Black & Teal Wedding Cake & Cupcakes

Happy Friday! So glad the weekend is finally here! I'm going to keep this post short and sweet because 1) Its been a LONG week & I'm tired, 2) I've got more baking to do for a couples shower/crawfish boil tomorrow and 3) Randolph just put some ribs on the grill with his "special dry rub" seasoning so dinner will be ready shortly! So I will leave you with some photos of a wedding cake and cupcakes I made for a reception last weekend.

Tracy, the bride sent me some great photos for inspiration to work with when designing her cakes and cupcakes inspired by the napkins she was going to use at her recption. I just love the black and teal theme!

I used royal icing to pipe on the swirls and squiggles.

Tracy bought the cupcake tower online and then covered each individual tier with a black damask wrapping paper and covered the edges in teal ribbon. This is a super easy DIY project and very affordable and easy to assemble! I decorated each cupcake with 4 black fondant flowers and silver dragees. The flowers were made using this daisy flower plunger from Layer Cake Shop.

Congratulations Tracy! I had so much fun making your wedding cake and cupcakes! I wish you much happiness with your new groom!

Mardi Gras "King Cake Inspired" Layer Cake

Mardi Gras has been in full swing here in Mobile for the past few weeks now! I have been to parades, caught strands of beads, nibbled on Moon Pies and even gone to a Mardi Gras Ball. So what better way to add to this celebration than with a "King Cake Inspired" layer cake! I can't believe the carnival season is almost over and I have only eaten one king cake so far this year. In years past it wasn't unlikely for me to devour an entire cake myself in only a few days and run right back out and buy another one. They are just that amazing!

King Cakes are truly one of my favorite indulgences during the year! Last year I even made one from scratch. There is nothing quite like a piece of flaky king cake with a cinnamon and pecan filling covered in an icing glaze and garnished with tri-colored purple, green and gold sprinkles.

A traditional king cake has a cinnamon center, but they also come in a variety of other flavor combinations including apple, strawberry, raspberry, pecan and cream cheese fillings. My all time favorite is the cinnamon pecan. It almost reminds me of a cinnamon roll or a piece of coffee cake! So this weekend as I was happily eating my king cake, the idea popped into my head to create a king cake inspired layer cake. Taking a standard from scratch yellow cake mix I incorporated my favorite cinnamon and pecan flavor into the batter. I created a cinnamon cream cheese filling for inbetween the layers and then frosted the outside with a vanilla buttercream. I am thrilled with how all the components of the cake came together to create a very moist, flavorful and cinnamony (is this a word?) cake! If you like king cakes, you have got to try this recipe!

Mardi Gras "King Cake Inspired" Layer Cake

makes a 3-layer 8-inch round cake

Cake:
-2 cups sugar
-2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
-1 1/2 cups cake flour
-1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
-2 tsp baking powder
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 cup milk
-4 eggs
-1 tsp vanilla

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Mixture:
-1/4 cup brown sugar
-1 tsp cinnamon
-1/2 cup chopped pecans

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Filling:
-8 oz cream cheese, softened
-2 cups confectioners' sugar
-1 tsp cinnamon
-1/4 cup milk

Vanilla Buttercream:
-2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
-5 cups confectioners' sugar
-1/4 cup milk
-1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 3 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray.
2.In bowl combine all dry ingredients: cake flour, all purpose flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.
3.In large bowl of electric mixer beat butter and sugar until combined.
4.Add in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in vanilla.
5.Gradually add flour mixture and milk alternating between dry and wet ingredients and scraping down blow in between additions.
6.Mix brown sugar, cinnamon and pecans into a small bowl for Brown Sugar Cinnamon mixture. Fold in mixture to cake batter.
7.Pour batter into prepared cake pans. Bake for 22-25 minutes or until cakes test done. Allow cakes to cool for 10 minutes in pans. Remove cakes from pans and place on wire racks to cool completely.
8.For the Cinnamon Cream Cheese Filling, combine cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, cinnamon and milk in bowl and beat with mixer until smooth and creamy. Once cake is cool, assemble the cake and spread the mixture inbetween the layers.
9.For the Vanilla Buttercream, beat butter with electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add in confectioners' sugar and milk and continue to mix well. Mix in vanilla. Reserve 1 cup icing to tint desired colors for decorating. Using remaining white icing cover the outside of the cake using an offset spatula.
10.To pipe vertical stripes on the cake use piping bags and small round tips (#3, 5 or 7). Fill bags with desired icing colors and pipe vertical stripes up the sides of the cake starting at the bottom and going to the top edge. Once all vertical stripes have been piped, using the same tip, go around the bottom and top edge of the cake piping round balls to form a strand of beads around the cake.

