Paul Frank Monkey Birthday Cake

Here's a Paul Frank Monkey themed birthday cake that I made for my friends Katie and Thomas sons' Joshua's 2nd Birthday! This is a 2 tiered yellow butter cake with vanilla buttercream frosting and fondant decorations.

Joshua LOVES the Paul Frank monkey line of clothing from Target, and every time he sees a monkey he says "EE-EE". So this clothing tag from one of his favorite shirts was the inspiration for his birthday cake!


First I found a graphic of the Paul Frank monkey on the internet and then enlarged it so I could print it out and use as a template for creating the face for the cake. I took some white fondant and dyed it a light brown to create the flesh color of the monkey face.


I traced around the monkey face print out using a sharp knife to create a total of 5 monkeys for the cake.


Next I took some black fondant and created the head and facial features.


And last, using red fondant I formed the big monkey mouth!


I tinted some more white fondant 2 shades of blue and cut out circles to be used for the birthday message on the cake.


This was the first time I had ever made a tiered cake! I've made many 2 and 3 layer cakes before, but never have I attempted to layer different size layered-cakes on top of one another! The bottom cake was two 8-inch layers that had 5 dowl rods for support placed inside. The top tier was two 6-inch layers. After I placed the top tier on the bottom tier I was a little nervous, hoping the bottom tier wouldn't collapse from the weight of the top tier. I know cakes are layered on top of each other all day long by professional bakers, but myself being an amateur just starting out I wasn't sure what to expect....thank goodness it all turned out ok and the cake didn't crumble to pieces!


Here's a close up of "Julius" the monkey on top of the cake!


The start of the fondant decorations around the cake.


Using a food safe marker I wrote on "Happy Birthday Joshua" on the fondant circles. Using a dab of water on a tiny paint brush I applied the fondant to the cake so they would stick.



I placed four more monkey's around the bottom tier of the cake.

Joshua and his parents just came by the house and personally gave me a Thank You card for the cake...how sweet is that! They said it was a hit at his birthday party today! He is the cutest little boy with blonde shaggy hair and a huge smile on his face! Joshua was wearing some new Paul Frank swim trunks he got today...they were orange, yellow and red plaid with the monkey sporting a pair of red sunglasses...so cute!

HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY JOSHUA!

Happy Birthday Margarita!

My friend Jennifer asked me to make a cake for her mother's 70th Birthday today! How could I refuse a chance to bake and decorate a cake, my new favorite hobby! The only requirements Jennifer gave me with this cake were that it can feed about 30 people and to make it feminine. Other than that she told me to be creative and to surprise her! My imagination started running wild, on how I could make a special cake for her mother Margarita's 70th birthday...what a special celebration. I haven't really made any celebration cakes before so my mind was running wild trying to come up with something simple, yet elegant at the same time. I started browsing some of my favorite cake and blog websites and quickly found something that caught my eye....fondant flowers!


One of my cake baking blogging friends, Evan had this great tutorial on her blog about how to make sugar flowers, check it out here. This was pretty much my third experience ever using fondant, so I was hoping to just come up with an end result that somewhat resembled Evan's beautiful pink layered flower! I got out my decorating supplies...white fondant, rolling pin, fondant rolling mat, fondant ball tool, flower-forming foam and some daisy shaped cookie cutters and had my computer set to Evan's blog page to walk me through this step by step.


First I rolled out the fondant and cut out the largest daisy shape. Then I cut it into half to create two halves of 3 petals each.


Next I cut out 2 more daisy shapes. To make the layered flower you need 3 different sizes of the same shape cookie cutter.


Next place the fondant cutout on the forming foam and using the fondant ball tool to go over the edges.


Then overlap the petal edges and stick together with a dab of water.


You will roll the edges of all three flower sizes.


To create the bottom layer of the flower, I used three 3-petal halves of the daisy shape. After you create each layer place it in the bottom of a plastic wrap lined bowl to allow to set up and dry. Place the medium size layer on top of the largest bottom layer and dab some water on the petals to hold them together. Then place the smallest flower on top following the same method.


Once you have all three layers of the flowers placed on top of each other add a round ball of fondant to create the center of the flower. Then add some flower stamens (you can get these at Michaels) around the flower center. The fondant flower is now finished!


I ended up making a total of four fondant flowers...2 larger ones and 2 slightly smaller ones. I made the flowers the night before I was going to add them to the cake so they could set up.


