Puppy Chow

I have been seeing lots of pins on Pinterest in regards to puppy chow (or muddy buddies if you prefer), so I bought a box of chex when I was @ Walmart. I've never made it myself before, but had some when coworkers would bring some in. Having all the ingredients that I need in my pantry already, I paid for my box of chex and went home to try the recipe on the back of the box (how convenient!). It was a bit of a messy project, but super quick and easy! Who can deny tiny, crunchy, chocolatey, peanut buttery goodness?? I can't stop popping these in my mouth!

9 cups of chex
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups confectioner's sugar

1. Melt chocolate, peanut butter, and butter in the microwave until smooth.
2. Add vanilla.
3. Pour over cereal and stir until evenly coated.
4. Put the cereal mix and the sugar into a ziploc bag and shake until well coated
5. Spread on a baking sheet to cool.
6. Store in an airtight container in the fridge (or eat them all in one sitting).

Thanksgiving Pies

I had to bake desserts for Thanksgiving this year (BIG surprise!) and got right down to business beginning that Monday. I baked an apple pie, pecan pie, and a pumpkin pie. For the apple pie recipe, I tried googling "apple pie" and went with the first one that popped up. With over 1,000 reviews, I knew it had to be pretty good. It was stuffed with granny smith apples, and topped with a syrupy mixture that was poured all over the top to get a beautiful brown color. I used my handy pie tool that I got from a friend one Christmas to make the pretty lattice top!

- apple pie -

I'm not a huge fan of the jelly-consistency pumpkin pie recipe that is found on the side of the Libby's can, so I went with another brand recipe this year. I wanted the pie to be creamier and spicier, and the Eagle Brand pumpkin pie recipe was just that!

- pumpkin pie -

Pecan pie is the family favorite every single year. It doesn't even matter which recipe I use, because anyway I make it, my family will devour it up. I used the Food Network pecan pie recipe, but omitted the bourbon. Toasting the pecans before adding them to the pie really makes a noticeable difference in the final product!

- pecan pie -

I am extremely thankful for the close family and friends I am surrounded by! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Crepe Cake

A couple of weeks ago, I met up with one of my besties, Joyce, for dinner and dessert. She made me drive all over the city, insisting that I have to try this particular cake! So we drove to Lady M Confections (their actual store front) only to find it closed... Boy, was Joyce upset! Thank goodness she remembered they had a location inside the Plaza Hotel! So after all the driving in circles we did, we finally got our hands on the Lady M Crepe Cake. It was so airy and fluffy, with the perfect amount of sweetness. At $7.50 a slice it's a splurge, but I have never had anything like it!

- chocolate banana and the original -

- look at all them layers -

Cake Truffles

I had some left over cake lying around from this weekend, and God knows I hate wasting cake, so I made some easy-peasy cake truffles! You just take some cake, crumble them up, mix in frosting, and shape into balls. I threw them in the freezer for a little bit so that they won't get all mushy when I dip them in chocolate. Could have popped them onto sticks to make cake pops, but that required another step so I stuck with the truffles. Still good!

Landon's 100 Days

Remember the circus-themed baby shower I baked for earlier this year? Jeannie and Rich had their baby boy, Landon, and asked me to help them celebrate his 100-day birthday! It's a big deal in the Asian culture to celebrate baby's first 100-days, as well as their 1st birthday. I was more than happy to bake for another special occasion for Jeannie and Rich. They wanted a 1-tier red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting, and 100 mini cupcakes (1/2 vanilla, 1/2 chocolate). I threw in an extra tier on top as my birthday gift for the family, and also because I really wanted to add this component to complete the design. They gave me creative control and let me pick a theme. I know the parents love baseball (they had a baseball-themed wedding cake topper at their wedding!), so I decided to go with a baseball theme. Perfect for a little boy, right? I had so much fun making things for this event! I used Amy Sedaris' vanilla cake recipe, all others were recipes I had on file.

vanilla cupcakes with chocolate buttercream

chocolate cupcakes with chocolate buttercream + fondant star

vanilla cupcakes with vanilla frosting

(used #1 tip for stitching, white non pareils)

chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting + fondant baseball

(used the grass tip, red edible marker for stitching)

* * *  and the cake... * * *

red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting 

Tier 1: 2-layer cake (6-inch)

Tier 2: 3-layer cake (10-inch)

everything all laid out

(not going to lie, it felt like cupcake wars for a little bit)

Happy 100 Days, Landon!

