Snow White Birthday

Just made a cake for a little girl turning 5....

She loves Snow White so her mom asked me to make a Snow White cake.

I made Snow White from gumpaste/fondant......really want to take a class to learn how to better make figures....

But all in all I was happy with her.  She is sitting on the wishing well....

A few birds, bunnies and a squirrel

The cake is iced with buttercream icing and accessorized with fondant leaves, flowers and letters.

I hope she likes it!

Thanks for looking and feel free to let me know what you think. 
By the way, the inspiration for the cake design came from ninettaduci's cake on cake central.
OH......And HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Love
Bronwyn

Christmas Tradition

Every year for Christmas my mom would make Jewish Apple Cake for Christmas brunch.  Since my mom's death 8 years ago I have made this cake.  The first attempt was disaster as I misread the directions.....still tasted good but the cake completely fell apart. 

It is a bit labor intensive (at least for me....I don't like having to peel and slice apples....but hey, I only make it once a year so I sacrifice for my family!)

Just look at those apples.....waiting to be peeled and sliced....very daunting!!!

So apples sliced and covered with cinnamon and sugar.....they look yummy! 

And then make the cake batter

Then layer the cake mix and the apples in a prepared bundt cake pan.....this one was my great grandmothers. 

And here is the cake before putting it in the oven......

And here it is before it goes into my mouth!!!  YUM! Very much worth the effort it took me to peel and slice those apples!!

So here is the recipe.  I think it was passed to my mom through my grandmother. 


Ingredients
8 granny smith apples peeled and sliced
5 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

3 cups flour
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup cooking oil
4 eggs
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup orange juice
2 1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions
Grease and flour bundt cake pan. Mix sugar, oil, vanilla, OJ and eggs.  Add flour, salt and baking powder.  Layer cake batter and apples in pan, cake mix first, then apples. Repeat and end with cake batter.  Bake for about 1 hr 40 minutes (or until done) at 350 degrees. 

Allow cake to cool completely in the pan before removing and cutting. 
You could sprinkle it with some powdered sugar if you want to but it really is delicious without any extra icing or sugar.

Enjoy!

Love
Bronwyn 

Football....sort of

The Game of Football will never be the same again! 

In anticipation for the big match this last weekend against the Ravens and the Saints, my two oldest had their own version of the game.....

They took the game of football to a very literal level.......

The Saints and The Chargers (not pictured here but on the other foot!)



The Ravens and Cowboys

 The teams struggled....

It was touch and go a few times.....

But finally the victor emerged!!!

Actually, I think they were all winners this time although someone may have lost a helmet once or twice....
Now to introduce the owners of the teams!  Drew and Morgan!!

Thanks for letting me share some silliness!  This is what it's all about afterall.

Love
Bronwyn

Gourmet Oreos

I was doing a little shopping yesterday at Marshall's and I saw a small box of 3 Oreo cookies that had been dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with peppermint candy pieces.  They looked yummy and I loved the presentation.  But these 3 cookies cost $2.99.....
That got me thinking, and if you are anything like me you would be thinking the same thing.....I can buy an entire package of Oreos for less than $2.00.......

I can make these myself!!!

So I bought some Oreo cookies......

And I bought some chocolate candy melts....

and some Almond Bark (basically this is just white chocolate....found at WalMart)

Believe it or not I could not find any candy canes to break up and use to sprinkle on the covered Oreos so I bought this bag of these peppermint morsels.....

then I melted the chocolate and dropped the cookie in

and picked it up with a fork and took some of the excess chocolate off....

and placed on wax paper then I sprinkled with these yummy pepperminty morsels....(actually I think they look a little like bacon bits but they are really tasty)

look at how pretty they are.....

I also did some dipped in the green candy melts.....

I put a few in these pretty boxes....

And others I put in these coffee mugs, paired with hot chocolate....(think these are my teacher gifts this year!!)

If you receive these from me for a Christmas present.....I really worked very hard my friend...
spent all day dipping these beauties and whew....I really hope you like them!!!


But really guys they were very easy to make.  I love that they look so pretty....gourmet-ish even.....
and did I tell you they were easy to make!!  Really I dipped 2 packages worth of these babies in about an hour!

Hope this inspires you to make some gourmet Oreos!  They taste good too!!!


Thanks for looking

Love,
Bronwyn

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Birthday cake for a Colt's fan

My most recent cake was one for a girl celebrating her 16th birthday.  She is an avid Colt's fan and LOVES Peyton Manning.....

So I made a little "her" wearing Mannings number on her shirt.....

I had made a large rice krispy treat horse shoe but it fell apart......very frustrating....
So I ended up making one from gumpaste/fondant.

Thanks for looking.....next up a Snow White themed cake....might do the one I've seen that is from Debbie Browns book Enchanted Cakes ( I think that's what it is called....don't have the name handy right now)

Well thanks for looking!  Hope you are all finished with Christmas preparations......I'm not (boohoooo)

Bronwyn

Making Marshmallow Fondant

Marshmallow Fondant
Making a cake this week for a Colt's fan.....its a sweet 16 birthday.  Anyway had to make some fondant and thought I would share the process in case anyone is interested.

