Ahoy Matey!

Ethan & I made these for his Kindergarten class to celebrate his 6th birthday. They were so fun and easy to do. Ethan had a great time stabbing the Jolly Rodger flags in the boats.
I found the cupcake liners and flags in a package at Joann's. We used Hershey's treasures for the boat and the ladders were made with melted milk chocolate being piped onto wax paper.
(We felt like they didn't look like pirate ships without the ladders)
We used tip 16 to pipe the waves.

Shiver Me Timbers...it's Ethan's Birthday!

Happy 6th Birthday Ethan! This cake was suppose to be so easy to do and it looks that way but it was the pirate ship from you know where. The only thing that made it worth while was seeing Ethan's face when he discovered it the next morning. He loved it and had so much fun changing the pirates positions and messing with the waves. I was so thankful for Patti and Danielle's help once again. We just can't do birthday cakes on our own anymore and I love it. They are true friends. Who else would be crazy enough to stay up with me until 2 a.m. just to salvage a 6 year old boys dream of the best pirate ship ever. It worked. Thanks girls.

I wouldn't suggest ever making this cake unless you can make a chocolate cake that is more dense. The boxed cake mix was so soft that it was tearing all over the place. I baked this in 2 9" pans. I cut the cakes in half and stacked them on top of each other with frosting. I cut a small amount off the rounded bottom so they would lay flat and then I turned them on the side so that the part I just cut off was the bottom of the ship (I got this idea on line and from Danielle). I used 2 straws inserted in the middle of the cake to help hold the cake together. I tried to originally cut some of the middle of the cake out so that I would have 2 decks but that resulted in me having to start all over from scratch because it completely feel apart so I recommend keeping it simple.

I then frosted it using none other than Patti's yummy chocolate frosting. We used a knife to carve the wood planks in the side, pretzels for the railing, whoppers for cannons, Rolos for gold, candy bar cut smaller for the plank, fondant and sprinkles for the waves, 6 candles for the cannons coming out of the ship (this was a fun way to have Ethan blow out his candles) and Legos for the actors (Ethan loved the guy walking the plank.) For the flags I used the pattern on the 2010 Wilton yearbook. I printed them onto paper rather than use fondant like they suggested. I glued them on wooden dowels that I painted. The jolly rodgers flag in the front I found on the internet. For the base I covered a square of wood with blue wrapping paper and then covered it with plastic wrap to keep it clean.

Just when we thought that we were done the cake started cracking down the center going both ways. Nightmare. We piped frosting down the large cracks and leaned heavy cups along the entire cake to hold it together. I said a prayer and hoped the cake would be in one piece the next morning. My prayer was answered and it stayed together even when the cups were removed. The only thing that had changed was that it looked more square after being squished and you could see the cracks. Both things Ethan never noticed.

Candy syrup!

I love Patti's tradition of making scones between Sunday sessions of General Conference. The girl has a gift-they are the best scones ever. I wish it was an every Sunday tradition! I'm sad to say it but this was our last Conference together before I move. How will I ever be able to make these amazingly delicious things on my own. I will be lost.

Hot and fresh ready to eat! Oh you think it looks yummy now...

Now we're talkin'. I made Lisa's buttermilk syrup a.k.a candy syrup and it became a match made in heaven. Here's the recipe:

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 Tbsp. Karo syrup

1 cube butter

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. vanilla

Melt butter in medium saucepan. Add sugar and Karo syrup. Cook on low to medium heat for a few minutes or until sugar is almost dissolved (don't let it boil.) Add buttermilk and stir until sugar is dissolved. Add vanilla, turn off heat. Add baking soda, stir and enjoy. It is normal for it to separate once it has been sitting out for a little while so just give it another stir and enjoy it again and again.

Butterscotch ganache

I tried the Bakerella Butterscotch ganache brownies(which tasted more like a cookie). It was good but I overcooked the brownies which made it a little crunchy. It tasted better the next day. Anyway here is her recipe that I used from Nestle's website

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
• 1 3/4 cups packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 1 2/3 cups (11-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Butterscotch Flavored MorselsNESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Butterscotch Flavored Morsels, divided
• 1 cup chopped nuts

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 350° F.

COMBINE flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Beat butter, sugar and vanilla extract in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Beat in eggs. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in 1 cup morsels and nuts. Spread into ungreased 13x9-inch baking pan. Sprinkle with remaining morsels.

