Desserts By Lauren

I'm Back!!!!!

2010-06-22T21:42:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone! I'm back!!!! I have been totally MIA and I feel so bad about it!

Just to post some updates so you all know where I've been....

I somehow managed to plan a wedding and get married in less than 2 months!
Moved into a new apartment (still trying to get it in order)
I recently completed an internship with amNewYork newspaper as a photographer
I have graduated from FIT with a BFA in photography! (Cum Laude)
I am about 5 weeks away from having my first baby!!!! A little girl! And I can't wait!

Tonight was my first night in the kitchen in months! I haven't actually baked anything since I got tricked into making cake balls for my surprise bridal shower! But I have been seriously craving Swiss Meringue Buttercream!!! So I decided tonight to whip up some frosting. No cupcakes... just frosting. And me and my 35 week pregnant ass are sitting here eating it with a spoon! But it's delicious!!!!!!!

So, once this baby pops out, I am really hoping to be back in the kitchen at full force!!!! I miss baking so much!!! So please come back soon and see what I've got baking! I have a very long list of recipes I want to try out!!!!! Not to mention lots of design ideas!

Thanks for taking the time out to read all this!!!

Surprise 60th Birthday!

2009-11-01T00:26:00.004-04:00

For my aunt's surprise party I was asked to make a roulette themed cake. This is the 2nd one I've done. I thought that since I had done one in the past, this one would be easy. I was wrong.

The first one I made, the center cake was too big, so it didn't spin.

So I knew I had to add more space between the 2 parts. It was a much larger cake, so I really had to figure out how to do it. It was 4 layers with a rice krispy boarder (so it didn't look too tall). Sadly, when trimming the center cake, I overcompensated. There was a HUGE gap between the 2. So, at about 11pm, the night before the party, I had to re-bake the center cake. But... it was worth it! And there was plenty of cake to go around!

In addition, I also made 230 cake balls! 2 full trays!

All in all, It was a great night!

Very long week!

2009-10-26T01:33:00.002-04:00

So, It's been a very long week! I'm just so happy to have so much to show for it.

This weekend I made a red velvet superman cake for a birthday...

Then a chocolate cherry chip baby shower cake for a very good friend of mine....
And lastly, 50 cupcake favors! (double chocolate chip, red velvet, and yellow)In addition... I also made 144 chocolate cherry chip cake balls which all sold within an hour.

So it was a very long week, but soooo worth it! It's weekends like this that remind me why I love doing what I do. Seeing how much happiness these cakes bring people is really what it's all about.

NY Cake Convention!

2009-10-23T12:18:00.003-04:00

OK, so I read about the NY Cake Convention on Twitter and had this idea... In keeping up with my cake documentary... why not see if I can get access to photograph it. Now, this was a complete shot in the dark... but why not try, right?

So I looked on the "Contact us" page and emailed every single person on it! I explained the photo/cake work I have been doing and sent a link to my photography site as well as this blog. Someone had to be interested. And someone was!

Hello Lauren,

We would love to have you participate in the NY Cake Convention as one of the event photographers. Send me your mailing information and I will have a media kit sent out to you. Included in the kit is an event pass which would give you access to all areas of the convention.

I look forward to your response.

I can't even explain how excited I am! This is going to be HUGE! I can not wait to document "Cake Culture". I already bought my tickets to get in, as well as see the cake competition, but now maybe I can actually go up on stage and photograph the competitors!

Cakeumentary

2009-10-19T21:42:00.003-04:00

Some of my recent photo work combined with sounds of the baking and decorating process.

This is a work in progress. The finished product will be on display I believe sometime in March or April. I will update as I know more.

So here's the story behind this...

As most of you know, I am also a photographer. I have always preferred to shoot food and that is what has motivated me to start my baking business.

I have always loved to bake and have been doing so since I was about 4 years old with my aunt. She always taught me that the prettier the dessert looks, the more people will want it. We used to have an "reject" pile of cookies around the holidays just for us and we always gave all the pretty ones away.

That school of thought has stayed with me all these years. When I have company I make sure everything is plated well. When I bake a cake, I make sure it is decorated well. I pay great attention to detail because sometimes it's the smallest details that matter the most.

So I took everything I know about baking, and everything I know about photography, and put the two together, added some sound... and POOF! Magic.

Ok, maybe not "Magic", but my goal is to shed some light on the whole cake decorating process. With so many shows out there, like Ace of Cakes, Cake Boss, and Amazing Wedding Cakes... a lot of viewers get to see how a cake is decorated. But what they often don't get to see, or see enough of anyway, is all the work that happens before the fondant can be applied. The hours in the kitchen to bake all the cakes and make the frosting. Especially home bakers like myself.

I feel like today, with so many cake shows out there, cake decorating is finally taking it's place in the art world. I am trying to give it a push by creating my own edible art and producing documentary photographic art combined with sounds to further enhance the viewers experience.

I am also trying to get the message out there that it is possible to create incredible cakes in your own home kitchen. I live in a small NY apartment. I only have one oven. I only have one 6 quart mixer. I only have one counter. If I can do it... anyone can.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream!

2009-10-07T14:20:00.003-04:00

Ok, so I just got a call from my mom, who brought 20 of the cupcakes I made from the ICE class into work yesterday. She was calling to tell me that people are still talking about them! Especially the chocolate cake with the SMB frosting. So I decided it was time I posted the recipe! It's just too good to keep to myself!

Swis Meringue Buttercream (SMB)
Yield, around 4 cups, enough for 24 cupcakes

4 large egg whites
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 cups granulated sugar
4 sticks (16 oz) unsalted butter, room temp.
Flavoring

1. In a mixer bowl, by hand, with a large whisk, whisk egg whites with salt and cream of tartar until foamy.

2. Over simmering water, continue to whisk egg white while slowly adding sugar. Once all the sugar has been incorporated, continute to whisk until egg mixture is hot (140ºF). Don't stop whisking while bowl is over the water. Remove to check for temp.

3. Remove from water and place bowl on stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment beat on medium high speed until the mixture is cool and looks like marshmallow fluff. Very important that it's cooled off!

4. Begin adding the butter, around 2 tablespoons at a time, waiting for each addition to be incorportated before continuing. Scrape down the bowl a few times while adding butter.

5. After the last of the butter has been incorporated, beat for a few more minutes and then add flavoring.

Flavorings:

Vanilla: The scraped out seeds from one vanilla bean, or 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract.

Coffee: 1 Tablespoon instant espresso powder dissolved in 2 tablespoons dark rum of coffee liquer.

Lemon: The zest of one lemon, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons light rum.

Raspberry/Strawberry/Passion Fruit: 1 cup fruit puree reduced to 1/2 cup and cooled. 1 to 2 tablespoons framboise or light rum.

Orange: The finely grated zest of 1 orange, 1 teaspoon lemon zest, 2 tablespoons orange juice and 2 tablespoons orange liqueur.

