Of Import. And Cake. And Chocolate.

Hello ladies and gents. This post may be slightly depressing and whining, so turn back now or continue and never look back! You've been warned. 

I suppose I've been whiney a lot lately. I've been very stressed about my home based bakery (among other things). I barely make any money and I have a difficult time keeping repeat customers. Since I do everything from home and there's no high demand for my business, I have to buy my ingredients for the same price as everyone else. That being said, although I may sell my goods for about the same price as an unnamed grocery store down the road, that unnamed grocery store makes twice as much for a sloppier, less tasty product that IS in high demand. For example, shitty grocery store birthday cake made with hydrogenated oil and absolutely zero natural ingredients. I have to admit, I've gone pretty crazy over store bought chocolate cake. It's just so hard to go wrong with chocolate. 

But back to my main point. Seriously? WTF. Shitty, sloppily decorated cake versus a wondrous masterpiece of homemade edible work of art? (I say in a sarcastic tone)

I'm lost with no direction. I will continue baking and decorating because it makes me happy, but I've come to the realization that if I quit, it wouldn't upset the balance of the scales one teeny weeny bit. No one would be sad that they couldn't order delicious confectionary treats from me. No one would pass by my non-existent bakery and say, "Man, I really wish they hadn't closed. They had the best (place random confectionary item name here.)" Basically, myself and everything I've been struggling to accomplish with this bakery thing is all for naught. I learned a lot. I could do things for free for my friends and family, I know everyone wants a piece of that action, but once you put a proper price tag on it people tend to shrivel away. I know that success doesn't come easy. There's always struggle and hardship. I just don't see any silver linings in my horizon. 

I just gotta find my niche. My thing that makes me stand out from everyone else.

Now that the ballad of whiney is over, I would like to represent to you all, my latest works of art! I am continuing to improve with fondant. I will still need more practice though. I'm pretty happy with these, and now that I have a better steamer for my cakes, I won't have anymore issues with corn starch showing up on my fondant. For those that don't already know, steam makes fondant shiny and gets rid of all those little bits of corn starch on fondant. Just as a hair dryer does to modeling chocolate!

I shall now present, my latest confectionary masterpieces!

This first cake was for a wonderful masseuse's birthday. He requested a massage table, someone on the table, and a person standing up like they were about to give a massage. When talking to the customer, I remembered a joke he told me about his friends picking on him for having to massage "old, fat guys." I decided to give him a heavy set hairy man to massage. Let me reveal the awesomeness of this cake (besides it being a decadent strawberry-filled lemon cake with lemon buttercream.) 1. The blanket comes off to show a fat, hairy booty. 2. The table is made of Rice Krispy treats! 

The second cake was a definite challenge for me, as I had to cut every single square by hand with a pizza cutter and a measuring fondant mat. I have a rotary cutter that is supposed to cut strips of fondant to a certain length, but of course that didn't work. That would just be wayyy too easy on me. Either way, I worked hard and tried to keep myself from being a complete perfectionist and I'm happy with how the cake turned out. Decadent chocolate icing upon decadent chocolate cake. It's freakin' decadent. (I should rename this blog *Chocolate* because I can't seem to refrain myself from discussing my fondness for chocolate cake. 

Thoughts? Suggestions? All are welcome here in this baker's refuge. 

Love,

 ~A

Christmas Cookies & Candies!!!

I am that annoying person that everyone always despises during holiday season because I LOVE CHRISTMAS! Christmas, Halloween, and Spring Break are my three favorite Holidays. I even got the Christmas China out and put in the dish cabinet in the first week of November. Every year for Christmas, I make a but load of cookies & candies to send to my friends. I started doing this about 5 years ago because I was too broke to buy actual gifts, and used the only talent I knew I had back then: baking. I always tried to package them real festive like, so when people received them they'd really look like presents!

Red Velvet White Choc Chip

So far I've got White Chocolate Fruit & Nut Clusters, Red Velvet White Chocolate Chip Cookies, Pretzel Pecan Turtles, Coconut Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, Chocolate Truffles, Chocolate Espresso Crinkles, Sugar Cookies, and Chocolate Almond Biscotti with Peppermint White Chocolate. I don't have pictures of everything because I'm always busy with school, so I have to make these things in what little spare time I have! But they've all been taste tested multiple times by lots of different people, so I know they're a hit. I'm extremely picky about the things I make, so if I don't think it's good enough (and I like to think I have high standards) then it doesn't go anywhere. 

