The Boyfriend's B-day Cake

So I decided to make my bf a cake for his b-day, it was nothing fancy...but it's the thought that counts.  It was a basic yellow cake with butter cream frosting and blue piping for decoration.  I haven't posted anything in a while so I felt as if I needed to post something.  I will also let you in on a little secret...his b-day was in April.  I'm so late with posting this...lol!

Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls

I love Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls and came across a recipe that was almost 100% like the original.  This was a little more complicated for me to make because of the dough portion.  I don't usually deal with dough and the whole yeast and waiting for it to rise.  But anyway, I now know my do's and don't for my next round.  To me, it was just "ok" for my first time, so I can't wait to take another try at them and see if I can nail it next go round.

Rajas Fries

My boyfriend and I were watching a show on TV called America Best Bites (http://www.americasbestbites.com/) on channel 11 a few weeks ago (at least I think it was channel 11).  The basis of the show is, the hosts travel to different restaurants across the U.S. and showcase them and their best dish. 


The day we watched they were showcasing French Fries, one of the featured restaurants was Fry Smith located in Los Angeles, California (http://www.eatfrysmith.com/).  The featured dish is called Rajas Fries and boy did it look tasty.  We are totally talking about going to L.A. one day just for this dish.  Me being the experimental cook that I am had to buy the ingredients and make Rajas Fries.


They use fries with the skin on, Shawarma-marinated Steak (I used Skirt Steak), roasted Poblano Peppers, Monterrey Jack Cheese, caramelized onions and parsley or cilantro for garnish.  I didn't use the onions or garnish.  I've also posted their website pic which looks different from how I saw it on TV, but I think it was for website pic purposes.  I'm sure you can tell which pic is mine...lol. 

My Niece's Birthday Cake

On Christmas morning my only niece turned 2 years old.  She had a birthday party on December 17th which of course would leave her party and cakeless on her actual birthday.  So being the aunt that I am, or as she calls me TeTe, I decided that she would not go cakeless!  Her mom, my sister, originally wanted to get her a number 2 cake but the cheapest she found was $70.  Since I already had a ton of baking to do for Christmas I decided that I would make a number 2 cake for her, plus it seemed easier than the other designs that I thought about.  So here's her number 2 cake, tell me what you think. 

My First Decorated Cake

A few of my co-workers know that I love to bake so I was asked to make a cake for my co-workers Baby Shower that we had for him at work (his wife is pregnant, just in case I confused you).   The cake was simple...yellow with chocolate frosting.  The tricky part, making it look pretty.


Before last Thursday (12/8), I never piped anything on a cake.  Originally I wanted to use fondant but also wanted to keep the budget low so buttercream was the winner.  The only baby decoration I could think of and still use buttercream was baby booties.  Before I left work that day I watched a 2 minute tutorial on how to make baby booties.


So, now I'm home the cake is baked and cooled, the chocolate frosting is complete and the buttercream is waiting to be used.  Tricky thing about buttercream is, you have to lock in the moisture while it's sitting, so I wet a paper towel, put it over the bowl and then put a heavy kitchen towel over that.


After putting the chocolate frosting on the cake I knew it was show time.  I colored some of the buttercream (I had white, blue and green).  I tried making a few baby booties and didn't like them so I was like forget it, I'll stand there all day and play with it so I started decorating with no prior design set in mind...so here's the end result!  Let me know what you think, I'm looking for constructive criticism.  I know my border isn't straight, but that was the first time I've piped on a cake.