"Coffee Cake"

This was a last minute cake I made for a friend who is scheduled to go back to Texas at the end of the month. As mothers we seem to run on coffee, and she always knows when I need a little pick me up at work and drops some by! We have a running joke about how good our $4 cup of Starbucks is, but how you just can't beat plain old Dunkin Donuts coffee. The "Coffee Cake" made from pumpkin spice cake and a rice krispie treat base.

Letters cut from fondant with an exacto knife

Rice Krispie treat base

skewers are a cake makers best friend

Bacon Wrapped Shrimp Appetizers

I found this appetizer in the freezer section at the store for an outrageous amount of money. It only rendered 20 pieces of shrimp, but they were really tasty. So I set out to make a more economical version for the party I was throwing since seafood appetizers always add a nice flare to any menu. I was able to make over triple the amount of shrimp appetizers for the same price. They are really simple, can be made in advance, and frozen until the day of the party. Then just place the frozen appetizer in a piping hot 475 degree oven for 10-12 min and you're ready to serve.

all you need is a 1-2 pkgs of bacon depending on how many servings you're making,
 cheddar and pepper jack cheese cut into slices, and 1-2 pounds of medium shrimp cleaned,
deveined, and tails removed, and bamboo skewers

cut bacon in half

place 1 cheese slice on top on shrimp

wrap with bacon and place bamboo skewer
through the shrimp securing the bacon

place completed appetizers in a freezer bag
and place in the freezer until the day of your party

Yummy!!! I have to admit my favorite was the shrimp with pepper jack cheese.
 It held up better when heated in the oven, and added a nice spicy kick.
 I was trying to make an alternative for those who don't eat spicy food. 

Posh Elephant Baby Shower

I loved working on this shower; it was for a very special friend of mine. I really tried to make it a reflection of her personal taste and style, and a intimate celebration of this beautiful time in her life.  She was using elephants to accent the baby's room, but I didn't want to go with the obvious jungle theme, or have animal print just thrown everywhere. Finally, I decided on a palette of ivory, pastel blue, sliver, and used elephants just as an accent piece. I ordered silver elephant place card holders online, and made a edible ivory elephant gum paste cake topper with the baby's initials to add a personal touch.

 The food was more upscale as well, I mean this is a "posh" baby shower after all, you can't just slap cocktail wieners in barbecue sauce and call it a day. The menu consisted of pork wellington, bacon wrapped shrimp with cheddar and pepper jack cheese, Caesar salad in cucumber cups, assorted mini quiche, Swedish meatballs, baked spinach artichoke dip, and finally fried macaroni and cheese bites (the mother's favorite recipe of mine). I made a two tier cake with pastel blue bows and the custom topper, and as a thank you to the guests for attending I made pound cake onesie cookies. I hope you enjoy, and are inspired by this event.

 

On Holiday!!!

I apologize for my absence this month. As it is for most, December was particularly hectic in this household. I promise to pick back up in January with more entertaining ideas, healthy meal and dessert ideas, and organization with my own personal neurotic flare!!! See you all in the new year!

Heineken Cake

I made this cake for my husband's aunt.  They're throwing a surprise party for her boyfriend, and he LOVES Heineken beer so I made a 3D Heineken can cake. Now, after making cakes for years I've learned that people love the look of fondant on cake but not necessarily the taste. You can make some really awesome sculpted cakes but it's basically like eating sugar play dough. Most people just peel the outer layer off and eat the cake inside (plus it's crazy expensive). With that in mind, I made the cake mostly out of buttercream with a few fondant accents, that way the cake is still delicious yet artful. Drink Up!!!

I stack a few cake layers and begin to dowel the cake.
This gives it internal support for the additional layers stacked on top

add a drum board the size of your cake and stack some more

there is one center dowel through the middle to stabilize the whole cake

now I crumb ice the cake and let it rest in the fridge, this will catch all those loose crumbs

now add the second layer of icing, I tinted it gray and then sprayed it
with edible silver spray (you can get it at your craft store)

I piped buttercream tab

added the fondant

now just ready for piping

I made extra cupcakes. The last time I made a sculpted cake people didn't
 want to mess it up by cutting into it so no one ate the cake.



