Happy Valentine's Day

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Need some inspiration for a sweet treat for that special someone in your life?? Here are a few great treats that are sure to make your sweetheart swoon!

1.Chocolate Valentino Cake The name says it all! This rich decadent flourless chocolate cake will have your sweetie falling at your feet...end you don't have to tell them how easy it is to make!
2. Strawberry Panna Cotta  So pretty and delicious...the perfect end to a romantic dinner.
3.Brown Sugar Fruit Dip...perfect paired with ripe strawberries....or anything else you want to dip. Use you imagination!...umm I was thinking like pineapple or grapes...what were you thinking??? wink wink
4.Knock-off Salted Chocolate Caramel Candies  Made with store bought caramel squares, these take only a few minutes to make but will have your Valentine begging for more!
5. Pink Champagne Cake It's cake made with Champagne...what's not to love!
6. Chocolate Espresso Mousse Richly chocolate but light and fluffy. Definitely swoon inducing!
(from left to right)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Ruffle Heart Cake {tutorial}

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Looking to surprise your Valentine with a special treat this year? I've got the perfect  Valentine's Day cake. This Ruffle Heart cake is fairly easy and oh so sweet! 

Here's what you'll need:

1 iced cake, any size ( you can make one or buy a basic cake from the bakery, any flavor)

1 cup buttercream frosting, tinted hot pink

1 pastry bag fitted with Wilton's rose tip #104

waxed paper, about a 5 inch wide piece

For the fondant heart banner:

8-10 inches bakers twine

1 small heart cutter (1/2 inch)

1 medium heart cutter (1 inch)

small bit of hot pink fondant

small bit of red fondant

two bamboo skewers

Draw a heart on the waxed with a marker that's approximately 3-inches tall for a four inch tall cake. Place the frosting in the pastry bag fitted with the #104 tip, Starting in the center of the heart shape on the waxed paper with the larger end of the tip touching the waxed paper, pip a small round ruffle shape. You will need to turn the waxed paper as you pip. Use a cake turntable if you have one but it isn't necessary to use a turntable if you don't own one. Then pip ruffled rows on each side of the center to until you fill out to the outline of the heart. Make sure your rows from each side meet at the bottom. Using a rounded container that is laying on it's side, place the piped heart on the waxed paper onto round container vertically. You can use any large rounded container such as, an oatmeal or shortening container, soup cans are too small. (see photo above). The curve of the container will allow the heart to set up with a slight curve that will make it easier to adhere to the curve of the cake.  Place the heart on the container into the freezer for 20-30 minutes or until completely firm to the touch.

Put a dot of frosting onto the side of the cake, where you want to place the heart. Gently lift the buttercream heart from the waxed paper and place onto the side of the cake where you put the dot of frosting. I put the heart onto the cake and placed the piece of waxed paper back over it to press it onto the cake. I wanted to minimize the warmth of my hand from warming up the buttercream and crushing any of the ruffles as I pressed the heart on the cake.

To make the heart banner:
Roll out the pink and red fondant to about 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out 4 small hearts from the red and two medium hearts from the pink fondant. Lay one of the pink hearts with a red heart on each side, leave about two inches of space between each of the heart. Place the twine across the middle of each of the hearts. very lightly press the twine onto the heart.  Place the remaining matching hearts on top of their mate. Press together the hearts, trapping the twine in between. If your hearts don't want to stick together, use a tiny drop of water on one of the hearts to help glue on the matching heart on top. Let the fondant dry for at least 24 hours. Tie the ends of the twine very tightly onto bamboo skewers to make the banner.

To add a little extra sparkle,I added a bit of food safe disco dust to my center heart.

Place the skewers on the banner on the top of the cake.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Pink Champagne Cake

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Happy New Year!! Ok I know I'm really just a tiny bit late to the party, but I brought a pink Champagne cake. Hopefully this will make up for my tardiness in posting!!
I recently came across a recipe for this cake and have been dying to make it ever since. I was putting together a cake tasting for a bride this week and thought this cake would be a perfect for a wedding. Everything about this cake just screams celebration!

This would be a great cake for any celebration...perfect for Valentine's day!!

Here are just a couple of my thoughts on this cake. If you don't like the taste of Champagne/sparkling wine, you probably won't like the cake. It has two cups of champagne in it and it has a distinct champagne flavor. I thought it tasted a bit like a Zabaglione, which is one of my favorite desserts. Also, you need to use a sweet, not a dry (brut) Champagne or sparkling wine. It doesn't necessarily have to be a pink champagne but it should be more sweet than dry. I used a sparkling Rose for this cake.
Once again, you really can taste the flavor of the Champagne, so buy one that would be good enough to drink.

Royal Icing or Glaze Icing?

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Happy Valentine's Day!

I've been swamped making dozens of these conversation heart cookies. One of my friends asked for a glaze type icing instead of royal icing. The rest of the cookies I made were done with royal icing. This was the first time I had done an actual side-by-side comparison of the two. So I thought I'd break down a few of my pros and cons for each. I've had my issues with royal icing in the past but we have learned to play nice with each other. (lots of practice helps!) Glaze icing is super simple to make and for the novice decorator, can be a little less frustrating than royal icing. Both are great options for making cute delicious cookies.

