Thursday, August 13, 2015
EASY Chocolate Frosting
This recipe is going to blow your mind! It's a TWO INGREDIENT frosting. Yes, you read right. TWO INGREDIENTS!! Everyone always loves it! The full recipe can be found here. I will take you through a step by step tutorial. All you need is:
- 2 cups of chocolate chips
- 1 lb of butter
They also have a white chocolate buttercream recipe, which is one of the other frostings I used on my ninja turtle cake. I will also show you the photos for that one. Its the same process, except with white chocolate chips ;)
Finally, before I get to the tutorial, I had a coworker who also uses this recipe, but hers was even better. She let me know it was that she used 3 different types of chocolate chips (milk chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, and dark chocolate). I will try this next time!
CHOCOLATE FROSTING TIME
(and WHITE CHOCOLATE)
Milk chocolate - melt the butter and chocolate chips completely liquefy.
White chocolate - do the same thing. Melt the butter and chocolate completely. You will notice that the butter and white chocolate will separate a little more noticeable thank the chocolate one. It's ok, no worries.
Put both pots/saucepans into the refrigerator over night. I didn't get the chance to take a picture of what it looks like when it comes out of the fridge. The recipe link, however, does a really good job a showing this. You are then going to set it out and let it come to room temperature (at least 30 min) before spooning it into your mixing bowl and whipping it until it is the consistency you want. Some times (if the chocolate doesn't melt all the way) you will have chocolate chip chunks in your frosting, which I heard is really good. Below are the finished products.
Let me know what you think, any problems you have. Leave your comments below and take care :)
Ninja Turtle Cake
This is the (techinically second) ninja turtle cake I made. I LOVED it, and my Godson loved it as well ( I guess that's what matters since it is his cake - huh? lol).
I had known about this cake for a while (lets say about 3 months or so), but the original idea was something like this (this is what his mom sent me that she/he wanted):
My Godson said like this but without the turtles looking like "babies" he wanted something more like the new movie turtles (WHAT?! I can't do that!)
So checking in on the order, I asked if the plan was still the same, for about how many people, flavors, etc. So then it turns out they now wanted a half sheet cake. WHA....??? How do I get that image out of my head, or how do I convert it to a half sheet?? It took some surfing the web (pinterest, google, and cake central to be exact) to finally lay down an idea for what I wanted.
The actual cake itself is my handy, go to, chocolate cake recipe I used in the "My Little Pony" (you can find the link to the recipe there) and vanilla/white cake - I used the White Velvet Cake recipe reviewed here. I've actually been thinking of tinkering with chocolate cake recipe to mimic more of Gretchen's recipe for chocolate cake.
As far as the actual turtles go, I bought them online (Amazon Prime - seriously, if you haven't tried it, it's one of the best things ever! Then they offered a credit line, and then I went a little back to school shopping happy, and yea.... well that's a different story, lol).
The frosting was the Swiss Meringue Buttercream (plus a mix of other vanilla buttercreams I had made. I basically combined them all - delicious!). The cake was half chocolate, half vanilla (similarly frosted :))
All the fondant decorations were made the night before (I still tried to salvage my doomed fondant from the "My Little Pony" cake... TRIED!). It somewhat worked. So, I also made a pizza, because, well if you're a TMNT fan, you know PIZZA is staple. I must say this, this down here was my favorite part of the entire cake! I loved how it turned out. It was miniature and a small detail. But it you look carefully at the finished cake pictures, you can see the different pizza slices scattered around the ninja turtles:
The frosting was the Swiss Meringue Buttercream (plus a mix of other vanilla buttercreams I had made. I basically combined them all - delicious!). The cake was half chocolate, half vanilla (similarly frosted :))
All the fondant decorations were made the night before (I still tried to salvage my doomed fondant from the "My Little Pony" cake... TRIED!). It somewhat worked. So, I also made a pizza, because, well if you're a TMNT fan, you know PIZZA is staple. I must say this, this down here was my favorite part of the entire cake! I loved how it turned out. It was miniature and a small detail. But it you look carefully at the finished cake pictures, you can see the different pizza slices scattered around the ninja turtles:
How awesome is that?
I was very proud of myself :) And, it was that horrible fondant! lol. Below are the rest of the cake pictures. I normally try and make the font of the "Happy Birthday" stay in theme and I think that I did a pretty good job here as well. Thanks you guys for looking, feel free to comment below, and take care :).
If you noticed, I used ninja turtle duct tape to make the border of the board :) told you I enjoyed it!
Friday, July 24, 2015
A Story - Mr. Duke #FBF
#FLASHBACKFRIDAY!!!
