Bring Me the Head of Bucky Badger

My older daughter is graduating from the University of Wisconsin Madison later this month. Bucky is their beloved mascot so, I thought it would be perfect in cake:-)

Playing along with Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom and Wordful Wednesday on parenting By dummies:-)

Birthday Bowling Cake

This weekend, I tackled a birthday cake for my youngest. Her party was at a bowling alley so of course, I had to attempt a bowling ball and pin cakes.


These were my first carved cakes so, they are very rough. If I was doing these for a paying customer, I would have redone them. But, the kids didn't mind the horrible work:-)

It is definitely a happy Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom !

Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

There is nothing wrong with that title:-)

It is definitely a happy Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom !

Birthday Cake

Happy Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom and Wordful Wednesday on SevEn cLoWn CirCus! Heck, I am even linking this up to Amy's Round Robin on Keeping Up with the Schultz Family on Friday.

We celebrated my oldest's 20th birthday last week and this is the cake I made:


This is a yellow cake with chocolate ganache filling and iced with chocolate buttercream. The cake is completed with marshmallow fondant and molding chocolate ribbon. It was delicious:-)

Tackling an Anti-Birthday Cake

It's time for Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom . This weekend, I held a dinner party for a bunch of my friends who also turned 40 this year. To that regard, I thought it would be funny to make an Anti-Birthday cake:-) This is what I came up with:

I thought it was really appropriate for the ocassion:-)

Tackling Yet Another Cake

It's time for Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom . Well, it doesn't look the greatest but it was soooooo good!!

Chocolate cake with Martha's Peanut butter frosting. Yummo!!

Tackling a Birthday Cake

It's time for Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom . This week, I tackled a birthday cake for my 6-year-old.

It was her golden birthday so we did it up! We had a party for her entire class (21 kids!!) at Chuck E. Cheese. She wanted a princess cake that wasn't a Barbie Doll cake. So here is my deconstructed princess:

The top is the crown:


And the bottom is her skirt with lace in the front and ruffles in the back:

She absolutely loved it and I think it turned out pretty well. What do you think?

Friday Foto Fun with Valentines Mistake Cake

It's time for Carrie's Friday Foto Fun! Here is that cake I was going to post a couple weeks ago:

Cute right? I think it is perfect for Valentines Day don't you? Yeah, well this little ditty gave me a workout. But the upside is you get to learn from my mistakes. Here are a list of errors you can avoid since I made them for you:

First mistake: I was trying to make the cake while caring for my ailing child.

Second mistake: I didn't level the cake off.

Third mistake: I didn't put it on a cake board.

Fourth mistake: I tried to fill a cake without making a damn around the edge.

By the way, this is a chocolate cake (out of a box) filled with raspberry jam (from a jar) iced with chocolate frosting (from a can) and garnished with melted white chocolate. So, if you heed the warnings above, you can throw this together on the fly too:-)

Friday Foto Fun with Girl Scout Cookies

It's time for Carrie's Friday Foto Fun!

Some of my readers may remember this cake from last year:

I am bringing it back to remind all of you that we are in the middle of Girl Scout Cookie season!!! If you haven't already, you will soon hear the call of the cookie from your neighborhood Girl Scout and it is important to answer the call.

As a Daisy Leader, I am here to tell you that by buying a box of cookies (of several boxes) from that little girl over the phone or at the door, you can help to change a girl's life! I am just starting off with these girls and some of them have little tiny voices. By participating in the Girl Scouts, girls learn important life skills. They learn to think for themselves, be leaders, give back to the community but the most important thing: They learn to stand in the center of who they are and speak up and say what they have to say. All from a cookie!

Now, I know that it is new year resolution season, but these cookies freeze very easily. So, you can tuck them away and bring them out for snacks at school, in the middle of summer by the pool or for any ocassion for celebrating. And, if that weren't enough, the Girl Scout website has more recipe ideas for you:-)

So, no excuses!! Answer the call of the cookie. It will help a girl in your life to be her best and you will feel great doing it!

Bon Voyage

Check out more stuff at Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom or Wordful Wednesday on SevEn cLoWn CirCus:-) And, I have added Mostly Wordless Wednesday over at Ordinary and Awesome to my list too!! Go check them all out:-)

Since my oldest was headed for Spain, I honored the occasion with the Spanish flag in cake:


She couldn't have gone to Japan...where the flag is white with a big red dot...No...she had to pick a country with details like this:

I think I pulled it off ok...don't you think?

Look What My Friend Brought Me

Check out more stuff at Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom or Wordful Wednesday on SevEn cLoWn CirCus:-) And, I have added Mostly Wordless Wednesday over at Ordinary and Awesome to my list too!! Go check them all out:-)

Cake Porn:-)

Friday's Foto Fun with Eclair Cheesecake

It's time for Carrie's Friday Foto Fun:-) And I am up to my old tricks again.

