Talk Like a Pirate Chest, AARRGGHH!

20 Wednesday Mar 2013

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I made this Pirate Treasure Chest for my son’s 4-yr birthday party. It was 4-layers made by halving two 9×13 cakes (chocolate and vanilla w/ chocolate chips). I propped up one side of the top layer with marshmallows and hid them with decadent chocolate frosting and candy. The straps and handles are made from yellow fondant painted with watered-down brown food coloring to make them look weathered. The fasteners were gold dragees. The kids loved the candy, the adults savored the cake…delish!

Strawberries (or Raspberries) and Cream

17 Sunday Mar 2013

Posted by Laurie in Cupcakes

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Raspberry, Raspberry Frosting, raspberry mousse filling, raspberry puree filling, sour cream almond cake, Strawberries Raspberries and Cream Cupcake, Strawberry, strawberry frosting, strawberry mousse filling, strawberry puree filling, Swiss Meringue Buttercream

I got inspired to try this cake after watching a video on making fresh strawberry Swiss Meringue Buttercream (SMBC). The cake is a moist sour cream almond cake with a filling of fresh strawberries. I took the same filling and folded it into the SMBC to make a creamy, light frosting with a hint of strawberry. If you’re not familiar with SMBC, it’s much lighter and less sweet than traditional buttercream. It gets structure from beating egg whites into a meringue, then mixing in the butter. Very tasty! Strawberries or raspberries are equally delicious in this cupcake and the filling can be a fresh fruit puree or made into a creamy mousse.

Minecraft Cake

16 Saturday Mar 2013

Posted by Laurie in Cakes

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Baking and Confections, Cake, chocolate frosting, double chocolate cake, fondant, Green, Home, Minecraft, Oreo, Sour cream vanilla cake, Vanilla

My kids are in the midst of a Minecraft craze (Minecraft is a game on the computer), so I created this cake for a Cub Scout fundraiser.

The cake is a 3-layer 8″ square cake (vanilla and chocolate) covered with chocolate buttercream and crushed Oreo cookies (to look like dirt). I put a layer of green fondant on top and piped green grass with a grass tip.

The figures are crafted from colored fondant (with the help of my kids) and the name plate is made from pearler beads. The cake was a HUGE hit with all of the elementary-aged boys and eventually sold for $120 at the event! If your kid hasn’t discover Minecraft yet, just you wait!

Pink Princess Delight!

15 Friday Mar 2013

Posted by Laurie in Cakes

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Birthday, Buttercream, Cake, castle, Cupcake, fondant, Pink, princess

I made this cake for my daughter’s 4th birthday. She wanted a pink princess cake (of course), but we had the party at the pool and I didn’t want to worry about cutting/serving cake. Cupcakes were the perfect solution. The topper is a castle made from a 6″ square fondant-covered cake with turrets of frosted ice cream cones (the lower parts are fondant covered toilet paper tubes). She loved it and the ease of serving made me happy ;0)