Fondant Penguins

Now that Thanksgiving is over, I'm turning my attention to Christmas and so I spent some time today making some holiday fondant decorations. I decided to share my step-by-step instructions and photos for making the little fondant penguin above as he would be so cute atop any holiday cake.

Start by making an oval shape in black fondant and pinch a little tail shape at the back.

Next up, add a small round ball of black fondant for the head. I use a toothpick and a dab of water to secure them together.

Then make two long teardrop shapes and attach them to the sides with a little water. This makes the penguins flippers.

Cut out a teardrop shape in white and place it upside down on the front of the oval to make the penguins belly. Then cut out a white heart shape and attach to the front of the head as the face. Add two little orange balls at the bottom for the feet.

The final step is to add two little black eyes and an orange beak. Just form them with your fingers and attach with a tiny dab of water.

And there you have it, a little fondant penguin perfect for the holidays!

Personalized Cupcake Wrappers

I'm excited to introduce a new product from CakesAndKids! I have always loved the concept of cupcake wrappers to dress up an otherwise ordinary cupcake but, when I went searching recently for a cupcake wrapper that was personalized for my child, I couldn't find anything. So I did what I often do and decided to make my own.

I created a template and then experimented with different colors, themes and initials. Once designed, I simply printed them out on some medium-weight card stock and then cut them out and attached the two ends together with tape. I popped my cupcakes in and created instant party fun!

If you're interested in getting your own template, just go to my cupcake wrappers page and you can place an order. You choose the background color, the design theme and the letter or number you want and I'll deliver the template to you in PDF format via email. Then you can print as many as you'd like. You can even use some fun craft type scissors when cutting them out to create a scalloped or zig-zag edge along the top.

Happy baking!

Easy Pumpkin Cake Recipe

Many of you know by now that I love easy cake recpies that start with a boxed cake mix and here's another fun one I found (courtesy of CakeCentral.com) that's just perfect for Thanksgiving.

Ingredients:
1 box of spice cake mix
1 cup of all purpose flour
1 cup of granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon of salt
3 eggs
1 cup of water
1 cup of sour cream
1 cup of canned pumpkin
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Directions:
Start by whisking together all the dry ingredients. Then add the remaining ingredients and beat for about 2 minutes on low speed. To make cupcakes, bake at 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes. This recipe will make about 36 cupcakes. For decorating, I would use a cream cheese frosting and maybe even add a touch of cinnamon to it for an added twist. You can finish them off with some fondant leaves or pumpkins, or simply sprinkle them with some chopped nuts.

Kind of a fun alternative to the traditional pumpkin pie this Thanksgiving!

Gifts And Gadgets

I thought I'd put up a post with some of the things that are on my Santa list this year. I'm always on the lookout for new and useful gadgets that will help me out in my cake making efforts. Now I just have to share the list with Santa :)

First up is this decorating bag holder from Wilton. Love the idea of being able to easily grab my decorating bags and not have them lying all over my counter.

Next up are these great flower formers. I always struggle to keep my flowers shaped nicely before they dry and these trays are a fantastic way to stop drooping.

I'd also love to have on hand a set of hexagonal shaped cake pans. I think this is a fun shape for making kids cakes and gives you six flat sides to decorate on each tier. Could be fun to put a different kids character on each one, for example: Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck, Donald Duck, Goofy and Pluto. Of course if you wanted to do Snow White and the seven dwarfs, you'd need some octagonal shaped pans instead...hmm, might have to find those before my little girl's 4th birthday party since she is crazy about Snow White these days.

Last up is this great tool caddy. My current tool caddy is bursting at the seams and I really need something a little bigger to keep me organized. This one is on 3 levels and has space for everything. And anything that helps me be a little more organized is a good thing :)

What's on your Santa list?

Pilgrim And Indian Cupcake Toppers

I spent a little time today experimenting with some cupcake topper ideas for my Thanksgiving cupcakes. The result was some little pilgrim hats and indian headbands. I simply cut the shapes out of fondant, stuck them together with a dab of water and used some edible food pens in neon green and orange to decorate the headbands.

One trick to share for making the feathers. I used a little circular cutter and cut out a circle. Then I took the same cutter and cut both edges of the circle thus creating two feather shapes. You could also use this technique to create small leaves.

I think these will work well with the turkey cupcakes I plan to make also. I'll post again with the final results once they're all made. Are you making any cakes or cupcakes for Thanksgiving? If so, I'd love to hear about it.

