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!!

Double Chocolate Praline Fudge Cake

Every now and again I miss Georgia.

I don't miss the 110 degree weather with 200% humidity, swarms of gnats, living in the middle of nowhere, dealing with snarky college students, or being in grad school... but I do miss living near Savannah and fresh pralines on River Street.

Savannah is a city with character- not to mention home of the great Paula Deen and her fabulous restaurant Lady & Sons (I've been lucky enough to eat there not once, but three times and man oh man, her fried chicken is good!)

When my grad school roommate decided to get married in Savannah and asked me to make her cake, I knew one of the tiers had to be the Double Chocolate Praline Fudge Cake that I found a few years ago in Southern Living.  I have been waiting for a special occasion to try this cake for a long time and what better occasion to do you get than a Savannah wedding?

You can't go to Savannah and not stop at River Street Sweets for a free praline so the choice was a no brainer..  lucky for me she liked the idea as well.

With the wedding in just 3 weeks (yes, I'm traveling with another wedding cake!), I had to try out the cake before serving it at the bow-tie affair. If you are a fan of chocolate and pralines you're going to love this cake. It is out of control rich, which in turn makes it out of control delicious.

Double Chocolate Praline Fudge Cake
Southern Living Magazine
Bake time: 22-24 minutes Oven: 350

1 cup butter
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 cup water
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups sugar
2 cups AP flour
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease and flour 2 or 3 8-inch round pans and line bottom with parchment paper.
Cook butter, cocoa and water in saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly for about 2 minutes or until butter is melted and mixture is smooth. Let cool. I repeat, LET COOL COMPLETELY- put it in the fridge, put it in the freezer, whatever you do, let it cool completely.
Let cocoa cool for about 10-15 minutes in fridge.
Meanwhile, beat buttermilk, eggs, baking soda and vanilla.
Pour cooled cocoa mixture to buttermilk mixture beating until blended.
In a small bowl, combine/whisk flour, sugar and salt.
Gradually add flour mixture to cocoa/buttermilk mixture, beating well after every addition (Your batter will be thin).
Pour batter into prepared pans and bake for 22-24 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Transfer to wire rack and cool in pans for 10 minutes before removing from pan and allowing to cool completely.
Allow cakes to cool for at least 1 hour before trying to frost.
One cake is cooled, begin to prepare chocolate ganache and praline frosting.

*The original recipe spreads Chocolate Ganache between each layer of cake as well as the sides and then tops the cake with the Praline Frosting. Because I will be decorating the wedding cake with fondant I knew I needed a smooth surface so I made this cake like I would be making hers, with the Praline Frosting between layers and frosting the outside with the Chocolate Ganache.

Chocolate Ganache
1 12oz bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup butter

In a glass bowl, add chocolate chips and whipping cream.
Two ways to make this:
1. Heat in a double boiler, whisking until smooth. Once chocolate is melted remove from heat and gradually add butter, whisking until smooth.
-OR-
2. Microwave 2 to 3 minutes until chocolate is melted, stirring at 1 minutes intervals. Whisk until smooth. Gradually add butter, whisking until smooth.
Allow to cool briefly and whisk until spreading consistency.


Don't make the Praline Frosting until you're ready to frost your cake because it hardens VERY quickly.


Praline Frosting
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup butter
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Chop pecans and place on baking sheet or shallow pan. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until pecans are toasted and fragrant.
In a medium saucepan, bring brown sugar, whipping cream and butter to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil for about 1 minute.
Remove from heat, and whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth.
Gently stir in toasted pecans allowing mixture to thicken and cool slightly.
Use immediately

*If you have left over frosting you can use it to make your own pralines. Simply lay parchment or wax paper on a baking sheet and place spoonfuls of praline frosting on sheet about an inch apart. Allow to cool and harden for about 20-30 minutes.

Happy Baking!  

Home is Where the Heart (and Cupcakes) are..

