Christmas Eve Cupcakes and Treats for Santa

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas! I've spent the past few days enjoying the fact that I had absolutely nothing to do for the first time in about a month or more, and so I'm just now getting around to posting pictures from the cupcake order I had, as well as the treats that my cousins and I made to leave for Santa.

About a year ago, I made two cakes for a lady who works with my mom and has twin boys, and both of them wanted to have their own birthday cakes, of course. For Christmas Eve, she wanted to get her sons some cupcakes to wake up with on Christmas morning... but they didn't last that long! Mom said when she delivered them, they each had one! She wanted six Santa hat cupcakes and six Cookie Monster cupcakes. I decided to make the cookies be gingerbread men heads instead of chocolate chip, just to add a bit of festivity :)

On Christmas Eve, the Brascho family always attends the Candle Lighting service at church, then comes back to our house to have chili, potato soup, and grilled cheese. I have a lot of cousins, so this year I had the idea of getting all of the kids together in one place to decorate cookies and cupcakes to leave for Santa so that the adults could relax a little bit.

My cousin Blake turned out to be quite the little artist. He even made his own Cookie Monster cupcake!

All in all, this was a great Christmas. I can't wait for next year when we get to do it all over again :)

Graduation and Birthday Cakes

This past week has been crazy! Christmas shopping, baking cakes, getting my car fixed, family Christmases... I haven't had a lot of time to bake lately (seems like I say this every time I make a post) but I did have a cake order this past week for my brother's girlfriend, Lauren. She graduated from the University of Montevallo last Friday, and her birthday was last Saturday, so I made two cakes for her!

This is the graduation cake, obviously. Her school's colors are purple and yellow-gold.

For her birthday cake, she wanted me to make something that was purple and yellow pastel colors to kind of match the school colors, and this is what I came up with after looking for ideas for designs around the internet. It's really one of my favorite cakes that I have made so far, and I'm quite proud of it! :)

Today is Christmas Eve, and we'll be doing lots of cooking for Santa tonight, so hopefully I can post more later! Have a very Merry Christmas!

Skillet "Lasagna"

This post goes along with my momma's birthday, as well. Mom usually cooks each of our favorite meals on our birthdays, and so for her birthday, I decided to let her request a dish for me to make for her. A few weeks ago, I made a homemade lasagna in a skillet, a recipe that I found on foodnetwork.com, and it was veeeery yummy. We had the idea of changing up the same recipe by using a different type of pasta that we had bought at TJ Maxx in the imported foods section. Straight from Italy, the best kind! Ahh... I want to go back just so I can buy some more pasta, olive oil, and truffles. But, until then, TJ Maxx will have to do!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup EVOO

4 cloves garlic, sliced

1 1/2 pounds ripe tomatoes, or one can of diced tomatoes

4 Tbsp chopped fresh basil

salt and freshly ground pepper

1 cup ricotta cheese

1 large egg

2 Tbsp parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish

1 lb pasta, cooked and drained, OR about 8 sheets of no-bake lasagna noodles

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

1 lb cooked ground turkey meat

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic slices and cook for about one minute. Add the tomatoes, 1 Tbsp of basil, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until saucy, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and transfer to a food processor and puree until smooth.

Mix together the ricotta, parmesan, the egg, salt and pepper to taste, and the remaining basil.

Place one cup of the marinara in the bottom of the large skillet and put the skillet on low heat. Form a layer of noodles over the sauce, then a layer of the cooked ground turkey meat. Add a layer of ricotta cheese and a handful of mozzarella cheese. Repeat the layers until all ingredients have been used. On the top layer, put only marinara, mozzarella, and parmesan cheese. Place the lid on the skillet, and cook for 15-20 minutes, until all cheese is melted, ensuring that the bottom does not burn. Remove from heat and serve with yummy bread! :D

NOTE: I would advice that you double the sauce for this recipe. This was the second time I have made this recipe, and both times I have ran out of marinara before all of the other ingredients and had to revert to using Ragu to finish the rest. This marinara really is delicious, and makes this dish 1,000,000,000 times better, and Ragu just cannot compare!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Yesterday was my momma's birthday! She loves carrot cake, so I decided to surprise her with a homemade batch of carrot cake cupcakes with her other favorite- cream cheese frosting. I found this recipe, and it is an old Betty Crocker. It actually made more cupcakes than I had expected, so I ended up with 16 instead of the 12 I was aiming for! Not that that is a bad thing...

