Mini Gingerbread Cheesecakes

While I was still in school we had a pastry showcase as our practical final. I believe the name of the showcase was "Fall out of Fall" and each of us in the pastry class had to make a seasonal dessert/pastry for thirty people. I chose to make miniature gingerbread cheesecakes with little gingerbread cookies on top. Here is what they turned out to be:

The cheesecake crust was made from gingerbread cookies (home-made of course) that I crushed up in a food processor. The cheesecake batter was pretty standard. I just added some molasses and spices to make it gingerbread flavored. I have to say that this is one of my favorite non-traditional cheesecake flavors. 

This is how the miniature cheesecakes were displayed in the showcase; and yes, the gingerbread house was completely edible.

Here is a close up of the house. This gingerbread house came in a kit that I bought from Michaels. The kit came with all the pieces that I had to glue together. Then I had fun decorating the house. These kits are a great activity for kids and always wind up looking really cute :)

Speedy Birthday Cakes

Don't you love when you get a call from a friend the day before their birthday asking if you can make them a cake??? Well, that is exactly what happened with these next two cakes. 

This first cake, I believe was a wacky cake, and took me about one hour to make, bake, and decorate. I whipped up the batter, threw it in the oven, baked it, and then put it outside to cool. I remember it was cold after sitting outside for only fifteen minutes and I was truly amazed. I've never had a cake cool down that fast. About ten minutes to decorate and into the box it went. 

This pink and orange cake was made for Mallary (one of my boyfriend's college friends). I had no idea what colors she liked and somehow I read her mind because pink and orange are her favorite colors. Maybe I'm psychic. Anyways, this cake was another one that I needed to make in two hours and I think it turned out pretty cute.

Grandma & Grandpa's Anniversary Cake

This cake was made for my grandparent's anniversary. (I forget how many years they were married at the time because it has been a lot!!!). The Italian Cream Cake seemed like the perfect cake for the occasion.

I decorated it with a cream cheese frosting and piped a lot of swirls on top and the sides; then a sprinkle of edible glitter :)

This cake is one of my absolute favorites!!!

My Sister's Baby Shower

I can't believe that time has flown by so quickly. My niece, Madison, is now almost 15 months old and such a cutie. I, along with the help of some of my sister's good friends and my mom, threw her a baby shower almost two and a half years ago!!! I was in charge of the invitations and making all the desserts. We served hors d'oeuvres and bite sized desserts; and trust me, we had a lot of them. 

Here is a picture of the whole dessert table with a beautiful diaper cake made by Laura. 

These little tartlets were filled with a cream cheese mixture and topped with fresh berries. This was the only non-chocolate dessert I made!

Anyone who knows my sister, knows that she loves chocolate covered strawberries, so these were a must. I dipped them in dark chocolate and then drizzled some white chocolate over top.

 

Next were some flower shaped brownies with a raspberry buttercream. So simple and so yummy!!!

I had found these clear martini glasses in a party supply store years ago and thought they would be the perfect vessel for chocolate mousse. I topped the chocolate mousse with some raspberries. They were absolutely to die for. I'm pretty sure I ate most of the mousse myself :)

Below the mousse martini cups and in the center of this next picture are chocolate chip cookie dough truffles. My sister and I make cookie dough, not to make cookies, but to eat the dough with a spoon. Once I saw the recipe for these truffles, I knew I had to make them. It was a very simple cookie dough batter, that didn't include eggs, and didn't need to be baked. I covered the dough balls with chocolate and decorated them with some cute sprinkles.

This last picture is of a platter of fudge. I love making fudge, especially around the holidays, so I thought I'd make some for the shower. Everyone likes chocolate fudge anyways, right? This is just a simple chocolate fudge that I topped with some pink buttercream icing. It is so rich that just a little piece will do it!!!

Easter 2008

This Easter I ventured out and tried to make some different desserts. This first cake is an Italian Cream Cake. The recipe is a family secret that has been passed down for generations. I was lucky enough to obtain this recipe from a friend because he thought that I would be able to make it better than he could and apparently I did. I'd never made or even heard of an Italian Cream Cake until he told me about it. I describe it as having the texture of a carrot cake, but instead of carrots, it has coconut in it. And to make it even better, it is frosted with a cream cheese icing. So delicious!!!

