Birthdays, Christmas, and Cookies

Whew. It's been a really, really busy week. I've been baking pretty much non-stop since Sunday afternoon. Dog biscuits on Sunday (my dog *loves* them, and I've heard that a few other doggies do too! Who doesn't like peanut butter flavored treats?!), 3 kinds of cookies on Monday, and 8 cakes between Tuesday and now. I am SO ready for a nap! This is going to be a really long post, just to warn everyone!

Starting with the birthday cake that my friend Jenni made for me (thanks SO much Jenni!!!):


The cake was 2 layers of chocolate with a layer of vanilla cake in between, chocolate raspberry ganache filling, chocolate buttercream, and fondant roses and leaves. Yum! Check out her blog, All Things Jenni - she makes some really great cakes, tarts, sushi, etc!

Holiday Cakes:

Carrot cake with cream cheese icing and fondant bow:


Chocolate cake with buttercream icing and fondant bow:



I unfortunately don't have a picture of the cake I made for my family's Christmas dinner, but it was a white cake with chocolate filling and frosting, dusted with confectioner's sugar. It had a really nice texture and flavor.

Birthday Cakes:

Chocolate barbie princess cake, with buttercream frosting, fondant dress, and gum paste flowers:



The following present cakes are for a 1st birthday party for twin girls. The tiered carrot cake is for the adults, and the 2 chocolate cakes for the birthday girls!

2-tiered carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and fondant bow and flowers (the lighting is a little off on these 2 ... the frosting isn't quite as yellowy. I need a better place to take pictures!):


Top view:


Side view:


Chocolate cake with buttercream frosting and fondant bow and flowers:


Side view:


Chocolate cake with buttercream frosting and fondant bow and flowers:


Side view:


Fondant flowers drying:


Bow loops drying:


Cookies
A small break from cakes! I sent a bunch of these to California with my boyfriend. I hear they are pretty delicious :)

Chocolate espresso snowcaps, ready for the oven:


Chocolate espresso snowcaps, ready to eat!


Snickerdoodles:


Chocolate chip cookies, ready for the oven:


Chocolate chip cookies, ready to eat!


My kitchen is finally starting to look "normal" again ... The amount of powdered sugar, butter, chocolate, and many other ingredients that I have gone through this week is simply astounding. I even tried my hand at making my own fondant, which was surprisingly not all that hard. Takes some practice to get the consistency right I think (mine was a little bit on the dry side), but it'll be really nice to be able to make chocolate fondant and other yummy flavors.

On a sad note, my trusty Cuisinart handmixer died this week. I was making buttercream in a metal bowl, and pushed down a little too hard - one of the beaters jammed against the bottom of the bowl. So sad. So, I've been using my Kitchenaid much more this week. I am learning what speed to beat/mix/etc - it's taking a little time. Might be just about time to invest in a second mixer bowl, and a grater attachment (let me tell you...hand grating 6 cups of carrots with the little teeny holes of my grater isn't exactly easy!).

After a nap this afternoon, I'm going to plan what's next. I just can't seem to leave my oven off for too long ... :)