Tea Bag Cookies

Remember my cousin, Jayne? The one who is getting married in, oh my gosh, 1 week? She had her bridal shower today at The Plaza Hotel. Her maid of honor asked me to make her some favors for the shower, and since it was a tea party, I set out to make some tea bag-shaped cookies. I googled some ideas and saw lots of cute cookies in the shape of tea bags! That's the design I went with.

For the cookies, I used my go-to sugar cookie recipe. You're going to need a pretty sturdy cookie so that it doesn't break on you when you dip it in chocolate (I used dark chocolate) and also when you add the twine. Some of the cookies I saw online were a shortbread, so you can totally use those, too. I punched out tiny holes near the top using a coffee stirrer, and then added some baker's twine to make it look like a real teabag!

I had the help of my friend, Crafty Song and Haej, who made the adorable tea bag favor boxes. Here they are all wrapped up and ready to go!

I had a great time at my cousin's bridal shower! There were so many yummy things to eat! I felt like I had to share some pictures of the event...

YAY to family time and fancy tea parties!

Bon Voyage, Wangs

Bon Voyage was the theme of my next baking endeavor. Ulysses and his adorable family are moving away, far away, to the other side of the country. This is incredibly sad for me because I happen to adore his wife and two children. Even though it was difficult to say goodbye, I know that there are greater things in store for them in their new life abroad! I was asked to bake mini cupcakes for a little Bon Voyage shindig for the Wangs. Feeling inspired from my previous post, I also decided to bake some sugar cookies to go along with the theme.

mini vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting

I made the little cupcake toppers myself! I just folded tiny paper airplanes and cut out small clouds. I then hot glue gunned toothpicks to them and stuck them right on top. I picked airplanes and clouds and skies as part of the Bon Voyage theme, because what else symbolizes travel more than an airplane??

I was going to make suitcase cookies, but I thought the letters would be a cuter touch. These came out very nice and sweet! 

I will miss you, Wang family! 

Jayne's Bachelorette Party

My lovely cousin Jayne had her bachelorette party last night... I put the "..." because I do not wish to disclose all the craziness that occurred! HAHA! The bridesmaids did such a wonderful job putting everything together. It was a highly action-packed, entertaining evening, and I feel honored to have been able to share it with her. I wanted to bake something special for this occasion, which is when I remembered pinning something on Pinterest. Somebody had thought of making sugar cookies in the shape of butts and decorating itty bitty underwears on them. So I naturally thought, PERFECT! But where does one buy a cookie cutter in the shape of a derriere? Not wanting to make a trip to the Love Shack to look for one, I discovered that a heart-shape cookie cutter is the perfect tool. I took the biggest heart cookie cutter I had, snipped the tips off, and got the shape I was looking for. I whipped up some royal icing, tinted them different colors, and began piping and flooding thongs and G-strings onto my cookies. They were a bit time consuming, but I think the final products and the reaction they received were totally worth it. These can be great as bachelorette party desserts or favors! I think they came out fabulous, don't you?

When I told Jayne's sister, Sandy, that I was making these, she got super excited and requested another body part to make an appearance at the party. Now I know you guys know what I'm talking about... What other body part would need to be at a bachelorette party?! So I made a big chocolate cake version, which was an even bigger hit. I'm not going to put a picture up, but feel free to use your imagination ;D

*Congratulations to my cousin, Jayne, on her upcoming nuptials!*

Cake Batter Funfetti Cookies

Boy, oh boy, have I been busy the past week. Not only is school starting soon, but I had a couple of baking gigs lined up to keep my plenty busy. I think I baked more this past week than I have all summer! Pinterest has been the biggest and best waste of my time ever, and has given me lots and lots of inspiration for my most recent baking endeavors.

