sweet inspiration & fun baking ideas

The book is now shipping. I’m nervous. And excited. And nervous. I really hope you guys like it.

That is if you decide to pick one up and flip through it. Or buy it. That would be cool, too.

To help promote it, my publisher asked me to do a little video. A video with motion and sound. Scary stuff.

I think they wanted a quick author bio type thing, but they said I could do what I wanted.

So I decided to take the opportunity to make a little cake pop how-to for you guys… an overview.

Just don’t look at me. K?

This is Micah. He came out and spent the day with me while I messed up about 4,000 takes. He was cool. And patient.

I think he may have even had fun.

For the record, this was much harder than I thought it would be. Looking straight into a camera when you’re the only one talking is tough stuff. This was much different than being on Martha. When I was on the show, I didn’t even see the cameras because I was so nervous and this time I was so nervous because I was staring straight into one.

I think this way is harder.

Luckily, Cupcake Julie was there to keep me focused. Actually, I was there. This is her kitchen.

Micah went home with lots of pops…

… In a pink box. So masculine.

But, I bet his wife appreciated it.

Okay… Okay. I’ve stalled long enough.

Want to watch the video?

Really?

Ok. Here it is.

Now, I’m going to hide.

Click here to watch the Bakerella Cake Pop Video on Amazon.

Note: Hand in the air. Side smile. I told you guys.

P.S. Is it weird that I wanted to buy a copy of my own book? Probably, but I’m still super excited. It should arrive tomorrow. Yippee!

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I didn’t bake this weekend. I was in Los Angeles for something super fun. It was a whirlwind weekend that centered around the Emmys. The actual Emmys. Yes, the ones that were on TV Sunday night.

I know. You must be wondering what in the heck was I doing out there –  because I’m still trying to wrap my head around it all, too.

You see Duncan Hines just so happened to be the official dessert sponsor for the Emmy Performer Nominee Reception that Friday before the big event. They set up a glam cupcake lounge for all the nominees and guests and flew a few bloggers to L.A. to cover the festivities for the weekend. And I was lucky enough to be one of them.

It was a red carpet entrance for the stars.

Once inside the party, they had their choice of several fantastic cupcakes, including the Duncan Hines Red Carpet Challenge Winner’s Cupcake as the star attraction. It was a raspberry red velvet cupcake with chocolate ganache filling and my favorite of the evening. The Culinary Institute of America prepared them all for the event.

Caramel Apple Cupcake
Pineapple Passion Cupcake

Elisabeth Moss from Mad Men gazed at them.

Here are the Culinary Institute of America dudes.

And me.

And here’s Aly Walansky and Jennifer James – the other bloggers with me for the event. Aly writes entertainment and beauty and Jennifer has a vast mom bloggers network.

The atmosphere was very casual. Guests mingled and enjoyed great food and desserts. There was also an intimate ceremony for the nominees. They all came on stage to receive their official nominee certificate.

Glenn Close.

Need I say more.

Bryan Cranston from Breaking Bad.

Seth Green.

Julia Ormond who is just stunning, by the way.

And many more.

It was cute … when they were all on stage they broke into song and sang Happy Birthday. Unfortunately I didn’t catch who it was for. But it was really sweet.

Eric Stonestreet from Modern Family jamming on the drums. It really was a great night.

Here’s Dexter’s dad, James Remar and Kathyrn Joosten, Karen McCluskey from Desperate Housewives enjoying the cupcake lounge.

And here’s me with Seth. He took time for a few photos and was a doll.

I debated putting this up, but who knows if I’ll ever get on another red carpet. This is my signature dork pose. If I pose too long to have a photo taken I feel awkward and do this hand in the air, side smile to diffuse the situation. Deeyoork.

Okay, so that was Friday night.

But Duncan Hines was also the sponsor for the Fans in the Stands for the Red Carpet event on Sunday. So we were able to attend that, too.

