A Very Merry Christmas

Christmas was an awesome two days of busy-ness, baking, and family. My family is a wee crazy, and we always have something exciting happen. This year, two new babies made our Christmas very exciting and fun. Both girls, and everyone bought them noisy toys and babies. Next year, we will have another two new babies, and the two we already have! Our family is growing.

Cake pops are on hold until I can restock. My supplies are nearly empty, and I am extremely happy that I can take a short break for a bit. I worked at six bazaars this year and just about killed myself. LOL. I have a plan in place to prevent that next year, so hopefully that will work!

Two more weeks before school starts and I'll be slammed busy again.

Merry Christmas

From My House to Yours
Have a Blessed Day!
Merry Christmas!

Wore out Baker

Thankfully, the holiday bazaar season is over. It's been a hectic three months. I've done nothing but roll pops and bake cakes. I'm completely wore out. It was definitely fun, though. I can't wait for next year. I'm sure I'll make even more pops!

I've been talking things over with my parents, trying to figure out a way to make this more permanent. I've been looking into mobile kitchens for awhile. The one I had my eye on about six months ago has reduced in price. I have to do some heavy duty tracking in order to obtain an SBA loan for the mobile kitchen. This one is perfect for me, except for two tiny pieces of equipment: a deep fryer and a grill. I'm not about to start deep frying cake pops. Blech. LOL It's small, but I really like it.

So, if you are a praying person, add me to your prayer list. I need to know if I should go forward with this. I love baking, I am having a ball with cake pops, and I need to have a permanent solution to kitchen space.

Last bunch of new flavors!

On November 16, I will be unveiling my last 3 flavors. After this, I'll only create new flavors for special occasions  such as Christmas. These 3 flavors bring me up to 60 flavors. I have a hard time keeping them all in stock. So many flavors, not enough room. I now have access to a deep freeze, which is awesome because I can store almost twice as many cake pops in there over the upright freezers I own. I've got to go through and decide which flavors will be available always (such as Oreo!), which flavors will be special order (such as alcohol based Irish Cream), and which flavors will be only available during holidays (such as Pumpkin).
Ah, the exciting times of a cake pop maker.

Bazaar openings

Crafters and home business owners. If you are interested in participating in a bazaar in October, let me know! There are many booth spots available for the Spooktacular Bazaar on October 13. The cost per booth is $30. It's at the fairgrounds and is well advertised. Let me know if you are interested! ASAP, please.

This month's special

For the remainder of September, I am offering 14 Butterfinger pops for the low price of $10. You get an EXTRA two free when you buy a dozen. Hurry, this offer ends in just a few short days! Stay tuned for Halloween specials!

Standstill

Back to the kitchen. I am in the process of moving my personal stuff, me and the dogs out to my parents' house. 8 miles out of town. I will be in a 5th wheel. It's a pretty nice one, quite large. :)

I the meantime. My bakery will stay at my house in town. This way, I can spread out, and have more room to do what needs to be done. And... Most importantly, people can come to me for pickup, isn't driving all over town trying to bake and make deliveries all at the same time. :). I will continue to look for a bakery location, because my current house is not a permanent option. But, I'll continue to use it until I can't anymore.

Wish I had a bunch of money so that I could just buy a building and remodel it to be what I  want. Lol

Busy Times

Most of you follow me on Facebook. My ups, downs, insides and outs. Currently scoping out some empty buildings in town trying to find a good location for a bakery. May have found one, and am very excited about it. So much to do, though. So much.

I have so many cake pops now, it's hard to keep up with orders. But, I'm working on stocking up on all flavors, especially my newest ones.

Keep you posted on the bakery status!

Dora The Explorer And a little more

Fourth of July Birthday cake for a friend

Betty Boop 

Duck Cake for a Ducks Fan

Dora the Explorer. :)

SpongeBob CakePants

SpongeBob has to be one of the easiest cakes I've made. He's square, has few intricate details and goes together quickly.

This cake a confetti cake for his body, and white for his pants - - I forgot to put the sprinkles in (oops!). He has a chocolate ganache filling and buttercream frosting. He is an 8x12 cake that is about 5" thick.

