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Superbowl Cookies

I unfortunately didn't get any good pics of the superbowl cookies I made, but here is the one pic I have from my phone.

The recipe for the cookies and icing are below in the Valentine's Day cookie post.  Super easy if you want to re-create!

 

Valentine's Day Cookies (with recipes and tutorial)

I love any chance to bake (and decorate!!) cookies or cakes or cupcakes.  So, Valentine's Day just around the corner means cookies for my boys' preschool class and daycare.  

The best thing about decorated sugar cookies is that they have to be done in stages so the icing has time to dry....Perfect for a busy working mommy to fit into an already crammed schedule.  These cookies can be made at least two weeks ahead of time, wrapped, and frozen.

I'm no expert when it comes to cookie decorating, but I've learned that icing consistency is the key to success.  The best information I've found on the secret to perfect icing is from  Marian of  Sweetopia.  She has a great tutorial on icing sugar cookies and I've linked to it here for you.  I also decided to post links to the recipes since they were so easy to make (below).   


Happy Baking!


No Fail Sugar Cookies

Ingredients

• 6 cups flour 3 tsp. baking powder 2 cups unsalted butter 2 cups sugar (white granulated) 2 eggs 2 tsp. vanilla extract or desired flavoring (I like almond myself) 1 tsp. salt

Instructions

1. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Mix dry ingredients and add a little at a time to butter mixture. Mix until flour is completely incorporated and the dough comes together.
2. Chill for 1 to 2 hours
3. Roll to desired thickness and cut into desired shapes. Bake on ungreased baking sheet at 350 degrees F (176 C) for 8 to 10 minutes or until just beginning to turn brown around the edges. This recipe can make up to 5-dozen 3" cookies.

Antonia74 Royal Icing

Ingredients

• 6 oz (3/4 cup) of warm water 5 Tablespoons meringue powder 1 teaspoon cream of tartar 1 kilogram (2.25 lbs.) powdered icing sugar

Instructions

1. In mixer bowl, pour in the warm water and the meringue powder. Mix it with a whisk by hand until it is frothy and thickened...about 30 seconds.
2. Add the cream of tartar and mix for 30 seconds more.
3. Pour in all the icing sugar at once and place the bowl on the mixer.
4. Using the paddle attachment on the LOWEST speed, mix slowly for a full 10 minutes. Icing will get thick and creamy.
5. Cover the bowl with a dampened tea-towel to prevent crusting and drying.
6. Tint with food colourings or thin the icing with small amounts of warm water to reach the desired consistency.

Happy first birthday Alex and Olive!

Alex and Olive had their big first birthday on 12-12-13.  I didn't get a lot of good photos of this one since I was trying to beat the snowstorm that is supposed to dump 8.5inches on us today.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos of their individual smash cakes.  Oh well.
The cake a layer of white almond sour cream cake and a layer of chocolate fudge cake.   Animals are handmade from gumpaste, the ark is rice crispy treats covered in fondant.

Halloween Brain Cake

Fondant covered cake with decorator's edible blood.  Who knew Hershey's syrup and some food coloring could make edible blood!?!

Happy Birthday Finnley!

Finnley just turned 4 and loves the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  I remember these guys from when I was young, though I had to watch a few episodes to remind myself of some of the details....like that they LOVE pizza.  Here is Finn's cake - the turtles live under the city, so they're coming out of a manhole, with the cityscape on a tier and a base of pizza of course.  Fondant pizza. 
All the details and the turtles are hand crafted from fondant.

Elmo in the park party!

Charlie loves Elmo and he loves being at the park.  What better way to celebrate turning 4 than with his two favorite things - Elmo and a park.  Throw in some friends and family, a yummy Elmo cake, ice cream, and a beautiful day and the only thing that could make this party any better would be if Elmo himself showed up!  Yep - we had that covered too!  Happy 4th birthday my sweet and amazing boy!

Party hat and favor bags filled with treats and fun little goodies.  I made both to match the Elmo theme:

Elmo, Elmo, Elmo!

The Elmo is RKT covered in fondant. 

Elmo (Bryan from Spark of the Party) was absolutely fantastic and so animated!  He was so much fun for the children, climbing on the playscape, playing with the kids, looking at gifts, swinging the kiddies around.  I highly recommend Bryan for anyone looking for a character rental in CT.  This was truly one of the best days of Charlie's life so far,  in large part due to an awesome Elmo coming to his party!

 

Jack's first birthday polka dot chevron stripe cake!

