A Yummy Year in Review

Well folks, can you believe it? Another year has come and gone...

Seems like just yesterday we were ringing in 2011, celebrating in Crested Butte with friends, not knowing that just 2 days into the new year we were about to embark on an extremely exciting and jam packed year.

Let's have a little recap on year 2011 shall we?

We got engaged...

 We got some good traveling in...

We moved back to Virginia, closer to my family...

And oh yeah, we got married!

But you all don't want to see pictures of me and Mountain Man... how bout all those yummy sweets we saw this year?

From top left to right: 1.Chocolate Meringue Coffee Cake/ 2. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Potato Chip Cookies/ 3. Strawberry Bread/ 4. Guinness & Bailey's Cake/ 5. My Wedding Cake!/ 6. Chocolate & Pomegranate Cake/ 7. Pomegranate & Champagne Jelly/ 8. Chocolate Pound Cake with Mocha Glaze/ 9. Popcorn Bread

From top left to right: 1. Chocolate Peanut Butter &Banana Granola Bars/ 2. Strawberry Shortcake Scones/ 3. Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie/ 4. Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls/ 5. Fresh Mango Curd 7. Homemade Mallowmars/ 8. White Chocolate Blackberry Cupcakes/ 9. Ooey-Gooey Cinnamon Biscuits

If 2011 was this good, I can't wait to see what 2012 has in store for us!

I hope you all had a lovely holiday with your friends and family and that you have an absolutely fantastic New Years celebration!!

See you in 2012! 

Happy Baking!

Happy New Year!

Margarita Jello Poke Cake

Well folks, it's my last week in Texas.

It's been a good run, but I'm ready to be back on the east coast. Ready to have seasons, be in driving distance to the beach, mountains, friends, family, greenery... and most importantly not have to drive 1 hour to a decent mall!

Let's be honest, I wasn't cut out for Texas. Now don't get me wrong, I love a good chicken fried steak, rocking cowboy boots, two-steeping, and jammin out to some good old Texas country music, but this 107 degree heat for 70+ days straight has been brutal and the highway system they've got going on just doesn't work for me (why don't Texan's know how to merge?).

That doesn't mean that we haven't had a good time while we've been out west and it most definitely doesn't mean we haven't made some wonderful friends these past couple of years.

And that's where this cake comes in. For the past couple years, some of our good friends here have a killer summer BBQ complete with ice luge, corn hole, flip cup, burgers, dogs, and lots of other good food- including this cake.

While perusing the isles one day this summer I came upon this Margarita Jello....(can someone say fantastic idea?)

...and then I found a recipe for a jello poke cake- It was just too good to be true.

Now the sad part is, that when I went back to get some more recently, I couldn't find it :( but that doesn't mean you couldn't substitute it with some lime jello!

The cake was a huge success. So much so, that I didn't even get to get a picture of it in all it's glory among the smorgasbord of foods that afternoon.

Margarita Jello Poke Cake
Recipe adapted from Betty Crocker
Makes one 9x13 sheet cake

1 box white cake (I used Betty Crocker Super Moist White)
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup veggie oil
4 egg whites
1/4 cup margarita mix (non-alcoholic)
1 box Margarita flavored jello*
3/4 cup boiling water
2 TBS tequila
2 TBS triple sec
1/4 margarita mix
Topping
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 TBS tequila* opt
1 TBS triple sec* opt

Preheat oven to 350. Spray pan with cooking spray and lightly coat with flour.
In small bowl, mix jello and boiling water. Add tequila and triple sec, mixing until everything is dissolved.

In a large bowl, combine cake mix, 1/4 cup jello mixture, margarita mix, water, egg whites and oil and beat until well combined.
Pour into pan and bake for about 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Transfer to cooling rack.
While cake is still warm, use a fork to poke holes throughout the whole cake.

Mix 1/4 margarita mix with remaining jello mixture and pour evenly and slowly over cake.

