Cakes On The Side

New Year, New Sitch.

2012-01-15T11:22:00.003-05:00

Happy New Year baking buddies!

You may have (or may not have) noticed that I've been baking, blogging and posting less these days. I have not stopped baking all together. It's just that, well... 2011 brought on a lot of newness for me to which I am still adjusting. A new marriage, a new JOB, a new kitchen,a new situation.

The past couple years I have been working from home doing graphic design. This was a great set up. It allowed me much more time to bake, decorate and play in sugar all day. (- While working hard at my REAL job, of course.) Although it was great fun and I loved the connection it was allowing me to form with you... I was getting antsy for my next career move. I missed the daily socialization and hustle and bustle of it all. So I began to look around...

Meanwhile, I got married. (Hooray!) That was fun. Aside from all the obvious newness that a new marriage brings, it also brought me a smaller kitchen. My previous kitchen was very accomodating. Both in storage and counter space. Unfortunately, my current accommodations do not allow for such luxuries. We're living in the Short North which for you locals, you understand it's a FUN place. But we're paying for location. Not space. Bummer. It still works. It just involves much more strategic baking, as most of my tools are in storage. (Yea, it stinks.) Ah, city living!

Fast forward to a newly set up apartment. All boxes finally put away, I'm trying to imagine future baking scenarios. I get a call. "You have an interview. Today. In two hours.(With a very reputable company.)"

#$!@@!. Where did I put EVERYTHING??! A quick trip to target, Old Navy, my storage unit and suddenly I find myself sitting in a glass conference room in a very pretty, sleek office.(Cough, Cough, DC3, Cough, Cough)

I got the job. I got the job? I got the job! WOooo HOooo! That was a good day.

This brings me to present day. 2012. Since no longer working at home, I have tried to balance baking and work. It has been difficult. The luxury of flexibility is something I no longer have. For this reason, I want to let you know that I have to bake less. I've already come into a disappointing situation where I had to let a customer down and I don't want to do it again. So, I will have to be much more selective with the cakes I commit to. (For example, I have a wedding cake order coming up in June for which I will post pics and blog about.)

The good news (aside from the fact that I have a great new job, a great new husband and a happy home)? I also have a friend who is a PHENOMENAL baker and she's looking to expand herself. This is not the end but the first chapter. Stay tuned friends. You'll be meeting her very soon. :)

Until then, enjoy some personal highlights of mine from 2011.

Holiday Hot Tip 2 & 3: Last minute DIY!

2011-12-19T07:11:00.000-05:00

Can you believe it's the week before Christmas? Holy cow! If you're anything like me, this week you're scrambling... But still interested in doing everything as unique as creatively possible.

If that's the case, I've pulled together some great inspiration to share with you via Pinterest (@cfg86)...

Using scrapbooking paper to cut out the intials of the person receiving the gift is a great way to add color, texture, print and interest to your presents.

Stamping is a great thing to do all year around. You could stamp on images, or any message with various letters.

Every store always has so many bows, snowflakes and other fun, graphic shapes. This is a nice variation on the expected gift bow. (And, they can save it for next year!)

Another great idea: Cut outs. Either doilies or felt cut outs... I know I've passed by many shapes like this at the craft store that could be applied toward some nice gift-wrapping.

Ok, to those of you out there who are crafty, but nearly broke or just on a tight budget AND tight on time... this is truly the perfect gift. You can choose from a million cute (and cheap) plates and any Home Goods store and make it look like a million bucks.

If you're planning on making a plate purely for decoration, I'd use an acrylic paint pen (found at Joanns). If you expect it to get used, I'd use the porcelaine paint pen seen above. Found at Joanns or amazon.com.

I made this gifts a few years back for my parents. I did a series of plates and drew on each house they've lived in since they've been married. They are now hung on display in their kitchen.

Other ideas: Monogram, graphic print, bird, quote... whatever comes to mind. But it's a great gift for a small price.

And now for another great, quick Holiday Recipe:

Ingredients:

Brownies (by box or by hand - but it's the holidays, you're busy enough as it is... go for the box!)
A bag of white chocolate chips (exact amount is up to you and your preference.)
Peppermint sticks crushed OR crushed peppermint sprinkles (found at some grocery stores or at Joanns)

How to make:

Make your brownies. Meanwhile, soften or warm your white chocolate chips.
The second you bring them out of the oven, sprinkle your white chocolate chips over top of the brownies. The chocolate will quickly start to melt. Just spread around gently with a spatula.
Sprinkle crushed peppermint over top.
Let chill for a couple of hours before cutting up.

HAPPY

HOLIDAYS

EVERYONE!

Holiday Hot Tip 1: Apartment Decorating

2011-11-28T18:37:00.001-05:00

Is it just me, or did this year go by sooo quickly? It seems as though each year goes by even more quickly than the last. Well... my apartment is decorated, my shopping lists made... Now it's time to talk food and decorating tricks with you! This will be the first post I do in a series of Holiday food and DIY decorating tips, because I don't know about you but I love to (at least try to) dress to impress this time of year. -With everything from unique gift wrapping to 'Oh my gosh how did you ever have time to make this? Oh, it was nothing.' hors d'ourves.

Each post will include a good holiday party menu item, along with a unique DIY idea, leading up to New Years Eve. Up first on the menu... Decorating your place... Apartment style. 'What does that mean?' You ask... It means, temporary... do not alter the walls... leave no marks behind, decorating. My number one tool of choice when decorating an apartment is the staple gun.

This sucker will help you to hang anything with little to no evidence. It leaves only two, microscopic holes, goes into nearly surface and when paired with wire, is an unstoppable tool in any apartment. Here are five great ways to utilize a staple gun in decorating your place of temporary living:

Just loop wire through the small gaps left by the staples in the wall and twist-tie it in place. You could even use ribbon or fishing line, depending on the project.

And as for a recipe tip: for an alternative choice to the cookies and cheese logs, try salami crisps.

Photo courtesy goodtobegirl.com

They're unexpected, easy and they take just 40 minutes from beginning to end. It's a Giada De Laurentiis recipe. I'll admit, at first many party goers don't know what to make of this treat. But, after the first brave ones dive in, you'll notice the plate will empty quickly!

Ingredients:

24 (1/8-in. to 1/4 in.) slices Italian dry Genoa salami (about 4 oz.)
1/3 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil leaves

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°F

Line 2 heavy large baking sheets with aluminum foil. Arrange the salami in a single layer over the baking sheets. Bake until the salami slices are amber brown, watching closely to ensure they brown evenly, about 15 minutes. Transfer the salami crisps to a paper towel-lined baking sheet to absorb the excess oil. Set aside to cool.

