Chocolate Cake

I had an inkling for a chocolate cake with funfetti frosting on Thursday night so I went to the store and bought the ingredients. Then I realized I wouldn't be able to make a nice, pretty layer cake if I used the funfetti frosting. I considered swapping it out for a non-lumpy one (lol), but decided that was the frosting that would *make* the cake. So I couldn't bring myself to change it. I also gave it a once over in my head to make it a 2-layer cake and put fresh sliced bananas in the middle, but decided against that too. In the end, I made a simple 9x13 chocolate cake with funfetti frosting. I had once slice (and so did Dustin), then took it to work for my co-workers on Friday. I managed to have people come to me for all but 4 slices, so I put them in the kitchen with a sign on them, went back 5 minutes later, and they were gone. So now, it'll be on to my next cake idea or craving, haha.
I have found that I am very interested in the possibility of doing photography, so I worked on that a bit this weekend. I think I have an eye for it, but would feel much better if I had an actual photographer look at the photos I took and critique them. I don't personally know any photographers, so that part will have to wait. In the mean time, I will keep practicing and perhaps I will get better on my own. =)

Monkeys!

I've got a new order! She pretty much said that it didn't matter to her what I made so I came up with some monkey cupcakes. I showed them to her and she thought they were adorable and perfect for her son's class at school. This will be an order for about mid-March, so in the mean time I just might make some random cakes to share with my co-workers, neighbors, and/or family members, lol. I bought a tub of funfetti frosting the other day because it's my favorite and I was going to use it to frost a chocolate cake... but then this feeling overcame me that I really wanted to do another layer cake and I can't really make a pretty cake with funfetti frosting... can I? So I'm not quite sure yet. I'd also like to do a fruit filling mainly to see how it turns out. I'd also like to make filled cupcakes, which I haven't gotten around to just yet. Needless to say, I've got ideas floating around in my head of things I'd like to try so hopefully I can do one of these projects this weekend!

Tuesday...

Usually Tuesdays are all the same; the day after Monday in the new work week. This week is a little different considering that yesterday was a National Holiday so most people we know were off work, so today is the start of the work week. In addition to that, my younger brother went back to base yesterday. Very soon he's set to deploy to Afghanistan for 12 months (with a leave somewhere in the middle, hopefully). We did get to have lunch with him yesterday and hung out with him at the airport before his plane left, so that was nice... but I miss him already.

Happy Birthday Ruby!

Today is the birthday party for my boss' niece Ruby. I took the cake in to work yesterday for pickup and everyone wanted to see it, lol. I think it turned out very well for my first cake (aside from the massive belly cake I did before). Everyone who saw it couldn't stop saying how cute they thought it was and it made me proud to be able to say I made it. This cake has definitely given me the confidence to know that I can not only make cute and great tasting cupcakes, but I can do cakes as well. I do love baking and decorating cupcakes, not to mention the easy clean-up once served. However, I found out Thursday night that I really enjoyed decorating this cake more. It was like a blank canvas with the frosting on before I started piping. So as I added, I felt like an artist, taking great care with each little flower I put on it. Then to get halfway around the cake and really see it coming together was such a great feeling. Before this cake, I also thought that I couldn't write on cakes, but (if I do say so myself) the 'Happy Birthday' turned out fabulous! As did Ruby's name on the side.
I did receive another cupcake order for a different co-worker's son's class in mid-March. It'd be nice to get another cake order soon, but I'm just happy to be getting orders so I definitely won't complain. On to a relaxing three-day weekend! ;)

Stacking

I managed to get all of the cake baked and stacked last night AND I got the bottom layer of frosting on it. I'm so happy with how much I got done last night because it just gives me more time to do the piping tonight. I'm also going to be making a crown out of candy melts to be placed on top of the top tier of the cake and I'm pretty excited about that. =) I was surprised by how quickly things went once I started stacking and I learned that two springform pans the same size is super awesome! Since I can then cook both cakes at the same time.
There's a volunteer bake sale this Friday at work (oh wow, that's tomorrow!) that I was considering participating in... but since I have this order due tomorrow, I definitely don't want to rush this. I decided I'd rather take my time on the cake and the piping/decorations for it instead of making some other goodies to be sold at work. I would like to make something interesting or exciting soon though! I'm thinking perhaps some apple cupcakes? ;)

Ants!

I managed to dig up this photo of the 'Ants on a Picnic' cupcakes I made last fourth of July. The photo isn't the best and is sort of red (because of CVS... thank you very much) but it gives the idea of what they looked like. =)  I thought they would be fairly simple, but the legs were really something else! haha.
Last night I bought everything necessary to make the cake for my order due Friday and I can't wait to get started! I even cleared space on the kitchen counter this morning before I left for work so that I could just go home and get straight to work. I'd like to cook up the cakes tonight and perhaps stack what I can... so we'll see how far I can get.