Now that my sugar flowers are ready it is time to decorate the cake! First of all I added a pink fondant ribbon around the edge of the cake to tie in the pink center of the flowers.


I placed the largest flower in the top left corner of the cake and on each side placed a slightly smaller flower.


I wanted to create an overlapping look with the three flowers. Now it's time to personalize this birthday girl's cake!


I was pretty nervous about writing on this cake...I mean this is the final step and the one that scares me the most b/c in an instant your cake could be ruined if you misspell a word, especially the name of the person who you are making the cake for.


I was pretty pleased with how the writing came out though. Using a pen and paper I could have never written this birthday message in cursive without starting and stopping after each letter, and even then it wouldn't have looked this flowy. There is something about writing with buttercream icing though...it is just so smooth.


Well the birthday party that this cake is at is going on right this very moment, so hopefully everyone is enjoying the time they are spending with their loved one, Margarita on her special day!

P.S. I've got some exciting news! I just went and picked up my brand new CAMERA! I ordered a new Canon Rebel T1i after saving up my money for a few months and it just came in today. The battery is charging now so I'm sure by the end of the weekend you will see some new, better quality, more professional looking cake photos on my website. Be sure to check back at the end of the weekend...there is another birthday cake coming up...and this one will be featuring a monkey!

Cupcake a Week: 1-2-3-4 Cake with Marshmallow Creme Frosting

I can't believe it's already time for the third week of cupcakes in 2010! I was going through my collection of Paula Deen magazines this weekend, and writing down all the recipes I wanted to try this year and came across several really yummy cake ones. The recipe is called 1-2-3-4 Cake...sounds easy enough huh??? 1 cup of butter, 2 cups sugar, 3 cups self-rising flour and 4 large eggs...can't get any simpler than that. Of course there are a few more ingredients too, but this sounded pretty easy! And to top them off a batch of Marshamllow Creme frosting and some sprinkles of course!


Instead of the standard size cupcakes, I decided to make mini cupcakes this week. They are just so cute and bite size, you definitely can't eat just one. I just kept popping them into my mouth and before I knew it I had eaten 4 of them....but I figure that is probably the equivalent of 1 standard size cupcake right? You are going to LOVE these cupcakes, so hurry to your pantry and get out the 1-2-3-4 ingredients and whip up a batch now...I promise you won't be disappointed. These are some of the most moist cakes I have ever eaten and the marshmallow creme icing was simply delicious! I will definitely keep this cake and frosting recipe close by!

1-2-3-4 Cake (Paula Deen - May/June 2007 Magazine)

I made 24 mini cupcakes and two 6-inch cake layers with one batch of batter.

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs
3 cups sifted self-rising flour
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place mini cupcake liners in cupcake tin. (This recipe will also make three 9-inch cake layers)
• Using an electric mixer, beat butter until fluffy. Add sugar and continue to beat well for 6 to 8 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour and milk, alternately, to butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Add vanilla and continue to beat until just mixed. Divide batter equally among cupcake liners.
• Bake mini cupcakes for 14 minutes. (If you are baking three cake layers bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until done).
• Cool in pans for 5 to 10 minutes and then place on cooling rack. Cool completely and ice with Marshmallow Creme Frosting.
• 
  

Marshmallow Creme Frosting (Paula Deen - May/June 2007 Magazine)

Makes about 2 1/2 cups

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 (7 oz) jar marshmallow creme
2 3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk

• In a medium bowl, combine butter and marshmallow creme. Beat at medium speed with an electric mixter until smooth.
• Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar. Beat in vanilla and milk until spreadable consistency is reached.
  

Yesterday was my friend Renie's birthday so I wanted to make her a special cake too with half of the cake batter! I had just bought some new round cake pans so I figured I would use my 6-inch round pan and make a 2 layer cake!


How cute is this little individual sized cake?


Marshamallow Creme looks yummy...now for some decorations!


My absolute favorite sprinkles are multi-colored non pareils...can't go wrong with these they are so colorful and festive!


And a personalized message on the cake board...Happy Birthday Renie!

ENJOY!

