Pumpkin Pies Thanksgiving 2012

So, We are 1 day away from Thanksgiving 2012 and of course every year I am the only one that makes the Pumpkin Pies for Thanksgiving Dinner ! And have been every single year for at least the last 20 yrs. This I have made 4 pies into which is less than what I am use to making (up to at least 6 pumpkin pies) You only see 2 here since the last 2 are in the oven as I am writing this, lol.

Every year I have always used the Deep Dish pie crusts, but this year I have used regular 9in pie shells (which I like better) and the big can of pumpkin which surprisingly gives you 4 pies when using the regular shells instead of the deep dish. As for the whip cream, it will be home made as well.

Triple Chocolate Cupcakes

These are my Triple Chocolate Cupcakes. They are a very Chocolatey cake with semi sweet morsels inside the batter. The frosting is a home made Cocoa Almond Cream Cheese. I made these cupcakes for a family friend and as a "sampler" gift as well. I do have to say that my piping of the frosting has gotten ALOT better as you might can see from my past baking projects. Now, since I have "mastered" the art is frosting a cupcake, I know that my cupcakes will start to look a lot better with future projects/orders.

For the liners I used a simple red and white swirl design for these liners (plus, I could not find any fall themed liners at the store I was in at the time) I do have to say that my baking has gotten better and starting to master the right baking times for different kinds of flavors.

German Chocolate Cupcakes

Today, I am making German Chocolate Cupcakes with my own spin to it of course ! So, the cupcakes are done baking and are cooling down. This is the first time that I made these as cupcakes. The batter came out very light and airy.

I have use the black and dark pink zebra stripes liner. They look cute with these liners. I was trying to decide on whether or not to use the liners. I always thought that with the liners they is the easier way of baking, but there is also the thing where the cupcakes actually come out bigger when baking just in the pan.. The cupcakes are cooling now, so in a few hours I will decorate them and post the picture here.

Finally got them finished. On top of the German Chocolate there is home made caramel sauce along with chopped pecans and coconut. These came out a little more messier than I intended, but they came out better than what I expected anyways. I also made some with caramel & pecans only & a few that are caramel & coconut only to accommodate everyone's taste.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

So, I had an attack of the the late night sweet tooth going on last night. I decided to make some Chocolate Chip muffins. I made a small batch this time they were for only 3 people. As you can tell I use the pink princess liners (only kind I could find in the cabinet). They came out to be very moist and to hit the spot for the sweet tooth craving.

The weather here is starting to change now and cooling off so stayed tune to more baking projects coming your way !

Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

This time I have decided to make Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies with the help of my mom of course. Now, I know some of you are asking why use dark chocolate vs the milk chocolate. Well, the dark chocolate gave the peanut butter just enough sweetness to it since the milk chocolate is way sweeter. Plus, the dark is healthier for you anyways, lol.

The peanut butter dough is a completely different texture vs any other regular chocolate chip cookie dough so these cookies didn't really cook as round as chocolate chip dough normally does.  The taste of these are really rich with the peanut butter that we put in (also added an addition quarter cup of PB) The texture after they baked kind of reminded me of the Sandie cookies.

Simple Devil's Food Cupcakes

So, late last night I decided to make cupcakes. I chose to make Devil's Food cupcakes. They came out really moist and have a great chocolatey taste too. It's been awhile since my last baking project, I am currently waiting for this Florida weather to cool down and have the windows open while I bake until then I will be doing small baking projects. These cupcakes are just going to have powder sugar sprinkled on top of these rather than having frosting on top of them. Of course, like always once I finally sprinkle the sugar on top I will post the finally product picture.

Up Coming Flavors For The 2012 Holiday Season

So, While I wait for the weather to start cooling down to the point where I can turn off the A/C and have the windows open more often , so I can have more reason to start baking more often then what I do now. I have been thinking about 3 new flavors that have been inspired by the holiday season that is approaching quickly.

For October, I will be creating a Pumpkin Cupcake in honor of Halloween. I can make a killer pumpkin pie, so now I want to take it to a new level this year and turn the traditional pumpkin pie into an incredible Pumpkin cupcake since I will only be making these during the fall holiday season in the month of October only.

