Boston

I just got back in from a trip to Boston.  I had a wonderful time.  Since this blog is devoted to sweets, I won't bore you with all the  (amazing) history I soaked in over the last few days.  Instead, I will leave you with images of the delicious desserts I enjoyed while I was there.

First up, we stopped at Mike's Pastry in the North End while we were walking the Freedom Trail.  I couldn't decide what to get.  So, I got an oreo cannoli ...  

And a chocolate covered cream puff...

The next day, before heading to Fenway Park, we stopped at Flour Bakery in Cambridge for sticky buns ...

Everything we ate in Boston was delicious, but of course, the sweet treats were my favorite!  I bought Flour: Spectacular Recipes from Boston't Bakery + Cafe while we were there.  Can't wait to try something out of there!

Kindergarten Graduation

This week my nephew graduates from kindergarten.  I cannot believe he has already finished his first year of school. Of course, I couldn't let this milestone pass without making him some sweet treats.  I decided to make him a few sugar cookies ... graduation caps with his name on them, lions (his school mascot), and huskies (he has a Husky named Duke).

Andrew has me, along with the rest of my family, wrapped around his finger.  Here are just a few pictures of me and my favorite little guy over the last few years.  The picture with the "K" is from a set of pictures his mom had taken right before he started school.  He has grown so much since then!  He's a great student, loves learning, and was even awarded student of the month twice during the school year.  One proud aunt right here!

Preschool Graduation Cake

Finally, pictures of the preschool graduation cake.  Kim and I finished making the cakes and figures yesterday, and this morning she and her sister put the cake together.  It came out so cute.  I think the kids are gonna love it (or at least their parents will)!  

I had a lot of fun making the apples (my fav) and the glue bottle.  The scissors were another story.  They gave me lots of problems.  I had to recut the handles multiple times to get it them the way I wanted.  Then, the pieces didn't want to stick together.  In the end, it finally came together.

I can't wait to hear how the cakes tasted.  The bottom layer was a chocolate cake with a filling that tasted like chocolate chip cookie dough, iced with a caramel buttercream.  Can't wait to make that again!  The top was a white cake, raspberry filling, and a white chocolate buttercream.   Raspberry filling is not my thing, but I bet this cake was delicious.  

Sneak Peak

I'm too excited about this cake to not share!  Y'day I alluded to a cake I'm helping my friend Kim make for her son's pre-school graduation class party.  I've been working on gum paste and fondant figures this week.  Tonight we made even more.  Here is a sneak peak at just the beginning ... 

Cupcakes

I'm surrounded by wonderful cooks in my family.  People who can can take anything (seriously, anything) you have in your pantry and turn it into a five course meal fit for a king. I'm an okay cook. Being an okay cook in a family of fantastic cooks ... well, it's no surprise I became the baker in the family!  And while I love to decorate cakes, it's really the baking itself that I love first and foremost.  I'm always looking for a new recipe to try.  Luckily, someone is always willing to give it the ol' taste test and let me know if it is a recipe worth making a second time. Here are a couple cupcake recipes that I tried out over the last few months that will definitely be made again ...

For Thanksgiving this past year, I made Pumpkin Pie Cupcakes.  Let's just say that I was very thankful for pumpkin in 2010!

Then, a few weeks ago, my SIL and I made Guinness Cupcakes.  There are lots of recipes on the web for this.  Find one and make these.  Tomorrow.  No, tonight!  They are that good!  First, you make the Guinness cake batter.  Once the cupcakes have baked and cooled, you then fill them with dark chocolate Bailey's ganache.  As if that isn't decadent enough, you top them with Bailey's Irish Cream Frosting.  We got some pretty ridiculous feedback about these.  Basically, the general consensus was that these babies are unbelievably delicious.

Finally, this week I've been helping my BFF (and cake-decorating buddy) make a cake for her son's pre-school graduation party this weekend.  Also, I am making sugar cookies for my nephew over the weekend.  He is graduating from kindergarten (tear), and I want to give him a special treat.  I hope to post pictures of the cake and cookies by the end of the weekend!

Trafficking Hope

So, have I mentioned how lucky I am to work with amazing people?  A few months ago, one of my co-workers received a Crystal Gavel Award from our state bar association.  The Crystal Gavel Awards are "designed to honor unsung heroines in their communities."  Katherine received her award for the countless hours she spends educating others about human trafficking and helping women, men, and children escape a life of trafficking.  To learn more about human trafficking and how you can help, please visit Trafficking Hope.

To honor Katherine, we had a small reception at our office after the awards ceremony.  I wanted to make a cake that represented her work.  That proved a more difficult task than I originally thought ... how exactly do you represent an attorney for her work helping others escape a life of modern day slavery on a cake but keep it light enough to have people still want to eat cake?  You make a cake that looks like a law book, of course!

