sweet inspiration & fun baking ideas

Chocolate Chip Confetti Cookies!

Get in my mouth. Right now. It’s cookie time!

Okay, anytime is cookie time in my book. How about you?

I made these chocolate chip cookies using a few extras that I had on my counter.

Leftover pecans from last weekend’s Hummingbird Cake that I chopped up.

Pastel M&M’s leftover from Easter. These were hiding under a pile of different color candy melts I had on the counter or else they would have already been gone by now.

E. Guittard semi-sweet chocolate wafers. I still had a box from the last time I made Jacques Torres’ Chocolate Chip Cookies. And now I don’t think I can make chocolate chip cookies with little baby morsels ever again. Okay, that’s not true. But seriously, try making chocolate chip cookies with these chocolate baking discs sometime. Holy yum. I picked mine up at Williams-Sonoma.

Mix up the dough and add in the pecans. That is if you want. You can also leave them out.

Add in some M&M’s. Any color combo you like.

And stir in the chocolate.

Dough it!

Scoop them and bake them right up.

Or coat the tops in confetti sprinkles for a little more fun.

Chocolate Chip Confetti Cookies.

It’s like a party in every bite.

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I made my mom this cake Sunday afternoon. A Hummingbird Cake and it was so good.

This cake is basically healthy. At least in my mind it is.

I mean bananas, pineapple and nuts.

It’s like dieting.

Okay, maybe not so much. Especially with the generous amount of cream cheese frosting I slathered all over it.

When I was a kid I would have skipped cake like this rather than putting something non-chocolate in my mouth.

Yeah, would not have touched it. Or I would have picked out all the nuts. Pecans and pineapple were not on the list of approved foods.

But my mom loves them. So I thought this would be a great cake to make for her.

Chopped and toasted pecans. Yum. I’m glad I can say that now.

The cake is super easy to throw together, too. You don’t even need to break out your mixer for the batter. A spoon will do the trick.

The recipe makes a giant cake. Three 9-inch layers.

Level the cakes with a serrated knife to remove the mounded tops and make for a more even cake and easier to frost.

Here’s something else I use that makes frosting cakes a bit easier for me.

I bought this pottery wheel thing to place my cakes on. It’s awesome. And heavy and spins fast and smooth.

And the nice part is you can easily lift the plate right off the base.

Amaco No. 5 Pottery Decorating Wheel The metal isn’t polished, so some areas could have a sharp or rough spot.

The removable base makes it easy to hold up in the air and see things at eye level.

I had a plastic turntable meant for cake decorating, but I didn’t like that one so much. This one just feels better in my hands. But that’s probably because it’s on the smaller side. The plate is just 7 inches in diameter, but still worked out perfectly for this 9-inch cake.

Spin and spread.

I tried to go for that whole my cake is so messy that it’s beautiful look.

I think I need to practice more.

But that’s okay. It’s what’s on the inside that counts… And my mom loved it.

Hope you do too.

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…… and Saucy.

I was in Southern California a week ago and finally got to visit Melody of My Sweet and Saucy. Well, that was her blog name back before she became a superstar cake decorating, bakery owning machine. Now she has two Sweet and Saucy Shops and she’s in the construction stage of a third.

Hi Melody. You are a doll.

I first “met” Melody when she would leave sweet comments here on the blog way back in the beginning and it’s been a blast watching all of her success.

She’s super-talented and so is her staff… including her sweet little helper Blake.

And their wedding cake designs are just gorgeous, modern and sing Melody.

But what I love most is her love for mini desserts. Little pies and mini tarts, macarons, cupcakes and cake pops, too.

The desserts are all displayed on beautiful cake stands like these. So cute. And so are the cupcakes. ; )

If you stop by, make sure you get a mini pie… Oh my. Get any flavor and have them warm it up for you. You won’t regret it.

The S’mores cupcake shouldn’t be missed either. Heck, just get a whole plate of petite treats.

We did. Thank you Melody.

Yeah, I didn’t eat this all myself. I had help. Jenny of Picky Palate, Amanda of Kevin and Amanda and I went on a quick sweets tour to a few places in Jenny’s neck of the woods before we headed out to a food blogging conference. Prep work.

Oh yeah, you can also rent or buy these beautiful cake stands from Melody’s shop. I wanted the whole table.

Okay, the whole bakery.

Sweet & Saucy Website

Sweet & Saucy Stands

Newport Beach, CA

Not far from Melody is ‘lette.

Macarons. Macarons. Macarons.

Okay. Will do.

Here’s the sampler pack I picked up for a next day treat. I say sampler pack because it sounds less like I’m eating so many.

They didn’t make it that long though before I had to dive in.

I’m always drawn to these little bites of perfection and their beautiful colors, but I haven’t found a flavor that beats out chocolate for me. Always my favorite.

‘lette Macarons Website

Fashion Island, Newport Beach

Jenny also took us to a little place called Wonderland. Such a perfect name for this sweet shop. So much eye candy.

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And tons of cupcake gifts. Ornaments, mugs, and yes bandaids.

And what a cute curved cupcake case set atop a sparkling glittery floor. Magical.

We didn’t pick up any cupcakes here though. Instead we had a couple of cookies.

Just two. Sandwiched between a tiny bit of buttercream… Ummm… that they will warm up for you!

And just for reference, I asked Amanda to hold it up for you.

See … tiny. Like Big Mac tiny. Help.