BAKE for 30 to 40 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack.

I cooked these in 2 9" round pans for 24 minutes and that was too long. So just watch your time if using something other than a 9x13 pan.

After they were cooled I poured Butterscotch ganache (6 oz. butterscotch morsels, 6 Tbsp heavy whipping cream, 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, In a small saucepan, heat cream and butter until just before the boiling stage. Pour over the butterscotch morsels. Let stand about 20 seconds and stir until smooth) over the brownies. I then stacked them and poured chocolate ganach (substitute half semi-sweet and half milk chocolate chips for butterscotch) on top and layered with butterscotch chips.

Hoppy Easter!

We made these cupcakes with some friends for Easter. I had as much fun as the kids decorating these.

The flower was made by cutting (I used scissors) large pink marshmellows in 3 even pieces, dipping the sticky half in pink sugar and placing them in a circle, one end on top of the other on a freshly iced cupcake. We used a yellow M&M for the center.

The bunny was made by frosting the cupcake white and dipping it in coconut. The ears are a large pink marshmellow cut in half, molded to the ear shape with the sticky end dipped in pink sprinkles. The eyes are blue M&M's, the nose is a pink jelly bean, and 2 white marshmellows make the bunny checks and I used black frosing for the whiskers.

We used melted chocolate piped onto wax paper to make this Easter basket handle. For the grass we used grass tip. The eggs are jelly beans and I found the bunny in a package of Easter icing decorations. We also dyed some coconut green for another grass option and topped them with a marshmellow bunny peep.

Here are the cute kids with their awesome creations. They should be so proud.

More Cake Pops!

Kaelynn, Danielle, Kristine, and I made these for Marcellas baby shower. I loved doing this with these cute girls. I was so thankful for their help and couldn't have done all 100 pops by myself.

I wanted to make sure this time that we made both the coconut and lemon head cake pops since they are the best ones. So that is what inspired our colors for the shower. We also made strawberry and chocolate ones as well. For the recipe see the Cake Pop entry in September. Next time we want to try mixing peanut butter with some cream cheese into a chocolate cake, topping with milk chocolate and Reese's Pieces (this would be fun for the fall.) This was Kaelynn's idea. See this is why I love doing treats with friends, our minds work so much better together.

Cupcakes for Relief Society

I made these for our Relief Society Birthday celebration. I decided this time to not spend lots of time decorating these cupcakes but to focus on the taste so I made yummy flavored frosting instead. I made 5 different kinds: key lime, mint chocolate, plain chocolate, strawberry, & vanilla buttercream with butterscotch ganache.

Mint chocolate: I used a devils food cake mix. The frosting had 4 oz. cream cheese, 4 Tbps. butter, 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. mint extract, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar. I used a little green food coloring, piped it on with tip 12 and topped it with chocolate shavings.

Chocolate cupcake: triple chocolate cake mix, and Patti's frosting recipe. Piped on with 1M tip.

Key lime: I used a vanilla cake mix but replaced some of the water with key lime juice (I used Nellie & Joe's brand) about 1/4 cup. For the frosting I creamed 1 cube butter & 8 oz. cream cheese together then added 1 jar of marshmellow cream, key lime juice (about 2 tbsp.), 1 tsp. vanilla, the zest and a little juice from 1 lime, and approx. 2 cups powdered sugar. You may need to add more powdered sugar depending on the consistency you want. I topped it with a slice of lime right before serving.

Strawberry-I used a strawberry cake mix. The frosting had 1 cube butter, 8 oz. cream cheese, 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 1 tsp. vanilla, and 4 tbsp. pureed strawberries (I used frozen ones that were thawed). I started out with 1/2 cup of pureed strawberries but I cooked it down to make the flavor more intense since it isn't very strong. I would even do more next time and add more sugar if it needs to be thicker. Be careful not to over mix. I also added a slice of strawberry on top right before serving.

Butterscotch ganache: This was my first time trying this and I am hooked. I love this stuff. I used a regular buttercream frosting with a vanilla cake mix. For the ganache you put 3 tbsp. unsalted butter and 6 tbsp. heavy whipping cream in a small saucepan on low heat and heat until just before boiling stage. Pour this over 1 cup butterscotch chips, let sit for 20 seconds then stir until creamy and pour over cupcakes.