Sunday, December 28, 2008

Christmas cups

I got a call from my mom on Friday asking me to make some cupcakes to bring for dessert on Saturday. Sooo... seeing all the super cute Christmas cups and cakes I had seen out there lately I thought I would whip up some too. I love the little holly ones although I would have preferred to have a holly leaf cutter next time so it doesn't take forever to make one leaf. I had made red and burgundy flower ones as well. I made French Vanilla and Red Velvet mini cupcakes. I probably made around 150 cups. Here's some pictures of the finished products!



Little Holly Cakes





Group shot


Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Cupcake Ornaments!

I though seeing as how it is the day before Christmas I would look for some cake related ornaments. I will say thank god for Etsy because if you try to find cupcake ornaments you will come across a bunch of weird and ugly looking things. Some of which barely resemble a cupcake. I actually gave up and went to Etsy knowing it wouldn't let me down, and I was right :) Here is a few I came across baring in mind every ones different tastes. The first and last ones are my personal favorite. I hope you enjoy looking and it puts you slightly more in the Christmas mood. Enjoy!

This first one is so pretty and can be found at Etsy made by madeinlowell.




This one looks almost realistic and can be found on Etsy made by FrostedFakes.



This one I found on a website called Pence Christmas Tree Farm and Ornament Shop.



These cute little tree clips I found on a store called Christmases Past.



This glass hand painted ornament was found on Etsy made by purplesmurple.



This sparkly little number found on Etsy made by melaniescrafts.



These mini realistic cupcakes were found on Etsy made by midoridesigns.



This super cute felted cupcake found on Etsy made by posieandme. She has a bunch of cute felted ornaments on there, check them out!




Last and certainly not least, this super cute robot ornament that bakes cupcakes in his tummy! Ok maybe I'm a little biased because I love robots too :) This was also found on Etsy made by paperandstring.


I hope you all have a great Christmas!



Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Lemon Drop's


Had a christmas cupcake order this past weekend. This is a picture of the Lemon Drop Cupcakes and then I also made Caramel Cup's as well. I personally would much rather sit around on the holidays having cupcakes over cookies any day :)

I have been so far behind this year. Before last night I had only purchased one gift so far. We headed out last night and bought a few more. I still have to bake some cookies (for my preggo sister in law :)) and then start making a bunch of various different chocolates. I will have my hands sooo full for the next couple days. We havent even picked out a present for our 1 year old yet! Yikes. I forced my hubby to bring up the christmas tree this morning even though he doesnt want to put it up this year thinking our son will try climbing it. But since Aiden was so little last year and keeping us so busy we never had the chance to put it up and I can imagine going 2 years without the tree going up soo, thats my goal to do today :) What are your plans for the holidays?

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Cake Mania


So if your sitting around on your computer and are running out of things to do looking for something to pass the time I have a game for you. Its a cute game where you bake cakes for customers according to their orders and run around trying to get everything done fast in the correct order. Definatly a great time waster! Check it out :)

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Vanilla Extract Recipe



I came across this about a month ago on this great website. Thought its was a great idea and will definitely be trying it out!

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Lime Meltaways

I thought that with Christmas around the corner I would do up a recipe for something green. Even though you normally associate lime with summer, their still a cute green color which is probably the closest my mind has come to the season :) Without much snow around here it isn't feeling super festive. Not that I'm complaining about the warmer weather. If you love anything involving citrus or know someone that loves citrus, these will be sure to please. Not your typical sweet tooth cookie. Anyways, here it is!


Ingredients:

¾ cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
⅓ cup confectioners sugar, Plus 3 Tbsp
2 Limes zest
3 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1¾ cups plus 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tbsp cornstarch
¼ teasp coarse salt

Directions:

Put butter and confectioners sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy.

Add lime zest and juice and vanilla, and mix until fluffy. If you would like to add some green food coloring, now would be the time to add it.

Whisk together flour, cornstarch, and salt in a bowl. Add to butter mixture, and mix on low speed until just combined.

Divide dough in half. Place each half on an 8-by-12-inch sheet of parchment paper. Roll in parchment to form a log 1 1/4 inches in diameter, pressing a ruler along edge of parchment at each turn to narrow log. Refrigerate logs until cold and firm, at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove parchment from logs; cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds. Space rounds 1 inch apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Bake cookies until barely golden, about 13 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool slightly, 6 to 8 minutes.

While still warm, sprinkle cookies with remaining 2/3 cup sugar in a resealable plastic bag.



Rolled in parchment


Chilled and then sliced into cookies


Finished Cookies!

Friday, December 5, 2008

Banana Bread



Well I have been making Banana bread for pretty much everyone this past week and thought I would share my recipe with you. So let me know how it turns out for you!

Ingredients:

½ cup (1 Stick) butter, at room temp.
1 cup granulated sugar
2 lrg eggs
1½ cups unbleached flour
1 teasp baking soda
1 teasp salt
1 cup mashed very ripe bananas
½ cup sour cream
1 teasp vanilla
½ cup chopped walnuts, chocolate chips or pecans (optional)

Directions:

1. Butter a 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan; set aside. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, and beat to incorporate.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the butter mixture, and mix until just combined. Add bananas, sour cream, and vanilla; mix to combine. Stir in nuts, and pour into prepared pan.

3. Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour minutes. Let rest in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool.