Yummy Mummy!

So it has been a crazy week! So you know that I have been baking to counteract the insanity! Here is a easy and fun cake for Halloween. It is a edible Mummy with a surprise for the kids inside topped in cream cheese frosting.

I made two different cakes to give this cake some height. One is vanilla and the other a yellow cake then I tinted them green and purple for Halloween. Here they are layered with cream cheese frosting.

Once you have a very base coat of frosting on your cake decide what side is the front and add a small patch of black and your eyes out of frosting. Once the eyes are in place you can add the "gauze" wrappings. I used this tip by Wilton. One side is smooth the other has ridges. I used the ridge side out to create the mummies wrappings.

Here is a slice of the inside with the fun purple and green stripes. My kids loved making and eating this one with me!! Happy Halloween!

Owl Cupcakes

I made these today for my Sisters Baby shower. She loves owls and I thought it would be a fun thing to give guests as they went home. It also would be a fun thing to make this month for Halloween, so because I am nice I thought I would share with you!! I have to admit I saw these in a magazine and ripped the page out so I don't know which, but they are super easy and super cute. Give them a try!

Basically for this cupcake start by baking your favorite cupcake recipe or mix. For the eyes buy double stuff Oreos and using a spatula cut through the cookies so all the frosting is on one side ( I needed more than one package for 24 cupcakes). I saved the other half of the Oreos for a cookie crust, but you can just dunk them in some milk too. Frost your cupcakes normally and stick on two Oreo halves. Next stick on two junior mints with frosting to complete your eyes. Use a banana runt for the nose and complete with a few swooshes of frosting above and below the eyes. I used a star tip for this part so it would have a textured look. They are soooo cute, and tasty too!

Chocolate Caramel Hazelnut Cake

So this recipe is dedicated to my fantastic cousin Emily. Pardon the pun, but this cake recipe has been baking in my head for a long time. I had all the ingredients including the Nutella sitting in my cupboard, but I was waiting for a time that I really could work out the frosting. This is where my cousin enters the scene. She face booked me that she tried a new Nutella recipe and that I should check it out. It was like she read my mine. We must have some kind of baker/cousin telepathic thing going on. Long story short, I gave it a go, with this cake from my head and tastiness was born!!! We are talking a Devils Food cake with a caramel filling frosted in Nutella frosting and wrapped in chocolate Hazelnut cookies. What's not to like? Ok, maybe that whole sharing part. Just remember that sharing was what created this beauty in the first place. So here is a cake for you my sweet cousin Em who inspires me not only in the kitchen but in all aspects of life. Love ya girl!!

Here is the caramel filling. I had to slap that second layer on quick before my husband saw all of its caramel glory otherwise I would have never finished in. Be sure when you put that caramel in to build a nice wall of frosting around the edge to hold it all in. Mmmm caramel.

So here is the cake hiding all the caramel to surprise you when you least expect it. Give the outside a nice coat of your Nutella frosting and start sticking on your chocolate hazelnut cookies. I did cut them to the appropriate height.

Here we are all edges in cookies. Notice on the bottom that I made sure they were stuck in some frosting this secures them so they don't fall of the cake. Then add a small border to lock them in!!

I just used a big star tip to make a basic boarder and then did the swirls on top. It gave it a really pretty finish.

Then you dig in for all that happy chocolate, hazelnut, caramel goodness. Enjoy!!

Chocolate Caramel Hazelnut Cake

1 Duncan Hines Devils Food Cake mix

Bake in two nine inch rounds according to the directions and cool.

Caramel Filling- Melt two bags Werthers Original chewy caramels with 4 Tbs. evaporated milk. Cool and set aside.

Nutella Frosting
2 Sticks Butter room Temperature
2 Cups Nutella (I admit I upped this a bit because I like Nutella a lot)
5 Cups Powdered Sugar
2 tsp. Vanilla
Pinch of Salt

Heavy Cream (This is what makes it silky smooth and fabulous!!)

Combine all together in a mixer and add heavy cream until a creamy smooth and spreadable consistency. Spread on the cake before you eat too much!!

