Monday, January 31, 2011

Bridal Shower Cookie

One of my best friends, Shelley, is getting married in March and this past Saturday was her bridal shower. I made her a cookie that matched her wedding invitation and attached it to her present as the tag! (The purple ribbon came out fine, but the coloring on the cookie looks blue, it is actually purple).


Vegas Cookies!

I made 4 dozen cookies, 4 of each card suit for a birthday party for Husband's grandpa. He just turned 80 and his mom planned a surprise birthday party and requested that I make him some cookies to match her Vegas theme!


Sunday, January 23, 2011

Rolos, Pecans, Pretzels, oh my!

My friend was having a girls movie night and I just cannot show up empty handed, so I needed something quick and easy! I remembered what I saw on a blog I read a few months ago and opted to make that!!

Pecan Pretzel Bites
Pretzals
Rolos
Pecan Halves
Yup, that's it! I'm telling you, this is very quick, very easy and very delicious!

1. Pre-heat oven to 250*
2. line all the pretzels on a cookie sheet (with parchment paper, but i was out) and top each one with an unwrapped rolo candy
3. Bake in oven for 5 minutes and no longer! They will not melt down as expected, but will hold their same shape
4. Top each rolo with a pecan half
5. Put the entire tray in your freezer to let the chocolate harden, for about 10 minutes.

Enjoy!

I now have a bag of pecan halves in my freezer, unopened pretzels and a bag of rolos just waiting until I need a quick snack again! OR, if you are just in the mood for something sweet, but do not want to make an entire cake, 28 cupcakes or or at least 36 cookies, you can make just as many bites of these as you want! =)

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Coconut Cupcakes

I am back to the mixer for a quick batch of cupcakes! I wanted to try something new and found this recipe online.

  • 3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 5 extra-large eggs at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons pure almond extract
  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 14 ounces sweetened, shredded coconut

For the frosting:

  • 1 pound cream cheese at room temperature
  • 3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
  • 1 1/2 pounds confectioners' sugar, sifted
1. Line muffin pan with paper liners. Pre-heat oven to 325*
2. In an electric mixer cream the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy, on high for about 5 minutes
3. With the mixer on a low speed, add the eggs in one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each addition
4. Add the extracts and mix well
5. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt
6. in three parts, alternately add the dry ingredients and the buttermilk to the batter, beginning and ending with the dry.
7. Mix until just combined and then fold in the coconut. (If you have someone that doesn't like coconut (ahem, my husband) then scoop a few spoonfuls in muffin pan before you add it).
8. Fill each muffin cup to the top (or 3/4 full without the coconut) and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the tops are brown and a tooth pick comes out clean.

1. In the same (clean) mixer on a low speed, cream the cream cheese, butter, vanilla and almond extracts. Add the powdered sugar until smooth.
2. Frost the cupcakes and sprinkle with coconut. (I dyed my coconut by mixing it with a few drops of pink dye in a bowl.)
I left 6 for our neighbor dinner and the rest went to work with Michael! =)

Monday, January 3, 2011

50th Birthday Cake

Again, I baked all day long on the 31st for my mom's 50th birthday party later than night. The main thing I was baking was a two tier cake. The top tier was a chocolate cake and the bottom was vanilla. I hand-piped the design on all 4 sides of the cake. The bow and the fifty are made of fondant and then covered in glitter! The cake was a huge hit!

50th Birthday Cookies

I made a ton of cookies for my mom's dessert table, for her birthday. They were all 5's and 0's. The cookies are all silver and then decorated with blue and black. You cannot tell in any of the pictures, but they are all covered in glitter as well, so they have a light shimmer!


Ringing in 2011!!

Friday, December 31st was my mother's 50th birthday so she had a birthday party/New Year's Eve party! I was in charge of desserts and I decided to do an entire dessert buffet. I made cupcakes with whipped chocolate ganache, a two-tier chocolate and vanilla cake, brownies, sugar cookies, chocolate covered strawberries, M&Ms, white chocolate covered pretzels, and my sister made the while oreo balls. I added two pictures of her when she was little and another as a teen, she was not too thrilled about that! lol. It was a total success, almost everything was gone by the end of the night!
My sister and I decorated the house with 50 balloons and I also made her a birthday sign to hang on their fireplace mantle.

Happy Birthday Mom! I hope everyone has a Happy and Prosperous New Year!