It's been a whole year of happy delights, pat-a-cake days, and snug-a-hug nights since you and your sweet little peekaboo face made the world a more wonderful, giggle-filled place! Happy Birthday Jack!! xoxox

Here is little Jack's cake:

The bottom tier is carrot cake with white chocolate coconut cream cheese buttercream. Middle tier is one layer of dark chocolate fudge and one layer of almond with vanilla buttercream.  Top tier is dark chocolate fudge with orange buttercream.
Yum!!

 

The little guy wasn't sure what to think of it. He did eventually dig in and then promptly fell asleep afterwards.

Jack's smash cake with the party cake.  Surprisingly, nobody noticed that the smash cake was backwards in this pic.  Opps!

Noah's Ark

This cake was for a Jewish Naming Ceremony for two beautiful little boys, hence the Mazel Tov wording.  I made the animals by hand from gumpaste. The cake is a chocolate fudge cake with vanilla buttercream and covered in fondant.  The top part of the ark(the second tier) is RKT covered in fondant.  So happy with how this turned out!  I think it might be my favorite cake creation yet!
Here are the pics - enjoy!

Sprinkle cake with bunting

My 3 yr old little guy had his first tap dancing recital this weekend.  He and the other preschool age tappers danced to a song about ice cream.  We celebrated his big show afterwards with a sprinkle cake.

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 and this post wouldn't be complete without a picture of my little guy tapping!  This is from the dress rehearsal:

Elmo and Cookie Monster Cupcakes (and 'how to' info)

I needed to make something for an MS fundraiser and my almost 4yr old suggested we incorporate Elmo and Cookie Monster into whatever we made.  So, Elmo and Cookie Monster cupcakes!

These were incredibly easy and are perfect for a toddler baking project! 

If you want to re-create them, here is what you'll need:

Cupcakes

Food coloring - blue and red and black and orange

Chocolate chip cookies

Wilton white candy melts

Frost some cupcakes with red frosting and some with blue frosting.  Add the wilton candy melts for the eyes, add some black eyeballs, orange nose and black mouth for elmo.  Break a cookie in half and use that for the mouth for cookie monster. That's it!!  Done!

the Butt Cake

Not sure what to say about this one, other than it is a butt cake.  The idea for this cake actually started out as a joke - a hilarious birthday cake for a friend of my hubby's.  When I mentioned that I could really do a butt cake, it was a joke no more.  For anyone who wants to re-create, message me on Facebook (sweet celebrations) and I'll provide you with 'how to' info. 

Here it is in all it's naked glory:

Garden Cake

This was a surprise 60th bday cake for a guy who loves Hawaiian shirts, is a U of Miami fan (hat), loves to read, is an avid gardener, is a world traveler (book-"Europe"), studies brain mapping (book title) and just planted a Sequoia tree from seed (the little seedling and sign in the garden says Sequoia). Phew! Got all that incorporated.

12x12 carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.  YUM! 

 

Tiffany Blue Bling Cake!

Just a few pictures of the cake I put together for my own birthday!   Each tier is covered with fondant.  The bottom tier has buttercream stenciling, middle tier has fondant ruffles and satin ribbon, top tier is fondant with buttercream dots.

The bottom tier is a dummy.  Believe it or not, dummy tiers are harder to work with (for me at least) because they are so light and slide around.  I suppose that could be avoided by adhering it to a cake board, but that wasn't possible with this stand.

Here are the pics.  When we take it apart I'll take some pics to show the inner supports.  Planning to put a stacking tutorial up on my facebook page soon (SweetCelebrations).

Ravens Nation!

Typically, I'm not a football fan.  However, my hubby's cousin Chris is on the stunt team for the Ravens and after something like 7 years cheering for them, they're going to the Super Bowl!  So, I'm REALLY hoping the Ravens win.  Hubby and I have a Super Bowl party tonight and I made this cake to bring. 

Let's Go Ravens!!

This cake is 4 layers, two are an almond sour cream  flavor and two are a chocolate fudge flavor.  It is filled with my signature cookie cream filling (which tastes like Oreos).  I iced it with vanilla buttercream and covered in fondant.  All the details are made from fondant.  The grass is buttercream.  The face mask is gumpaste. 

This is my second carved cake ever and I think it turned out..well...AWESOME.  I owe some of the success to all the other cakers who have shared how-to pics, so to pay it forward, I'm posting pics of the process and instructions on my facebook page later (sweetcelebrations).

Take a look:

rib-bit rib-bit Froggy Birthday Cake

Happy 2nd Birthday Megan!!  Froggy Birthday cake.  Vanilla sprinkle cake with vanilla buttercream, covered in vanilla fondant.  Froggy and decorations are fondant, as well.  The whole thing is edible.

Nemo Under the Sea Cake

This was such a fun cake! Nemo and all the sea things are made from fondant. Almond cake with chocolate buttercream filling, covered in fondant.

 

 

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