Happy Birthday Landon!!!

For a little over a year, I was the only girl in my coterie of friends in the Midwest that had a baby. No friends to have play dates with, and definitely no baby birthday parties. But the past 2 years, it was baby palooza up in this mug...
This weekend, we had Landon's first birthday party. My great friend asked me to make the cake, and let me know the theme was to be sports related as he really really loves playing with all things round.
She decided on cupcakes and a smash cake so I got to work as the kids got to giddly think on this elusive thing called 'party' we were going to attend after naps.

Let me tell you something- my kids are shy. Like, run from the camera, hold onto my legs for dear life, can't be pried from my arms, wail when I leave their sight. I mean, they blush if you look at them.

....

Yeah, right.
My kids are the EXACT opposite of that. #1 hasn't met a stranger he DOESN'T like. He frequently tells new friends that he loves them within 5 minutes of being introduced. Moochie had a few months where she was a strict mama's girl, but man ALIVE did she come out of her shell lately and on Saturday, the girl came wearing her party pants and got down to business. She flirted and laughed, walked on tip toe and sashayed about in her party dress, cooing her favorite word to anyone who would listen. "shooooes" she would proudly proclaim, lifting her foot for them to bestow the inevitable "awwww, cute", to which she would reply "ank oooo". How could you not love this child. She's my favorite girl.

ok- the real deal reason for this post is this cake, here it is:




Since I was doing cuppies and not a stacked cake, I wanted to do something creative. I have quite a few inspiration books on cupcakes and I hoped there would be something sports related or something to get my creative juices flowing. In the book "Hello, Cupcake" there was a picture of a stacked cake of cupcakes. It didn't use a cupcake tower (thank GOD because I don't have one, yet) and it was colorful (another request from my friend) and I thought I could use my cupcake toppers too.

First, frosted the cuppies in either vanilla buttercream or chocolate buttercream, rolled the edges in sprinkles and then got to stacking.




I popped the cupcake toppers in all the outside cuppies and added a single swizzle candle on top.



And that's his smash cake. It was 3 layers of banana cake with chocolate buttercream. I was about to go all out on this cake, but I was like- no one is going to even be LOOKING at this cake they will be too focused on this cute baby eating it with his hands. So I went with simple and it was my FIRST time frosting a cake without using the Swiss Buttercream! I think it went well.
Don't know if Landon liked how it tasted, but he seemed to enjoy it. ;)

Spring Butterflies, and some Monkey-ing around.

I've been wanting to do a butterfly cake for a while now. I found a beautiful wedding cake that was 4 tiers and had butterflies cascading down the front of it, on the diagonal... Well, look at what I did- this is a weak attempt at the beauty that I was inspired by:









This was (obviously) a birthday cake... Again, didn't have much direction on what it was to look like... wait- I was told she liked "pretty things, like flowers"... SO at the last minute I decided to throw on two fondant flowers (can you spy them on top?) Mostly because I wanted to practice making them, and I would have done MORE, but the kids were getting antsy.

I should have made the butterflies a few days in advance to let them harden. Yeah, but I didn't start working on the cake until Wednesday late night. SO- I had to come up with a way to get them to dry out quicker. I baked them. I set them on skewers and put them in the oven at 200 degrees for about 20 minutes. They did get hard, but I don't know if that's 'kosher'. I figured, you put clay into a hot kiln to dry the pots out... why not fondant?? It was either that or freezing it, but I didn't have room in the freezer.

I broke a few while putting them on the cake but I got really excited to make a real deal butterfly cake at another time. To shape their wings in various stages of flight, to make a rainbow of them... Doesn't that sound pretty???? Just agree with me, make me feel better.

OK- and Monkey bread...mm. mm... MMMMMM!
In following with my addiction to making food that is nothing but BAD for you, I had to make some Monkey Bread.

I thought this was something new and different- I mean, I had never heard of it before ir seen it before really... I thought people would be like, "how do we eat this? slice it?" and I would wink and say "NO, you pull it apart, one little nugget at a time, see?" and I would pull apart a little nugget and the caramelized sugar would ooze over the little piece I pulled off, and pop it in my mouth with a smile.
Not so much. It didn't happen like that.. What really happened was that my co-workers were like, "OH YEAH, Monkey Bread is awesome, I've had it here and here and my neighbor makes it all the time, and did you know you could add this..." and on, and on, and ON.
so much for being original.