Chocolate/Espresso: 6 oz semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled, and 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder dissolved in 2 tablespoons coffee liquer.

Almond/Praline: 1/3 cup praline paste and 1-2 tablespoons amaretto.

Cupcake class at ICE

2009-10-06T01:03:00.005-04:00

Ok, so I took a cupcake class tonight with my aunt at ICE (Institute of Culinary Education). It was incredible! I have been on the hunt for a great yellow cake recipe and now I have finally found it! That alone was worth the price of the class. But then on top of it I finally learned how to make Swiss Meringue Buttercream! Not only did we have a great time, but we got to taste some great recipes.

Cake wise, we kinda stuck to the basics. We made a yellow cake and a double chocolate chip cake. Frosting wise, I went with stuff I have never tried before. I topped off the yellow cupcakes with a chocolate fudge frosting. Not too hard, but takes a little while to make. Then I went with a vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream. I have never made SMB before, so I thought, why not? Well, now I know why not. Don't get me wrong... it tastes great! It's not as sweet as american butttercream... but it's a LOT more work!

My first attempt, I got scrambled eggs. OOPS. But after tasting the instructors raspberry SMB, I was determined. I wanted to make the raspberry one, but I was running out of time so I stuck to vanilla. I really like the fact that it's not as sweet and also, it's much lighter and fluffier. I think this weekend I have to go get a huge whisk and a small thermometer so I can try this again in my kitchen. Seriously worth the trouble!

The other cupcakes that I got to try, but didn't bring any home, were also incredible! There was a peanut butter cupcake with a chocolate truffle center and a carrot cake that most people paired with a cream cheese frosting. I am so glad I took this course and I am looking forward to taking another!

Mike's Tower of Cake

2009-09-30T16:42:00.004-04:00

Mike's birthday was the same weekend as the roulette wheel cake so I didn't have time to do exactly what I wanted to. But I did get to try out some new recipes!

I have been meaning to try out some of Warren Brown's recipes but I haven't had much time to experiment lately. This cake was made with components from Warren Brown's "CakeLove: How to Bake Cakes from Scratch" and it was pretty damn incredible!

I first made the "golden butter cake" and the layers didn't rise as much as I would have liked and I really hate flat cakes so I decided to make the "chocolate butter cake" as well. Delicious, but a little dense.

I filled the layers with the chocolate pastry cream recipe which was very good and the frosted the whole thing with my variation of his "flame" frosting. I would have liked to make it exact, but I didn't have everything on hand. I'm still on the hunt for cocoa butter. The frosting tasted almost like apple pie but with a kick you can feel in the back of your throat. There are several different chili powders that go into this and I think I really went overboard with the ancho chili powder. (recipe called for actual dried chili's, but whatever).

I will definitely be trying out the frosting again! Mine didn't get as thick as I would have liked, but it was delicious!

Roulette Wheel Cake!

2009-09-30T16:12:00.001-04:00

Ok, I know i've very behind with my posts... I'm sorry. School has really cut into my free time. Anyway... better late than never I guess.

Back to business... so this cake was the first one that I completely did by myself. I always bake the cakes myself, but I usually have Mike to help me decorate. With him being back at work this was all on me. So, needless to say, I am proudest of this cake!

The only huge issue I had with it was making it spin. I had the center cake on a round cutting board attached to a lazy susan bearing, but I didn't leave enough room between the inner circle and the outer rim. Oh well. At least it looked good and tasted great!

So the cake was a classic chocolate cake with a vanilla custard filling and fresh strawberries frosted with chocolate buttercream. Makes me hungry just thinking about it! LOL

Beer Pong cake

2009-09-08T12:39:00.005-04:00

Ok, so this is pretty overdue but I have been so swamped with school work and cake work and life in general that I haven't had much time to post up the new pics.

So this is so far the largest cake I have ever made! I am sooooo proud of it! There were a lot of problems throughout the process, but in the end, it all worked out.

This was 4 18" x 13" cakes. 2 cakes on each side. All chocolate beer. The cups and the beer can were all made with rice krispy treats and covered with red fondant. White fondant tops and rims were added. The "beer" is amber colored piping gel. The white center strip was placed on top to hide the fact that it was 2 sepreate pieces.

The first problem I had was during the baking process. When I went to flip one of the cakes out of the pan it fell onto the table and just crumbled. The cake was so moist that there was just no saving it. So I took a deep breath, baked another cake, and turned the scraps into cake balls.

There were also problems when making the "cups". We made a dozen of them a week before and the heat and humidity made them crack and sag, so 2 days before the cake was due we had to peel off all the cracked fondant and re-do them all.

Next cake will be a roulette wheel. Mike's grandfather put together the custom lazy susan for me last night! I am so excited to get started on this cake!

Chocolate Gelato..

2009-08-27T16:24:00.002-04:00

Ok, I decided to try out this recipe by Giada De Laurentiis for chocolate hazelnut gelato. I did make a few changes though since I'm not a big fan of hazelnut. Instead of using nutella I just melted some milk chocolate into the custard. It came out great! The key is to really get the mixture cold before pouring it into your ice cream maker. I learned that the hard way when 25+ minutes later I only had some cold liquid. I had only let it cool to room temp. When it didn't work I poured it out, re-froze the bowl and let the ice cream mix sit in the fridge overnight. It was incredible!

Chocolate-Hazelnut Gelato

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

Ingredients

2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar, plus 1/4 cup
4 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate-hazelnut spread (recommended: Nutella) (I used about 1/3 cup milk chocolate)
1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts, crushed, for garnish (I left out)

Directions

In a saucepan combine the milk, cream, and 1/2 cup sugar over medium heat. Cook until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl whip the egg yolks with the remaining sugar using an electric mixer until the eggs have become thick and pale yellow, about 4 minutes.

Pour 1/2 cup of the warm milk and cream mixture into the egg mixture and stir. (I used a wisk while pouring to avoid scrambled eggs)

Add this mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over very low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture becomes thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 7 to 10 minutes.

Place a strainer over a medium bowl and pour the warm custard mixture through the strainer. (Don't know what the purpose of that was... mine just went right through)

Stir in the vanilla and hazelnut spread (or chocolate in my case) until it dissolves.

Chill mixture completely before pouring into an ice cream maker and follow manufacturer's instructions to freeze. To serve, scoop gelato into serving bowls and top with hazelnuts.

OLD PICS!

2009-08-27T00:36:00.004-04:00

So I found some old pics of Christmas cookies Mike and I made back in 2005!

August Sweets

2009-08-24T20:12:00.008-04:00

I can only book 1 more cake order for September! What are you waiting for, Hurry up and order your cake!

Ok, I've been lazy and I haven't posted much up lately. Sorry. It's just been too hot to do anything! So here's some pics of what i've been doing.