I didn't have enough room on the board to put his hands and feet, and I'm sad about that. But as I was looking at the photograph, I realized that Ding Dongs would work really well for the sleeves and pant legs. :) Next time. :)

Duck cake brings fairness

To be fair to my Oregon Ducks fan friends, I also created an Oregon Ducks cake. It turned out great!

Beaver's Fan

I've used color flow before... It always clumps or dries in the tiny #1 tip. I generally despise using it. I reread the instructions and I am required to sift the powdered sugar. Let me tell you, I hate sifting powdered sugar. Within seconds it gummed up my sifter, static caused it to fly all over the place... overall, a mess.

But it turned out perfect.

I used black as the outline and it's just not as pretty and puffy as the fill-in colors, but I think the design turned out pretty cool.

This is a 9" round cake. Chocolate with Peanut Butter Filling. Cream cheese frosting. All made from scratch. Oregon State Beavers logo.

Dulce De Leche

I am going to attempt the Pinterest version of Dulce De Leche. Put a can of sweetened condensed milk in a crockpot on low for 8 hours. Completely submerged, label removed. After 8 hours, refrigerate until completely cool. At that point, you will have Dulce De Leche. A rich caramel sauce that is ideal for anything.

Just make sure the can stays under water the entire 8 hours. If it is not submerged, the can can explode.

Also, do not open the can while hot or warm, it will explode. If you want your sauce warmed, remove it from the can and microwave for a few seconds.

Do not allow children to do this, or be in the room when you open the can!

New flavors are the bomb

Cake pops are extremely popular. I am benefiting from the craze because I have a ton of flavors. I'm up to 35 or 36 flavors now. They range from plain to funtastic Rocky Road. A lot of my flavors are in my head. Yet, every time I talk to someone new, another flavor pops into my head and I create a new flavor.

I have some seriously popular flavors right now. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Oreo, Almond Roca, and Snickerdoodle. They are yummy and taste a lot like the real thing.

Tomorrow I'm going to try some new flavors out. Some of the ones I haven't had time to make. Can't wait to give them a taste.

Of course, cake baking is also exciting and fun. Cake orders have slowed for the last week or so, which is great because I'm gearing up for graduations and Father's Day. This last weekend, I only had one cake order, so I was able to spend some time on the cake and really focus on it. Loved it.

Princess Cake
Strawberry cake with Bavarian cream filling.
Cream Cheese frosting
Pink crystallized sugar

I also had the opportunity to make another cake pop bouquet. It was great fun and it turned out very pretty. Will find out tomorrow how well it goes over. :) 

Cake Pop bouquet in a basket
Some greens to make it appear flower-like.
Contains 50 cake pops in assorted flavors.
Zebra print ribbon to add some flair.
Pop Bouquets can be customized.

Memorial Day Special

Memorial Day is a day to remember the troops that have served our country. Generally, it is the troops that have died for our country, but I believe the living should also be honored for their service. Without their sacrifice, I would not be free.

In honor of those who have served, or are serving still, I am offering a special for Memorial Day. A special Red, White, and Blue cake with a flag design. The cake is two layers with a filling. It is strawberry (or raspberry) and white cake with a blueberry filling. A small cake is $20, a large is $30. That is $5 off my normal price for a cake such as this. You may choose from the following three designs. If you want to use fresh fruit, add an additional $5 to either size.

Cake with frosting stripes, flag field, and stars.

Cake with raspberry stripes and blueberry star field.

Toppings only on this design. Blueberry star field and strawberry stripes

Memories

A few months ago, a long ago best friend found me on Facebook. At first, I had no idea who she was. After 25 years, I couldn't remember her. Then she posted a picture of her and another best friend. Then, it all clicked.

Nikki, Jenn, and I were best friends when I was little. We lived in a tiny town and we did loads of stuff together. When I was 10, we moved away and I never saw them again. Well, Nikki found me and Jenn is with her, so nothing like a good ol' reunion.

Nikki got married today. She had the cutest wedding theme. 1950s. The groom and the groomsmen were all dressed in pin stripe suits complete with wingtips and fedoras. She wore an adorable white dress with a poofy slip under it. Her bridesmaids wore similar style dresses, but in her colors. I loved it.

She asked me to make her cake, and I was more than excited. Her colors were purple and green. When I get to open a shop, those are going to be my decoration and logo colors. Had them picked out for awhile, but after playing with this cake, I like them more.