Below are the infamous lemon squares. This recipe has been in my family for generations and is a must for every holiday. Dr. Fuller reminds me at least once a month to make lemon squares for the next party. They have a buttery, shortbread crust and a very lemony curd-like custard on top; always a hit during the spring and summer months.

 

This year was the first time I made a trifle. I made Grandma's Pound Cake, cream anglaise, and sweetened whipped cream. I cut up the pound cake into cubes and layered half of them into the bottom of the trifle dish. Then, I topped the cubes with half the cream anglaise, a mix of sliced strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries, and then half of the whipped cream. I then repeated the layers until the trifle dish was full and then placed some more berries on top. It is such a simple dessert that can be made so many different ways and always looks beautiful; it tastes great too!!!

This next cake was made purely for fun. I saw a cake like this in a magazine and thought it looked really cute. I took a flower pot and layed chocolate cake and chocolate pudding into it, then topped it with some crushed Oreo cookies to make it look like dirt. We had some fake flowers laying around the house so I shoved them in and added some gummy worms. It's a great idea for kids parties and super simple.

Last, but not least, was the key lime pie. I made a graham cracker crust and then mixed together some key lime juice, sweetened condensed milk, and a few eggs for the custard. I baked it until the custard was set and garnished it with some sweetened whipped cream and some lime slices. Like the lemon squares, this soon became an Easter tradition.

2007: Getting a Little More Creative

It looks like I only have pictures from Easter and my birthday this year. I was definitely spending more time skating and less time in the kitchen; my how things have changed in just a short few years.

This 3D bunny was really simple to make, especially since I had a pan with two bunny halves and all I had to do was glue the cake together with some icing. Grandma's Pound Cake was the cake of choice for the bunny since it is a dense cake and would withstand being stood up. I remember using a paint brush to apply the buttercream, giving the bunny a fur-like texture. I had a lot of fun making this bunny :)

Along with the bunny came some cupcakes topped with colored coconut and jelly beans; a must for Easter. 

Choo-choo-train cakes have been a tradition in our family for decades. My grandmother always made a choo-choo-train cake for my father's birthday and soon my sister and I were getting them for our birthdays too. Sometimes we received train wrecks; especially if my mom helped. A few times they "ran" off the counter-top and sometimes they just weren't put together well. No matter how pretty they looked, they always tasted yummy.

The train cakes my grandmother made for my dad were never as colorful as the one pictured above, but always had at least a car or two and a caboose. I made this train cake for my birthday and decided to make it very colorful. I used random candies we had in the house and I think it turned out pretty cute.

I also made this flowery cake for my birthday that year. At this point I had no clue how to make edible flowers, so I used real ones to decorate this cake. After I made this cake, I was determined to learn how to make flowers out of fondant and gum paste; and a short time after this, I did!!!

2006: The Year of Making Cakes with Random Stuff in the Pantry

As I look back through the pictures of the cakes I made in 2006, they all had a similar theme; open the pantry doors and see what's inside . . . then turn it into a cake. I find that I've been doing this more often as time goes on. I usually have the basic ingredients for a cake in my pantry at all times and sometimes, when I get a craving for a slice of cake, it is nice to be able to just open the pantry doors and get to baking.

Here is a cake that I'm pretty sure I just made one day because I was craving something sweet. 

I don't remember what the cake or icing was, but I can tell by how beautiful the fruit looks on top that I made this cake in the spring time. I love pairing fruit with cakes and it always adds great color to what sometimes can be a plain cake.

This cake below is one that I made for my birthday. I must have been in a colorful mood that day because every color icing is on this cake.

I usually make myself a Wacky Cake for my birthday since I love chocolate and I'll never get tired of eating a wacky cake. I remember buying the candles and balloons years prior thinking, "I'll use these for something, someday." I tend to find myself saying that a lot these days (especially when I go to Michaels or A.C. Moore). Anyways, a bunch of my friends were coming over to celebrate my birthday and I wanted to make a fun cake; I think I definitely did.

This next cake was for Christmas.

I always look at this picture and think to myself, "what on earth was I thinking?" To this day, I still don't know. This cake was once again a Wacky Cake with some Wingnut Icing (which I will post the approximate recipe for at some point in the near future). Peach rings, peeps, and oddly colored candy canes some how made it onto the cake and although I don't think I would ever make another cake like this, it sure was interesting!!!