Carrot Cake Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup pecans, chopped

2 cups grated carrots

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

Carrot Cake Directions:

Preheat your oven at 375 degrees. Prepare about 16 cupcake papers in a tin. Combine the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, flour, and cinnamon in a bowl. Add the eggs and vegetable oil, and mix until the ingredients are just combined. Fold in the carrots and pecans. Fill papers 2/3 full, and bake for about 18 minutes.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

Blend 1/2 stick of softened, unsalted butter, 8 ounces of softened cream cheese, 1 pound of confectioner's sugar, and 2 tsp vanilla. Ice cupcakes and top with additional chopped pecans.

Momma loved them, but next time I think I will either use more of the cake batter or less of the grated carrots because I like for it to have a bit more of a spice to it with the cinnamon cake flavor and less of the carroty flavor.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOMMA!

This Week in Cupcakes

This week has been interesting, to say the least. I have been preparing for finals so much, which are still a week away, while also trying to balance my orders along with them. I don't have any cake or cupcake orders this week, and I'm actually glad for a break, despite the fact that I won't have any money.

This week started out with a Spanish test and these Chanel cupcakes for a friend who was looking to surprise her roommate on her birthday. This was my first time doing these kind of cupcakes, and I was quite happy with how they turned out. Perfect for any fashionista ;)

After that, I spent all day Wednesday in the library on campus writing my English research paper on A Streetcar Named Desire, which I made a 97 on, yay! I also got rear-ended on Thursday morning, boo :( Right on my brand new shiny bumper. But I made these camo cupcakes, which made me feel a little better. That, and a long nap. Basically you make these the same exact way at the Rainbow Cupcakes, just using various shades of green and brown.

I also added a bright neon orange to the mix. On top are chocolate crunch sprinkles, which are very yummy.

Lastly, I made these Christmas cupcakes for a Christmas party in Atlanta. They have almond flavor in them instead of vanilla, which tasted so yummy, in my opinion :)

So, I probably won't be posting for a little while due to finals. Hopefully the next time you hear from me I will be stress-free and well-rested!

Thanksgiving Turkey Cupcakes

It's Thanksgiving! That means lots of food, family, and football :) My grandmother asked me to make some cupcakes for our late lunch tomorrow, and I thought that cupcakes decorated like turkeys would be perfect!

Cake Ingredients:

1 French vanilla box cake mix

1 (3.4 oz) package of Pumpkin Spice Jello pudding

1 1/4 cup water

1/3 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 35o degrees. Line a muffin tin with 24 cupcake papers. Blend all ingredients with a mixer for about 2 minutes on medium-high speed. Fill cupcake papers 2/3 full and bake for 15-18 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes, then allow to fully cool on a cooling rack.

Chocolate Buttercream Icing: (I doubled the recipe for 24 cupcakes, but that was really too much. Maybe one and a half batches next time)

1 cup vegetable shortening

1 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa, or 3 (1 oz) squares of melted unsweetened chocolate

4 cups confectioners' sugar

3-5 Tablespoons milk or heavy whipping cream

Directions:

Cream the shortening for about 2 minutes. Add chocolate or cocoa and blend thoroughly. Add vanilla. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar, pausing occasionally to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add milk or heavy whipping cream and continue beating for about 30 seconds. If you want a more spreadable consistency, add more milk, one tablespoon at a time.

After the cupcakes have cooled and the icing had been made, you are ready to decorate. You will need a pastry bag, candy corn, and pearl white dragees. Using the pastry bag, swirl a layer of frosting on top of each cupcake. On the outer edge of each cupcake, make a small mound of frosting.

Stick 5 candy corn, white end down, on the opposite edge of the cupcake, and place one on the front of the mounds of frosting for the turkey's beak. Place two of the white dragees above the candy corn beak, and voila! Turkey time!

I hope the kids will love these. I know my daddy will ;) Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! God Bless!

THE Banana Nut Bread

Daddy has been begging for me to make some homemade banana nut bread ever since we bought bananas earlier this week. He intentionally let the bananas sit and slowly turn spotty in an effort to encourage me. So, finally, today I gave in and made some. This is a really good recipe that I got from Food Network about a year ago, and it's our favorite one to use. I've tweaked it a few times to include chocolate chips, and that turns out wonderful, as well. Also, these can very easily be made into muffins. Just reduced the time that you cook them to about 20-25 minutes.

Ingredients:

4 ripe bananas

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup melted butter, cooled to room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring

2 eggs

2 cups self-rising flour

1 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven at 350 degrees, and spray a tube pan with cooking oil. In your electric mixer or with a handheld mixer, whip together two of the bananas and the sugar for about 3 or 4 minutes. You'll want a light and fluffy mixture. Mash together the remaining two bananas in a small bowl, making sure to leave a few little chunks for some texture.

