Heart Rice Krispies Treats

If you are in need of a last minute Valentine treat for your kids to take to school, look no further! Who doesn't love a good old fashioned Rice Krispies Treat! A no bake recipe that really can't get much simpler, and I'm sure you all have a bag of marshmallows on hand, right? So whip up a batch of  these crispy marshmallow treats, add a few Valentine's sprinkles and cut out some hearts! What a sweet treat for all the kids.

Oh Valentine's sprinkles, how I do love you!

Cut out hearts alternating the shape upside down and right side up to maximize the number you get from the pan.

Look at all those yummy scraps that will be left over for munching on after you cut out the hearts!

Package in a plastic bag and tie with a cute ribbon and you've got a super sweet Valentine treat!

Rice Krispies Treats
(makes 18 hearts)

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 (16 oz) bag mini marshmallows
9 cups Rice Krispies Cereal
Valentine's Sprinkles

1. Prepare large cookie sheet with parchment paper and grease with butter.
2. Melt butter and marshmallows in large pot over medium heat on the store. Stir occasionally until marshmallows are completely melted.
3. Pour Rice Krispies into pot and stir into marshmallow mixture.
4. Spread Rice Krispies onto prepared cookie sheet and flatten with spatula.
5. Decorate with Valentine's Sprinkles.
6. Allow Rice Krispies Treats to set up for about an hour.
7. Cut out heart shapes.
8. Package in plastic bags and tie with ribbon.

Happy Heart's Day!

XOXO

Champagne & Raspberry Cupcakes

It's Valentine's Week, do you know what you are getting your sweetie this year? With only a few days left, there's still time to bake to impress! I've got the perfect treat that's sweet and pink. It features a bottle of bubbly and some fresh raspberries! So forget that box of chocolates or dozen roses this year, put on your apron and whip up a batch of these Champagne & Raspberry Cupcakes.

The recipe and all the details are featured over on Half Baked! I used Korbel Sweet Rose Champagne which paired well with the fresh raspberries. I hope you all enjoy these cupcakes and share them with the ones you love.

Wishing you all a sweet week!

XOXO

Ombre Red Velvet Cupcakes

Valentine's Day is quickly approaching and I've got the perfect sweet for you to share with your loved ones this year! Decorated with ruffles in shades of pink to red, these are a fancy version of your typical Red Velvet Cupcakes. I've also swapped out the traditional cream cheese icing for a white chocolate buttercream which I think you are going to LOVE! These are absolutely delicious and a must make for your sweetie!

I have been dying to try the ombre technique ever since I came across these stunning cakes over at Half Baked last year. I knew February would be the perfect month to have some fun with various shades of icing and my piping tips!

Although the various shades and layer upon layer of icing may appear a bit intimidating these cupcakes really are super easy to make! I'm sharing the recipe and all the tools & tips you will need to recreate this decorating technique over at Half Baked!

I hope you enjoy this recipe! Have you ever decorated something sweet with the ombre technique...I'd love to hear all about it!

XOXO

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! Wishing you a day full of LOVE and cupcakes!

I'm excited to share with you a new icing technique inspired by a photo my friend Mary Kendall sent me a few days ago. I just knew Valentine's Day would be the perfect occasion to create these sweet ruffled cakes. The icing is slightly more elegant than a traditional swirl iced cupcake, but is still super easy to do.

To create the ruffled look start with a Wilton petal tip #104 and a piping bag filled with frosting. By holding the wider end of the tip towards the center and the narrow pointed end of the tip to the outside of the cupcake, pipe a layer of icing around in a circle by gently wiggling the piping bag back and forth to create the ruffled look. Follow this same motion creating a 2nd and 3rd layer on top of the previous ruffles of icing. Finish off the look with a fondant topper to fit your special occasion, in this case the obvious choice was a heart for Valentine's day.

I am loving how the ruffled icing works so well when paired with a lace doily.

XOXOXO

Packaging Ideas for Valentine Cookies

Looking for the perfect sweet treat for your Valentine? Nothing says I LOVE YOU more than a batch of decorated sugar cookies! I am a sucker for cute packaging and re-purposing items for different uses other than what they are originally intended for. So as soon as the red & pink started hitting store shelves in January, I stockpiled on an assortment of materials that would come in handy when creating my Valentine's this year.

Using the colors and designs from the packaging materials I found I decorated cookies to match. I love finding inspiration from printed pieces such as tissue paper, fabric and stationery and recreating them in sugar.

So if you are up for being a little more adventurous this year and forgoing that same old box of chocolates for your loved one, check out these adorable packaging ideas.

Place cookies in a small colored tin and personalize with a label

Fill up favor boxes with paper shredding and place mini heart shaped cookies inside. Seal the box with a lid and coordinating ribbon.

Fill up cupcake liners with a small stack of cookies and tie with a ribbon.