I hope you will try this King Cake inspired Mardi Gras Cake! You can't go wrong with the cinnamon and cream cheese hidden between each layer!

Happy Mardi Gras!

Snowball Cake

Hello CIS readers! I am so sorry I have been away for over a week now! That is totally not like me at all, but I have had a few more important things than baking going on with my family so my sugar cravings have taken a back seat lately. Lucky for you I had made this Snowball cake a few weeks ago for my friend Renie's birthday, but hadn't posted it yet. I am back home in KY right now and there were a few snow flurries on Tuesday so I figured there was still time to post a cake related to snow before Spring arrives!

I decided to make 2 sizes of the snowball cake from the same recipe. One small. One large.

Afterall, I needed to have one cake to cut into for photo purposes right? Or was it taste testing?

And the large cake was taken to my friend Renie's birthday party!

I got the inspiration for this cake from the Kraft Food & Family Magazine Snowball Cake. Although their chocolate cake & creamy filling looked delicious, I decided instead that my family's Italian Cream Cake recipe would be absolutely perfect since it contained coconut inside the cake and would pair nicely with a coconut garnish on the outside of the cake.

The end result was a moist and light cake with a fluffy coconut topping that definitely reminded me of a big pile of snow. Typically when I make this cake I garnish the top with walnuts, but I must admit I loved the extra coconut on the outside this time around! You have gotta try this recipe!

Snowball Cake (Italian Cream Cake with Cream Cheese Icing)

For the Cake

Ingredients:
-1 stick butter, softened
-2 cups sugar
-2 cups all-purpose flour
-1 cup buttermilk
-1 bag (14 oz) flaked coconut (use 1/2 cup for cake, remaining for garnish)
-5 egg whites, stiffly beaten
-1/2 cup vegetable shortening
-5 egg yolks
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-1 teaspoon vanilla
-1/2 cup chopped walnuts

• In large bowl, cream butter and shortening with electric mixer.
• Add sugar and continue beating until mixture is smooth.
• Add egg yolks and beat well.
• Combine flour and baking soda. Add alternately with buttermilk and scrape down sides of bowl as necessary.
• Stir in vanilla, 1/2 cup coconut and walnuts.
• Fold in beaten egg whites.
• Pour batter into greased large Pyrex glass bowl.
• Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes or until cake tests done. (This cake can also be baked in three 8-inch round cake pans for 25 minutes)
• Allow cake to cool in bowl for about 20 minutes, then flip out onto cake plate to continue cooling.

For the Icing

Ingredients:
-1 stick butter, softened
-1 8 oz block Cream Cheese, softened
-5 cups confectioners' sugar
-1 tsp vanilla

• In bowl, mix butter and cream cheese with electric mixture until creamy.
• Gradually add in confectioners' sugar beating well after each addition.
• Mix in vanilla.
• Frost cake with icing and garnish with remaining coconut flakes to create "Snowball" look.
• Add a decorative flag on top labeled as "Snowball Cake" to finish off the cake.

Have you ever baked a cake in a bowl? If so what recipe did you use?

Happy Birthday To Me!

Today it's my birthday. The start to the last year of my 20s. I woke up as usual at 5:30AM and went for a run, and when I returned I was welcomed with this cake lit with a candle and all...what a sweet surprise! Randolph slipped out quickly to the grocery while I was running and got this cake and rushed back home to surprise me when I came in the house! This definitely caught me off guard, but was such a sweet gesture, it made my day!