Her cake was three different flavors, and it turned out so cute. Really fit in with her theme.

The bottom tier is a 16" square. It is chocolate with raspberry filling. The middle tier is a 12" square. It is confetti with strawberry filling. The top tier is an 8" square. It is lemon with champagne filling. The cake is done in vanilla buttercream. The roses are hand made gumpaste and my mom helped with the design of the flowers. There are green pearls all over the cake, but they don't show in the picture well. The flowers and frosting also show up blue, but they were a purple color that was more in tune with the light purple ribbon. The bride's dress had a ribbon criss-crossed on the back, so I used the lattice work on the bottom tier to tie that in.

Busy Busy Beaver

Well, I have been making cake pops for about 6 days in a row. I did discover that making a bunch of flavors and not being overly rushed is quite relaxing. I am getting closer to my deadline, though. So, the pressure is beginning to mount.

Mom might come over tomorrow to help me a bit, so that will take a lot of pressure off my shoulders. If she doesn't, I'll cope. But she's a little worried about me, so I think she'll be here. Gotta love my mother. She's an angel from Heaven, for sure.

Speaking of moms. Mother's Day is approaching. I'm making cake pop arrangements in an assortment of colored flower shaped pops. I have red, blue, yellow, purple, and pink. Of course, the traditional milk, dark, and white chocolates are available as well. These lovely vases are for one dozen pops in your choice of flavors, with greenery and a bow. The cost for these are $12. Add $1 delivery if I need to deliver to her home or work.

Busy cake weekend... again

Boy has it been busy! This weekend I had a baby shower cake and a 50th anniversary three tiered cake to make on Saturday, and a Mario cake and a big batch of cupcakes for a baby's birthday on Sunday!

I attempted some hand-piped decorations and it turned out quite lovely. The daughter of the anniversary couple almost cried when she saw it.

The bottom tier is red-velvet with cream cheese frosting. The center tier is white champagne with buttercream frosting. The top tier is chocolate raspberry with buttercream frosting. The cake is actually an ivory and gold. It looks quite yellow in the pictures, but it is gold.

It was time consuming but well worth it. I think it turned out pretty.

The top is made with hand made gumpaste roses and leaves, all in ivory.

Sadly, after I put it in the fridge, the top layer on the center tier slid. So, it made the whole cake appear lopsided. But a little roll of cardboard underneath helped keep it all even.






The second cake I made was a baby shower cake for a little boy. The theme was Under the Sea. I hand sculpted some little creatures to put on the cake, (thanks Mom for helping!) and painted each one. It is a butter pecan cake with buttercream frosting and a chocolate cake with Bavarian Creme filling. It was covered in fondant.

Introducing: Flavor of the Month!

I decided to introduce the flavor of the month. A lot of businesses have something on special each month, so I thought I'd do it too. Having a flavor of the month is great because I can make a bunch up at once, rather than making a million smaller batches of different flavors.

April's Flavor of the Month is Raspberry Lemon. I can do cake pops, cupcakes, cake, and cheesecake in this flavor.

May's Flavor of the Month is Oreo. I can do this flavor in cake pops, cupcakes, cake, and cheesecake as well. Oreo Pops are really tasty, and hit the spot when you have a chocolate craving.

Busy Beaver

I've been really busy since I got home! Busier than I expected. I've been making cupcakes, cakes, cake pops, and cheesecakes!

Here are a few photos of the cakes I've made this week.

Tow Mater from Cars. He got a little dark, but he was cool

It says, "Happy Birthday, Woojin. LOL" in Korean

Bunny Birthday Cake
Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

My first giant cupcake.
Baby Shower cake. It's a 6" cake, but it ended up serving 20.

Vacation Time has come to an End!

My vacation was wonderful! I got to spend time relaxing, sleeping, and hanging out with one of my best friends.

Now, I'm back and I'm already in the kitchen baking up a storm... Sadly, I have just 3 hours to finish this little cake.
Off I go!

A Pirate's Life for Me!

The Pirate Ship Cake is my new favorite. This was the largest cake I successfully covered in fondant using one sheet of fondant. Most of the time, with a cake like this, I have to piece it all together, but this one was done in a single sheet. 

