Superhero Squad Cake

I work with a couple that have two boys, one of which is turning five today! They asked me to make him a Superhero Squad themed cake for his birthday. They wanted him to be able to keep and play with the little action figures after the cake was done. This cake went through three design changes before it was even started! At first I was going to do a street scene, then it was changed to a round cake with buildings on the side and finally I decided to go all out and just make the buildings 3-D with the action figures attached. Josh helped me a lot with the structure and stability of the cake - I think by the end we had 12 dowel rods in it! It was worth it though - Logan's mom said the cake was a huge hit!

Butter recipe yellow cake base with chocolate cake buildings. Covered and decorated with buttercream frosting. Action figures not edible!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

So I made this recipe up. I was home with Lana and wanted to bake something so I checked out the pantry and decided to whip this pie up. First I made a homemade graham cracker crust. Then I made some Jell-O vanilla pudding and pie mix and added mini dark chocolate baking bits to it. I poured it ino the crust and sprinkled the top with a few more baking chips before putting it in the fridge to firm. I named it "Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie" and it was really delicious! This is the first thing that I have ever made up on my own (in the baking department). I know it's not much but it's a big first step for me! This Year of Baking Project is really starting to take off!

PS ~ Josh and I ate the whole pie within the next couple of weeks!

Outrageous Brownies

Family dinner dessert time again! This time I made the outrageous brownies. Chocolate fudge brownies with chopped up milk chocolate bars and... Miracle Whip? Sounds weird but it worked! Miracle whip, mayonnaise, coffee and more recently prunes have scared me in dessert recipes but it is time to branch out and explore the unknown! The results are usually surprisingly yummy!

Chocolate fudge brownies with chopped up milk chocolate bars and topped with more milk chocolate and walnuts.

Lake Forest High School Graduation Cake

My husband's cousin just graduated high school and the family decided to throw her and her fellow graduate friend a graduation party since we were unable to have the annual Memorial Day Picnic this year. Her Mom asked me to make a graduation cake for the picnic. They sent us a picture of the graduation program and my husband was kind enough to sketch their mascot (the Spartan) with a graduation cap. The cake is made to look like the school's seal with a graduation spin. It was a big hit!

Yellow cake with buttercream frosting.

Bowling Cupcakes

There is a bowling league at my work that almost my entire department is a part of... I am not one of them. My bowling skills are quite horrible. But others in our department are really good. In fact they are so good that they won the bowling league this year! So my advisor decided to throw our entire department a bowling victory party. I had promised to make the team these super cute cupcakes if they won. Unfortunately they were not the most stable edible creation and they ended up all over my passenger seat instead of at the bowling party. It was a shame but at least I have pictures...

Chippy Chewy Bars

Almost forgot to take a picture of these (as you can probably tell since they have already been dug into)! I made these for our Memorial Day Picnic at Mom and Dad's this year. They were really delicious - filled with peanut butter, cocnout and topped off with chocolate. My sister said they reminded her a lot of the 7-Layer Bars they used to make at Bridgewater College... but better!

90th Birthday Cake

A birthday cake for one of my co-workers. Her boyfriend's mother was turning 90 and the birthday girl's daughters wanted a very specific cake design. Was not the easiest cake in the world since they wanted three diffferent flavors of cake and 3-D lilacs (which I had never made before!) I honestly would have gone with a different design but it turned out pretty good in the end considering all the problems I had making it. This cake taught me a lot about pleasing (and compromising) with the client... even when I never actually met the client!

Half lemon/ half chocolate sheet cake with funfetti white cake for the 3-D 90. Buttcream frosting with royal icing flowers.