Shortbread Cookies

UGHHHHHH...why does shortbread cookies have to be so freakin' finicky? Well, at least I can say I tried and sorta conquered! However, I'll have to give it another try at another time. I have no desire to try them anytime soon!

 

Christmas themed cupcakes

My mom asked if I would make cupcakes for her jobs x-mas party. Well just for her department. She wanted something Christmas themed and I suggested trees, however I had been anxious to make cupcake ornaments, and boy are the time consuming, but sort of fun. Well here they are!

Pre-Christmas Vendor Shows

Well, I've officially wrapped up 2015 with my last vendor show this Monday. I must say it was fun, interesting and a learning experience. I am so blessed to have found a vendor coordinator that's legit! I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I started these shows and now I'm planning on how to do it bigger and better in 2016!

Here are the pics of tasty pastries & sweet treats from my last two shows.

The items in this pic are pretty self explanatory, with the exception of the Red Velvet cupcakes and chocolate espresso spoons!

This one is also self explanatory with the exception of the Oreo truffles and jars of cookie mix!

Wow! Do you see what I see?

My Last Vendor Show

I love doing shows, and the show coordinator is the best! I try my best to bring something different to all of my shows! It's more like a challenge to see what I can come up with next. Well here are pics of the goodies from the last show!

(Left to right from top) Butterscotch Pumpkin Muffins, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Caramel Candies, Apple Pie!

Keylime Cupcakes!

Jumbo Gourmet Dipped Marshmallows! 

Paint Themed Birthday Cake

So I must begin by saying that I enjoyed making this cake! Like it was kinda fun! Whoo hoo! I was provided a pic for this cake as well, and once again, I tried my best to duplicate. Sorta...LOL 

Pic I was sent:

Cake I made:

Baby Shower Turtle Cake

I was asked by an old childhood friend to make a cake for her niece's baby shower. I tried my best to duplicate the pic she sent. Well sorta...LOL 

Pic I received...

Cake that I made:

My Son's Birthday!

So it's been a while since I posted, but then again my life is upside down. I'm stressed and that's life I supposed! I can't wait to officially move into my new place!

So my son's bday was about two weeks ago and the cake design he wanted was for #cakeboss!!! So I did the next best thing, found something I know he likes to be his cake! So after contemplating I came up with #TheFlash. Btw...I too love #TheFlash!!!

It's Graduation Season...the finale

Well I ended graduation season off with making 2 cakes, one for my daughter who's going to high school, and the other for my niece who's going to Kdg. I don't cover many cakes in fondant and I don't make very many tiered cakes. I can, but don't have a big request for them, sooooo...yep, you gussed correctly. I did both; fondant and tiered! Well, for my daughter only. I made her a 2 tier; 6" (2 layer) Strawberry cake with vanilla buttercream, and a 9" (2 layer) Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. To decorate, I put edible pearls around the bottom of each tier and letter cut-outs that read CONGRATS CLASS OF 2015. I topped off the 6" tier with a graduation cap and tassel with her name on it. For my niece I kept it simple, it's a 1 layer Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting that read ABC, 123, 2015 and a grad cap with tassel, I thought it was adorable! Any who, here are the pics! Excuse the mini cake, I was so late for the party (4th of July / surprise grad party), that I didn't have time to smooth the frosting completely...YIKES...LOL!

It's Graduation Season continued...

My cousin just recently graduated with her Masters and threw herself an awesome grad party! Sigh...can't wait until I'm done with my Masters, I want to pull my hair out!!! Anyway, she asked me to cater the desserts for the party!!!!! Whoo Hoo! Since it was an adult only affair, what better way to celebrate than with adult like desserts? We decided on shooter cup desserts (Peach Cobbler and Key Lime Pie Cake), Red Velvet Cake Pops and Chocolate Covered Strawberries (some were infused). It literally took me all day to finish the order and I was tired out of my mind!!! But I did pull myself together enough to make it to the party :-)

Sorry...I didn't get an opportunity to take chocolate covered strawberries pics!

