'Tis the Season

I can't believe I'm so behind!  It's not for lack of baking, believe me.  The problem is, these few weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas are so jam packed with holiday baking and parties, I haven't had time to sit down and update the blog.  I'm sure you've all been in the same state of holiday chaos too, right?

I first posted this treat last year, but I just had to share it again.  Buckeyes are such a special treat for me and my family - I think because we only make them at Christmas.  I made a double batch this year to make sure I had enough for all my girlfriends who have come to expect this special holiday candy.  I love the way this photo came out when I used my nifty photo editing app on my phone, so I think it warrants a second posting anyways, right? : )

Blessings-
LC

Spice is Nice

We are officially in Christmas season!  Personally, I've been celebrating since Halloween.  But at least now I won't get those judgmental looks for watching Home Alone a million times before December 25th, right?

This is another secret recipe from Sandy... she is the keeper of all things good - chili, cheesecake, and this spice cake!  Spice cake is an unusual member of the cake family.  Many folks I know have never even heard of it, and it's not exactly the first flavor you think of when it comes to cake.  However, it is one of my personal favorites, and I think it's perfect to share around the holidays because of all the warm spices in it.  This is definitely my "special cake" that I make when the right occasion calls for a little something extra.  And when you top it with homemade caramel icing, it can't be beat!

Blessings-
LC

Pumpkin Bread

With Thanksgiving a mere week away (I can hardly believe it!), I figured it was about time to post something pumpkin.  I LOVE pumpkin - bread, cake, ice cream, pie, everything.  I think my favorites are pumpkin bread or pumpkin cake, since I'm a cake kinda gal.  So when I found this recipe for streusel topped pumpkin bread, I knew it was a keeper.  And it was just as great as I had hoped it would be!  I altered the recipe slightly from what you'll find online, but I'm sure it will still be great if you made it as-is. : )  Happy Thanksgiving!

Blessings-
LC

Fall's Fruit

One of the best things about fall are all the delicious apples that are in season this time of year.  Although I'm not much of a pie person, I do love a good apple pie with a crumb topping.  I made this pie for the same work lunch that I made the tasty caramel corn for.  What can I say... I just don't know when to stop! : )  This pie is one of my favorites - especially with some cinnamon ice cream!

(Sorry this picture is not the best... it's all I could get before it was gobbled up at work!)

Blessings-
LC

Fall's Candy

I love corn... and popcorn... and it's sweet cousin - caramel corn.  There are a few times a year when caramel corn is standard fair - county fairs and harvest parties!  So when my office had a potluck for Halloween, I knew one of the things I had to contribute was caramel corn.  But not just any caramel corn... homemade caramel corn.  Yum.

Whenever I make this, I will always think of the Blizzard of 2010.  Everything in the DC Metro area shut down for a week, and we were basically confined to the house.  Thankfully, we never lost power!  So to keep myself occupied during our imprisonment what did I do?  Bake of course!  I literally baked until I ran out of sugar... and flour... and eggs... and when I ran out of all those ingredients, I made this caramel corn!  It's delicious and great for a party, or just for you.

Blessings-
LC

One Year

Remember when I made my first wedding cake?  Well it's hard to believe, but that wonderful couple celebrated their one year anniversary earlier this summer, and they now also have a beautiful baby boy!  The sweet husband asked me if I could make them a small anniversary cake of the same flavor as their wedding cake, and of course I was thrilled to help them celebrate.  So this is a buttermilk white cake with vanilla buttercream.  I thought the little 6" round cake was just so cute, and perfect for their intimate celebration for two.

Blessings-
LC

Mum's the Word

Now that we're deep in the midst of fall, I thought it would be fun to share these "mum" cupcakes.  They're just a basic buttermilk white cake, with buttercream frosting.  But the piping work on these makes them cute and flowery and very appropriate for this time of year. : )

Blessings-
LC

The Graduate

This project obviously occurred earlier this year in the midst of graduation season.  A family friend asked me to make a graduation cake for the open house they were hosting for this high school graduate.  It was a chocolate cake with white buttercream frosting.  I was pretty proud of myself, because I was able to track down the school mascot online (the seahawks), and then I copied it on the cake!  It was a fun personal touch that they weren't expecting, so it was nice to surprise them with that detail at the party.  While only one layer, this round cake was much larger than usual cakes - around 12" in diameter - and perfect for a big celebration!

