equal one great sandwich cookie.

(Super crunchy) Peanut butter sandwich cookies

adapted from Cook's Illustrated March & April 2012

Cookies
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tbsp. whole milk
1 large egg

Filling
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 cup confectioner's sugar

Cookie Directions:
1.  Adjust oven racks to middle of oven and heat oven to 350 degrees.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

2.  Whisk flour, baking soda, and salt together in bowl.

3. Whisk butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar,milk, and egg together in a separate bowl.

4.  Blend dry and wet ingredients together until well combined.

5.  Using tablespoon for good measure, place 12 equally portioned balls of dough (evenly spaced) onto cookies sheet and then flatten (I used my finger tips) until approximately 2 inches in diameter.

6.  Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Filling Directions:

1.  Microwave peanut butter and butter for 40 seconds, then blend.

2. Stir in confectioner's sugar until well combined.

Place about 2 tablespoons of filling between two cookies, sandwich together and then enjoy!

Vroom vroom!

So awhile back I had the opportunity to create a Cars themed birthday cake for a sweet young boy named Landon.  Here's what I came up with, enjoy!

Everything you see was crafted out of fondant, except for the two cars.  I purchased those as a birthday treat for Landon!  I painted the cake using various colors of icing gel to give the cake a more realistic appeal.  Oh, and I used pop sticks to hold up the road signs.  I covered the cake board in black fondant and used royal icing, tinted yellow, to create the road striping.  I really loved this cake!

Superheroes!

Here are some pictures of a couple of cakes I created for two adorable children, Mary Katherine & Jimmy (sister & brother), who decided they wanted a superhero themed birthday party!

Mary Katherine's Wonder Woman cake!

Jimmy's Spider Man cake!

All decor was created out of fondant with the help of some shimmer & pearl dusts and royal icing. 

Ok, so they're not baked.

I wanted to share with you some really neat "cakes" I had the opportunity of creating for some family members and friends.  Candy Cakes!

Birthday cake for Cousin Nicky

Birthday cake for Kristin

Vegas-style birthday cake

Side shot of Vegas cake

All I did was purchase bags of candy in various flavors, shapes and sizes and hot-glued them (with all wrappers intact) to different sizes and shapes of styrofoam and disposable aluminum baking pans.  Oh, and I had some fun with embellishments too -- ribbon, toys, candles, beads, etc.

I have to admit, even though they're not baked, they sure do put a smile on your face!

Tip

This might be one of the oldest tricks in the book but while I was frosting my "50 nifty" cupcakes I realized I could place my disposable decorating bag inside a glass to help me fill it with frosting.  I folded the top of the bag over the top of the glass, just like this.......

It's like having a helping hand!  That's it, just thought I'd share :-)

50 is nifty!

This month was my boss's 50th birthday!  His favorite desserts include anything chocolate & peanut butter, so I baked-up some cupcakes that included his favorite things.

Unfortunately these are the only pictures I have, but here you go.........

Truly chocolaty and dense, these cupcakes embraced a sweet peanut butter filling and were topped with a swirl of light & airy peanut butter buttercream.  Oh and don't forget the mini peanut butter cup garnish.  Holy peanut butter were these delicious!!  

Just had to share

Love this!

Totally rad!

I was very excited to bake this one!  This cake was a request from someone who's son was having a baked-goods auction at there school.  I couldn't resist the excitement to help, especially when I found out he wanted a skateboard.  So cool!

(baked back in March 2011)

Ok so I baked a vanilla spongecake and filled it with vanilla chocolate chip buttercream, iced it with vanilla buttercream and covered it in white fondant.  I used gumpaste to create the "stickers" on the skateboard and painted on them with icing gel colors.  I also painted around the outer edge of the cake, with gel colors, to give it the look of "wood".  As for the wheel assemblies, I used pretzel rods and mini chocolate donuts which I then covered in fondant.  Another fun creation!

Easter cupcakes

Here are some photos of Easter cupcakes I created last year (April 2011) for some family & friends.  Boy were these fun to decorate!!

The whole gang!

Easter Bunnies w/ Jelly Beans

Easter Bonnets

Chicks & Tulips

Ok, let's see......the chick & tulip cakes were dark chocolate angel-food with chocolate buttercream.  The bunny cakes were vanilla bean with vanilla buttercream.  The Easter bonnet cakes were traditional carrot with creamcheese frosting (my favorite!).  All decorations were crafted out of fondant and I used FoodWriter edible color markers to draw on the bunnies & chicks.  The bonnets have a hint of pearl dust, buttercream and sugar pearls.  Oh, and don't forget the jelly beans!!

The infamous cupcake cone

Another birthday...another treat!  I created these very special birthday treats for one very lucky coworker of mine, Jason.  Oh yes, we are very professional adults here in my office....heeheehee!

I always loved cupcake cones.  They remind me of my childhood.  My mother made them for me & my brother while we were in elementary school.   Apparently it was "required" for mothers to bring in birthday cupcakes for their children to share with their classmates, hahaha.  Cupcake cones are so neat and easy to eat, no mess!

(September 2010)

This delicious little cone is filled with a moist white chocolate chip cake and covered with marshmallow buttercream and sprinkles.  Yummy!

Mario Bros.

Created this cake for a little birthday boy named Dylan, back in March 2011.  The theme for his birthday party was Super Mario Bros.  I had also learned that Dylan and his family are huge soccer fans.  His parents requested that I incorporate Mario & Luigi and a hint of soccer :-)  So I did!

Although it's hard to see, Yoshi is actually "running"
around the cake with a soccer ball in his hands!

I was psyched about this cake because this is one of my favorite Nintendo video games from back-in-the-day!

If memory serves me right, I believe both tiers of this cake were a rich chocolate, filled with fresh strawberry preserves, covered in a vanilla buttercream outside and a fondant overlay tinted a shade of light blue.  Everything on the cake was crafted from fondant, including the figures, and painted with color icing gel.  All of Mario's & Luigi's body parts were held together with toothpicks and placed inside empty plastic sprinkle containers that I filled with leftover cake bits & frosting.  I then wrapped the containers in fondant to mimic portal pipes in the video game.  I never thought I'd pull this off, especially since I had never created 3D characters before.  These little men were my first :-)  Overall.....success!