pumpkin stuff

This year we went to the pumpkin patch with Atlas' preschool class. We came home with four pumpkins and a craving for some yummy pumpkin bread. 

We used one of our pumpkin patch selections and one that was given to us to start our baking project.

Atlas did some real helping with scooping and sorting seeds, and some pretend helping with an empty spice container.

The seeds turned out great. After drying them (then peeling them from the paper towel and rewashing and drying them without paper towel) we sprayed them with olive oil cooking spray and used Trader Joe's everyday spice grinder before roasting them. Yum!

Unfortunately I can't say the same for the pumpkin. One was too yellow and had an odd texture when it cooked. It probably wouldn't have hurt us, but I tried a little once it was cooked and decided not to eat it. The rest of the pumpkin flesh went in the blender, but when I tapped my spoon on the edge, the blender chipped, leaving tiny glass shards in the puree. Thus we resorted to Libby's.

I modified a coffeecake recipe to include the pumpkin, and it turned out rich, moist, and delicious. All's well that ends well, right?

recent cake pops

In order of appearance...
1. Nutella flavored cake pops with fancy pink and gold for a birthday party
2. Vanilla pop with key lime candy coating (pretty yummy) for Baby Olson's shower
3. Double chocolate cake pops with fern decor for my sister's WEDDING... more to come on that event.

bachelorette cookies

If you are sensitive to lingerie depicted in frosting on sugar cookies, you shouldn't continue reading.


Or scrolling.


Seriously.


My sister's friends are throwing her a bachelorette weekend at a cabin. They have all sorts of really fun things planned. Since I'm not in California yet to join in the festivities, I decided to send a little care package which included these (oh so slightly) scandalous treats.


I got the idea from Pinterest (of course) but made some modifications. Instead of my usual butter cream icing, or even royal icing I saw recommended for such a project, I used some leftover Wilton candy melts in hopes that the decoration would hold up a little better in the mail. Also, the only heart cookie cutter I had was very small, so the candy melts were a little easier for me to work with on a small scale. I would definitely make these little ladies again, but I would have to find a larger and slightly more shapely heart cookie cutter to get the results I want. Perhaps one or two more colors for the icing as well.


I think by now I can share pictures...

monkey cake pops

My second big baking project of the weekend was cake pops for a fabulous two-year-old's birthday party. The theme was Curious George, so I went for monkeys. The pops are made of chocolate cake, chocolate frosting, and chocolate candy melts. As you can see from my process pics, the monkey face shape is formed with an M&M, and the eyes are a Trader Joe's sprinkle. The ears are mini chocolate chips. I used a Wilton edible pen for the finer details - which didn't work on the candy as well as I would have liked.

My plan was to photograph the pops at the party, but by the time I had greeted friends and ate half a sandwich they were almost gone! I received many sweet comments on the look and taste, but perhaps the best compliment of all was the fact that only two remained when we sang and cut the cake.

rose cupcakes

I made these charming rose candies to top cupcakes for a rose-themed shower. I used a Wilton candy mold and melts in pink, orange, and red to get a variety of rosy colors.

The cupcakes are from a favorite spice cake recipe. At this point I don't remember where it came from, but it's pretty straight forward. I love the flavor, and like most cakes made with buttermilk, the texture turns out moist and delicious as well. The only downside to these cupcakes is they always seem a little flat. I've varied the baking time and mixing strategies, and no matter what I try they just don't puff. It's a flaw I'm willing to overlook. I have fun adding dimension with topping. Enter the cloud style frosting, in cream cheese flavor, and the roses. Yum!

bread

You know it's been a productive day when you run out of counter space and leave bread to cool on the kitchen floor.

sugar and spice and everything nice

I had so much fun making cake pops for a gender reveal party for some close friends of ours. They opened a box of balloons to find out they are having a girl! I was in on the secret ahead of time and put my best effort into decorating these yummy treats.

The inside is white cake with cream cheese frosting and peppermint extract. I wasn't sure about the combination of the cream cheese and mint flavors, but I remembered seeing a cream cheese mint recipe on Pinterest, so I went for it. With a dash of red food coloring, the pink color fit the peppermint flavor and the girly element. The coating is Wilton chocolate candy melt, and the writing is the vanilla variety. I used a plastic baggie with a trimmed corner to write with the candy onto wax paper and placed it on top of the freshly dipped pops. Yum!

let the holiday baking begin

Ok, so these treats didn't actually involve any baking, but aren't they cute? I can assure you they are delicious. I love the salty sweet mix, especially with a bit of crushed candy cane as garnish.

"things that go" birthday party

My little man turned one today, and we threw him a great party. He loves anything with wheels, so we focused on "things that go".

train and car frosted sugar cookies

semi sized sign

car made from a box

wheel-themed cakes that spin

oreo pop favors with rims

car-themed board book favors for kids

birthday boy loving a new toy

Pinterest Tuesday: pumpkin spice fudge edition

This is a winning recipe for sure! Thanks to my sister, who makes some of the best fudge I've ever had, for finding such a yummy pin!

I love fall flavors, and this rich treat doesn't disappoint. It's so so so delicious. I followed the online instructions perfectly when it came to ingredients and quantities. I even measured my vanilla, and I habitually interpret a teaspoon of vanilla to mean a splash.

