Easter 2011

As usual, my family and I would go over to Dr. Fuller's house for Easter. Here are pictures of all the treats I made last year. 

Here is a strawberry shortcake. I have never been a big fan of strawberry shortcakes, but everyone seems to love them and always want me to make them. 

This next cake was for Jane's birthday. It was a whipped cream cake with a raspberry buttercream filling. I used fondant for the decorations and had lots of fun cutting out flowers!!!

Below, is the infamous berry trifle. Years ago, I threw together a trifle with pound cake, creme anglaise, fresh berries, and whipped cream; it has been a Easter staple ever since.

Next is a carrot cake. Once I stumbled upon this recipe, no other carrot cake can compare. I have made it for years and it turns out wonderfully every time.

And last, but not least, is the cheesecake. A cheesecake must be made for all holidays otherwise Grandma Theresa will yell at me. And it has to be a plain cheesecake. I made the mistake of making a gingerbread cheesecake once for Christmas. I never heard the end of it. Grandma wants her cheesecake and it better be the plain, traditional one. Don't ever forget it!!!

One More Valentine's Day Creation

Here was another Valentine's Day cake I made this past year. This one was for a school project. We had to make a celebration cake. I chose to make a cake that celebrated Valentine's Day.

Unfortunately the food color we had at school was really old and didn't color fondant too well so I wound up with a dull colored cake. The design was still cute though! And although you can't see from the picture, I used lace doilies to give texture to the fondant hearts and little candy hearts with cute sayings on them. If only the colors had been more vibrant!!!

Valentines Day Creations

While I was still in school, I made some cakes, cupcakes, and cookies for a local bakery. The bakery was very small and the owner let me have free reign with the items I made. The items were made in my little 400 square foot apartment and then hand carried to the bakery, by myself, which was about four blocks away. Let's just say that I got pretty good at balancing cake boxes :)

This first cake was a rich devil's food cake filled with a nutella mousse and topped with ganache. Nutella is one of my favorite foods (yes, I eat it straight out of the jar with a spoon) and I try to incorporate it into as many cakes and cookies as possible. The chocolatey-hazelnut flavor is so yummy. If you've never had it, you need to go buy a jar immediately!!!

These heart-shaped cookies were made out of a sugar cookie dough and then just drizzled with some pink powdered sugar icing. My apartment smelled so good the day I made these. There is nothing better than the smell of sugar cookies in the oven.

This heart cake was another devil's food cake. It was covered in ganache and heart-shaped sprinkles.

These were wacky cake cupcakes with pink vanilla buttercream piped on top. I make these all the time!!!!

This pink cake was another wacky cake with pink vanilla buttercream. I believe I filled the layers with raspberry jam too. 

This white cake was an Italian cream cake with cream cheese icing. Although it is hard to see from the picture, I piped three hearts on the left side and sprinkled them with some red jimmies. 

I love stocking up on cake decorating supplies around Valentines Day. Everything is super cute and can be used for more than just one holiday. I usually stock up on cupcake liners and sprinkles, since they sell the most adorable ones this time of year :)