Wednesday, June 30, 2010

My Final Class Project:
So today was our final cake decorating (basics) class.  I have to say, it was $22 well spent! There wasn't anything crazy that the class taught me, but it did give me more confidence to try new things with my decorations.  Here is my final project:


This cake is Oreo Overdose. Basically its my very popular Oreo madness but to the infinite power!  Its Oreo frosting, Oreo cake, and Oreo center.  I will be sure to post a picture of its insides.

Bacon WHAT?!
.. back by popular demand

The class instructor saw my previous post and asked me to make these for her.  We already know what these are... chocolate bacon cake, chocolate frosting, hand dipped bacon toppers.





Well, that's all for tonight...enjoy!!

Love,
Mona

Sunday, June 27, 2010

It's Not A Party Without Cupcakes

Hello Hello!  The past few weeks have been super busy (which is AWESOME!) from work (ahh the life of a financial analyst at quarter points), orders, cake decorating classes, and last (but most importantly) kitchen makeover planning! 
For those who don't know... I currently have a 1970's kitchen.  I'm not joking.. it's old, and it's tiny!! I can only bake 24 cupcakes at a time, which makes big batches pretty difficult to do. 

So we are looking at ovens, calling contractors and getting estimates.  We are also looking for a second fridge because my cupcakes have been taking over the entire fridge! All this new kitchen excitement aside, I have cupcakes to share!

This past week I was lucky enough to bake cupcakes for two very special events:
 An engagement party & a high school graduation party. 

Engagement Party
( Order:  5 dozen cupcakes.  30 Ultimate Carrot Cake, 30 Oreo Madness)


The bride & groom-to-be each picked a flavor they liked.  The blushing bride chose Oreo Madness, while the groom chose ultimate carrot cake.  For the decorations I incorporated their wedding colors and the first initial of both the bride and groom.  The pink frosting with the "A" topper is Oreo madness cupcakes, while the green frosting and the "M" toppers are Ultimate Carrot Cake. 
You maybe asking what make the cakes "ultimate"?  These are traditional carrot cake + pineapple + coconut + pecans + raisins.  YUM!


High School Graduation

( Order: 4 dozen cupcakes. 24 Chocolate Oreo, 24 Golden Oreo)




This was a last minute request, I got the call Thursday, and the cupcakes were baked and decorated by Friday.  I recommended my #1 flavor.. Oreo but with a twist.  Normally I do vanilla cake and original Oreos, this time I did vanilla cake with Golden Oreos and chocolate cake with original Oreos.  They were a big hit!


I am so lucky to have been asked to be apart of these special events.  Thank you!!

Well, that's all I have to share for tonight.  I hope you enjoy!

Love,
Mona

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Cupcakes & Cakes

Shhhhh...
I have a little secret:  I'm taking cake decorating classes! And though my loyalty will always remain with cupcakes, I have to practice cakes for my class.  This week I had a request for half a dozen  birthday peanut butter cupcakes, so I used the rest of the batter for a practice birthday cake!



 
I did orange & yellow theme to match the colors of Reese's Pieces.  Both the cake & the cupcakes are filled with peanut butter mousse. 


Also, this week for class we practiced picture cake decorations... we could pick any picture, and obviously I picked my favorite little image:


This cake is a classic yellow cake with a raspberry white chocolate chip filling.  Everyone in the class picked one big, easy, image: a cupcake, a caterpillar, a hamburger... etc.   I (in classic Mona fashion) decided to do take on a good challenge.

Needless to say, I was the last one left in class, even the instructor left!  But all in all... it was a great class, and a fantastic week. 

Well lovies... I'm off to bed (aside from baking & eating, sleeping is my favorite.)  I hope you enjoy!

Love,
Mona

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

My First Customer!!!!

I can't even begin to explain how amazing this feels.  My first customer... Melissa... gave me the freedom to pick my flavors, so I decided to make one brand new flavor (S'mores) & one relatively new flavor (Snickerdoodle). Thank you to Melissa for letting me make these for you!

Lets jump right in to my newest adventure!

My newest flavor: S'mores
Normally, I can resist "sampling" my creations (twice)... but I could not resist these! Wow... that's all I can say.  All you are missing is the camp fire.  Just beware, making marshmallow frosting is just as messy as trying to roast marshmallows on a stick over a fire.  The mess was big, but this flavor is bigger!  I searched and searched for a good S'mores cupcake recipe, but most of them start with a chocolate cake base.  I did not want that, I wanted a graham cracker base... so I just made it up. 

I tried to get artistic with this next picture, Rien's amazing photography has inspired me:

These creations are:

  • Graham cracker cake, with Hershey bits inside

  • Marshmallow Frosting

  • Graham cracker & Hershey Bar toppers.

My (relatively) New Flavor:  Snickerdoodle
I call these relatively new because the first time I made them for a birthday party, they were great.  Then I changed the recipe just a bit... and they bombed! (the whole batch went into the trash) So this was my attempt to redeem myself, and I did it!
Here are two more artistic pictures:

These are:

  • Vanilla cake with Cinnamon-Sugar swirled in

  • Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
Well kiddies, I am off.  Hope you enjoyed!!

Love,
Mona