Brickle Cookies

My grandmother that lives in North Carolina had a fall the other week and ended up in the hospital. Thankfully she is all right - nothing broken - but my mom is going to head down south to take care of her for a few days. I decided to try these Brickle Cookies out and send some with my mom as a get better soon treat for my grandmother. They are pecan butter cookies with a toffee topping. They turned out very pretty and tasted pretty good too. The dough was a little hard to handle since it calls for so many nuts but other than that they were a cinch to make.

Ice Cream Cake

My sister and I found this recipe in my vast recipe collection a few weeks ago and were dying to try it. We got the chance to make it for family dinner this weekend. It is called a Oreo & Fudge Ice Cream Cake. It was made from ice cream sandwiches, a filling consisting of hot fudge sauce, chocolate pudding mix, Oreos and whipped cream, and was covered in the remaining whipped cream topping. Then it freezes for a few hours and you've got yourself a tasty ice cream cake that is super yummy! My daughter escpecially liked that she could have some of the whipped topping and vanilla ice cream inside (no chocolate for her yet!). Everyone in the family loved it and my husband and I worked on the leftovers for a few weeks to finish it off. If you ever try to make this - one word of advice... Cut small pieces! This ice cream cake is super rich!

First Wedding Cake

My husband works with a guy who is a wedding photographer on the side. His friend got married this weekend and he had recommended me to make her wedding cake. It was a little scary - I have never made one before and this is a wedding cake people! Something that will be documented in wedding photos for future generations to see! Thankfully the bride was very easy going. She and her husband-to-be don't actually care too much for cake so I had free range in design and flavors. I ran this buttercream design that I found online by her (and really wanted an excuse to make!) and we were off. I think it turned out pretty good for my first wedding cake. Not perfect, and I learned a lot through making it, but in the end it served it's purpose. Congratulation Heather and Zac! Hope the wedding and reception were awesome!

First and third layers butter cake, second layer chocolate fudge cake. Covered, filled and decorated with buttercream frosting.

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.