It was still fun, easy, used lots of butter and tasted delightful. Check me out:

here is the POUND of butter melting with the cup of brown sugar (I love saying a pound of butter- it sounds worse than 2 sticks of butter. Sucka's!)



Here is the refrigerated biscuits I used. You can use 3 or 4 cans (each have 10 biscuits) and cut them into 4ths.


Then you dump them into a giant ziploc bag of sugar and cinnamon



and shake like mad. If you have kiddies- give the zipped up bag to your kids and play catch or something. The more shaking the better. Get every little nugget completely coated in sugar goodness



THEN you dump it into a BUNDT PAN! Yeah, another use for the bundt pan!!! This is better than just a cake pan because it offers more edges for caramelized sugar and little bits of crunch



Then, you take that melted POUND of butter and brown sugar and POUR over the top of the nuggets...



Yes, you will be eating this shortly...



Throw into a 400 degree oven for about 35 minutes until the top is a nice golden brown and no longer swimming in the POUND of butter.
Let it cool in the pan for another 15 minutes or so, then turn upside down onto a serving platter:




This is the Bundt Pan after I dumped. I didn't grease or flour this pan (shocking, I know) but because it had so much butter, it pretty much just slid out of the pan, easy peasy.



TRUTH: I baked this the night before I brought it into work. It was still pretty good in the a.m. and I imagine it would have been BEST if it was still warm and melty. I went ahead and made it again this a.m. for the co-workers. I love walking into work with goodies fresh out of the oven, the smell of cinnamon wafting behind me. They like it too- it's like the Pied Piper or something. This time I added some cut up pears though- I wanted to add diced apples, but I couldn't find any in the can. SO I went with pears. Eh, what's the diff... I was going to chop up some pecans for the top, but got lazy. Next time!!!

My sista from anotha mista (or, freaky motha focka)

It all started with this...


which turned into this:




This seemed to be the next logical step....



And, I thought this worked too....



pause for some metal working....
then I added some magic:







SEVEN hours later, a half hour LATE to the party :( I got to share it with my Bestie!



Yes, I blocked out faces. But I realize not everyone wants to be 'out there' and since I don't have permission from either person in the photo besides myself, I felt it was the appropriate thing to do. But, can you see the cake in the background? It made my bestie smile. Promise!
ugh, and now you know how short Sweet Sandy B. really is. Yeah, I'm hobbit sized. lol

Happy Birthday my friend! My sista from anotha mista (seriously, do people say these things? guess so, I just did...)

Dear Blog, I've been missing you!

A week away from my manifesto and I have been missing it so...
I have a lot of random thoughts that I'll put in the other normal spot- go look! But, have some quick pictures to get up here.

FIRST, here is a little tease of my bestie's 30th birthday cake:



My camera is M.I.A. and it has the real deal pictures of this cake. Silly Rebel, where did you run off to??

This was a BIG cake. Bottom tier was chocolate banana cake and banana cake w/ a malted chocolate ganache. Middle tier was ALL yellow cake w/ chocolate frosting (Bestie's FAV), and top tier was chocolate and yellow cake with the chocolate frosting.
All covered in Swiss Buttercream frosting and fondant designs. The top decoration was wire with beads on the end.

I drew up the design on a 'break' from my class last week, and got giddy excited to make it. It took quite a bit longer than anticipated- I felt REALLY out of practice, I haven't done a cake in a while... wait... scratch that-I DID make a cake last Tuesday! Yipes, how did I forget!? I had the FAIL with frosting. oooh, more on that in a hot minute...

You know how some people remind you of a color? (lol, remember the move Baby Mama where Amy Poehler says your aura has a color? wow I love that movie). So, my bestie's color is yellow. I don't know why- I think or brighty, sunshine-y yellow when I imagine her 'aura'. So that's how the color theme came about- sunrise colors.