Cupcake a Week: Mickey Mouse

This week's Cupcake a Week is a "Mickey Mouse" theme. I was in Disney World all last weekend coaching the Alabama Team in Training participants in the half and full marathons! I just so happened to go to Florida on one of the COLDEST weekends ever! The normal temperature this time of year in Orlando is in the low 70s...it was in the high 20s in the mornings and got to the mid 40s later in the day while I was there.......bbbbbbrrrrr! I got to experience SNOW, yes you are reading this right, SNOW in Florida which was the first time in 30 years! It wasn't a lot of snow, but more just a combination of flurries, sleet and rain as we started off the half marathon on Saturday morning...either way it was frigid and wet! Cold and all, it was a great weekend and one that I will never forget. I got to meet new friends, run lot of miles (13.1 miles on Saturday and 26.2 miles on Sunday) and be a kid again roaming through all the Disney amusement parks getting my picture taken with the Disney Characters! I figured what better way to come home and celebrate a great weekend than with some Mickey Mouse cupcakes!


These cupcakes are super easy to make and would be great for a Disney themed kid's party! Just make a batch of your favorite flavor cupcakes and icing and then grab some black fondant to create the famous mouse ears! I used a circle cookie cutter I had to create Mickey's face and then the bottom of one of decorating tips to create the circles for his ears!


Mickey Mouse cupcakes in the making!


Next put some icing (I used traditional buttercream) in a piping bag with a large round tip and swirl it on top of the cupcakes! Gently press on the black fondant circles to create Mickey's face.


While I was in Disney, I just had to find myself something "Mickey" to bring back as a souvenir and I was so excited when I came across this red Mickey cookie cutter! Wow that is one large cookie cutter, but I know it is going to make some adorable cookies some day! All over Disney they have the famous mouse ears everywhere you look, hidden in the building architecture, on art work, souvenirs of course and also on super cute sweet confections! I couldn't help but take pictures of all the sweet treats I found with Mickey's signature ears all over them!


Gingerbreadmen Mickey's! What a clever idea!


Mickey ear jaw breakers!


Mickey Rice Krispie Treats on a stick!


and of course Mickey & Minnie chocolate covered apples! I'm thinking they probably used some marshmallows dipped in chocolate to create Mickey's ears and Minnie's red bow! Super Cute!


Here's a picture of Sarah (first time marathoner on left) and me with this really unique paint splattered Mickey statue!


And you can't leave Disney World without a picture of Mickey himself. I know I'm probably unrecognizable in all my layers of running clothes, but I just had to get a picture with the famous mouse and me wearing my "Will run for Cupcakes" headband....very appropriate!

Thanks for sharing in my Mickey adventures!

Cupcake a Week: Chocolate with Snickers

I hope everyone is off to a great start in 2010! Well as I promised in my Blog Resolutions the other day, I am going to start a new theme on my blog for the new year called "Cupcake a Week". My plan is to try and bake and decorate a wide variety of cupcake recipes this year and share a new idea with you each week. My inspiration for all the cupcakes I post, will be inspired by some of my favorite flavors and ingredients, recipes I haven't tried before but have always wanted too, seasonal or holiday themes, or events that are going on in my life. So get ready to go on a cupcake journey that will last for the next 52 weeks! I'm super excited to see how creative I can get with CUPCAKES! So let's not waste any more time...drum roll please....the first batch of cupcakes for the new year is.............CHOCOLATE with SNICKERS!



Snickers are one of my all time favorite candy bars! My husband had given me a bag of the Snickers Minis in my stocking so I figured why not try and incorporate them into a cupcake recipe. I made the chocolate cupcake batter first and then cut up the Snickers into little chunks and mixed them in the batter. When the cakes baked the Snickers melted, as you can see from the picture above...all of that ooey gooeyness peaking through.


So basically this cupcake is a triple does of chocolate...chocolate cake, chocolate in the Snickers...and you can't forget about adding some chocolate icing on top!



And then crumbling a few more Snickers bits on top of the icing. Simply delicious and a Snicker lovers dream! I only made 6 of these since we are just coming down off a sugar overload from my 24 days of Christmas baking and lets just say I'm trying to get all of those sweets out of my house still. So the last thing I needed was a full batch of 24 cupcakes lingering around for me to eat because I would have eaten every single one of them myself. However, now I am wishing that I would have made more than 6 because these didn't last too long! One of my husband's friends was over for dinner so I wanted to make him a dessert. So the three of us all ate one after dinner...leaving 3 cupcakes left. I sent one away with him when he left...leaving 2, so I'm thinking ok, I'll eat one and Randolph will eat one. However, that is not what happened at all. Randolph eats half of one right before bed...and then next thing I know he is back in the kitchen eating the other half along with the last remaining cupcake. And just like that the cupcakes were gone. Piggy Piggy!