P.S. You can mix and match the cookies. We had Peanut Butter Chunk and Raspberry Dream. Yum!

Wonderland Bakery Website

Newport Beach, CA

 

Truly Madly Sweetly. We stumbled on this cupcake shop by accident when we arrived for the conference.

It was at a mall that we were “accidentally” shopping at with Maria of Two Peas and Their Pod ; ) and it was a sweet surprise.

Great cupcakes. Great frosting. We decided the chocolate cupcakes were our faves. Go figure.

That’s once we finally finished photographing them. And when I finished photographing them photographing them. We have a problem. A big sweet problem.

Truly Madly Sweetly 

Temecula, CA

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Oh and next time I’m in Jenny’s area I want to try Sprinkles Ice Cream in Newport Beach or even the one in Beverly Hills. They have red velvet waffle cones. Oh yes they do! The Newport Beach location just opened, but the line was Ridiculous!!! Even for me. I’m also told I need to check out B. Candy and Confexion Cupcakes. Any other recommendations?

 

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I’ve been in spring break mode lately. You might have noticed since I didn’t bake last weekend. I think it’s because I recently went on a vacation which I haven’t done in a couple of years and it felt awesome to just relax and do nothing. And now being back home I can’t stop enjoying the warmth that’s finally taking over. Spring is probably my favorite time of the year. Unfortunately, in the south, you only have about seven minutes to enjoy the season before the hot and humid heat of summer takes over. Okay, okay – I’m exaggerating a little. It probably lasts eleven minutes. ; ) So you’ve got to enjoy all of them while they last. And I’m trying.

Got Spring Fever, too? Take a break with me and enter this sweet Spring Bake Giveaway for a chance to win a KitchenAid Stand Mixer… in one of the following pastel colors. Plus a white and silver choice in case springy isn’t your speed. Me? I have the pink one, but man, that aqua sky is calling my name. And the ice and crystal blue. too. I’m glad I don’t have to choose.

Enter the Spring Bake Giveaway for a chance to win a KitchenAid 5-quart Artisan Series Stand Mixer

• To enter, just leave a comment on this post answering the following question.
• What’s your favorite thing to do or place to go on vacation? Oh and pick your pastel, too.
• Deadline to enter is Wednesday, April 24th, at 7:00 pm ET. Time’s Up. Winner announced below.
• One winner will be chosen at random and announced sometime Wednesday evening on this post.

Good luck!

 

Okay, we have a winner. And the winner picked pink. I thought for sure ice or aqua sky would win. So many of you guys love that color. And me too.

The winner is …… Comment # 6625. Yay Veronica! You are getting a pink mixer! And now I totally want to go on vacation again. You guys have fun ideas.

Giveaway sponsored by me.

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Confession. I don’t think I’ve made Rice Krispie Treats before. What?!?! And if I have, it was so long ago, I can’t remember. Weird, right? I mean, I enjoy them and all their crispy marshmallowy goodness, whenever I do eat one. I just never make them. Maybe it’s because growing up, Rice Krispies didn’t spend that much time in our house. I was a Fruit Loops girl. Die hard. Fruit. Loops. Rice Krispies just got soggy too quick for my taste. It was however, one of the few I’d eat in a lack of Fruit Loops emergency at someone else’s house. I’m just now giving in to Frosted Flakes … I guess I consider that one my grown up cereal. I’m sure I’d enjoy others, but I don’t really eat cereal that often and I just can’t commit to a whole big box of a new cereal. Anyway… that’s a long way of saying I haven’t made Rice Krispy Treats.

But lately I’ve been wanting to …… recently my friend and Wookiee Pies author, Lara was raving about some Brown Butter and Biscoff treats she made inspired by this Smitten Kitchen recipe … but she added a little something to them.

Biscoff spread! Also Speculoos Cookie Butter from Trader Joes. If you’ve tried this stuff before, you know why these have been stuck in my head. It’s ridiculously good. It never makes it spread onto anything though because if I dare open a jar… it doesn’t have a chance against me with a spoon in my hand.

But, I bought some special to make these treats with.

Rice Krispies Treats start with mixing marshmallows into melted butter. But these are made more special by browning the butter first. It enhances the flavor and adds a wonderful nutty aroma. Just use a stainless steel pot when you make it so you can see the butter change color as it’s heated. It was difficult to see the colors change in this dark pot I was using and the butter can burn easily if you aren’t paying attention.

Check out this How-to if you’ve never made brown butter before.

Now you can just use this brown buttery marshmallowy goodness and stir in your cereal if you want.

But what fun would that be without a bunch of Biscoff. Heat it a few seconds in the microwave first and it will incorporate easily into the warm marshmallow mixture.

In Lara’s version, she didn’t mix it into the marshmallow. She divided the brown butter marshmallow mixture and spread a thin layer between the two before she pressed it all together. So you can try it that way, too.

But I wanted to marry the two.

Stir the melted marshmallow and Biscoff until combined.

Add a little salt and six cups of cereal.

And mix it into a beautiful mess.

Press it into a greased dish and cut into bars.

Like these rectangular ones. Yum.

Drizzle a little melted chocolate on top if you want, too. But they don’t really need it. They just looked lonely all by themselves so I thought they needed a hug of chocolate.

And you know what, the best part about long rectangle bars like this is they make a great dipping stick too for any leftover Biscoff Spread. I mean, not that I would know anything about that first hand.

Enjoy!

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