veggies for lunch

yep...I did that yesterday...
...maybe I was feeling a little vegetarian...
just a little...

so I just decided to have some carrots...
and that was my lunch...carrots....

carrots wrapped up in some cake and frosting!

This was a leftover slice of one of our Easter desserts...
gotta have a carrot cake for Easter...
am I right?

time for a shower

a sweet baby shower!

I had the pleasure of throwing a pintrest inspired baby shower for my friend Rayna....
she's pregnant with baby boy #2!

yesterday I shared about my cake pops or lack thereof for this shower....

I started pinning shower ideas to my 'party on' board
& was watching Rayna's 'Baby Rush #2' board

cake pop

my version...
making a popsicle flavor cake...

Creamsicle Cake

okay...confession...

Genius Cupcake Lady

okay, this might not be genius status...

okay, so this is probably something EVERYONE but me has done...

okay, it's probably something that they write on the back of the box and I just have never read it...

anyways...
here was my morning 'ahh ha' moment...
one of the things I hate about making cupcakes is filling the cups all up...and the mess that comes along with that!
so, I, with the help of my husband
     it takes 2 people, one to hold the bag and one to pour the filling into the bag,
filled a large ziploc baggie full of the cake batter
snipped off a corner

and wa-la...filling cupcakes became so much easier...
I filled 30 cupcakes in under 2 minutes...okay, maybe 2.5 min...

Where's the Cake...I Thought I Saw a Cake

oh, wait...it's camouflaged!

at the beginning of this week a friend on facebook posted a plea for a camouflaged birthday cake for her son...

I've never actually made one before, but knew I could make it with fondant...and since I was also making Wilson's rainbow cupcakes for preschool I knew I could also make the inside of the cake camo looking...so I told her I was interested and she took me up on the offer...

so I made the same recipe that I did for the rainbow cupcakes

and then split the batter into 4 different batches...it doesn't have to be even batches, and you can do any color you want, this would be fun to make blue camo for a baby boy shower, or for an ocean birthday

or do blues and greens for an "earth day" party...

or a pink and brown camo for a little girl

... or even a baby shower...

and you could color it brown or use chocolate mix with the yellow cake dyed pink...

or a strawberry cake mixed with a chocolate cake...

ohhh, I'm going to have to make that....

oops, tangent...

so I had three different shades of green and a brown (forgot to take pictures along the way)

then just globed them into the cake pans in different amounts and in different places...don't over think it, just do it.

then bake according to the size of pan you are using

let cool, and then cut the cakes to make them level

I then frosted and layered them with a chocolate butter cream frosting (didn't get a picture of that)..

set aside the cake and start working on the fondant...

I buy the Wilton brand that's pre-made...you can get it at Michaels or WalMart...

now if you've never used fondant before you should try...

it's like play-dough that you can eat...and cover cakes with...and make lots of fun stuff....

the camo cake is a pretty easy one to start with because you really can't mess up the look of camo...

divide up the fondant and start coloring the different batches the colors you want for the camouflage

 then I use the Wilton food colors, you can use less and get a really rich color...

I mix the color into the fondant inside a bag otherwise your hands will be COVERED in color...

then lay out your colors and start rolling

the directions on the box of fondant tell you to use powdered sugar rather than flour, the sugar just makes it all sticky, I was told by a friend a long time ago to use corn starch and it works great!

add some more and just have fun

then I wanted to add some camo words

I really wanted to put "Happy Birthday" but it was too big and would have all globed together...

so the birthday boy, Drew was turning 10, so I just camouflaged the #10 and his name into the top

then very carefully, with the help of my husband, lifted the fondant and layed it on the cake

smoothed it down, trimmed off the excess and then made some little camo balls to put around the base

I was going to make some bullets...

but they turned out looking not so much like bullets 

....and a little more like something I didn't want to put on the top of a 10 year old boy's birthday cake...

so I suggested to the mom to maybe add some army men to the top of the cake...

I hope they enjoyed it...maybe I can get mom to send me some pictures of the kids eating it the cake and I will add those....