Cool completely, at least 1 hour.
Once cake has cooled, in a large bowl beat whipping cream until soft peaks form. Add powdered sugar, tequila and triple sec and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
Frost cake while still in the pan. I don't normally keep cakes in the pan, but for a BBQ it was easy to transfer and easy to clean up.

Place in the fridge until ready to serve.
Enjoy!

Daddy Tom gets in on Sunday evening and we begin our trek east, but not before I make a wedding cake for some friends this weekend though!

So while all of you out there are sharing good food and laughs with good friends, we'll be driving..driving into the sunset...well I guess sun rise technically since we're driving east...

But the real question is this: What do you talk to your dad about for 24 hours? I'm open to suggestions.

I'll be MIA just for a bit and the next time you hear from me I'll be back in VA! Until then..

Happy Baking!

Happy Birthday America!

Dear America,

In celebration of your birthday I baked you a cake, just like I do all my favorite people!

Last year we made a pie in your honor...

...but this year I wanted to make sure you had something extra special so I personally decorated a cake for you.

I know you won't be here to blow out the candles, but that's okay because we probably wouldn't be allowed to light them anyways. Texas actually put a ban on all things related to your fireworks (even sparklers are out of the question) but don't worry, we're still going to celebrate... just fireless.

You're pretty special you know that? It's not every birthday that we get a whole day off from work to celebrate, so thanks :)

XOXO,
  E

I hope everyone's day is filled with grilling, cold drinks and good friends!

Happy 4th of July!!

Cakes, Cakes, Glorious Cakes

It's been a busy few weeks.

Work has been zapping a lot of my energy...so much so that I've not spent nearly enough time dedicated to you wonderful readers. I have been so busy with life, working hard, celebrating the warm weather, baking and decorating that I've cut out some of my time in front of the computer (aka bringing tasty posts to a computer near you).

Even though the posts are not as regular, I promise you the baking is still going strong so they recipes will eventually be coming your way.

In addition to the personal baking, there also seems to be a correlation between warmer months and number of cakes decorated. I already have 5 wedding cakes lined up for the coming months (including my own!) and the orders keep coming in!

Speaking of which I also want to let everyone know that I've created a website dedicated strictly to my cakes: sweetsbye.weebly.com. It not only showcases the different cakes I've done, but I'm also hoping to increase my clientele, so if any of you out there know someone in need of a cake and they live in Central Texas send em my way please :) And let me know what you think of it!

Now back to this post! I thought I'd highlight a few of the cakes I've made recently.. the wedding cakes will be posts all their own.

Beiber Fever was made for a little girl through Free Cakes for Kids Killeen. She was so excited when I delivered the cake- not only did she fake a fainting spell, in true Beiber-dom, but I got 2 hugs out of the deal!

The next cake was one I made was actually for one of the volunteers for Free Cakes for Kids Killeen. She was in a pinch and asked if I could make a Monkey Mod cake for her daughter. Having never heard of Monkey Mod I had to do a little research, but after that is was a piece of cake ;)

This last cake was one of my favorites yet.. one of the girls at work wanted to surprise her boyfriend with a cake for their 1 year anniversary. Both avid sky divers, she somehow wanted to incorporate their hobby and together we came up with an idea to replicate them completing a skydiving formation together. The two colorful sky divers are actually replicas of them and the suits they skydive in.

(that's them!)

And before I forget!! As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program I recently received a coupon for a box of Magnum Ice Cream Bars..

We finally got around to digging into the chocolate and caramel variety and I don't even know where to begin! They're rich and creamy and super satisfying after a day in the hot Texas sun! The next time you're at Walmart I highly suggest running to the freezer section and buying a box! Thanks Foodbuzz!

As for Mountain Man and me.. we're off to Vegas for the weekend :) We're going to win big, I can feel it!

Happy Baking!

Free Cakes for Kids: a Non-Profit Organization

A few weeks ago I was contacted by the coordinator of our local Free Cakes for Kids chapter. Through some lucky strike of the keyboard, she found my blog and after admiring my cakes, sent me an email asking if I'd become a part of this fantastic organization.