Blessings-
LC

Secret Cheesecake

Remember this special cheesecake?  Well it was good, but THIS is the original.  This is one of those recipes that I think my mom would disown me for sharing.  It's just a good, ole, traditional, tasty cheesecake.  Nothing too fancy or unusual about it.  You can serve it plain.  You can serve it with fruit (in this case it was strawberries).  Just take your pick - it's a blank canvas.  But it is sooooooooooo good - either on its own or with some special topping.

Blessings-
LC

Pick Your Flavor

Here's another one that I've held on to for a while but hadn't gotten around to sharing... These cupcakes were for a very special (and big!) birthday party.  The Birthday Girl wanted 60 cupcakes in several different flavors, so I created a really cute and colorful display for her guests.  I also made a cute little sign so the guests knew what all the different flavors were based on the color of the icing... which I thought was a pretty clever idea if I do say so myself. : )

Blessings-
LC

White Chocolate Reese's

Have you ever had white chocolate reese's?  Well, I had not... until a client asked me to incorporate them into a cake!  The birthday boy's favorite candy is white chocolate reese's, so I created a birthday cake STUFFED with them!

Unfortunately I don't have a picture of the inside, so you'll just have to take my word for it.  This is a three layer chocolate cake with white chocolate buttercream.  In between each of the cake layers, I chopped up the candy and added it to the white chocolate filling.  For the outside, I put the leftover candies in my food processor and ground them up to create the little bits of tastiness that formed the outer "crust" if you will.

Since this was for a client, I didn't taste the final product.  But I'm told it was a hit!  Adding candy to cakes, etc. isn't something I usually do, but it's a fun - and tasty - way to bring your favorite flavors into a special dessert.

Blessings-
LC

PB Pie

As I've said on here several times, I'm not really a pie kinda gal... or a peanut butter and chocolate kinda gal.  However, I do aim to please my clients and friends for whom I bake! : )  Thus, I present to you a tasty (to most people) peanut butter pie.  This is a perfect summer treat - you only bake the crust for 5 minutes or so and then no more oven!  The filling is kind of like a no-bake peanut butter cheesecake, but not quite as rich.  And because you store this pie in the refrigerator, it's the perfect cool ending to a sizzling backyard BBQ.  I know we're heading into fall now, but I'm still hoping for a few more hot days before it's cold for good!

Blessings-
LC

Quake Cookies

As you probably heard, we had an earthquake here on the East Coast a couple weeks ago.  Because of that, and potential damage to my office building, we were released about 2pm and told not to come back until they cleared the building - which happened to be the next day.  The city was in chaos, and thankfully I live close enough to work that I was able to just walk home.  But everything else was closed, and traffic was awful, so I was pretty much forced to stay at my house the rest of the day.

So what do you do when you're trapped at home?  Bake cookies of course!  I had been wanting to make cookies with Rolo's for a while (my favorite childhood candy), and I had also been wanting to try baking pretzel pieces into cookies (you know how much I love salty and sweet together!).  So I started with my basic chocolate chip cookie recipe, but instead of chocolate chips, I added chopped Rolo's.  After I had all the cookies ready to go on the sheet, I added some crushed pretzels to the top and then put them in the oven to bake into delicious morsels.

These are FAN-tastic.  I can't tell you what a hit these were at the office the next day.  There is something so nostalgic for me about Rolo's, and the pretzels were perfect to help offset all that sugar.  I think I'll try adding pretzels to some of my other cookies and see how the flavor combination works.  While I initially called these "quake cookies" because they were the result of being sent home early and bored from the earthquake, what I realized is that because of the chopped candies and crushed pretzels, these cookies actually kind of look like they were in an earthquake too!  Clever I know... I made some cookies with pretzels, and some without.  But the cookies with pretzels were by far my favorite!

Blessings-
LC

Fun Fun

Since I started getting into baking a few years ago, I must admit I've become a little bit of a snob when it comes to prepackaged mixes or store-bought goodies.  I've just learned to tell the difference between homemade goodness and that artificial stuff, and it's ruined me forever from convenience desserts!

Much to my chagrin, many of my girlfriends LOVE funfetti... for what reason I cannot tell you.  I find the funfetti cake mixes sold at the store to be sickeningly artificially sweet.  But, as a baker, I do aim to please.

So when one of my funfetti loving friends had a birthday, I decided to make my own - from scratch!  My friend is also lactose intolerant so they are also dairy free (thanks to some Crisco and Lactaid "milk").  So if I'm gonna do funfetti, I'm gonna do it right, and I'm gonna do it like this.