Spoon a dollop of sour cream on top of each salami crisp. Sprinkle the basil over and serve.

Giada's Do-Ahead Tip: The salami crisps can be made 8 hours ahead. Store in airtight containers and keep at room temp.

Back in Action!

2011-10-29T12:03:00.002-04:00

Hey everyone!

It's been a while but I'm back and baking. Took the summer off, more or less. Between my wedding, moving, my weekend job at the golf course and my regular job, I had no time to bake! But, life has calmed down again and what better way to kick things back into action than with a beautiful fall wedding cake?!

Gina and Jake, you are such a sweet couple and I loved your color theme and design concept. Wishing you two the best!

A five tier cake with spacers, and fall leaves made of gum paste. Want to know a money saving tip for your cake?? Use dummy cakes for half of your display cake and keep sheet cakes in the back!

Interested in getting your hands on some of the products it took to make this cake?

The leaf molds I used for these leaves can be found here.

And, as for the color used on the leaves, I used CK Products dusting powders in combination with edible color food spray. Both of which you can find locally at Happy Hostess House, or online, here.

Happy Baking!

CG

Starving Artist?

2011-08-07T21:06:00.004-04:00

Okay.. okay... maybe I'm not quite starving... but I am definitely an artist and I thought I'd take a moment to tell you about it...

I'm a graphic designer by day and I work primarily from home (hence, the baking.) Although, in my heart I'm an illustrator above all else.

I am at a point in my life where I am looking for a change and perhaps through over-sharing by way of social media, you can help me get there.

Here, let me show you some of my work....

I'd love to take on new creative opportunities in the graphic design and illustrative fields. I'm on the hunt.

Interested in helping me find my way on this new venture? Let's chat! Post below or e-mail me: cathleenfgraves@gmail.com

Want to see more of my work? View my entire portfolio.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake

2011-07-23T00:41:00.002-04:00

Alright ladies and gents... I've returned from wedding bliss and am back in the kitchen! My apologies for the delay in posting this recipe. I may be back but I'm still catching up my To-Do list! Forgive me?

I stumbled upon this recipe long ago and now that I've recently realized I'm gluten-intolerant myself (which, by the way, is SUCH a bummer), I've brought it back out of the cupboard. I truly do LOVE this recipe. This cake is SO moist, it's like a brownie cake. You don't even need to frost it. But, if you do, I recommend frosting it lightly or pairing it with a fruit syrup or glaze.

So, try it out! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. :)

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Grease one 10 inch round cake pan and set aside.
In a small saucepan over medium heat combine the water, salt and sugar. Stir until completely dissolved and set aside.
Either in the top half of a double boiler or in a microwave oven melt the bittersweet chocolate. Pour the chocolate into the bowl of an electric mixer.
Cut the butter into pieces and beat the butter into the chocolate, 1 piece at a time. Beat in the hot sugar-water. Slowly beat in the eggs, one at a time.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Have a pan larger than the cake pan ready, put the cake pan in the larger pan and fill the pan with boiling water halfway up the sides of the cake pan.
Bake cake in the water bath at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) for 45 minutes. The center will still look wet. Chill cake overnight in the pan. To unmold, dip the bottom of the cake pan in hot water for 10 seconds and invert onto a serving plate.

Viola! A MEGA-MOIST, mega-chocolatey, gluten-free chocolate cake.

(For this cake, I topped it with chocolate genache and white chocolate shavings.)

It's A Jeep Thing

2011-04-21T21:53:00.000-04:00

Hey all!

This is my last post for a while before I go into wedding mode and into golf-season-beer-cart mode. (Aside from a wedding order in May). Before I take a little break I wanted to share with you pics from the latest creation to leave my kitchen.

A covered tire, Jeep cake! Double chocolate fudge style.
MMmm-Mmmm! Enjoy! :)

I won't be gone for long so don't stay away. I'll be back again, late May with a fun wedding cake photo update!

C.

How to Make a Cake Board

2011-04-18T16:09:00.002-04:00

A few weeks back, my TIP o' THE WEEK was to show you how to COVER your cake board. I guess I'm doing things a little out of order because this week I'm showing you how to MAKE a cake board!

Side note: Technically, I'm showing you how to make a cake drum (thick) with cake boards (thin). However, I don't often go for technicalities so I call everything a cake board. Sorry folks, that's just how I roll. (I'm also one of those people who refuses to order a Starbucks coffee using any of their fancy lingo. It's a Medium Soy Latte people... nothing more, nothing less.) But I digress...

SO, this is a GREAT tip if you need a cake board that is of a custom shape or size! I am showing you how to make it with standard 12" round boards, but once you know the skills, you can apply them however you'd like!

Ingredients:

3 Cake Boards (Thin, approx. 1/4") of any relative size/shape
Tape (This can be duct tape, masking tape... anything stronger than scotch tape)

Step One:

Apply the tape to the first cake board. (Enough so that it provides a solid hold)

Step Two:

Apply the second cake board on top of the first. I recommend arranging it so that the corrugation of the board goes in opposite directions. This gives your finished product more stability.

Step Three:

Repeat! Three boards layered together is sufficient, but if you'd like a thicker base for your cake... keep going!

Step Four: (Optional)

Tape up the sides. You can run tape along the side of the boards or you can do as I have done here, adding strips.

Honestly, you don't have to do this step. But sometimes I like to because it makes it easier when applying the ribbon edge when you are covering your cake board.

And Viola! You have a wonderfully unattractive but sturdy DIY cake board. Now you just have to cover it!

Handy Manny + Sock Monkey = Cake Love

2011-04-11T21:55:00.002-04:00

This weekend was a fun cake weekend for me. I got to practice my sculpting skills, got to get familiar with my tools - cartoon style and I got to watch a netflix marathon of chick flicks as I pulled another (nearly) all nighter creating these cakes. I don't know WHY I do that to myself... but it never fails. Cakes = LATE nights for me. I kind of like it because it brings me back to my art school days. Anyhoo... enough chit-chat. Check out the cakes from this past weekend!

Where it all began...

Getting there... (btdubs: these next two are a cell phone pics. Sorry they're terrible!)

Handy Manny Tool Box with cupcakes to boot!