Now, back to the frosting fail. We had a brief spring warm up last week. We got to EIGHTY on Thursday, and starting Tuesday afternoon/evening the house started to warm up. I didn't think it was that warm, but as I was making the buttercream I noticed it wasn't setting up like it normally does. Something was AMISS! But I kept whipping it and slowly it cooperated. hmph... I didn't give it too much thought.
THEN I started to frost the cake (I don't have pictures of this cake EITHER, as it's on the pesky little missing Rebel)... the dirty frost went on ok... It was a chocolate cake which I don't like frosting because it's so messy. But, it seemed to be going ok, and I put it in the fridge to set up.
queue music as I take a break to go and pack for my class for the rest of the week...
I come back downstairs, take the cake out and start to do the second layer of frosting.
THE FROSTING WOULDN"T STICK TO THE CAKE. It became too warm, the house was too warm, it didn't want to cooperate. I freaked out. I thought I did something wrong w/ the frosting. I took a big spoonfull and tasted it. It seemed fine, what was going on?!

I feel bad admitting, I seriously gave up on this cake. We got in a fight, the cake won. I did what I could, but I was in a rush to get it delivered- no excuse, I realize. But it wasn't my best work and not until I was packing it up did it all dawn on me that the temperature in the house played a huge role in the cake fail.

I totally blocked that from my mind. weird.

OK, wait here is something good to end on until I get the Rebel back and can post pictures of the Bestie Birthday cake:




Libby, I <3 you!! Didn't she do a great job? She is the cutest pregnant person I have ever been around, she was so sweet and I can't wait to do more business with her. We are crafting up an evil genius plan to help promote each other, and frankly- the idea is SWEET. PLEASE, go check her out: Elizabeth K Photography and become her fan.

All in a days work...

Saturday a.m. I turned the oven on, oh, around 8:30 a.m. It didn't get shut off until about 7 p.m.... It was one of those days.

I was running out of cake and I have two cakes to deliver this week so I figured I'd get those going. And I also had some requests for cookies, so I figured I'll just do it today- you know, get some dough made, whip up a few cakes. Well, a few turned into THIRTEEN, six batches of cookie dough, one tray of chocolate chip cookie dough brownies and a loaf of banana bread.
I'm now wondering about my sanity...

Friday night was a good night at home w/ the kiddies- we had a chill dinner, watched some Yo Gabba Gabba and bed time was pretty easy. Played some Rock Band and avoided blisters (thank GOD!) and went to sleep at a fairly reasonable time. I woke up on Saturday a.m. to find my little #1 fast asleep next to me in bed. It melted this mama's heart. He looks so sweet when he sleeps, so calm and quiet... the calm before the storm. I cherish his sleeping moments when he is still my sweet little baby boy. :)

but then he wakes up and the chaos ensues! He is ALL boy and I love it... He even helped me mix some cookie dough! mostly because he wanted to eat the dough, but still!
SO- the six batches of dough ready for the fridge for a cool down....



Mooch decides to get in on the kitchen action and wants to help me by cleaning out the tupperware drawer...


and leaves this in her wake....


Time to go outside I think! I put the banana bread in the oven and we went for a bike ride/walk. #1 has a Like-A-Bike and he is amazing on it. Have you heard of these before?? They rock! Balance bikes are such a neat idea and I love that he gets to zoom around on it like a 'big boy' and also prepares for other activities that require a lot of balance- i.e. skateboarding, snowboarding! :)


We come back, eat some lunch, and take naps. Let me clarify, MOOCH took a nap. #1 negotiated his way OUT of a nap and I therefore didn't get much cake baking done. But, we managed... and somehow ended up with THIS:



and then, after a good chill in the fridge I baked all six batches of cookies. I found boxes to ship them in and wrapped them up... Here they are ready to go



These cookies are making their way to California, Georgia and various places in Michigan. the thought makes me smile, but I'm nervous about how well they will travel. I hope they taste delicious upon arrival, as good as they do now... I hope to get feedback from the recipients..
AND, hey- if you didn't get a sample of Sweet Sandy B goodness, it's not too late! Send me an email and I'll see what I can do..

I won't be baking much this week- I have a really REALLY big day tomorrow and then I'm going to be in class for work the rest of the week.
If you get a chance, keep me in your thoughts. Tomorrow, the rest of my life changes.

more carrot caking

I can't get enough... I'm addicted... and have 5lbs of carrots still in my fridge.
I ran to the store to buy more pecans and decided to turn this third batch into cupcakes...

Here is the batter in the mixer. (this is not a shameless plug for a kitchen-aid) but seriously, if you don't have one- go get one. I love it and want another...