It turned out super adorable. I made everything by hand except the mast and sail. The colors were chosen based on the kids' cartoon Jake and the Neverland Pirates. 

The most challenging part was the crow's nest. I was afraid it wouldn't stay up there, so I glued a couple sticks to the mast and it is sitting on top of those sticks. 

The wheel was a challenge because it was top heavy. I had to use a toothpick and a dowel to hold it upright. 

I also got to use my airbrush machine. I colored the entire ship in about 4 minutes. 

The only thing I will do differently next time I make a pirate ship is to put board lines in the fondant before coloring it. It looks pretty cool as is, but I think it would look really cool if I added board lines. :)

Busy, busy, busy

The Strider

Yes, I've been busy. This week I made a new cupcake, the Strider. Named in honor of Jenn Strider who placed an order for a confetti cake with pink frosting and white sprinkles. Now, traditionally, confetti cake is full of a variety of colors: red, blue, green, yellow, etc. However, Jenn said she likes pink. So, I used pink sprinkles in place of multi-colored sprinkles. The results were adorable. A pink marbled cake with pink frosting and white sprinkles. The taste? MMM delicious. Of course, I am partial to my white cake.

The "new" muddin' cake

I also got to reinvent the muddin' cake. I finally found out how to make trees that look like actual trees: out of fondant. I have to admit, although this cake was pretty cool, too, the first one had a better splash!

So, next up is an amazing pirate ship. Now, you know me, I love pirates. Pirates of the Caribbean (all 4) are some of my favorite movies. So, this one is dear to my heart. I have already created several little pieces for the ship, and tomorrow, I will make the helm and let it dry. The ship is due no later than 9 am on Sunday morning, so I will try to finish it tomorrow afternoon and get the ship to the party place before it gets too late. Super excited about this ship. Pictures will be posted after the birthday!

Cupcake Flavors

I can make cupcakes in an array of flavors. Right now, I'm experimenting with made from scratch recipes, so if you have a flavor combination you would like, let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Here are the flavors I have no problem making right now:
Devil's Food (chocolate)
German Chocolate
Dark Chocolate
Yellow
White
Confetti
Red Velvet
Colored cupcakes (white with food coloring)
Irish Cream (Available with real Irish Cream or non-alcoholic)
Carrot
Spice
Cherry
Strider (Pink Confetti with Pink Buttercream and White sprinkles)
Mocha
Caramel Macchiato (Filling is Dulce De Leche)

Frosting:
Buttercream (White, colors, or chocolate)
Cream Cheese

Fillings: I can put a filling in any flavor. Mix and match to suit your tastes.
Apple
Blueberry
Champagne
Cherry
Cream Cheese
Bavarian Cream
Lemon
Raspberry
Strawberry
Dulce De Leche

Strawberry Pound Cake attempt #1

I am about to attempt my first ever pound cake. Not only is it my first ever, it is also my first ever pound cake... from scratch.

I have an order in 3 weeks for a Mater cake in Strawberry. Regular strawberry cake is too moist and crumbly for carving, so I have to find a great tasting recipe for a strawberry pound cake that is firm, but not dry.

Found a Paula Deen recipe. I shall try it... now.

Virgin Cupcakes

Today, I made Irish Cream cupcakes in a non-alcohol form. I used Bailey's Irish Cream coffee creamer. It tastes and looks just like the real stuff, but without the alcohol. Not only did the cupcakes turn out fantastic, they are actually lighter and fluffier than the original. Both are fantastic, but I can eat the virgin kind.

Yum

Irish Cream Cupcake Success

Well, the cake batter looked like chocolate chip cookie dough... It tasted like well, chocolate chip cookie dough with a twist. But when the cupcakes were baked, they were amazing. I think I got this batch just a touch overcooked, but they are still really moist inside and they have this chewy crunch to them that is yummy.

I'm not a drinker. I actually have a tough time drinking anything that contains alcohol. Makes me pretty sick, even in tiny amounts. These cupcakes were pretty tasty and didn't make me sick. Of course, I'm not going to push it and eat anymore. One was plenty, even though they were good... I'll wait for the alcohol free option.