Done!



Pumpkin Cupcakes with Homemade Cream Cheese Icing

Right now all of my friends are pregnant! Well at least three of them, and if you know one thing about pregnant women, you know they have CRAVINGS!!! When my friend Nicole was pregnant she had to have my pumpkin cheesecake with maple pecan glaze. And who would blame her, it's amazing and you really only get it around this time of year. But now my friend Ciji is pregnant and a new pumpkin related craving has emerged. She is craving a pumpkin cupcake. She went to a local custom bakery and was told that for a specialty flavor she would have to order at least 2 dozen at around $2.50 a cupcake and they were not even going to let her taste it before she dropped the $60.00 to know if it was worth that amount change just to satisfy her craving. Lucky for her she has friend who loves to bake and can do it on a budget!!! Most people have a pumpkin bread or pumpkin muffin recipe, but the batter for breads/muffins is very dense and a very different texture from a light fluffy cake. Once again I scoured the web for a recipe, and I have to thank Betty Crocker because it's thier original recipe,  I just tweaked it a little, left a few ingredients out (and I just used the box mix brand I had on hand, sorry Betty). So here's an easy fix for your pumpkin craving even if you're not a baker.

Pumpkin Cupcakes
Ingredients
1 box yellow cake mix
1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumkin pie mix)
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup oil
4 eggs
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Directions
mix all ingredients in a mixer on medium speed for about 3 minutes. I use a med scoop to divide batter into cupcake pans, this gives you nice even cupcakes that bake evenly so you don't end up with one over flowing and one that is barely two bites. bake at 350 degree oven for 17-20 min. Top with cream cheese frosting recipe below.

see, equal batter makes nice and even cupcakes



Just a little extra sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice on top and you're done!
Enjoy Ciji, you're my girl!



Cream of Potato Soup

 

For this house fall and winter mean homemade soup time. You name it, chili, chicken and dumplings, but most of all home made cream of potato soup. So I'm sharing with you my personal recipe passed down to me from my mother-in-law because it was my hubby's favorite growing up.  He likes his plain, but I jazz mine up like a loaded baked potato. Anyway you serve it, it's guaranteed to satisfy!
Ingredients
4 tbsp butter
2 stalks of celery chopped
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 medium white onion chopped fine
1 tsp give or take garlic salt
1 tsp onion powder
1-2 tsp dried parsley
8-10 medium red skinned potatoes cubed (I don't peel mine, I just call it "rustic style")
2 cups of milk (and a few tbsp of cream/half & half really makes it)
salt and pepper to taste, I use seasoning salt too.

Directions
saute celery and onions in butter until soft. add potatoes, fill the pot with just enough water to cover the potatoes. I don't drain any water so I don't loose all the delicious onion and celery flavor I just continue to season it. Add the garlic salt, onion powder, parsley, salt and pepper (don't forget that potatoes soak up a lot of salt so be generous with it), seasoning salt. bring to a boil until potatoes are fork tender 10-15 minutes. I smash a few potatoes against the side with a spoon, it helps to thicken and add texture to the soup.when the potatoes are soft enough, add the milk and cream. add more salt and pepper at this point if needed and stir over medium/low heat until thickened. (if your soup needs a bit of help you can mix a tbsp of corn starch with 1/4 cup of milk/half and half and stir into soup). top with cheese, sour cream, and bacon bits and scallions if you like or just eat it plain with grilled cheese sandwich, enjoy!

saute veggies

add garlic and spices

add potatoes and barely cover with water



I topped mine with fresh cracked pepper, cheese, sour cream, and bacon, Mmmmmm!



Grilled ham and cheese, with fresh tomato on sour dough bread

delish!!!!