In addition, there was this *adorable* one-year Sock Monkey birthday cake. I suppose I could have made a 3-D sock monkey cake, but as you can imagine... a one year old would not really be able to appreciate that. :)

Music Of The Night

2011-04-06T17:54:00.001-04:00

Ok, I've been on a bit of a break from the cake orders recently. But, I'm back! So, check out this Phantom of the Opera, Sweet 16 cake. Detailed pics and candle instructions included. Enjoy!

It's coming aloonngg......

The makings of a mysterious mask...

Candle Detail: Drippy old-school style candles, with ability to be lit.

Ingredients:

A) Wooden Dowels of appropriate thickness.

B) Standard candles of appropriate color (pre-burnt for old, runny-wax appearance)

C) Fondant of appropriate color

D) Tylose Powder added to Fondant for stiffness.

Step One: Add about a 1 1/2 Tsp. Tylose powder to a small ball of fondant. (This helps it to dry stiff, like gum paste.) Roll it out to the width you'd like, cut to the height you'd like.

Step Two: Stick Candle in one end. But not all the way, needs to have room to light.

Step Three: Stick wooden dowel in opposite end, until you feel it meet the candle. Make sure to leave enough extra exposed dowel to stick it in the cake!

Step Four: Enhance the candle by adding a touch of paint or extra fondant to make it look like dripping wax! Set aside and let them stiffen up. (At least a few hours.)

Impromtu Recipe Share

2011-04-04T21:03:00.001-04:00

Hi ladies and gents!

I have been on a big strawberry kick lately. I think it's because I'm hoping it will make summer come faster if I start eating them more. Anyways, I didn't set this up with the intention to share the recipe but it's so easy, I thought what the heck! So, below is a super quick recipe for Strawberry Buttercream. Originally found it on MyRecipes.com. Although I've tweaked it just slightly. It's dElish.

Hey, maybe if we ALL start eating more strawberries... it WILL help the warm weather to come faster! Maybe? ...Please?

Step One:
Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer 20 seconds or until fluffy.

Step Two:
Add powdered sugar and chopped strawberries, beating at low speed until creamy. (Add more sugar if frosting is too thin, or add strawberries if too thick.)

Step Three (Optional):
Add non-pareils on top of your frosting. Because they're adorable! Duhhh. ;)

PS: Yes, this recipe has been added to the Recipe Box for future reference.

How to cover a cake board

2011-04-03T18:54:00.001-04:00

For this week's TIP o' THE WEEK I thought I'd share with you steps to cover a cake board.

It's really easy, pretty quick and it only enhances your cake.

When you've spent a lot of time decorating a cake to look it's best, it can be a bit of a bummer to, at the end of it all, have it sit on a white/gold/silver generic cake board. So...dress it up! *Another great thing about this: you can turn it ANY color you want*

Step One: Using a hot glue gun, cover the sides of your board with ribbon.

Cut off the excess!

Step Two: Lather the board with vegetable shortening (or frosting) Make sure to put ample amount as some will automatically get absorbed into the fondant.

Step Three: Roll Fondant to size and cover the face of the board.

Step Four: Wipe down the board with vegetable shortening. This cleans the fondant and leaves it looking nice and polished.

TaDaa! The perfect base for your cake. So much better than the generic white that it was originally. And it only took a few minutes!

#DoGood

2011-03-30T14:17:00.003-04:00

It is the greatest of all mistakes to do nothing

because you can only do little -

do what you can.

– Sydney Smith

I recently came across a notice that read,

"Bakers Wanted. Looking for bakers who would like to bake cookies to donate to feed the homeless."

I am no Mother Teresa but every now and then I get this feeling like I'm so involved in my own little world. And little, it is. So... I jumped at this opportunity! But what to make? I assumed whomever would be receiving this probably comes across chocolate chip cookies and sugar cookies more than anything - if anything. Those are pretty standard. That said, I've been on a serious oatmeal kick lately. So... I made something that sounded good to me! (Hey - I said I was no Mother Teresa) So, here I have the recipe to share with you. I hope you enjoy these Oatmeal Raisin Toffee Cookies. Found on Allrecipes.com.

My only recommendation for this recipe: DOUBLE the amount of toffee. Other than that, they were DElish! (Not that I had very many, of course.) I truly hope that those who received them enjoyed them as much as I did!

Yields about 4 dozen cookies.

(I doubled it for my use.)

Step One:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets.

Step Two:

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar and white sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda and cinnamon; stir into the creamed mixture. Blend in the oatmeal and toffee bits. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheet.

Step Three:

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Lights, Camera, Action

2011-03-28T12:51:00.002-04:00

Lately, my parents have been allowing me to borrow their wonderful Nikon D5000. By lately I mean the past two months... and by borrow I mean I haven't given it back. It's just soo nice to not be documenting my baking with my 5 lb. camera from 1995. (That's an exaggeration but only slightly.) So, to celebrate my recent acquisition - temporary though it may be - I've decided to share with you some photos from my kitchen. Enjoy!

Respect the Kitchen Aid.

I don't want to give this camera back! Waaa!

Homemade Oatmeal Cream Pies

2011-03-13T23:42:00.006-04:00

Part One:

In the bowl of a mixer, cream together the butter and sugars. Beat in vanilla and the eggs, one at a time until well incorporated. Whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, cocoa powder, and oats. Beat into the cream mixture. Refrigerate cookie dough for 15 minutes.

Drop about 1 tbsp of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. The centers should still be slightly underdone when you remove them from the oven. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Spread about 1 tbsp of cream filling (recipe below) on the bottom of one cookie and then top with another cookie.

Part Two:

Cream together the shortening and marshmallow cream. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla, beat well. Thin with milk until you get the right consistency. The mixture should be thick and creamy, but easily spreadable.

Also, this recipe has been added to my Recipe Box if you ever want to refer to it in the future. The Recipe Box is a great little place for super yummy recipes I share through out my blog. You should take a look!

DIY Cake Stands

2011-03-12T11:56:00.001-05:00

Life On The Side: Artsy Note

2011-02-24T09:26:00.001-05:00

So, umm... I'm a designer? No, wait... I'm an artist. Nah.. I hate saying that. Ok, I'm artsy. Yup. That sounds about right. Well, now that that's settled, I want to share with you some other artsy stuff that I do.

Sometimes it may seem like I haven't made cakes in a while and it's not because I'm slacking! I'm simply creating other artsy things.

Here are some tidbits from my portfolio. I hope you enjoy them!

Cheers!

Word of Mouth

2011-02-21T13:41:00.002-05:00

This just in... word of mouth is the best kind of marketing.

