Cupcakes in a Jar

After deciding that cookie decorating is just not for me right now, I threw myself into figuring out a way to ship my sweets to people who don’t live close to me.

I decided that cupcakes in jars were definitely the cutest, most affordable, way to go!

Three special people are receiving cupcakes in jars this week, and I am very excited to hear how they arrive – since this is my first time shipping them!

To package these, I started with regular cupcakes (I used red velvet, chocolate cow, and white with berries cakes) and some 1/2 pint, wide mouth, mason jars.

{ I apologize for the poor quality of these photos in advance }

First, I put in one cupcake.

Then, I piped in a layer of buttercream an added sprinkles.

Next, I put it another cupcake and more sprinkles – I love sprinkles!

Finally, I sealed them up!

I do wish they had been prettier from the outside – I think next time I might try baking directly in the jars to eliminate that space between the cake and the jar.

I popped the jars in the freezer for a couple of days.  I usually don’t freeze my cake, but I did this time so that they could defrost in transit – I thought it would be safer that way and the cake would have a better chance at surviving.  😉

I found some super cute decorations at my local Michael’s Store!

I covered the jars in tissue paper and then added the little cards and stickers – I was very pleased with how they turned out!

My sweet husband helped me package them up to ensure a safe, broken-glass free, delivery.  Thanks, hubby! ❤

The picture above is before he added all the air bubbles and stiff paper.

 

Ready to go!

The top box is going to my 100th fan on Facebook (YAY!).  The middle box is going to a very special friend in Alabama, who I think could use a bright spot in her day.  And, the bottom box is going to a sweet woman’s husband in Oregon, who she felt needed a pick-me-up.

If you all remember in an earlier post, I mentioned my favorite blog, I Am Baker, and how she called upon all the bakers out there to donate some cookies/cake/whatever you bake to the many cookie giveaway nominees she had.  Each nominee had such a heart-warming story, and they all deserved a special package full of yummy sweets! So, I volunteered my time (and my cupcakes) to her.  The nominee I was given is a great husband up in Oregon who is expecting his first child.  His wife felt that he deserved something special because he has been treating her so wonderfully.  This reminded me so much of how my husband was when I was pregnant with my little boy.  I was thrilled to be able to send him some cupcakes in jars!  I really hope he and his wife enjoy them!

That’s it for today!

Happy Baking, ya’ll =)

First Wedding Cake of 2011!

This is the first wedding cake of the year, and I am just in love with this cute little cake!

This cake serves approximately 50 people – The top-tier is  4″x4″, middle is 6″x4″, and the bottom is 9″x4″.

The couple requested smooth sides and fuchsia ribbon; the result is very elegant and simple.

The top and bottom tiers are White Almond Cake with Berries, filled with fresh strawberries and buttercream.  The middle tier is White Velvet.  The whole cake was iced in Dreamy Buttercream.  These recipes can be found on the ‘Recipes’ tab. =)

On a different note, thanks to the hard work of many fellow hobby cakers in Florida, the state is very close to passing a new Cottage Food Law.  This would have a huge, very positive, effect on the future of all home bakers in the state.   The bill has been voted as ‘favorable’ by the House and it goes to the Senate very soon – I am asking all of your to keep your fingers crossed for a great outcome!

Happy Baking, ya’ll! ❤

Cookie Decorating ~ First Attempt.

So many of the blogs I read involve decorating super-adorable sugar cookies.  See blogroll to the right —>

I thought, for some crazy reason beyond me, that I would give this a shot.

I decided to use recipes from my favorite blog, I Am Baker.   Sugar cookie and icing recipes here.

The recipes are EXCELLENT.  Seriously, the best sugar cookies I’ve ever made, and I loved that this icing dries hard, but tastes a lot better than royal icing.

Let me tell you, they are extremely addictive.

My cookies ended up like this:

As you can tell, my outlining skills leave a lot to be desired.  I do love the colors I chose though!

I Am Baker’s recipe yields a lot of cookies.  I had this many left over:

Anybody want a cookie?

I have a few projects coming up that need to be shipped.  I thought, for a second, that I would do decorated cookies.

I changed my mind.

My little brother helped me with this cookie decorating adventure – his cookies are to the left of the picture below.  Despite having icing everywhere and getting kind of frustrated, we had a lot of laughs and really fun time – that’s what it’s all about. =)

I am going to keep practicing at this cookie thing, for now.

Next experiment for shipping baked goods = cupcakes in jars, with sprinkles.  Cake is better, always, right?

Happy Baking, ya’ll ❤

Milk Chocolate Cow Cake

This weekend, I made a cake for my sister’s best friend’s birthday!  This small, 6″ cake is Milk Chocolate Cow Cake – a new recipe I just perfected and am so excited to share with you guys.  I frosted the cake in dreamy buttercream and then covered it in lime green marshmallow fondant.

I don’t have a picture of the inside of the cake, because I wasn’t there when the birthday girl cut it, but trust me, this chocolate cake is amazing!