It's Graduation Season

It's graduation season, so what better way to show your graduate a little love, than with graduation inspired pastries! A neighbor asked me to make cupcakes and I wasn't quite sure what and how I wanted the design to look like. 

I ended up going with the traditional, a fondant graduation cap and diploma. I also went to my local Michaels and purchased 2015 graduation baking cups which came with 2015 picks. Believe it or not, this project was super easy! I colored some Wilton fondant black, used a small square fondant cutter (also by Wilton) to cut out the top of the cap and enhanced it with a small ball of black fondant which I placed in the center and smacked down a bit to give it that button (is that what it's called?) look. I rolled out the remainder of the fondant so I could make the portion of the cap that goes around the head. It was a little tricky making sure I didn't have to much fondant for the bottom portion, it needs to be in scale with the top part. I cut it in strips and sliced those in half. I took one end and slightly overlapped it to the other end, then brushed on a little water to secure it. The tassel was made from red fondant. I cut which skinny pieces, and with a pairing knife I indented the bottom to resemble the stringy part. The diploma was a breeze, I rolled out a thin piece of white fondant, cut long strips, cut those in 3 shorter pieces and rolled each one to resemble a diploma. I topped it off with a small piece of red fondant to mimic a ribbon. 

Tada! And there you have it, fondant diplomas and graduation caps!

Cake Decorating Business

This past week as I was sitting in the classroom teaching one of my decorating classes, I started thinking that I should start my own pastry decorating business. On my way home I was contemplating how and where I would execute everything. After the thought had passed I proceeded with my day. Later on I was speaking with a friend of mine and she started asking me about decorating and how someone would go about learning if they did not take my class. Then she started saying that I could probably do my own classes, I responded with, "What a coincidence, I was just thinking about that earlier". So she responded very simply with, "You know what this is"? "That's confirmation". "I had no idea that you were even thinking about it earlier". All is all, she offered to help me get started, and that I shall do. To the drawing board I go!...

Vendor Shows

I've been participating in vendor shows since Feb. of this year and have done a total of 4 so far with two or three more in the works between mid-April and the first week of May. The first one was okay, the second was a total flop and the last two were awesome. There's always the initial trust issue that I have to get over because I didn't know any of the event coordinators I was dealing with or if it was legit. There's only so much you can find online and I didn't see anything negative so I went with it! I found all of my events via Facebook groups and so far so good. This will allow me to get good exposure and get my name out there. I also want to start selling at Farmer's Markets, but the apps/registration fees are so expensive. But, the good thing is, I have liability insurance, my business is registered as a LLC with the state I'm in and I have my food safety manager certification. So, I think that I'm ready to get going! 

Fondant Baby

I purchased a mold that I've been wanting to test and finally got around to it. My lighting was off, but what do you think?

Cake Pops

My uncle called me a couple of weeks ago and asked if I could make Batman cake pops and I was like sure! Ugh...I didn't realize that they were so time consuming and messy! I mean seriously, how difficult can it be to put cake on a stick? I found out very quickly, lol...

Candy/Gumball Machine Giant Cupcake

I love YouTube and I love My Cupcake Addictions (I forget her name), but this was inspired by her video and I HAD to try it! She used gumballs which seems to not exist where I am, so I substituted with M&M's! The base is a German's Chocolate Cake, and the outer part is Wilton's red candy melts, melted and placed in the base of my giant cupcake mold to obtain the baking cup (aka cupcake liner) shape. The remainder of the decor (except the jar & ribbon) was made out of fondant, and I airbrushed the cake circle red. 

Chocolate Covered Pretzels

I made these for a vendor show that I participated in and had soooo much stuff left over (angry face)! But anyway the folks @ work loved the leftovers (happy face). This wasn't all of the designs I made, as I did distribute some at the show. The pretzels that are sprinkled have either almonds, sprinkles or graham crackers (just incase you're wondering).