So guess what I've finally added to my blog? A Testimonials page. (Check it out!)

That's right, folks. I want to encourage feedback from you. Via e-mail, text, phone... whatever. I am a big fan of (constructive) criticism and compliments. - Both only lead to better things. So, speak up everyone! Your voice is welcomed here.

Link Love

2011-02-17T09:53:00.001-05:00

I thought I'd share with you all some of my favorite stops both locally and online. These sites are a great inspiration to me for their beautiful and technical skill and/or fun products that make me want to make FUN things. I highly recommend you check out these people and places for yourselves!

If you're not a 'fancy' cake baker/decorator, I still encourage you to check out these links because you can still benefit from them. I promise!

The Caketress - A Toronto cake artist who creates such BEAUTIFUL and different cakes. She uses fashion and design as inspiration with is my FAVORITE. Love Love. :)
Cake Power - Cakes by Kate Sullivan. She is INCREDIBLE cake artist uses a lot of my othe favorite thing... Illustration. Her cakes are incredibly detailed and creative but also have a strong illustrative quality which I find fascinating.
Bakerella - Ok. Can I just say, she doesn't SELL the stuff she makes? She just does this for fun out of her house. But don't worry. Now she's making $$ because she put all of her awesome ideas in a book: Cake Pops: Tips, Tricks, and Recipes for More Than 40 Irresistible Mini Treats. She gives you GREAT baking ideas, even if you're not an advanced baker.
Cake Journal - Fabulous site for recipes, tutorials, photos. Great if you want to teach yourself some slightly more advanced tricks from their Tutorials section.
Happy Hostess House - This is my go-to Columbus cake/baking supply shop. It's out by the airport and it's wonderful. If you bake ANYTHING and you are in Cbus, you should go here. It's great because it's organized and helpful. I love Cake Craft Co. (the other CBUS supply shop) but it's not as organized/helpful... so this is my preferred stop.
Bake It Pretty - Again another wonderful spot to get supplies and inspire you, even if you're not an advanced baker/decorator. SUCH cute accessories for your baked goods, by the time you're finished using them, no one will know you're not 'advanced'.

Ok, now go! Browse away!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-13T23:56:00.002-05:00

Greetings Valentines!

I wanted to take this post and use it as an opportunity to share with you that I am now adding COOKIES to my COTS list of sellable goodies. All year around I am now excited to accept specialty cookie orders. These would be sugar cookies, cut and decorated for a special occasion. Sometimes a cake is too much for what you might be needing. And, when that is the case... COOKIES are just the ticket!

To get an idea of what kind of specialty cookies I'm talking about, check out pics from the Valentine's Day cookie special I was running... (It was $18/dozen + illustrated vday card)

So, tell your friends! Spread the word...

Will you be my Valentine?

2011-01-25T21:39:00.004-05:00

Valentines Day is coming up. If you are thinking of getting a treat for your plus one, for yourself, for your friends, roommates, co-workers, etc... get something you'll be sure they like... COOKIES! Because let's face it... (although I don't understand why...) not everyone likes chocolate.

I'm now taking orders! If you'd like me to take yours, contact me by phone (614.314.3628) or e-mail.

The order includes:

$18/12 assorted Valentines Day themed sugar cookies, frosted, decorated and boxed... along with a illustrated Valentines Day card (Illustrated by me!)

Happy Valentines Day, friends!

___________________

The Way Things Work

2011-01-21T00:43:00.004-05:00

Had a great meeting tonight with another local small-business owner: Jenny of Jenny Beck Photography. She is a fabulous and fun portrait photographer in Columbus and meeting with her was a breath of fresh air.

It's an interesting thing... operating a small business. Everyone does it differently and there never seems to be a clear answer on how to do it right - no matter how many books or blogs you read. I find it a cruel irony that creative minds usually have to be their own boss. All this business is getting me into a creative funk. But, it was nice to hear from a someone in a similar position. Trading book titles and blog links... how-to's and what-not-to-do's.

I'm curious to know about other small-business owners out there. Columbus or otherwise. Cakes or not cakes... how do you things? What are your questions? What's your advice?

My two tips are not cake-specific so hopefully you all may find them useful. They are two very resourceful books:

Crush It! By Gary Vaynerchuk

Pricing and Ethical Guidelines by the Graphic Artists Guild

If you are an illustrator or a graphic designer... the book on the right is ESPECIALLY helpful. I highly recommend.

So... now I thought I'd share with you more about my process, specifically. What to expect when your expecting a cake from me!

Step One: Contact me by phone (614.314.3628) or e-mail (cotscolumbus@gmail.com)

Step Two: Tell me what you want AND what you are willing to spend. (They don't always match up at first so it's my job to fix that!)

Step Three: Based on our conversation, I draw up sketches for different cake designs in various prices ranges.

Step Four: After you decide which option is best for you... I send you an order confirmation and before you know it, your finished cake is ready!

Ta-Daaa! So friends, now you know... This is the way I work. I hope it works for you.

___________________

Happy New Year!

2011-01-18T14:00:00.005-05:00

So far, I gotta say 2011 has been pretty good. I've got a couple cakes under my belt... a couple new orders in the works and I just finished a cross-country road trip. It was bad. ass.

Here's an interesting fact:

80% of Americans never leave their state.

WHAT? This is so sad! I had traveled previously... here and there. But, until last week... my knowledge of winter consisted of what Ohio has to offer (...laaamme). After driving through Colorado I realized... I might actually LIKE snow! (Z has yet to know this. I'm holding back from telling him about this realization because I know he will just freak out with "I told you so!"s and "I knew it!"s.

In one week, I was able to drive through the mountains of Colorado, see the red rocks in Utah, the palm trees in California, the desert of New Mexico and the flat lands that are (all of) Kansas. It was an amazing trip and I feel like it should be a requirement of all US Citizens to travel by car and see their country. It. Was. Awesome. Here are some pictures!

First stop: Amarillo Texas with Zach and his brother. We ate at The Big Texan. Zach wasn't feeling well, but it was still AMAZING food. The music was nice, too!

Next stop: NAMM Music Convention in Anaheim, CA. It was the reason for this trip in the first place.

Next: Vegas, baby. Zach won $80. I lost $20. No... I mean I literally LOST it. I wasn't even gambling. Ugh..that would happen to me...

The following pictures are all on the drive from Nevada to Colorado. This was one day of driving. So much to see!!

CO, baby!

Kansas. Eh... it was pretty. Just a hard pill to swallow... seeing the mountains disappear in the rear view mirror...

