Where I started.

 My very first decorating job was at Cashwise Bakery in Waite Park, MN. Honestly, this seems like forever ago. I can't even remember exactly when I started there, but I do know I learned a lot. Above is one of the first cakes I ever did.

Back by popular demand!

Even though I am not "baking" doesn't mean I should not be updating, right? Truth is, I am baking, just not in my own kitchen.
Here is a little recap of my summer:

The reveal

Well, here it is! The actual finished result. The pictures may make it seem like it was an easy task, but it required some changes and decision making.

Irish Car Bombs

I have never been one to shy away from adding booze to my baked goods. So when I was looking for a fun cupcake recipe, these stood out immediately. Have you ever had an Irish Car Bomb? I have not, but if it tastes anything like these cupcakes, I would be in trouble.

Tres Leches

Has anyone ever sampled this cake before? Up until last week I had never even really heard of it. However, I was set to do a stage at a restaurant where this was one of their main desserts, so I wanted to take a crack at it to see what I was up against. Oh PS It means, "3 milks". Clearly I need to learn Spanish.

More birthday delicious-ness!

Birthday cupcakes! I helped celebrate the birthday of one of my oldest friends yesterday, the big 2-6! I couldn't think of a better dessert to bring than champagne cupcakes.

A little thing called Swiss Meringue Buttercream...

Everyone, I have a confession to make; I am in love. Do you see that cake up there? The one with the shiny smooth frosting...it has won me over. Swiss Meringue Buttercream (SMB as most bloggers call it) is totally going to change the way I bake from now on.

Fruit Tart

There is a reason I look so happy in this picture. Fruit tart may just be one of my favorite desserts. I can never get sick of it or eat too much of it. Trust me, I have tried. You may recall that I am making it a goal to bake something at least once a week. My blog is sick of being abandoned and I am sick of not baking! So to kick start this week, I baked dessert for a dinner party last night. 

I missed a birthday!!

Someone turned one while I was away! Happy 1st birthday to this little blog of mine. Apparently people really do "celebrate" this, so don't judge me. I feel awful that I haven't visited in so long! I honestly can't believe it has been over a year since I nervously typed out my first post in here.

Hello out there!

I'm back, finally! I hope all of my readers are well (if there are any still out there!). Things have been pretty hectic for me, which does not make up for my lack of updating. However, the things I have been baking have all been repeats and I don't want to bore you. =]

Andes Mint Cupcakes

First off, I hope you all had an amazing Thanksgiving! I was put into a food coma and ready for bed at about 7pm last night, so mine was a success. =]
I am really excited to share these cupcakes. I was invited to a cupcake exchange party last weekend and was thrilled to have the chance at making these.

ITSA ME MAAARRRIOOOO

 

Another birthday cake! I would have put a picture of my bestest friend holding his cake, but I am sick of seeing boys taking up so much space on my blog. Where's the love ladies? It's cool. I get it. So, my very best friend turned the big 2-6 on November 1st. I know. Totally not cool enough to be born on Halloween. hahaha. Since I have begun to get semi-decent at this whole cake decorating things, I have been ever so excited to make Tim's cake. Why? Because he has pretty much the coolest job ever. He works at Game Informer. So he gets his hands on all the latest and greatest games and gets to rub it in our less fortunate faces. "Oh you don't have the new Mario for 3Ds?? I do...look how cool it is!! muahahahaha" Yeah, that is Tim. =] But seriously, go check him out here for a chance to pick his brain about video games.
Ok, where was I?

26th Birthday Cake

It took me quite sometime to come up with this idea. Now that I am officially a decorator, I couldn't just use the easy way out like the last two birthdays...Bylerys cake the first year (gross and expensive) and a Cold Stone ice cream cake last year (good but WAY expensive). Josh likes a lot of stuff, however, most of if it pretty detailed and things that I would have to do with edible images and not out of frosting. Boring. Aqua Teen Hunger Force is a show on AdultSwim that he really likes, so that was that.

