Creepy Crawlers

So I know I have been mia for almost 3 years but I am back and will continue to post new pictures of cupcakes and cakes that I make.

A little filler for you. I am now a mama of a 2 year old little boy and about to be a mama to a baby girl in a little over a month. Life has been great but super busy. I am now back ready to update y'all with more cupcakes!

Thanks for hanging on and here is what I have been working on lately.

Love these cupcakes and think they are perfect for any gender. I wanted to do some cupcakes for my little man but couldn't decide on a theme until I started thinking about what he loves. He thinks bugs are so cool so I thought why not have some creepy crawler bugs on cupcakes. These would also be super cute to change up for Halloween by using white, orange (different shades) and black. I may be trying that out soon. Hope you enjoy. Try not to drool too much!

Frosty the Snowman

Oh my goodness, I know it's been forever since I have posted a new cupcake blog for you and I feel absolutely awful so I am here to make it up to you!

I would just like to say that I can't believe we only have 6 days till Christmas! This year has completely flown by with moving back to Alabama, working at a new job and spending lots of time with family and friends, it's crazy it's almost 2012!!!

For the next few blogs I'm going to blog about cupcakes with characters that make us think of Christmas the most. Starting off the character countdown is good ole Frosty the Snowman. Such a happy jolly soul! For this particular frosty I made my own fondant, which was really tasty and made with marshmallows. Below is the ingredients to marshmallow fondant and instructions. Once you have marshmallow fondant you won't go back :) I hope you enjoy and  hope you're getting in the Holiday spirit! 

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1 (16 ounce) package miniature marshmallows
• 4 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 pounds confectioners' sugar, divided
• 
  

Directions

1. Place the butter in a shallow bowl, and set aside.
2. Place the marshmallows in a large microwave-safe bowl, and microwave on High for 30 seconds to 1 minute to start melting the marshmallows. Carefully stir the water and vanilla extract into the hot marshmallows, and stir until the mixture is smooth. Slowly beat in the confectioners' sugar, a cup at a time, until you have a sticky dough. Reserve 1 cup of powdered sugar for kneading. The dough will be very stiff.
3. Rub your hands thoroughly with butter, and begin kneading the sticky dough. As you knead, the dough will become workable and pliable. Turn the dough out onto a working surface dusted with confectioners' sugar and continue kneading until the fondant is smooth and no longer sticky to the touch, 5 to 10 minutes.
4. Form the fondant into a ball, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. To use, allow the fondant to come to room temperature, and roll it out onto a flat surface dusted with confectioners' sugar.

3D Cake: No Glasses Required

So yesterday I decided to get out of my comfort zone and try a little harder cake for a change. I thought I would try to make a 3D cake and I had decided on a pirate ship cake. All day Friday I read some tutorials and thought about the way I would construct it and it all made me extremely nervous. The cake wasn't for anyone but I just didn't want to mess it up and more than anything I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. I was up for the challenge.

First, I baked the cake and then once it cooled I began shaping it the way I wanted. I stacked it twice with two layers of the same shape then added a triangle piece for the front of the ship and a square piece for the back of the ship. Then I added another piece half the size of the square piece I previously added. This made it a total of 4 layers. I then crumb coated is with icing. I did white icing and looking back I should have mixed it with brown dye for brown icing that would match the brown fondant. That way if any icing were to show through it would unnoticeable.

Next I began cutting fondant in the shape of pieces of wood. I cut lines in each strip and two holes on each end of the strip to make it look like nails. I then began to add them to the cake. You must be patient and not get frustrated because I'm warning you that it does take some time- but the outcome is great!

I then added on the small details such as the railing in the front and back, the anchor on the side and the gold port holes going along the bottom.

Finally, I worked on the sails/masts. I took a wooden dowel and got the husband to saw the sizes I needed for each mast. I made the front mast shorter than the back. I glued a smaller wooden dowel to the front dowel and two to the back dowel. I then slipped some sugar paper (which you can find at Michaels and it's edible) for the sail part. I then just stuck the dowels into the cake and made the sails.

And this is the finished product. I hope you will try this and remember to be patient. It's a big project to tackle but the outcome is incredibly rewarding!

