Neapolitan Cupcakes

Do you remember neapolitan ice cream?

That seemed like the standard served at parties when I was a kid because it had the three basic flavors to serve to all the kids.

Chocolate ~ that would be my choice
Vanilla ~ I tend toward this more now
Strawberry ~ sweet and delicious

As I was baking for this weekend I found that I had some remaining batter that needed to be used so I tried something new.
Vanilla almond sour cream was the base and then a dollop of triple chocolate right in the middle. I also had some strawberry filling left over so once the cupcakes were cooled I filled the cupcakes with strawberry filling!

But that wasn't enough ~ I had all 3 flavors in buttercream icing so I thought I would replicate the neapolitan profile on TOP!
Chocolate ~ Vanilla ~ Strawberry

Isn't it cute in it's little cup?

Carefully unwrap your cake....so you can savor this dessert.
I have a set of these dessert plates that we use on birthdays here at the house ~cute huh!?!

Finally I thought I would show you the cut through!

I guess the only thing missing is the ICE CREAM!

Noah's Football Cake

Noah is turning 9, he likes football and his Dad coaches at Savannah Christian Preparatory School.

Noah's Mom wanted a football field cake that represented SCPS.

Hope you have a WINNING birthday Noah!

Caden's 'Go Dawgs!'

I love the fact that so many people are passionate about their favorite football team here in the south. It was like that in Texas as well....and not just the professional teams, but the Universities all the way down to the local little leagues!

As Caden is turning 4 he had two requests for his cake....
he wanted
1 ~ red velvet cake
2~ a Go Dawgs! cake
Now that is one SOUTHERN boy!

I think it's sweet because I don't remember caring about what kind of cake I had when I was 4....I'm sure I just wanted CAKE!
(See how savvy kids are getting???)

So here is Caden's Red Velvet with Cream Cheese Icing ~ Go Dawgs! cake!
The Bulldog and G plaques are made from colored chocolate.

Hope you had a great birthday Caden!

Avery's Gift Cake

I've made cakes for Avery before.
She is a totally cute, totally talented young lady.
She needs to have a totally cute cake!

When her Mom contacted me for a cake this year and told me she wanted a "gift" cake and to incorporate pink and zebra stripes with a black bow.....I was ALL over it!

I've done gift cakes before, and I've done zebra stripes before.
BUT I've been itching for the chance to make an "open" gift with "tissue paper".
I LOVE it when I get the chance to venture into new cake territory.
And I love it when the birthday girl gets a giant smile on her face when I show up!

Happy 12th Birthday Avery!

Hershey's Chocolate Buttercream!

I really LOVE chocolate buttercream icing made with Hershey's cocoa. It is like getting a spoonful of sweet hot chocolate in cake form!

This is a vanilla almond sour cream cake with chocolate buttercream icing. It's a great combination of flavors. My car smelled delicious on the way to deliver it!

The birthday girl is turning 25 today. Her mom wanted to have a pink girly design with her daughter's monogram. And all topped off with a bow.

I love making fondant bows. Each one is unique. I added some curly cues to give this bow more depth and personality.

Happy Halloween

I am the official room mother for my oldest son's class this year. So I wanted to make the kiddos some treats to have at lunch today. The school doesn't have Halloween parties, but I can get away with a treat at lunch!

There were mummies.....

Pumpkins.....
Spider Webs.....
and......

My new favorite halloween item.....Candy Corn Cupcakes!

Halloween just keeps getting sweeter!

The kids all enjoyed and of course my son takes great pleasure in passing the cupcakes out at lunch.
Hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween!

Make Your Own Candy Corn!

When I saw a candy corn recipe (along with her totally cute pictures!)posted on Cakespy....
I knew I HAD to make my own!

It is really a pretty straight forward recipe, not a ton of ingredients and a short list of steps. Cutting each individual "kernel" can be a bit time consuming......but it was worth the effort. I thought I would share my tips on making candy corn in case you want to make your own!

Make sure you don't overcook!
I followed the recipe that says to bring to a boil and then lower to medium heat and cook for 5 minutes. (I had a candy thermometer and checked the ball stage and it went to a hard ball.)
I think my boil was too hot! Once I combined the ingredients and turned it out of the sauce pan to cool....I realized it was the wrong consistency.

So I made a second batch and this time I followed the candy thermometer instead of the clock. When it reached the soft ball stage I pulled it from the heat.You can see the difference in the candy.....soft ball on left ~ hard ball on right.
You don't want to play hard ball! Hee Hee
So I think it is worth it to pick up a candy thermometer if you don't have one. They aren't expensive and it can save you the guessing game and a second batch of candy!

Once the candy has cooled, divide into three equal parts and color with your choices. I used the familiar colors of white, orange and yellow. *But just think of the holiday options you have~ Christmas (red, green and white), Fourth of July (red, white and blue), Easter (pastels).....you get the idea!
I was even thinking of making some in our school colors!

Roll each color separately into their own rope then press them together side by side. I smoothed the top with my fingers. This will help the sections stick together. The candy should not be overly sticky but they will adhere to each other.
The bigger your ropes, the bigger your kernels.

Then taking a sharp knife, you want to cut alternating triangles out of your rope. So some will have white tops and yellow bottoms, while the others will have yellow tops with white bottoms. Once cut, I smoothed the edges a bit with my fingers.

See all the size options?

Click here for the link to the recipe at SeriousEats. And thanks for the idea Cakespy!