Rain + Sun = Rainbows...

both my kids love looking for rainbows after the rain, or during the rain...

and we always try to remind them of the promise of a rainbow...

God's promise of protection, his promise to NEVER flood the entire earth again...

so when I signed up to bring cupcakes to Wilson's preschool graduation he suggested that I make rainbow cupcakes...

fun times...

I've made a rainbow/polka dot cake before and the dramatic part is cutting into the cake and seeing all the colors...

well...in case you forgot, there is no cutting into cupcakes...and I don't like to put extra work into something unless people know I've done the work...

so I needed to find a way to make rainbow cupcakes and have everyone see all the work I did...

I googled rainbow cupcakes and a few images came up, and one had the cupcakes not in the cupcake papers  but in wax paper...

GENIUS...you can see all the colors...

so I cut enough wax paper squares for the cupcakes (26)...

then formed them around the bottom of a small cup and then sat them in the cupcake/muffin tin...perfect fit

then mix up your cake batter (I used a simple yellow cake mix with a simple cake mix dr. recipe...recipe at the bottom of the blog)...you NEED to use either a yellow cake or white cake recipe...

divide your batter into the number of colors that you want/need to make your rainbow or polka dots...

and color each the color you want

I had planned on 5 colors...

Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue...

very rainbow like...

and it wasn't until I had the cake all mixed up that I got out all of my colors only to discover I was missing my Red and Yellow food coloring...

so I left one batch the "natural" color of the yellow cake batter and then left red out entirely...

thinking...

"They're preschoolers, they won't notice that the rainbow cupcakes are missing red..."

then using a small spoon or cookie scoop, start filling your cupcake papers with one scoop of each color

then bake per directions...

remove from pans to cool and then frost with the color frosting you want...

I had planned on making 5 different colors of frosting and then once I realized I didn't have the red or yellow I just asked Wilson what color he wanted...he said green (I was actually a little surprised, he's a blue sort of boy)...

so I frosted them all green...

and I was also going to make little crayons out of fondant to top them all with...but then the boy got sick...and wasn't even going to make it to his preschool graduation...so I just left good enough alone...kept one cupcake at home for the sick little boy and delivered the rest to the little graduates...and it was raining for the "outside ceremony" they had planned for the graduation...perfect cupcakes for a rain soaked party...

picked up Wilson's graduation cap and school goodies and came home to "celebrate" his own personal graduation...

little boy bummed that he's not with all his friends...

and finding it rather silly that mom will only let him eat his cupcake if he wears his graduation cap...

are those eyes just melting you right now???

"hmm...mom, did you forget the red?"...

okay so preschoolers might notice if you don't have red in the rainbow!

but it's still good...can't believe that my sweet little boy is going off to kindergarten next year!

Easy Peasy Yellow Cake

1 yellow cake mix

8 oz, 1 stick butter melted

1 cup whole milk or half & half

3 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

Mix together all the ingredients on low speed for 1 minute, scrape down sides and mix on medium for 3 minutes...

bake per directions on the back of cake box for whatever size pan you're baking your cake/cupcakes in...

frost with vanilla butter cream or chocolate butter cream frosting.

Celebrate What?

Okay...so I finally got going today, took awhile...
but I actually got OUT of my jammies and even left my house, twice...

I promised the kids that if they napped I'd take them swimming at the Y...
yeah...swimming when it's raining?
turn's out...it's actually a fun thing to do...
if the pool's indoors and heated...
but it also has a retractable roof,
which was open, so swimming in a heated pool with rain falling...
supper cool for the kids...and mommy...

okay anyways...
we decided to go swimming on this "no school" Monday...
(and so did half of Redding...)
and then as we're swimming Madison asks,
"How are we going to celebrate?"
...
"Celebrate What?"...I respond
"Dr. King's birthday..."
....
oh, yeah...so this isn't just a no-school Monday...
this is a holiday to honor a very amazing man...
Then I thought it was kinda cool that we were swimming in a public pool with many different nationalities of people swimming around us...so maybe that's one way of celebrating Dr. King...go swimming in a public pool...
but that wasn't enough for my family...
we also must celebrate with dessert...
and Beau decided that the best way to honor Martin Luther King Jr. was to make a yellow cake with chocolate chips...
Two flavors coming together to make one amazing cake...

