Mickey Mouse Birthday Party

This weekend we celebrated our nephew’s 3rd birthday! I love this sort of thing, and was lucky enough to assist my sister-in-law and mother-in-law with the setup! A few weeks before the big day the birthday boy made a couple of basic requests – Mickey Mouse theme, lemon cake with sky blue frosting. Making his…

Low Carb Vanilla Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Last week I was invited to a surprise party for a very close friend. His girlfriend wasn’t able to bake for the occasion without blowing her cover, so I volunteered to make my first foray into keto-friendly (low carb, LCHF) baking. Prior to making these cupcakes I did some extensive research on flour replacements and…

Whiskey Caramel Truffle Cake

When it comes to baking for occasions, birthdays are my favorite. I love trying to think of a dessert that really suits the person. This time around, I was baking for a wonderful friend of mine. She’s not too picky, but I knew that she isn’t a fan of the copious amounts of frosting I…

Teddy Bear Baptism Cake

My sister-in-law asked me to create a baptism cake for my nephew, and I was absolutely thrilled at the prospect. After going through a few more feminine ideas, I created a cute cake that could just as easily be a baby shower cake, but made it fit for the occasion with a banner and small…

Stained Glass Cross Cake

I made this cross cake for my brother-in-law’s Catholic RCIA celebration. Most baptismal or first communion cakes are intended for children, and those that are not tend to be feminine, so my goal was to create a somewhat masculine cake with a religious motif. Technique Create a paper template the size of the outline for…

Easy Egg Nog Bundt Cake

Last year I was ill for the entire week leading up to the Christmas celebration for my mum’s family, and while I was definitely feeling better by the time the party rolled around, I was simply too behind on everything else (the driveway needed shoveling, the hamper was overflowing, Mayhem had a strange smell about…

Vegan Wedding Cupcakes

This is a historic weekend for Minneapolis – Thursday, August 1st was the first day same sex marriage was legal in our state (and in commemoration, starting at midnight, our Mayor performed 46  wedding ceremonies in 6 hours!)  It’s amazing to me that just two years ago, we were fighting tooth and nail to be…

Fudge Brownies with Cookie Dough Frosting

Yesterday we had a double birthday celebration at my office, and my coworker was bringing in bacon chocolate rice krispie bars, so I knew I had a lot to compete with. Initially my plan was to go with a classic chocolate cake, which led to fudge brownies, which led to fudge brownie cupcakes, and if…

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

OK, Confession time: I had never tasted red velvet cake until everyone went red velvet crazy in 2009. In fact, several years prior, I made a red velvet cake at the request of a colleague without even knowing what it was supposed to taste like, and just assumed it was basically chocolate cake with copious…