Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Chocolate Covered Strawberries
Ingredients:

•  Strawberries
• 1 package of semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup of white chocolate chips or half package of Almond Bark

Directions:
Rinse strawberries with water and completely pat dry with a paper towel.

Melt the semi-sweet chocolate chips in the microwave stirring every 30seconds until melted. (Don't leave the chocolate heating in the microwave for too long or it will burn)
Dip the strawberries a little more than halfway with the melted chocolate and place on cookie sheet to harden.

Melt the white chocolate or Almond Bark in the microwave stirring every 30seconds until melted.
Put the melted white chocolate in either a piping bag or Ziplock bag. Cut a small tip off of the bag's corner so that your desired size drizzle of chocolate comes out.

Drizzle the white chocolate over the strawberries and place in the fridge to harden.
Enjoy! 

* Tip: Placing a sheet of wax paper on the cookie sheet & then placing the strawberries dipped in chocolate on top will make the strawberries easier to peel off once they've hardened.

Throwback Thursday...Cake Style!

I made this Easter egg cake for my family this past Easter. I was in a rush to make it so it's not as smooth as I wanted it to be, but it was good enough to get the job done. Since I was in a rush I didn't get to use my homemade buttercream or cake mix. I just used Betty Crocker vanilla frosting and vanilla cake mix. Betty Crocker is my go to cake mix & frosting when I don't have time to make my own.

Minecraft Creeper Treats

My little brother is into Minecraft and I've been wanting to bake him something that is Minecraft related. So I made these cool Crispy Rice Creeper treats (Creeper is a character from the game). These are made the same way you make traditional Rice Krispies Treats, but with green food coloring and candy melts for decoration. I made some of them bigger squares and some are smaller. I surprised my brother with the treats when he got home from school today and I'm so glad he liked them! 

Minecraft Creeper Treats
Ingredients:

• 3 tbs of butter 
• 1 package (10oz) of regular marshmallows 
• 6 cups of crispy rice cereal (such as Rice Krispies) 
• Desired amount of green liquid food coloring
• Half a package of black Wilton Chocolate Candy Melts, melted

Directions: 

In a large sauce pan melt the butter and then add marshmallows. Add the green food coloring. I used about 8 drops, but you could use more if you want it greener.

Turn off the heat from the stove. Add in the cereal and mix well so that all the cereal is coated in the melted green marshmallow.



Completely spray a 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan with baking spray (so that the treats don't stick to the pan). Press the mixture into the pan. Put in fridge for about 30 minuets.



Print & cut out a face of the Creeper and use that as a guide on how big to cut the squares. I used a metal spatula to cut out the squares.


Put the melted candy melts into a pipping bag or squeeze bottle. Place wax paper over the print out and put chocolate where the
eyes and mouth are.


Let the chocolate faces harden for 10 minuets. Peel off & place them on top of the squares. Done. Enjoy!

Superman Cake!

I made this Superman cake yesterday using marshmallow fondant, vanilla cake, & vanilla buttercream icing. Symbol, cape, and buildings. I'm really impressed with how it turned out! I definitely can't stop staring at it. 

Easy Sugar Cookie Recipe Kids Can Make

Today the kids had a day off from school for the Memorial Day weekend so I decided instead of me doing all the baking I would enlist the help of my nephew (pictured below). Kids love to help make sugar cookies, because they can decorate the cookies any way they want and mix their own icing colors. They can also cut out shapes with cookie cutters after the sugar cookies are done cooling and get creative with it. It's a really fun & easy activity to do with the kids.

Easy Soft Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour 

1 tsp of baking soda 

1/2 tsp of baking powder

1 cup of butter, softened 

1 1/2 cups of sugar

1 egg

1 tsp of vanilla extract 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
In a large bowl mix the flour, baking soda, and baking powder together and set aside. 

In another large bowl mix the butter and sugar until it becomes creamy and smooth. Next, mix in the egg and vanilla. Once that is mixed add in the dry ingredients and combine it all together. (This takes some elbow grease. My nephew liked the challenge!)  

Using a cookie scoop or spoon make the dough into balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Give the cookies some space when placing them on the cookie sheets, because they will expand in the oven while baking.

Bake for only 10 minuets. Let the cookies cool completely before adding icing or decorations so that the heat from the cookies doesn't melt the icing. 

We used store bought icing because it was more convenient, but you could make your own at home (see icing recipe below).

Makes about 36 cookies 

Icing Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup of powdered sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons of milk

1 teaspoon of vanilla

Directions: 

Combine all ingredients and stir. 

Color the icing with food coloring and decorate however you'd like. 

Super easy! Enjoy!

Quick Tip: Prevent Cheesecakes From Cracking

When baking a cheesecake the most frustrating thing to see is your cheesecake cracking in the middle while baking or cooling. With these quick tips you can prevent cracks from happening.

Prevent Cheesecakes From Cracking
1. No Lumps
Make sure that when you're mixing the batter there are no cream cheese lumps. Lumps cause air bubbles to appear in the batter. Air bubbles cause cracking while baking. It's important that the cream cheese is completely softened before making the batter to prevent lumps.

2. Don't Over Mix
Over mixing the cheesecake batter will cause air to get inside and create air bubbles. The air bubbles will try to release from the cake while baking and this creates cracks in the cake.

3. Water Bath (pictured above)

Placing the cheesecake pan in a larger baking pan filled halfway with water. This keeps moisture in the oven. Bake for the normal amount of time and when done take pan out of the water bath to cool and discard water. 

If you're using a springform pan to bake the cheesecake wrap aluminum foil around the bottom of the pan to prevent the batter from leaking into the water bath. 