Unfortunately, because of the added expense of Irish Cream, I had to raise my prices slightly. Hopefully, it's not too much, because I would love to make a million of these. :) I enjoy making cakes from scratch and these turned out so beautiful.

Irish Cream Cupcakes

Just so ya know: These were an experimental batch of cupcakes, so I used cupcake liners I had on hand. Yes, those are Christmas, but these were made today.

Saint Patrick's Day Baking Marathon is Gearing Up

With just the simple announcement that I would be making some St. Patrick's Day sweets, orders started rolling in.

I love it. I love being busy baking. It's an exciting time for me. The best part of it all is the fact that so many people are smiling because of my creations. That really makes my day.

So, I'm looking at making cake pops, cakes, cupcakes, and cheesecakes all with the lovely Irish Cream flavor. We shall see how it goes. I will be making a trial run of cupcakes in the next few days to see how that goes. If they turn out well, I'll let you know.

St Patrick's Day ideas

I'm thinking about doing some St. Patrick's Day goods. First, of course is green cake pops. Pretty simple. I found a recipe for Irish Cream Cupcakes that I may try. Those might even make some pretty good cake pops. A friend suggested green "velvet" cupcakes (and cake pops, of course), so I'll have to give those a shot and see what I can do about that idea.

So what do you think?

Baking Marathon

I had so much fun baking the last few days. Mostly, I had fun seeing the smiling faces, the embarrassed men, and the empty cabinets. This marathon consisted of 28 different orders from cake pops to cheesecakes, to cupcakes.

I did realize a few things: First, I need a better system for tracking sales and deliveries. Luckily, a new friend told me about an app for my iPad that will help me track inventory and sales. It's going to take a while to input everything, but I think it will help a lot.

Second, I need a delivery driver. Fortunately, I know someone who is a good driver and is willing to make some money.

Third, I need to have more cakes baked and ready to mix for many orders of cake pops.

I think the best part of this whole experience came in the last home delivery I had. A young lady wanted to surprise her husband with a chocolate covered strawberry cheesecake for Valentine's Day. I knocked on the door and when he opened it, he looked at me, looked at the box, screwed his nose up, and said, "OK, Thank You!" took the box and started to close the door.

He had no idea what was in the box. It was absolutely adorable. One of the experiences that made the whole busy-lack-of-sleep-lack-of-food event worthwhile. Of course, I had a few others, such as embarrassing the security guard at the courthouse, or the mechanic at the car dealership. Those were pretty awesome too.

My favorite creation, besides the cheesecake, was the Miami Dolphins cake pop bouquet. I love how it turned out.

Miami Dolphins colors. The brown pops are footballs.

Valentine's Day Repeat

I am once again making my luscious Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cheesecakes for Valentine's Day. These Cheesecakes are scrumptious. I made the recipe up myself, and I must say, it's a doozy.

The crust is a delectable Oreo Cookie Crust. A lovely plain cheesecake hides a precious strawberry treat. A decadent chocolate ganache tops the super tempting cheesecake. Chocolate covered strawberries decorate the top in an amazing display of sweet temptation.

If you want one, they are available in KFalls only! $30 will buy you one delivered on Valentine's Day!

Contact me through email.

Tangled

I had an order for a Rapunzel cake - from the cartoon Tangled. I didn't want to attempt the tower, afraid it would topple. So, I made a small two tier cake, covered it in little purple and pink flowers, wrapped her hair around the cake, and put lanterns floating down the sides.

The cake is chocolate, no filling. It is covered in vanilla buttercream and green marshmallow fondant. All the decorations are either made of frosting or fondant. It was for a little girl's birthday party, so I wanted it to be edible.

I bought a new airbrush machine and I got to use it on this cake. I sprayed the yellow lanterns gold, and I sprayed her hair gold to give it a little extra something. Then I sprayed the whole cake with shimmer to make it shine. It turned out really pretty. And for the first time, my fondant turned out smooth and pretty.

That's CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow...

Well, I created a kit cake for the first time ever. This cake was very simple... except the cake was too moist and made it difficult to frost the cut edges.

It is a strawberry cake with chocolate buttercream frosting. I used white frosting for the waves, and blue colored piping gel for the water.

The little characters on it are from Pirates of the Caribbean.

Still turned out pretty cute, even for a kit cake. :)