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

Cupcake a Week: Mardi Gras Purple, Yellow & Green

Well Mardi Gras season is in full swing here in Mobile so what better way to celebrate than with some Purple, Yellow & Green cupcakes! This is my version of a mini King Cake drizzled with some icing and sugar crystals on top (I'll be posting the real King Cake I made next week on Fat Tuesday, so be sure to check back).




First step is to make a batch of cupcakes...I took a shortcut and just used a box mix to save some time! Separate the batter into 3 bowls.

Add desired food coloring to each bowl...for mardi gras colors I used green, yellow & purple. I wish the purple would have turned out a little more vibrant but I was doing trial and error mixing red and blue food coloring together. Then of course today, when it was too late, I was at the store and discovered they made Purple food coloring in a Neon pack...who knew??? I thought it was just the standard red, yellow, blue and green four-pack.

Once the batter is dyed then spoon a little bit of each color into the cupcake liners. Don't worry about making it perfect just spoon it in and see what happens...every single cupcake will turn out different...isn't this fun!

Well the multi-colored cupcake plan was a success! The colors stayed separate while baking...I was worried I may end up with a big brown blob, but luckily that was not the case!

After the cupcakes cool drizzle with a little bit of icing. I just used some powdered sugar and added enough milk to get to a pourable consistency. Then sprinkle with yellow, green & purple sugar crystals!

Here's a sneak peak at what the inside of the cupcake looks like!

Happy Mardi Gras!

DIY Valentine's Cans

It's that time a year again when you start thinking of creative ideas to show your LOVE for others with Valentine's Treats! Here is a super simple DIY project that you can do to create your own homemade valentines! I found these 3 different rolls of printed paper in the dollar section at Target...what a steel!




DIY Valentine's Cans - Materials Needed

• aluminum cans


• wrapping paper, construction paper, scrapbook paper to cover the outside of the can


• tape


• scissors


• ribbon


• hot glue gun


• markers

1. First take your aluminum can and measure the height.


2. Cut a piece of wrapping paper that measures the same height of your can off the edge of your roll. Then simply tape one end of the paper to the side of your can and wrap the paper around until it overlaps with the other side and cut off any excess paper and secure this end with a piece of tape.


3. To embellish the top and bottom of the can cut a piece of ribbon and using a hot glue gun squeeze glue around the edge of the can and secure your ribbon in place.


4. Then using some construction paper cut out a heart shape and add some fun Valentine's messages for your loved ones!
   

Once you have finished decorating your cans the possibilities are endless....you can fill them with sweet goodies for your loved ones, use them as a fun pencil holder on your desk, send them to school with your kids to use as their Valentine's holder, or use them as a decorative centerpiece for a party!

XOXO

Cupcake a Week: Super Bowl Footballs

GO SAINTS...Superbowl Champs! Well it looks like we were cheering for the right team tonight at the Super Bowl party we had at my house! How exciting to see the New Orleans Saints win the championship on their very first trip to the Super Bowl! I wanted to make some cute football themed cupcakes since we had some friends over for the game. How adorable are these green grass cupcakes with a football sitting on top!

I got the idea for the footballs from Bakerella's website...they are actually oreo truffles check them out here.

First you grind up Oreo's in the food processor.

Once they are fine crumbs you mix them with a block of cream cheese so they will mold together.

Then form them into football shapes. I was absolutely horrible at making the shapes, so who better to recruit for the "football" job than my husband. I think he did pretty good, huh?

Then dip the Oreo footballs into melted chocolate bark.

Allow the chocolate coating to set.

While the chocolate was setting I piped on the green grass icing using the Wilton tip #233, this gives it the spike-like grass blade look.

Then using a mixture of powdered sugar and milk I created the white icing for piping on the football stitching.

Place the footballs on top of the grass.

Here's our dessert table! As you can see we were Saints fans all the way! Hooray for the win!

I found the cutest napkins and plates...Saints napkins from Walmart and the football plates from Target. Since it is also Mardi Gras season in Mobile and New Orleans what better way to celebrate with some purple, green & yellow beads for our table decorations. My husband brought home a whole bag of them from one of the parades last night. Also, if you look closely in the back of this picture, you will see a sneak peak at my next post...a king cake. You are going to want to stop back by and check this out later in the week! This is one of my all-time favorite sweets indulgences.

Baby Love - Sugar Cookies

My friend Katie just had her 2nd baby! She had a BOY...yippee, little Collier (named after his daddy)! Katie and daddy Collier have not found out the sex of the baby with either of their children until the birth...I don't know how they can wait 9 months to know what they are having, but I guess that makes it all the more exciting! Since they had a girl, Kaylee for their first child, they were really hoping to have a boy for their 2nd. You see the dad is a former basketball player and was hoping to have a son to carry on his basketball genes! I was so excited to hear that they had a little boy! He is just adorable and teeny tiny from the pictures I have seen! So to celebrate this very special occasion I wanted to send Katie some of her favorite sweets, sugar cookies with icing! I was hoping to get to hand deliver these in person, but it just didn't work out. I just so happened to be back home in KY for work when the baby was born. But he was born 3 weeks early and had some trouble breathing, therefore having to stay in the hospital a week, so by the time he came home, I was already heading back to Mobile. The same week he was born his big sister was going to be turning 2 as well!

So since LOVE is in the air with new babies being born, families growing and Valentine's Day is just around the corner I thought it was appropriate to make some heart shaped sugar cookies.

I also snuck in a few cupcake shaped cookies using the new cookie cutter my sister gave me for Christmas.

Once the cookies cooled I piped around the edges with royal icing.

I wanted to make sure the big sis "Kaylee" had a special cookie just for her birthday!

I decided to use 3 colors for decorating my cookies: blue (boy appropriate), red & pink (for love).

After piping around the edges of all the cookies, it was time to flood them with a thinned down version of the same royal icing so that it would spread out and fill the cookie shapes.

I love how the red, blue & pink color combination turned out!

I monogrammed a few cookies with a "C" for baby Collier.

How cute are those cupcake cookies with sprinkles on top...I am going to have to make these again very very soon!

Not only do these cookies make a good baby gift, but they are perfect to send to loved ones this Valentine's Day!

I found the cutest little red mailbox in the dollar section at Target along with these little heart baggies. I packaged up these cookies and shipped them off to Katie, Collier, Kaylee and baby Collier! I just heard from them and it sounds like they are enjoying the cookies!

Basic Sugar Cookie Dough (Real Simple.com)

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled, plus more for shaping the cookies
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks), at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until smooth. Add the egg and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla.
• With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated (the dough will be stiff). Shape into a disk and (unless otherwise specified in an individual recipe) refrigerate, wrapped, for at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
• Make cookies according using any shape cookie cutter you desire. Heat oven to 350 degrees. On a floured surface, roll out each disk 1/4 inch thick. Cut into shapes and place on parchment-lined baking sheets; refrigerate until firm. Sprinkle with decorating sugar, if using, and bake until just beginning to brown, 12 to 15 minutes.
• Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week..

I used the Royal Icing recipe from the book Cookie Craft Christmas.

ENJOY!