Blessings-
LC

Gimme S'more

After all the fancy wedding cakes I've posted lately, I decided to bring it down a notch and give you something a little more down-home.  A lot of the blogs I follow had all kinds of interesting s'mores recipes a few weeks back, so I decided to try my hand at some s'mores cookie bars.

I used cinnamon-flavored graham crackers for the bottom, and then made my special chocolate chip cookie recipe... added a little cinnamon to the batter... and stirred in lots of marshmallows and chocolate chips.  Then I covered all the graham crackers with the cookie batter, and halfway through the baking, I added some more marshmallows and chopped Hershey bars on top - YUM.

To be honest, I like these a lot better than campfire s'mores!  There's something about the cookie batter that just makes them sooooooooooooo much better!  The graham crackers stay crunchy fresh out of the oven, but after a day or so, they soften up and add a different texture to the cookies.  I've made these a couple times in the last few weeks, and they've been such a hit that I'm already getting requests to make them for parties and such!  Plus, they just remind me of summer bonfires, and that's always a great feeling. : )

Blessings-
LC

4 of 4

It's here!!! At long last, the fourth and final wedding cake order I had this summer.  If you'll remember, I had two wedding cakes in the same weekend a few weeks back, so my life was incredibly hectic.  But everything turned out really great and I thought it was so beautiful.

The bottom and top layers of the cake were chocolate, and the middle layer was lemon.  Because I'm friends with the bride and groom, I got to attend their beautiful wedding and actually eat the wedding cake that I had made - which is a rare occurrence.  (And if I do say so myself, it was delicious - of course)  The cake was so beautiful and classic and fit the decor of the wedding reception so well.  I just loved it!

I don't have any other wedding cakes on the docket right now, so it'll be back to baking-as-usual for a while.

 

Blessings-
LC

3 of 4

So remember this and this?  Well, I have now completed all my wedding cake orders for the summer, and I've still got one more to share after the post today.  Wedding cakes 3 and 4 were both for the same weekend, so it was a little stressful for this gal who also has a full-time job on top of my little hobby.  But they both went off splendidly and I was so pleased with both cakes!

This was a three tier lemon cake for about 100 guests.  The wedding colors were yellow and blue, so the cake went really well with the colors.  What I loved the most was the venue!  When I delivered the cake, there were large white pillars outside the reception hall, and the room itself had golden yellow walls with beautiful white molding.  So the cake looked even better in the room than I had thought... the pillars between the layers matched the architecture of the building, and the blueberries and lemons matched the walls and table decorations.  I was really happy with how everything turned out!  Cake 4 of 4 is coming soon.... : )

 

 Blessings-
LC

Baby Boy Brewer

Remember this wedding cake I made last summer?  Well it's hard to believe, but my sweet former roommate is pregnant!  She and her wonderful husband are expecting their first little boy in a few weeks, just over a year after they were married.

So naturally, some of our lady friends had to throw a baby shower for Baby Boy Brewer.  I made "blue velvet" cupcakes in cute little ducky wrappers.  What is blue velvet you might ask?  Well... it's a traditional red velvet cake - except I used blue food coloring instead of red!  I thought it was pretty clever and they were a hit with all the ladies at the shower.  Now we just have to wait a few more weeks to meet the little fellow.

Blessings-
LC

More Kiddos

Keeping with the kid-at-heart theme, here is a cake I made for one of my coworkers a little while back.  Both of his adorable kids were born in the same month, so they had a joint "Word World" themed party for both of them (ages 5 and 3).

If you're like me... I had NO idea what Word World was before I made this cake.  Here's a link to the show page, but basically... everything on the show spells what it actually is - cows, dogs, barns, you name it.  It's pretty cool if you think about it.

Knowing that... I LOVE the way this cake turned out!  It's looks exactly like one they had on one of the episodes, and perfect for a kids' party.  This was a yellow cake with chocolate-creamcheese buttercream.  And I just think it's so cute!

Blessings-
LC

Kid at Heart

One of my good friends recently celebrated a birthday, and although he is married to my former roommate and currently expecting his firstborn, he is still very much a kid at heart.  When I was younger I used to think that the boys in my class would eventually grow out of their childish and mischievous ways.  But as I've gotten older, I've realized that in many ways, men will always have the heart of a ten year old boy.  And you know what... that's one of the things I've come to love the most about the men in my life! : )  Whereas my mom and I tend to be more serious and practical, it always seems to be my guy friends and family who make me laugh and learn not to take life so seriously.  It's a wonderful quality and I'm glad that in some ways, little boys never grow up!

