Fancy Banana Cupcakes

My husband's birthday is very close to my daughter's. So right after her celebration it was time to make him a personalized treat. I asked him what he wanted and he said banana cupcakes. I had just found an online blog of an Australian baker who did personalized cakes and cupcakes for clients. Her cupcakes were amazing! She would personalize them by doing a basic flavored cupcake, topped with icing and then garnished with goodies and sauces! I was inspired! So I baked Josh some banana cupcakes (a homemade recipe from a cupcake cookbook my grandmother got me as an early birthday gift) and then I made some homemade banana buttercream icing to top them with. Then I got the creative juices going and decided to use crumbled vanilla wafers as a garnish and finally topped it all off with a banana chip! They were a huge hit with the entire family! I hope to try a lot more of these experimental fancy cupcakes in the future. Super fun and extra yummy!

Lana's 1st Birthday Cake!

My daughter turns one today! So of course I had to make her an extra-special birthday cake. I had a really hard time deciding on a theme for her first birthday creation. The theme of her first birthday party was "A Year of Firsts" so it pretty much left me with endless possibilities. At the last minute I remembered an ice cream themed cake from one of the first cake decorating books I received and since Lana loves ice cream we had a cake idea! Here is the main cake, mainly for the party-goers:

And here is Lana's personal matching "smash" cake:

The inside of the main cake was done checker-board style - which was a huge hit but not the easiest thing in the world to do. Thank goodness for helping husbands. My sister got a good picture of the inside:

Lana's personal cake was purple and white swirled on the inside (compliments of her Daddy). I don't have a picture of that but I have this one of her enjoying it (compliments of Aunt Ashleigh):

All in all a very successful first birthday party with one very happy (and completely worn out) one year old. Welcome to toddlerhood Lana Brooke! Mommy and Daddy love you tons!

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!