I was so excited, but didn’t really know what to expect or have an idea how close we would be.

And about here I started to get the bigness of the situation.

Wow. Things were about to get crazy.

Fans.

In the Stands.

We were right on the red carpet in two small, sets of bleachers. Crazy close to the excitement.

Here are the Duncan Hines girls with the Turtle brownies they handed out to everyone in the stands. Yum.

And here’s Katie Rousonelos and her husband, Mike. She won the Red Carpet Cupcake Challenge and won a trip to L.A. for the festivities, too. Yay Katie!!!

By the way, her cupcake was the first time she’s ever entered a contest. Pretty awesome.

They were a sweet couple and so excited to be there.

But it would be hard not to be excited. This was truly something to witness. The fashion. The faces. The energy. It was intense.

Jimmy Fallon was a complete cutie.

And Sally, Kiernan Shipka from Mad Men was just adorable. I think she quite possibly had the best pose of the night. Just perfect.

Jessalyn Gilsig (Terri Schuester) from Glee. I can’t believe I caught this split-second shot.

Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester) from duh, Glee – was a crowd pleaser for sure. Love, love, love her.

And Kate. Wow… she should definitely smile more.

David Charvet formerly of Baywatch and now married to Brooke Burke. Hot. Sizzling. Scorching. You’re welcome.

And my man, John Hamm from Mad Men. He has the movie star look down pat.

I thought this was a cute shot. The Glee Cheerleaders when they ran into each other on the carpet.

Betty White. Fabulous.

Toni Collette. Glamorous.

Elisabeth Moss. Glowing.

Michael C. Hall and Jennifer Carpenter from Dexter and a great looking couple.

Joel McHale with the kids from Modern Family. Too cute.

Newlyweds and True Blood co-stars Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer were the nicest red carpet couple and let me take extra shots of them.

Eva Longoria working it.

Conan. Love Conan.

The dress. I mean January Jones. She IS beautiful.

Christina Hendricks. Hi Joan! Stunning!

Neil Patrick Harris. What a smile.

And the man. Al freaking Pacino. Booyah.

If you want to see more Red Carpet photos.

Like a ton more photos… Big photos…  then play the slideshow.

After the Fans in the Stands, I returned to my room to watch the rest of the Emmys while I snacked on these. The stars all received these beautiful boxes at the Governor’s Ball after the Emmys.

Thank you Duncan Hines. Thanks for sending me to the Emmy events. The sweet treats. And an experience of a lifetime.

Play the entire 62nd Primetime Emmys Red Carpet Slideshow

There’s a lot. Like 100+.

Enjoy!

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I made a cake and put it on a plate. A pretty blue glass plate that I ordered the other day. It came in this weekend so I decided it must be put to use right away… or else forever be united with my other cake plates that have yet to see the light of day.

So I made a cake. Several of them. I thought it would be a good time to finally venture into the scary world of cake stacking.

Yikes.

But first… mad respect to all the cake decorators out there. I’ve only made small cakes before. This was a task. And I didn’t even do anything fancy.

I made this recipe. TWICE.

The first time I baked three 8 inch cakes. And the second time, I baked three 6 inch cakes and 2 five inch cakes. Use two inch high cake pans and spread the batter evenly among the pans when you bake. You’ll have just enough batter for all 8 layers.

I wanted to try the recipe to see if how well it would work for stacking. It’s not very dense, so it wouldn’t be great for carving. But it bakes up nice and even so there is no need to level off the tops. Yay, one less step.

I baked the cakes at night and wrapped in plastic wrap so I could devote the next day to decorating.

Unwrap a layer and place it on a cardboard cake circle cut to size. Frost the top. Layer on the next one and repeat.

Then frost the sides. This is the called the crumb coat. You just want a thin layer of frosting. It’s okay if crumbs get in.

I placed the layers on top of the cake pan I baked them in as a stand and to make frosting the sides down to the bottom a little easier.