Now, I'm back in OH! Back to reality... It's grey here. Cold. Rainy. :( But this is where my people are, so whatchya goin' do?

Well... I know what I'm going to do: Bake cakes! Stay tuned, friends. Later this week I'll actually post about cakes. :)

___________________

Happy Holidays!

2010-12-16T18:35:00.004-05:00

__________________

Pictures, Cakes and The Easy Button

2010-11-10T21:25:00.002-05:00

See this?

This might as be what I had this week because I found my wedding dress. Remember when I was complaining because I had to start doing wedding-stuff? FOUR DAYS AGO? Yea. That was easy. Thank god. Moving on...

See this?

This is me sharing with you one of my favorite blogs. Stuff No One Told Me (But I Learned Anyways). I'm a picture person and a 'get to the point' person. So this blog of little life nuggets in visual form is right up my alley. It's witty and poignant. I highly recommend you make it one of your 'ugh-I'm-bored-I-need-a-brain-break' websites to browse.

And now for the cake photos...

A three tiered double-chocolate Dora cake for a 2 year old little girl. Her name is Adalia (isn't that a beautiful name??) Happy Birthday Adalia. I hope you enjoyed it! Here are some more detail shots of the cake. There were 3D characters, 'birthday' elements (i.e. gifts, balloons) and and flower accents. Along with hand-painted scenery. The terra-cotta color is to represent the path throughout Dora's exploration.

Dora

Boots

Swiper

Next up... What better cake to get for a 'crazy cat lady' (their words, not mine) than a cake covered in cats?? My favorite part is the ball of yarn spelling out her name. I just love that part.

This will be my last post for a while ladies and gents. I'll be taking a trip to England soon and have no baking plans before that. That is, unless you order your Pumpkin Spice Cheesecakes from me for Thanksgiving!! If you don't, then I won't!

Ciao.

____________________

Cookies and Cakes and Pies - Oh My!

2010-11-07T09:21:00.004-05:00

Hi friends,

It's currently 8:56 a.m. but it feels like 9:56 a.m. so I'm a little perkier than usual. Thank you Daylight Savings.

So, there is a lot going on in the COTS kitchen. Firstly, I'm now down to only two jobs. So I have more time for baking. YAY! My other job was seasonal (I am a bev. cart girl at a golf course). It feels SO nice to have a little bit more free time. I was starting to get pretty worn out.

Secondly, now that I do in fact, have more time, I have to plan my wedding. (Did I mention I'm getting married in June?) So actually, I take back what I said about how it feels so nice to have some free time. I'm not sure which is worse: working three jobs or working two and planning a wedding. Who actually LIKES to do this? Blah. Not me. I mean, I've planned (and can throw) an awesome party in my day, but a WEDDING? So, not my idea of fun. I told my Fiance* I wanted to just 'show up'. He said that role was reserved for him. Figures.

*side note: I think Fiance is a hideous word. To use such a french and fancy word when referring to Z just feels stupid, but whatevs.

Anyhoo, so to further dilute this whole 'planning' situation I thought I'd share with everyone what all is for SALE in the coming Holiday season. SO many great things!!

There are the SUPER cute, hand-made COTS cupcake wrappers for FALL. If you are in charge of desserts for Thanksgiving you could just make (or buy) cupcakes and put these on them to dress them up! They would be great with muffins too.

They are for sale at the COTS Etsy shop, here.

Then, there are the Pumpkin Spice Cheesecakes which I make every Thanksgiving and they're always REALLY popular. I'm actually proud to say that my PS Cheesecakes have become a Thanksgiving Staple at some families homes.

They're 45 dollars worth of Heaven in a slice. Normally, I'd say you have until Thanksgiving day to pick up your order. However, this year I'll be jet-setting off to Europe for Thanksgiving so you only have until the 18th. If you want one for your family's thanksgiving drop me a line ASAP to let me know. E-mail me at cotscolumbus@gmail.com.

Last but certainly not least... CHRISTMAS COOKIES!!

Each year, I make:

sugar cookies
peppermint bark brownies (which are TO-DIE for)
chocolate covered graham crackers.

For a personal gift idea, a holiday mug filled with packaged sugar cookies are great.

Another option is to get a box of an assortment for a work party or other holiday gathering.

Last year I didn't promote these early enough so I ended up not selling as many and eating way more than I should have. So please, help a girl out. Buy them from me so I don't eat them. I have to start getting fit, remember?? :P

Again, to place an order for any of these or if you just want to say hello, you can e-mail me, Cathleen at cotscolumbus@gmail.com!

Life Update: Part II

2010-11-01T11:32:00.002-04:00

Hope everyone had a fun Halloween! I'd love to see pictures or hear about your fun costumes. The future hubs (Z) and I went as matching Tetris pieces.

You know how each year you see someone in a costume that just seems completely obtrusive and obnoxious? Well this year, it was US! (Z liked it though because it boxed him in and gave him an excuse to talk to less people!)

Halloween is one of my FAVORITE times of year. Unfortunately though, this year... I barely saw it coming! It came up so fast! I had to get all my 'halloween' in, in one day...

Saturday was my first free day in ages. So, what did I do? Made myself SUPER busy of course! I have a problem - really...

Not only did I have to make the costumes above but I also decided to make cake pops for the first time. I wanted to bring out my inner Bakerella. I took a note from Bakerella's Trick or Treat Pops and made some Mummies. I had a family-fun halloween event to be at later that day so I thought these would be the PERFECT treat to bring. Check out the pictures!

I took them to a party with a bunch of kids and no one touched the cake pops for a while - everyone thought they were lollipops! All it took was one curious little girl to bite into one and realize... it was CAKE! The mummies didn't last long after that. I actually watched as one kid was begging his mom for a cake pop. She finally realized he had been calling her name for a solid two minutes, turned around, said "yes - go ahead" and the little boy literally jumped up and down and clapped his hands. It was awesome. Thanks Bakerella for the great idea!

In other recent news: my (super-cute and totally-awesome) nephew turned ONE! Whoo-Hoo! So, I made him a cake - naturally. Leading up to his birthday, I'd been imaging some kind of REALLY elaborate cake. I mean, he is MY nephew. His cake has to be the BEST. After having a conversation with his (very logical) parents however, the decision was made to just give him Cheerios. That's all a one-year old wants (and it's not like he's even going to remember it, yada-yada-yada... buzz-kills!)