Back to School Cupcakes

I made these yesterday for my kids first day of school. The chalk board is a chocolate covered graham cracker, the apple is a red hot candy and the chalk is a ti tac. Who knew school could be this sweet right!!

Rosette Cake

So this is a technique I learned from the I am baker website (listed below). She did this on a round cake like the one below. I loved it so much I topped a sheet cake with it and loved how it turned out. This is a simple way to dress up a sheet cake and it perfect for any occasion. All you do it put your frosting in a pastry bag that is fitted with a really large star tip. Make rosettes all over the cake close together and then fill in any empty spots with a swoosh of frosting and you are done!! Happy Frosting!!http://iammommy.typepad.com/i_am_baker/

Here is how is looks on a round cake and sprayed with edible food spray. It make it look like fresh cut roses!!

Here is a view from the top down, I love the pattern and texture to it!

Strawberry Lemonade Bars

So I made these recently and they were very tasty. The strawberry added a nice sweet factor to go along with the tart lemon flavor. They are light, refreshing, simple and delicious. I found this recipe at allrecipes.com

Strawberry Lemonade Bars
Crust
2 Cups Flour
1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar
1 Cup Butter Softened
Combine until it resembles a crumbly pie dough and press into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes until just golden.
Filling
8 Eggs
2 Cups Sugar
1 Cup lemon juice
2 TBS. Lemon Zest
2 Small Pkg Strawberry Jello
Combine and pour over baked crust. Bake for another 20 minutes or until set. Sprinkle the top with powdered sugar when cool and serve.

Welcome to the dark side!

Check out my new shirt. I bought it at Kohls in the mens section and when I read it I laughed really hard. I guess I will always be on the dark side, how about you?

Fresh Raspberry Frosting

I have so so happy that my raspberries have finally been ready to pick. The kids love to search for them in the bushes and gather big bowls full. This recipe is so simple, but flavorful and fresh that it will impress anyone who gets a taste. It is also really versatile. Above I put it on a chocolate bunt cake. It is also awesome on a lemon cake as seen below. Add it to your favorite cake and enjoy!!

Here is my frosting just as I have thrown in the berries. I love the swirls of flavor and color coming out!!

Here we are one it is all mixed in. I love the natural color it makes, so bright and fresh!

Here it is on top of a lemon cake. I just poured big spoonfuls around the top of the cake and let it drizzle down the edges. Then I topped it off with some whole raspberries so those eating it would know what flavor is was. Mmmmmm raspberries!!

Fresh Raspberry Frosting
1/2 Cube Butter melted
1 tsp Vanilla
1 Cup Raspberries
Powdered Sugar
Milk

Combine the melted butter and vanilla then start to mix in your powdered sugar. The reason I didn't put an amount is because it depends on how juicy your raspberries are. Add about 2 cups powdered sugar and mix together. Once combined throw in you raspberries and start stirring to break them up. Now add powdered sugar or milk to get the quantity and consistency you would like. If you want to drizzle it over a bunt cake it should be a thinner consistency. Because the juice will continue to come out of the raspberries frost your cake right before serving.

Smore Brownies

So I think it is kind of obvious that I like things that are sweet. I do have a few favorites though, and smores is definitely one of them. I love eating them in the summer with a nice fire going, but I also enjoy them from the microwave or roasted over my stove. I also think that you can't just have one. I think six is about right. Anyway, thus the inspiration for my latest creation. I must say I have had lots of smore cookies, but can't get over the fact that the marshmallow turns into one big glob or gets all crunchy. This is not the case with these. You get a graham cracker crunch, dense moist brownie covered in melted chocolate and a soft and creamy marshmallow. Hee hee! Sorry, I will try to calm down. In the mean time give these a try and watch them disapear at your next barbeque!!

Start off with your graham cracker crust. I didn't count how many crackers made a 1 1/2 cups crumbs, but it looks like somewhere around 18. My kids had a great time crushing these while I got the other ingredients ready. This gets pressed into a double tinfoil lined 9x13 pan and baked for a while while you get the rest mixed together.

Here we are after the crust is baked. Just pour 2/3rds of your brownie batter in and spread evenly.

