AKA Cupcakes

My co-worker Marie ordered these pink & green cupcakes for her daughter who is in AKA sorority at Vanderbilt.

Pink Poodle in Paris

Betcha never seen this before, huh? Me either. This was requested by Miss Isabel, who turns 6 this week. I work with her mom and I've done her cake for 3 years now. It was oh-so-pink (the pictures don't really do it justice), inside and out! And she loved it - that's the important thing! :)

Cake Pops for Monika

Made 3 dozen of these strawberry cake pops today for my friend Monika's birthday.

Just in case you wanted to know what the inside of a cake pop looks like! :)

My last August job later next week is a "Pink Poodle in Paris" cake for a repeat customer who is turning 6! Stay tuned for pictures...I don't even know what design I'm going to end up with!

My littlest taste tester

This is little Miss Carrigan, Zac's little sister (you know, the Star Wars cupcakes kid!). She walked right into our kitchen and looked at her mommy and said, "Cookie?" She knows our house well! I didn't have any cookies, but I did have some extra mini cupcakes, which she gladly accepted. How cute is she?!

My favorite Cape May treat

We go to Cape May, NJ every summer for a week with the Fleming family & just made the annual trek the last week of July. My hands-down favorite treat is Kohr Bros. frozen custard with LOTS of rainbow jimmies. It's best when they just dip the cup into the giant container of jimmies and scoop up a bunch of extras. The fave flavor? Orange/Vanilla Swirl. Heaven.

Star Wars Cupcakes

My local "nephew" Zac turned 9 yesterday. Of course, he requested Star Wars cupcakes again. :) He loooooves Star Wars. Usually we've had a hard time finding products, there just aren't a lot of licensed Star Wars cake decorating products out there. Enter Williams-Sonoma this year, who apparently have a new deal with Lucas and have all kinds of Star Wars stuff...including these cupcake stencils! First time using stencils in general, I think they turned out pretty well.

Banana Pudding

I did not make this lovely display of homemade banana pudding. It comes from our favorite little "meat & three" here in Nashville, Vittles - and I just had to share a picture. Delicious.

Brownies & cupcakes for a friend's play

Some college friends have started a theater production group and they perform the plays at our alma mater, Lipscomb University. They sell treats at intermission and asked for baked goods donations. I made these mini orange cupcakes and a bunch of brownies for last weekend's performance!

First birthday cupcakes

My co-worker Laurel ordered these cupcakes for her niece who was turning one!

Bachelorette Party

My co-worker Tammy was hosting a bachelorette party and ordered some mini red velvet cupcakes and cake balls!

Cake balls on a stick - trial run

I had an inquiry to make cake balls (which I've done before), but on a stick for a birthday next month. I'm glad I did the trial run - I learned a lot in trying to get them to work!

Some without sticks.

I had to include this one because it was perfectly round. I waited just a few seconds too long before trying to get sprinkles on it, they wouldn't stick!

And the inside - orange cake.

Chris's Coconut Cake

Chris requested coconut cake for his birthday today, so I went in search of a new recipe. I found one by Ina Garten and followed a few tips from the reviewers and voila...a beautiful, made from scratch cake! I toasted a bit of coconut (first time I've done that - nearly burned it!) and mixed it with some regular coconut and spread it all over the top and sides - on top of the cream cheese frosting. Amazing stuff - it turned out really good.

Banana Cinnamon Muffins

I made these muffins this morning for Chris's birthday. Banana Cinnamon. Oh my. They are delicious! I got the recipe from a blog I stumbled across: www.apastryaffair.com

It's officially summer!

It's been summer here in Nashville for weeks already, but now it's official! I know y'all have birthdays, wedding showers, VBS programs, daycare parties, family reunions. and I'm sure that you need cupcakes, cookies, cakes, etc. I am available all summer long (except for July 23-31...on vacation!), so please let me know how I can help you!

And - 4th of July parties! :)

Auction win

Here's a shocker - I bid on an auction basket at a recent event that included a cake mix, sprinkles, cookbook and wooden spoons. My main draw was the fact that it was one of The Cake Mix Doctor's new all-natural cake mixes. (I have all of her books!) I hadn't bought one of these mixes yet, as they are a bit pricey - like 7 times more expensive than a regular Duncan Hines/Pillsbury mix. But the other bonus in this basket? A $50 coupon for any Viking Culinary School class. We've got a school in Franklin and I've always wanted to take a class out there...now I just have to decide which one! Now if I could just talk my husband into letting me take the 4 week Viking University: Baking Classics course! :)

New tools & veggie garden!

One of my 1-cup measuring cups mysteriously disappeared and I really missed it. So I went in search of a nice set of stainless steel cups. Thanks to Sur la Table, I ordered these FABULOUS measuring cups a few weeks ago. They were seriously expensive, are seriously heavy and seriously sturdy - Chris said I could use the 2-cup as a weapon! I'm just thrilled to have a 2-cup measuring cup - so handy! Best baking investment I've made in a while!

(And guess what? I found my missing 1-cup in the wheat flour bag from the last time I used it, about 3 days after these came in the mail. Figures!)

Haven't been baking much the last couple of weeks, but we have been growing a few veggies. These are Chris's tomatoes and peppers. We actually have 8 tomatoes on the vine that are starting to turn - we didn't even get 8 tomatoes out of last year's plants!

And these are my babies...cucumbers! I planted 8 plants because some never grow. Right. Not this year - they ALL took and we are about to be inundated by cucumbers - so excited!

X's and O's

I made 120 of these babies last week for a co-worker who was having a wedding shower/engagement party for her nephew. My biggest job yet! They turned out great & she said there were only a few left at the end of the night!

And then I just had to play around with the rest of the icing & the leftover cookies. :)

Graduations & Baseball Season

This is 3-layer strawberry cake made for the son of a co-worker, who graduated from high school on Saturday!

I made these cupcakes at the last minute for a friend who texted in her order - my first text order! These are for her son's baseball team as they end their season. The white circles are fondant and I just piped on some numbers. Turned out well!

The quest for the perfect scone recipe...

...is still going. This was the best-tasting recipe so far, but they were more like flat blueberry muffins. I need a recipe that's more dense without being a brick. Still searching...

Rosemary Focaccia Bread

I made this focaccia bread for the first time today. It was hands-down the best first try of any bread item I've ever made. So yummy!

Mounds Cupcakes

I made these "Mounds"-type cupcakes for my mom - as she was here with me on Mother's Day - and she loves Mounds candy bars! Dark chocolate cupcakes, filled with coconut buttercream, topped with regular buttercream and covered with coconut flakes! Delicious!