Apparently my nephew has had only ONE goal in recent weeks and that is to stick his whole hand into a BIG BOWL of cheerios. (His mom and dad only give him a few at a time and he's too cool for that). So, for his first cake EVER, I didn't just give him cheerios. I gave my nephew exactly what he's been wanting...

A cake that is a big bowl of cheerios! He immediately put his hand right in it! (YESSSS!)

It really only had cheerios on top that were sitting in royal icing. The rest was cake. But it was a hit!

Happy Birthday little Will.I.Am!!

Love you!!

Have some awesome halloween photos?? Share your costume and fun treats with other COTS fans by posting a link to your photos below!

Life Update: Part I

2010-10-28T22:36:00.004-04:00

Hi long lost cake lovers,

It's me, your horrible-blogger, cake-baking friend. Remember me? I've been crazy busy and too un-motivated to blog about it. But lucky for you, tonight it's just me, an InStyle magazine and some halloween shows so I have time to catch up with you.

For starters, I've decided to start also including you on my non-cake related moments. It is after all my side gig and I suppose, you can't very well appreciate that if I never talk about the non-side things.

Backing up a few weeks, I wanted to share with you pictures from the Columbus Half Marathon!

My fiance and I ran it (however, not together). It was my second time running it and his first. He only ran it because I bet him he couldn't. Unfortunately, I lost a lot of money and an opportunity for Engagement Photos, but you can read more about our bet here.

It was a fun challenge to do with my future hubs so even though I lost the bet, I'm super proud of him and his now seriously injured knee... and his fat wallet (note to self: I should start suggesting we go out to dinner and 'forgetting' my wallet.)

Another reason this particular weekend was a success? Between my brother, my sister, my brother-in-law, my fiance and myself, my family ran approx. 104 miles. We're a running family. It's nice. Go us!

What else happened around this time?? Well, I made a cakes of course...

There was a first birthday celebration for a (future-rock-star, dinosaur-loving) cute little boy. When he and his mom came to pick up the cake, he leaned in to hug me and wouldn't let go! [The mom:] "Do you want to hold him? He's a hugger." [Me:] "Sure :) " [Thinking to myself:] Um, yes! Hello, I'm a girl aren't I?? It was such a cute moment. Here was the cake for the super cute birthday boy:

There was also this pretty wedding cake. 3 tier square cake. A chic, bright salmon color with a pearl-dusted bow.

Honestly, this was my first time making this kind of bow. I'm pretty pleased with the finished product. If you happen to be brainstorming wedding cakes, I vote for a twist on the traditional. Maybe don't make the cake white; maybe don't make it symmetrical. It can still have a clean, formal look to fit with the vibe of your wedding! And it will be a nice visual element. Little changes to the traditional white cake and add a big impact to your reception!

Ok, well I'll leave you with that for now. The Real Housewives are on. (Remember that part where I said, 'Hello? I'm a girl, aren't I?') Well, judge away because I'm watching it. But speaking of Halloween shows, these women and their plastic faces? Very. Scary. When they laugh, they look a little something like this:

Happy Halloween, friends. Eat treats...

Reviews And Such

2010-09-20T22:32:00.006-04:00

Hello cake lovers. This is a non-baking related post. I have no cake pictures to share with you (although... I have lots of baking I can't wait to do!!) It is a personal request... I want to know how you are liking your cakes/cupcakes/goodies?? ~~I don't want to suck~~, I want to do well after all.

I've been teaching myself. This entire 'business' (As a dyslexic, former art student, I still struggle to call it that) is a growing, learning experience. With your help, COTS can only get better - for everyone.

So, all of you who have received, tasted or been a part of a Cakes On The Side cake, let me know what you thought! Feel free to comment here, or on the COTS facebook page.

Haven't been a part of a COTS cake, but have something to say? Please share it! What would you like to see?

So come on! Give me the good, the bad and the ugly. (Although I really hope there has been no bad or ugly... but I can handle it if you think there was!)

Thanks friends,

C.

TBDBITL

2010-09-11T21:57:00.002-04:00

It's time to party it up here in C-bus. Everyone in this town bleeds scarlet and gray. (Well, not me... but I can support your team-spirit with lot of sugar!). Whether you want some cupcakes, some brownie bites or a custom all-out-buckeye-themed cake... I'm your girl.

Send me an e-mail about what you have in mind and together, we will have The Best Damn Bakes In The Land. ;)

National Cupcake Week: Sept. 13-19

2010-09-07T22:17:00.002-04:00

Next week is National Cupcake Week! I will be doing daily deliveries of cupcake orders!

Get yourself some yummy cupcakes! Place your order now.

Call me the liquor lady

2010-09-06T19:30:00.004-04:00

So, I make a lot of beer/liquor cakes, in case you haven't heard. Want to see the latest? Here is a 3-D PBR beer can, simplified in it's detail just a bit, but personalized for the Devin, the birthday boy.

The label is hand painted on with edible food color gel. The "Pabst Blue Ribbon" lettering is piped on with a very fine tip. The level of detail on every beer or liquor bottle I've done has been dependent upon the client's budget. This cake was only about seven inches tall, maybe four inches around.

Want to see some more variations on how you can get a booze-inspired cake? Here are some photos from the Alcohol-Themed cake gallery (yes, there is a whole gallery dedicated to my booze-themed treats)...

A beer bottle label hand painted on a standard cake shape.

A partial 3-D bottle, laying flat against a cake board.

A full 3-D bottle. (This one is almost 2 ft. tall!)

.:RECIPE O' THE MONTH ... Now FOR SALE!

2010-09-05T00:00:00.009-04:00

Oh. My. God. You all NEED to buy these buckeye brownies, simply to save me from eating them all myself. A.MAZING.

I chose a peanut-butter-y, chocolate-y recipe this month in honor of the Ohio State Buckeyes because I do live in Columbus, and Columbus does go bazeerk in the fall for the O-H-I-O.

I was trying to channel the (edible) buckeye flavor in a non-buckeye form, so I searched for an awesome pb brownie recipe and dipped them in a candied chocolate. They are BETTER than any buckeye, they are more like a Reeses/Buckeye Brownie blend.

Wanna see some pics??

The candied chocolate is actually different from a regular chocolate coating. At first, I tried dipping these in chocolate genache, thinking to myself "This is going to be amazing!". Wrong. The chocolate genache didn't harden like I wanted, and it tasted too... bittersweet. So, instead I tried actual 'Candied Chocolate' at my local grocery store which I've never used before. Wasn't sure what the difference would be, but it does in fact closely resemble the chocolate coating of a candy bar. (Lesson of the day: There's a distinct, appreciated difference between candied chocolate coating and reg. melted chocolate.)