Coconut Cake! OMG if you like coconut, you'll LOVE these babies! I topped them with some almond cream cheese frosting and some extra shredded coconut!

These are some more cake balls... Yellow cake with vanilla frosting dipped in milk chocolate.

I made a tray with these as well as decorated chocolate cake with chocolate frosting dipped in dark chocolate and strawberry cake with vanilla frosting dipped in white chocolate.

Giant chocolate chip cookies with walnuts! So moist and gooey!

This is some dark chocolate chili bark. I used a bar of Lindt dark chili chocolate, pretzel sticks, dried cranberries and some roasted peanuts. It was a perfect combination of spice and sweet!

I have also been experimenting with some strawberry cake recipes... I think I finally cake up with a good one, but I have one more idea to try out. I really need to update more often!

I have a lot of cake orders coming up, so pretty soon this blog will be flooded with "in-progress" pictures! I can't wait to get started! I have a beer pong table sheet cake (Sept. 4th), a roulette wheel (sept. 12th), a surprise birthday cake for Mike (Sept. 19th)

Then Oct. 4th I should be selling cupcakes down on 3rd Avenue! I have to call and reserve my space this week! I also have a Superman cake with some mini cakes (Oct. 24th) and a baby shower cake with cupcake favors (Oct. 25th)

Changing the name!

2009-08-24T19:51:00.002-04:00

Ok, so I'm not sure if I like having my name in the "business" name. I have no idea what to go with. I would really like to have "Brooklyn" in the title, so that's where i'm starting. Please comment with any opinions or vote in my poll if you like one of those names.

Thanks!!!!

Home baked bread.... take 2

2009-08-18T01:19:00.004-04:00

Ok, so I decided to try out the Julia Child recipe for white bread again because it was just sooooo damn good last time! This time I decided to try it with bread flour. The dough felt a little tough even though I only needed to add 5 cups of flour. I was instantly depressed and decided to make another batch just in case it didn't turn out right. Keep in mind, each batch makes 2 loafs. Here's what the first batch looked like....

Perfect! It was moist inside... more dense than the batch baked with the all purpose flour last time, but delicious!

The second batch is on it's second rise right now. It should be ready to go in the oven in about 15 minutes. I can't wait to compare! I hope this bread freezes well!

Ok, second batch is out of the oven and cooling. I just cut into it and it's still a little denser than the last time I baked it. The big air pockets are not there when you cut it open. I'm sure it has something to do with this weather. I guess I picked the wrong day to bake up LOTS of bread. It tastes delicious, but not as crisp as I like.

I think tomorrow is going to be another french toast kinda day!

One "ball" of a weekend!

2009-08-15T02:10:00.009-04:00

So this weekend I had an order for 90 cake balls as baby shower favors. Half yellow cake, half chocolate cake, and all dipped in white chocolate and decorated in pink and yellow chocolate. They came out great! I can't wait to drop them off in a few hours!

Click picture to enlarge

I decided before I made those to try out a new yellow cake recipe. It was pretty good, but not as good as my regular one, so I re-baked. I ended up with so much extra cake! I decided to turn it into balls anyway and I'm so glad I did! Not only did they taste great in ball form, but it was also my cousins birthday and she invited us to come by with some of her other friends. So, since I hate white chocolate myself, I dipped the rest of the balls in dark chocolate and decorated them with shredded coconut, sprinkles, red sugar, and even more chocolate with a 22 piped on! They were a huge hit. I really couldn't believe how fast they went!

Click picture to enlarge

I still have about a dozen balls sitting on my table that I will drop off to someone else tomorrow. I think I dipped over 200 cake balls this weekend! It really is the best way to eat cake!!!!

Home made bread

2009-08-12T23:28:00.006-04:00

Ok... let me start by saying "I hate white bread!" Completely hate it! I'd much rather have multi-grain or whole wheat. BUT... I LOVE home made white bread.

So I was looking for a new basic white bread recipe for sandwiches and such and found a Julia Child's recipe. I tried it last week and messed it up a little. Not that it was hard, I just didn't read it all. It's actually very easy to make. Especially if you have a stand mixer.

This bread baked up so nicely. The crust is nice and crisp with a light buttery taste and perfect texture. Try it! It's incredible!

Here's a crappy cell phone pic

UPDATE: Made some french toast with this bread this morning... OMG amazing! I cut thin slices and sprinkled some cinnamon and sugar into the egg with a drop of salt. Once they were in the pan I sprinkled a little extra cinnamon and sugar. I topped it with some sweet butter and syrup. My favorite french toast!

Another crappy cell phone pic... sorry.

So here's the recipe... it makes 2 loafs! I may try to half it next time, but i'm not sure. So far it keeps pretty well. I may try to freeze a loaf next time.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups water (105-115 F)
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
7 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon salt
1/4-1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

Directions

Pour 1/2 cup of the water into a bowl and mix with yeast and sugar til foamy. (I put it in my stand mixer bowl)
Let sit for 5 minutes until creamy.
Put the yeast mixture, rest of the water and 3 1/2 cups of the flour into the mixer with the dough hook. (I only added 3 cups at this point)
Mix slowly until blended then add the rest of the flour. (I added it a cup at a time. I only needed about 6 1/4 cups. Depending on season, weather, and humidity the amount may change)
Increase speed and scrape down the sides til the dough comes together.
(If it doesn't add a tbsp of flour at a time til it does.) Add salt and mix at medium speed for 10 minutes (or do half in mixer and half kneading-I did about 10 minutes in the mixer and just kneaded it for a minute or 2) til dough is smooth and elastic.
Back in mixer add butter 1 tbsp at a time (dough may come apart, but mixing will pull it back together-My dough didn't come apart.).
Turn dough out on lightly floured surface and shape it into a ball then place in a large buttered or oiled bowl.
Turn dough so it is completely coated in the fat, then cover in plastic for 45 minutes to an hour, til it has doubled in size at room temperature. (I let it sit in the hot kitchen for an hour)
Butter 2 loaf pans.
Deflate the dough, cut in half and turn out onto a lightly floured surface.
Roll out into a 9 x 12-inch rectangle. (I eyeballed it)
With the short end facing you, fold the dough into thirds like a sheet of paper to go into an envelope, creating a roll.
Pinch the seam closed, and pinch the ends enough so it will fit in the loaf pan.
Drop in the loaf pan seem side down, and repeat.
Cover the loaves with buttered plastic wrap and allow to rise again in a warm place (80°F) for 45 minutes, until they double in size. (This is the step I left out the first time)
Preheat the oven to 375°F and put the rack in the center of the oven.
Bake for 35-45 minutes til they are honey brown.
Immediately turn out of pans onto a rack to cool.
Once almost completely cool, they can be cut.
Store in a brown paper bag for a day or two.
Once cut, turn cut side down onto a cutting board and cover with a kitchen towel.