Pros for glaze icing:
1. you can make a huge batch of icing in about 2 minutes with just a bowl and a spoon
2. it's easy to get the right flooding consistency.
3. it stays really shiny when dry
4. doesn't dry hard, like royal icing, but hard enough to stack and bag
Cons:
1. the flooded cookies are more likely to overflow the outline
2. it's sticky, like really sticky, to work with
3. it doesn't work well for more intricate designs because it doesn't hold its shape well
4. lots of air bubbles unless it sits for a long time after mixing, even then lots of air bubbles.

Here is the glaze icing recipe I used for these cookies.

Glaze iced cookies: Shiny, but less perfect looking (writing is royal icing)

Pros for royal icing:
1. holds it's shape when piped
2. if you have the right consistency in the icing, it's easier than glaze to achieve a "perfect" looking cookie
3.It's very versatile, can be used to decorate cookies, on cakes, as glue for fondant pieces, thinned out to cover cake boards...
4. dries hard
Cons:
1.I call it finicky, because you have to be very precise when you make it. Too little or too much of anything really changes the icing and how it looks when it's dry.
2. dries matte (which isn't always a con, I liked the less shiny look better for these heart cookies)
3. getting the right flood consistency can be tricky (again lots of practice)

Royal icing cookies

A couple of tips for royal icing that have helped me:

Finding the right recipe. This one from Antonia74 is amazing, if you follow her recipe exactly. This is the only way I make my royal icing now but if you have a recipe you like then stick with it.
Weigh your sugar, unless you can be certain that you can measure it exactly the same every time. This simple step has made all the difference for me when making royal icing.
Don't over-mix the icing. Don't mix at too high of a speed. This prevents cracking and really cuts down on air bubbles.

Mostly relax and have fun, it's just a cookie!

So there you have it, my take on royal icing verses glaze. Both are a great option for decorating cookies. What is your favorite icing for decorating cookies?? I'd love hear any tips you want to share as well!
Happy decorating!

DIY chocolate heart decorations

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These decorations are super simple and don't require any special skills or equipment to make. If you can draw a heart shape then you've pretty much got the skill set needed to make these chocolate hearts. Use them as cupcake toppers or to decorate a cake. They're so cute they'll make you look like a decorating superstar!

What you'll need:

Candy melts, (any colors you want) can be found in the cake decorating section of Wal-Mart or any major craft store.

Wax paper or parchment paper

zip top baggies, or if you want you can use pipping bags and tips but they aren't necessary to make the hearts.

How To:


Place a piece of the wax paper or parchment paper onto a cookie sheet..

Put approximately 1/2 cup of candy melts into the zip top baggie. Melt them in the microwave for 30 seconds.

Knead the bag and heat them for 15-20 seconds until melted.

Push the melted chocolate toward one corner of the baggie. Cut a very small tip from one corner of the baggie.

Fold the top of the bag over and squeeze as you draw some heart shapes onto the wax paper.

If you think you need a pattern, or want them to all to be exactly the same size, you can print out some hearts on paper and place the paper under your wax paper to use as a guide. Alternately, you could trace around some small cookie cutters onto parchment paper, flip the paper over and follow the pattern.

I like to do them freehand. I like making different sizes and shapes.

Get as fancy as you like. Fill in the hearts completely, make curlicues, whatever! Any mistakes are easily to get rid of, just pop it in your mouth and mistake...gone!

Let the chocolate candy heart set up for 30 minutes to an hour. They should be dry enough to pick up easily. If they stick a bit, carefully slide a spatula or off-set decorating spatula under the hearts to lift them up. Try not to handle the hearts too much. The warmth from your hand softens the chocolate and can make them break.

White Chocolate Strawberry and Lime Cheesecake Bars

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Want to be a hero at your next gathering? Make these cheesecake bars. The combo of lime, strawberry, and white chocolate is outstanding. The bars are creamy, slightly tart, really really good, oh, and super easy to make. You don't even have to turn on the oven. Feel free to keep that info to yourself and just bask in the praise and adoration from the lucky recipients of these bars.  Big pay off for minimal effort...pretty perfect!

White Chocolate Strawberry and Lime Cheesecake Bars

printable recipe

For the filling:
6 ounces high-quality white chocolate, chopped
3/4 cup chilled whipping cream
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
Zest of 2 small limes
1 cup thinly sliced strawberries

For the crust:

1-1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter, melted

Method:
Line 8x8x2-inch square baking pan with foil, extending over all sides. Mix all the crust ingredients together. Press firmly into the prepared pan. Chill for about 15 minutes in the freezer or 1 hour in the refrigerator.

Place the white chocolate into a microwave safe bowl. Put your bowl in the microwave and heat for about 1 minute. Stir. (Your chocolate will not look melted until you stir it.) If still lumpy, heat in 15-30 second intervals until it stirs smooth and creamy. Do not overheat or chocolate will burn and be unusable. Set aside while you make the filling.

Beat whipping cream in medium bowl until peaks form, set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add in the sugar, lime juice, and lime peel, beat until smooth. Beat in the melted white chocolate. Fold in whipped cream in 2 additions. Gently fold in the sliced strawberries. Spread the mixture onto the prepared graham cracker crust. Smooth the top with an off-set spatula or knife. Chill until filling is slightly firm, at least 2 hours. Using the foil, lift cheesecake out of pan. Cut into 9 pieces for large bars. Garnish with chocolate curls and sliced strawberries, if desired.

These cheesecake bars would make the perfect Valentine's dinner dessert!

Happy Valentine's Day

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I've been up to my elbows in flour and frosting baking cupcakes for Valentine's Day and just wanted to wish you all a Happy Valentine's Day!