.:RECIPE:.

(Serves ~16)

Ingredients

1/2 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup margarine, softened
2/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 lb. Candied Chocolate (Found at local grocery in the baking isle).

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C ). Grease a 9x9 inch baking pan.
In a medium bowl, cream together peanut butter and margarine. Gradually blend in the brown sugar, white sugar, eggs, and vanilla; mix until fluffy. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into the peanut butter mixture until well blended.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in preheated oven, or until the top springs back when touched. Cool, and cut into 16 squares.
ONCE COOLED, cut the brownies into bite-size pieces. Melt the candied chocolate according to directions.
Dip brownies completely in candied chocolate (a small but deep bowl is best). Set on cooling rack to dry. **NOTE: Put something below cooling rack to collect chocolate drips. Reheat chocolate as needed to keep working with it.
Dipped brownies set in approx. 20 minutes

Another note: I've also decided to start selling my Recipe-Of-The-Month sweets! Every month, I will have a non-cake item that is equally delicious, packaged and ready for you. I figure that if I'm going to bake anyway, why not share the love??

These Buckeye Brownies are now selling $15/dozen. They come in a combination of painted Block O's and striped red and white. Set in the containers above and wrapped for preservation. You can pick them up, unwrap them and they're ready to serve!

Want a larger order more Buckeye Sweet Treats??

Just Drop me a line !

These would be an AWESOME addition to any football gathering. Much better than traditional buckeyes anyway.

Want to view the full recipe?? Expect it tomorrow in the Recipe Box!

Look who's on Etsy now...

2010-08-31T00:07:00.004-04:00

Wow guys, it's been a while. I've just been doing some baking bits here and there and I haven't felt like I have had enough to blog about... until now.

I'm psyched to announce, that the CUPCAKE KITS have landed.

That's right friends, Cakes On The Side now has it's own store on Etsy, where you can now purchase your own DIY Cupcake Decorating Kits.

Everyone likes to have festive baked goods at some point or another but unfortunately, not everyone has time to create them! SO, with the help of my wonderfully talented, paper-diva friend, we came up with these starter decorating kits. They are such a easy, cute way to make a big impact for a party.

For more information and more photos, stop by the COTS Etsy shop and take a look around. Give me your feedback - I always like to hear ways what is or isn't working.

.:RECIPE o' THE MONTH:.

2010-08-07T13:30:00.002-04:00

So sorry to get this out a little late this month! I've been busy! Four orders in one week last week and an Engagement the week before. :) That's enough to keep a girl runnin' around! Finally this week I had some down time and it felt similar to vacation. I barely knew what to do with myself! So, I began baking... naturally.

Last month I purchased the infamous and amazing book,
Whoopie Pies...

It's so perfect, I love it. As some of you may know, I also do illustration so the STYLE of the book is right up my alley with it's cute "hand written", illustrative elements. Finally this week I got to crack it open and pick a recipe for the first time... what to make... what to make...??

I always go straight for the chocolate/carmel/toffee recipe so in an effort to branch out (slightly), I opted for the Tiramisu Whoopie Pie Recipe. Mmmm MMmmm! It really did taste JUST like a tiramisu! How fun!

My *only* issues with this recipe was that the whoopie pies say to bake only ONE cookie sheet at a time and they take 15 minutes to bake. That's so inefficient! I followed it exactly however in hopes to not screw anything up my first go-around. But I ended up baking off like 35 whoopie pies and only 6 or so fit comfortably on one cookie sheet. So - this by far was the slowest part of the process.

Also, this recipe calls for salted carmel, made from scratch... which I have never done... it tasted great and I'm still proud of my accomplishments, however - it's end texture was that of a taffy so it was a little hard to just bite into the whoopie pie.

Also - I'm sorry but these photos are all from my phone camera! My 'real' camera was out of batteries. sad face.

So, enough of my notes now here are some pics and the recipe. Enjoy!!

TIRAMISU WHOOPIE PIES

Preheat oven to 375º. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

.:INGREDIENTS:.

Marbled Whoopie (a.k.a.1 Vanilla Whoopie Pie Recipe and 1 Chocolate Whoopie Pie Recipe swirled together)
Tiramisu Cream Filling (doubled)
Salted Carmel Slather
Dusted edges with cocoa powder

VANILLA WHOOPIE PIE RECIPE

.:INGREDIENTS:.

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
4 Tbs. unsalted butter - room temp.
4 Tbs. vegetable shortening
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (packed) brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 Tbs milk
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. white vinegar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

.:PUT IT ALL TOGETHER NOW:.

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt - set aside
In a mixing bowl, beat together butter, shortening and both sugars until light and creamy (about 3 mins.)
Add eggs and buttermilk to butter/sugar mix, beat until creamed.
In a measuring cup, combine milk, baking soda and vinegar.
Add milk mixture to the batter along with flour mixture and beat on low until just combined.
Add the vanilla and beat on medium until combined (about 2 mins.)
Set aside in seperate bowl. Wait to mix with chocolate whoopie pie recipe.

CHOCOLATE WHOOPIE PIE RECIPE

.:INGREDIENTS:.

1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
4 Tbs. unsalted butter - room temp.
4 Tbs. vegetable shortening
1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup milk

.:PUT IT ALL TOGETHER NOW:.

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside
In a mixing bowl, beat together butter, shortening and brown sugar on low until combined.
Increase speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla. Beat another 2 minutes.
Add half the flour mixture and half of the milk to the sugar/butter mixture. Beat until just combined.
Add the remaining flour and milk. Beat until completely combined.

NOW COMBINE THE CHOCOLATE AND VANILLA RECIPES!

Swirl together the chocolate and vanilla recipes - but do not thoroughly blend!
Using a spoon or a 2 Tbs. ice cream scoop, drop batter onto parchment sheets roughly two inches apart. *They will spread to be about 4 inches wide!*
Bake one sheet at a time, on a rack in the center of the oven, for 15 minutes. (Insert image of me impatiently tapping my foot...)
Remove, let cool for 5 minutes before transferring them.

.:TIRAMISU CREAM FILLING:.

.: INGREDIENTS:.

6 cups confectioners' sugar
1 cup mascarpone cheese - room temp.
1 stick unsalted butter - room temp
2 Tbs. espresso or strong brewed coffee, or 1 tsp. instant espresso powder
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tsp. rum

.: PUT IT ALL TOGETHER NOW:.