Kindle malfunction

2009-08-03T07:56:00.001-04:00

Ok, so I'm on the train on my way to jury duty and I just took my kindle out of my bag. Last night I had it on and the battery was more than 3/4 charged. I downoladed a new book, turned the wireless off and then turned the Kindle off. Somehow its dead! I have no idea how! I know it shut off. I always check it.

So now I have to spend the day at jury duty with nothing to read. I really hope the rest of the day is better than this. I also didn't bring an umbrella cause it said no rain today.... I really hope I don't get rained on now! At least the train is empty and airconditioned! But moving very slowly.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

October 4th, 2009

2009-08-02T18:41:00.003-04:00

So I decided to take advantage of the 3rd Ave. feast on Oct. 4th. I can't wait! The only thing I'm a little nervous about is all the cupcake competition in the area! Mine may be better, but how do I convince people to try them out with so many others around?

So my plan is to make some standard chocolate and golden and then focus on some specialty flavors. I plan on having lots of my PB&J's, red velvet, chocolate beer, a coconut, a chocolate cherry and I'm working on a strawberry. I can't wait! Save the date!!!!

I really hope to do as well in Bay Ridge as I did in Coney.

Testing!!!

2009-08-01T17:08:00.000-04:00

Trying out mobile blogging!!!! Woohoo!!!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

"Flea by the Sea" update:

2009-08-01T16:03:00.002-04:00

Ok, so we already decided that we couldn't afford to continue selling our cupcakes down in Coney, but today we decided to take a ride down and see what vendors came back after the price increase. It was dead! I could not believe how empty it was. There were so many empty spots that several vendors that paid for the smaller spaces were able to spread out and take up two spaces. In total I think there were about 25 vendors!

To make matters worse, I was told by 2 vendors that last weekend the staff members passed out flyers with new lower prices for the month of August. When they showed up today to pay for the month they were told that those prices are not being honored and it's an additional $300+. Needless to say I don't think those vendors will be back either.

They are making a HUGE mistake. They may not be making much money on this, but think about it... if they manage to rent out both tents on both sides at a lower price, isn't that better than having only 20-something vendors total? It's simple logic.

So anyway, it was good for about a month. We did great while we were there, but now it's time to move on.

I think we will be participating in the 3rd Ave. fair on Oct. 4th. I'm really looking forward to that one!

3 cake weekend...

2009-07-24T17:52:00.006-04:00

All the cakes from this weekend!!!

This one is for a dog's birthday. (more of an excuse to get together and have a BBQ and few drinks). It's made with red velvet cake and cream cheese frosting. The bulldog on top (Soco) is made of rice krispy treats and covered in fondant.

Ok, here's a pic of cake #2... delivered it tonight. It's the first purse cake we've done, so I know it's not perfect. We really had a hard time with the handle. But I love the zipper look.

Last cake of the weekend! Talk about "Death by Chocolate"! This cake was 3 layers... bottom layer, triple chocolate brownie with chocolate chips... next 2 layers, chocolate cake. The filling was a semi-sweet chocolate gonache and it was covered in chocolate buttercream. It was then decorated with fondant cut-out stars as well as hand piped vanilla purple stars. I LOVE tall cakes!!!! I had so much fun with this one!

New Recipe for rolled fondant... BUST

2009-07-22T15:38:00.006-04:00

Ok, so I went out and bought a 5lb tub of Satin Ice fondant for this weekend.... the stuff sucks. I have used fondant so many times before, but this stuff is just too soft and thin. It falls apart as soon as you try to lift it. I don't know what the problem is. Maybe it's just the batch. Either way.. from now on I'm only using home made or Wilton!

Anyway... I didn't feel like making the usual marshmallow fondant, so I decided to try this recipe

INGREDIENTS

1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup shortening
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
2 pounds confectioners' sugar

DIRECTIONS

In a large bowl, stir together the shortening and corn syrup. Mix in the salt and vanilla flavoring, then gradually mix in the confectioners' sugar until it is a stiff dough. If you are using a stand mixer, use the dough hook attachment. Otherwise, knead by hand. If the dough is sticky, knead in more confectioners' sugar until it is smooth. Store in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
To use, roll out on a clean surface that has been dusted with confectioners' sugar until it is 1/8 inch thick or thinner if you can. Drape over frosted and chilled cakes and smooth the sides down, or cut into strips to make bows and other decorations.

So far it's just too soft to work with... but I read the reviews and they all say it has to sit for a little bit. I hope it works! Otherwise all the fondant work I need to get done today will have to wait until tomorrow.

Nope... didn't work!!!! Back to the drawing board! Or I just have to stick with the marshmallow

New Stand Mixer!

2009-07-22T11:28:00.003-04:00

For the past year or so I have been using a hand me down mixer that's probably as old as me, if not older. It was my aunt's mixer that we used for countless years to make all our cookies and other yummy treats. I always borrowed it when I had a lot to make, but I usually just used a whisk or a hand mixer. Then my aunt treated herself to a new one and passed old glory onto me. It was great, but lately started making lots of strange noises and it really sounded like it was on it's way out. It also developed had a mind of it's own and would just speed up for no reason. It sounded like a helicopter trying to take off.

So, my mom decided that it was time at last for me to have my own brand new KitchenAid stand mixer! She got me a 6qt and I LOVE it! I got it yesterday and I have already used it to make beer cupcakes, a red velvet cake, and some frosting. In a little while I will be using it again to make more frostings. I can't wait! It works great! LOVE IT!!!!!

It also came at a perfect time. The delivery date was scheduled for Friday, the 24th. I have 3 birthday cake orders for the 25th, so having it delivered early was perfect!!!

The rest of the weekend (July 18th&19th)

2009-07-20T11:18:00.002-04:00

Canadian dude enjoying a chocolate Guinness cupcake!

Totally awesome little dude enjoying a chocolate cupcake!

Ok, so this past weekend was pretty much a failboat! I sold enough cupcakes to cover the cost of the booth rental as well as the ingredients, but made next to nothing for profits. And for this weekend I baked sooooo much more than usual because I'm so used to selling out by Saturday and not having the energy to re-bake for Sunday. I just can't believe how dead it was.

The worst part of it all is that it really starts to pick up at around 6pm and by 6:30 they're telling you to start packing up. I didn't go home with much, but going home with anything is a little disapointing.

So as it stands right now, we will not be at the FTBS anymore. It's just too expensive and the price just keeps going up. If it goes down again, then we'll see.

July 17th at "Flea by the Sea"

2009-07-17T20:42:00.003-04:00

So this was the first Friday where we sold next to nothing! Today was totally not worth it. We didn't even cover the cost of the booth rental, let along the ingredients. I hope tomorrow we at least break even.

Not only that... but now Thor Equities has decided to not just raise the price for the vendors... not even double it.... but it's now double PLUS $75! And it doesn't even include parking!!!!

When this "Flea" opened... we paid $50 for a full weekend. Then for July they doubled it to $100 for the weekend. Now this!?! NO WAY! I'm done.

