cake decorating take 2

It's happening... I can feel my heart rate starting to rise ever so subtly. haha No I'm just kidding. But seriously I'm pretty excited because this weekend I'll be creating a cake with a Concert stage "winx" theme for a special little girls birthday. I'm excited to get to try my hand at fondant again, hopefully with much better results than last night (it was 2007, humid, and I did NOT know what I was doing). I'll definitely keep you posted.
Here is what I'm using as inspiration

It's a Wilton "Diva's Debut Cake". My cake will look significantly different than this, but generally the concept will be the same. I'll show you the final product as soon as I have it done! (just for starters, mine will be a rectangle, and not have those dolls on it)

I'm compeltely open to suggestion by the way! Feel free to tell me what to do.

Have a great day!

PS I'm starting a week long mini bake a thon with something different everyday before Saturday (my brother is hosting a BBQ/Party thing) and I usually like to have some homemade treats on hand. So far I'm thinking homemade oreo's, mini cupcakes, ice cream... and MAYBE some ice cream sandwiches, although I don't know if I'll have enough time.
Wish me luck!!!

Jen

I Scream for Ice Cream

Hello!
So I got a new ice cream maker (it is the Kitchen Aid attachment for the mixer, and quite possible the best purchase I've made in a while) and... I LOVE IT!

This week I tried my hand at making homemade chocolate coconut ice cream. I shredded some bitter chocolate, mixed the yolk and sugar over a double boiler (which I had to improvise with since I do not have one... next purchase perhaps?) and let it set for about half an hour before putting it into the ice cream maker. I was really happy with the results. Kind of like soft serve creamy goodness.

The recipe is from William Sonoma's collection and I added in about 1/4 cup of shredded coconut just before setting it to cool.
Click here for WS Chocolate Ice Cream Recipe

Next week i think I want to try making an ice cream brownie, cookie cake. It sounds weird, but I'll explain it later if it works out haha.

There are a few birthday's and BBQ's coming up which means CUPCAKE time!

One of the dozen's will be our classic buttermilk vanilla cupcake with vanilla buttercream, and another will be some sort of surprise, but definitely with cream cheese frosting (her favorite dessert is cheesecake so we'll see what I can put in there).

I want to leave you with another sneak peak of the Marlee MacLean Photography session... our website is launching in less than two weeks and I'm so excited!

Our *quickly becoming* famous Raspberry Lemon Drop cupcake (a personal favorite of mine for the summer).


A light and fluffy cupcake with light raspberry puree buttercream and a fondant star! For some reason this cupcake just brightens up my day.


Have a great long weekend if I don't see you soon!

Jen

Black Tie cupcakes

Good Monday morning,

I am incredibly tired from a jam packed weekend (yet again) but feeling pretty good this morning.
That BBQ I was talking about in my earlier post was a success, although I must admit I did not make half the things I thought I would.
I opted for the Bounty Hunter Cupcake which is a chocolate base cake with shredded coconut and topped with coconut cream cheese frosting. They were a big hit!

On Friday I made 24 mini's for my friend Jen's brother's 16th birthday. She wanted to keep them classy and gender neutral so we went with chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream. The rich dark color of our chocolate cupcakes always looks so classic when paired with a stark white buttercream. Here they are:


For this week I'm planning on keeping things a bit more low key and am hoping to spend some more time outside!

I am also planning on trying my own Chocolate Coconut icecream (and I'm debating if I should toss some banana in there too to see how it comes out.)
That is on the agenda for tonight. It's my first time trying ice cream from scratch so wish me luck!

Have a great day,

Jen

What to make...

So I seem to have hit a bit of a road block.

There are a few things I want to make this week, and I cannot seem to decide which one to do (I don't have time to make all three).

First there are the homemade oreos that seem to be a huge hit with family and friends. I have a BBQ this weekend and I'm thinking those might be a good idea.

Next is a cupcake pie (yes with pie filling and all). This one will likely take the longest, but I think will be the most rewarding... I might HAVE to do this one soon... I don't think I can wait much longer! haha

Lastly I came across the MOST intriguing recipe I've seen to date.
It's a vegan chocolate cake with AVOCADO buttercream. YES... Avocado. And yes, the icing is bright green. That sounds like it could be amazingly delicious and rich, (not to mention full of healthy fats)... OR it could be a green monster. The curiosity may actually be getting the best of me.

I am inviting fellow bakers to think of the weirdest concotion you have ever come up with. What made it so interesting? and most importantly... how amazing was it?

That's it for me today... I'll be sure to let you know how the recipe comes out (which I choose).

Happy Tuesday everyone!


Photo by Marlee MacLean Photography... wait til you see all the other amazing photos she's done for us!

Lemony Lime Coconut Pie

Good morning everyone!

As I sluggishly made my way to work this morning I thought what better way to start of a gloomy Monday than with a recipe to a declious pie.
This past weekend as you may know (if you read this blog) I made a delicious (and ridiculously easy) key lime pie. As it turned out I thought making 2 pies would be best since there were going to be 10 adults at this dinner and I wanted to make sure they had enough for seconds!

So, since I only bought enough lime for one key lime pie I decided to change the second to something slightly different. Below is the recipe!

Lemony Lime Pie Adapted from allrecipes
Ingredients
1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust (or make your own)
2 and 2/3 cups sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup sour cream (I used 5%)
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup of freshly squeezed lime juice
1 and 1/2 teaspoon of grated lime zest
1 and 1/2 teaspoon of grated lemon zest
1-2 tablespoon(s) of shredded coconut (I used sweetened but unsweetened would be best) **optional**

Method
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

2. In a medium bowl, combine condensed milk, sour cream, lime juice, and lime rind. Mix well. Add in shredded coconut and mix for another 10 seconds.