For November, I will be creating a Pecan Pie Cupcake. Now every year as long I can remember I have always made the pies for Thanksgiving dinner and I always made pumpkin pie and pecan pie. But, I must admit for the last couple of years I have only made the pumpkin pies and neglected the pecan pie. Now, this year I am ready to the pecan pie again, but only to reinvent it as a cupcake. And again this cupcake will only be made for the month of November.

And lastly for December, I want to create a Ginger Bread Cupcake. This flavor just popped into my mind right before I started writing this post. I have never made ginger bread in any way. So, this one I am kind of excited to play around with. And this one will be made for December only as well.

So, there have it everyone, I have said the new baking projects that I am very excited to start as soon as each month starts. I hope they come out how I expect them to turn out. Can't wait for the weather to start turning cooler and more enjoyable. So, I hope you come back and see what I have created in the time to come.

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Pound Cake Cupcakes & Loaf

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I decided to make the infamous Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Pound Cake that is a favorite within my family. The reason why this family favorite is hardly ever had these days is because (in my opinion) it takes at least an hour to bake at 300 degrees. Plus, it is so easy to over bake this cake. It's like you have to plant yourself in front of the oven to watch it and constantly checking and making sure that this awesome cake does not become dry with an under cooked top. So, after a year of not making this cake, I am taking a shot at it once again.

Even with a single batch of this oh so awesome goodness, the batter looks like it could give you two cakes, but you get with a single batch size it will give you one cake in a bundt cake pan. Today, I decided to make cupcakes and then I put the left over batter in a loaf pan.  With this recipe you can either leave the chocolate chips out or add them. For us the chocolate chips are a MUST ! This was the first time making them in the cupcake pan and I was very surprised that they came out better than I expected.

Here is the rest of the batter that I turned into a Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Pound Cake Loaf. Yes, the top of it looks bad, but that is how it is suppose to look like. The top has the flaky crust and underneath it is very moist and good. So, for one single batch of this recipe you can either make 1 bundt cake or you can make a dozen cupcakes and a loaf.

Do You Bake

Are you always in the kitchen or online trying to figure out what your going to create next with food.  We all love food in our own ways believe it or not. I love to bake and cook, but I am a better baker though. I wanted to share with a new website that I was shown by a friend of mine called Do You Bake

It has the best foods I have seen with great prices too. Plus, They also offer doggie treats as well. If you don't find anything on the website that tickles your pickle, you can always become a Consultant (It's Free until next year to join) If you have the passion for baking/cooking then this will work for you !

White Princess Cupcakes With Almond Coco Frosting

These are an all white cupcakes in a pink princess liners. I just made these for my youngest child's birthday. I chose to do the plain yet simple white cake for the flavor due to the fact I have the world's pickiest child when it comes to food. Since, it is late at night, I will be making the frosting and decorating these in the morning. I plan on making a Almond Coco frosting to go with it. So, I will be finishing this post tomorrow and will post the final product picture then.

Here are the finished birthday cupcakes I made. The frosting is a homemade Almond Cocoa butter cream frosting. Then courtesy of the birthday girl, she added the pink sprinkles. There were a few bottles of different types of pink sprinkles and she wanted them all on it.

Plain Fudge Brownies

Now, this is what I actually made today (Sept. 4th,'12) It is just a plain fudge brownie baked in a rectangle pan. I have never made brownies in this type of pan, I had always used the glass pans. So, it was a great learning process, lol. But I have to admit they came out perfect. These were made just for fun as well and for after dinner. Plus, I always like to have something sweet baked in the house too.

Mini Fudge Brownie Cups

Now, these I made just for fun and as a dessert for after dinner. The kids love it when I bake just because I felt like it. These are fudge brownies that I filled mini cupcake liners that came in a baking set that my oldest had gotten awhile ago. When these came out of the oven, I thought that they looked kind of dry, but after they cooled down, they very moist and fudgy. I amount of the batter I made filled 36 little cupcake liners. (There are only 34 pictured, due to the 2 that were taste tested)

After they had all cooled down, I made a simple Almond Coco Butter Cream frosting for them. Since these were very tiny, they did not require much frosting on them. I just did a squirt of the chocolate frosting on each top. The combination of the almond coco frosting and the brownie itself was sooooo good.

