My First Cake Pops!!

Happy Wednesday, everybody!! Today I want to show you my first attempt at cake pops with my Babycakes cake pop maker!! My mom needed some kind of treat for bunco, so I thought this was the perfect opportunity to try out my new favorite toy! I kept it simple, with funfetti cake dipped in white chocolate melts, and topped with rainbow sprinkles (I LOVE sprinkles for some reason). Wrap it up with cute matching rainbow ribbon, and you have instant bunco cuteness/yumminess. These were so easy to make- after I made them I asked myself WHY had I not tried these before?? This started a new epidemic- so get ready for more cake pop posts!!

Babycakes!!

Hey guys! Remember this post when I said I had the coolest family ever? Well not only are they the coolest, but they're friggin' GENIUSES (And I know my mom is reading this and nodding and/or saying "Yep"). So one of the many yummy blogs I love is Bakerella's blog. Love, love, LOVE it. And I had ALWAYS wanted to try making cake pops...so I attempted them once- disaster. That's all I'm gonna say. I hadn't tried making them since then...that is, until I got this little beauty from my fam for Christmas.

This, my friends, is the babycakes cake pop maker. No joke, it's like a waffle iron, but you put cake batter in it, and adorable little balls of cake come out of it. Since then, as you'll see in later posts, I've been a cake pop-makin' fool. Cake pops are SO EASY to make this way. And I've gotten a lot of positive feedback taste-wise. The people who have tried them like them better than the ones you mix with frosting. AND you can make donut holes with this bad boy! So. Excited. Totally recommend this to anyone who hasn't had luck with cake balls/pops the traditional way, like me. How did my family know that this gift would keep me so busy in the kitchen, and would produce such great results?

Like I said. Friggin'. Geniuses.

Braaainss...Braaainss...

Those of you who know me, know I'm a big baby when it comes to scary movies. What's that? You're thinking about planning a scary movie-thon? No thanks, I'm going to have to politely decline in advance for ALL future invitations. Especially if zombie movies are involved. I can SOMEWHAT handle movies about monsters, aliens, and psychopath murderers, but zombies FREAK. ME. OUT. TOTALLY irrational, I'm well aware, but there you have it. And that's how I came to my decision to make brain cupcakes for our annual Halloween party last year. I'm not a huge fan of Halloween...maybe it's because I associate it with all things creepy...including zombies. So what's more creepy than zombie-food cupcakes?

Nothing, that's what. These were really simple, I just colored some plain white buttercream with a very little bit of peach coloring to make this disturbingly creepy brain color. Pop a #10 tip on your piping bag, and make 4 squiggles down the cupcake. Instant creepiness.

Heh...these honestly weird me out a little bit...maybe it's the coloring that makes them seem sort of realistic. BUT they tasted delicious, so that makes up for it. I'm thinking this year going back to something cute or cool, and passing on creepy.

Ick, nothing zombie related, yes? Can I get a show of hands?

Lego Dessert Table!

This is it folks. The moment we've all been waiting for. Well actually, it's just the post I'VE been waiting for for a while! This is the big one, one of the things I've done that I'm most proud of. Prepare to have your mind blown.

For my dad's birthday last year, I came up with the idea to do a Lego themed birthday party for him. As I've mentioned before, I inherited my nerdiness from my dad. That being said...we both love Legos. He still has sets in the garage from when he was a kid, I grew up playing with them...and I still have my Harry Potter Lego sets, which I LOVE. Anywho, I knew I wanted to do a nice party with a dessert table after my mom's was such a huge hit a few months before (if you missed the pink and green dessert table I did for my mom's birthday, you can find it here). And I got the idea to do a Lego party after finding these cookies on The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle. Not only does the post for these cookies have a tutorial, but she even provides a template, folks! It makes the process SO much easier, so get on over there, so you can try these out too!
I used my usual sugar cookie and icing recipes, here are the Lego head cookies in the process:

And here is the finished product. With my leftover scrap dough, I cut out some little rectangles to make some lego bricks to go with my little dudes. And this is just the beginning.

WHOLE. TABLE. FULL of Lego goodies for his party!! Like I said, the cookies were just the beginning! I knew I had to get those Lego candies you see in the candy shops. And of course, after I got the cookie idea, I started browsing the web looking for other party ideas. I found this awesome ice cube tray...in the shape of little Lego guys!! PERFECT to use for a candy mold to make some cupcake toppers!!