I'm glad I already decided that this would be my last weekend. I had a great time doing it, don't get me wrong. I LOVE to see peoples faces as they bite into the cupcakes and it shows they really enjoy it.

Today a small group passed by and 2 of the guys got the beer cupcake. The first one who ate it, seriously, I thought he was gonna pass out! He couldn't stop saying how good it was and that it was the best cupcake he ever had. Weather or not it really was, who knows. Maybe he was just being nice. Either way, I loved hanging out with them while they ate the cupcakes and just chatted about beer, cupcakes, photography, tattoos and whatever else.

I love seeing reactions like that and that's what I will miss the most. I really loved meeting people and chatting and sharing my cupcake obsession with the world.

To the other vendors I have met, because all the vendors down there are really awesome, I will miss you all! I'll be sure to pass by and say hi!

Update for this weekend!

2009-07-15T22:39:00.003-04:00

So.. for starters... I decided to go with the majority vote and raise the price of all my cupcakes to $3 (since I voted in my own poll to only raise the red velvet).

Also, I baked more cupcakes today than I ever have in my life! I couldn't decide on weather to make the chocolate beer cupcakes or the peanut butter and jelly cupcakes again... so instead I made both! Well, the chocolate beer cake and the white cake... jelly's won't be filled until I'm there.

So, the cake options are:
Golden
White
Chocolate
Chocolate beer
Red Velvet
Banana nut

Frostings options will be:
Vanilla buttercream
Chocolate buttercream
Peanut butter
Cream cheese

I will also have triple chocolate brownies!

Come down and check it out!

Banana Nut Cupcakes

2009-07-14T19:02:00.005-04:00

Ok... decided to try out a new recipe. Banana Nut cupcakes!

I love banana nut, so I hope these are as delicious as they look!

I already tried one while it was still hot and I'm not quite sure if it's "cupcake" or "muffin", but it was delicious. As soon as it cools i'm going to top one with some cream cheese frosting and then judge it's "cupcake" quality.

10 minutes later....

Ok, they cooled enough to be frosted and eaten. I tried one with peanut butter frosting and one with cream cheese. They were both incredibly delicious, but slightly more muffin like. They are very moist, but dense. I guess my hunt continues for the perfect banana cupcake recipe.

BEER CUPCAKES!

2009-07-11T22:46:00.004-04:00

I've been dying to try these and OMG did they come out amazing! They don't taste much like beer at all, but they are incredibly moist and chocolaty.

I was going to top these with a chocolate frosting, but since I had some beer left in the bottle (I halved the recipe) I decided to pour some into vanilla buttercream. I would like to try these again with chocolate stout I found at a local grocery store.

July 17th, 18th and 19th!

2009-07-11T01:07:00.004-04:00

Ok, so I'm going back to Coney Island to sell some cupcakes! Some small changes may have to be made though.

As much as I LOVE doing this... I have not been making any money off it. I charge way too little for my cupcakes and at the end of the weekend I usually only break even. And that's not even factoring in the HOURS it takes me to bake over 200 cupcakes and whip up all the different frostings. So, as much as I don't want to, I may have to raise the price a little and cut back on other things that don't sell as much... like the chocolate chip cookies. Last week I spent over 12 hours just baking over a 2 day period, not to mention all the time in Coney Island selling them.

Now... I really don't want to raise the price of all my cupcakes, so I'm thinking about just raising the price of the red velvet. They take 3 times as long to prepare and the frosting is made with cream cheese. It's probably the most expensive cupcake I bake.

Last weekend in Coney I was able to sell out of my peanut butter and jelly cupcakes at $3 each. They're expensive, but they still don't even cost as much as the red velvets do to make. So I think from now on I will have to sell the red velvet as a "specialty" cupcake to try to compensate.

I really hope that everyone realizes that when you come down to Coney Island to buy my cupcakes they are never more than 12 hours old and all the frostings stay on ice in a cooler. It really can't get any fresher unless you eat it hot out of the oven!

Mr. Met has been picked up!

2009-07-09T16:27:00.005-04:00

Ok, Mr. Met has been picked up. I'm gonna miss him so much! Here's the work in progress:

Almost done!

Here we added the white jersey collar and the blue "shirt"
under the "jersey" and added the blue trim.Then we added the noseThe smile looks a little creepy with the lack of eyes right nowHere we did a double layer of fondant
cut out by hand for the back of the jersey.

I can't wait to get all the details onto the cake. This is the largest cake we have ever done! I'm so proud!

DONE!!!!Ok... we just have to place the hat on the head!!!! The hat is made of blue gum paste and Mike piped on the Met's logo with orange chocolate. Looks great! Better picture coming soon!There he is! All done!The back with the last nameLove him!!!!Us with our cake!

More Mr. Met

2009-07-08T18:39:00.004-04:00

First step

We just finished building the arms... they're in the fridge chilling before we can cover them with the fondant. Then we can finally start to decorate! So excited!Added the arms Added the blue for the sleevesAdded more white for the jersey.

Ok, so we covered the board with home made orange fondant... took forever! It was just so soft.
The body we covered with home made marshmallow fondant. Worked out fine.
The huge rice krispy head we ended up having to run to the store to buy a box of pre-made fondant. We just completely ran out of the good stuff.

Everything is going to sit in the fridge overnight again so we can start decorating tomorrow. The hat was cut out yesterday, so it's still drying. I just have to add the face, the buttons, and some other details. Tomorrow is going to be a LONG day! It's a good thing I LOVE what I do!

Mr. Met cake update...

2009-07-08T15:19:00.003-04:00

I want to pull my hair out! I decided to use some home made marshmallow fondant so that it would taste better.... NEVER again! EVER!!!!

We had to go out and get a new cake board today because the one we had didn't support the cake enough. The only one they had was a really ugly gold, so we decided to tint some of the home made fondant orange and cover the board. The orange coloring turned the fondant into a mushy mess. We had to use a giant chunk of gum paste so that the fondant wouldn't rip. This is a job that should normally take about 10 minutes... it took us over an hour. This cake may be the death of me!

Then I tried to roll out the rest of the white fondant for the torso. This worked a lot better than the orange fondant, but it was still a huge mess. I don't think I've ever had this much trouble covering a cake. And moving the cake from the first board to the second made a huge mess. But whatever... it looks great! I'm so happy. Not even close to done yet, but it looks great.

We still have to make the arms and get them covered and onto the board. The hat has is drying, just needs a brim. Jersey logo is cut out. Need to go get some orange chocolate tomorrow to pipe the logo onto the hat. And the huge job... covering the Rice Krispy head with fondant! Pretty sure I'm going to have to go buy some regular fondant for that.

