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