Cake

I officially had a new order placed today... well sort of yesterday afternoon, but "official" today. I'll be doing a two-tier cake, each with two layers. I'm really excited because my new tips came in the mail yesterday!! Piping, here I come! I ordered the 'Wilton Master 56 Piece Tip Set' and was so excited to get it that it's already open and I've looked through them to see what the frosting should look like once piped! I got a few supplies at the cake store today and now it'll be baking week to get this cake baked, stacked, and decorated for delivery Friday. I'll definitely take some pics and post them!

Party Success

So, the weekend is over and the parties have come and gone.
My sister's party for my niece was on Saturday and it was good. We went to the park and the kids all got to play on the playground near the tables.
The Deployment party thrown by my husband and I was a success!... I think. ;) Everyone who said they were coming showed up, we had enough food for everyone, and I didn't get bored... so I think that means it was ok. =) We all got to meet my younger brother's girlfriend's parents and they were SO nice. We all really liked them. We surprised my brother with a pinata of an ARMY guy and the nieces and he had a good time smacking away at it with a bat! lol  We themed the entire party red, white, and blue so as to stay with the patriotic theme, but not make it so ARMY-esque. We did red, white, and blue tablecloths, silverware, streamers, balloons, everything! We even offered the guests to wear red, white, and/or blue. We also had mini American flags around the picnic area in the ground. All my brother requested for the cupcake flavoring was that they have strawberry something about them, so I chose to make Strawberry Margarita cupcakes [(pictured above) - with alcohol in the cake mix and the frosting] and some chocolate cupcakes with blue vanilla frosting. My brother liked the strawberry cupcakes so much, he took home all the leftovers. haha  All of the leftover chocolate cupcakes went to a group of younger kids playing basketball nearby (so as not to waste good food! ;) )
Today, coming off the busy-ness of the weekend is a bit ehh. I need some relaxing time tonight. =)

Red Photos?

I'm happy that I got a chance to upload the hippo cupcakes yesterday to add to my photo repertoire. ;) I have some sad news on the photo front though... We took our film to the local CVS and had it developed. Almost every picture came out with a tint of red... why? I'm not sure, but it pretty much ruined all of the photos. We also got the photos put on disc so we could upload them onto the computer and those versions are all tinted red as well, sigh. Oh well, on to the better camera we have now I suppose. =/  However, this does mean the only photos I have of the 'Ants on a Picnic' cupcakes I made last Independence Day are all reddish in hue. After seeing those, I'm SO glad we got a new camera on Black Friday last year. There were only a few pictures that didn't turn red and those are the still shots I took while we were at the San Diego Zoo last year. It was my first experiment taking still shots of the animals and foliage/flowers and they turned out beautiful! Eventually I might like to get a DSLR to master photography with. I've always thought it'd be really fun to take photos as a side job for portraits, weddings, engagements, etc.

Hippo Cupcakes!

Here's the hippo cupcakes I made last Monday night for my co-worker's daughter's class at school. Her birthday was coming so she got to bring in a dessert for the class to celebrate. I'd made these before and my co-worker had taken hers home to show her daughter and husband... her daughter fell in love. <3 So this was the order - 24 hippo cupcakes for her daughter's classmates. I had a good time making these... I think more so because hippos are my favorite animals. lol.
Today's Wednesday and with that comes the realization that we're halfway through the week already... so we have only a couple of days left to get last minute things done for the parties this weekend. My niece turns SIX on Friday so they're having cake for her on Saturday. Then, of course, the Deployment Party on Sunday. We have already bought everything for that so it'll just be the set-up when we get there Sunday.

Busy Weekend...

We were so busy this weekend, I didn't get a chance to get online... We got a new bed on Saturday and got it put together (and the house cleaned) when we got it home. It is great! We got a California king since he's so tall and now we can share covers in peace. =)  Sunday was of course Super Bowl XLV so we were snacking and watching football most of the day. We did get in a trip to get new curtains for the window in our room and it's starting to come together with our new furniture.
I got the report on the Hello Kitty cupcakes this morning and my co-worker said her daughter was excited. Then the other kids saw them and were exclaiming "Hello Kitty!" She said everyone knew who it was and she got a few compliments on how cute they were, so that's good news in my book. She hasn't gotten around to getting the photos developed, but assured me that she'll let me know when she puts them on her facebook so I can check them out.
No new snackies made, as the lemon cupcakes lasted all weekend and we had way too many leftovers so I junked them. I've got plans to get some new decorating tools soon so I'm looking forward to that. We also have my younger brother's deployment party scheduled for this Sunday and I've got some desserts going on there! This should be a quick week looking forward to him coming home on Friday!! I'm hoping to be posting some pics of the hippo cupcakes soon, so stay tuned! ;)

Hello Kitty!

