Halloween Baking

I'm back...again. If anyone still reads this, good for you! You have patience for a non-consistent blogger. Thank you!

I baked Halloween cupcakes for my niece's October birthday celebration. Here you have ghosts and spiders webs:

I chose some quick and fast designs so my 6 year old nephew could help. The spider webs are just concentric circles drawn with a gel pen. Then, I drug a tooth pick lightly over the top to create the web effect. The spiders legs are trays that were gifted to me a few years ago. Glad I got to finally use them! 

The ghosts were just squeezed from a ziplock bag (trim the corner with scissors). I twisted the icing like an ice-cream cone swirl machine. Then, I used a black gel pen to draw eyes and a spooky mouth. Boo!

Groundhog Day

This year Groundhog Day coincided with Superbowl Sunday. So, I whipped up these treats to take to a Superbowl party. Yellow cake with chocolate icing is always a delicious combination, and these cute little groundhogs did indeed see their shadows. Six more weeks of winter, ugh. 

100th Day Celebration

When I was in elementary school I don't remember counting the days of school, but now, most younger elementary grades begin each day with the routine of counting the days of school. This helps to develop number sense, including place value. On the 100th day, a celebration occurs! Reaching this important landmark number is a reason to enjoy...CUPCAKES. So, for the 100th day of school this year, I baked my students these delicious treats.

Oddly enough, I ended up baking two batches of these treats. Yes, I baked and decorated 27 of them on Superbowl Sunday; the 100th day was SUPPOSED to be the following Monday. But, we had ice and school was canceled. Tuesday brought snow, snow, snow. Somehow we had a full week of snow days. What a great break! But,this was disastrous for my cupcakes. By the following Monday I didn't think they had much life left in them. They really only took me about 30 minutes to decorate, but I thought of a way to make it faster the second time around. I let the kids help decorate them! I brought in the baked cupcakes and supplies to help them ice,sprinkle, and top them off. It saved me time, and they had a BLAST. Happy 100th day!

I'm Back!!!

Where did 2013 go? Well, most of it was spent enjoying an energetic, clever, and loving little boy. I didn't even try to devote time to cupcakes over the past year. But, I'm back! Now that he's nearing age 2, I am able to find a little more time to enjoy this hobby. And, I'm hoping soon enough he can help me, and have fun doing it. I have to celebrate my return to the blog with a photo from Luke's first birthday last year. His party was monster themed, and I was able to create these adorable monster cake pops. They were a hit with the kids! In the spirit of not being stressed, I decided to make 10 of them and buy a smash cake and cupcakes from Hy-Vee. I was able to be creative without having to make the bulk of the dessert. Good decision on my part!

The cupcakes and smash cake from Hy-Vee.