Cake Batter Funfetti Cookies: I saw this recipe on Pinterest, and was drawn to the colorful confetti of sprinkles in the cookies. I LOVE SPRINKLES! Just ask my college roommate, Lindsey. We would get frozen yogurt almost everyday and the ratio of froyo to sprinkles was pretty much equal. There's something about those rainbow decorations... So I brought all of my baking things over to my friend's apartment and baked her some cookies as she "did work," which is code for "gchatting." You can find the recipe I used on Cookin' Cowgirl's blog. They were deliciously soft and cake batter-y!

how can you resist them sprinkles???

It's so fluffy!

My mother has been nagging me about making her some cheesecake.. I don't know what it is about cheesecake with this woman! It can't be just any cheesecake, either. It must be light, airy, and fluffy... So my search began for a recipe that would fulfill my mum's taste. I found a recipe and tweaked it, and the finished product turned out great! It was light, fluffy, and not-too-sweet. I did keep it in the oven longer, because I was engrossed in a How I Met Your Mother episode, and so the top of my cheesecake had a big crack in it... :( However, it didn't affect the taste! *The cheesecake tasted better hours after it's been sitting in the fridge

Mum's Cheesecake:
for the crust:
2 cups of finely ground graham crackers
2 T sugar
2 T melted butter

1. Pulse graham crackers and sugar together to get a fine crumb.
2. Stir in the melted butter.
3. Press into the bottom of a 9" spring form pan and set aside (no need to bake).

for the filling:
2, 8oz. packages of cream cheese (room temperature)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon juice
2 cups sour cream
5 eggs, separated

1. Preheat the over to 300 degrees F.
2. Blend the sugar and cream cheese with a hand mixer until nice and smooth.
3. Add the vanilla, lemon juice, and sour cream, and mix.
4. Add egg yolks one at a time. Don't overmix!
5. In a stand mixer, beat egg whites until they are stiff. Fold them into the cream cheese mixture.
6. Pour into the pan.
7. Bake 1 hour at 300F. Turn the heat off and keep the cake in the over for another hour with the door closed.
8. Cool the cake for 30 minutes and then chill in the fridge.

pie

I know, it's been forever since my last post. I have been busy wrapping up the end of the school year, and have been on the road traveling across the US for the past couple of weeks. Still, no excuse! I just wanted to update about the most delicious slice of pie I had the other day. My friend and I were driving through Santa Fe, New Mexico, and wanted to check out the Tune-Up Cafe (tried linking their website, but there seems to be an error). This little Tex Mex joint was featured on Guy Fieri's DDD. I found the food to be meh, but boy were their desserts good! I had a slice of their strawberry rhubarb pie a la mode. This pie is available 7 days a week, so you know it has to be good. The flavor was amazing; both sweet and tart. And the ice cream that was melting all over it due to the warmth of the pie made it that much tastier. I also took one of their humongous Mexican Wedding Cookies to go. They were the size of softballs!! The cookie was also awesome! It crumbled and had a shortbread texture. It was filled with pecans, and had wonderful flavor. Honestly, I could have just ordered their dessert and been completely satisfied... If you're ever in New Mexico, you need to stop by here for their dessert.

Jeannie's Baby Shower

I had the honor of making some desserts for my friend, Jeannie's baby shower! She's having a baby boy, so they decided to go with a circus red/aqua theme. Her place was decorated adorably complete with tiny plastic animals. I used Martha's one-bowl chocolate cupcakes recipe and Paula Deen's banana cake recipe.

- dessert table -

- chocolate covered pretzels -

- banana cupcakes with cream cheese frosting -

- chocolate cupcakes with chocolate buttercream frosting -

- my creations -

Thanks, Jeannie, for letting me be a part of your special day! Can't wait to meet the little guy!