Hello Kitty cupcakes were delivered this afternoon! They were loved. =) I <3 it when people enjoy the food that I make and even more enjoyed this week of treats! As for the Hello Kitty cupcakes that went out today, I am hoping to see photos of her daughter's face when she sees them tomorrow for her Hello Kitty themed skating birthday party!

I finally caved in to my lemon craze as of late and made some lemon cupcakes with cream cheese frosting tonight. I went to a different grocery store than normal and compromised on my cake mix purchase. Let's just say that I won't do that again as the texture of the cake was just a little bit off to pique my curiousity about it and decide I will never use this other brand of cake mix again. Although, it has brought to light how important it is going to become for me to create my own cake mixes from scratch. I'll be looking forward to having more space to keep the supplies to undertake this new endeavor, but I'm afraid that might not be for a little while. So in the mean time I will stick to my trusty cake mix and not stray for a better price again. I'm also not sure what to do with these extra cupcakes... I might wrap them up and save them for Monday to take to work, but on the other hand I don't know if I want to share this batch. My husband says it tastes good to him... so I might just be pickier. ;) lol
I'm also feeling particularly happy this evening because I went to my local Lifestream and gave blood today. The last time I went, my iron was too low for their standards to give so I had to wait and come back. It's silly to think that I can't explain how happy I was when my blood sank to the bottom of that small blue bottle of liquid. After I was done donating, I got my arm wrapped in a lime green and white bandage with a small pink and green bow, haha. Then off to eat some chips and drink some water and I was all through. =) 

Lemon on the Brain

I am so pleased with the hit that was the Oreo Truffle at work yesterday! People were gushing about them and when I went around a second time at work with the leftovers from the first pass, not one person said 'no thank you', lol. I told them I wouldn't be hurt if they did, but still no one... so I'm thinking they were good. ;) For some reason I've got lemon stuck in my head today and really feel the need to eat something lemon - dessert of course! I was very tempted to buy a box of Lemonades Girl Scout Cookies from a co-worker, but I convinced myself it wouldn't be as good as a homemade lemon cupcake with cream cheese frosting and now this idea has rooted itself in my brain. I would die to be able to make them tonight, but with my next order due tomorrow morning I will find myself drawing kitty faces on cupcakes tonight for that. I'm actually excited to be working on the Hello Kitty cupcakes tonight as my next endeavor and can't wait to post a pic of how they turn out! Perhaps I can pop some lemon cupcakes in the oven while I decorate? We shall see, haha.

Oreo Truffles!

After sitting at work all day thinking about these things yesterday, I convinced the hubby to stop by the grocery store on the way home from work to pick up the necessary supplies. I got all that I could remember (forgot the wax paper, but it's ok I used foil instead) then went home to start the project! The beginning wasn't difficult until I realized I didn't have a rolling pin, so I started crunching cookies with the bottom of a cup, lol. Later I found the meat mallet and things went much quicker. I made a mess, but what fun is baking if you don't? In the end, they look a little messy - which means I need to use a different kind of chocolate next time. So far, I've passed them to some co-workers and everyone loves them! (I told them they could be honest ;) ) Wonder what will strike my fancy next?

Maiden Post

After all this thought having gone into ideas of what creations to bake, I thought maybe I should start writing them down somewhere and perhaps share my trials and fun! This may be my first time blogging, but not my first time baking. I started making cakes for co-worker's birthdays and got to the point where I was being asked to make them every time. I had to retire from my birthday cake post and move on to new ventures. Since then I made one more cake and decided I should start having fun with my baking! My next adventure was cupcakes. I made some hippo cupcakes for a work potluck and they were quite the hit. Next I made some 'Ants on a Picnic' cupcakes for a July 4th party and again.. a hit! I'd found my creative outlet! I hadn't made anything in a while when a friend's due date was coming soon. I planned a surprise shower for her at our work for which I made a 'Belly' cake. That was my greatest venture thus far and that day I proved to myself I really could do it. Since then, my mind has been working to find new things to create and ways to celebrate. I also got my very first order! Then another! (from the same person, but who has to know?) I made two dozen hippo cupcakes - delivered today... and will be making two dozen Hello Kitty cupcakes to be delivered this Friday. I'm very excited!