Dinosaurs!

This past weekend I got to make a cake for an adorable little dinosaur loving girl! Claire was turning 4, and she knew exactly what she wanted. A yellow cake with a purple triceratops (her all time favorite dinosaur)

The cake was my favorite flavor combo, chocolate cake with cream cheese icing. It always gets compliments even from people who aren't sure about cream cheese icing at first.

Seriously, how cute is she?!
Happy Birthday Claire, I hope you had a great day!

Hook 'em Horns!

I can't believe I've lived in Austin almost two years, and this is the first UT cake I've done! It is chocolate and strawberry cake layers with fresh strawberries and cream cheese filling. I got an e mail last week about a family in need of help to cover extreme medical expenses. I was happy to be able to donate a cake to help them raise the much needed money. I really hope whoever bids on it enjoys it as much as I enjoyed making it!

Sunny Days......

To celebrate these adorable twins' first birthday they had a Sesame Street themed party. I made a large Vanilla Cake with Strawberry Filling and Vanilla Buttercream and two "smash" cakes in the shape of Cookie Monster and Elmo.

Madeline liked the cookie the most!

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

A beautiful little girl in our playgroup was turning 3, and we were invited to her Mickey Mouse Clubhouse birthday party to celebrate with her. The cake I made was rich chocolate cake layered with cherry filling and vanilla buttercream icing YUM! Happy Birthday Kenzie!

Oh Baby!

My neighbor is about to have a new grandbaby, and for her daughter in law's shower they were going with a modern look to match the invitations. This was a fun cake to make, and I really love the color scheme they picked! The cake was Italian Cream cake (buttermilk cake with pecans and coconut) with Raspberry filling and cream cheese icing. What a delicious combo!

Fiesta

My son's school had their annual fundraiser this past week and the theme was Fiesta! I donated a spread of desserts including chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese, raspberry buttercream and vanilla icings, key lime cupcakes with cream cheese icing, chocolate peanut butter truffle pops, red velvet cake truffles, and lemon cream truffles. It was a fun event for a great school!

Chocolate Cupcakes with chocolate butterfly wings and Vanilla Buttercream

Key Lime Pie Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing

Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Cream Cheese Icing

Cake Truffles

Buttermilk Cake, homemade Lemon Curd and Whipped Cream covered in white chocolate

Milk Chocolate covered Peanut Butter Truffle Pops

Birthdays

I have been lucky enough to have made wonderful friends here in Austin. One friend in particular has been spreading the word about my dinners and cakes like wildfire. I have gotten so many referrals from her and I truly appreciate it. Becca, you're the best!! So when she called with a last minute request I was more than happy to help. It was for her friend's birthday and she requested a chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream and she asked for blue and pink to be incorporated into the design. To be sure it didn't look like a baby shower cake I went with fuchsia gum paste flowers that I painted with gold luster dust and a modern looking blue and white ribbon at the base.

Easter Weekend

Last weekend was full of fun. We had family in town visiting for Easter, Saturday was my birthday and I got to choose exactly what kind of cake I wanted. I went with a yellow butter cake with homemade lemon curd and raspberries in the middle layer with a raspberry cream cheese icing. It was delicious and perfect for spring! If you have never tried lemon curd before give it a try. The name doesn't do it justice, it's absolutely delicious!

Bunnies and Babies

It has been a busy week around here! I hosted our neighborhood bunco and decided to do an Easter-y dessert. At Michaels a couple weeks ago I saw these adorable eddible bunnies, and just had to get them. They went perfectly on these peanut butter cream cheese truffles with a white chocolate bottom and milk chocolate top. They were perfectly bite sized to eat while we played.
Today my mom's group got together for a baby shower playdate. Knowing that our friend is having a girl I went with a pink raspberry cream cheese buttercream on my favorite chocolate cake. My favorite flavor combo is chocolate and raspberries, and these were divine! Good luck Erin, we can't wait to meet our newest "sprout"!!

Mango, Avocado and Black Bean Salsa

Mango used to be one of the things on my "I wont eat it" list along with pears, organ meats and Spam. For some reason I thought I hated them and now I'm wondering why I ever thought that. Luckily on a Mexican cruise with the husband a few years ago I got a mango margarita and it was absolutely delicious. I guess if you mix anything with enough tequila it will make it taste great right?


Mango, Avocado and Black Bean Salsa

I love the sweet and salty combo of this. Guajillo chili powder is pretty spicy, so if you don't like too much heat you can omit it or use your favorite milder chili powder.

1 large clove garlic, minced
1/4 c cilantro
1/4 c lime juice
1/8 c olive oil
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp guajillo chili powder
black pepper to taste
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 mango, peeled and diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/4 c minced red onion

2 avocados, diced

Whisk together garlic, cilantro, lime juice, olive oil, salt, cumin, chili powder and pepper in a large bowl. Add black beans, mango, bell pepper and onion and toss until coated with the dressing. Cover and chill at least 30 minutes. when ready to serve add avocado being sure not to over stir and break up the avocado pieces. Serve with chips, on tacos or as a topping for grilled meat or fish.

50th Wedding Anniversary

A couple of weeks ago I was asked to do a cake for a couple that was celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. I was so happy to be able to do it, and it was fun to do an adult cake for a change. The cake was Italian Cream Cake with Cream Cheese icing. Italian Cream cakes can be a rather heavy cake sometimes but the recipe I used really lightened it by dividing the egg whites and beating them to stiff peaks and then folding that into the buttermilk cake batter with toasted pecans and coconut. I was so happy with the flavor of this cake mixed with the rich cream cheese icing. The 50 topper was found at Michael's and I handmade the carnations with white gumpaste and painted the tips with gold luster dust to give it a really pretty gold shine.