January the Month of Cakes

I told myself that I would blog more this year and it looks like I'm failing!! I can't believe it's February already and I haven't added a single entry for this year yet!  What can I say... I've been busy and I've been lazy.  First off, Happy 2013!! We made it thru 2012!!  I'm going to try to play catch up and fill you in on what I've been doing and hopefully get around to at least one entry a month.  January came and went pretty quickly. For me it was Birthday month, also my husband's birthday, nephews, and cousins all celebrated birthday in January.  In January we also welcomed a new nephew into the world, and we remembered the passing of my beloved Grandmother Iris.






Week Two: First Cake, Lemon was At Home Practice

 In January I started taking the Wilton's Cake Decorating Course at my local Michaels store.  Every Monday for four weeks, I attended a two hour class where I learned tips, tricks and techniques to decorate a beautiful cake.  At the beginning of the course, I didn't think I would be able to make a pretty cake like the one shown in the booklet, but as you will see, over the four weeks, anything is possible and I did it!  We learned to make Buttercream Icing from scratch and then used it throughout the course to decorate our cupcakes and cakes.





Week Three: Floral Cupcakes

With this course and any new craft learned, practice is key.  Practice is not only fun it's quite delicious and I made quite a few cupcakes and cakes, thankfully I was able to pass my creations to my family and their friends, so I didn't have eat all the sweets by myself.  As you can see with just four classes and a bit of practice at home, you too can create something just as pretty.  I highly recommend the Wilton's Cake Decorating class!  You can sign up at your local craft store such as Michaels, JoAnns or ACMoore.



Week Four: A Pretty Decorated Cake





Tropical Themed Cupcakes for a Tiki Party

Earlier this year, my sister in law got married and of course there was a bridal shower before the wedding.  Being me, I volunteered to help with the shower favors but not single handly of course!  I had my other sister in law and nieces to help. Following the Tiki Theme that was chosen by the bride, myself and others decided to go with boxed cupcakes.  For months before the shower, I practiced baking cupcakes of all flavors and attempting different decorations, in the end, simple was better and we stuck to vanilla and chocolate cupcakes.  As for the decorations, being that 100 cupcakes had to be made and decorated in a short period of time, I did a combination of store bought cake toppers and candies.

The hibiscus and palm tree cupcakes were made using store bought toppers.  Shredded coconut was tinted with green food coloring to represent grass, Whoppers malt balls were used as coconuts under the palm trees.  
 


  The seashells for the beach were made using Wilton candy melts and plastic molds.  I prepared them a few days ahead and kept them stored in an airtight container to withstand the travel up north.  After frosting the cupcakes simply dip in brown sugar and you have a beach all ready for decorating.  In our hurry to prepare for the actual shower, I forgot to take a detail pic of the other beach scene cupcake (which can be seen in the first picture).  All you need is Fruit Rollup or Fruit by the Foot, cut into beach size blankets, puff mints or gumballs to use as beachballs and paper cocktail umbrellas.

Now you don't need to have a party or make a hundred cupcakes or buy store bought toppers, just start with a box of cake mix, can of frosting and sugar for a sandy beach and get creative from there.
However if you have the time, try adding coconut or banana or rum flavored essences to your mix for that real tropical taste.