Decorated Cupcakes!

Over the past couple of months I was able to make individual decorations for cupcakes for occasions from baby showers to birthdays. I love the look of a bunch of cupcakes with the little decorations on top.

I made a bunch of these little cuties for a baby shower. They were the perfect little bite of sweetness all in one!

I love the little army of cupcakes. They look so cute. All lined up and ready for battle.

These next ones were for another baby shower made back in June. They were made to match the invitations and were vanilla with a ganache filling. YUM!

The fondant decorations were all cut by hand even down to the little indents in the surfboards. And I love these little wrappers. I could use them all the time! The scalloped edge is adorable!

And as always, my little army of turtles all riding out to surf the party together :)

And these were my first attempt at making sugar flowers by hand. They took a lot of research, trial & error, & time to get right, but I think I finally got the hang of it toward the end there.

The colors of the party were pink and purple and they painted lilies :) And if you ever wondered what an army of sugar lilies looked like...

Thanks for checking out my cupcakes :) Let me know any fun ideas you may have for my next project!

Ladybugs, Peace Signs, Ducks... OH MY!

I've been slacking again, I know. I just moved in to a new apartment, got a dog, and I'm finishing up another semester at school. It's been crazy. But I've still managed to fit some baking projects in :)

Let's start with some mini swirl cheesecakes. The recipe I used was fairly easy, but it lied to me about how to make the swirls. They were impossible the way the recipe showed me. So I started all over again on batch #2, and I was happy, but it was not perfect. So it looks like there's another art I will be perfecting, when I have a second of free time that is.

Super close up.

The next ones are some of my favorite cupcakes I've made. I think if I were 16 again, I would have these at my birthday party. Maybe even 17. Oh who am I kidding... I'd have these for my birthday this year :)

I love this picture. How fluffy the butter cream looks, how cute the cupcake looks on the pedestal, and even how imperfectly the fondant sits on top of it.

This duck cake is absolutely adorable. She didn't want too much blue, or for it to be too boyish. So this was what I came up with.

I just had to add the "it's a boy" up top. I wanted to use the Cricut for something!

But the bubble clusters were definitely my favorite part. So cute!

Anyway, that's what I was up to in the month of March. Just wait until you see what I've been up to this month :)

Oh yeah, I bet you all want to see what the little puppy looks like. He's gotten so big already!

This was him the day we got him. SO TINY!

And this is him now.....

This is him now. Yeah. HUGE!

Who Lives In a Pineapple Under the Sea?

SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS!

So I was asked to make Spongebob cupcakes for a little girl's birthday party recently. I was really excited about this request because I had been wanting to do three things for a while: sculpt and make shapes out of fondant, use my new exacto knife, and use my new edible ink pens!

Now I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to make these photos sit horizontally, but I wanted to include them to show the process these cupcakes went through. As I cut out each step, I saw a little bit more of Spongebob and Patrick forming. This was one of the first projects I've done where I was able to plan and execute what I wanted to accomplish in a timely and organized manner. Woo hoo!

These are Spongebob's noses and mouths.

They both looked kind of creepy with just eyes!

Then all of a sudden... POOF!

They came together so quickly!

And just as quickly as I started, they were finished! Except for the black dots on Spongebob's eyes.

Sometimes Patrick looks cross-eyed, sometimes he looks angry, but he always has that goofy smile!

Spongebob pre-black dots.

Spongebob post-black dots.

I couldn't decide which one I liked more. But I obviously couldn't take it back once it was done.

I was very excited and very proud once these little cuties were finished.

These cupcakes were made for a party at Sketch and Sip. Patty Sisco, the owner is one of the most creative people I know and I am so glad I've been able to work with her on so many occasions. I could actually write a whole post on all the occasions we've worked together or worked on projects for each other. As a matter of fact, that's a wonderful idea! Mental Note. :)

Love This.

Nothing could make me happier right now than staring at my shiny brand new KitchenAid Stand Mixer. Nothing besides using it, that is. So what recipe should I make to christen my beautiful new kitchen accessory... "Xtra-Special" Celebration Cake from the Gold Medal Alpha-Bakery cookbook from James' Childhood.

James told me how he used to skip school and stay home and bake with his mom when he was younger. He made almost all the recipes from this book, but hasn't been able to find the book in years. The "Xtra-Special" Celebration Cake was one he would make for his sister's birthday. I knew this was a cookbook I wanted to have for my kids. So I went online and found one of the only 3 used copies up for sale. 

Step one: Mix dry ingredients in a bowl. (In this recipe, sugar counts as dry)

Step Two: Add wet ingredients to the bowl of your stand mixer.

Step Three: Slowly add dry ingredients and mix until well combined.

It should look something like this. Smooth with no lumps.

Step Four: Fill cupcakes about 2/3 full. Bake @ 350 for 18-22 minutes. (I wanted to make cupcakes, so I reduced the time and kept checking them to see if they were done.

When I brought them over to his house, his sister could tell just from the smell that it was the same recipe from that cookbook and their childhood. I was amazed. I would love to show the finished product, but they went so fast I couldn't even get a picture! The original recipe can be found here.