Catching up!

It has been awhile since I have written a post-sorry about that!  The holiday season was CRAZY!  I am sure many of you understand and had equally busy holiday seasons.  Below are some of the fruits of my holiday season labor, proof that I wasn't too busy to do some baking...

These are shark fin cupcakes that I made for my son's 6th birthday. 
The fins are made of fondant which I free-hand cut out and shaped. 
They were a big hit with his classmates!





For Christmas dinner with the family, I made a vanilla cake with a raspberry filling.  I then finished it with a yummy buttercream frosting.  I experimented with gum paste for the first time and made a simple winter scene, complete with a bow and label!

I found a You Tube video that showed me how to make a tree from rolling out some gum paste and shaping.  The bow was sort of a free form that I tried.  I ran out of red food dye, so I used a burgundy, which made for a pretty alternative.

I saw this cute little idea somewhere online and thought it would be a cute way to wish the family "Merry Christmas!"

I also found a nifty little tool that allowed me to add texture to the buttercream, and then for some added decoration, I added a gum paste dot :) 

The finished product!

My husband and I hosted a holiday potluck dinner for some friends, and these little treats were their gifts for the dinner.

These are a chocolate cake, cut out and covered in melted chocolate (both dark and white chocolate), finished with some piped buttercream and a sugar rose on top.  Now, I confess, I did not make the rose, but the rest is home made.  I think sugar roses are my next challenge :)

 So, I haven't been sitting around not baking, I just didn't have the time to blog about it!  Also, there was a strawberry-cheesecake filled cupcake thrown in there as a new flavor (pics to come, so check back soon).  My next baking challenge is a gluten-free cupcakes. 

 

Tip of the Blog:

While covering cake in melted chocolate tastes fantastic, it can be a bit tricky.  For best results, keep the cake cold and it shouldn't fall apart.  Oh, and be super careful-melted chocolate is HOT (seems obvious, but I thought I should emphasize that).