The timing was a bit more tricky. I don't have a candy thermometer, so I had to interpret 234 ~ 243 degrees to mean really hot. The mixture did start to thicken, which was a good clue... the recipe also says it takes about half an hour. As a precaution I made one small container to taste test before taking the rest of the batch to share. I've taken incredibly soft set fudge to events before, and while it's delicious, it's a mess and a bit embarrassing. Fortunately this time it turned out perfectly, and our small sampler is going quickly!

bumble bee cake pops

I loved making chocolate chip cookies when I was young. Part of it was the quality time spent with an adult supervisor on a project I could help with, but I suspect a larger part was getting to eat cookies. One of my first solo baking attempts lives on in family lore as the notorious salt cookies. I still don't know if I added a cup instead of a teaspoon of salt (they were on either side of the same measuring tool) or if I used salt instead of sugar, but yes, they were that salty. It wasn't even worth picking off the cookie part to eat the chocolate chips. They were a disaster.

Salted caramel makes me nervous. It just seems like too much salt for a dessert. I can't commit. However, Starbucks has salted caramel cake pops and I was challenged to make a better version, so I made a first attempt.

My salted caramel cocoa cake pops didn't taste salted. I suppose that's better than too salty, but now I wish I had more culinary courage. Perhaps my next attempt will be more bold. I used a devils food cake (from a mix) and a mix your own can of caramel frosting. I was worried the chocolate would overpower the caramel, so I used the whole flavor packet with only 8 oz of the frosting. It was still very subtle, so I added a caramel swirl with a jar of ice cream topping we had in the fridge. The outer layer was dark cocoa candy melts, and the bee decor was to fit a baby shower theme.

This project came to me at the last minute. It's not that a week isn't a reasonable time frame to ask someone to prepare a dessert for a baby shower, it's that when I'm asked to bring dessert I decide on cake pops, and when I make cake pops they are usually themed. I was pleased with the vision I had for these little guys (a few bees and a busy looking trail on the others), but I was short on supplies to make them happen. Michaels didn't have any dark cocoa candy melts, so I could only make half the batch with what I had on hand.

The other half I decided on a white cake from a mix and vanilla frosting. That seemed too boring, so I added chai spices. Yum! I know chai isn't as universally liked as vanilla, but these pops may have been my all time favorite flavor so far.

I didn't love the bee-scape, and they felt a little sloppy, but they went over well enough at the party.

sweets for the sweet

Yesterday I had the pleasure of visiting my old office - it's not actually the office space I used to work in, but the people matter so much more than the location. I miss parts of my old job this time of year, so seeing the Linden ladies was nice, and of course I love the attention they give Atlas, even while he tried to knock over their drinks and stick his fingers in their ketchup while we ate lunch.

I brought personalized treats!

This was the first time I made cake pops and didn't eat any. Not one. Go operation lose that pregnancy weight!

I would also like to put in writing (keep me accountable) that I will not be making holiday treats until Thanksgiving. There are occasions between now and then that I'm happy to bake for, but "the holidays" don't count as a reason until they are here. So now when I don't post scrumptious pictures of fudge and cookies for the next two months, you know why.

beach-theme desserts

Beach-theme baby shower dessert spread.

Coffee cake cupcakes with dulce de leche filling, cream cheese drizzle, and white chocolate shells.

cake pop tutorial

Cake pops I made for book club tonight.

Milk chocolate on dark chocolate with yellow cake in the middle!

 BASIC TUTORIAL

• Make yellow cake from a box (you can make it from scratch, but in my experience they don't turn out much better because the texture is less of a factor)
• Cut off the crust if you want the centers to be smooth and without color variation
• Add 1 cup vanilla frosting and mix thoroughly
• Chill 
• Use your clean hands to make balls (I usually get 48-50)
• Melt 1 package dark cocoa Wilton candy melts
• Dip lollipop stick 1/2 inch into the candy melt and then insert into the ball
• Chill
• Dip ball into the candy melt and tap over pot to remove excess coating, but gently to avoid losing the cake ball into the candy.
• Place upright to dry - I use a Styrofoam block with holes 2 inches apart
• Decorate - for these I used 1/4 bag milk chocolate candy melt in a sandwich bag with a corner clipped off.

If you are interested in a full detailed tutorial with more pictures, let me know in the comments.

owl cake pops

My most recent cake pop project was treats for a dear friend's daughter's first birthday party. The theme was owls, and since I was recently introduced to Bakerella, I was inspired to make the pops actually resemble the furry birds. Anyone familiar with Bakerella can mentally picture the owls on the cover of the book - the image is practically a cake pop icon.

The first lesson I learned from this project: don't try to replicate an iconic image. My first attempts look more like Frankenstein than owls.

My first two attempts. I'm a little embarrassed to post these.

My second lesson: what looks like sloppy asymmetry on one cake pop becomes quirky character by the time I make a dozen. I almost gave up on these little guys because they weren't coming out as well as I hoped, but once I had a critical mass I was actually pretty pleased.

monogram cake pops

I made these as favors for our baby dedication. The centers are "blue velvet"... like red, but with blue coloring instead. Yum!

butterfly baby

As promised, here are more pictures from the baby shower this weekend!

butterfly cupcakes

dirt

decor

guests of honor: Elliana with her big brother and mama