The 2005 Holiday Season

This year pies seemed to be what everyone wanted. Pumpkin pie is a necessity for Thanksgiving and I remember that this year was the first time I tried a new recipe. I always used to make pumpkin pies with the recipe off the back of Libby's pumpkin cans; that was until I tried Martha Stewart's Pumpkin Pie Recipe. Her recipe is super easy to make and absolutely delicious. The pumpkin filling just melts in your mouth and is uber pumpkiny. I made the pie crust as well and here is what it looked like.

And here is a close up of the crust. I rolled out the pie crust and used a little pumpkin cookie cutter to make the design on the border. I affixed the pumpkin cut-outs with some egg wash and the stuck on pretty well. 

I also made an apple pie. I believe I used Martha's Pate Brisee recipe for the crust and cut-out little snowmen for the border. (This pie was for Christmas).

 Like the year before, I also made a snowman . . .

. . . and a Christmas tree. Both of these cakes were made out of Wacky Cake. 

Easter 2005

Every year for Easter, my parents and I would head over to Dr. Fuller's house for the holiday. Dr. Fuller is like my second dad and his family adopted me the second the tried my cheesecake. They always did the food and I always made the desserts. It started out with just a cheesecake and then they asked me to make a carrot cake and a chocolate cake and lemon squares (those are Dr. Fuller's favorites). Before I knew it, every holiday I was making about nine different desserts to bring over to their house. All the family members put in their orders for the next holiday and the amount of desserts soon grew to ridiculous numbers. 

This Easter I made a bonnet cake for Jane made out of a whipped cream cake, that is really light and fluffy, and iced with buttercream. My mom had a cute bow in the closet which I added on with some ribbon to make it look like a real bonnet.

I also made some Wacky Cake cupcakes that I baked in ice cream cones. They are really simple and are great for kids parties. However, to make them look like real ice cream cones, you need to use a lot of icing.

Simple Buttercream Frosting

This recipe I use most of the time when I need a simple and quick buttercream frosting. It takes about 5 minutes to make and always turns out great. It is a bit on the sweeter side, since it calls for one pound of sugar to one stick of butter, but if you don't want it super sweet, just cut down on the sugar a bit. This recipe comes from the side of the Domino's Confectioners' Sugar box :)

Simple Buttercream Frosting

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

1lb confectioners' sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

3-4 Tbsp milk

In a large bowl, with mixer at low speed, combine butter, confectioners' sugar, milk, and vanilla. (I usually cream the butter a bit first, then slowly add the sugar, milk, and vanilla). Beat at medium speed for 1-2 minutes until creamy. If desired, add more milk until frosting is spreading consistency. (I never really need to add more milk unless you want a thinner icing).

The 2004 Holiday Season

I always seem to get more creative around the holidays and want to make festive cakes. The next three cakes were all made for Christmas Day and I definitely spent a bit more time working on my presentation. I remember having a lot of fun decorating the snowman and Christmas tree cakes. Once again, both were made of Wacky Cake, and decorated with buttercream and lots of candy. I believe I found the pans in Michaels' or AC Moore and have used them a bunch over the years. You just have to make sure to grease them well otherwise the cakes won't turn out; and that's never fun.

Spongebob was requested by one of the little ones that year and I think he came out pretty cute. I used Grandma Theresa's Pound Cake for this cheerful guy and then piped lots and lots of stars of buttercream to cover him up. I think this pan was purchased at Michaels' as well :)

The Volcano Cake

This has got to be one of the most disastrous cakes I've ever made. My mom and I decided to try making our own fondant. Yeah . . . . as you can see from the picture below . . . it didn't work. We poured the fondant on the cake while it was too hot, so it just melted the cake, causing a crater to form straight down the center of the cake. Not good :(

Wacky Cake

This is one of my all-time favorite, and easy to make, cakes. It makes the perfect amount of batter for an 8" round cake or twelve cupcakes. It can be doubled, tripled, quadrupled, and it still turns out great. The cake comes out moist every time and, although usually necessary for cakes, icing isn't really needed; it tastes great by itself. And the best part about this cake, it's only 60 calories for one cupcake (minus the icing of course). This recipe is from the American Heart Association cookbook.

Wacky Cake
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 cup water

Sift together dry ingredients. Add remaining wet ingredients. Whisk until smooth. Pour into a greased 8" round pan. Bake at 350^o for about 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. :)

June 2004

Let me just say that this month I did not produce the most beautiful looking cakes. Some were cute and some were complete train-wrecks. If I was to make these cakes right now, I have a feeling they would look at lot different. These next three cakes, I believe, were made for a 4th of July party.

