Whoop there it is!

Seriously. What is better than a hard game of basketball? Eating a nice soft sugar cookie right when you're done. You need to replenish all of those calories you just burned right? I like to eat one right before too, you know, for added energy. Ok. We all know that I pretty much can justify ANY situation to eat sugar. It is the inner 12 year old that I am trying to channel. I was asked to make these cookies for a youth basketball team and I think they turned out pretty darn cute. I won't tell you that my first cookie I actually decorated as a baseball thinking that it was a basketball. I actually had to google the image of a basketball ( there is my helpful tip for the day, google!) No matter how they came about, they turned out great and made a lot of 12 year old boys very happy! (and maybe a little hyper, I'm just sayin)

So I have posted my sugar cookie recipe before and you can find it right here. I like to use my favorite go to cream cheese frosting to make these cookies out of this world! I like to add about 1/4 cup of whipping cream to soften it up and give it a little lighter taste. I took a chance and tried royal icing on top of the cream cheese frosting and lo and behold, it worked! I would probably only try it on really basic cookies that have a simple design and only one color though!

There you have it. My cookie making skills trump my basketball skills and I am totally fine with that!

Bibbity Bobbity Boo

In honor of the "Royal Wedding"(sorry, just thought that should be capitalized and in quotations) I thought that I would post a picture of a cake that I made for a princess that is as equally stunning as the Duchess herself! But first I had to share this little beauty that I found on facebook. Seriously so funny!



So, once again I had a bit of a learning curve with the fondant so let me share some do's and don'ts with y'all (you do know I am from Texas right? Just thought I'd share!) I used a whipped cream frosting again because the taste cannot be beat, but it definitely makes for some more challenging decorating. I initially made the stripes on the cake with pink fondant, but I put it on the night before and the pink bled onto the frosting, (lesson learned!) so you need to wait and apply to a nice crisp buttercream frosting if you are using fondant detailing. I ended up piping the dots and stripes with royal icing. The pink circle on top is also made from fondant. I am signed up for yet another class where I will be learning a lot more about fondant and I am so excited to share what I learn with y'all (there I go again!)

Until then, happy experimenting!

Pomp, Circumstance and some dang cute sugar cookies!

Hip Hip Hooray for the class of 2011! Oh how I would have loved to have had these cute cookies for my graduation about a decade a couple of short years ago. These cookies were super easy to do and would make a great party favor at a graduation party! These cookies I made were for exactly that. One of my greatest customers!

I thought it would be fun to change things up and do a couple of different backgrounds. So after I flooded the cookies and the icing was still wet, I added the polka dots, stripes, and plaid patterns with stiff white royal icing and voila! There you have a fantastically professional and adorable graduation goodie!

"V" is for violet...roses that is!

I have been posting a lot of cakes lately! Which means I have been baking a lot of cakes lately. Which means I hope I can still fit in my new swimsuits next week in Mexico!!! Oh yeah baby!! One week from tonight I will be holding my hubby's hand, gazing out at the ocean, feeling the sand between my toes, and hearing the waves crash against the shore. Sigh! I can smell the salt in the air! I have some posts lined up to share with you while I am gone. And this week I have to do one more Countdown to Mexico post! Right?! Maybe some homemade churros...

This cake was my final project from Cake Decorating 101. My pearl/snail trail border is not so pretty, but check out my roses! My class was a little confused why I wrote a letter "Vv" on the cake. It was for preschool snack the next day and we were learning all about the letter Vv. (Also why I chose to make purple, or shall we say violet roses?) The kids loved it! They loved to eat a flower.

These Wilton roses are hard to master. I took this class almost two months ago and have made quite a few roses. Yet, still only half of my rose creations are passable. Practice makes perfect. Check out this tutorial here and get practicing!!!

Yikes! My first three tiered cake...

Don't Laugh??!!! No, this bad boy was not supposed to be a topsy turvy cake...it just kind of ended up that way. I said...STOP LAUGHING!!! I learned a lot of lessons from this cake. First, my friends are so kind, supportive, appreciative, and generous! Thanks for making me feel good when I try so hard and don't like the result! Second...leveling each cake layer is essential. Third, structural support for a tiered cake...not that hard. Really...you can do it.

Here is where I went wrong... With each layer of cake I was not a perfectionist. I thought, "well, if it is a little cock-eyed, I will make the second layer a little cock-eyed and they will fit like a puzzle." WRONG! If one layer is crooked, your whole cake will be crooked. Lesson learned. Make sure each tier of the cake is perfectly level before you stack. When stacking, mark the center of the first layer before you just plop the second layer on. I mean really... you are all thinking this is common sense. But...hey...just sharing with you my mistakes. And if I made them...maybe someone else out there is as inexperienced as I am. Can't wait for my next cake class that goes into all this a little better. If you are splitting each layer of cake...split to perfection. Before you start carving away, pop the cake in the freezer for 10 minutes or the fridge for a half hour (wrapped in Saran wrap). A cold cake is easier to level. It crumbles less and is easier to move around, stack, assemble, frost, etc. Keep each section refrigerated till you are ready to work with it. I learned this tip in a cake decorating book.

After I frosted the bottom/first tier, I cut wooden dowels the same height as the first layer. The bottom layer was a ten inch cake. I stuck the dowels in a 6 inch circle in the center of the cake. The next layer of cake was an 8 inch cake. After that was frosted, I put the dowels in a 4 inch circle in the center of that layer. I topped my crooked cake with a 6 inch cake. Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. She decorated the cake with fresh fruit. It was for her daughter's Wedding Luau -themed birthday party. You got to meet this little gal-7 years old (I think) going on 16 years old! What a doll!

A Twist on Ladybug Cupcakes

Look! Two posts in one week...and the week isn't even over yet! Hold on to your hats!!! These ladybug cupcakes are EVERYWHERE! But...I thought I would post these since I put a little twist on mine. I bought little candy rocks and little candy daisies to put on the grass along with the ladybugs. Super cute!!! See the source, Martha Stewart for her "how-to." She uses Swiss Buttercream Frosting. I used cream cheese frosting. Hers stands up better and looks better. But...you need to know that making the ladybugs is a little time consuming and tedious. Give yourself plenty of time!

Yet another week of craziness here. Watched 6 kiddos Monday thru Friday, taught preschool two days, went to my cake class, and did all the other normal every day acts of mothers/ women everywhere. How do we do it gals!!?? I did 6 orders this weekend! The Bakery Box is busy folks! I am having so much fun! Can't wait to share with you some of my orders. Aren't these super cute?! They were so fun and easy to do also. I made 24 flowers in a little over 1 hour...worth it.

You will need:
small and large daisy cookie cutter
pink fondant or gum paste with pink petal dust
plastic easter eggs

First roll out your fondant or sugar paste. I used half sugar paster, half fondant. Mine was white and I brushed it with pink petal dust. Cut equal amounts of large and small daisies. With a dot of water, place a small daisy on the top of a large daisy. Place each flower in half of a plastic easter egg or a flower former. They will dry curled. Dot with royal icing in the centers. The cutest cupcake toppers EVER!!