The Cake of FIRSTS...

This weekend I made a Baby Shower cake for my friend Jennifer who was hosting a shower for her friend Amy. I was super excited and nervous to bake this cake! This was the first time I was baking a cake and I didn't know the person I was making the cake for so I was feeling some pressure and wanted everything to turn out just right! I packed up my baking supplies and headed to Jennifer's house to bake in the BEST KITCHEN ever! She has tons of counter top space and they are all granite so this was a fabulous kitchen to bake in!

So let's recap...

1.This was the FIRST time I have ever baked a cake for someone I didn't know

2.This was the FIRST time I have ever baked a cake in a kitchen that wasn't mine

3.This was the FIRST time I had ever doubled this cake recipe, Yellow Butter Cake from Martha Stewart (so yummy)....I was nervous about the cake coming out of the pan nice and clean, but as you can see from the photo above, everything came out perfect!


4.This was the FIRST time I used fondant...I actually colored it myself as well!

Jennifer told me this cake was for a girl baby shower and she wanted to go with a pink & yellow theme. She was going to make some sugar cookies in the shape of baby carriages dipped in pink icing and piped with white details, so I figured I would also use the baby carriage theme for the cake decorations and then add some pink & yellow polka dots.



So here is my FIRST fondant creation...a pink baby carriage!

Pink & yellow polka dots added for extra cuteness!

And one last final touch, the white piping for the carriage details! This is it, my final cake of FIRSTS! I just got a call from Jennifer a little while ago...the shower was today and she wanted to call and let me know how much everyone, especially Amy, the mother to be enjoyed the cake at the shower today! I am so glad everything turned out well with this cake!

This cake was super fun to make and I am looking forward to my next baking adventure...which will be my friend Andrea's baby shower next weekend. I plan on making cupcakes with a boy theme...I have a really cute theme in mind for decorating so you will have to check back next weekend and see how they turn out!

TNT Kick Off Party!

This week we had our Team In Training (TNT) Kick Off Party for the Winter training season...which I am going to be a coach for! So what better way to welcome all the new participants to the team than to make them some PURPLE and GREEN cupcakes. TNT is an organization that raises money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society while at the same time training for a marathon, half marathon or triathlon. I joined TNT in June 2008 and have since completed two marathons, the Nike Women's in San Francisco (Oct 2008) and the Rock N' Roll in San Diego (May 2009). The Mobile, AL TNT team is a great group of people and I am so lucky to have met so many great friends while doing something I love...running! Check out more about TNT at www.teamintraining.org. We'd love to have you join our team!


Icing the cupcakes using the Wilton Buttercream Recipe...yummy!



GO TEAM, TNT, RUN, WALK, HALF, FULL....


This is a picture of me and Molly showing off our cupcake creations! Molly is employed by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and is the fundraising & recruiting manager for TNT. We took a Wilton Cake Decorating class together and ever since I have been hooked on baking and decorating cupcakes & cakes! We have made several other TNT cakes that I will have to post soon!

Peanut Butter & Jelly Cupcakes

This week was one of my good friend VV's 30th birthday. She absolutely LOVES peanut butter and jelly so I wanted to make her some birthday cupcakes that resembled her favorite sandwich! This batter sure was rich and creamy!


Cupcakes awaiting jelly...


Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Icing and a dollop of Strawberry Jelly!

This picture was taken after doing 10 miles at 4:00AM and 30 sun salutations with VV to fulfill her birthday wish to run with her marathon friends!

Oreo Cookies & Cream Cupcakes!

Cookies n' Cream ice cream is one of my favorites, so I thought why not try and recreate this yummy chocolatey Oreo flavor in a cupcake! So let's start baking...

Doesn't this batter look delicious?

Ready to go in the oven...

Baked to perfection!


Here comes the cream cheese icing, loaded with even more Oreos!


ENJOY!

Stacie's Wedding Shower Sweets!

Here are some pictures of the cupcakes and cake lollipops I made for my friend Stacie's wedding shower.

The cupcakes are yellow butter with buttercream icing and I used my decorating tips to create the swirls and flowers that I learned how to make from my first cake decorating class!


The cake pops are red velvet dipped in white chocolate and garnished with sprinkles...oh so yummy! I have been dying to make these cake pops ever since I discovered them on Bakerella.com...this lady has the most creative ideas I have ever seen for sweets!