...So, from now on we will call this the...

Dr. King Cake
1 yellow cake mix
1 vanilla pudding mix
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), melted
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup whole milk
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips
frost with Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting recipe on previous post

1. Preheat oven to350 and grease two 9-inch round cakes.
2.  Place cake mix, pudding mix, milk, eggs, butter, & vanilla in a large mixing bowl and mix on low for 1 minute.  Scrape down sides, then mix on high for 2-3 minutes. Fold in 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips.  Pour into cake pans.
3.  Bake for 33-37 minutes.  Remove from oven, cool in cake pans for 10 min.  Remove from cake pans and allow to cool completely.
4.  Frost with Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting and top with remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips.

...sure hope Martin Luther King Jr. liked cake...if he did I'm sure he would have liked this cake...
Thanks for your dream Dr, King!

Oh Darn, Chocolate Cake Again

I was "raised" making pies, I loved making pies, my dad loved eating pies.

I learned the art of pie crusts...

I perfected the apple pie...

The berry pie...

The chocolate pie...

The pumpkin pie...

....

and then I married a cake man...

I tired to make cake from scratch for a few years...and it can be done...

the flour must be perfect...

the milk must be the right temperature...

the eggs must look just right...

and if the wind is blowing north...

the cake will turn out just...just okay...

Then I discovered a wonderful book...I saw it on Good Morning America and told my mom I wanted it for a birthday or Christmas or something...

The Cake Mix Doctor, by Ann Bryn...it's the best book ever written (aside from the Bible)

http://www.cakemixdoctor.com

So, yes...I now make...

Cakes out of a box!  (gasp)

But they've been doctored....

This is a recipe that originally came from The Cake Mix Doctor, but I have since doctored it a little myself so I feel it's okay to share one of Ann's recipes since I've modified it some...

~~~~~~

Darn Good Chocolate Cake

1 box Devils Food Chocolate Cake Mix

1 box instant chocolate pudding mix (I get the sugar free)

4 eggs

1 cup sour cream (I use low fat)

2 Tbs Cocoa powder

1/2 cup warm coffee (or warm water)

1/2 cup melted butter (or oil)

2 cups semi sweet or dark chocolate chips

1.  Preheat oven to 350 and spray cake pans*.

2.  Mix everything but the chocolate chips together for 1 minute, scrap down sides of  bowl, mix on med speed for another 2-3 minutes (I set my timer, 3 minutes is a lot longer than you'd think), then fold in the chocolate chips, and pour into cake pan(s).

3.  Follow baking directions off of back of box according to the cake pan size you are using.  Cool for 10 minutes in pan(s), then remove from pan and continue to cool before frosting.

*when I'm using 8" or 9" rounds I also cut a circle of wax/parchment paper the same size as the bottom of the pan and line the pan with it, spraying the pan after I put the wax paper in.

frost with Chocolate Butter Cream Frosting

1 stick butter (1/2 cup), at room temp.

1/4 cup baking cocoa

3-4 cups powder sugar

2 tea vanilla

1/4-1/2 cup milk

Cream butter and cocoa together, add vanilla, slowly add sugar and milk alternating back in forth, until you've reached the desired consistency.

~~~

Changes you can make...

if you want a Grasshopper Cake omit coffee and use 2 tea of mint extract added to a 1/2 cup of warm water, chop up Andies mints and use those instead of chocolate chips and use the mint extract in the frosting rather than vanilla, and top the cake with a few Andies mints for decoration...

for a Mocha Cake, add 2 Tbl of instant coffee granules to the cake mix and for a crazy kick omit chocolate chips and use chocolate covered espresso beans...for frosting omit the vanilla and mix together 2 tea of instant coffee with 2 tea of warm water and add to frosting, decorate the top with chocolate covered espresso beans (maybe in the shape of a coffee mug)...

~~~~~~~