<So I found this on an old blog post I'm about to get rid of but couldn't get rid of this, so here's your Flashback Friday :)>
We, my boyfriend and I, went to the Richardson Animal Shelter to look around and maybe toy with the idea of some day getting a dog to accompany us. When we walked in, we went up and down the shelter (our soon to be adopted fury son was out of the kennel using the restroom) looking at the different dogs. We then saw him, just a puppy but so happy and skinny at the same time.
He was adorable.
Not sure if we were ready to commit to this we continued in the shelter looking around, we looked at cats, birds, and other animals they had at the shelter, but we couldn't get this cute black and white puppy out of our head. We went back and asked if we could see him and play with him outside. We took him out, he was a little frightful at first but seemed to quickly fall in love with us. I couldn't see him go back in the kennel. Sure, with his cuteness, he'd get adopted soon, but I wanted him to come home with us. We made the decision to bring him home. The shelter staff was so nice, and our puppy came home with us that very day (after some paperwork was filed). According to the paperwork, this puppy was surrendered by the previous owner, only the day before we arrived at the shelter. Immediately, our new pup took quite a liking to us.
I remember I had to get down of the car to pick up some food, and when I came back in, my boyfriend had told me the puppy had started crying as soon as I got out, whining for me to come back.
We got home with my family, took puppy a bath (since he was covered in fleas). It took us a few hours to find the perfect name. My mom suggested Duke (el Duque in Spanish), and so Duke was now an official member of our family.
First few months were tough for us all, at only 2 months, Duke suffered from separation anxiety, but both parents had to work and go to school. We all learned to cope with this and make the best of the situation. Duke grew up fast not just physically but mentally as well. He was very willing to please us and any human he met. He picked up little tricks fast. Potty training, on the other hand, was a nightmare, but we got through it (cleaning a poop filled crate was no fun!!).
First time Duke came to his new home, he was afraid of the stairs and had to be carried a few times, but we made sure to show him there was nothing to afraid of. He was quickly was running up and down the stairs.
He went through the puppy years where everything was a chew toy, chargers, shoes, leashes, collars, dishes, even a few crates! Boy, was this puppy more money than I thought, but well worth the cuddling at nights, watching him grow up, and having an unconditional best friend.
Three years later, I love Duke just the same. He is still just as willing to please, but very stubborn at times (like his mommy). And, like my love for him, he continues to love us unconditionally as our best friend and little blessing.
He was adorable.
Not sure if we were ready to commit to this we continued in the shelter looking around, we looked at cats, birds, and other animals they had at the shelter, but we couldn't get this cute black and white puppy out of our head. We went back and asked if we could see him and play with him outside. We took him out, he was a little frightful at first but seemed to quickly fall in love with us. I couldn't see him go back in the kennel. Sure, with his cuteness, he'd get adopted soon, but I wanted him to come home with us. We made the decision to bring him home. The shelter staff was so nice, and our puppy came home with us that very day (after some paperwork was filed). According to the paperwork, this puppy was surrendered by the previous owner, only the day before we arrived at the shelter. Immediately, our new pup took quite a liking to us.
I remember I had to get down of the car to pick up some food, and when I came back in, my boyfriend had told me the puppy had started crying as soon as I got out, whining for me to come back.
We got home with my family, took puppy a bath (since he was covered in fleas). It took us a few hours to find the perfect name. My mom suggested Duke (el Duque in Spanish), and so Duke was now an official member of our family.
First few months were tough for us all, at only 2 months, Duke suffered from separation anxiety, but both parents had to work and go to school. We all learned to cope with this and make the best of the situation. Duke grew up fast not just physically but mentally as well. He was very willing to please us and any human he met. He picked up little tricks fast. Potty training, on the other hand, was a nightmare, but we got through it (cleaning a poop filled crate was no fun!!).
First time Duke came to his new home, he was afraid of the stairs and had to be carried a few times, but we made sure to show him there was nothing to afraid of. He was quickly was running up and down the stairs.
He went through the puppy years where everything was a chew toy, chargers, shoes, leashes, collars, dishes, even a few crates! Boy, was this puppy more money than I thought, but well worth the cuddling at nights, watching him grow up, and having an unconditional best friend.
Three years later, I love Duke just the same. He is still just as willing to please, but very stubborn at times (like his mommy). And, like my love for him, he continues to love us unconditionally as our best friend and little blessing.
Puppy Duke :)
Duke today :) at age 3
<Today, Duke is now 6 and shares our love with his adopted sister blue, here they are at Bark at the Park Texas Rangers game. Duke is 6, Blue is now 3; Tomorrow I'll write Blue's story, then Sunday it'll be time for me to show you my last cake project I promised you (TMNT)>
My babies, and my husband :)
Monday, July 13, 2015
My Little Pony Cake
This weekend I had a challenge with this cake. I'm overall satisfied with the cake, however, I know that it's not the original plan I had.