4. Don't Over Bake
Over baking will cause cracks to appear. When cheesecakes are done baking they don't look done, but trust me they are! A good way to check if it's done baking is to hit the side of the pan with a wooden spoon and if the middle wobbles then it still needs more time, but if it doesn't wobble then it's done baking.

How to make a Chocolate Cheesecake

Chocolate Cheesecake

Ingredients:

• 25 chocolate sandwich cookies (such as Oreos) 
• 4 (8oz) cream cheese packages, softened 
• 1 cup of sugar 
• 8oz of semi-sweet chocolate, melted 
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 tbs flour
• 1/4 cup of butter, melted

Makes two round 9in. chocolate cheesecakes. Serves 16. 

Directions: 

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees F. 

Crush the Oreos in a food processor or put them in a Ziplock bag and smash into crumbs with a rolling pin. Mix the melted butter with the crushed Oreo. Line a 9 inch circle cake pan with foil. Press the Oreo crumbs onto the bottom of the pan. Bake for 10min. 

(Using the paddle attachment) Beat the cream cheese, sugar, flour and vanilla with a mixer until well blended. Add melted chocolate and mix. Add one egg at a time, mixing on low until blended. Pour over crust.

Bake for 45min. or until center is almost firm. Let cool & refrigerate for 4 hours. Use the foil to lift the cake from pan. Garnish & serve once cheesecake is done setting in the fridge.

I drizzled melted chocolate on top. Enjoy!

Quick Tip: Homemade Piping Bag

I always have a problem with running out of piping bags when I really need them. I found this cool way for you to make your own pipping bags at home & for a lot cheaper than store bought bags. Let get started! 

Homemade Piping Bags

 

You'll need: 

• A Ziplock bag
• Packaging Tape
• Scissors 
• Decorating Tip (I use Wilton)

Directions:

Cover a corner of the Ziplock bag with the clear packaging tape.

Next, cut the tip of the corner using a pair of scissors. Don't cut it too big or the tip will fall out. You might want to size it first to create the right sized hole for you're decorating tip. The decorating tip should be halfway in the bag & half way out. 

Now that we have our hole for the decorating tip we can place the tip in side the bag and put in the icing. 

There you go! A homemade piping bag. 

How To Make An Oreo Ice Cream Cake

Oreo Ice Cream Cake
Ingredients: 

• 1 package- Oreo cookies
• Vanilla Icing (for decorating) 
• Dessert topping (such as Cool Whip) 
• Vanilla Cake mix 
• Half a gallon-Vanilla Ice Cream

Tools: Saran Wrap, circle cake pan, Ziplock bag, rolling pin or something to smash with, & Pam baking spray.

Directions:  
Make the cake mix as directed on the box. Spray the entire inside of the cake pan with Pam and put half of the cake mix (or however much half way is) inside of the pan & bake it until done. Flip the cake upside down when cooled onto a cake board or plate.

While the cake is baking leave out the vanilla ice cream to soften. Put 16 Oreos in a Ziplock bag & crush with a rolling pin until it becomes crumbs. When the ice cream is soft mix the ice cream and crumbs in a bowl.

Use the same cake pan (cleaned out of course) place a sheet of Saran Wrap down inside and pour the ice cream in. 

Freeze for about 40min to an hour. Take ice cream out of pan using sides of saran wrap. Place on top of cake and put a thin coat of Cool Whip & place back in freezer for an hour. 

Take out and completely frost cake with Cool Whip. Place back in fridge until firm (about another hour or two) and then decorate with icing or extra Oreos. 

Serves about ten generous slices. Enjoy! 

Baby Hello Kitty Cake!

The small two tier baby Hello Kitty cake I made. Marshmallow fondant, vanilla cake, and a crumb coat of Betty Crocker vanilla icing. It's so tiny that it only fed three people. I think this cake would be really cute for a three person tea party! I gave it to my brother to give to my niece and he said she loved it.

Two In One!

For my boyfriend's parents birthday I made a lawn mowing/ makeup bag cupcake cake! Buttercream frosting, chocolate & vanilla cake, with models made out of fondant and Wilton's Shape-N-Amaze (love that stuff)!

Tea Cup Cupcakes

I've been wanting to make tea cup cupcakes for a long time and now that I have fondant to play with I couldn't wait to make it! I'm so happy with how they turned out. Made with marshmallow fondant, chocolate & vanilla cupcakes, and melted milk chocolate as the coffee.

Throwback Thursday..Cake Style!

My first fondant cake back in either late 2009 or early 2010. Homemade chocolate cake & homemade marshmallow fondant. I remember this baby gave me so much trouble. It took me hours! But, hey it was my first fondant cake...so looking at it now I'm kind of impressed. I love this cake! 

Teacher Appreciation!

When I was in school me and my siblings would buy gifts for our teachers. We always celebrated EVERY holiday (no matter how small) at my house and that includes Teacher Appreciation Day. Now, I'm older and don't have any teachers and I'm not sure if grumpy middle aged college professors count on this day. However, my big sister is a Pre-K teacher so...It's party time! For her teacher appreciation week I made a cake. Chocolate Fudge cake with store bought vanilla frosting (I was on a time crunch).

"Feliz Dia De Las Madres!" I think I said that right?

For this past Mother's Day I made a bunch of cakes! I was a baking machine! I made my Grandmother a large three layer 14" vanilla cake with buttercream frosting! Then I made my mom two cupcake vase bouquets and my boyfriend's mom a cupcake bouquet basket. I was very happy with how they came out considering it was the first time I made anything this creative. Thirty-four hours of non-stop YouTube cupcake tutorial videos payed off ! 

Mom's Bouquets: 

Boyfriend's Mom's Bouquet: 

Mom's Cake:

Grandma's Cake: 

(the only time those roses decided to cooperate with me..I tried putting some on my mom's cake, but it didn't work out)