This little beauty that I made for a dinner party last week may not be pretty but it was really good!! It was inspired by a dessert that I always order at a local restaurant called Maxims. It is a brilliant creation of a layer of cheesecake, topped with a layer of chocolate cake, filled and frosted with chocolate buttercream, glazed with chocolate ganache and garnished with a mini eclair. What's not to like right? Would you like the recipe? Ok:-)



Eclair Cheesecake

Ingredients:
For Cheesecake Layer:
1-1/4 cups vanilla wafers, crushed
1/4 cup butter, melted
3-8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tbls vanilla
1-1/2 cups sour cream

For Chocolate Cake Layer:
1 Devil's Food Cake box mix and all ingredients it requires

For the Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup cocoa or three 1 oz. unsweetened chocolate squares, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1 lb.)
3-4 tablespoons milk

For Ganache:
8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tbls unsalted butter

For Whipping Cream for Assembly of the Cake:
1/4 cup whipping cream
2 tbls powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
1. In a small mixing bowl, combine wafer crumbs and butter and stir well. Press crumb mixture into bottom and 1 inch up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Chill.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, melted chocolate and vanilla until smooth. Fold in sour cream. Pour mixture into crumb crust.

3. Wrap bottom and sides of the springform pan in foil and put it in a roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with boiling water until it is half-way up the springform pan. Bake the cheesecake in the water bath for 1 hour and 10 minutes at 325. Turn off the oven and let cheesecake stand in the oven for 30 minutes with the oven door ajar. Remove and cool on wire rack. Cover and chill for at least 8 hours.

4. Bake Cake per the directions on the box.

5. In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add cocoa and vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use.

6. For the ganache, place chocolate in a medium heat-safe mixing bowl. Heat cream and butter over medium heat then, bring to boil. Immediately pour cream over chocolate and mix until the chocolate is melted. Let stand for 5 minutes.

7. To assemble, frost cheesecake with the chocolate buttercream icing. Top with the chocolate cake. Frost the cake with the buttercream. Chill for 30 minutes.

8. For the glaze, place the fully chilled cake on a wire rack over a baking sheet. To cover cake, pour the ganache into the center of the cake. Working quickly, spread with a spatula over the sides of the cake to create an even coating of ganache.

9. To garnish, make the whipping cream. Chill a small bowl and your beaters. Put the cream, powdered sugar and vanilla in the bowl and whip until stiff. Fill a pastry bag with a star tip and pipe 14 stars on top of the ganache frosted cake. Chill for 5 minutes to set. Serve and enjoy:-)

Serves 14

St. Patrick's Day Cake

It's time for another Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Mom or Wordful Wednesday on SevEn cLoWn CirCus:-)


This is just a little something I whipped up for my family for St. Patrick's Day. I had an extra chocolate cake layer that I frosted in chocolate buttercream frosting, topped with mint chocolate chips and garnished with Thin Mint Cookies and white chocolate. Look's pretty good for doing it on the fly doesn't it?

Susie's Oh My Gosh Ganache Chocolate Cheesecake

Here my next entry in my Christmas Menu : Susie's Oh My Gosh Ganache Chocolate Cheesecake.

I have been making this cheesecake for Christmas for over 10 years and it is always a hit. That's the "Oh My Gosh" part.


The ganache part is the glaze and the truffles on top.



And the chocolate cheesecake is the cake inside:-)

Ingredients:

For Cake:

1-1/4 cups chocolate wafers, crushed

1/4 cup butter, melted

8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted

3-8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 tbls vanilla

1-1/2 cups sour cream

For Ganache:

8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

2 tbls unsalted butter

For Whipping Cream for Assembly of the Cake:

1/4 cup whipping cream

2 tbls powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. In a small mixing bowl, combine chocolate wafer crumbs and butter and stir well. Press crumb mixture into bottom and 1 inch up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Chill.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, melted chocolate and vanilla until smooth. Fold in sour cream. Pour mixture into crumb crust.

3. Wrap bottom and sides of the springform pan in foil and put it in a roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with boiling water until it is half-way up the springform pan. Bake the cheesecake in the water bath for 1 hour and 10 minutes at 325. Turn off the oven and let cheesecake stand in the oven for 30 minutes with the oven door ajar. Remove and cool on wire rack. Cover and chill for at least 8 hours.

4. For the ganache, place chocolate in a medium heat-safe mixing bowl. Heat cream and butter over medium heat then, bring to boil. Immediately pour cream over chocolate and mix until the chocolate is melted. Let stand for 5 minutes.

5. Place the fully chilled cake on a wire rack over a baking sheet. Using a cake spatula, cover the sides and the top of the cake with about 4 tablespoons of the ganache to create a crumb coat. Chill. To cover cake, pour the remaining ganache into the center of the cake. Working quickly, spread with a spatula over the sides of the cake to create an even coating of ganache.

6. To make the truffles, strain the left over ganache. Then, spread it out in a line layer on a baking sheet that is lined with parchment paper. Chill 30 minutes. Scrap off balls of the layer with a melon baller to form 14 truffles. Chill for 30 minutes to set the balls. Dip each ball in powered sugar.