Monster High Themed Personal Cake

Now, this little cake I made with using the left over batter I had after I filled the cupcakes I made. Yes, that is a loaf pan that I used, but hey it worked LOL... The cake came out great too. I was surprise how well the 2 batters stayed on their own sides in the pan.

This is the finished personal Monster High cake. I cut the cake in half and made it into a layer cake. I took the same pink frosting I used for the cupcakes and used it to frost the cake as well. I put the frosting in the middle too. I put her initial on top of the cake and the #7 on the side in the front. She was very surprise to see that I had made her, her own personal cake that was just for her on her birthday.

Monster High Themed Cupcakes

These are my Monster High Themed cupcakes that I made for my oldest 7th birthday. I made a white cake batter than I separated the batter into 2 bowls so I was able to make the 2 different colors. The colors are purple & blue. I just spooned in the 2 batters in the liners. This time I only made a dozen cupcakes. These actually came out better than what I planned out in my head.

After the cupcakes were done baking, I made a homemade butter cream frosting and dyed it pink to go along with the Monster High theme. The liner I used was black with dark pink zebra stripes. Sadly, the party store did not have any MH themed liners. These were a big hit with the kids.

Black & White "Promotion" Cupcakes & Cake

Now, these were fun to do. I had taken 2 different cake batters one chocolate and the other a white batter. Then I just alternated spoonfuls of the 2 batters in each of the cupcake liners. I made 24 cupcakes and then also had enough batter left over from both flavors to make a 9 in round.  I loved how these came out with the swirl of the 2 batters in the cupcakes. I made these for my oldest who graduated to the 2nd grade. These were a surprise to her as well.

Here is what the finished cupcake looked. I had made my own butter cream frosting and kept it pure white. Then topped them off with her favorite color of sprinkles...Pink...For the sprinkles I had this pack of different pink sprinkles that were in different shapes and sizes. You can see how the cake bake with the 2 batters. As for the 9 in. round I made with it also, but did not get a picture of, for decorating it all I did was take the frosting and made a cool swirl design on top of it so there wasn't too much frosting on it since the cupcakes already had a generous amount on them.

20th Wedding Anniversary Heart Cake

This is a heart cake that I made for my mom and step dad for their 20th wedding anniversary. This was actually a surprise anniversary gift to them. I made this heart cake from 2 9 in. rounds and also hand cut them into a heart as well. This is yellow cake flavored with banana extract The Outside frosting is a homemade butter cream that has a strawberry flavor to it. 

In the middle of the cake I use the strawberry frosting and also placed fresh banana slices in the middle as well. All the piping I did myself. This was the very first time I ever made a heart cake before, so yes I do know that doesn't look that appealing, but hey it's a learning process.

5th Wedding Anniversary Heart Cake

This is the anniversary cake that I had made for my brother's 5th anniversary cake. It only took me 2 days to make this cake. I made this cake from 2 9in. rounds and then I cut the heart shape by hand. I was very proud of myself for how well just the shape of the cake had came out. This cake is a Red Velvet that has a filling of chocolate with fresh strawberries in the middle. The outside is frosted with homemade Cream Cheese frosting. Then I hand piped on the bottom edges and also the top of it.

In this picture it shows you the inside of the cake. I have to admit that this is my favorite cake that I have done yet. My brother and his wife enjoyed this cake a lot. She is always trying to get me to make another cake just like this one for them. I have gotten tons of compliments on this one.

This Is What I Love To Do

Being a single mom of two kids is never an easy job to do, but it can be such an awarding experience in the end. There are always going to be hard parts during the experience of raising two kids whether or not your doing it alone or have the help of another person or person(s). I know that I wanted to find something that I could turn to help me get through some of the stressful times of parenting.

That's when I found the art of baking ! When I was younger I was never really the kitchen type of child, but it wasn't until much later in life that I found baking to be one of the most funnest and satisfying all at the same time. My kids love it when I bake anything in general, whether it is for them, a Holiday, or even a dessert for after dinner. They always ask if I am going to bake anything and that's when I feel that this is what I would love to do for a living.

My goal for this blog is to get my baking out there and seen by any and every one, in hopes that one day I will be able to bake for other people and to hopefully make money with it as well. I will be posting everything that I bake in this blog. Please feel free to comment on anything you see, but please positive comments only.