So here's how this cake came to be...Last night as we were finishing up our Valentine's Dinner, he said, I'm going to make your cake now. You see, this has been a running joke for the past few years. Ever since I got into baking, I always make him a homemade cake so we joke that he will make me a cake when my birthday rolls around...which still hasn't happened. So it was about 8:15 PM at the time and he was about to start making my chocolate cake. He was in the kitchen searching for recipes and the first thing he asks is "do we have any yeast". I knew this was not a good sign if he thought there was yeast in cake...but this is the same guy who refers to cake as "bread" so maybe it makes sense in his head. So I suggested he could just make Martha Stewart's One Bowl Chocolate cake since it is super easy and everything goes in the same bowl. He then asks, "even the icing goes in the bowl with the cake"...oh my! This gave me a good laugh, but realizing how clueless he really was, I quickly let him off the hook and told him he really didn't need to make me a cake after all.

So although I didn't get a homemade cake, I still got a cake and that is all that matters! And the fact that the cake was a total surprise made it even better!

Along with the cake I got this card. It couldn't be more perfect since we have a black lab. Although my lab would never ever be carrying a basket of flowers in his mouth, since he won't even retrieve a ball. But somehow Randolph always manages to find the perfect card that resembles something personal in our lives, he is a great card picker outer!

And on the inside of the card was this drawing from Randolph of our dog Tillman. He is always decorating my presents and cards with little drawings which always puts a smile on my face.

It has been a great birthday! Thanks R for making this a special day!

Tractor Bday Cake

Dirt & tractors...I'm not sure there are two things that little boys like more.

This past weekend was some of our great friends, little boy's 3rd birthday and the theme was "yellow construction".

Using the party plates and napkins for inspiration I designed a cake and cupcakes to celebrate his special day.

And no that is not real dirt on the cake, I'm not that crazy! It is crushed Oreo's, also probably the most tasty dirt you will ever eat!

There's the birthday boy! How cute is he, patiently waiting for birthday cake!

Happy Birthday Joshua!

Minnie Mouse Birthday Cake

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a great weekend! I had the opportunity to make a cake for a Minnie Mouse themed birthday party for a little girl named Emma who was turning three! To accompany the cake I made some mouse ear cupcakes with pink polka dot ribbons. This was definitely a sweet pink cake for sweet little girl.



This weekend I'll be switching gears and making a birthday cake for another 3 year old, only this time a boy and with a yellow construction theme! Be sure to check back next week for pics of the cake!

I've been practicing

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I know I ate way too much turkey, stuffing and all the fixings! And now it's time to start planning out Christmas desserts for more sweet indulgences over the next month! Before I start my holiday baking I wanted to give you a little update. Do you remember this cake I was asked to make for a wedding in 2011? Well, I've been doing some practicing!

I made the top tier and had the bride-to-be, her mom and grandmother over for a tasting last week. The bride has decided on carrot cake with a cream cheese icing. So what do you think, does my cake resemble the cake I've been asked to make? The bride was pleased with the look and taste of the cake so I was super excited!

In addition to the three tier carrot cake at her wedding she has asked me to make some red velvet cupcakes as well. Her groom is insistent on having a red velvet wedding cake, so she has decided to surprise him with some cupcakes in the shape of a UNC tarheel as a pull-apart grooms cake.

I'm honored to have the opportunity to work on the cake and cupcakes for this wedding! I hope you enjoyed the sneak peak of what's to come in May 2011!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Hope you have a fun-filled day with lots of treats! Here's a festive recipe of my latest cake creation, a Chocolate Pumpkin Cake with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting and Chocolate Ganache Glaze....it sure is a mouthful but it is oh so yummy and worth every single calorie!


Chocolate Pumpkin Cake (makes one 3-layer cake)

Ingredients:
-2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
-1 cup granulated sugar
-1 cup dark brown sugar
-3/4 cup cocoa powder
-1 1/2 tsp baking soda
-2 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp salt
-2 tsp cinnamon
-1 1/2 cups buttermilk
-1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
-1 cup vegetable oil
-1 tsp vanilla
-3 eggs

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Prepare three 8" cake pans lined with parchment paper and sprayed with cooking spray.
• In a large bowl combine all dry ingredients: flour, sugars, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and mix together.
• In a medium bowl combine all wet ingredients: buttermilk, pumpkin puree, vegetable oil and vanilla.
  
• Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and beat with mixer on medium speed just until combined.
• Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Pour batter evenly into prepared pans.
• Bake for 25 minutes or until cake tests done.
  
