Balloon Appliqued T-Shirts

My friend's son is obsessed with balloons. She threw him a balloon themed birthday party for his second birthday. As his birthday gift I made him two appliquéd shirts. She had him wear one for the party, so I guess he liked them.

Giants Snuggie and Bacon Roses

I always have a hard time figuring out what to get my husband for his birthday.  This year he treated himself to a trip to Arizona to watch Giants spring training.  While he was gone, I worked on a few things for him.

First was a Giants Snuggie.  I actually bought the fleece for our anniversary in August, but hadn't got around to making the snuggie. It was actually pretty easy to make.  A few cuts and a couple of seams and it was done.

Second, were bacon roses. As I mentioned before he absolutely loves bacon.  I get roses for my birthday every year, so when I saw these on Pinterest I knew they would be perfect.  The directions say to use a mini muffin pan and drill a hole in the bottom of each to for the grease to drain.  I didn't want to take the time to drill the holes or ruin a perfectly good muffin pan, so I used a disposable aluminum pan.  I poked a few holes in the bottom and it worked fine.

The directions say to put it on a roasting pan to catch the drippings.  I wish I would have lined the roasting pan with foil.  It would have made for a much easier clean up.

They turned out great.  When he first walked in the door, he thought they were real roses sitting on the table.  It was the smell of the bacon that made him look closer.

Gummy Bear Birthday Cake

My husband LOVES gummies.  For all holidays and birthdays people give him gummies. He got 16 bags from his students for Christmas. Last year for his birthday I got him the world's largest gummy bear.  My niece loves coming over because she knows that he will give her some.  It has become somewhat of a joke.

I was trying to figure out what to do for him this year and I decided to make him a cake.  A few weeks before his birthday I tried to be sneaky, I asked him what is his favorite kind of cake (I know that I should know this, but he's not a big cake person.)  He decided that what we had as our wedding cake was his favorite, white cake with raspberry filling.  I knew that I could do the white cake, but the filling would be something new.  I was trying to figure out how to decorate it, but was at a loss.  I thought about doing something for the San Francisco Giants, but I thought an orange and black cake would look a little too much like Halloween.  I finally decided that a simple white cake would be fine.  As I was making the cake (hours before my family was coming over for dinner), it was bothering me that I didn't have any fun ideas to decorate the cake.  Then it hit me...Gummies!  I don't know why I didn't think of it earlier.  I was a little nervous that it would end up looking a little weird and that I could submit it  to Cake Wrecks, but I think it turned out nicely.

I found the recipe for the cake and the raspberry filling at CakeBoss.  I think that they were both delicious and my family agreed.  I didn't use butter cream frosting like they suggested because I'm not a big fan.  Instead, I went with my favorite cream cheese frosting recipe from Glorious Treats.

White Velvet Wedding Cake
From Cake Boss
Makes 7 1/2 cups batter, enough for two full 8" rounds or one 9x13" sheet.
1 box Pillsbury or Betty Crocker White or Vanilla cake mix 
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup + 2 tbsp cake flour (NOT all-purpose flour)
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/3 cups water
3 eggs
1/2 cup melted butter (lightly salted)
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla extract or almond extract (optional)

 1. In a large bowl, put water, extract (if using), eggs, melted butter and sour cream.  Mix well with paddle attachment.

2. Add cake mix, sugar, cake flour, and salt.

3. Mix with paddle attachment at medium speed for approximately 2 minutes, or until most lumps are worked out.  It is not necessary to work out all the lumps.

Pour into prepared pans and bake at 325 until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out
clean, or with just a crumb or two clinging to it.

Seedless Raspberry Frosting
From: Cake Boss
12 oz frozen unsweetened raspberries, thawed
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
2 heaping tablespoons cornstarch
2 tbsp raspberry liqueur such as Razzmatazz by DeKuyper (optional but highly recommended)

1. Thaw raspberries and strain juice from berries.  Add enough water to the juice to get 3/4 cup of liquid.

2. In a small saucepan, combine raspberry juice/water, sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch.  Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture bubbles and thickens.  Remove from heat, set aside.

3. With a fine wire strainer, use a spoon to press the raspberries so that the seedless pulp falls into a bowl below.  Strain enough pulp to get between 1/3 - 1/2 cup of pulp.  *You can skip this step and just use the whole berries, but people at weddings and parties don't like to pick seeds out of their teeth.  I strained part of them and then put in the rest.

4. To the cooled mixture in the saucepan, add 2 tablespoons raspberry liqueur (I didn't use this and thought it tasted great) and the raspberry pulp.  Stir well and refrigerate a few hours or overnight.   Keeps in the refrigerator for at least a week. 

Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
From Glorious Treats

½ cup (1 stick/8 Tablespoons) butter (set at room temp about 10 minutes, but should still be cool)
8 oz. cream cheese (directly from fridge)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups powdered confectioners sugar
1 to 4 Tablespoons heavy cream or milk

1. Place butter in a large mixing bowl and blend slightly. Add cream cheese and blend until combined, about 30 seconds.
2. Add vanilla extract and powdered sugar and blend on low speed until combined. Increase to medium speed and beat until it begins to get fluffy.
3. Slowly add the heavy cream, a little bit at a time until desired consistency is met. (Don't add too much if you want the frosting to stay in place when piped on cupcakes.)
4. Beat until fluffy, about 1 minute.
5. Use at once or keep refrigerated. (This frosting will keep well in the refrigerator for several days, but you may need to re-beat it for the best texture.)

