Well, it’s official. I’m certified in Photoshop which means I’m akin to a first year med student who knows where all the major bones and organs are but is not confident or capable to perform brain surgery. I knew there was a lot to the program but I never knew there was this much to it. Even though we barely scratched the surface, I learned an exorbitant amount thanks to a wonderful instructor, Jon Haverstick, who, besides being an incredibly… [Read More]
As if my favorite espresso martinis weren’t decadent enough I made espresso martini cupcakes for St. Patrick’s Day with buttercream icing made with Bailey’s Irish Cream and a few of its flavorful, sweet, high octane friends. These friends play together beautifully and are three of the five ingredients in the espresso martinis that I love. Bailey’s is creamy goodness. Frangelico is hazelnut-flavored liqueur and Crème de Cacao has a light chocolate flavor. For the cupcakes, I substituted the liquid ingredients… [Read More]
Only the most glam birthday cupcake would do for my wonderful friend, Suzi, and her most fabulously stylish daughter, Rebecca June, who describes herself on her blog as an ~ Interior Designer. Jewelry Addict. Clothes Horse. TV Junkie. Wife and Mother to a Rescue Dog. Suzi and Rebecca sparkle. Some people just seem to do that. I knew my design had to include glittering stars – (made from thinned royal icing, piped and filled in on top of cloth covered… [Read More]
This past weekend my family had two occasions to celebrate so I decided the requested chocolate cake would incorporate both upcoming events – a Valentine’s Day birthday of my brother and the departure of my nephew, his wife, and baby-to-be who leave this week to make Seattle their new home. When I thought of Seattle, it was obvious to me what I had to make – the space needle! I made a batch of lemon macarons without color tinting… [Read More]
Three words… Begin with the cutest mini cupcakes wrappers ever by Meri Meri. They are part of the give-away I’m hosting that ends on Friday. Fill them with your favorite vanilla cupcake batter. My recipe is at the end of this post, hot stuff. While the cupcakes baked I made Julia Child’s recipe for pastry cream. And just like Julia, I made it thicker and added a little cream after it completely cooled to thin it out. As Julia said,… [Read More]
Recently, I took a cupcake class at Sur la Table in Newport Beach. One can always learn something new. For example, did you know there is a higher level of whipping cream other than heavy whipping cream? It’s called manufacturer’s cream. Restaurants use it. It’s 48% butter fat compared to heavy whipping cream’s 38%. When I saw the nice helper pour some into my coffee I didn’t stop her. I actually told her to keep on going! That one cup… [Read More]
Mini chocolate cupcakes decorated with over-sized dragees and fall themed fondant cut-outs literally reached new heights in my kitchen for a fall open house party this past weekend. We’ll get ‘up close and personal’ so I can show how you how I made this. It’s not as complicated as it looks. Trust me. They’re just a bunch of little ol’ chocolate cupcakes dressed up all fancy like. The number of cupcakes needed depends on the size styrofoam cone that is… [Read More]
The team is ready to go. Can you feel the excitement in the air? The cupcake wrappers take the field. “Touchdown!” The crowd goes wild! And so did I when I saw this fun and spirited cupcake kit with 24 wrappers and toppers. So wild in fact, I bought one for myself with no particular party planned and went back a week later and bought another one for YOU! The kit is sold out on the Meri Meri website so… [Read More]
Have you ever bought the cutest cupcake wrappers only to lose the pattern once you’ve baked the cupcake and you don’t like the gap of placing your cupcake into another wrapper once it’s baked? Me too, so I decided to test my theory. Knowing that cupcake wrappers stay together well if you don’t separate them, what about using two unseparated wrappers during the baking process? It works! The key is not to separate them otherwise they will turn out as… [Read More]
To honor and celebrate a very special recent UCLA graduate I made UCLA cupcakes for his graduation party. I started out with a new oh-so-yummy vanilla cupcake recipe, made a variation using vanilla bean paste and voila! Next, I had to lock in my colors. I fell in love with the Decco Drops I found at Williams-Sonoma (in-store) so I had to commit to using a slightly more aqua color than the true Bruin baby blue. This also meant using… [Read More]
“The Best Ever – Blue Ribbon Winning – Chocolate Layer Cake – In All The Land”!
Carlo’s Bakery Cannolis and Lobster Tail Pastries
Bridal Shower Gifts and Wrapping Ideas
How To Host a Shabu-Shabu Party – An Interactive Dining Experience for a Group: Part 1
Nautical Wedding Cookies
A Holiday Cocktail ~ Carrot Cake Martinis
Make-Ahead Frozen Buttercream Cake Decorations
USC Trojan Cupcakes! Fight On!