Trip to Billy's

I have another gig coming up next week. It's a baby shower for a friend of mine! She was very specific in what she wanted for her shower, one of them being banana cupcakes. She told me that I have to try the banana cupcake at Billy's Bakery. Of course she was twisting my arm to make the trip... more like me, being the person who cannot turn down a cupcake, went in search for a Billy's to get my hands on one. So I get there, and I am automatically hit with thoughts of lust and envy. Lust for every single cupcake in their bakery case. Envy for an adorable bakery of my own.

Let's get this straight. I went to Billy's specifically for the banana cupcake. I walked out of there with 4 cupcakes, and they weren't all banana. I couldn't help but to also take home the banana nutella (sooo good! the nutella frosting was smooth and not too sweet), chai (found the chai to be overpowering, and I LIKE chai), and chocolate peanut butter (really liked the peanut butter frosting). I'm sorry I don't have any pictures... I didn't pause to take any!

- Billy's Bakery Tribeca -

What? It's Only Tuesday?!

I started my new job this week as a resource room teacher. I feel like I've been prepping forever, but come the first day, I felt frazzled and unorganized. I'm trying not to drop the ball here!! My work buddies and I went out for an after school treat today, and it really did make me feel better. Gosh, nothing like a cupcake to make my day! erm... I mean good company <3

-  bucu's coconut cupcake with cream cheese frosting - 

St. Paddy's Day!

Hello All! It's that time of year again where everything is dyed green from beer to bagels! I decided to be a bit more traditional and try making Irish soda bread. Never made it before, but I love this stuff.. I feel like everyone has their own opinion about what makes a good Irish soda bread. As for me, I like mine on the sweeter side with raisins. It can't be too crumbly like a biscuit, but not quite like a scone either. I tweaked a recipe that I found online to make it my own. I think it came out swell!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Ingredients: 

4 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 T baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup softened butter
1 egg
1 1/3 cup buttermilk
1 cup raisins

1/4 cup melted butter
1/4 cup buttermilk

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a small bowl, soak the raisins in warm water.
3. In a large bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients.
4. Mix in the butter until the flour mix looks like breadcrumbs.
5. Add the raisins.
6. Add the egg and buttermilk (don't overmix).
7. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly.
8. Form a mound on a parchment-lined pan. Flatten the center to ensure even baking.
9. Melt the butter and add to the buttermilk and brush this all over the bread.
10. With a knife, score an X on top of the bread (don't score too deep or the bread will look funny).
11. Brush the bread every 15 minutes with the buttermilk-butter.
12. Bake 45 minutes or until a tester inserted comes out clean.

Aaron's 1st

My friend, Song, hooked me up again and referred me to a coworker who was throwing a birthday party for her little boy. Koreans have been going cuckoo throwing these lavish first birthday parties for their kids. I mean, they are like wedding status these days... so I was hired to bake a couple of things for this party. Special thanks to my friend Joyce for helping me! Here's what I made for Aaron's Winter Wonderland-themed 1st birthday party.

- chocolate cupcakes with buttercream frosting, dragees, and white chocolate snowflake -

- vanilla cupcakes with buttercream frosting and sparkling sugar -

- 2-layer cake: vanilla cake with buttercream frosting, chocolate cake with chocolate frosting -

February UPdate

I haven't been doing too much baking... what I HAVE been doing is lots of eating! I definitely had my cupcake fix of the year!!! I visited Sprinkles NYC twice this month and walked out each time with more than one cupcake... I totally blame my friend Joyce for letting me in on the twitter secret phrases!

- clockwise from bottom left: german chocolate, banana, red velvet, blake lively's s'mores -

 I was also alerted about a new pie in town from down under. PIE FACE has come to NYC. Now, I've never been to Australia, but dream of one day living there... I also happen to LOVE pie. If that wasn't enough reason for me to go to Pie Face, the freaking adorable faces they put on each pie definitely won me over! so, naturally, I had to check this place out.

       

- kill me... how cute are these pies? -

Newly Purchased*

I bought these cool fondant molds the other day at my local AC Moore. It will definitely make cake and cupcake decorating way easier! I have a big project coming up that I am excited about, and hopefully I'll be able to use these molds. More on that later.....