He was very surprised by the gummies and thought that it was delicious.  This recipe could become a birthday tradition.

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

We went away for St. Patrick's Day weekend with some friends.  It wasn't specifically for the holiday.  We always have a day in the spring that we head to a friends beach house.  Since it was a St. Patrick's Day, I decided that a special dessert was needed.  I had found this recipe on Pinterest and knew it would be a great way to celebrate.

These were a little time consuming with the batter, the ganache, and the frosting, but they were worth it.

Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes
From Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients:

For the Cupcakes:
1 cup Guinness stout
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup cocoa powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons baking soda
¾ teaspoons salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup sour cream

For the Whiskey Ganache Filling:
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
2 teaspoons Irish whiskey

For the Baileys Frosting:
2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 cups powdered sugar
6 tablespoons Baileys Irish Cream

Instructions:

Cupcakes:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line 24 cupcake cups with liners.
Bring the Guinness and butter to a simmer in a heavy, medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the cocoa powder and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Cool slightly.

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl to combine. Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sour cream on medium speed until combined. Add the Guinness-chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and beat just to combine. Reduce the speed to low, add the flour mixture and beat briefly. Using a rubber spatula, fold the batter until completely combined. Divide the batter among the cupcake liners. Bake until a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about 17 minutes. Cool the cupcakes on a rack.

Whiskey Ganache:
Finely chop the chocolate and transfer it to a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream until simmering and pour it over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute and then, using a rubber spatula, stir it from the center outward until smooth. Add the butter and whiskey and stir until combined. Let the ganache cool until thick but still soft enough to be piped.

To Fill the Cupcakes:
Using a 1-inch round cookie cutter (or the bottom of a large decorating tip), cut the centers out of the cooled cupcakes, going about two-thirds of the way down. Transfer the ganache to a piping back with a wide tip and fill the holes in each cupcake to the top.

Bailey's Frosting:
Using the whisk attachment of a stand mixer, whip the butter on medium-high speed for 5 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Reduce the speed to medium-low and gradually add the powdered sugar until all of it is incorporated. Add the Baileys, increase the speed to medium-high and whip for another 2 to 3 minutes, until it is light and fluffy.

Frost using a decorating tip or an off-set spatula.

Better Than Crack Brownies

Here is another treat that includes Rice Krispies.  I had no idea how many different types of Rice Krispies Treats there were.  They make for some very yummy treats!  They were called Better-Than-Crack-Brownies on the blog that I found them.  I may need to come up with a more family friendly name if I make them again:)

I made these for a bake sale at my husbands school.  They were pretty easy to make.  It was made in layers and had to cool between layers, so that took some time.  No difficult baking techniques involved.

Better Than Crack Brownies
From How Sweet It Is

1 batch brownies (boxed mix or your own brownie recipe)

1/2 cup salted peanuts (if don’t have salted, add sea salt)

1 cup chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups

1 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

1 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/2 tablespoon butter

1 1/2 cups Rice Krispies Cereal

Instructions:

1. Mix brownies according to directions, and bake for 20-25 minutes in a 9 x 13 baking dish. 2. Remove and top with peanuts and peanut butter cups, and bake for 4-6 minutes more.

3. While they are finishing baking, melt chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter. 

4. Stir in cereal. 

5. Remove brownies from oven and evenly pour chocolate mixture over top.

6. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

I never actually got to eat one of these, so I hope they were good.  I packaged them up for the bake sale thinking they would sell them each individually.  They decided that since they were already packaged they would sell them as a batch.  My husband said that when he went by the sale they were gone within a few minutes.  I guess that's a good sign. 

Fluffernutter Blondies

My husband spent many summers as a child visiting his grandmother in Cape Cod.  While there, his family would snack on fluffernutter sandwiches.  This is a wonderful (not so) healthy sandwich made with Marshmallow Fluff and peanut butter on white bread.  I've gone back with him twice and of course we had to make these sandwiches.

Fluff is something that is typically an East Coast food.  Living in California, we've never been able to find it.  Whenever someone goes to Cape Cod, we always get some Fluff as a gift.  Fluff is very different than marshallow topping.  A new grocery store opened near our house and while we were wandering around the aisles we found that they carried Fluff.  We had to buy it, even though we new we would probably not eat it. 

We got invited to his cousin's 30th birthday party.  It was a pot-luck barbeque and I signed up to bring a dessert.  As I was searching for something to make, I came across a recipe for Peanut Butter Cup Fluffernutter Blondies on Pinterest.  I knew this would be the perfect treat.

Fluffernutter Blondies
From Cookies & Cups

1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 cups chocolate chips
3/4 cup Marshmallow Fluff

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray.
3. Cream butter and peanut butter together.
4. Add sugars and beat until light and fluffy.
5. On medium speed add in eggs and vanilla and mix until incorporated.
6. Stir in your baking soda, salt and flour until just combined.
7. Fold in chocolate chips.
8. Spread the batter in your prepared pan.
9. Drop you Fluff randomly on top of the batter and swirl in with a knife.
10. Bake for 30-35 minutes until toothpick placed 1 inch from side comes out clean. Don’t over bake.
11. Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack.
12. Cut into squares when cooled.

The original recipe called for coarse chopped peanut butter cups (10.5 oz bag), but I didn't have any.  I substituted 2 cups of chocolate chips and thought they were yummy.  If I make these again, I will try the peanut butter cups.