CookieD-oh

So I got invited to my first Matilda Jane trunk party last week. I had heard of Matilda Jane, sort of, but didn't really know what it was. Turns out it's super cute girls' clothing (big and little girls!). I was asked to make themed cookies, so I had to do a little internet research. I found out later that when Matilda Jane releases a collection, if an item sells out they don't replace it. So at least one of the dresses I based my cookies on was not available by the time the party was held. D'OH! Oh well, I still think they were cute. This was the "Once Upon a Time" collection for fall, and I really enjoyed the colors. These took me out of my comfort zone, too. I tend to do cookies that are similar in style most of the time. These were definitely not my regular style, but they were fun. The girl accompanied me to the trunk show, of course, and she had a wonderful time! She is ALL about clothes right now. *sigh* At 8 she is more fashionabl...

Decorated sugar cookies for fall! Leaves, pumpkins, apples, and sunflowers. I saw a couple different versions of the trees on Pinterest and decided to give them a go. I think the trees sort of pulled them all together. Well, that's all for now. Enjoy!

The chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting and ganache that I made last year was so popular that I turned it into cupcakes. Because, honestly, they're easier to deal with sometimes. Go-to dark chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting and a ganache drizzle. Very tasty, if I do say so myself. They're best if eaten with a fork. Just being honest. The cake recipe is here . To make cupcakes, fill cupcake liners 1/2 full and bake in a 375 F oven for about 16 minutes. Cool completely before frosting. Here is the frosting recipe: Peanut Butter Frosting 1 cup butter 1/2 cup peanut butter (creamy...not natural, sorry) 1/2 cup shortening 1/4 tsp salt 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 lbs powdered sugar 1/4 - 1/2 cup heavy cream Mix butter, peanut butter, shortening, salt and vanilla extract in the bowl of a stand mixer until well-combined. Add the powdered sugar and mix until incorporated. Add cream until the frosting reaches the desired consistency. Beat for 5 m...

Because who doesn't like a nice orange creamsicle? Nobody who enjoys summer, that's for sure. Orange cupcakes with vanilla cream cheese filling and orange cream cheese frosting. Yum! The folks at work seemed to like them. :-) That's all for now. Enjoy!

Peach cobbler revisited...because this recipe is amazing and deserves to be reposted. I think I even got some pictures that were better than the first time around. I know that peach season is mostly over, so you'll have to forgive me for posting this so late. I blame the computer; it's having some issues right now. :-( *Before we get started, I would like to say that I only make this recipe with fresh peaches from the fruit farm (unless I'm using frozen peaches that I froze myself after buying them from the fruit farm). Grocery store peaches just aren't the same. So if you can find some fresh-picked peaches, use them to make this.  You won't regret it.* Anyhoo, start by mixing peaches, cinnamon, and sugar together in a bowl. Set the bowl aside and let the ingredients mingle for a while. Next, in a new bowl, take some shortening and some sugar and beat the tar out of them until they're good and fluffy. Remember when I burned up my hand mixer m...

Made for a friend's daughter's baby shower. The theme was Mommy to Bee. These aren't colors I use regularly, but it was nice to do something different! There was a lot of black and some of the designs were wet-on-wet, so I made the icing with extra meringue powder, just in case. I've heard that extra meringue powder will stop bleeding. (Of course, for my regular royal icing recipe I've halved the amount of meringue powder I use, so really it was just the normal amount.) But whatever the reason, it worked! There was no bleeding black icing, even with the white polka dots. All bagged up and ready to go! I really have to start taking pictures before they're in the bags. I think that's all of them. I'm going to be making more cookies in the next couple weeks, so hopefully I'll actually get them posted to the ol' blog. Maybe. Well, that's all for now. Enjoy!

Welcome back to the blog! I know it's been a while, but that just seems to be how it is these days. :-) I'm going to be teaching a baking class at my church in October, and I needed to decide early what I want to bake. We wanted something Christmas-y, since October is now (according to most American retailers) the beginning of the holiday season. After much vacillating, waffling, hemming and hawing, I decided on a chocolate cake with peppermint frosting. Because cake. I tried really hard to take better pictures this time. I'm pretty sure I failed, but the effort was there, I promise! I even went on the internet to see how other bloggers staged their cakes for photos. I went down to my basement and found a white plate! THAT is dedication right there. This is the same chocolate cake I always make because, really, it's the best. Start out by gathering your stuff. Here's some of the stuff you'll need. The first thing you'll do is to mix some boil...

