Snowflake Sugar Cookies

These pretty little cookies melt in your mouth. If you like cake or cookies, you're in luck! They double the size when baked and no need to use a cookie cutter. The recipe is made to roll the dough into balls. They are light and fluffy, like a cookie/cake texture. I dipped them in a light glaze icing, sprinkled colored sugar (white), then made snowflake designs. It was so fun making something colorful and edible for our holiday party.

UPDATE: Credit for recipe goes to, Taste of Home.   http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Tender-Italian-Sugar-Cookies

German Chocolate Cake- Recipe # 15

Germans have the most original taste with their desserts, they are very proud when their recipes aren't tainted or altered. I'm not particularly fond of coconut, so I had made this as a birthday cake for a friend. The German delight was made from scratch and I used cake flour, not enriched flour. This was the first time I've made it and this recipe had rave reviews! I'll definitely hang onto it so I can bake it again for someone else; not me lol. I'd have to say, it looks like the Big Mac of all cakes.

Cupcakes Are Just Too Easy! - Recipe # 14

If you've noticed, I have many different types of yummy and beautiful cupcakes. The cupcakes in this post were made with my sister Jessie and we had a lot of fun making them!

1. Oreo cupcakes with "7 Minute Icing" filling, white icing and a mini Oreo on the top
2. Peanut-butter cupcakes with a creamy "Peanut-butter Mouse Icing," and a Reese's cup on top
3. Strawberry cupcakes with pink "Cream-cheese Icing"
4. Lemon cupcakes with "7 Minute Icing" and a raspberry with a lemon curl

Cheesecake Brownies - Recipe # 13

Another quick and easy recipe that satisfies those chocolate cravings, the kind that can make some of us delusional. You can easily whip up your own brownie recipe, or yes.... use the boxed version! The cheesecake part was so easy. Cream cheese, vanilla, sugar, egg yolk, and chocolate chips. I just dolloped the mix onto the brownies and swirled it in. These are so moist and fudgy, it's like having a chocolate party for your taste buds!

Screamin Vanilla! -Recipe # 12

These cupcakes are much like any other, it was easy to make, and I used all vanilla. I've used the vanilla wafer, and the vanilla almond bark chips to top them before. A vanilla marshmallow cream was drizzled for a slight glaze.  I think the all white makes it look deliciously elegant. On a side note, I use  muffin pans for larger cupcakes too.

Triple Tux Chocolate Cupcakes- Recipe # 11

These were very simple to assemble. You can't go wrong with boxed cake mixes, it saves much time, rather than baking from scratch. If I make a large number of these I'll use the boxed mixes, if its for my own party, I'd probably do it all from scratch. I put chocolate and vanilla icing in a pastry bag, it swirls on it own as it is squeezed onto the cake. I glazed it with a chocolate syrup, then topped it with a wafer roll. I was going to use a shaved chocolate roll.... but I improvised :).

Mascarpone Cheese & Chocolate Danishes - Recipe # 10

I found this light, elegant recipe while watching Giada De Laurentiis's cooking show.  It was one of her favorites while she was in culinary school. I would have to agree that it is super yummy. I did a quick cheat  and bought the pastry dough (her suggestion), so I didn't have to spend hours making my own. The filling was a mixture of vanilla, egg yolk, sugar, mascarpone & cream cheese, and mini chocolate chips. The pastry was light, flaky, and thinly layered. It complimented the cream cheese and chocolate inside. It was so tasty, and might I add, pretty to look at. 

 

 

Chocolate Raspberry Cake - Recipe # 9

This cake was easy to bake and assemble because it was a cake mix from the box. Katie and I used Duncan Hines products for the most part. If you like strawberries and chocolate, then you'll like raspberries and chocolate too! It took two boxes of cake mix, 1 1/2 whipped chocolate icing, two 9" and two 6" baking pans, 2 1/2 boxes of rolled wafers, and as many raspberries as I wanted to use. I put the wafers on the night before it was eaten, they did get moist but not soggy, they stayed in place really well. It was also kept in the fridge overnight.

Monkey Bread- Recipe #8

This was the first time I've made monkey bread. It turned out great! It was a sweet bread recipe like the kind you'd use for cinnamon rolls. The recipe actually made more than it said it would. The best time to eat it is of course, as soon as it cools down a bit.

Banana Bread -Recipe #7

Grandma Alice's famous banana bread. This is my absolute favorite banana bread recipe.  I prefer no nuts, others like the chopped nuts. It's sweet, flavorful, heavy like pound cake, and it melts in your mouth. This is my 7th "posted" recipe.  I have a couple orders to fill, so don't worry, I didn't forgot you and I'll make you something soon! My next new recipe will be your surprise! What I'm going to do is change my rating options below, that way, whomever the taste testers may be can just click their rating (I'm looking for feedback). I'm ready for tomorrow, it's not a new recipe but my sis is coming over to make eclairs with me. Good times!

