Double Baby Shower Cake and Party!

We had a double baby shower for my co-workers who are expecting just a few short weeks apart from each other. Not only did I make the cake but I co-hosted the shower so I had the rare opportunity to actually eat some of the cake that I made. Usually I just drop the cake off for delivery.

The cake is an 11x15" sheet vanilla cake with sweet buttercream. I piped pink and blue star borders and writing. The onesies are cut from fondant rolled out 1/16" thick, using the Wilton baby cutter set.

Styling for the baby shower. I used leftovers and extras that I've saved from previous baby showers for my sister. Added in some extra balloons. I found adorable "it's a boy" and "it's a girl" Hershey's kisses at Michael's.

We played games including guessing the date and time of both baby's' arrival and their weight and length. Cut ribbon to guess the size of the belly's. The clothespin game where you try not to say "baby" and if you do you get your clothespin stolen. I also brought a jar of gumballs. We were going to have a contest to see who could blow the biggest bubble before it popped. Prizes were Jelly Belly's, how appropriate. ;)

Rainbows and Unicorns

Vanilla cake with rainbow layers inside and pink buttercream! I followed this tutorial from Betty Crocker. I added the 2 tsp of cocoa powder to the no-taste red to make it deeper and I used my Wilton gel colors because they are less watery than the regular store food colors.  The stand up cake behind the rainbow is a 6" strawberry cake cut in half.

 

Hand-painted unicorn on fondant. I used a combination of food writer markers and gel food coloring mixed with a bit of clear vanilla  to draw and paint the unicorn. I added shading with pink and purple color dust then went over the whole thing with silver pearl dust.

Fondant rainbow ball border. Roll fondant out 1/4 inch thick, use a medium sized circle cutter, cut each circle in half, then roll each half into a ball.

Fondant: Hearts, Stars, Rainbows, Flowers, Butterflies, Clouds, Name. The stars are threaded on unwrapped floral wire which I went back and hand wrapped with floral wire. The number 4 I cut out and sprayed with silver edible food mist.

I shaped the flowers in small flower formers and put the butterflies in my wavy flower former to give them shape.

Lisa Frank inspired

Final Sketch

Cherry Coke Cake

A Cherry Coke cake with Vanilla Coke buttercream and maraschino cherries. The cake is two layers, 8" round filled with more cherries. I followed this recipe  except that I used less coke and added vanilla to the buttercream.

Cherry Coke Cake
1 box chocolate cake mix
1 cup Coca-Cola
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup maraschino cherry juice
3 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two 8" pans. Combine all ingredients in bowl of mixer. Pour into cake pans and bake for 35-40 minutes. Move to wire rack to cool.

Vanilla Coke Frosting
1/2 cup butter, room temp
3 cups powdered sugar
4 Tbsp Coca-Cola
1 Tbsp clear vanilla extract

Cream together butter and sugar. Add coke and vanilla. Beat until combined.

"Sweet" 16 Candy Cake

This cake was so fun and easy to make!

I used store bought lollipops, whirly pops, swizzle sticks and gumballs, and add the 16 and name with fondant. The swirls on the fondant are handpainted with food coloring mixed in with clear vanilla extract.

How stinkin' adorable is that sprinkle lollipop?

The cake itself was a 10" round, two layer strawberry cake with white buttercream.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Who doesn't love white chocolate macadamia nut cookies? I followed this recipe and it was a hit! I believe that it was the almond extract that makes the recipe so good.

1 cup butter, room temp
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chopped macadamia nuts
1 cup chopped white chocolate

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In mixer, cream together butter and both sugars. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and almond extract. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking salt. Gradually mix in. Add macadamia nuts and chocolate. Scoop onto baking sheet using an ice cream scoop for uniform sized cookies. Bake for 10 minutes until golden brown.

It is especially careful not to over cook these as they should be golden brown around the edges and still a bit soft in the middle. The texture is just crunchy enough and just ooey-gooey enough to make the perfect cookie.

Happy Birthday Steph!

My sister turned 23 and my dad wanted me to make her a cake for her birthday dinner. He sent me a few ideas and this is what I came up with. Cherry Chip cake 8" round 5" high on the bottom, and 6" round 5" high top tier. The bottom is done in white buttercream with pink fondant polka dots, pink happy birthday banner, white gumpaste/fondant daisies with pink centers. The top tier is pink buttercream with white buttercream ribbons topped with a gumpaste/fondant bow. Inside each tier were 3 layers of the cherry chip and buttercream.

Cake Batter Fudge

I borrowed this recipe from here after a friend came across it online. Had to try it since it looked so good! I followed the recipe exactly except that I used Cherry Chip cake mix instead of white or yellow. It tasted great! And I used up some of the many sprinkles/sequins/edible hearts/sparkling sugars that I have.

2 cups Cherry Chip cake mix
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cups (1 stick) butter cut into fourths
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/4-1/2 cup sprinkles (and just like the recipe says, who measures sprinkles? Just to crazy!)

In a microwave safe bowl, combine cake mix and sugar. Add butter and milk. Microwave on high 2 minutes. Stir until combined. Add chocolate chips and stir again. Fold in half of sprinkles. Spread in to a greased or lined with parchment 8x8 pan. Add remaining sprinkles and press in. Refrigerate to set. Cut into 1 inch squares.