Load up a decorative Chinese take-out box with shredded paper & cookies
(an assortment of designs can be found at Michaels for $1 each)

Pile cookies high in a clear paint can style container

Dangle cookies with ribbon for a decorative center piece
(this is the same jewelry tree I used for the Cute as a Button Baby Shower)

If cookies aren't your thing, you can easily adapt all of these packaging ideas to include candy, cake balls, brownies or meringue kisses.

Here are the recipes I used:
-Sugar Cookies
-Chocolate Sugar Cookies Recipe from the talented Meaghan of The Decorated Cookie. If you have never visited her blog, go take a look...her cookie & marshmallow creations are unlike anything I have ever seen! This was the first chocolate sugar cookie I had ever tried and oh my goodness they are AMAZING! I'm now a huge fan and will definitely be making these again soon!

I hope you have found some inspiration in these super cute and very affordable packaging ideas! Do you have some other fun ideas for packaging sweets, I'd love to hear about them!

And the winner is...

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend! I had so much fun watching all your guesses come in for the Valentine's Giveaway. I'm so excited to finally reveal the # of hearts in the jar and the winner of the giveaway....drum roll please....

the # of hearts in the jar was 536

and the winner is....

"krissyjosephine who guessed 532"

Congratulations, and awesome guess, you were so close! And lucky for you I got around to making some Valentine's cookies this weekend too so your giveaway package will also include an assortment of decorative cookies pictured above! Please send me your address at crave4cake@gmail.com so I can get your prize in the mail this week so you will have something sweet to unwrap for Valentine's Day!

Check back tomorrow for some fun packaging ideas for Valentine's Cookies!

Valentine's Giveaway!

Since Valentine's Day is fast approaching and I LOVE all my readers, it's time for a GIVEAWAY! Nothing says "will you be my Valentine" more than these nostalgic conversation hearts. So it's time to have a little fun, you ready?

Here's the deal. All you have to do is guess how many Conversation Hearts are in this jar by leaving it in the comments section below! The person who guesses closest to the actual # is the winner!

Wanna know what you are playing for?

A lovely prize package full of all sorts of Valentine's goodies put together by yours truly! I just couldn't help myself, all of these adorable pink & red items were calling my name and I knew you would love them too!

Valentine's Giveaway Package Includes:
-pink polka dot oven mitt & heart shape cookie cutter
-package of red & pink patterned cupcake liners
-4 Valentine gift tags
-4 Valentine plastic favor bags
-a LOVE cupcake box
-pink & red magnetic notepad
-a cupcake Valentine's card
-the jar of conversation hearts
**if I can get my act together...a dozen Valentine's sugar cookies**

Giveaway is open until Monday, February 7th at 12:00PM!
The person closest to the number in the jar wins!
Only 1 guess per person.
Contest open to US Residents only.

I will post the correct # of hearts in the jar and the winner sometime on Tuesday February 8th!

Ready, set, start counting up those hearts!

In other exciting news I have created a Crave. Indulge. Satisfy. Facebook page! I'd love for you to come check it out!

Cake Pop Lovin!

Happy February! It's the month of LOVE so it's only fitting to kick it off with a few things I'm lovin' right now!

#1 - My blog redesign! Do you all like the new look? I figure with the new year it was time to give CIS a facelift, and I'm lovin the new colors, fonts and custom design feel! A big thank you to Marina at Penny Lane Designs for a fantastic job! If you are looking for a blog makeover, PLD is a great place to start! Marina's portfolio is full of a wide array of designs, colors, fonts and styles, you will be sure to find inspiration. Her turnaround time is great, she is a pleasure to work with and her pricing is so affordable! Go check PLD out!

#2 - Cake Pops! Can't go wrong with cake on a stick! Especially chocolate cake with pink & red sprinkles! I just got finished teaching 2 friends how to make cake pops and we had so much fun. I love being able to pass on the tips and tricks I have learned throughout my baking adventures!

# 3 - My Birthday month! I will be entering the last year of my 20s on the 15th! For the past two years I have run a half marathon on the actual day or weekend of my birthday and this year will be no different. I am heading to Jacksonville in two weekends to run the Breast Cancer Half Marathon. I am so thankful to be healthy and capable of running. I know some people think I'm crazy, but really there is nothing I like more than to run a race on my birthday. It's the present I give to myself, and a tradition I hope to continue for years to come! Plus after 13.1 miles I can indulge in as much birthday cake as I want!

Looking forward to a wonderful month full of sweets & treats and red & pink!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! Hope everyone has had a wonderful day so far sharing it with the ones they LOVE! I started off the day running a half marathon in Birmingham with my Team in Training friends! Now I'm back in Mobile and my husband had all kinds of Valentine treats waiting for me when I got home...a dozen roses, assorted candies and a sweet card! Now he's fixing me a yummy dinner of shish kabobs (our favorite!!!!) twice baked potatoes and asparagus, yum yum yum! So while he's slaving away on dinner I figured I would update my blog with the Valentine's goodies I left hidden in the house for him while I was gone...I also took these to the team I coached in the half marathon today!