AHHHHHHHH

Mr. Met cake

2009-07-07T23:52:00.004-04:00

Ok, so were working on a Mr. Met birthday cake for Friday. I want it to be perfect. I know it's only Tuesday, but I'm already stressing out. I woke up today and baked 2 red velvet sheet cakes (3 if you count the one that somehow boiled into a syrup because my oven got too hot, which has never happened before so I don't know what that's about)

For about 2 weeks we have been discussing the size of Mr. Mets head. I have a ball pan from Wilton, but it just didn't seem big enough. Then I have a much larger ball pan with an 8" diameter, but that looked too big.

We also planned on using cake for the head, but after a trial run using the red velvet cake we came to the conclusion that it's just too soft. There just arent enough dowels in the world to get a round ball of soft red velvet cake to stay on top of a 4 layer red velvet cake without falling right over. (Trial cake was then broken down into red velvet balls for the 4th of July, I just can't justify wasting cake lol)

So, Rice Krispie treat ball it is! And the best part was that we didn't need a pan to shape it. It took a double batch of the gooey treat to create this giant head by hand, but at least I know I won't have to worry (too much) about it rolling off before they cut into it.

The majority of the body is already stacked and frosted with cream cheese frosting and chilling overnight before we cover it with some home made marshmallow fondant. We just have to build the arms out of the rest of the cake and I will also need to whip up a 3rd batch of cream cheese frosting. I also made buttercream to coat the ball with before we cover it so it's nice and smooth.

Mike is currently shaping out the tiny Met's hat from a 50/50 blend of regular fondant and gum paste dyed royal blue. This should take about 2 days to set. I am so excited to see this all come together! I'm sure it's gonna look great, but I just can't help but be nervous! So far, about 6 hours have already gone into this cake and we haven't even begun to decorate it. Tomorrow we must complete the structure and cover the whole thing with the marshmallow fondant. I hope everything just falls into place from there.

Next mission...

2009-07-06T02:40:00.004-04:00

For my next mission I will be attempting some beer buttercream. I know it's pretty basic, but i've never had it before. In order to do this I will first have to figure out what cake base to start with. I am torn between just a basic chocolate cake brushed with beer or a chocolate beer cake (which I have also never tried before). I think I will most likely try out the chocolate beer cake since I am very curious about the flavor. I will also then be able to taste the cake and frosting seperate as well as together. If this comes out good, I know what my July 17th Coney Island special is going to be!

4th of July!

2009-07-05T11:43:00.005-04:00

Us!The "info" corner with the fake cupcakes I made out of plaster and Spackle!The PB&J cupcakes!Festive cuppies!"Independence Balls"

Had a GREAT time! Thank you so much to those of you who came down to show your support! Friday, July 3rd, we sold so much that I had to come home and bake a few more batches of cupcakes, a double batch of brownies and whip up more frostings! Saturday, we sold out of everything but the brownies (Guess I only needed a single batch).

Due to the increase in booth rental prices, I am not sure if we will be able to do this again. I was so happy to see how many people came back looking for us and how many people were told about us by other people.

4th of July weekend!

2009-07-02T23:30:00.003-04:00

I am so excited! Tomorrow starts our weekend of selling cupcakes! I have been in the kitchen for just about 2 days straight, but it's worth it.

Cupcake choices:
Golden
Chocolate
Red Velvet
White

Frosting choices:
Vanilla buttercream
Chocolate buttercream
Cream cheese
Peanut Butter buttercream

*option of a grape jelly injection for a PB&J cupcake!

Other choices:
Brownies.. OMG these are to die for! Super thick, super fudgy... with chocolate chips!
Chocolate chip cookies... VERY soft!
Red Velvet cake ball truffles... Limited amount, and they go fast!

Come down to the Flea by the Sea and check us out!

Day 2 of the "Flea By The Sea"

2009-06-28T14:00:00.005-04:00

Thank you so much to those of you who were able to make it down to Coney Island!

The "Flea by the Sea" was HUGE success! Had a great day on Saturday! Completely sold out of brownies and cupcakes and sold most of the cookies. Our biggest seller... red velvet with cream cheese frosting! We had one staff member come back about 5 times for more!

We also had an order of 21. The woman wanted 15 golden with chocolate frosting and 5 red velvet with cream cheese frosting for her daughters birthday party. Then her daughter wanted a chocolate to eat on the way home! Mike had to run to Dunkin Donuts for a box big enough and that wouldn't squish the frosting. I hope they survived the trip!

I really can't believe how many cupcakes we went through in the 2 days! It makes me happy when people can really enjoy what I love to do. One girl came back twice and said she can really taste the love that goes into the baking. I hope it's just a matter of time until I can open up my own shop.

Flea by the Sea!

2009-06-26T22:39:00.006-04:00

Had a great time today! Thanks so much to those of you who cake down!

I can't believe how many red velvets we sold! I really thought the golden would sell fastest.

Dog Treats...

2009-06-24T22:32:00.005-04:00

Ok... these are a HUGE hit! I had no idea when I mixed up my first batch that they would be such a success. And I was experimenting today with personalized bones... worked out great! Much better than I expected.

The pile of dough does not look very appetizing at all... but I'm not a dog, so what do I know?

Bones and hearts

Ready to be baked

All Done!I probably should have taken this pics before they were bagged... Dogs names are Bocci,
Cookie, and Soco and they are all very loyal customers!

For the names, what I did was gently press letter cookie cutters into the dough to make impressions before they were baked. I also did little hearts with initials.

4th of July Idea!

2009-06-23T22:24:00.002-04:00

Ok... so thanks to Bakerella I just figured out how I'm going to spice up the 4th of July bake sale! Cake burgers and cookie fries! I've seen something like this before, but these are so simple to do that I just have to make them! LOVE the idea!

Still making regular cupcakes, brownies, cookies and cake pops... for those of you who don't like your food to look like other foods. lol

Oh... and an update on the dog treats...
Made another batch today using regular skippy peanut butter and it worked out great. I didn't need to add an egg this time. It even rolled better. So, I guess the type of peanut butter you use really has a lot to do with it. So, for those of you who like using all natural organic for your furry little friends... just keep in mind that you may have to add an egg.

I'm exhausted tonight, but tomorrow I will upload the pics of the doggie treats. You can see the difference in the dough. I even tasted it.. not bad, but not as peanut-buttery as it smells.

Recipe from BullWrinkle.com:

2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 cup peanut butter (chunky or smooth, I use smooth)
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 375'F. In a bowl, combine flour and baking powder. In another bowl, mix peanut butter and milk, then add to dry ingredients and mix well. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead. Roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness and use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes. Bake for 20 minutes on a greased baking sheet until lightly brown. Cool on a rack, then store in an airtight container. --- This is the original recipe, but I have found the cookies burn easily.

They said it burns easily... I found that a little tonight. The first time I made it with the egg I had no problems at all but this time they did seem to cook faster. Keep an eye on them. I set my timer for 15 minutes and them kept a close eye on them after that.

Some better pics

2009-06-22T22:20:00.003-04:00

Here are a few better pics from our Fathers Day bake sale!