I Have AWESOME Buttercream

I finally received and used my CK high ratio shortening....it's awwweeesooommmeee! Check it out...

It's so fluffy, creamy, and smooth looking! It taste better than using regular vegetable shortening, but I still dislike the taste of buttercream...lol!

Cupcakes!!!

Someone I know wanted me to make cupcakes for their birthday. The request was for a dozen, 6 chocolate and 6 vanilla. The vanilla was to be this glittery purple and I'm so against putting anything that's not edible on pastries so I had to improvise. And the chocolate was my scotch-whiskey cupcakes. I'm going to post a pic of my cupcakes and then the one I attempted to duplicate. 

My design

What I tried to duplicate 

My scotch-whiskey cupcakes 

All Butter Buttercream?!?!

I'm a researcher, that is probably why I use to be, and loved being an Anaylst until I got laid off in June 2012. Forever now I've noticed that my buttercream looks...slightly grainy? Not beat well? Not enough liquid? Regardless of what it was I knew it wasn't my fault. I remember reading about high ratio shortening but never took time to really understand what it was. But yesterday I did, I read and I understood. And I made the decision to purchase a $25 container of CK high ratio shortening. In simple terms, regular vegetable shortening has no trans fats and another word that begins with the letter "E". And guess what, that's what buttercream needs to be smooth, creamy, fluffy and awesome. Yesterday I baked a cake for someone and used only butter in the buttercream. The pic will show the shininess from the butter, it was still a little warm in my place from the oven but the cake was completely cooled. Either way I enjoyed the creaminess and will stop using vegetable shortening until I get the one that I ordered. But I'll have to wait until my place has completely cooled down before decorating. My roses look a little tired...lol. 

It's been a long time coming...

I was looking for some information on my flash drive and noticed that I had a document saved under the name Pastry Business, dated May 2011. I paused and said to myself, wow! Have I really been trying to start my pastry business for that long? I had no idea! Well I knew, but it's different when you actually see a date. It's been about 4 years, as I'm sure I was trying before May. Well all in all, through God, faith and persistence, it's finally happening, I'm on my way to fulfilling my dream! I'm so thankful to God for everything, without God none of this would be possible.

Guess What?!?!?!

I HAVE A LOGO!

Well enough said, check it out on my website at www.tastypastriesshop.com

And a big thanks to Anita at Anita's Designs & Events (www.anitasdesigns-events.com) for designing the perfect logo for me!

Trying Something New

My kids (more so my daughter) wanted more chocolate covered strawberries (I gave both kids some for Valentine's Day), so I made more since we had extra long-stem strawberries sitting in the fridge. I was feeling so inspired I decided to make gourmet chocolate covered graham crackers and marshmallows. I love being creative and I love when the ideas start flowing. I thank God for placing me along this patch, it feels good to do what you enjoy the most.

My Valentine's Day gifts!

This is why I have to stay fit! But it was very much appreciated!

Chocolate covered strawberries and fixes from Fannie May and 1/2 dozen roses!

Happy Valentine's Day

I've been busy all day long, and this is why... 

Oh, and I didn't get an opportunity to take a pic of my very first order. 

Now the family and I have settled down for a bite to eat...

Heart shaped deep dish from Giordano's!

Final Class - Wilton Course 2 Cake & Flower Designs

So today (2/13/15) marked the last day of a four week course. I really like course 2 because I loved working with royal icing. Well I love working with buttercream (even though I dislike the taste, but I dislike the taste of royal icing...so oh well), but royal icing is more challenging because it dries much faster than buttercream. And when it dries, it dries very hard. It is also nice to make designs with because of the drying aspect of it. Well enough babbling, here's my cake (first 2 pics) and the next four pics after are cakes that my two students made! They did an awesome job :-)