Now here is the trick for your marshmallow to keep is creamy and nice. Mix a small jar or marshmallow creme with a small can sweetened condensed milk.

Then spoon it all over your brownie batter.

Once you have your marshmallow on spoon on the extra batter. The more you cover the marshmallow the more creamy goodness you will have. I left some out because I wanted creamy with a bit of toasted marshmallow too. I topped it all off with three Hershey bars and baked.

Here is the finished product. Lining the pan with foil makes them a lot easier to cut.

Smore Brownies
(Crust from food network and marshmallow creme from Our Best Bites)

Crust
6 Tb butter melted
1 1/2 -2 Cup Graham Crackers crushed
2 Tb Sugar
Pinch of Salt

Press into a 9x13 greased pan and bake for 10-15 minutes at 325 degrees.

Brownie Batter
2 Cubes Margarine melted
10 Tb. Cocoa
2 Cups Sugar
4 Eggs
1 1/2 Cups Flour
Dash of Salt
Spread about two thirds of the batter onto the cooked crust then top with your marshmallow mixture.

Marshmallow mixture
1 small can marshmallow cream
1 small can sweetened condensed milk
Drop the rest of the brownie batter by spoonfuls on top of the marshmallow and spread around. Top with three Hershey bars broken into their small pieces and return to the oven for another 20-25 minutes or until the brownie is cooked through.

Flower Fairy Cake

So here is a cake I actually made for my daughter this last week. She wanted a surprise so I made her as a fairy on top of the cake. She loved it.

Here is the fairy up close. One fun trick to this cake was that I had no time to make fondant or modeling chocolate so the fairy and flowers were all made from melted starbursts candy and laffy taffy's! Try that on your next cake!!

Caramel Cashew Bars

So I have always had this thing for caramel. In fact I worked at a pie shop as a teenager where we served apple pie with caramel sauce and I would buy cups of caramel and just eat it with a spoon. No joke. It was homemade and awesome. Well throw some cashews in caramel and it can only make it better. I recently had a caramel cashew cookie from a bakery and thought "I could make that!" So I did. This one is simple and delish. Give it a try for one of those summer BBQ's.

Here is my happy caramel bubbling away. Mmmmm. Way too hot Rebecca you have to wait!

Here they are just before they went in the oven layers of butter cookie caramel and cashews woo hoo!

Caramel Cashew Bars
Crust:
4 1/2 Cups Flour
1 C Powdered Sugar
2 Cups butter softened

Mix and press into a greased cookie sheet. Bake alone for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

Caramel:
2 Cups Brown Sugar
2 Sticks Margarine
1 3/4 Cup Light Corn Syrup

Bring these to a boil and stir boiling for three minutes. Remove from heat and add 1 can sweetened condensed milk. Boil for an additional 3 minutes.

Remove crust from oven and cover with 5 cups roasted cashews. (Chop them if you like. I liked the look of whole ones.) Then pour on the caramel. Bake for an addition 12 minutes. Caramel will be bubbly all over the cookies. Remove, cool and enjoy. I put melted chocolate on half and loved that too.

* I made these in a cookie sheet because I can never have too many cookies. Feel free to half the recipe and bake it in a 9x13 pan.

Homemade German Chocolate Cake Frosting

So my hubby had a b-day recently and when I asked him what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday he without hesitation replied "German chocolate" and quickly added "with your homemade coconut pecan frosting!!" Lets just say he didn't have to twist my arm. This creamy caramel coconut pecan frosting is so good you could just eat it with a spoon (which I may have done with the leftovers for a few days). Anyway, don't let the sound of this frosting intimidate you. It is a simple, amazingly good and impressive frosting that everyone will love. Give it a try and soak in the rave reviews!!

German Chocolate Cake Frosting (adapted from allrecipes.com)

1 Cup evaporated milk
1 Cup white sugar
3 Egg yolks beaten with 1 tsp. water
1/2 Cup margarine
2 tsp Vanilla
1 1/2 Cups chopped pecans (adjust to your taste)
3 cups flaked coconut

In a small saucepan combine evaporated milk, sugar, egg yolks, margarine, and vanilla. Cook over a medium heat stirring constantly. Once boiling stir until it becomes thick (about the consistency just thinner than pudding). Stir in pecans and coconut and cool. It will thicken ever more as it cools. Then spread on your cake or find yourself a spoon!!!