It all happened when the top tier ended up lopsided. : /... Never a good thing. Then, the sprinkle method I decided to used didn't go as great as expected. Finally, my fondant that I wanted to use to cover the bottom tier was all dry and crumbly - then I had no way of salvaging it (trust me, I tried).
However, with all that, I'm still satisfied - could have been better but happy with all that happened.
Recipe time!! So, the cake itself is CHOCOLATE! This is the best chocolate recipe I have found and everyone loves it!! Coffee is it's secret ingredient!! (Just like the red velvet recipe I use ;) ). The title of this recipe is actually "The Best Chocolate Cake." Click the link to find the recipe. Here are a few pictures of the process.
I don't use the "King Arthur Flour Black Cocoa" and it's still great, so this is definitely optional. The cake is so moist and chocolaty, definitely for chocolate lovers.
I tried to make a marshmallow fondant (this is the dry one I made : /). Maybe it didn't work out because the marshmallows were store brand and a little old. I'll try the recipe again with better marshmallows, maybe it'll do the trick. If it does, I will definitely post that recipe up later.
I then made this buttercream recipe and chocolate buttercream recipe. I love the chocolate buttercream recipe because its so simple and I've gotten a few compliments on it so I'll stick to it. I also recently discovered it can also be made with white chocolate (next time I'll try this!!). This was a new buttercream recipe I was trying out. I always feel homemade buttercream has too much of a gritty - powdered sugar taste. Kids love it though. I'm just trying to find one that is more "store like." I guess I'll stick with store kind or keep trying different ones. If you have any that you love, leave a comment below. :) Wish I remembered to take pictures of the chocolate buttercream process, it's actually pretty cool. But check out the link for pictures there. I did take on of the buttercream though. Enjoy!
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It all happened when the top tier ended up lopsided. : /... Never a good thing. Then, the sprinkle method I decided to used didn't go as great as expected. Finally, my fondant that I wanted to use to cover the bottom tier was all dry and crumbly - then I had no way of salvaging it (trust me, I tried).
However, with all that, I'm still satisfied - could have been better but happy with all that happened.
Recipe time!! So, the cake itself is CHOCOLATE! This is the best chocolate recipe I have found and everyone loves it!! Coffee is it's secret ingredient!! (Just like the red velvet recipe I use ;) ). The title of this recipe is actually "The Best Chocolate Cake." Click the link to find the recipe. Here are a few pictures of the process.
I don't use the "King Arthur Flour Black Cocoa" and it's still great, so this is definitely optional. The cake is so moist and chocolaty, definitely for chocolate lovers.
Sift the flour first. So easy to do it on parchment paper!
Here is what I mean about spooning to measure the flour. Remember, you don't want "packed" flour.
All the dry ingredients mixed together
Buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla all mixed together in my Pyrex cup.
Once I beat in the buttermilk mix with the dry ingredients. Note, I do the coffee second since I use my Pyrex cup for this (maybe soon I'll invest in a second measuring cup :) )
The coffee mixed in the measuring cup (I don't really clean out the buttermilk first - it all goes in the same place! lol) Notice the batter is now very runny - this is ok, no worries!
Finished cakes!! So, My middles usually sink in, anyone know why? Do they need to stay in longer - then I'm afraid they'll burn or be too dry.
Also, I used deeper pans so more batter in each pan I use the Wilton chart for help on this. The recipe itself make about 5 1/3 cups of batter. I made the recipe 3 times. Took about 40-45 to bake up.
My homemade cake drum! I use Elmer foam board and measure the cake pan to make the circle. This one is 4 boards taped together then wrapped in cake foil. Then it needed to pop, so I found this duck tape I bought on clearance a while ago. It definitely did the trick (I may do this more often!)
I then made this buttercream recipe and chocolate buttercream recipe. I love the chocolate buttercream recipe because its so simple and I've gotten a few compliments on it so I'll stick to it. I also recently discovered it can also be made with white chocolate (next time I'll try this!!). This was a new buttercream recipe I was trying out. I always feel homemade buttercream has too much of a gritty - powdered sugar taste. Kids love it though. I'm just trying to find one that is more "store like." I guess I'll stick with store kind or keep trying different ones. If you have any that you love, leave a comment below. :) Wish I remembered to take pictures of the chocolate buttercream process, it's actually pretty cool. But check out the link for pictures there. I did take on of the buttercream though. Enjoy!
This was quite fluffy and creamy. The birthday girl, however, said it was yucky. She wanted ALL chocolate. Her brother said it was good as gold. Go figure lol.
What do you think? Comment below. I've also discovered I a lot better at "girly" cake than little dude cakes. This weekend I get to work on ninja turtle cake. Wish me luck!
Enjoy! and comment below :)