3. Pour mixture into gram cracker crust and sprinkle more shredded coconut on top.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 12-16 minutes, until tiny pinhole bubbles form and burst on top (this took a little longer than I thought so keep checking it to make sure it cooks and the pie doesn't brown)
The coconut on top should be a little toasted (brown in color) when the pie is baked.

Make sure you put the pie in the fridge to completely cool (about 2 hours).

This pie was sweet and tart with a tropical flare. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.



Happy Monday! :)

Jen

Bridal Shower #2 and birthday cupcake pics!

Hello!

Once again I will keep this message short. I want to share with you some of the cupcakes form this weekend.


The first dozen has toppers made to represent an eclectic 23 year old's personality for her birthday.

The toppers included items such as a hi-liter (she studies a lot), alarm clock and Pack of Belmont Milds

Next there were classic chocolate mini cupcakes with vanilla frosting for an engagement party


Lastly today was Colleen's bridal shower. I was honored when she asked me to bake cucpakes for the special day

The cupcakes were a mix of "Girls night out"- Chocolate cupcake with raspberry buttercream, Lemon Drop cupcakes and Chocolate Ganache filled Vanilla cupcakes. There were some fondant toppers made to look like daisies, hearts and wedding dresses! They were a hit, I was so happy everyone like them!


So now that it's all done, baked and understandably eaten... it's time to rest!
Have a great night

...and enjoy this heat! (I hope you have a pool around!)

Jen

Walking on Sunshine

I promised pictures so I'm going to keep this brief.

The parisian theme bridal shower from last week was a success. I'm so happy everyone loved the cupcakes and I got to help them make the day complete.



Chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream and raspberry lemon drops. All tinted with a different shade of pink to match the decor accents in the hall.


Tomorrow is another bridal shower that I had the privilege of doing the cupcakes for.

Also coming up are pictures of a fun 23rd year olds birthday cupcakes .

Hope you're enjoying the sunshine and warmth today!!!

Jen

Summer is here!

Good Thursday morning!
So now that summer is here and I am officially finished my school work until September I thought it might be a good idea to begin blogging on a more regular basis.

With the new website still in the works I have been very busy creating new ideas and cupcakes for some really amazing clients. I am at work right now (shhh) so I don't have the pictures from last weekend's Parisian themed bridal shower but I will get into that tonight or tomorrow... I promise.

This coming weekend gets even more love filled and exciting.
Saturday I'm completing an order of mini's for Jenna and Glenn's engagement party(congratulations!!!). After that I'll be doing an order for an ecclectic 23 year old whose friend wanted the fondant toppers to really reflect her taste and personality. I must say it is going to be the oddest group of fondant toppers I've had on a dozen cupcakes to date (I'll be sure to post pictures of that also in a couple of days). I am excited to see how they come out.

Lastly a dear friend of mine that I have known for 19 years (wow... I don't think I realized it was that long until now)is also getting married and has asked me to make the cupcakes at her bridal shower. I'm so excited! I've decided to do some fondant toppers for those as well and am hoping that the colors I've chose coincide with her raspberry color theme for the afternoon.

Tonight I'm going to be making one of two (or two of two) things for a family dinner party I am attending tomorrow.
Homemade Oreo cookies AND/OR keylime pie. Nothing says summer to me like Key Lime Pie. I've wanted to make it ever since we came back from our cruise (4.5 months ago!)

I know I've posted a picture of the oreo's before but I don't think I have sent out the recipe for a good keylime pie. I'll be trying out Jamie from mybakingaddiction.com's recipe. I have the utmost faith in her work... she's never steered me wrong before! Here is a link to the recipe if you're interested.
http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/key-lime-pies/

I'm hoping mine will look as delicious as this one. Wish me luck!



Have a great thursday! I hope you are enjoying the sunshine and warmth!

This picture makes me feel warmer already!


Jen

website update

I cannot believe it has been nearly a month since the last post. It feels like no time at all has passed since then.

June was a busy (but very fun) month. With the Anniversary party, birthdays, weddings etc... so there was a lot going on but it was worth every minute of it.

After the events were finished it was time to focus on updating our photo gallery and that's where Marlee MacLean Photography comes in.
This professional photographer is so incredibly talented... I'm really lucky she is our exclusive photographer for the new dolceamorecupcakes.com website (still in the works). Here is just one of MANY photos we'll have posted on our site as soon as it's up and running.

.

These were some of the mini's we had on display on the sweet table at Maria and Michele's 50th anniversary party.
Last week we did a photoshoot with marlee to show the world our unique flavor and icing combos.
It may take a few more weeks but it's really starting to come along. I'll be sure to keep you posted.

In baking news, this coming week I am making some Red Velvet cupcakes as well as our Classic Chocolate and Raspberry Lemon Drop cupcakes for Melissa's bridal shower. Photos of that to come very soon!

Lastly... it's summer time FINALLY so I thought I would send a link to one of my favorite summer recipe's. KEY LIME PIE! Find the recipe here: http://www.mybakingaddiction.com/key-lime-pies/ Yes... it's delicious, creamy with a kick of citrus flavor. Sometimes I like to add some shredded coconut on top for garnish (and a new dimension of flavor). This recipe comes from mybakingaddiction.com and it is definitely worth a try.

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