I hadn't been home since Christmas....Christmas people! I let 8 months pass before getting home.. that's like an all time record for me!

So when I finally had a good excuse to take the time off work and get out of hot and steamy Texas I jumped at the chance.. and let me tell you, it felt fantastic.

I spent Labor Day weekend on the east coast for a few important reasons:
1. My Mom's birthday was a couple weeks ago
2. My Dad was home from Afghanistan for one of his breaks
3. My Aunt was taking her final vows as a nun
4. My youngest brother is leaving for a year abroad in Japan
5. My other brother is leaving for a year of working in Australia

So with everyone going every which way in the world, this was going to be one of the last opportunities for all of us to get together.

My "little" brothers aren't so little...

The long weekend was spent eating good food with an amazing family.

I knew I couldn't show up empty handed for this important reunion so in true Traveling Sweets fashion, I traveled the Texas to Virginia route through the airport terminals, cupcakes in tow, as a belated birthday present for my mom.

My mom is a Master Gardener so I wanted to make her something that combined her love of gardening with her love of sweets..I also wanted an opportunity to practice my flower making skills so when I found these adorable little pots at Michaels I knew what had to be done. The recipe for these light and delicious chocolate cupcakes will be at the end of the post...

Thursday night we feasted on a big ole pot of blue crabs. Any good east coast family knows a good deal on a bushel of crabs and when my mom saw $35 bushels at the local grocery store she couldn't pass it up. And so a feast was had.. I think my hands smelled like crabs for the next 2 days.

On Saturday morning we made our way up to Philly for my aunts final vows as a nun. I come from a family of foodies so when my dad suggested we leave a little earlier than planned in order to stop by one of Philly's famous cheesesteak joints all of us happily agreed.

Full of steak and cheese, we completed our journey to the Medical Mission Sisters compound in time for a birthday dinner for my Oma (grandmother) complete with Black Forest Cake- be prepared for a Black Forest Cupcake sometime in the near future!

My cousin Ciara couldn't get enough.. she had about 3 pieces..

My aunt's vows took place Sunday morning and after the ceremony we celebrated with an absolutely amazing Filipino feast and were entertained by a Filipino dance troupe.

Coming home for weekends like this make me wish we lived just a little closer to home...but at the same time, being so far from my family and friends makes me cherish my time I do have with them even more. And it's good to know that we won't be this far away forever.

As promised...my favorite Chocolate Cake and Chocolate Frosting.

Chocolate Layer Cake
Oven:350 Bake:20-25 minutes (cupackes) 40-50 minutes (cake)
Fills 3 8inch round pans or atleast 30 cupcakes

1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate morsels
1/2 cup butter, softened
16oz (1 package) of light brown sugar
3 large eggs
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 8oz container of sour cream
1 cup hot water
2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Melt chocolate in microwave for about 1 1/2 minutes or until smooth, stirring every 30 seconds.
Beat butter and brown sugar until well blended. Add vanilla and then add eggs 1 at a time beating until just incorporated. Add melted chocolate beating until blended.
Sift flour, baking soda, and salt. Gradually add to chocolate mixture, alternating with sour cream, beginning and ending with flour. Beat after every addition until blended. Gradually add 1 cup of hot water in a steady stream at low until blended.
*just FYI the batter is going to look extremely thin and you might think you've messed up, but I promise you it's going to be perfect :)

Pour batter into paper lined cupcake pans.
Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes (cupcakes) or 40-50 minutes (cakes).
Place baked cakes on cooling rack for 15 minutes before removing from pan to completely cool or take cupackes immediately out of pan to cool on rack.

Chocolate Frosting
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter
2/3 cup cocoa powder
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

Melt butter in microwave. Stir in cocoa powder until combined. Slowly add powdered sugar, vanilla and milk beating on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add more milk if necessary.

I hope everyone had a lovely Labor Day weekend.. 

anyone eat anything spectacular??

Happy Baking!