7. To assemble, make the whipping cream. Chill a small bowl and your beaters. Put the cream, powdered sugar and vanilla in the bowl and whip until stiff. Fill a pastry bag with a star tip and pipe 14 stars on top of the ganache frosted cake. Place one truffle on top of each star. Chill for 5 minutes to set. Serve and enjoy:-)

Serves 14

Cauldron Cake, Witch Cupcakes and Chili

Well everyone...I may have a cake wreck on my hands:-( My nephew's birthday was this weekend and once again, I made a Halloween themed cake and cupcakes. Behold, the Cauldron Cake:

This is a yellow cake with green and orange buttercream frosting to look like the gruel in a witch's cauldron. The pot was $5 at Walgreens and I put the cake inside the pot on a cake decorating stand. So, when you spun the cake with the spoon, it simulated stirring the brew. Although the cake itself isn't the prettiest, I thought the concept was cool.

These are the witches and Man, do they look pissed! I would be too if I were this ugly:-(

And here is what the whole table looked like. So everybody...what do you think? To wreck or not wreck...that is the question.

As for a recipe, my SIL, Lisa served this awesome chili at the party. It is perfect for any chilly outdoor event like Trick or Treating or a football game or even looking ahead to caroling for Christmas. Without further adeau:

Lisa's Awesome Chili Mac

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

1 can kidney beans

1 green pepper

1 onion plus more for garnish

1 can tomato juice

1 packet chili mix

1/2 lb elbow macaroni

1 can diced tomatoes

Shredded Cheddar Cheese, for garnish

sour cream for garnish

Oyster crackers, for garnish

Directions:

1. Brown ground beef in pepper and onions.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients (except macaroni) to slow cooker and cook on high for 45 minutes or low for 2 hours.

3. Meanwhile, cook the macaroni until almost al dente.

4. Add macaroni to the beef mixture in the last 30 minutes of cooking.

5. Serve with garnishes on the side.

Spider Cake

Time for Candid Carrie again:-)

With fall coming (along with Halloween), I decided to post my 3rd cake: The Spider Cake:-) I made this for my nephew's 10th birthday party which just happened to land on Halloween last year.

What we have here is chocolate cake with vanilla pudding filling that was colored red to look like blood. The frosting is white buttercream and the web is black gel. The spiders are vanilla cupcakes with black sugar on the "body" and black licorice legs. The kids thought this was really neat. Enjoy:-)

My Second 3-Tiered Cake

Well, this is it. The cake that I have been working on all year. It is a yellow cake with homemade lemon curd filling and lemon buttercream frosting. It was the first time covering an entire cake in fondant and I think it turned out pretty well. Everyone really enjoyed the flavors. The consensus was that it was a lemon dessert that actually tasted like lemon:-)

So...what do you guys think? Do I have a future in the cake industry?

My First Wedding Cake

So, last week was so fun that I decided to play again with Candid Carrie on her Friday Foto Finish Fiesta.

I though, since I made my second tiered cake this weekend, I would post my first this time. Here it is:



I made this cake for my husband's sister's wedding. It is chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling and frosted in chocolate buttercream. I surrounded the tiers in dark and white chocolate truffles.

Make the Cake...Tackle it Tuesday

It's Tuesday and time to talk with 5minutesformom about what we were able to tackle this weekend.

Well, I spent my entire weekend making the cake for my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary. I don't want to post pictures until after the party because I don't know anyone to see until then. But, I can tell you what I went through:-)

On Saturdy, I made the filling: Martha's homemade lemon curd . Talk to me if you have ever made this or any other lemon curd before because it took FOREVER!! I stirred, and I stirred and I stirred. After an hour, it finally started to thicken up and come up to temperature. Now, I made a double batch which may had something to do with it. I love my in-laws very much or I would have given up long before I did. Don't get me wrong...it tastes fantastic but Man...does my arm hurt!!

On Sunday, I made and frosted the cakes...problem free. Then, I went to decorate and this proved challenging...as I knew it would. This is the first time that I tried to cover a full cake in fondant and I was going to do the design on the box of the Wilton Fondant . My Barbie Doll Cakes all had fondant but, this is the first time that I had something that needed to be smooth. It was smooth...except for the bottom. Oh well, I can cover that with decorations, right?

Then, I went to make drapes...hated it! It didn't work at all. So, I had to rethink the whole design. What I decided to do what "sponge" thinned buttercream icing on top. This decision solved several problems. It covered my mistakes, it added flavor to the fondant and if the color runs in the heat, it won't matter. To finish, I am going to wrap all the tiers in gold ribbon and top it with a gold gum paste "50". I think it is going to look really cool. I am telling them that they are getting a couture cake:-) Hee, hee, hee.

Stay tuned this weekend for pictures:-)

Friday's Foto Finish Fiesta

I am participating in Candid Carrie's Friday's Foto Finish Fiesta this week. And here is my entry:


This is the cake that started it all!! It was for my daughter's 17th Golden Birthday. She wanted chocolate and I wanted gold to go with the theme and this is what I came up with. It is a chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling and chocolate ganche frosting surrounded by yellow cupcakes decorated to look like the petals of a sunflower:-) It was such a hit that I immediately got requests to do more cakes and I haven't looked back...well, except for today:-)