My friend's daughter got accepted into medical school! She's going to be an Ob-Gyn, so my friend asked for a themed graduation cake. I was fighting humidity again...I'm going to stop doing graduation cakes because I can't deal with the melting fondant. :-( Anyhoo, strawberry cake with hand-sculpted fondant decorations. That's all for now. Enjoy!

OK, people. I would just like to say that I recently found a new recipe for chocolate chip cookies, and these cookies are the real deal. I didn't have particularly high hopes. I didn't even take any pictures of the process. I mean, a chocolate chip cookie is a chocolate chip cookie, right? Maybe. Maybe not. I have made these approximately 8 times since discovering them on Smitten Kitchen last month. (And yet, somehow, I still only have the one photo.) Anyhoo, I tinkered with the recipe a little bit, just because that's who I am these days. The one thing I need to stress is that you should use a chocolate bar, cut into chunks. Chocolate chips work, but the cookies are better with chunks. So far I've used Ghiradelli, Hershey Special Dark, and a Spanish baking bar I received from a friend. If I could easily get the Spanish chocolate, I would use it again, but since I can't, I've been using the Hershey bar. It's bigger than the other and cheaper. And j...

A friend had a baby shower and I got to bring cookies and cupcakes! We were very excited for her, as this baby has been a long time coming. Unfortunately, I got ZERO good photos of the cookies. And I mean ZERO-er than normal. Made some onesies... Some bottles, rattles and bibs...  A plaque or two... And then I also made some cupcakes! I used my usual go-to chocolate cake, plus some white to go with them. Half the chocolate cupcakes were filled with dulce du leche (the ones with the dollops on top) and half of the white cupcakes were filled with lemon curd (also with the dollops on top). They were pretty darn tasty. Again, not a good photo, but you get the idea. They're cupcakes. :-) The little one arrived a few weeks ago and mom and dad couldn't be happier! Well, that's all for now. Enjoy!

So this was kind of weird. A friend of my mom's asked me to make some Honda Odyssey cookies for her. Basically she was looking for an excuse to have a celebration, and she decided to throw her minivan a birthday party. So, I present to you a 2004 Honda Odyssey in royal icing! On a candy corn cookie! I ended up doing royal icing transfers for the vans. They weren't great, but they were recognizable, at least. And I'm happy to say that after about 30 RI transfers, I can spot an Odyssey from 100 paces. Or more. Well, that's all for now. Enjoy!

The girl saw the Valentine Love Birds floating around the interwebs and decided she needed them for her class Valentine's Day party. (Yes, I do realize it's almost summer.) Her teacher is (was) gluten-free, so I made them with gluten-free ingredients. They tasted pretty good. And they were cute. I kept asking the girl if she wanted the birds to be pink and blue instead of the original white and blue, but she insisted they be exactly like the photos. I don't know if I got them exactly, but they're pretty close. And I got to use my new(ish) petal dust palette on the cheeks. Well, that's all for now. Enjoy!

Now that it's almost Father's Day, it seems like a good time to post some Mother's Day cookies. Lemon cookies with lemon royal icing. Three dozen, if memory serves, in some fun spring colors. Well, that's all for now.  Enjoy!

The boy is mildly obsessed with penguins, what can I say? About half the time he wants a penguin on his birthday cake. And since he's my boy, I humor him. So we saw the penguin cake on Pinterest and copied it, only he wanted it to be blue instead of black. I still don't know why. Then he couldn't think of anything to put on the bottom cake, and he really wanted there to be a bottom cake. Since the day of his party was getting close, I suggested an angry polar bear face. He agreed (though he had his doubts) and I think it came out ok. It was definitely unique! We had a combined party for both kids this year and the girl wanted a cat cake. First she wanted a cheetah, because she loves cheetahs, but then she saw a cat cake on Pinterest (I know, I know) and changed her mind. Which was good for me because it was the easiest cake ever. And here they are together: Not a bad day's work if I do say so myself. The penguin was coconut cake, the polar bear was le...