Pretty In Pink

We had a baby shower at work recently for one of my co-workers. She knew she was having a baby girl, and I finally had an excuse to make the "ruffle cake" that seems to be so popular lately.  Seriously, I think I've seen it on every blog I read.  It is a really simple cake, but it looks very elaborate.  I actually made a 9" cake for the shower in order to have enough to go around.  I still want to make a 6" cake like this to have the height for an even more stunning presentation.  I think the cake is a great choice for all kinds of occasions.  Just don't ask how much butter is used to make the double batch of icing that is required. Nope, unless you are Paula Deen, you do not want to know that answer!

Publish Post

This was yet another picture that I took with my phone, and I think the picture really doesn't do the cake justice.  Hopefully, someone at work has a better picture I can use.

GEAUX TIGERS (and McCumseys) ...

In November, I had the pleasure of making my (then future) brother-in-law's groom's cake for his and Syd's wedding reception.  They got married the same day of the LSU-Arkansas game.  Luckily, it was an away game, and I didn't have to choose between the game or the wedding.  Just kidding!

But back to the cake ... Brian went to LSU and he wanted some type of LSU cake.  Not only was the wedding the same day as the Arkansas game, but Syd's family is from Arkansas, so I thought it would be fun to incorporate the Razorbacks into the cake design as well.  I mean, I wasn't going to devote an end zone to them or anything, but I thought why not do a few football jerseys in their school colors.  I made LSU jerseys in white with yellow numbers and Arkansas jerseys in red with white numbers (the numbers 11 and 27 represented the date ... November 27th).  Then, I made strawberry footballs.  They were my favorite.  I am already dreaming up excuses of why I need to make them again.  

A collage of the elements that made up the cake:

Finally, a picture of the cake by itself.  Syd's friend, Heather Ray, took the wedding pictures, including this one.   Check out her website and look at her fabulous work!  Don't you just want to reach in and grab a strawberry?

First Communion Cake

My aunt's goddaughter, Sena, celebrates her First Communion this weekend.  Sena's mom had a cross shaped pan and asked me to create something similar to Wilton's Sacred Moment Cake, with white and pink flowers.

Wild About Cake!

This week was very busy!  Not only has work been crazy, but I also decided to lose my mind and take on a few extra cakes (and cupcakes) this week in addition to the one I was already planning on making for Mother's Day.  

First up, I made a zebra cake and zebra cupcakes for a little girl's birthday party.  Every thing came out cute, but it was the first time I had ever made a loop bow and it showed.  I am making a cake for this weekend that also has a loop bow, and I hope to do a better job on it.

I also made Elmo cookies for my cousin's daughter's second birthday party.  I am still new to decorating sugar cookies, and I wanted to practice. I knew Avery wouldn't mind! They got a little beat up in transport, but I think they still came out pretty cute.

And finally I made this cake for my mom for Mother's Day.  Since my mom loves chocolate, I made a chocolate cake with white chocolate icing.  It was very rich, but very yummy!  If you are interested in a tutorial on how to make your own hydrangea cake, check out Amanda's blog, I am Baker, over here.  

Oops, I said finally, but I also made a red velvet cake Sunday.  I didn't take any pictures of it, but here is one I did earlier this year.  I took this picture with my camera phone, pre-real camera days, so the quality is less than stellar.  Plus, my photog skills are seriously lacking.  The angle of the picture makes the writing look all warped.  I swear, it didn't look like that from above!

Syd's Baby Shower

This setup is from my step-sister's baby shower that I had the honor of co-hosting with my SIL, Brooke, earlier this year. Syd and Brian went with a bright color scheme for the nursery, and Brooke and I decided to have lots of fun incorporating bright colors into the shower as well.  

The food was great, but that's a whole other blog, we're here about dessert people!  The cake was decorated simply with only buttercream and rock candy.  Since the cake flavors at Brooke's shower were such a hit, I made the pineapple/pineapple cake and champagne/raspberry cake again for this shower.  I think they were even better a second time around.

For part of Syd's gift from me and my fab co-host, I made a diaper cake.   Instead of the normal flour, sugar, eggs, etc, I used diapers, blankets, a bath towel, washcloths, a few teething toys and ... a bottle of champagne.   

I almost forgot, about the turtle cake balls dipped in yellow candy melts -- the yellow candy melts got together with the chocolate cake balls and formed a rebellion against me.  I won in the end, but, sadly, there were many casualties before the battle was over.  

And finally, I made elephant sugar cookies for favors.  Syd not only went with a bright color scheme for the nursery, but she also incorporated many pieces of artwork of animals, especially elephants.  

I think Brooke and I did a pretty great job on putting the shower together, and I hope Syd remembers it fondly for many years to come.  Luckily, we have a bazillion pictures to show lil' miss carrie one day of all the fun we had preparing for her arrival.  

Brooke's Shower

This cake was for my SIL's wedding shower. I made the cake using a combination of buttercream, fondant, and royal icing.  This cake was so much fun to make ... almost as much fun as we had at the shower!

Special thanks to Julie at Be Still Photography for letting me include some of her wonderful pictures in my collage.  Definitely go here and check out more of her fabulous work. 

In case you are wondering after seeing the picture in the bottom left corner, the bottom tier of the cake was pineapple cake with pineapple filling and the top tier was champagne cake with raspberry filling.