Milk Chocolate Cow Cake Recipe:

• 2 Cups Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• ¾ Cup Cocoa
• 1 Tsp. Salt
• 1¾ Cups All-Purpose Flour
• 1-1.4oz Fat Free/Sugar Free Chocolate Pudding Mix
• 1½ Tsp. Baking Soda
• 2 Tsp. Baking Powder
• 1 Tsp. Instant Coffee
• 2 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
• 1 Cup Sour Cream
• ½ Cup Vegetable Oil
• 1 Cup Warm Milk
• 1½ Cups Mini Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (any type of mini chip will work – white makes a pretty contrast)

Method:  Sift together all dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Add in eggs, vanilla, sour cream and oil and mix on low-speed until everything comes together and the mixture resembles a crumbly dough. Pour in the warm milk and mix on low until just combined.  Stir in the mini chips.  Pour into prepared pans (I now use Baker’s Joy!) and bake at 350 degrees until a toothpick inserted comes out with a few crumbs.  Let the cake cool while wrapped in plastic wrap – this keeps the cake moist.

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Marshmallow Fondant Recipe:

• 4 Cups Mini Marshmallows
• 4 Cups Sifted Powdered Sugar
• 2 Tbsp Warm Water
• Crisco for greasing

Method: In a large greased bowl, melt marshmallows and water in the microwave in 30 second intervals.  Once melted, pour in 3 cups of the sugar.  With greased hands, begin kneading everything together – be careful, it will be warm! Be sure to keep your hands greased, or the mixture will stick to you.  Once all the sugar is incorporated, add the remaining cup of sugar.  You will know the fondant is done and right when it is slightly shiny, but it doesn’t stick to you.  You should be able to stretch it without it breaking.  If the fondant feels dry or crumbly, add more grease to your hands and work it into the dough.  If the fondant feels too sticky or wet, knead in more powdered sugar.

This recipe can be halved, doubled, tripled, etc.

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Dreamy Buttercream Recipe:

• 1 Cup Crisco All-Vegetable shortening
• 1 Cup Room Temperature Butter (unsalted)
• Pinch of salt
• 1 Tsp Meringue Powder
• 3 – 4 Tbsp Heavy Whipping Cream
• 3 – 4 Tbsp Whole Milk
• 1 Tsp Clear Vanilla Extract
• 1 Tsp Clear Almond Extract
• 1 Tsp Clear Butter Extract
• 2 Pounds Sifted Powdered Sugar

Method:  Cream the Crisco on medium speed until it is fluffy.  Turn the mixer off.  Add in salt, meringue powder, 3 tbsp cream, 3 tbsp milk, and all extracts.  Turn the mixer on the lowest speed.  Slowly stream in the powdered sugar, stopping often to scrape down the sides of the bowl.  When all the sugar is incorporated, test the consistency – if you need to loosen it up, add more milk and cream, 1 tsp. at a time until you get the consistency you need.  “Perfect” in my kitchen, for spreading or piping,  is 4 tbsp of each liquid.

This recipe can be halved or doubled.

The sides of the cake are whimsy, free-handed buttercream piping. I also added some fondant flowers, painted with edible glitter – just for a little sparkle.

This cake was so much fun to make and I am so glad that my sister thought of me to make it!

Please let me know if you try out the recipes – I would love to hear how they work for you =)

Happy Baking, ya’ll! ❤

New Cakes and a New Blog!

I am so excited for this new blog and the new sweetforsirten.com url! It makes me so happy.

This blog has been a work in progress for the past few weeks, and it will continue to change, so I apologize for any confusion this might cause.  Please keep checking back for new features – a recipe tab is coming really soon!  I just absolutely could not wait any longer to share the new site.  By the way, I am in love with WordPress – they are amazing.

If you followed me over at the blogspot blog, thank you, and I look forward to you following me here as well!

My two month cake hiatus was boring, and I felt my creative juices just rolling away.  Lesson learned = do not keep yourself from your hobby/outlet/passion, ever. End of hiatus and end of story.  My solution is going to be to buy some ‘cake dummies’ very soon to practice on.  This will give me the outlet and practice time without all the leftover cake to eat.  Problem = solved.

On to the cake!

Scalloped Ruffle Cake

This cake was inspired by a cake I saw here – I have recently fallen in love with Martha Stewart’s cakes.

Of course, this is a MUCH smaller version, but it was so fun to play with brighter colors and I love any excuse to practice my piping skills 😉

The cake itself is Red Velvet with crusting Cream Cheese Buttercream – recipes here at the old blog

Beach Cake!

This super cute cake started out like this:

I must admit, I am SO PROUD of these buttercream results. The most perfect batch of buttercream led to the best smoothing results I have ever produced. Now, if only every cake could start out with such a great canvas!

The cake is White Velvet with White Chocolate Buttercream – recipes here at the old blog

As you can tell from the background of this picture, I tried out Baker’s Joy for the first time.  I have always been against it, and insisted on messily greasing and flouring my pans.  THIS STUFF ROCKS! My cakes fell perfectly out of the pans and I didn’t have to get messy, greasy  hands! Baker’s Joy = Jessica’s new love.  This sounds like I am plugging product – I’m not, I just genuinely loved my Baker’s Joy experience 😀

This week, one of my most favorite bloggers, Amanda, at I Am Baker reached out to her blog followers and friends for help with a very special project.  It really touched my heart.  You guys should all go read about it on her blog.  I am so excited to be a part of her project, and I’m sure I will blog in more detail about it very soon.

Happy Baking, ya’ll!

❤