The cake bite disaster!

Ok so this blog is to chronicle the good, the bad, and the very very ugly of my cake adventures. In the previous blog I wrote about the bowling cake I did for my friend, I have wanted to try these cake pops/bites so this is my attempt.

Getting the cake made was the easy part. I thought, Wow, how hard can this be? I finally got the bowling pins and balls shaped though I was so not thrilled with the pins. I just felt they looked more like gourds than bowling pins. Well I refrigerated them overnight so that I could coat them in chocolate this morning and man I was so frustrated.

I got the candy melted for the coating no problem but when it came to getting the silly pieces of cake coated and looking like bowling pins and balls UGH!!

This was unreal nothing coated evenly and I kept dropping things. I did not have lollypop sticks so I decided to do these just as bites and things kept falling.

I was so disappointed.

They were eaten and everyone enjoyed them BUT I just knew I could have done better.

Oh well, maybe next time.

For now I will just learn from what didn't work and keep on,

Dreaming of cake

Let's Bowl

A friend of mine asked me to make her son's birthday cake. He is having a bowling parting and she wanted a cake that would fit that.

This was my very first cake made for someone other than my family so I was excited and nervous all at the same time. I think it turned out pretty good. I just wish the piping came a bit easier to me hehe.

Happy Birthday Cameron!!

Cheesecake

I LOVE CHEESECAKE!!!

Our church is having it's missions conference April 28-May1 and on the last day there will be a meal. They asked people to sign up to bring stuff and I already knew I would take my raspberry white chocolate cheesecake, yummo, but with a group this size figured I'd take two just to make sure there was enough. I thought well since I am making two why not make two different kinds??

I thought about what kind of cheesecake sounded good and a key lime one sounded absolutely divine. I have previously made a coconut-keylime angel food cake that is heavenly so I wondered how I could incorporate the two and then I came across this recipe and I can hardly wait to try it.

Coconut Crusted Key Lime Cheesecake

Desserts

Ingredients

12 servings

2 Cups toasted Shredded Baking Coconut
1/4 Cup Crystal Farms® Unsalted Butter, melted

Filling:
2 Extra Large Eggs, separated
1 Cup and 2 tablespoons sugar
1 Pound Crystal Farms® Cream Cheese, softened
1/4 Cup fresh Key Lime juice
1 Cup Crystal Farms® Raspberry Cream Cheese
1 Cup Sour Cream

Cooking Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place oven rack in center position.
To make the crust, combine the coconut and butter and press into the bottom and up the sides of an 8-inch cake or spring form pan. Bake 5 minutes at 350 degrees, and let cool.

To make the filling, beat egg whites until stiff. Add 2 tablespoons sugar and beat for 2 minutes until well blended.

In a separate bowl, beat cream cheese and egg yolks. Add lime juice and 1 cup sugar and beat 3 minutes until smooth. Fold in beaten egg whites. Mix by hand until smooth. Pour batter into the cooled crust and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or until lightly browned. Do not open oven door for the first 35 minutes of baking.

Whisk or beat raspberry cream cheese and sour cream. Spread over the cheesecake and bake an additional 4-5 minutes. Remove cake from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving.

Now doesn't that just sound heavenly??

A little inspiration.

I recently got a book that was written by Colette Peters called Cakes to Dream On. In this book she showcases some of her great cakes and tells you how she makes them. This is one of my favorites. She used a pasta machine and white modeling chocolate for the pasta. I thought it was so cute and unique.

This Mad Hatter Cake was also in the Colette Peters book and was one of Olivia's favorites. She loves Alice in Wonderland and thought this was so cool.

These cakes are just so inspirational and I can only hope to be this good one day.

And so it begins

I have always loved to bake. Whether it be cookies or cake it doesn't matter I just love to make sweet treats. A couple Christmas' ago my sister gave me all her shaped Wilton pans. A lot of these pans were ones that my mother had used when we were children. I always loved when mom would make our cakes. They were so special and filled with love. I have done a few little cakes here and there for my children and family members and have absolutely fallen in love with decorating cakes. I have also begun to watch the shows on Food Network like "Cake Boss" and am amazed at what all can be done with a little bit of creativity and gum-paste.

My sister and I have long talked about opening up a pie shop together once she moves back home after her husband is retired from the Air Force. This won't necessarily have to be just pies but all those sweet treats we love so much. I have decided that as well as all of the sweet treats I would like to add in specialty cake's. You know, the cool pretty ones that are all airbrushed and sparkly. The cakes that look like an image of a dream come to life. While I have only done a few little cakes for family so far my goal is to practice at all the awesome techniques out there and get really good at this thing that has taken over almost every thought that I have.

Yes, MY BRAIN DREAMS IN CAKE. hehehe

I am so blessed to have a supportive family and a husband who didn't blink an eye when the decision was made for me to quit school in order to focus on this crazy dream. In fact it was kinda his idea ;-)

So here is where it begins, this journey from crazy mom who just bakes for fun, to the crazy mom who makes magnificent cakes full of love for others to enjoy as much as she does.

I am sure that some days will be better than others but for now my mind is full of amazing possibilities and of course

DREAMS OF CAKE