That being said, for this boy's birthday, his only request was that the cupcakes be almond and that they be covered with lots and lots of sprinkles.  I had to laugh when his wife shared his wishes with me... so simple.  But that's exactly what I gave him.  A moist almond cake with a traditional buttercream frosting... doused with sprinkles.  I've always been a sprinkles fan myself, so I was more than happy to oblige his boy-like whim.  These cupcakes were a hit at his birthday party, and they all quickly disappeared!  I've learned that in baking - and in life - it's sometimes the simple things that matter most.

Blessings-
LC

Fudge-i-ful

Here's a little something different for your Thursday morning - homemade fudge!  This is a treat I usually only make around Christmas time (and truth be told, that's when I shot this photo!).  But I hadn't had an opportunity to share it with you yet, and I thought it'd be a nice break from the usual cakes and such that I post on here.

Now, I'm not much of a "nut" girl... especially in desserts.  So I don't put nuts in  my fudge, though you certainly could.  My mom usually puts nuts in hers, but I'm kind of a purist like that and don't like other stuff messing with it.  This fudge is so rich, and creamy - it just melts in your mouth.  For realz.  That's why I cut the squares so small... if the pieces were any bigger, you might go into a sugar shock!  But boy is it delicious.

Blessings-
LC

Bites of Heaven

Remember how I told you I also did cake pops for the cocktail hour at my last wedding?  Well here they are!  They were my first attempt at the newest baking trend, and I think they turned out pretty cute.  The only downer is they are kind of time consuming, and there are several steps to them... lots of hand-rolling, chilling, etc.  But I'm sure I could get faster if I practiced a little more at it.

For the cocktail hour, I made lemon cake pops, and buttermilk white cake pops that had a hint of strawberry in them.  After I dipped them in white chocolate, I dipped them in purple and red sugar to match the main colors of the wedding.  These are the perfect treat for a party, summer get together, cocktail hour, you name it!  Because the cocktail hour was outside, they did melt a bit in the sun, but I popped the leftovers in the fridge and they were good as new.  Enjoy!

My beautiful models!  (aka girlfriends - love 'em!)

Blessings-
LC

Fun Flags

I've spent the last three July 4ths here in DC.  So this year, I decided to switch it up and go back home to the Midwest.  And I must say... Independence Day in the Capitol is definitely awesome, but it was wonderful to be home with family and friends!  My time was filled with lots of cookouts, beautiful weather, and of course a little bit of baking. : )

Since I was on vacation, I didn't have all the usual tools I use for baking and decorating, but I made due with what I had.  So while the cake I'm about to show you isn't anything special on the outside, it's the inside that will blow your mind.  I must admit that I did not come up with this on my own... I got the idea from one of my favorite blogs.  So I made my own red velvet and buttermilk white cakes, and used the assembly idea I saw in the blog.  Look at how awesome this turned out!!!

Blessings-
LC

Happy Fourth!

As I've gotten older, I've grown to appreciate and respect the Fourth of July even more.  The service and sacrifice of our service men and women - many of whom are now friends of mine - never ceases to amaze me.  And I am just so thankful for the freedoms we enjoy in this country - cuz it wasn't free!

Anyways... I've gotten into the habit of making my special sugar cookies every year to celebrate Independence Day, so thought I'd share them with you all as we head into the holiday weekend.  Enjoy and don't forget to thank a veteran!

Blessings-
LC

Strawberry Shortcake

Continuing the theme of stuffed treats from my most recent post, I wanted to share these special surprise cupcakes I made for a friend of mine.  I've already professed my love of cake, and that I like it plain and simple without lots of extra bells and whistles.  Well, in an attempt to please my strawberry-shortcake-loving-friend, I decided to use that as an inspiration for these cupcakes.

These moist vanilla cupcakes are stuffed with chunky strawberry preserves, and topped with a light and fluffy buttercream (made with plenty of whipping cream!).  I have to admit, I really liked them... even though they were more glitzy than the kind of cake I usually like.  And perfect for summer!

Blessings-
LC

Stuffed with Tastiness

I believe I've mentioned before that I'm not a big fan of the peanut butter/chocolate combo.  But I realize that I'm kind of a freak like that, and that most people LOVE it... so once in a while I'll bust out a treat with those flavors - behold, the stuffed cookie.

These chocolate treasures are filled with a sweet peanut butter filling, similar to the filling I make for my buckeyes.  So if you like those, I'm sure you'd like these little treasures!

Blessings-
LC