Creating a Successful Business Plan

I'm not certain yet of the whole bakery business yet.  A show that I've became slightly addicted to is the "Cake Boss." It's about an Italian bakery, "Carlo's Bakery" in Hoboken, NJ. It's and older show, but it's got some pretty impressive bakers.  It's definitely a little dramatic because it's a reality show, but none the less, it's reveals what goes on behind the scenes in a bakery.
      One of the things to do before opening a business is research, also writing your own business plan.  Since I don't have any experience in doing so; I'm eventually going to take a $95 course at the local community college, unless I can find a free seminar somewhere. If you're curious:  http://www.ed2go.com/lewisandclark/online_course/cbp/detail/Creating_a_Successful_Business_Plan.html.

Chocolate Eclairs- Recipe #6

Who likes chocolate eclairs!!!???  We do!  I'm ashamed to say that this was the first time I've ever made these yummy little bites. Majority of the ingredients were eggs, flour, butter, and sugar, all the basics, even the homemade cream filling had mostly basics.  I actually made two cream filling recipes and used two different icings, then sent them off with my boyfriend to his place of work for some extreme taste testing and critiquing; this way I could get ratings on which recipe was better. They preferred the eclairs with the milk chocolate icing, I personally liked the semi-sweet icing..........

The Pastry Dough

 

Baked Pastries

Eclairs With Milk Chocolate Icing

Eclairs With Semi-sweet Chocolate Icing

Cherry Pie- Recipe #5

This was a cherry pie I made. Quite delicious, the down fall was that canned cherry filling is NO-WHERE as good as fresh cherries, it didn't have that sweet, tangy, zing to it. I was definitely spoiled with fresh fruits on the farm.  I'll have to wait and buy fresh cherries, or at least buy frozen cherries next time.  I was impressed with the crust on this one.  I was able to roll it without tearing it. I used 1/2 cup of Crisco and 1/4 cup of butter for the crust. I was also able to make more crust this way, it was much easier to roll out.

Apple and Peach Pie- Recipe #3 & #4

Well, I've made two pies, apple and peach. The apple had more Crisco in it and the peach had less. Though it was less than a  1/4 cup difference, I could definitely taste the difference. I think the natural butter taste is more flavorful than the Crisco taste, but I've yet to find a way to make the perfect crust. Of course I'm in my early stages where no matter how I make it, I can't make it as well as my mother. And that crust can be darn hard to roll out and keep in one piece! Both pies were consumed, so... success. I just need to practice a bit more, especially since pies are one of my favorite desserts. ;)

My Apple

Cake Pops -Recipe #2

Cake pops- The first time I actually saw these darling little sweets, they were on the Starbucks menu, then I did an internet search on the best way to make them because they looked so fun. I've learned a lesson on which almond bark to use for the smooth look. The pink almond bark (Wilton Candy Melts) dried making an interesting texture. The chocolate almond bark (Baking Classics) was creamy and smooth. The recipe called for a lot of icing mixed in with the cake so you could roll it into shape. I added half the amount of icing and the other half pudding because after being dipped into icing again it was too sweet. These were just as yummy as they looked and the cool thing is you can make many flavors, shapes, and designs. Instead of cake balls I made cupcake shapes with the help of my sister.  Working on these alone would probably be a little time consuming. They were rich and balanced enough so that just a couple will suffice in place of a piece if cake. I think I'm going to try a banana flavor next time!









Watkins Incorporated

It's all about Watkins!

Ever since I was a little girl I remember a drawer FULL of Watkins extracts. Especially the small 2 oz. bottles with the rounded base and tiny handle on the neck. The vanilla extract as in the picture above was and still is my favorite, it smelled so yummy but packed a bitter bite. My siblings and I found this out after we convinced our mother to let us taste it; we were sure it would taste as good as it smelled! This products will never lose it's authenticity. I'm looking into ordering new 2 oz. extracts in the new old fashion yet modern bottles. They come in many convenient sizes and cost greatly ranges. The new 2 oz. bottles of vanilla from the online store http://www.watkinsonline.com/jenkins/?gCatalogLocale=USA&ECredit=081200N is $5.59, 11 oz. is $13.99, and the gallon jug for those die hard bakers is $119.99. If you're looking for the best flavorings for your goodies I highly recommend this product to bring out the best taste possible. Watkins all the way!

Strawberry Cheesecake Torte from Taste of Home -Recipe #1

Strawberry Cheesecake Torte

I whipped this pretty lady up one evening after work. It felt like it'd take a lot more effort than it actually did. It was a very simple and light dessert. I'm not a huge fan of cream cheese so my boyfriend brought a tasty surprise to work! Critics say it was not too sweet or rich, but light and creamy, the fruit packed the right punch to top it off. The filling between the angel food cake layers was a mixture of cream cheese, vanilla pudding, and whip cream (all low fat). The angel food cake mix was prepared on a 15x10 1in deep sheet. The parchment paper used on the bottom of the sheet was a life saver! This is the perfect spring dessert.

To round it up I.....

1. Prepared the cake
2. Let it cool
3. Glazed with a gelatin mixture
4. Chilled it in the fridge
5. Made the filling
6. Cut the cake into 3
7. Spread the filling into the layers
8. Topped with fresh strawberries and kiwi

http://videos.tasteofhome.com/video/Strawberry-Cheesecake-Torte