a princess castle cake for bella!!!

Sculpted cakes are really not my specialty and since I've given up on using fondant to cover the outside of cakes I was up against a major decorating dilemma.

For Bella's princess castle cake I didn't waste any cake and absolutely no fondant was used. I do admit that icing a cake with just Swiss-meringue buttercream was quite challenging but I somehow made it work here. I'm also a fan of Candy Melts that I used to pre-pipe the doors and windows.....

The cake isn't picture perfect and there are things that I would have done differently, but for my first ever princess castle cake it's not THAT bad. Is it???

After I frosted the base of the cake, I added cupcakes and ice cream cones for the turrets. I also cheated with some cut ribbon for the flags.

I wanted to go crazy with a walkway and grass. But at the umpteenth hour I was only able to do very little.




HAPPY
BIRTHDAY
BELLA!!!

fruity pebble crunch cookies

Fruity pebbles? Check.
Mini marshmallows? Check.
Browned butter? Check.
Dark brown sugar? Check.
Vanilla extract? Check.
Oats? Check.
Flour, sugar, eggs, baking powder, baking soda & kosher salt? Check, check, check, check, check, check!!!

This recipe for fruity pebble crunch cookies is the perfect combination from Christina Tosi of Momofuku Milkbar's Cornflake-Chocolate Chip-Marshmallow-Cookies and another all-time favorite The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie from Cook's Illustrated. Which I blogged about here.

These cookies take a lot longer than the average recipe for cookies, but it will be worth the wait. And you can trust me on this....

Fruity Pebble Crunch Cookies
original recipe courtesy of bon appétit via Two Bouroughs Larder
makes 15 - 24 cookies

Before you bust out your mixer and ingredients, the fruity pebble crunch needs to be made. And if you decide that the crunch is all you need and want then I suggest sprinkling it over vanilla ice cream, frozen yogurt or eating it straight up. It's THAT good.

Fruity Pebble Crunch
makes one recipe for cookies

2-1/2 cups Fruity Pebble cereal
1 cup whole rolled oats
1/4 cup dry milk powder
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 300ºF.
Line a rimmed cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, mix cereal, oats, dry milk powder, and kosher salt. Stir to combine. Pour melted unsalted butter over mixture and toss to thoroughly coat.

Spread out onto your prepared cookie sheet and place in oven. Bake for 20 minutes rotating baking sheet after 10 minutes. After 20 minutes, the cereal should feel/look slightly toasted.

Remove from oven and cool completely on wire rack.

for the COOKIES!!!

16 tablespoons unsalted butter
1-1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups bread flour ***The original recipe called for all-purpose flour, but Christina Tosi uses bread flour in her cookies so I thought I'd follow her lead.***
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 recipe of fruity pebble crunch
1-1/4 cup mini marshmallows

Combine bread flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl and set aside.

In a bowl of your stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, place 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter. In a small saucepan over medium-high heat melt the rest of the butter. While swirling the pan constantly, little brown flecks will form at the bottom of your pan and  the butter will have a nutty aroma. Once butter has browned, pour this over the butter in the stand mixer and stir to melt.

Add both sugars to butter and mix on medium speed until incorporated. Add eggs and vanilla and mix on medium speed for 30 seconds. Let mixture rest for 5 minutes. Turn on mixer again for 30 seconds and then let rest for 5 more minutes. Do this one more time for a total resting time of 15 minutes.

Add dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until all the flour is incorporated.

Add the Fruity Pebble Crunch and marshmallows, and mix on low until everything is evenly distributed.

Using a cookie scoop, portion your cookies and place on a parchment lined sheet and chill in refrigerator for at least 3 hours or overnight, ideally. ***I must have a lot of patience because I chill mine overnight.*** Also tuck the mini marshmallows into the dough so that very little of them are exposed. This will prevent them from just melting all of the place in the oven while they bake. 

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Place balls of cookie dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet about 3 inches apart.