It seems like the most common Valentine's gift is a heart shaped box of chocolates....am I right? So using that idea as my theme I wanted to create my own spinoff of the favorite Valentine's day sweets! I have made cake pops before for baby & wedding showers so I decided why not make them again but this time just leave off the lollipop stick and decorate them with fancy sprinkles and icing swirls so they look like festive bite size candies!


The white chocolate balls are filled with red velvet cake and cream cheese. You can get the recipe here and the technique for making the cake balls here from a fabulous blogger Bakerella. The chocolate balls and chocolate round disk shapes are brownie bites and then decorated with royal icing.

I can't wait to take a bite out of one of these!

In addition to the cake & brownie dipped chocolates I also made a batch of heart sugar cookies with "13.1" piped on them since today was our half marathon race! I knew all the runners would love these cookies. For the recipe click here.

And remember those cute little aluminum Valentine's cans I made a few days ago...well guess what I decided to use them for.....my version of the "Valentine Box of Chocolates".

I placed a plastic treat bag inside and then filled them up with the red velvet cake balls and brownie bites! I really love this DIY packaging idea and think it turned out super cute and festive for Valentine's day!

I then placed the cookies in individual baggies and tied with a ribbon and personalized message tag and then placed on top of my Valentine chocolate tins!

Are you jealous you didn't receive one of these super cute Valentine's? Well hopefully you received your own super yummy and thoughtful Valentine gift from that special someone today!

Here are a few pics from our Mobile, AL Team in Training group that ran the Valentine's Mercedes Half Marathon today! Front Row: Me (in pink with heart headband) & the other coach Kelly, Back Row: Bobbie, Susan, Stephanie & Katie! Way to go ladies! You all did an awesome job today!

Me and Coach VV! She LOVES to dress in costumes in all her races!

VV and Alicia (the tu tu costume seamstress) and Paul aka Cupid!

We all had so much fun running today and I have to say the highlight of the race was when two little boys were handing out Krispy Kreme doughnuts at mile 11.5....oh yeah, I definitely grabbed one and enjoyed every single bite of it! I mean come on, it is Valentine's Day people and I had already run 11.5 miles...I was hungry and someone wants to hand me one of my favorite doughnuts...do you really think I was going to pass up such a SWEET treat on Valentine's Day???? I don't think so! It was delicious!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Red Velvet Mini Heart Cakes with Pink Cream Cheese Frosting

Well it's Valentine's weekend and you know what that means...LOVE, hearts, red & pink and sugary sweets! I absolutely love red velvet cake, the moist chocolate cake with a rich red color combined with the cream cheese frosting, it can't get much better than that! My husband likes red velvet cake too, so I thought I would make this batch especially for him since I'm heading to Birmingham tomorrow to run in yet another half marathon on Valentine's Day! This should keep him happy while I am gone!


I found the cutest mini heart pan the other day so I thought that would be perfect to use and make a batch of red velvet Valentine's cakes! Look how cute these mini cakes look!

To add an extra special touch I tinted the cream cheese icing pink.

And then I added some XOXOXOXOXO sprinkles on top!

Then I decided to have some fun pouring the sprinkles out into a pile and taking a photo!

Still excited about my XOXOXOXO sprinkles...

Can you tell I really love how these mini cakes turned out...now I've stacked 2 on top of each other to create a double decker red velvet and cream cheese sandwich!

I had some left over icing....so I decided to practice my cursive handwriting! By the way, this plate is from Target, isn't it cute! They always have the neatest seasonal serving pieces, and I'm a sucker for decorative plates!

Red Velvet Cupcakes (Martha Stewart)

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising, sifted)

2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

2 large eggs, room temperature

1/2 teaspoon red gel-paste food color

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons distilled white vinegar

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Whisk together cake flour, cocoa and salt.



• With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, whisk together sugar and oil until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Mix in food color and vanilla.



• Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and whisking well after each. Stir together the baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl (it will foam); add mixture to the batter, and mix on medium speed 10 seconds.



• Divide batter evenly among lined cups, filling each three-quarters full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester inserted in centers comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.



• To finish decorate with cream cheese icing. Refrigerate up to 3 days in airtight containers; bring to room temperature before serving.

Cream Cheese Frosting (Martha Stewart)

Ingredients:

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1 pound (4 cups) confectioners' sugar, sifted

3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• Beat butter and cream cheese with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add sugar, 1 cup at a time, and then vanilla; mix until smooth. Frosting can be refrigerated for up to 3 days; before using bring to room temperature, and beat until smooth.

XOXO