This beetle was made out of "wacky" cake and frosted with some yummy green buttercream. This is my go-to cake when nothing else sounds good. Oreo cookies were used for the wheels and some jelly beans and Mike and Ikes for other details. Of course I nibbled on them as I decorated; you can't not!!!

Okay, so this is one of the train-wrecks I was talking about. If I remember correctly, it tasted pretty good, but this strawberry shortcake was horrendously ugly. I don't have a clue what I thinking when I iced it; oh well. Strawberry shortcake seems to be one of people's favorite desserts and I've never really understood why; it is basically just pound cake, strawberries, and whipped cream. Every time I eat it, I always expect there to be more to it, but I guess sometimes simple is better.

This sunny cake was really fun to make. I made another "wacky" cake and used ice cream cones covered in yellow buttercream to make it look like a sun. And what's a sun without some sunglasses, right???

Grandma Theresa's Pound Cake

I was never a big fan of pound cake until Grandma Theresa gave me her recipe. Most pound cakes are usually like a brick, and I feel, tend to be dry. This one is a much lighter and creamier version than the pound cake bricks I'm used to. This cake is still great to use for tiered cakes though, because even though it is less brick-like, it is still strong enough to hold some weight.

The original recipe was typed up on a yellow index card using a typewriter; that's how old this recipe is. And I still have it to this day!

Grandma Theresa's Pound Cake

1/2 cup Oleo (or unsalted butter)

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

3 oz cream cheese

2 eggs

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

Cream oleo (butter), cream cheese, and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs and vanilla. Add in dry ingredients and milk. Stir until all of the ingredients are incorporated. Grease and flour a loaf pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. :)

February 2004

Yes, this was a long time ago. As I was searching my ridiculously large pictures folder on my computer, I came across the first digital pictures of cakes I made. Granted, I have made many more cakes prior to February 2004, but I think this was the first time that I got a digital picture of them. So here goes . . .

  

This boat cake was one of the first themed cakes that I made. I think the boat was made out of Grandma Theresa's pound cake and the sails were cut out of cardboard. These were the days before I knew of fondant and my piping skills were not very good. Black licorice was used as an edging for the boat and a pretzel with a fruit roll-up wrapped around it helped the sails stay up. And of course we used the mint lifesavers for the buoys!!

This was an apricot tart that I made for my Grandfather. If I remember correctly it was just a basic pie crust filled with dried apricots and baked until a little overly golden brown, oops. I topped it with some apricot glaze and if you like apricots, it wasn't too bad. However, it was a bit too much apricot for me.

Oh . . . the green icing. I remember when I made this cake there was green icing all over the place; I thought my mom was going to shoot me. The sink was black and the counter tops were covered.  This dinosaur cake was made for a young boy named Steven's birthday and it was the beginning of the evolution of my piping skills. As you can sort of see, I didn't really know that I needed to put a coat of icing on the whole cake before I piped the designs. Oh well, you live and you learn. I believe this cake was Grandma Theresa's pound cake as well.

 

This is the infamous "wacky" cake. The recipe is from the American Heart Association Cookbook and is actually figure friendly; well, if you don't put any icing on it that is. This cake is always so moist and most of the time fool-proof. If you are in the mood for chocolate, this cake can be made in 30 minutes or less and topped with some "wing-it" icing, it'll definitely satisfy your craving!!!

Hello :)

My name is Rachel and I have been baking since I was a little munchkin. I used to stand on a kitchen chair and help my mom mix together "wacky" cake and chocolate chip cookies and whatever other crazy concoctions we would come up with. My mom and I have always "wung it" when it came to baking. She taught me that following recipes was not always necessary (even though it really is) and just throwing a little of this and a sprinkle of that into the bowl will make everything taste better (well, sometimes). Let me tell you, this "method" does not always work out very well, but it sure makes things interesting. 

So, this is how it all started!!

 

This is the famous cookie monster apron. I still have it in my kitchen and it will never leave. 

 

 And yes, I was allowed to pick out my own clothes. I can't say that I always made great choices :)

  

My baking skills have improved since these days and I plan to post pictures of everything I've made over the years (the good, the bad, and the ugly). 

Happy baking!!!