Birthday Carrot Cake

I'm a horrible blogger. I really am. I've gotten caught up in so many other things (wedding planning, work, the holidays, etc) that I've completely neglected blogging. For that, I apologize. I may have neglected my blog; however, I am still baking semi-regularly. Most recently, I've been doing a lot of things with bread products and yeast. For now, though, let's back track to November.

SOMEbody requested a carrot cake for his birthday. Naturally, as most people would, he asked that it have cream cheese frosting.

Two layers of incredibly moist carrot cake sandwiched between, and covered in, cream cheese icing. I finished it with crushed walnuts on the outer edge. I'm incredibly happy with the end result, and so was he. It looked fantasic and tasted even better.

Apple Pies

It's been a while since I've updated. Summer weather doesn't exactly make me feel like I want to bake. However, now that Fall is upon us, I have a feeling I'll be baking a little more often. First project(s) of the season? Apple pie made from freshly picked apples.

Above: Dutch Oatmeal Apple pie. Made with Courtland apples, this pie has an oatmeal crumb topping and hand-formed crust.

Right: Caramel Apple pie. Made with a combination of Courtland and some kind of green apple (I can't remember the name, not Granny Smith though). The apples were tossed with cinnamon before being put in the store-bought crust and covered in a lattice. Then I made a caramel sauce and (carefully) poured it over the pie before baking.

Minion Cupcakes

Technically, I didn't bake these, just assembled. With 100+ degree weather and humidity, I wasn't about to turn on the oven. The picture quality is poor; I didn't have my good camera with me, so I snapped these pics with my phone. Anyone who has seen the movie Despicable Me will recognize these cute little Minions, in cupcake form. They were made from bought cupcakes, snack cakes, candy and frosting, and were a huge hit at my family reunion.

S'mores Cupcakes

I haven't been baking as often lately. It's been too hot, and I haven't really had occasions to bake for. However, I did make these cupcakes a couple weeks ago for a friend's going-away party.

Summer wouldn't be summer without s'mores, and this is my cupcake version of the classic summer treat. Graham cracker flavored cupcakes with bits of chocolate bars in the center and topped with marshmallow frosting.

 I had originally planned on finishing these cupcakes off with a butane torch, but it wasn't cooperating with me. So, instead, I broiled them a little bit in the toaster to get the toasted marshmallow look.

Father's Day Macaroons

For Father's day, I made my dad one of his favorite cookies: coconut macaroons. They're a relatively simple cookie to make, and incredibly delicious. It's hard to tell size in these photos, but they're a little bit bigger than a golf ball. The papers the cookies are sitting in are cupcake wrappers. I dressed half of them up by dipping the bottoms in chocolate and then drizzling chocolate over the tops.

College Graduation Cake

My boyfriend's sister graduated from college this weekend. As a gift to her, I made this cake for her graduation party. The inside of the cake is half vanilla, half chocolate. The frosting is buttercream, and the silhouettes are edible sugar paper.

The idea for the people came from a cake I'd seen on wilton.com. My boyfriend and I used their template as a stencil to cut the people out of the sugar sheet with an x-acto knife, and then placed them on the cake. The biggest challenge of this cake was baking it with two different flavors. It was easy enough to pour into the pan and separate, however one unexpected problem was that the chocolate side ended up cooking faster than the vanilla. It was hard to balance cooking the vanilla cake all the way and trying to not to overcook the chocolate side. Unfortunately, the chocolate side was a little more dry than I would have liked. Hopefully the fact that the cake looked so pretty makes up for it a little bit. Right?

25th Anniversary Suprise Party Cake

My cousin planned a surprise party for my aunt and uncle's 25th anniversary, and I volunteered to make the cake.



The cake is a super moist chocolate cake with a raspberry cream filling between the layers. It's frosted with vanilla buttercream icing and decorated with royal icing roses and rosebuds. The leaves, vines, and lettering are buttercream. 

It seemed to be a big hit at the party, people couldn't believe how moist it was. I've actually used this cake recipe before for other family events, but it's amazing how different it can taste depending on what filling and frosting it's paired with.