Lots to Update: Making Up for the Last Year!

With a busy 1st year of teaching under my belt, I realize that I haven't updated this blog in a terribly long time! I went through and found pictures of yummy treats and sweets I've made since my last post (a year ago!) Enjoy!

RIGHT as my school year was starting, my sweet baby nephew turned 1!!! So of COURSE we had to throw him a great Sock Monkey themed party, complete with a smash cake for baby!

A couple months later, I turned a quarter-of-a-century old, so I decided to host an 80's themed birthday party. A Rubix Cube cake was a must!

My little friend Baker happened to be born one day after me (and many years later, of course), but ever since his First Birthday, I've made his cakes! For birthday #3, his mom wanted a Zoo Themed party, so we had fun coming up with this idea! It was a really fun cake to create!

A friend from high school wanted a smash cake for her little boy's 1st birthday, so I created this colorful polkadot cake for Tate. I made some fun tie-dyed cupcakes from the left over frosting and batter! =)

 A little while later, another friend from high school contacted me about creating a Bridal Shower cake that would resemble a birch tree stump. Simple and fun, but rustic!

And some yummy red velvet cupcakes from the leftovers! =)

Gluten-Free Birthday cake for my grad school friend, Allie!

I'm not sure I ever even posted about the first cake I made for Zachary's 4th birthday, but here is his cool rocket ship cake:

His mom cake back asking for another birthday cake the next year with a Paw Patrol theme. Ignore the giant 4 on top - this cake decorator GOOFED and forgot the previous year was his 4th, making this year his 5TH birthday. I fixed it and all was forgiven! =P

A nautical Baby Shower cake for my sister-in-law's friend Dana

Some impromptu Valentine's Day chocolate covered strawberries! SO delicious!

A family-friend requested a peacock themed Bridal Shower cake. I made sure to continue the theme to the actual cake itself! It was a very fun cake to do!

A small birthday cake for a BIG Minnesota Viking's fan

A giant cookie cake for my big brother!

Cakes As of Late!

I realized I failed to post the most recent of my cake/decorating endeavors! It's been a busy month with VERY different cake designs! I've had a blast doing all of them.

My incredible mentor teacher and her husband celebrated 25 years of marriage with an Anniversary Party. She asked me to do a heart cake with soft pink roses, so here's what I concocted! I loved the outcome!

All the flowers were hand made out of gum paste. It was a lot of work, but I loved how delicate and romantic they turned out!

The next day, I had a request for a Minecraft cake. Up until my friend asked me for this cake, I had NO idea what Minecraft even was! I quickly learned, and since then, I see or hear about it EVERYWHERE! Ignorance is bliss when it comes to video games, I think!

I had fun making a "pixilated" world out of lots and lots of frosting!

The little details on this cake were fun, too, like adding pretzel rod trees and licorice/candle TNT packs! Thank you, Pinterest!

For the church picnic on Pentecost, I decorated red velvet cupcakes with royal icing flames to symbolize the holy spirit coming down. These were quick and easy to do, but folks were amazed by them!

Finally, I made my mom's 60th birthday cake for her huge surprise party bash! It was so fun planning and executing the whole shindig behind her back! Her favorite color is yellow, and I wanted simplistic beauty for this cake, so I went with a swirl rose design in ombre tone. I even colored the cake layers to create and ombre effect, but it's kind of hard to see in the photo! To top it off, I added fresh yellow calla lilies (thank you Trader Joes!) and a cute little flag banner with her name! She loved it, and that's what matters most to me! =)

Colorado Rockies Groom's Cake

In going through my blog to update things, I realized I never posted a blog 2 years back when I made a really fun Groom's Cake for my big brother at his wedding. I had a lot of fun creating the Colorado Rockies baseball theme and added all sorts of little details throughout, including a mini baseball border, baseball themed cookies around the base, a Coors Field sign, and an edible scoreboard congratulating the new Mr. and Mrs! Here it is!

Baking for Baker

I've had the pleasure of making some really fun cakes for a special little boy the last two years! I know Baker's mom and dad through my brother and sister-in-law, and it's been fun designing not only his 1st birthday cake (2012), but his 2nd birthday cake, too! I never posted about his "Super Grover" cake last year, so now I'm doing a double post of "1" and "2" - Enjoy!

1st Birthday- Super Grover Theme

Inside we did 4 big layers of cake in bright primary colors: blue, red, yellow, and green! 

2nd Birthday - Construction Theme

Christmas Cookies and Candies

Tis the season for gluttonous treats and decadent deliciousness! Even though I've been running a million miles an hour as I prepare for Christmas and 6 months of travel, I often found myself in the kitchen whipping up some of my favorite Christmas goodies. Here's a small sampling of the treats I've been busy creating! =)

Peppermint dipped pretzels

 Almond toffee

 Sugar cookies!

Pizelle cookies

Russian Tea Cakes

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone!

Dipped Peppermint Cookies - Oh Mylanta!

So, I got bored. And boredom in Amy's world leads to baking/making completely unhealthy goodies in the kitchen. Now that we've celebrated Thanksgiving, it's officially time to bust out all things Christmas and holiday related! So what did I concoct? Little bites of heaven made from peppermint sandwich cookies, white candy coating, and a sprinkle of peppermint! YUM! Anyone who knows Trader Joe's and their sinful little treats, Peppermint Joe-Joes, knows that once you nibble on one of these bad boys, you will never be able to stop! You've been warned.

Ingredients:

1 package Peppermint cream sandwich cookies (technically Oreo cookies, but any similar style works just fine!)

1 package white candy coating

Peppermint crunch sprinkle topping (optional)

Materials:

Wax paper

Large fork

Directions:

1. Melt candy coating in a large bowl (think Pyrex) according to package directions. Stir often and heat at half power to ensure you don't burn the coating!

2. Drop cookies into chocolate one at a time. Turn and coat

3. With large fork, pull cookie out and gently shake excess off into the bowl. Place on wax paper.

4. Sprinkle peppermint chips on top for garnish.

5. Let sit until hard. Enjoy! (for an added treat, try popping a few in the freezer! They taste deliciously refreshing when enjoyed straight out of the freezer!)

Easy peasy, right? And they're SO YUMMY!

Creating Mindy's Color-Me-Rad Cake!

A little while back, I made this cake for my sister-in-law's 30th birthday! I got to throw powdered sugar (that I dyed) onto the cake to create the same splattered effect as the Color-Me-Rad run! Here's how I did it! Enjoy! {sorry the video is so small!}