I've been traumatized by my bundt cake experience so I've been overdoing the greasing and flouring lately. I sprayed Pam in each of the cupcake cups before I baked... that's why they look greasy, but this cake really isn't greasy... it's actually pretty decent for you...



It's the frosting you gotta worry about! yum yum... it doesn't look so pretty in a cupcake form, but it tastes darn good.



and these are coming to work tomorrow for a happy end to the work week. I think I deserve an award for best co-worker... Just sayin'

Beautiful Failure (aka GET READY part II)

Yesterday I talked about my epic FAIL of a pound cake and promised you the story... Here it is in all of it's gruesome glory.
The recipe name is what got me- it stated that it was THE BEST pound cake you had ever had. It also had some interesting secret ingredients and I became more intrigued. It also required the use of a Bundt pan..I was hooked- this recipe was going down.
I never ever use my Bundt pan, ever... I actually can't think of a time I have used it since I received it five years ago... I've shied away from it because I've had issues in the past with my mini bundt pans and getting the cake to come out cleanly. But this recipe sounded good, it had secret ingredients and required the never used Bundt pan. I was scared, I'll admit. But, this is an adventure so I felt I should be brave and what the heck?

I followed the instructions to a T. In the recipe it states "grease your Bundt pan". I greased. I greased a lot. In fact, I think I over greased! Not anywhere did it say "grease and flour". Just "grease". So, I didn't flour.

I went for a run and left instructions w/ Nanny J to pull it out of the oven when the timer went off if it wasn't 'jiggly'. Let me tell you about Nanny J- she has 6 kids and lives on a farm. The woman knows how to bake better than I can ever dream of. I'm embarassed when I bake around her because she probably is mocking me internally. But she is so sweet and kind she would never criticize me. She just won't eat what I bake! lol.. One day I will have to tell you all about her, because you will be amazed I found this gem of a woman and you will try to steal her from me. But, she's loyal! she won't leave. So try as you may, you won't succeed. So there!

anyhow, I come home and the cake is on the counter turned upside down still in the Bundt pan on top of a cooling rack. The recipe had indicated that the cake would 'plop' out of the pan, easy-peasy. With excited anticipation, I go to lift the pan and am surprised AND DISMAYED that the cake doesn't budge. It didn't plop and it's not moving at all. I look at the cake with disbelief- WHAT is going on? I GREASED!

My evil genius mind gets going and I proceed to BANG the pan on the counter top on all sides in hopes of releasing the suction like grip. Nothing...I'm about to reach for a knife to help loosen it, but think, I'll just bang a little longer. (GET your minds OUT OF THE GUTTER NOW!) It seemed to work, I turn it over onto the cooling rack and this is what happens:


FAIL, FAIL and FAIL. half the cake in the pan, half the cake crumbled onto the rack. stupid cake. stupid pan. stupid grease without flour.

what am I going to do? I despise throwing away treats. Hate it. It still tastes good, it just doesn't look good. *SIGH...sad...

I stared at the crumbled cake. For a good long time I stared, in a standoff with this failure of a cake. Mad that I didn't flour the pan like I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE and mad that the recipe didn't explicitly say "grease and flour". And mad that I failed AGAIN with a Bundt pan. insert explitives here.... *cleansing SIGH...
Then I got my camera and took some pictures... because along with the good I have to share my failures so we can all learn... As I was snapping away, I thought about my proverbial sack of lemons and making lemon bars and realized I could still use the cake and no one would know it was a failure.
I can make strawberry shortcake!
AND!!!!!! and, I have a freaking Trifle Dish. how many people do you know have a Trifle Dish? This is too perfect! I just had to remove all of the sea shells I had in it, wash it out and use it for it's intended purpose...

I got excited- I was turning my FAIL into something awesome. Here is what I did:

put pieces of the failed cake into the dish:


top with a layer of strawberries and fresh whipped cream (2 batches whipped cream = 2 cups of heavy whipping cream, 10 teaspoons of powdered sugar, 2 teaspoons vanilla, chill mixing bowl and whip attachment in freezer for half hour, then pour all ingredients into bowl and whip on high until soft/stiff peaks form) and, don't leave it unattended because you might walk up on this....





then repeat layers until you get to the top











And there you go. That my friends is how you turn an epic fail into something beautiful.