Anyways, with all that said, I'd like to introduce my Holiday lineup!

Chocolate & Coconut Lovers Duo

I got a request for anniversary cupcakes for a friend's parents. She told me one likes coconut, the other likes chocolate. I really REALLY wanted to do a coconut chocolate mix but I decided I better stick with safe instead of risking sorry!

I wanted an elegant, romantic look for these little cakes. I wanted to express an emotion with them. In my imagination, I saw an elegant happy couple, eating dinner in candlelight on the terrace of a castle.

Basically, I imagined Beauty and the Beast (in his Prince form) NOMing on some of my decadent cupcakes.

With that in mind, I created these little Beauty's.. tee hee :)

Check my Recipes tab for recipes on these cupcakes and other decadent delights!

Oreo Truffles: Fun for Everyone

I went though some old pictures of mine and found some great pictures of yummy oreo truffles! I'll post the recipe here along with some pictures. They take a little bit of time dipping in the chocolate but it's fun and kids can help. I like to swirl white & milk chocolate across the already-dipped truffles. Also, I suggest using two spoons or forks to roll the truffles in the melted chocolate, and then place on foil or wax paper to harden in the refrigerator.

I employed my neices and nephew on Christmas. Yay for child labor! Muahah

Oreo Balls RecipeIngredients:

1 Package regular Oreos (not double stuff), FINELY CRUSHED!

8 oz cream cheese (room temperature is easier to work with)

1 bag dark, milk, or white chocolate or almond bark

Directions:

Mix crushed oreo's with cream cheese in a large bown until thoroughly incorporated. Roll into small balls, roughly 1 inch in diameter. Place on wax paper or foil and chill. Once the balls are chilled, melt the chocolate.

I use the microwave to melt it but it can be difficult. If you microwave for too long the chocolate will burn and harden. In my microwave I melt the chocolate in a glass microwave-proof bowl for 30 seconds, and then at 10 second intervals until it's at a smooth consistency when stirred.

Roll the oreo balls around in the chocolate and place on the foil or wax paper. If you want to do stripey or swirly patterns on the truffles, use a different type of chocolate and a spoon to swirl (if you made white chocolate truffles, use dark or milk chocolate for pattern, etc.)

Refrigerate and VOILA!




Oreo truffles with white almond bark and milk chocolate almond bark stripes



Oreo truffles with milk chocolate almond bark and white almond bark stripes.

Skills to pay bills!

Yesterday I slaved in my kitchen for 12 hours straight baking cupcakes and cookies for a twirling competition at my local middle school. I got three and a half hours of sleep and sore feet, but it was all worth it to see and hear the feedback for my cupcakes! If it weren't for my friend helping me out, I would have pulled an all-nighter! 

Within the first couple of hours we sold almost all of my boxes of 6 and a lot of single cupcakes, along with some cookies. An hour before the competition was over, all the boxes were gone and I was almost sold out. So many people came back for more cupcakes and wanted boxes to take them home!

For the twirling competition, I wanted to bake three different types of cupcakes that had flavors that would appeal to girls and moms. I also wanted them to look feminine and girly. Something vanilla, something chocolate, and something a little bit different. Here we have Vanilla cupcakes with Strawberry filling and a Strawberry Buttercream icing, Chocolate cupcakes with a peanut butter filling and Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge icing, and Red Velvet cupcakes with Cream Cheese Icing.
The Strawberry Vanilla was the absolute best in my opinion, and a lot of people agreed! So I've decided to share a recipe with you, along with my pictures. Enjoy, and comment with questions or feedback!

Make Ahead!!

Strawberry Filling:

• 1lb Strawberries in syrup. You can make your own simply by cutting strawberries in half and pouring one half to a whole cup of sugar on them. Let them sit out, covered, for a few hours until all sugar is dissolved. VOILA! Strawberries in syrup.
• 3 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons of corn starch

Put strawberries with 1cup of syrup in a blender, chop or puree, your preference (chunks make filling cupcakes difficult.) Pour blended strawberries into a pan, add other ingredients and cook until mixture starts to boil. Take off the burner and let cool completely, the mixture thickens as it cools. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Can be used in cupcakes, icing, for toast, biscuits, whatever! Mmmmmm


Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese icing & Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter filling and Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge icing



Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese icing



Strawberry filled Vanilla cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream icing



Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter filling and Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge icing



Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese icing



Strawberry filled Vanilla cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream icing



My Display at the table and my super bored friend