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 ... :)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

stunning, as always, love. i'm constantly and consistently impressed. :-)

Anonymous said...

Thank you very much for the lovely carrot cake at the twin's party...It was YUMMY...I'm sure that all the "grating" paid off!

Kristen said...

You are so very welcome! I am thrilled to hear that everyone loved the cake :) The grating is *always* worth it!!!

andrea said...

Kristen, I am AMAZED by you!!