You need 16 oz or so of mini marshmallows.  Place in a microwave safe bowl.

I add about 1 tbsp water and 1 tsp butter flavor and 1 tsp vanilla flavor

Then you melt the marshamallows in the micro...I do this in 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval until they are melted....usually takes 1 1/2 minutes. 

Then grease your work surface with the crisco

And grease your hands.....here is where it gets messy (and I think fun!) Your hands will be softer after this process too!!

Pour the melted marshmallow onto your greased surface, add the powdered sugar to the marshmallow and start to knead it together.....again...this is messy.  Be careful not to burn yourself with the hot marshmallow.  Add a little bit of your water.....you may or may not use all of the water....

Keep kneading until it forms a nice dough consistency.  If sticky, add a little more powdered sugar. 

When you're done cover your fondant in crisco and wrap in saran wrap...

Then place it in a ziploc bag, remove as much air as possible and refrigerate.  You should let it set up over night but can use right away if you don't have any little bits of powdered sugar.

I found the base of my recipe at http://whatscookingamerica.net/PegW/Fondant.htm and just tweaked it a bit by adding the vanilla and butter flavors.  Peg Weaver has a lot of tips and suggestions if you need extra guidance. 



Ingredients

16 ounces white mini-marshmallows

2 to 5 tablespoons water
2 pounds icing sugar
1/2 cup Crisco shortening 

1 tsp vanilla flavor
1 tsp butter flavor

Directions
Place marshmallows in a microwave safe bowl.  Add butter/vanilla flavors if desired and 1 tbsp of water.  Microwave for about 1 1/2 minutes in 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval until marhsmallows are melted.  Spread crisco on work surface and on hands.  Pour melted marshmallow onto work surface and add powdered sugar.  Knead together, adding more crisco to your hands as needed.  Add some water ( 1 tbsp at a time) if needed. Cover fondant in crisco and wrap in saran wrap.  Place in ziploc bag and refrigerate overnight. 

Again....check out the Peg Weavers directions for making this fondant if needed.  She also shows how to cover a cake in fondant. 
I will show pics of my finished product.....but only if it turns out ok :)

Thanks for looking!

Bronwyn

Free Photo Canvas

I saw this deal on another blog.... http://www.skiptomylou.org/ .  It's a deal from The Canvas People....
You can click on the link below and it will take you to the site.  Upload a picture and get a 8x10 canvas for FREE except for s&h.....or get 55 bucks off of an upgraded canvas......

I wasn't sure which picture to do....

Thought about this one of Gabe.....

But then I liked this one of Drew.....

And I thought this one might be cool for the Raven fan's in my family

Or this one.....

Finally I settled on this one....

So here's the link for your free canvas....
http://www.canvaspeople.com/freegift


Enjoy!

Love,
Bronwyn

Shawnee N. Mitchell-Wright

In remembrance of a friend newly lost.





"In the dark immensity of night
 I stood upon a hill and watched the light
 Of a star,
 Soundless and beautiful and far.

A scientist standing there with me
Said, “It is not the star you see,
But a glow
That left the star light years ago.”

People are like stars in a timeless sky;
The light of a good person’s life shines high,
Golden and splendid
Long after his brief earth years are ended."

— Grace V. Watkins

Cookies & Cream Cheesecakes

Found this recipe in the Martha Stewart Cupcake book and thought I would try it....

The directions say to beat the cream cheese until smooth and then add the sugar and vanilla....

I just sort of put it all in the bowl (except for the eggs) and beat until creamy

Then added the eggs and beat some more.

Then add in the cookie crumbles and stir.

Preheat oven to 275 degrees and prepare baking cups by adding 1 whole Oreo to the bottom of each.

Fill the cups with batter (I used a 1/4cup measuring cup to divi out the batter and it worked really well).

Bake for 22 minutes (turning the pans after 11 minutes.......don't know if this is really necessary but I did it just to be safe).  When the time is up, let them cool and then place them in the refrigerator (cupcake tin and all) and let chill for at least 4 hours ......

Remove just before serving.

They look really yummy

And taste pretty good too.....

So here's the recipe......

Ingredients
Package of Oreo cookies
2 pounds of cream cheese (room temp.)
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
pinch of salt

Directions
Place whole Oreo cookie in bottom of cupcake liner (makes 30 cupcakes total).  Beat the cream cheese until creamy.  Add sugar and mix and then add vanilla.  "Drizzle"  (gotta love Martha's directions!)  in the slightly beaten eggs.  Beat in the sour cream and salt.    Stir in 12 crushed cookies.  Put batter in cupcake tins and bake at 275 degrees for 22 minutes (turn tins halfway after 11 minutes).  Let cool completely and then refrigerate in tins for at least 4 hours.  Remove from tins just before serving.

Enjoy

Thanks for looking!
Love
Bronwyn