Cravin' Cupcakes

So it seems like every time I get on facebook someone I'm friends with is pregnant. No joke! It must be the season for making babies or just that it's now that time in my life where everyone is at that age where they are wanting a family. I know it will come one day for us as well.

As I was looking at all my cupcakes that I want to share with you this one popped out as something that would coincide with pregnant ladies out there. I know that there are certain things that you can't have, like raw eggs, caffeine, and raw fish such as sushi. Which brings me to my cupcakes... Sushi Cupcakes. I know that name doesn't sound appetizing but for the record they aren't actually made of sushi - just decorated like sushi :) So when you have a craving for sushi but can't have it then you can make some of these or order some and it's as if you gave in to the craving but in a healthy kind of way (excluding all the sugar) :) There are always loop holes if you look for them!

I hope this encourages all the pregnant ladies to stay on track when following the things you can and cannot have while pregnant!

Yo Ho! Yo Ho! A Pirate's Life For Me!

I know it's been a while since my last blog post and I sincerely apologize. I got a job and have been extremely busy and allowed cupcakes/mini cakes to take the back burner but I am back. I hope you can forgive me :) If not then maybe I can persuade you with some new cupcakes!

My oldest nephew just turned 3 this month and right now he's into the children's tv show "Jake and the Neverland Pirates." So, for his birthday I did some cupcakes for his birthday party at his preschool. I made pirate faces, treasure maps, swords with gold coins and flags with skulls and cross bones. These cupcakes were pretty simple material-wise. All I used was fondant, icing and food dye. These cupcakes are easy so you can look at the design and make them. Also, the possibilities are endless when coming up with ideas for pirate decorations on a cupcake.

The last thing I'll leave you with is the trailer for my favorite pirate movie, The Goonies. But before you see it you have to do the truffle shuffle :)

I &hearts HP

So all you HP (Harry Potter) fans are getting excited about the new and last Harry Potter movie coming out this summer. I started reading Harry Potter in high school when a friend suggested it to me. I read the first book and was automatically hooked from there on out. Each time a new book would come out in the HP series I would be at Books-a-Million waiting to receive my copy at midnight and I would also be at the movies on the opening day when they came out. It's sad to see such a great series of movies come to an end but the actors and directors of these 7 movies have done an amazing job. J.K. Rowling was once writing on little pieces of paper because she was so poor she couldn't afford a note pad. I wonder if she ever thought that this one little idea of a boy named Harry Potter with glasses and a lighting bolt scar would be her best story yet. Her writing had a way of making you imagine things in your head that not a lot of people can do. She told a story that made you want to continue to read and never want to put the book down. I hope that I did this cake justice for all you Harry Potter fans and that you are just as excited as me to see the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 movie this summer!

Please feel free to post below what your favorite quote is from the Harry Potter books! I would love to see them!

Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain.  ~  Arthur Weasley

For the Birds

For The Birds (Pixar'dan, HD Video) from Mustafa on Vimeo.

These are my favorite cupcakes to this day. I am very pleased with how they turned out and can't wait to make them again. I did these for a baby shower the other weekend and everyone loved them. They just look so sweet and so innocent which is perfect for a baby shower.

First I drew out a template to follow and cut it out and then placed it on fondant and cut it out. I did three of each bird and then 2 of each initials, which equals 12 cupcakes altogether. I placed the cut out fondant birds aside and then cut out my flowers for the initials. I picked these colors because they seemed sweet. After I cut out my flowers I placed the letter stamps I wanted on the middle of them and pushed down. Once I pulled it up it engraved the initial in the fondant; this takes no time at all! I then added two accent flowers on each one to give it a little more detail.

Next I went back to the birds and started adding the detail to them. I first drew the pink design on three of them with an edible marker. Then I used a yellow marker on the other three. You can change up the design and do whatever you want, and you can also change up the colors too. I cut out the wings for the pink birds with a leaf fondant cutter and then placed a small flower in the middle of each one. For the yellow dotted birds I used a leaf mold that was a little more detailed and placed it on the bird. Last but not least I mixed some icing to get a light green color and iced my cupcakes.

These were easy, fun and everyone at the shower loved them. You should definitely keep these in mind if you have to make something for a baby shower. Your guests will be absolutely thrilled!