Here is my cupcake tower! I made Funfetti cupcakes, plain white buttercream frosting, and topped with red, yellow, and blue chocolate Minifigures!

The Lego candies and some of those Airhead sour belts...I was going for a primary color theme.,

One of the coolest parts about the party was the decorations. Dad let us build and put out some of his old Lego sets, such as this one on the dessert table:

And these cars...

The Lego sets really tied the room together. And the kids loved to look at and play with them!

I HAD to get one of my Harry Potter sets out also...And dad didn't object. =)

Here's the Lego Minifig cupcakes up close:



This was one of the best adult birthday parties we've ever thrown! One that I'm sure our guests won't be forgetting any time soon. And it was just SO fitting for my dad.

See? What did I tell you? Mind blown, right? You're welcome.

Wedding Shower cookies

Good news guys! As of today, I am officially done with the Spring semester of school! And you know what that means....SUMMER! Which means....well, actually for me it means jury duty, two summer classes, and work. Huh. Doesn't sound so exciting when you put it THAT way. But it ALSO means that I'll have a LOAD of goodies lined up between now and August, so keep checking back for new posts every three to four days or so!

These cookies I made for someone I don't even know. Actually, I have no idea who received these cookies. My boyfriend's sweet sister asked if I would make some goodies for a bridal shower she was hosting. She had nothing in mind, just cookies with the wedding colors, pink and blue ("Something cute" I believe were her exact words). So if you know me, you know that one of my all time FAVORITE blogs to visit is Bake at 350. Well I've seen quite a few posts over there where Bridget used this 3-tiered cake cookie cutter, and the cookies are always so cute! So why not do some simple cake cookies for this wedding shower? This was the finished product:

Like I said, simple, but appropriate. Especially when you don't know the taste of the recipients.

Just bag 'em up with some matching ribbon, and they're good to go! I've gotta say, these cookies were freakin' miracle cookies. Due to a miscommunication, I had to decorate these bad boys overnight to have them ready on time (luckily they were already baked), but look at them! Need the cookies decorated and ready for the next morning? Challenge accepted.

I scream, you scream, we ALL scream for ice cream!!

Actually, there is no ice cream. Sorry for the confusion (believe me, I'm disappointed too- ice cream is my FAVORITE sweet treat). What I DO have is ice cream cone CUPCAKES. That's ALMOST just as good, right? Right. So last year my good friend Toni celebrated a birthday (Insert "DUH" here), and I knew I had to make her something special because, well, she's a foodie like me. That's why we get along so well- we'd bond on our lunch breaks at work over (usually junk) food.
I got the idea to do some cupcakes from Pinterest. Everybody's been on Pinterest, right? If you haven't you should go right now and check it out. Actually no, wait until AFTER you finish reading this post, THEN go. =) But seriously, there are so many great ideas on that site. And that's where I got the idea to make these ice cream cone cupcakes, and they were easier to make than I had expected!

Not a great picture I know, but the CUPCAKES were great, and that's all that matters. I used white and pink frosting, in the same bag, and the colors turned out great! I am totally using that technique more often!
And they're just so darn cute, had I brought them over in an ice chest, I would have had her fooled for sure. ;)

The Cake is a Lie!

Hey everyone, I know it's been a long time! I've baked quite a bit since you last heard from me, so be ready for some yummy posts!

The first item on the menu is a cake I made for my boyfriend Broc's 21st birthday. Now, something you may not know about Broc and I....we're kind of nerds. And by kind of I mean (among many other reasons) he spends most of his free time playing video games, and to be honest, I would probably join him more often if I could.
One of our favorite video games is Portal. It's this really innovative puzzle game that requires a PORTAL GUN to solve the puzzles. NEED I say more? Anyway, anyone familiar with the game knows that the cake is a lie. It is. And actually I'm not sure why, so if you're not familiar with the game...sorry, I can't help you out on that one. Talk about the blind leading the blind. So when the time came for me to decide what deliciousness to make for Broc's birthday, the end scene of the Portal game came to mind:

Yes, a simple chocolate cake surrounded by companion cubes. AND I had just received my Think Geek catalog, which gave me the perfect idea!! So, on the day of his birthday, I went over to his house, and set up his cake on the table. And this is what he came downstairs to:

Complete with his own companion cube pillow! Can you say major girlfriend points? I know, I'm so modest. But seriously, not only was this one of the simplest cakes I've ever done, but along with the companion cube, one of my favorite "themed" cakes!

The only problem is...How do I top this THIS year? No pressure...