Chocolate Snickers Cupcakes

This recipe makes 6 cupcakes. So just double the ingredients for a dozen.

Ingredients:

Cupcake:
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 cup sour cream

Chocolate Frosting:
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon cocoa
1 - 2 cups powdered sugar
milk for consistency

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put 6 paper liners in cupcake pan.
• Put the butter, brown sugar, egg, flour, baking soda and cocoa in a large bowl and using a hand held electric mixer, beat together until smooth. Using a spoon, fold in the sour cream. Spoon the batter into the paper liners.
• Bake the cupcakes for 18 minutes.
• To make the frosting, melt the butter in a saucepan on low heat. Stir in vanilla, cocoa and powdered sugar. Add milk until you reach desired consistency.

HINT FOR NEXT WEEK'S CUPCAKE...let's just say I'm heading to Disney World tomorrow for the weekend to coach the Alabama Team in Training participants in the half and full marathons on Saturday & Sunday! Disney is a pretty magical place with lots of fun characters roaming around...I'm envisioning some pretty cute cupcakes for next week. Have a guess of what you think they could be, leave me a comment below and we shall see if you are right when I return from my trip!

ENJOY!

Marathoner's Breakfast!

This weekend I had our current Team in Training marathon participants over for breakfast after our long run! After our long runs we love to go out for a big breakfast to local restaurants and replenish with carbs and protein for all of the calories we burned. This weekend I wanted to host everyone over to my house for a celebratory feast! People ran anywhere from 8-20 miles so I knew they were going to be HUNGRY afterward! It was a COLD COLD morning starting out at 5:00AM, temps in the low 30s! But we all survived and loaded up on some carbs once we finished! Here are 3 of the recipes that I made for breakfast, the Blueberry Baked Oatmeal was the favorite by all!

Blueberry Baked Oatmeal (recipe from Southern Living Feb 2007)

Ingredients

2 cups frozen blueberries
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
1 (18 oz) container regular oats
3 large eggs, beaten
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup milk
1/4 cup melted butter

• Toss 2 cups blueberries in 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and spread evenly on bottom of lightly greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish.
• Combine oats, next 9 ingredients, and remaining 1 tablespoon lemon juice in a large bowl, stirring until well blended. Pour oat mixture evenly over blueberries.
• Bake, covered, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes; uncover and bake 20 more minutes or until golden brown and set.

Praline French Toast Casserole (recipe from Paula Deen & Friends cookbook)

Ingredients

8 eggs
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
10 to 12 slices soft bread, 1 inch thick

Topping:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup maple syrup
2 cups chopped pecans

• Generously butter a 13 x 9 inch casserole dish.
• Mix the eggs, half-and-half, maple syrup, and sugar in a large bowl. Place the bread slices in the prepared casserole dish and cover with the egg mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and let soak overnight in the refrigerator.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove the casserole from the refrigerator.
• Make the topping: Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the sugar and maple syrup and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the pecans. Pour the mixture over the bread and bake for 45 to 55 minutes. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake (Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Baking Cookbook)

Ingredients

For the streusel filling:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/3 cup firmly packed golden brown sugar
3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

For the batter:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sour cream

• Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 10-inch tube pan or bundt pan.
• To make the streusel filling, in a small bowl, combine the butter, flour, brown sugar, nuts and cinnamon. Using a pastry blender or fork, mix until crumbly. Set the streusel aside.
• To make the batter, in a bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• Using a mixer, in a large bowl, beat together the butter and granulated sugar on medium-low speed until creamy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the vanilla. Add the dry ingredients in 3 batches alternately with the sour cream and mix on low speed just until the batter is blended and almost smooth.
• Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with the rubber spatula. Sprinkle evenly with half the streusel filling. Cover with the remaining batter and sprinkle with the remaining streusel.
• Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 40-45 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out of the pan and let cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 1 month.

Hope you ENJOY these 3 yummy recipes!

New Stuff for the New Year!