Flea By The Sea update....

2009-06-22T20:59:00.003-04:00

So, we went back today to get a permit for this coming weekend... we were smart this time and made sure it would be valid for the full 14 days. I can't wait. I really hope it doesn't get rained out again.

This weekend we will have cookies and brownies again, all individually wrapped for convenience.

We will also have golden cupcakes, chocolate cupcakes and red velvet cupcakes.

Our frosting varieties will be vanilla buttercream, chocolate buttercream and cream cheese.

I wanted to make some cake balls, but we agreed to hold out until the 4th of July... so make sure to come on down!

Fathers Day Bake Sale!

2009-06-21T23:00:00.003-04:00

Happy Fathers Day!

So, even though the festival got rained out yesterday we still got to sell some baked goods today! We set up in Mike's driveway, tent and all, and pretty much broke even. We sold out of cookies right away and ended up with only a few bags of brownies left. The golden cupcakes sold pretty fast, but we still had 4 left by the time we got rained out.

Had lots of fun though! Big thanks to Linda, Rob and Kristen for the help and support!!! <3

Tomorrow we are going to get the permit for next weekend and the 4th of July. Can't wait! I really hope this rain lets up soon.

Saturday has been cancled due to weather

2009-06-19T13:20:00.003-04:00

So.. now I have: (Prices have been lowered!)
bag of 3 chocolate chip cookies $2
bag of 2 finger brownies $1
bag of dog treats $1-$2
3 dozen chocolate cupcakes $2 each
1 dozen margarita cupcakes $2 each
3 dozen yellow cupcakes $2 each

I have not made any frostings yet, but I will be making vanilla buttercream and chocolate buttercream.

and NOWHERE to sell them!

Does anyone in the Bensonhurst area want to buy some? Please email me for more info!

lauren@dessertsbylauren.com

Doggie Treats!!!

2009-06-19T10:41:00.005-04:00

Ok, so I was getting ready to get my bake on yesterday and I started thinking about how many people passed by the "Flea By The Sea" with their furry little friends. So I decided to bake up a batch of doggie treats!

Sorry for such a bad cell phone picture!
This was the first batch that came out of the oven.

I found this recipe:

Peanut Butter Dog Treats
Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 cup peanut butter *I used natural peanut butter, which is very dry*
1 cup skim milk

**I had to add an egg to hold everything together since the peanut butter was so dry.

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl, combine flour and baking powder. In another bowl, mix peanut butter and milk. Add wet mixture to dry, and mix well.

Turn out dough on a lightly floured surface and knead. Roll out to 1/4-inch thickness and cut out shapes. Place on a greased baking sheet and bake 20 minutes or until lightly brown. Cool on a rack and store in an airtight container.

Makes about 20-30 dog biscuits.

In addition to the doggie treats I also baked up chocolate chip cookies, brownies, chocolate cupcakes and margarita cupcakes. Today I will be making golden cupcakes and red velvet, plus whipping up the frostings! I can't wait 'till Saturday's "Flea By The Sea"!

Come Check Us Out!! This weekend!!!

2009-06-18T01:00:00.005-04:00

Ok.. so I'm back to my old self again! I hate being sick, so glad it passed. Went to the doc and got a clean bill of health.

"Flea By The Sea", here we come!!!!! This means that over the next 2 days I will be baking my buns off! Pardon the bad pun. We will have a booth right off Stillwell Ave. on Saturday, June 20th. Gates open at 12 noon!

Anyway, tomorrow I will be baking a double batch of chocolate chip cookies as well as a double batch of fudge brownies. If I have time left over I will also start baking some cupcakes.

On the menu for this Saturday, June 20th:

Custom Cupcakes!!! Who doesn't love a good cupcake?!?!

Cupcake flavors:

Golden

Chocolate
Red Velvet

Frosting flavors:
Vanilla Buttercream
Chocolate Buttercream
Creamcheese

Pick your cake, then pick your frosting!

Chocolate Chip Cookies!!! Moist and chewy!

I <3> I may even top them with some fudge!!!! Chocolate overload!!!

*Also going on in Coney Island this Saturday:
Mermaid Parade, The Cyclone, Wonder Wheel, and other rides are open AND the Circus will be there! Come on down and enjoy Brooklyn! Rain or shine!

That's about it for this weekend. We will also be there for July 4th and our menu will include much more, like "Liberty Ball" cake pops and possibly Margarita cupcakes with a twist of lime! So come on down and enjoy a cupcake with your fireworks!

Home sick... and all I wanna do is bake

2009-06-11T20:05:00.002-04:00

So i'm home sick and I just found a very quick and easy recipe for Margarita cupcakes and all I wanna do is get up and bake them. I think if I'm feeling better tomorrow I will make them.

Also... next weekend... the 20th, we will be selling some cupcakes and cookies down in Coney Island's Flea By The Sea! So come check us out if you're in the NY area!!!

Finished "OM" Bites

2009-06-06T21:55:00.002-04:00

Ok, so I don't know much about yoga, but this is the "OM" symbol. These pops were made for a yoga instructor course graduation. They are all yellow cake and half are covered with milk chocolate and half are covered with dark chocolate.

Originally, these were going to be large flat pops. It didn't work. The cakes were too big and the pops kept coming out. Also, I had asked a few people how to thin down the chocolate a little and everyone mentioned using a little vegetable oil. This did NOT work! The chocolate never dried. And I only used a tiny drop. When I went to the chocolate store today the guy told me about these "oil chips" called paramount crystals from the CK company. I found these on Amazon if you want to check them out. They worked great. The chocolate set very quickly and left a nice glossy shine.

It was too hard to throw away all that we had worked so hard on, so we ate them. Well, not all of them. We gave a lot away. As long as they were kept in the fridge, they were fine. The chocolate needed to stay cool. But boy were they delicious! The chocolate ones were like Ring Dings! Sooooo good.

The "OM" army!

I baked and dipped... Mike decorated.

I can't believe how well he did with the piping.

Each one, hand made.And now they are ready for delivery.I am so proud of these. They taste even better than they look!

Tasting party... good idea?

2009-06-05T12:26:00.002-04:00

Ok... so Mike and I were discussing the idea of a tasting party and then last night I get an email from my cousin suggesting it. I think this is something I am going to have to do! I am so excited! I figure if I charge like $10 a person I should be able to cover the cost for all the cupcakes and cake pops.

I will probably have a raffle as well as sell some small baskets of cakes. I'd love some feedback from people if they think it's a good idea.

Thanks!

Cake bite pops.... flattened.

2009-06-05T11:50:00.003-04:00

So I got an order for 50 cake bites... they the person wanted a symbol on it. It's a very specific yoga OM symbol. So what I decided to do is make them flat circles.

I had to make 25 chocolate ones and 25 yellow ones.