• Let cakes cool in pans for 10 minutes then move to wire racks to continue cooling.
• While cakes are cooling you can prepare the Orange Cream Cheese Frosting.
  

Orange Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:
-12 oz cream cheese, softened
-1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
-6 cups confectioner's sugar
-1/2 tsp vanilla
-orange food coloring

• Mix cream cheese and butter with electric mixer on medium speed until creamy.
• Gradually add in confectioner's sugar one cup at a time and continue to mix.
• Mix in vanilla.
• Add in orange food coloring and mix until you reach your desired shade of orange.
• Once cake has cooled, ice your cake with cream cheese frosting and then place cake in refrigerator for about 20 minutes so icing will set up.
• Prepare the Chocolate Ganache while you wait.
  

Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients:
-1 cup heavy cream
-8 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips

• In a small sauce pan heat heavy cream over medium-high heat until it comes to a boil.
• Remove cream from heat and pour over chocolate chips.
• Gently stir cream and chocolate chips so chocolate begins to melt.
• Let mixture sit 5 minutes and then stir. Mixture will begin to thicken as it sits.
  
• Remove cake from refrigerator and pour Chocolate Ganache overtop of the cake and gently push it over the sides using an offset spatula so that it drizzles down.

This cake is perfect to take to a Halloween or Fall party and I guarantee it won't last long!

Happy Halloween!

Another wedding cake in my future?

Have you seen this picture of Hillary Duff's wedding cake? This is definitely not your typical wedding cake covered in buttercream frosting or fondant and elaborately garnished with ornate stencils, sugar work or intricate details, but it still definitely screams "wedding" by the sheer height of the cake.

Photo courtesy of modernwedding.org

I don't know about you but I kind of like the vibe this cake gives off. It's simple and rustic and a new twist on the traditional tiered cake with it's minimal decoration. For all you icing lovers, this cake may not be your cup of tea, but I'm not one for excess icing so this would be perfect for my taste. And as a new cake decorator the stress of making sure the icing is perfectly smooth on the outside of the cake is completely eliminated!

This week was the first time I had seen this cake, when my friend Kelly sent me a picture of it asking if I could make this for her wedding next May! I haven't fully committed to the challenge yet, as my standard cake seems to be a 3 layer 8", or maybe a 6" round on top of that if I'm feeling really gusty. So let's just say I've got some cake baking and stacking practice ahead of me over these next few months to feel confident I can pull off a cake of this caliber!

So what do you think about this cake? Is this cake your style or not? Just enough icing or not even close to enough icing? Do you think I'm capable of replicating this cake?

The bride-to-be has requested carrot cake with cream cheese frosting so if you have any great carrot cake recipes you'd be willing to share I'd love to try them! I'm on the hunt to finding that perfect recipe for her special day!

33

Today there's a birthday boy in our house! My hubby, Randolph turned the big 33!

So yes that means we got 33 candles for his cake!

And I sang happy birthday to him. It was our birthday celebration, party of two, plus the dog!

His request was for a German Chocolate Cake with "frosting all over the outside and lots of nuts"! Here's the recipe I used off the box of Baker's German Sweet Chocolate. Let me just say, it is one rich, moist and delicious cake...amazing!

Make a wish!

His comment after the first bite: "this bread stuff is really moist"...oh yes, my husband refers to cake layers as "bread"....I have no clue why...but that just cracks me up....this isn't a sandwich you are eating...it is CAKE! Does anyone else's husband do this too?

No matter if he refers to it as "bread" or "cake" I still love him either way!

Happy Birthday "R"...Love you!

Birthday Cakes

This weekend was full of birthday cakes! My friend Jennifer turned 30 so she was definitely deserving of a special bday cake! She requested a yellow cake with vanilla buttercream, she's a simple gal.

I decided to decorate with fondant and thought it would be fun to do a monogram with her initial, plain and simple.

And here's the other birthday girl, Abigail who was turning 2!

This was a yellow cake with an Oreo filling and vanilla buttercream and lots of girly touches with pink and purple bows and flowers.

All of the decorations are made out of fondant.

It's time to blow out the candle!

Make a wish! Abigail seemed to enjoy eating the fondant flowers more than the cake!