Adieu 2010

Here it is - the final cake of 2010!

At my last count, I created over 80 cake and cookie designs this year, many of which challenged not only my creative abilities, but also my engineering and time management capacities.  This one was no exception - I learned the hard way that a cake you are planning to make "explode" should never be covered in fondant until right before you are ready to create the effect.  Doing so too far in advance, of course, causes the fondant to crack instead of curl.  In the back of my mind, I already knew this, but c'est la vie!  It's just another lesson learned for the future! (Luckily, the cracked fondant added to the design of this cake.  Whew!)

So, here's to the New Year and another chance for us to get it right!

Slacker

Just to make things perfectly clear, I'm the slacker, not you.  See, I started this blog in order to share my cakes and baking adventures with you in a timely manner, but in retrospect perhaps I shouldn't have started a blog in December...a month that could easily be classified as one of the busiest months of the year!  But, today I plan to remedy my slacker-ness by giving you my December dessert and cake creations (with a few exceptions) all in one post.  So without further ado...

Ahem...drumroll please...

Two coffee themed cakes for family members.  Everything on both cakes is edible...assuming you like to crunch on whole coffee beans!

A fun chalkboard/school themed cake for a recent Elementary Education graduate.  Everything is hand-sculpted and edible.

My first giant cookie creations! Made for a client's son who loves the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Minnesota Vikings.  Nothing makes a chocolate chip cookie better than buttercream icing, right?

Baseball cap in the birthday honoree's favorite color and brand.  Many people attending the party didn't realize that the cake wasn't a real hat!  Luckily no one tossed anything on top of it while it was sitting on the counter...

And finally, the desserts I made for Christmas dinner.  After I lined them up for the photo, I realized that my dessert selections this year were very "brown"; my family didn't seem to mind though!  They dove straight into the apple crisp pie, chocolate fudge pie, and dulce de leche cheesecake, while the younger kids throughly enjoyed the melted snowman cookies.

P.S. I realize "slacker-ness" is not a word, but it seemed fitting.  =)

A Holiday Ham

Merry Christmas!

In the spirit of the season, I thought I would share one of my recent cakes that I have affectionately taken to calling the "Holiday Ham."  He is a pumpkin spice cake with praline buttercream, and, from the reports I've received, he was a huge hit at the bake sale he attended!





Christmas Cookies

And now...a sampling of my theme-song for the last week...

*singing*

"I sure do like those Christmas cookies, sugar

I sure do like those Christmas cookies, babe

The ones that look like Santa Claus

Christmas trees and bells and stars

I sure do like those Christmas cookies..."

Yep, that's right...I've been baking and decorating sugar cookies for the holiday; 18 dozen cookies to be exact.  Here's a few of them waiting patiently to be festooned:

I've always enjoyed decorating cookies at Christmas, not only because I get to eat all the ones that turn out less-than-perfect, but also because I never tire of turning a simple and unadorned cookie into an individual piece of art.  But, with that being said, I think I may have found my limit on how many cookies to try to conquer in a week! 

Here's the first 5 dozen, all dressed up and ready to be boxed!  Now, anyone want to come help wash dishes?  There might be a few less-than-perfect cookies in it for you...

Kleenex for Dessert?

Red velvet cake.  Chocolate cake.  Cherry Pie.  Triple layer vanilla cake.

Sound like a divine dessert buffet?  It's actually a line of new Kleenex Brand tissue packaging that only looks like slices of your favorite pies and cakes.  And if you live near a Target store (which so far is the only place I've been able to find them), I would highly recommend picking a few up.  They would make perfect stocking stuffers for the dessert lover on your Christmas list or as a whimsical holiday decoration for you.

Too bad my nearest Target store is 2 hours away...

Here We Go!

As if I'm not already busy enough, I've decided to try my hand at blogging!  Hopefully, doing so will make it easier to share my baking and confection successes.  Along the way, I'll probably throw in a few good recipes, one or two culinary adventures, and the occasional random post that may or may not have anything to do with pastry or baking...but as they say, "variety is the spice of life!"  Until next time, friends...