Giving Thanks With Cupcakes!

I'll be making some cupcakes for my daughter's preschool when they have their Thanksgiving potluck and so I went hunting on the web for some inspiration and ran across so many fantastic ideas that I thought I'd post a round-up of some of my favorites.

The first comes via TwoPartsSugar. I love the combination of turkeys with the pilgrims and native american. Just too cute all around!

These next cupcakes come from SweetenYourDay.com and I love the bright colors of fall and the fact that these turkeys are made entirely from frosting rather than fondant. Very creative!

This next one is a big favorite of mine and the one I'm leaning towards replicating for my daughter's preschool. It comes from BettyCrocker.com and I love the use of the candy corns for the tail feathers and beak.

Next up are these fun cupcakes topped with marzipan pumpkins from Cupcake-Decorating-Ideas.com. I especially love the little leaf sprinkles on these.

My last choice is from who else but MarthaStewart.com! I love the use of coconut because it really makes the feathers look fluffy and the gummy fish tail feathers really appeal to me because I happen to love gummy fish (I would just make sure to avoid the green ones...lol).

Hope you enjoyed these creative ways to celebrate Thanksgiving with cupcakes and if you have any fun fall-themed cupcake photos you'd like to share just send them my way!

Princess And The Frog Cakes

With the new Princess and the Frog movie out, it didn't take long for the matching birthday themes to arrive. There are already some cute Princess and the Frog cake toppers available like the one pictured above.

But if you want your actual cake to be a little more creative, and yet still easy, then here's an idea for you. Buy a heart-shaped cake pan and bake your cake. Once cool, you can simply shave off the pointed end of the heart to make it more rounded and you'll end up with a shape that looks very much like a lily pad. Either frost the cake green or cover it with green fondant. Then decorate the cake with little lilac colored flowers cut out from fondant with a small flower-shaped cookie cutter (see how to make little fondant flowers here). You can then use a Princess and the Frog cake topper as the final decoration.

Check out the CakesAndKids website for all the latest Princess and the Frog birthday party supplies.

Photo Holiday Cards

If you're starting to think about what type of holiday cards or Christmas cards to send this year then do yourself a huge favor and check out Cardstore.com! They have a fantastic selection of holiday cards and christmas cards and you can personalize each and every one of them with up to 14 photos (both on the front of the cards as well as inside) and you can also add your own text and special holiday messages. The quality of the cards is second to none - (and here's my disclaimer) I know this because I work there :)

There are hundreds of cards to choose from and styles range from modern to whimsical to traditional. And if you're planning a holiday party then check out the large selection of holiday party invitations. Cardstore.com also allows you to upload an address book and they can actually print and address your envelopes and mail all your cards for you. All you do is pay for the stamp!

And the best news of all, if you order now you can save 15% off all holiday cards and invitations with coupon code MERRY15. Have fun personalizing your very own Christmas cards!

Cookies And Cream Cake Recipe

When you think about favorites among kids, cookies and cream is a flavor that always comes to mind. Based on the Oreo cookie, cookies and cream is used in ice creams, candy bars and yes, even in cakes.

Here's a quick way to adapt a boxed cake mix to a cookies and cream cake. Buy a boxed white cake mix and make it by following the directions on the box. Once the cake is mixed, take a large wooden spoon and blend in 1 cup of crushed Oreo cookies. Then pour the cake mix into your pans and bake according to the directions.

And to top off your cookies and cream cake, here's a recipe for cookies and cream frosting.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of vegetable shortening (Crisco)

8 oz cream cheese

4 cups powdered sugar (sifted)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1-5 tablespoons milk

1 1/2 cups crushed Oreo cookies

Directions:

Beat the shortening and cream cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla and beat until well blended. Gradually add the powdered sugar and mix until blended. Add the milk 1 tablespoon at a time until you get the desired consistency. Finally fold in the Oreo cookies with a wooden spoon. You can use this as both a filling and frosting for your cake.

Happy baking!

Spooky Sweets And Treats

I am absolutely in love with this adorable Halloween cupcake shaped cookie jar. Of course it helps that my kitchen has a green theme to it and so I know that this cookie jar would look amazing on my counter top. Not to mention that it's shaped like a cupcake and I LOVE cupcakes!

I would fill it with my favorite sugar cookies (you can find the recipe in one of my prior posts). And if I didn't have it filled with cookies then I may use it for my teabags or perhaps even sugar or flour for baking.

If you love it as much as I do you can buy it at Amazon.com for just over $30!