Free Cakes for Kids is a non-profit organization developed for families who are going through financially hard times and can't necessarily afford to provide their child with a birthday cake. With over 30 talented volunteers in the Killeen chapter, we devote our time and talents so no child will have to be without a cake any time soon.

I've always believed that food has a special power; there's a reason why holidays revolve around food, that we look for comfort in treats and why the kitchen table is where happiness is shared. And so I feel blessed to be a part of a group that offers families a little bit of happiness during a tough time through a very special birthday cake.

My first volunteer job was a Blue's Clues themed cake for a little boy's birthday...

Even though I don't have my own children, I've spent my fair share of time babysitting and Blue just happens to be one of my favorite cartoon pup. I tried to stay true to the show and incorporated her clues around the base of the cake.

 

 

"You gotta find Blue's paw print, that's the first clue!

And we put 'em in our notebook, cuz they're who's clues?!"

 "Blue's Clues!"

For those of you out there that love to decorate cakes, I hope you'll look into local chapters of Free Cakes for Kids. Not only would you be a part of a great cause, but you get to practice your decorating as well! Practice or not, his mother's warm words of gratitude were enough for me.

Happy Baking!

Hello Kitty Birthday Cake and Cupcakes

I got to give out my first business card!

About a month or so ago MM brought over a guy that he worked with who was in need of a cake- his daughter was turning 5 and was having a Hello Kitty themed birthday. Of course, (as all men should know) he knew his wife needed the final say, so a few quick words, a handshake and a business card later he said his wife would be getting in touch.

A few weeks later a couple of emails were shared, a phone call was made and the order was placed- a Hello Kitty themed cake and two dozen Hello Kitty cupcakes.

Remember the Animal Birthday cake I made for Lucas? Well that cake and this one were being delivered the same day, not 30 minutes apart, which meant lots of time management when it came to all the decorations.

About the same time that I started working on all the animals, I also started working on these little Hello Kitty heads.

 I searched high and low for a character cookie cutter, but since no such luck was to be had,  I had to resort to individually hand cutting fondant into heads, eyes, noses and bows... talk about time consuming.. as our friend that's staying with us watched me, she likened it to an assembly line of Hello Kitty's.

The cake was my favorite  White Cake with Vanilla Buttercream and the cupcakes were Dark Chocolate Cake also with Vanilla Buttercream.

I was so happy with the final product, but more importantly the birthday girl, Haley was happy too!

As for me.. I'm headed east for dress shopping tomorrow!!

I hope you all have a lovely rest of the week and weekend too :) Wish me luck!

Happy Baking!!

Lions, Tigers, Zerbas & Monkeys (Oh My!) Birthday Cake

Let me just start by saying Mountain Man and I have great friends.

Since we moved to Texas we've had the opportunity to meet even more awesome people.

When all the wedding planning began I wanted to try and make it as personal as possible; using the talents of the amazing people in our lives. Of course my girlfriends have been extremely supportive, especially those that just recently got married or are well into the planning phases themselves- it is invaluable to have people like that around you when you're making the big leap or you would be completely lost at where to begin...

I contacted a friend from college who now has his own photography to do our pictures and could not have been happier when he accepted the job...

A close family friend of MM is an ordained minister and my aunt, who just recently became a nun, are going to perform our ceremony...

And a friend in Texas, who is also trying to begin his photography career, agreed to do a few engagement photos for us.

So what does this have to do with an animal birthday cake?

Well, when we asked our friends here to take a few photos for us we did a little bartering. Our friends Richard and Ursula have an adorable little boy who recently turned 1, and in exchange for a small photo sesh, I agreed to make his first birthday cake.

Completely trusting each others creativity, Ursula simply gave me a napkin of the party favors, requested one cake for the party and one little cake for Lucas and sent me on my way.

A Strawberry Cake was requested, with a Strawberry Pastry Cream filling and the Best Buttercream covered the rest of the cake.

I spent the next week coloring fondant, cutting out little shapes and assembling all the little animals for the decorations.

