ooops! Two More

Here is the cake, I forgot to add it to the last post.
And, a better picture of the cupcakes...
















YUM!

Adventures in Cream Cheese

In Chicago I tried a bunch of different cream cheese frostings... I don't like a frosting that's too cheese-y. So, I compared a few different recipes I found and came up with my own. Unfortunately, it didn't whip up as nicely as I had hoped- it was runnier than I like my frosting.
Any ideas? Tips? What can I do to make the frosting thicker without adding too much cream cheese?
Well, these came into work with me today. I'm thankful I have some willing taste-testers here- and seemingly everyone has fallen off the new years resolution diet bandwagon. They were gone in minutes

Marathon Baking....

Marathon baking session tonight! Literally the oven was running for hours and the house smelled amazing. In preparation for this weeks birthdays I had to get going quick. Double chocolate fudge, yellow, spice and 'funfetti' cakes were on the menu. Personally I thought the spice cupcakes turned out the best. Those are just a means to an end though- I want to try my hand at cream cheese frosting... We'll see how that goes tomorrow. I'm exhausted but I love going to bed smelling like I was in a bakery all day- the sweet warm scent of cake just sticks to you! wonderful side effect...

My little seed

Chocolate Chip Cookies.....

Hands down, my favorite thing to make. Mostly because I think they are delicious and it took me forever to come up with the recipe... with my 'secret' ingredient.

Last year, I think I made them at least every other week... I fell in love with them more because I knew other people were enjoying them immensely. Or so they said! :)

These chocolate chip cookies are ultimately the seed of my dream. Maybe that could be the next tattoo... speaking of which I haven't heard back from J.D.....

little lovely

Isn't she pretty? Bundt cakes are always gorgeous to me and I glazed this one in chocolate frosting. I wish I could say it was something special and fancy- but I don't do special or fancy... YET! Seriously, cake from a mix and I melted chocolate store frosting in the microwave until it got liquidy and then poured over the mini-cake.

HOLY....

Mountain, Sandy. Sandy, Mountain....

I had NO idea how labor intensive this was going to get. Let's just say I put the cart in front of the hourse on this one. Lessons learned:

1) bake ALL cakes well in advance of actually using them to decorate

2) make your OWN buttercream and make MORE than you anticipate using

3) red is nearly unattainable without actual red food dye.

4) food coloring/dye is a mess

5) gumpaste and fondant should NOT be used interchangeably

6) a cake turntable is essential in cake decorating.

7) mise en place is HUGE. ... HUGE.

and number 8...

8) I need a TON of practice. a TON.

thankfully, I signed up for some practice in a few weeks at an old college haunt.

in the mean time, my hands are all shades of green, blue and red. My back is seriously aching, my kitchen is a MESS and I'm sure I have powdered sugar all over my face and hair. I'm refusing to look in the mirror.

But I know I would see this- a GIANT smile on my face. Today was awesome....

Inspiration

I had the pleasure of eating my way through Chicago's cupcake shops... I only hit up four of them, and seriouly each was better than the one prior. So I won't say which order I went in- but the red velvet was from The Cupcake Counter, The "Happy" ones are from Swirlz and the chocolate lovelies are from Molly's. I also took a picture of their sign out front because it was perfect, as is their website: www.mollyscupcakes.com

Now to bake some of my own goodness

BLISS

Where to begin! I made my visits this week/weekend.
You know how you can walk in somewhere and feel home immediately? I had that happen this weekend.
I went to Chicago to check out the last stop. Perhaps I saved it for last because I knew in my heart I would love it and didn't want to be biased. I don't want to call it out yet... I don't want to jinx myself and anyhow, there are about 12 things I need to do and have to make work in order for this next part of my dream to become a reality.

Either way, I walked in and felt like a recruited athlete. They rolled out the red carpet for me and I was in awe, humbled and so inspired. Surrounded by people who were just as excited about flour, butter and sugar as me- it was a sugar high for sure.

AND! and... I FINALLY had dinner at Frontera Grill. yup! it lived up to my every expectation and then some. had some fiiiiine tequila as well. was a good, good night.

lots and lots to think about and discuss. ahhhhh! seriously, I'm so giddy and inspired.
Which is good timing because I have to start PRACTICING for #1's upcoming b-day cake.
Can anyone say "Yoooooooooooooooooooo Gabba Gabba!!!"
I'll post my results later

First things first...

Since I'm starting a bit late, I need to re-cap some exciting things that have happened. 2009 pretty much sucked. It was my year of churning, soul searching, tears and baking...

I went through so many changes; euphoric highs and deep down lows, lots of laughing and some inevitable tears. But through it all, I baked... and baked...

Changes needed to be made and one day while plodding away on the treadmill, it hit me like a ton of bricks. The questions that lurked around every corner of my brain for the past couple of years, "What is it that I love? What makes me happy?" finally had an answer- Baking!

Um, excuse me? Did I just say "baking"? Did I go to college and spend a ridiculous amount of money to realize that BAKING is what I want to do?

Creating some goodness, some home baked love from MY hands to your tummy and seeing that smile... Yeah, bottle me up some of that and let me wear that around my neck every day. I love it. I love to make other people happy and it also makes me happy. But, what next? Well, this is my way to document the 'what next'.

are you ready? I am... here I go... Come with me, the best is yet to be

The adventure

The past year has been all about one word- change. I've embarked on an adventure and I want to remember it, and obviously share it. Day by day everything is evolving.... EVERYTHING. 2010 will be mine. wait and see! or how about, check in and read- follow along with me as I go...