In a mixing bowl, beat together the mascarpone cheese and butter.
Add sugar, beat on low until combined. Then beat on medium. Beat until light and fluffy (about 3 mins.)
Add espresso, vanilla and rum. Beat until combined

SALTED CARMEL

.:INGREDIENTS:.

1 cup sugar
4 Tbs. water
4 Tbs. heavy whipping cream
Coarse sea salt

.:PUT IT ALL TOGETHER NOW:.

Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves, swirling the sauce pan gently (do not stir).
Allow mixture to darken to a deep amber color (about 5 mins.)
Remove from heat, whisk in whipping cream. Be careful - the cream will sputter and bubble when added. Whisk until blended, then let cool (about 10 minutes).
Add sea salt

FINAL ASSEMBLY!

First comes the whoopie,

then comes tiramisu cream.

Then comes the carmel,

to make a salty and sweet team!

(There was no pretty way to put on the carmel. If you know of one, please... let me know)

And Viola! Jumbo Tiramisu Whoopie Pies!

One big pearly white...

2010-07-28T19:27:00.002-04:00

I love making cakes because honestly... most orders are so random. ... BUT FUN!... Take this big tooth cake for instance. If your co-workers get this when you switch jobs, you KNOW you are loved...

Up next in the line up... a train set and a beer bottle... stay tuned!

Good Ol' Fashion Wedding Cake

2010-07-26T22:53:00.002-04:00

This past weekend I had the pleasure of making the wedding cake for a beautiful friend of mine (Congratulations, Lyndsey!) For anyone familiar with the Columbus location of the Darby House, that was the venue for their wedding and I thought it was JUST beautiful. It was such a classic, elegant location and I think their cake fit in just perfectly!

What do you think??
From concept...

To reality...

An ivory powdered sugar vanilla frosting (same recipe from my recipe box!)with chocolate and vanilla cake. You can never fail with a good ol' fashion cake like this.

One note about this cake:

It turned out as well as it did, all thanks to SugarEd Production dvds! I'm self-taught with this whole 'cake thing' and I've never taken any classes. When I came across these instructional videos from SugarEd Productions, I was hesitant to buy them. I wasn't sure if these basic dvds would be worth the money. But they were! Especially for those of you who have been teaching yourself. They really helped me to be much more accurate and efficient with this cake. I highly recommend checking SugarEd out!

Cake Fail Friday!

2010-07-23T08:09:00.001-04:00

Courtesy of Cakewrecks.com, this is why Fortune Tellers should not become bakers...

TGIF!

Cake Competition!

2010-07-20T22:30:00.001-04:00

I came across this cake competition from hanging around Bakerella's site... this looks like such a great idea so I wanted to share it with you guys. Check it out!

THREADCAKES COMPETITION

Threadcakes is an online cake competition by Chris Cardinal and Threadless.com where you can turn your favorite Threadless T-shirt design into cake. Go crazy and get creative. What’s Threadless you say? Just about the most awesome online t-shirt community where you can buy shirts or even submit your own design for evaluation. Threadless will also be giving sweet prizes (to be announced soon)!

Deadline to enter: August 16th
Get all the details: Threadcakes
See the submissions so far: Threadcakes Gallery

Check out this t-shirt from the gallery (this was one of my favorites!)...

Here is the cake that was created from this design...

So cool, right?? Have you ever submitted a cake or dessert into a contest? How was it? I'd like to know...

Cake Fail Friday!

2010-07-16T10:00:00.001-04:00

I can't believe it's Friday already! Well, as usual I was perusing the Cakewrecks website to find a gem to share with you. Lucky for you, I found this one, because it's hilarious. Take a look...

Does anyone else catch the irony of the situation??

.:RECIPE o' THE MONTH:.

2010-07-05T23:19:00.005-04:00

Happy July, all!

I hope you guys had an awesome weekend. Lots of sun, explosives, drinks and sweets??

Well, this weekend I made a brand new cake recipe I'd never heard of. It was for my sister's birthday and it was by her request. (Happy Birthday, Megan!)

Ever heard of a Ricotta Cake?? (Yes, like the cheese...) Well, there is nothing my sister loves more than CHEESE so, I guess this cake was the perfect one for her! But, before I just go giving it all away, I must first introduce you to...

The Underbaker and The Sweet Pounder

Every cake should have a 'topper'. These are my family's...

Each summer on every cake served at our family's lake house, these two go head to head in the candle lit ring of the frosted cake arena.

The Underbaker is the long-time raining champ, as he as survived through several serious burns over the years!

Hehehe... I just wanted to share with you a little piece of my family's summer tradition before going on about this great new recipe!

It started years ago as part of a joke and now they are essentials to any cake at my house. Cakes should always taste great, but add a little humor and fun to the mix (literally), and you'll always pull off a great cake!

Now... about that CAKE. Here is the Ricotta Cake recipe I mentioned. All I have to say about is... don't knock it before you try it. It's REALLY good!!

RICOTTA CAKE
Recipe courtesy of Connie Dean (Thanks for sharing, Connie!)

.:INGREDIENTS:.

1 box white cake mix
1 1/2 lb. ricotta cheese

2 eggs

1/2 c. sugar

1/4 c. milk

2 tsp. vanilla

.:PUT IT ALL TOGETHER:.

Mix cake as directed on package. In separate bowl, mix cheese, eggs, sugar, milk, and vanilla. Pour cake mixture in 9 X 13 greased baking dish. Spoon ricotta cheese mixture on top of uncooked cake batter, and spread evenly. Bake one hour at 350 degrees. When cooked, let cool, sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve!

(It ends up tasting very nice, moist and sweet but not over-powering. It had a flan-like texture to the top of the cake. I definitely recommend it! It's great for the summer especially!)

Cake Fail Friday! God Bless the U.S.A.

2010-07-02T09:26:00.001-04:00

AMERICA!

You know how we do it. Stickin' our flag on anything we can. Like, say... this "Gone Fishin'" cake for instance.

Hey, a plastic flag and some blue and red star sprinkles makes everything better, right?

Happy July 4th everyone!

Cake-Fail Friday!

2010-06-25T08:58:00.000-04:00

Courtesy of cakewrecks as usual... bringing you the not-so-pretty cakes that are out there, every Friday.

"Who needs third base?"

Sweet Treats For Father's Day

2010-06-18T08:46:00.002-04:00

Check out these awesome treats from Eleni's New York bakery. As pointed out by Amy Atlas, Eleni's bakery does cookies like no one else can. Check out their site to see more of their work!