It was all worth it when I got a sweet text from Ursula and saw these pictures all over Facebook...

Playing with his little zebra...

Toooo much cake...

How cute is he?! As for the engagement photos, lets just say I was more than impressed and I can't wait to send out our save the dates now!

Happy Baking!!

ps. If you are having trouble leaving comments could you possibly send me a message (sweetebakes@gmail.com) with the error you're getting? I'd like to get it fixed, but don't have the necessary information! Thanks!

Berry Berry Good Cake

I can always count on April for some good baking talk during a long work day.

I wish I had a picture of the cake she made me for my birthday, because it was absolutely beautiful and undoubtedly delicious.

Last year I made April a Hello Kitty cake, but this year she requested something very different..something with fruit and cream. I turned to Martha for inspiration.

Martha Stewart always makes the most extraordinary looking cakes- she manages to create these beautiful, yet simple, and very classy desserts that appear effortless. She uses only top of the line ingredients and believes in a nice presentation just as much as the taste.

Nothing but the best for Martha...

and nothing but the best for our April!

A few cakes caught my eye, one in particular featured a Swiss Meringue Buttercream...a new beast in my cake decorating. I've dabbled in Italian Buttercream, but being part Swiss I thought I should represent a little! Although a little more time consuming than your average buttercream and much more finicky ingredients, the result is a ridiculously smooth and oh so sweet frosting for any cake.

But what about the fruit and cream you ask??

A batch of basic pastry cream, split into two- one combined with a quick raspberry puree and the other blueberry.

And so it was complete: my favorite White Cake, smothered between layers of alternating Raspberry and Blueberry pastry cream, covered with Swiss Meringue Buttercream and delicately decorated for my favorite admin.

1-2-3-4 Cake
(My absolute favorite White Cake)
Oven: 350 Bake Time: 35 minutes
Makes 2 or 3 8-inch round cakes

1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 cups flour
1 TBS baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 eggs, separated
1 cup whole milk
1 tsp vanilla

Whisk flour, baking powder and salt in a small bowl.
Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add egg yolks one at a time, beating until incorporated each time.
Alternate flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with flour.
Beat eggs whites until stiff peaks form.
Fold into batter until incorporated.
Transfer batter to prepared cake pans and bake for 35 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Transfer to cooling rack for 30 minutes before removing cakes to continue cooling for at least an hour.

Pastry Cream
recipe from Baked:New Frontiers in Baking
3 cups half and half
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
3 TBS cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla

In a medium saucepan, heat half and half to a simmer and keep warm.
In a medium bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and salt together until mixture is pale (about a minute).
Whisk half of warm half and half into egg yolk mixture, then pour that mixture into remaining half and half in saucepan continuing to cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until thickened (about 6 minutes).
Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla.
Transfer cream to bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
Place in fridge for about an hour before using.

Raspberry Cream: Place 1 cup raspberries in small saucepan and mash with fork or potato masher. Add 2 TBS sugar and warm over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Allow to cool completely before adding to cold pastry cream.

Blueberry Cream: Place 1 cup blueberries in small saucepan and mash with fork or potato masher. Add 2 TBS sugar and warm over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. All to cool completely before adding to cold pastry cream.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream
Combination of recipe from Martha and Bake Wise
4 egg whites
1 cup sugar
1 cup plus 2 TBS butter
7 TBS Crisco
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
2 tsp vanilla extract

Combine egg whites, cream of tartar, sugar and salt in a heat proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water (double boiler).
Whisk constantly until mixture is warm to the touch (120-130 degrees) and sugar has dissolved.
Transfer mixture to stand mixer bowl fitted with whisk attachment.
Starting on low, gradually increase to medium-high speed until stiff peaks are formed. Continue to mix until mixture is glossy and fluffy and completely cool (about 10 minutes).
With mixer on medium low, add butter, one tablespoon at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Once all butter has been added, add vanilla.
Change to paddle attachment and continue to beat until frosting is smooth.

Happy Baking!