"How am I going to do this?"

Sometimes the design requests we get are very clear in what they want, and sometimes we're given the freedom to do whatever we feel at the time with little specifications - which are both fine with me. It is always interesting to hear some of the requests though.  There have been times where I thought it wouldn't work out. Either the idea was too complicated, or too big, or "how am I going to make that look nice on a cake?" haha. Here's a couple challenges I had that turned out pretty cute.

This Michael Jordan cake was probably one of the hardest cakes I've done. It was right after only my first decorating class and I think I was in way over my head. After so many hours (and close-to-tears moments!), I got it. I was excited how this one turned out. Both shoe and shoebox are cake with buttercream icing. 

 

I learned after this that it takes a ridiculous amount of black dye to make black icing, and it also runs into the other colors. I try not to use black icing much now.

You should have seen my kitchen when I was done! This cake is the reason I do the majority of the cakes at my parents' house because they have more room and counter space! ...and Mom helps clean up ;) 

 

These next two cupcake designs were requests I just had no idea how to do.  I wanted to use butter cream icing, so  I was just winging it with Snow White.  She doesn't have a face, but looks cute anyway. I think the apple next to her was a nice touch - I think it was one of my sister's ideas.

The elephants were a very pleasant surprise. I love how they turned out! They're so cute, don't you just want to eat them up? ;)  I saw a picture of elephants like this online and decided to try it out. I did it much like the clowns they teach you in class but used a round tip instead of the star. For the ears I used a rose tip.

This one by far was probably the strangest request I got for a cake, and I wasn't sure how I would be able to keep it classy...

 

...But I think the toilet cake for a Birthday Potty came out pretty cute. I made the toilet while my sister rolled the toilet paper out of fondant. It was surprisingly not that hard and was a lot of fun to make.

Worst part: falling down my stairs afterwards! 

To quote Vector from Despicable Me: 

"Curse you tiny toilet!"

"Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins"

I made Pumpkin Cheesecake Muffins again this weekend.  They are so yummy.  I had made them for a bake sale a couple weeks ago and they were a big hit.  They have a really nice blend of pumpkin spice and creaminess.  I love cheesecake, but sometimes that flavor can be overpowering. Such was not the case with these muffins!  There was a really nice marriage of flavors. 

The recipe on the box of Pillsbury pumpkin bread mix was really easy to follow.  I only made a few adjustments because I was baking them in a cupcake tray instead of a muffin tray, so I didn’t follow the recommended measurements for how much to pour into the pan.  Oh - There is a lot of clean up with this recipe though – because you need 3 bowls: One for the pumpkin muffin batter, one for the cheesecake filling, and one for the topping.  A tip: to put the cheesecake filling in, the recipe says to make an indentation in the pumpkin batter with a small spoon sprayed with non-stick spray and then put the cheesecake mixture in the indentation.  This is great in theory, but the “indentation” doesn’t really stay very long, so you have to fill with cheesecake quickly and make sure you shove that cheesecake down in the batter.  Overall, a great recipe and one I will be making again for sure.

"Spanish Butter Cookies"

I'm going to a cookie exchange tonight and I need to bring 4 dozen cookies, so I went through some family recipes for one that wouldn't take all day.  The recipe I decided on is one of my favorites and is super easy to make.  My youngest sister made them for a 3rd grade Spanish class assignment, so they've been named by our family "Spanish Butter Cookies" for years now.  (Although a family friend told us there is nothing Spanish about them; that they are called something else.  I forget the name she had for them... Glad the Spanish teacher didn't know that!).

Anyway, you separate the dough into 4 logs and make a depression down the length of each one for the jelly.  My favorite jelly to use is Polaner All Fruit with Fiber-Seedless Strawberry.  Once they're baked, you cut them on an angle and this recipe makes 4 dozen cookies perfectly (even after eating the ends of the logs myself. Ha!).  I have them on my Christmas Platter and am all ready for the Cookie Exchange tonight.  Hope everyone likes them as much as I do!!