Candy filled Cake Balls!

So theater candy was on sale this last week and I felt like I really needed to stock up. Why I am not sure. Sometimes my husband teases me that all of our food storage is crackers, cookies and cake mixes and that we will be trading them for veggies etc if there really was an emergency. It is not totally true, but I will admit we do have plenty of treats stocked away. Any who, when I saw these Junior Mints and Junior Caramels I immediately thought of how fun and tasty they would be in a cake ball. Turns out I was right. If you have never made cake balls they are super easy, so try these with some hidden treats inside and be sure to tell me how it went! Above are your basic line up of ingredients.

So first off you make your cake as directed on the box and let it cool. Once cool you get the fun of breaking it up into a fun pile of crumbs.

After you have your tasty crumbs mix in one container of premade frosting. I used chocolate so the flavors would meld well.

After you mix those two things together you can start to scoop up your cake balls. I used an ice cream scoop so they would all be uniform. Then as you can see here I hid a Junior Mint or Junior Caramel in the middle.

Then just pinch around it and seal in off so that no one knows there is an extra treat hiding inside. Place on a foil lined tray and pop in the freezer for a few hours. Once they are thoroughly chilled melt your candy coating or Wilton melts and rolls the balls until covered. Since they are pretty well frozen they will hold together well and the chocolate will harden quickly.

Once finished keep at room temperature, but who are we kidding these will not last long. Here you can see my happy Junior Mint that was hiding in the middle. Soooooo tasty!!

Strawberry Oreo Trifle

So here is a twist on my amazing sister in laws oreo trifle. In my Sister in laws version she layered whole chocolate oreos, chocolate pudding, and cool whip over and over. Then you let it sit overnight so that the oreos get all soft and gushy. Hee Hee!! If you want more variation in color you can make varying shades by mixing your pudding and cool whip. So I adapted this recipe recently when I saw the golden oreos on sale. I used golden oreos, vanilla pudding, cool whip and stawberries. It would be tasty with chocolate oreos and strawberries too. You can add all sorts of fun and tasty things and layer them in a trifle bowl or just a glass bowl. Believe me, it will be delicious and it will be gone before anyone elses treats. If not let me know and I will come pick up your extras!!

Oreo Trifle
Whole oreos (pick a flavor, you will need 1 pkg for a small to medium bowl, two for larger)
Cool Whip
Pudding (pick a flavor to match your oreos, small pkg for small to medium bowl, large for larger)
Extras can include but are not limited to fruit, chocolate chips, M&M's, toffee bits, caramel, nuts...

Wildlife Cake!

This cake was sooooo fun to make. It was for a little boy who loves everything animals. We decided to have the tiers represent the water, earth and sky. I will admit this is the first time I have ever done any hand painting on a cake before, but I think it turned out pretty good. I cut out the animals from fondant and let them dry, then hand painted each and placed them on the side of the fondant covered cake. I like the elephant and the killer whale the best, which do you like?!!

Here is an eagle and a tiger. The eagle was the only sky animal they wanted, it is his favorite.

Here is a not so scary shark and a cute sea turtle.

Here is a dolphin and a giraffe. I loved doing the mane on the giraffe.

Here is a monkey and a alligator, that monkey better watch his tail!!

Here is my cute elephant, I love his wrinkled knees!

Last is my fun killer whale jumping out of the water!!

How to Train your Dragon Cake!!

So sorry for the lake of posting lately. We were sick for a while and then had a family wedding, but we are back to the day to day stuff now. So here is a cake I just made. The birthday boy wanted it to be like the movie, How to Train your Dragon. If you haven't seen it you must, so cute!! We made the bottom of the cake to be more like the rocky island he lives on and the top like the sky so that they could fly through the air,.

So here is the main character Hiccup and his night fury dragon friend Toothless.

I found these little wire cake accessories at the craft store and thought they would be perfect to hang some flying dragons off the cake. They were a great success!!