Happy New Year! I can't believe it is already 2010, where did 2009 go? This past year was filled with some great memories and experiences that I will never forget, and I hope 2010 will be even better! One of the things I am most excited about from 2009 was starting my baking blog....I can't believe I didn't explore the world of blogging sooner! I have had so much fun the last 5 months baking and sharing recipes and photos with you all and I am definitely ready to turn it up a notch in 2010! For Christmas all I wanted was to get some fun baking goodies from my family...and I think I definitely racked up in the baking department. Check out all these fun aprons, cake pedestals, cake books and gadgets I got above...THANK YOU to my wonderful family I love absolutely all of my new baking collection!


Check out this fun stash of stuff I got from my husband, Randolph! On our drive home to KY for Christmas we stopped in Nashville and I got to visit a cupcake shop called, The Painted Cupcake. The shop had only been open since the summer and it was decorated so cute, had fabulous cupcakes, and adorable aprons. How cute is this pink floral and green & white polka dot skirt apron? I am so EXCITED about these new cake decorating books he got me too...I hope to explore the world of more elaborate cake decorating and sculpting in the new year and these two books are full of all kinds of unique cake ideas. And of course you can't forget about my cupcake obsession...I love this cupcake pot holder and the fun silly feet cupcake holders!


I absolutely LOVE this aprons! Sorry ladies, you won't find these in any retail store, these were handmade by my stepmom, Ruth....she can work wonders with the sewing machine! The pink and floral apron on the left, I knew I was getting because I picked out the fabric and the apron pattern. It turned out even cuter than I imagined. The cupcake apron on the right however, was a complete surprise! I had never seen any cupcake patterns before in the fabric stores but Ruth was able to find this extremely cute print and combined it with a solid chocolate brown fabric...I'm in LOVE! I tried the apron on as soon as I unwrapped it and didn't want to take it off, I felt like I needed to go straight to the kitchen and make a batch of cupcakes!



And the cupcake maddness continues with some cute finds from my sister, Emily. She got me a set of cupcake shaped cookie cutters and a cupcake metal cake tester from Crate and Barrel. And to go with the cookie cutters, a fun Christmas cookie decorating book. Look at those adorable snowflake ceramic prep bowls from Target...they always have the cutest seasonal items in their stores! Thanks sis!


And finally, I got some fun cake pedestals from my mom! Both pedestals were found from Target...the red one in the store and then the yellow & white polka dot one had to be ordered online...it is Pauala Deen brand. I am already envisioning so many uses for both of these. The red one can be used for Valentines day (only a few months away), a 4th of July Celebration or Christmas and the yellow & white polka dot one would be so cute for a baby shower or an Easter celebration. Thanks MOM!

So as I start out the NEW YEAR with all of my NEW BAKING STUFF I want to make you all aware of some of the "NEW ACCOMPLISHMENTS" I want commit to and follow through with in 2010. Instead of making resolutions like most of us do and are good at keeping for about a week like working out everyday, not eating french fries, losing weight, no sugar (that would never happen in my world)...ya da ya da ya da...the list could go on and on. I always try to make a "to do" list of things that I want to accomplish each year. That way I know I have a goal in mind and something to look forward to, and once I complete the task there is a sense of accomplishment and it is very rewarding!

So for 2010 here are my "list of accomplishments" that pertain to my blog and baking adventures:

1.Create a more eye catching blog design! I have been brainstorming on some colors and ideas so hopefully within the next few months you will see a face lift on my blog!

2.Take a fondant & gumpaste decorating class

3.Read baking and cake decorating books and start creating my own "from scratch" cake recipes!

4.Learn to sculpt and decorate multi layered themed cakes for parties, birthdays, weddings, etc.

5.Create a "Cupcake a Week" post. You know what that means...52 weeks in a year, means 52 fun cupcake recipes or ideas. How fun is that? Any flavor ideas start sending them my way!

6.Increase the readership and followers on my blog.

7.Have "giveaways" on my blog! Some of the other blogs I follow have giveaways every now and then where one lucky reader will get a cook book, baking supplies, a giftcard, etc. and I think this is a super fun idea. But before I start doing giveaways I need to increase my readership...so if you all like my blog start posting comments and hopefully soon I will be able to provide you all with a fun contest!

8.Get a new camera, that will take more professional, better quality, higher resolution photos. This will make all of my baked goods look like they are right out of a magazine! I see a new camera in my very near future, as I have been saving my pennies for a few months now!

So you get the idea! I hope you will continue to follow my baking adventures and see what the new year brings to my blog!