Spy or Secret Agent Birthday Cake

My boys turned eight (eight?!) over the weekend. Their birthday party had a spy (or secret agent) theme.
I made this super simple magnifying glass cake for the party. All you need is white and black frosting, and two or three round icing tips. It couldn't be any easier!

What You Need:
Cookies & Cream Cake Recipe
  (I used the exact recipe as you will find on my link above. However, since the cake was a large 9x13, I doubled the cakes, and made 1 1/2 times the icing recipe.)
Black Decorating Icing
  (You could even purchase 2 or 3 tubes of black icing to make it more simple.)
Crushed Oreo or other cookies
Piping Bag and Icing Tips #3, 7 & 12
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Pumpkin Streusel Cheesecake Bars {Recipe}

I love cheesecake bars. I've made Strawberry-Rhubarb Cheesecake Bars, Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars, Cranberry-Gingerbread Cheesecake Bars. And now, Pumpkin Streusel Cheesecake Bars

What You Need:
For the Crust & Topping:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup chopped, toasted pecans
1 tsp. salt (if using unsalted butter)
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup unsalted butter, chilled

For the Filling:
2- 8 oz. block cream cheese (at room temperature)
1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

Note: I think I would like to have more filling, but my husband and children insist this is enough. If I double it, and like it, I'll report back.

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Rose-Covered Cake Tutorial

This cake is a new favorite. It's beautiful, and it's not hard to do. BUT... it does take a ton of icing.
I first saw a cake like this on the blog of another Minnesota baker, iambaker.net.

What You Need:
Cake ;-) (I used 2 layers of 6" round cake.)
   - How to Make Cake Mix Taste Homemade
6 cups (or more) Buttercream Icing
  - Recipe for Decorator's Buttercream Icing
Piping Bag and Tip #1M

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Simple, Special Cakes

Click this link to see the video on the Fox9 Website.

I visited my friends at Fox 9 this morning to do some fun, simple decorating... and to promote some of my upcoming classes.
Below you will find the links to register for the classes and for the techniques I showed and talked about on the show.

Simple, Special Cakes Classes
(Click each link to register for that class)
Monday, Sept. 29 6-9pm Roseville Area High School
Tuesday, Sept. 30 6-9pm Henry Sibley High School (West St. Paul)
Saturday, Oct. 4 9:30-11:30am Northfield Middle School
Tuesday, Oct. 6 6:30-8:30pm North Dale Rec. Center (St. Paul)


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Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Fluffy Cream Cheese Icing {Recipe}

My boys harvested a truckload of carrots from our garden over the weekend. They immediately began planning for their "three-story" Carrot Cake. We compromised and made these cupcakes, instead.

What You Need:
For the Cake:
2 cups peeled, grated carrots (about 4-6 carrots)
3/4 cup buttermilk (at room temperature)
1/4 cup applesauce
1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
1 Tbsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 cup butter (at room temperature)
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup (granulated) sugar
3 eggs (at room temperature)
Optional:
1/2 cup flaked coconut, toasted
1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted

For The Icing:
1 8 oz. brick of cream cheese (at room temperature)
1/2 cup butter (at room temperature)
2 tsp. vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar

Yield: 24-30 cupcakes

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Quilled Flowers for a Simple Wedding Cake

My baby sister is 12 years younger than me... and somehow they allowed her to get married!

She isn't the world's biggest fan of cake. So, she wanted a s'mores bar at her wedding reception... which she had. But my mom really wanted the traditional cutting-the-cake pictures. So, I agreed to make her a wedding cake.

I generally don't do wedding cakes, for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that they're a LOT of work. And for this one, I was working out of my other sister's kitchen, which is really fine in size and amenities, it's just not mine!
(Please forgive some of the photo quality. Not working in my own kitchen presented some lighting challenges, so some photos are a little - uck!)

The Quilled Sunflowers are made of gum paste, and were designed to match my sister's invitations (above), which she made of quilled paper herself.

What You Need:
For the quilled flowers and ribbons:
Gum paste (16 oz. pouch of Wilton brand is what I used and had plenty left over.)
Fondant ribbon cutter (or a pizza or pastry cutter)
Ruler or measuring tape
Clear vanilla or vodka
Food-safe paintbrush
Food coloring

For the cakes:
Two 10" x 2" round cake layers
Two 8" x 2" round cake layers
Two 6" x 2" round cake layers
Triple batch of my Rich Vanilla Icing
Food-safe dowel rods
Cardboard cake circles (one each 10", 8" & 6")

*Note: I used cake mix as a base for these cakes because I was away from home, and needed to simplify things as much as possible. Click the link to see how I Make Cake Mix Taste Homemade.


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Tree Trunk or Tree Stump Cake

Okay, so I love this cake... like L-O-V-E love it!
I was jumping up and down around the kitchen when I finished it, I was so happy with it.

My sister's wedding reception was held at a nature center. And she and her hubby love to do all kinds of nature-y things. So, when I was trying to think of a way to bring in the groom's favorite kind of cake (chocolate with raspberry filling), I thought of this, realizing that you could "carve" the ganache to look like bark, and it would not be all that hard to make.

What You Need:
Cake
   This was one 10"x2" round layer, two 9"x2" round layers and one 8"x3" round layer
Milk Chocolate Ganache:
 - 16 oz. heavy whipping cream
 - 32 oz. milk chocolate (I thought any darker of chocolate made the bark look too dark)
White Chocolate Ganache:
 - 4 oz. heavy whipping cream
 - 2 oz. white chocolate

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