Ice Cream Sandwiches

This past Sunday, I really had an itch to try out a new cookie recipe. What I did not have an itch for, was going to the grocery store. So, I raided my box of baking goodies, and came out with a bag of Andes Candies baking pieces. I also had cocoa powder on hand, so I tried to find a recipe for chocolate cookies that would ultimately lead to chocolately-minty goodness. Thankfully, I came across this recipe.

They came out so nice and flat, that I immediately thought they would make the perfect outer components to an ice cream sandwich. I love it when I'm right.

I Have a Problem

Hi. My name is BigR, and I am a rubber stamp-o-holic.

Yikes! After several weeks of procrastinating, I finally got our office/craft room organized this weekend. It was a task that involved a big mess and a lot of filing, so I had been putting it off by claiming that other areas of the house were much higher priorities. However, this weekend, I really didn't want to go in to work, so organizing the office became a much higher priority. Obviously. (You will start to note that this post is a true Chronicle of Procrastination.)

In the midst of organizing, I started to notice how many Stampin' Up rubber stamp sets I have that have been neither used or mounted! I lost track of how many sets that actually was. I am happy to say that all of my stamps are now ready for immediate use, as I got all of the newbies mounted while watching season 4 of Weeds.

It's been difficult to make going to work after hours a priority, when I have such an urgent need for thank you, birthday, and graduation cards. For that reason, I spent a few hours last night getting reacquainted with my paper supplies and making the following cards:

Since I realized how many stamps I have that I never actually use, I've decided to challenge myself to use all of them. I think this will reintroduce me to what I have already purchased, and get my creative juices flowing for Christmas card design. Stay tuned for the results from my first personal challenge, Stampin' Up! set "She's All That."

Alright. Back to work. Really.

Tiramasu Cupcakes

I'm not sure I can really describe how thrilled I have been with Martha's new cupcake book. I'm so anxious to try every recipe in there!

This past weekend, we were guests at our friends' Italian feast. This was an opportunity to try out a new recipe from the cookbook. I decided to take a stab at Martha's Tiramsu Cupcakes.

The cake part was a dense sponge cake, which to me, sort of seems like an oxymoron. Since the cupcakes are drenched with a syrup made of espresso and Marsala, the cupcakes need to be able to stand up to a bunch of liquid. However, for me, the balance wasn't quite right and I think they need a bit more liquid to more closely resemble tiramsu.

The icing was scrumptious! Whipped cream, marscarpone, and powdered sugar. No problems there at all.

Overall, I think the cupcakes were enjoyed, and I'll try this recipe again.

Course 3 Graduation

After a total of 12 cake decorating sessions at Michaels (Courses 1, 2, and 3 combined), I think I can honestly call myself a cake decorator. I'm sure this falls in the novice to amateur category. The best thing about getting to Course 3 was realizing how easy fondant is to do, and what a finished look you give your cakes.


Here is my final cake from last night. I think it turned out pretty cute, and it sort of looks like a festive Fourth of July hat. The cake is currently sitting on my desk at work until I'm satisfied with the number of compliments I've received. Then I'll take it to the break room so my colleagues can devour it.

Harry Potter Cupcakes!

We had a marathon showing of all the Harry Potter films at our house
this weekend. These cupcakes (chocolate malt cupcakes from MSC) were
tasty, but the Gryffindor vs Slytherin color scheme ended up being a
little Easterish... Tasty though.

I Heart Royal Icing

This week was the third lesson in Wilton Course 3. The entire class was flowers, mostly using royal icing and the lily nail. I'm already a big fan of royal icing. It doesn't taste great, but you can do beautiful flowers that you can take to the grave with you. One could probably make all the royal icing flowers needed for life in a weekend (that is if your hands don't cramp out on you!). In class, we learned the poinsettia (pink), petunia (yellow), morning glory (blue and white), and the Easter lilly (white). These may be making an appearence on my final cake for next week...
We also learned how to do a fondant rose. I can't say that my first attempt at the fondant rose was really outstanding, but I have no pictures to show because the ones I made in class fell on the way home. (Don't feel bad, it was for their own good.) I'm hoping to practice some more of those this week and possibly include them on my final cake.

The Return of Cake Class

Tonight, Laura D. and I are officially halfway through Wilton Course 3 at Michaels. Last week we learned some additional buttercream techniques like lacy fill-ins and the ruffle border (not really a fan).

Tonight, we entered the world of fondant. I love it. Love it, love it, love it. I'm so impressed with the finished look the cake gets. Maybe if I were better at icing with buttercream, I would feel differently, but, fondant is awesome! I was feeling a little cheap this week, so instead of buying the premade fondant at Michaels, I used a recipe for homemade marshamllow fondant.

Here is the square cake, freshly covered with fondant:

The beginnings of the bow....

Finished product!!! (My bow wasn't finished, so there is paper towel in it to help it keep it's shape.) The rest of the cake is decorated with cut-out fondant dots and flowers.
Here is Laura's cake....she made a really pretty Carolina blue cake with dots and a white bow. Pretty!!!