Na na na na na nana ananana BATMAN

Yup, Batman cupcakes. A few months ago, my brothers best friend had a birthday. Since i don't live in Minneapolis anymore, I promised him that the next time I was back, I would make him cupcakes. That happened to be this past weekend. I asked him what kind he would like, and to my surprise, he picked something pretty simple and basic: vanilla cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Of course there was something different he wanted on them...Batman. As simple as these cupcakes sounded, I did have a bit of a hard time with them.

Baileys chocolate chip cupcakes with Baileys buttercream

Well it has been a few weeks at least since I have updated ! I baked these cupcakes for our Labor Day weekend outing. My family + significant others are going to a resort "up north" which as of last year is a new family tradition. This year we decided to do a "tasting menu" on one of the nights, so everyone is responsible for a dish. I, of course, got the dessert course. What a perfect opportunity to try out these Baileys Irish Cream chocolate chip cupcakes with buttercream frosting!

Work and class update

Well last night I finished up the 2nd Wilton course at a local craft store. I made about 40 RI roses and did a basket weave on the sides of the cake.

I was much happier with how my final cake for the first course turned out, but this one was ok too.

I honestly was a little burnt out yesterday, so I didn't really come up with a great idea for the final cake. I did get a lot of rose practice in and I am getting a lot more comfortable doing them.
So that is the class update...no more Wilton classes until September.

WORK!

Oh man, I am just in love with my decorating job it is not even funny. Since I started I had just been icing cakes and doing boarders on them, until today. Today I got to do my first flower cakes (which are a big deal because they are more expensive and popular)

This one with roses

These were just drop flowers, but I really liked the color combination!

I thought this one was just really fun. The flower in the middle, which I didn't make, was gum paste.

I think they are slowly going to have me start doing orders and continue to do flower cakes as well. I have so much creative freedom this job, I just need to be confident and go with it =]
I hope to have an actual baking update soon, but this past week has just been crazy with work and other things!

Have a great week everyone =]

Macaroons re-visited

We all remember my last macaroon attempt, right? Or should I say my pink cookie making... yikes. Ever since I attempted my last batch, I have been wanting to try these little buggers again. A twitter friend of mine, Michelle @kissedbysweets, suggested we try them together and hopefully get positive results. However, when she attempted hers, the humidity here in MN was ridiculously high so I had to wait to do mine. After seeing how great hers looked, I was even more nervous to try them again. Although, I did feel like I figured out what went wrong last time.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Those of you who are fans of my blog on facebook (which I would love if you would take the second to "like"!) have already seen the breast cancer cupcake toppers that I did. Last night I finally made the cupcakes that the toppers would go on.

Spur of the moment cake!

I know, great picture.

Aaaand I'm back! Finally after broken promises I am happy to say I have found my card reader and am back and ready to go! =] I have to admit, I have missed my blog so much, but I have missed baking even more. I was definitely in a bit of a rut which lead me to stay out of the kitchen for some crazy reason, especially when baking makes me so crazy happy! Anyways enough about me, how have you all been? So my first post back was supposed to be mini chocolate strawberry buttercream cupcakes...but I have realized that NONE of the pictures turned out.

See? Pretty awful

To be honest, the cupcakes were nothing special, so we will just pretend those never happened. The cake I am going to post about was a total spur of the moment. Our friends had invited us over this afternoon, and instead of leaving right away, I had to bake them a cake first!

Crossing my fingers!

I I know I promised a new post, but I of course have misplaced my memory card reader! So it will have to wait a bit longer.

Something that is exciting though, I have a potential cake decorating job! Cashwise called me in for an interview on Tuesday. So I will go in and decorate a cake and if I do well enough, I will get the job. I am so excited for this, and I think it will be the perfect place for me to start. Also the experience I would gain from this position would be so so great! So this weekend I am going to continue practicing piping, especially my writing.

I have a really good feeling about the job, but I am still keeping my fingers crossed. The manager kept saying how much she loves my enthusiasm about the position, so that has to be a good sign!

The shell boarders were something I had struggled with, but I think I have figured them out after much practice Thursday night!

I will keep you all updated and will post again as soon as I find my card reader =]
Have a great weekend everyone!