The heavy cream boiling to make the chocolate frostingheavy cream melting the chocolate.
Half milk chocolate, half dark

Melted chocolate and heavy creamFrosting once everything was mixed in.The chocolate cake base for the bite popsI didnt take many pics of the yellow cake process...
but that was the start of the batterAnd there they are chilling. Going to dip them in a few minutes.Dipped in Dark ChocolateDipped in the milk chocolate

Cake Bites

2009-06-03T21:15:00.005-04:00

2nd try at dipping the cake bites... total success! The key really is to get them nice and frozen. They came great! LOVE them! Gonna go deliver some extras tonight to some willing and eager guinea pigs.

To make these... All you need to do is bake a cake. Any cake! box mix, scratch recipe, whatever you want. Bake it and then cool to room temp.

Then you make the frosting or scoop it out of the can. Again, doesnt matter. I just prefer mine all made from scratch.

Crumble the cake into a bowl or in a food processor. I prefer to do this by hand. Make it nice and fine with no large chunks.

Then, by hand, Slowly add a little frosting at a time until it comes together into a doughy consistency. Scoop out with an ice cream scooper onto a tray and freeze overnight.

To make pops, insert the sticks AFTER they have frozen. This helps the stick stay in!

Once frozen, dip in some melted chocolate. That's it! decorate however you'd like and enjoy!

Frozen red velvet cake bite popsDipped in Dark Chocolate

The completed dark chocolate dipped bites with a little
red chocolate drizzle so you know it's red velvet!

The finished white chocolate dipped ones from last night with
the red chocolate squiggle All wrapped up and ready to goHad to cut one open so you can see the deep red color
and they have such a soft truffle-like texture.Yea, I ate that one right after I shot this. LOL

Red Velvet Cake Balls!

2009-06-02T22:40:00.003-04:00

Ok, so I got the recipe from a friend... super secret and all that jazz, and I would never post a recipe given by someone who didn't want me to. So I wont. However... I also did not use that recipe. I did a lot of research on line and found countless posts about this new craze.

The most basic recipe says to use:
1 box of cake mix... prepare as listed on box and cooled
1 can of frosting
Chocolate to dip

Once cake is cooled, crumble. Mix in the frosting until mushy and delicious. Scoop out some small balls. Cool (overnight for best results). Dip in melted chocolate.

I stuck some popsicle sticks in there too!

Tonight I tried a new red velvet recipe. Big mistake! I should have stuck with the old one, which, in my opinion, is damn near perfect. I also didn't have any cream cheese, so that was obviously out of the question. Instead I ended up using my regular go-to buttercream frosting (minus the vanilla because I'm all out of that too... need to hit the store tomorrow!)

Anywho, they taste incredible. I started to dip them in white chocolate but they are still too soft and they came out quite mushy. I'm keeping them in the freezer tonight and will resume the dipping tomorrow. I also just found out that this works best if you use a mixture of half chocolate, half cocoa butter. (need to add cocoa butter to my list)

Tomorrow I will add some pics when they are all done. Next time i'm trying it out with good 'ol chocolate cake and chocolate frosting.

The making of a mini PB&J cupcake!

2009-05-31T23:40:00.011-04:00

So, the first run was such a hit that I had an order for 4 dozen mini's! I used the same recipe, only set it to serve 12, which was perfect. I ended up with 52 cupcakes and we ate the left overs! LOL

The batter is so white! So fluffy and pretty!

All Baked! Fresh out of the oven!Here they are with the jelly injection.The making of the frostingAll frostedJelly drizzleAnd they're done!

I'm so glad these are such a hit. With the mini's, I found that there wasnt enough jelly inside and the peanut butter was taking over... but once we drizzled the jelly on top, they were perfect.

My rating remains the same...

Cake taste: 5
Moistness: 5
Frosting: 5

Delicious!

PB&J Cupcakes!

2009-05-31T00:04:00.006-04:00

Ok, so after doing a lot of research on cupcakes... mostly peanut butter and jelly cupcakes.... I decided to try it for myself.

I used a white cake batter that was incredible! I only made enough for 7 cupcakes, so I hope when I try to make this in bulk they are just as tasty.

Fresh out of the oven!

Then they got a grape jelly injection

And I topped them with an incredible peanut butter frosting and grape jelly drizzle.

I am so happy with the way these came. I ran a few over to my friends house after Mike (the fiance) and I taste tested them ourselves. It was a hit! So excited!!!!

The white cake recipe was much more than I bargained for. I got it from AllRecipes.com and set it to only 8 servings. The measurements were a little screwy, calling for 1 1/4 egg whites. (I only used 1) and some odd amounts of sugar. It also called for vanilla extract and almond extract, but I left both out. I wanted it to be as pure as possible. This is what I got:

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup and 2 tablespoons sifted cake flour
1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-1/4 egg whites (I used 1)
1/3 cup and 2 tablespoons and 1 teaspoon white sugar
3 tablespoons and 2-1/2 teaspoons butter
1/4 cup and 1 tablespoon milk (I poured a bit in slowly... don't think I used that much)
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract (Left out)
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (Left out)

The frosting recipe I got from the How To Eat A Cupcake Blog It was seriously incredible! It wasn't an overwhelming peanut butter flavor. Mike compared it to peanut butter ice cream. It was light and fluffy.

Peanut Butter Frosting (this is the original recipe x1.5)

3/4 cup smooth or crunchy peanut butter
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temp
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 cups confectioners sugar, sifted
3 tablespoons milk

Combine the peanut butter, butter, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Using an electric mixer beat until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes. Add the confectioners sugar along with the milk, and beat until well combined.

My rating: Delicious!!!!
1-5 system... 1 being the worst... 5 being the best.

Cake flavor: 5
Mostness: 5
Frosting: 5

Some cakes I've already made

2009-05-29T16:02:00.005-04:00

Chocolate cupcakes with red fondant Spiderman masks

Spiderman cake... Golden cake with red fondant and decorated with buttercream

This cake was decorated by Mike, my fiance.
It was a golden cake with buttercream frosting

This cake was also decorated by my fiance. It was a mothers day cake for his mom.

This was my Mother's Day cake for my mom

This was a lemon cake with lemon buttercream frosting.

Easter Cake... The picture really doesn't do it justice. The bottom square layer was golden cake with a chocolate gonache filling frosted using the "grass" tip with buttercream and the top egg layer was a lemon pound cake frosted with a start tip with "Happy Easter" written on it. The little chick was a roll out butter cookie with royal icing.

Doll Cake This was chocolate cake and red buttercream frosting used a star tip for the frosting.

Spring Cupcakes Golden cupcakes with buttercream frosting

Mother's Day Cake This was a golden cake with buttercream frosting.

Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting

Cupcakes!

2009-05-29T12:39:00.002-04:00

Ok, I will be working on this blog as often as possible. I would like to post up some recipes that I have as well as images of the cakes or cupcakes produced by them. I will also include a rating of some sort. I have lots of good frosting recipes too!