Bake for 5 minutes. Check your cookies and if the marshmallows are peaking out, push them back in with a small wet offset spatula. Bake for another 5 minutes. With a wide spatula, gently press the cookies down so that they bake evenly. Bake for another 5 - 10 minutes, or until the cookies are set and light golden brown. ***I baked my cookies for a total of 20 minutes.*** 

The cookies will still be gooey in the center. Leave the cookies on the baking sheet and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

baby bootie cupcakes, an ombre cake & a happy mother's day!!!

I piped over 90 pairs of pink baby booties with royal icing for Joslynn's baby shower today!!! The weather was a little humid this week which made it difficult for any type of sugar work to dry. Especially royal icing. Luckily the baby booties dried completely after 2 days.

Classic flavors.....7 dozen chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream.

I just LOVE a small cake!!! This size cake will feed 6-8 people respectfully but it will be a huge star in today's cake centerpiece.

I've always wanted to make an ombre frosted cake. This was my first and hopefully not my last. 

CONGRATULATIONS Joslynn & Eddie!!!

50th solid gold disco party dessert bar

50 mini cupcakes, 50 bites of brownies, 50 blondies, 50 rice crispy treats & 50+ sugar cookies for a 50th solid gold disco party for Veli!!!

50 mini cupcakes with a gold "v" for Veli.

50 bites of blondies & brownies.

And rice crispy treats too!

More than 50 mini sugar cookies, bagged and bowed for a take away favor.

Plus 50 mini sugar cookies for the dessert bar.

Mounds of gold foiled candies.

And a small and simple birthday cake.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY VELI!!!

pom pom coffee filter garland & a celebration!!!

Yesterday we honored our dear friend Megan and her baby-girl-to-be with delicious food, many drinks, sweets, love, and laughter all wrapped up within a fun and festive pom pom garland.

I've always wanted to make this coffee filter garland and when I found out that Megan's baby shower was a lady collaboration, I quickly volunteered myself to be part of the decoration committee.

Pom Pom Coffee Filter Garland

*The more coffee filters you dye, the more you make. Get the picture?*

SUPPLIES

200 - 600 coffee filters 

food coloring

gardener's twine

a stapler & scissors

Roughly pull apart stacks of 20 filters and set aside. ***No need to separate them individually, just in rough stacks of 20.*** Place a large measuring cup or bowl in the bottom of your sink, fill 1/3 of the way (or less) with water and add a few drops of food coloring to create your favorite color.

Gently place your stack of 20 filters down into the colored water. Once the filter has absorbed the color, remove it and quickly wring out the colored water. To make a two-toned or tie-dye effect, soak the bottom of the filters, remove it from the colored water and set aside in your sink. Quickly add a few drops of food coloring to your existing color to create another color. Red + Blue = Purple. Dip the edges into your new color and hang to dry.

Continue dying your filters and hang them over hangers to dry overnight. ***Only 200 filters are shown here. I dyed 600.***

Once your filters have dried completely, start separating them individually.

15 filters make nice and fluffy pom poms but  20 filters make them even better and fluffier!!! You can colorize your stacks monochromatically or shake it up and mix up your colors.

Take your gardener's twine and tie a simple knot; leaving enough excess for hanging.

Separate your stack of 15/20 in half and using your stapler, staple the knot of twine on the bottom half of your stack.

 

Replace the other half of your filters on top of your stapled knot and carefully staple the whole thing together.

You can make a long garland with many pom poms or hang vertically with just a couple.

To connect your pom poms together and make a long garland, you'll need to tie another knot of gardner's twine after you've stapled your first stack. The closer the knot, the closer the pom poms. You can decide how far apart you want them.

Continue with your stacks, stapling and knotting. Make sure to leave some long ends for hanging the garland.

After all of your stacks have been stapled, it's time to cut and fluff. Start by cutting each of your stacks with scissors.

Carefully make cuts starting at the outer edges cutting inward. Leave about a 1 - 2-inches in the middle. Try not to cut your twine.

Time to scrunch & fluff!!! Scrunch the ends of the pom pom with your hands. ***I also like scrunching each layer to make them even fluffier!!!***

It also helps by giving them a nice shake too!!!

Voila!!! 

Baby Elka we can hardly wait to meet you!!!