2. Add the melted butter, eggs, and vanilla flavoring in with the whipped banana mixture. Mix until all of the ingredients are incorporated. Add all of the flour and mix until just incorporated. Otherwise you won't like this recipe very much :)

3. Using a spatula, mix in the pecans and mashed bananas. Pour into the greased pan and cook for 45 minutes.

My family LOVES this recipe, and we have used it numerous times. I even gave a speech last semester on how to make this bread. My advice: try it. You will love it :)

What I've Been Up To...

So, it has been a little while since my last post. It's been such an eventful week! I seem to be drowning in my pile of papers and tests for school lately. But I'll fill you in on what I've done in the past week and a half.

First, the Air Force cake for a going away party that I mentioned in my last post. I delivered it last Friday, and they really liked it! However, I had pneumonia last week, so I was kind of exhausted when I was making it.

I did ask my mom to bring home some surgical masks from work, though, so that I wouldn't get my ooze all over the cake when I was decorating it. Practice safe cake decorating, y'all!

Then, I had an idea for Santa Hat cupcakes, and I just had to test them out. I think they're simple and cute :)

Well, that was last week! I'm getting ready to post a couple more posts with recipes, so stay tuned!

Raspberry Cheesecake Cupcakes

Daniel's friend, Kelsey, celebrated her 19th birthday last Friday, and it's kind of a fact that I will now bake cupcakes for his friends on their birthdays. For her birthday, she wanted something with raspberries and white chocolate, so I decided that raspberry cheesecake cupcakes would be perfect.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups crushed chocolate graham cracker crumbs

5 Tbsp butter, melted

2 (8 oz.) packages of cream cheese

3/4 cup sugar

4 eggs

2 Tbsp self-rising flour

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

frozen raspberries, thawed

1 oz. block of white chocolate

1. Preheat your oven at 350 degrees. Line a cupcake tin with about 16 cupcake papers. Mix together the graham cracker crumbs and the melted butter. Fill the bottom of each cupcake paper with 1 Tbsp of the mixture, then pack down tightly with clean hands.

2. In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese and the sugar until well blended. Add the eggs one at a time until incorporated, then add the flour. Lastly, blend in the vanilla extract. Fill the cupcake papers with the cheesecake batter, then place about 4 or 5 thawed raspberries into the batter.

3. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the tops are slightly golden. Refrigerate for 2 hours, then shave off curls of the white chocolate on top of each cupcake.

YUM!

Dive Flag Cake and Cookies

It's been a few days since my last post. School is pretty stressful this week, so I probably won't have time to cook much this week, either. But I do want to share what I was up to last week.

I had a cake order from a girl on Facebook whose boyfriend likes to go scuba diving, and so she asked me to bake him a small cake representing the dive flag, along with matching peanut butter cookies. In between the two layers of chocolate cake, I put a chocolate ganache frosting and chopped pieces of Snickers candy bars. I really wish I would have baked a small version of this cake for myself :(

And this is what the finished product looked like. I ran out of room to put his name on the cake, so I sculpted a scuba man out of fondant and stuck him in some "water" surrounding the edges of the flag.

A close-up of Scuba Craig, my first ever sculpted person for a cake.

The matching peanut butter cookies decorated with Royal icing.

So, that was this week's cake/cookie order! Stay tuned for this week's order, an Air Force symbol cake.

Pizza Roll

I saw these over at Taste Buds, and I decided that I absolutely had to try them out for tonight's dinner!

First, preheat your oven at 425 degrees. Then, roll out a tube of refrigerated pizza dough on a floured surface.

Brush with a little bit of olive oil and add cheese and toppings, but no sauce. I chose to do two pizza rolls, one with bacon and slices of mushroom, and one with turkey pepperoni. Make sure to leave about an inch of dough on all four sides.

Start rolling the dough towards you with one of the shortest sides. Place on a baking sheet with the seam side down, and tuck the dough on the sides underneath the roll. Brush more olive oil on top, sprinkle with salt and dried oregano.

Bake for 20 minutes, then remove from your oven and sprinkle the tops of each roll with grated Parmesan cheese. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before slicing.

Bacon and mushroom with mozzarella cheese.

Turkey pepperoni and mozzarella cheese.

These are definitely a new favorite with my family. They are so easy to make, and very, VERY yummy! I totally suggest that you try them, as well!