Sunday, November 13, 2011

A Few Thoughts

I want to bake more than I do. It is such a fun and stress reducing activity that lets my creative juices flow. I decided to bake my Orthodontist and his team my trademark Spice Cupcakes. This time I am making an almond butter-cream frosting and topping it with crushed sugar crystals, ground coffee beans, and grated chocolate flakes for that professional finish. They deserve it!! I also will be making a thank you for a couple guys that built me a bench for our balcony! Triple chocolate cookies with vanilla butter-cream sandwiched between 2 gooey morsels. YUM! I know these will be good! I also cannot wait to go home for Thanksgiving break! I will, of course, be making my famous truffles for dessert. I am thinking about trying a new flavor other than original, mint, and pretzel. Any ideas?!? Maybe a peanut butter one is in order! I LOVE peanut butter. And after the holiday I will be making a Chocolate Wasted Cake that I found on Pinterest. I will add a touch of peanut butter for the recipient who loves peanut butter like I do. I am sorry this post is without a picture but just wait for the next 2 weeks and I will have many posts to look at.

And then planning, baking, and all things CHRISTMAS will be unleashed! Bring it on! Wooo!

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Wedding Cake!

Wedding cake number one done and being eaten! WoooHooo! I am pretty pleased with how this one came out. The bride and groom were happy too! I got the frosting idea from "i am baker" and tried it out once last Spring, so when Kendra told me she needed a wedding cake, I stepped up to the challenge. We talked a lot about her wedding while we couldn't sleep due to the dog fights in Africa. She took my suggestion of a dessert bar and asked her talented friends to bake lots of goodies! She sent me a text message about 2 months ago worried about her cake and I told her I would be happy to do it. It was a really neat way I could contribute to her big day! Plus that, it served as my wedding gift to the happy couple!!

Here is what went into the cake. Two boxes of vanilla cake mix into two 10 inch and two 6 inch pans. Baked like normal, but for less time. I used a classic buttercream frosting to make roses out of frosting with a 1mm tip. Then I added 24 real roses to bring in the colors of the wedding to the cake! It weighed a TON! It was really fun to make and I had friends hanging out with me all day while I worked on it! We all went to Kenda and Beau's wedding together and got the cake to the reception without any problems! Praise the Lord we didn't hit a bump on our drive!!! I was really blessed with the compliments I recieved but I am really really blessed to have this God-given skill. I sure hope I get to use it again real soon. ;)

Friday, November 4, 2011

The Smith Wedding


Mr. & Mrs. Smith, two of the most fun people I have ever met, got married September 24th and asked me to do their reception hall and all that jazz. It was so fun helping Sarah, a friend of about 15 years, plan all the decor, order the apples, and just help her ideas play out. The picture to the left is the area where the dinner and mingling took place. I am sorry for the ghost-like image in the middle but I had to avoid using the flash. The strands and strands of hundreds of twinkle lights were all borrowed and put up the day before along with the tulle. The tables were set by the staff at the reception hall. The tables had four different centerpieces pieced together with candles, roses, mirrors, glass containers, and rose petals. The entry way had the gift table and the generation table. Both were decorated with apples, lights, candles, and roses to help everything flow together. Their guest-book was unique and required no awkward waiting line to place your signature in a memory book. They had stamped note cards at each place setting with instructions on the wedding favor. The favor was an apple, to tie in all of their wedding colors, with a pinned in leaf containing instructions on how to make their guest book. It was really fun to see people writing notes to the bride and groom. The wedding was Christ centered and the day was breath taking. Thanks go to Mr. and Mrs. Smith for such an incredible day!
(This is the wedding favor)

Happy Friday!

Today is a wonderful day and the sun is shining and the temperature is bearable in good ole' Ames Iowa! Tomorrow is a big day for me. I am officially making my first "cut-the-cake" wedding cake! Holy Cow I am getting nervous about this task. I went to the flower shop yesterday and have 24 dozen white and orange roses being chilled. I have the cake pans and mixers. I picked out my frosting recipe with the help of my brothers Matt, and McClain, and I am ready to get to work bright and early.

I m blessed to be making this cake for my tent mate of 6 weeks, Kendra. We spent last summer in Africa together sharing our lives with orphans. She is such an amazing friend and woman of God and I am honored to be a part of her HUGE day.

Oh my goodness golly I LOVE weddings.