Once frosted as evenly as possible, you can place the cake in the freezer for a few minutes. The frosting will harden and when you remove the cakes from the freezer, you can use a knife dipped in a little warm water to help smooth out any uneven places.

Repeat with the 6-inch cakes. Kinda crumby.

And the 5-inch cakes.

Did I ever tell you that I’m a really, really messy baker? Like real.

When all the cakes are crumb-coated, you can apply a pretty layer of frosting without worrying about tearing the cake or getting cake crumbs on the outside.

Or you can cover them in fondant. Eeek. That’s what I did.

(I used the frosting recipe from this post and doubled it. Triple it if you want to frost it all in buttercream instead of covering in fondant.)

Unfortunately there is no photographic evidence of the covering.

Just imagine I rolled out fondant on a powdered sugar-dusted surface and then carefully placed the fondant over each tier. And then smoothed out the sides.

And imagine that it looked perfect. Because it did not.

Once each tier is covered in fondant you can get ready to stack away.

To stack the cake, you’ll need wooden dowels or even straws to support each tier, so the cake doesn’t smoosh in on itself.

Push the dowel in and mark the height of the cake on the dowel. Remove and use it as a guide to cut the other dowels. I used four for the bottom tier and the middle tier. Make sure the dowels are all placed within the diameter of the tier above it. So the dowels won’t show when you stack them all up.

Then just stack the cakes and decorate.

I cut white fondant hearts to keep a clean, simple look.

Okay, not really. I did it to help hide the slightly uneven surface.

And also because I ran out of time to do anything else.

I think it looks pretty cute. Even if I don’t really know what I’m doing.

What I do know is I need another lesson in covering fondant cakes. And then one in making sugar flowers and of course piping and then carving. And then I’ll need some therapy.

I like it with a single pink heart, too.

But what I like most is the cake stand.

That’s why I bought two of them.

One for me and another for one of you.

Want it?

Enter for a chance to win this happy blue 10-inch glass cake plate.

• Leave a comment on this post and tell me something that makes you happy.
• Deadline to enter is Monday, August 23 at 6:00 pm ET. SORRY, TIME’S UP! Winner announced below.
• One winner will be chosen at random and announced sometime Monday evening on this post.

Good luck!

P.S. Here’s where I bought them.

I’m really glad I choose winners randomly or I’d be in a tough spot. Thanks for sharing all that makes you happy.

Now for the win, it’s comment #3612!

Congrats Angela from Memphis – I’m glad baking makes you happy. Now you have something new to put your treats on.

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I was recently in Denver for a few days. It was my first visit to Colorado. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see much of the city other than the 16th Street Mall area … I didn’t have a car. But fortunately, I had the 16th Street Mall to keep me entertained … since I didn’t have a car. If you’ve been to downtown Denver then you know what I’m talking about. Shops and restaurants and restaurants and restaurants.

I managed to eat at many of them.

And I even stumbled on a few treats.

Stop 1: Mermaids Bakery and Pie House

Such a cute logo. The shop is quite small, but neat because you have a view of all the action behind the counter right from the street. Not that you can tell any of that by this picture. Sorry, I was sidetracked by the logo.

I ordered a small box of four cupcakes. You know. A snack.

Three chocolate variations and one vanilla.

One vanilla with cinnamon that turned out to be the winner.

(Cinnamon Churro – vanilla cake flavored with pure Saigon Cinnamon, vanilla buttercream sprinkles with sugar glitter and more cinnamon)

I don’t know how that happened. Chocolate is such a favorite for me, but so many times I lean towards vanilla cupcakes.

I dunno.

I contemplated it while eating my next treat.

Stop 2: Crêpes ‘n Crêpes

Okay, this was so much fun. A friend and I sat at the counter for breakfast and watched crêpe after crêpe being made. It was really quite mesmerizing.

This is Logan. He made a ton of crêpes for our viewing pleasure.

Here, I’ll show you how…

Drop some crêpe batter on a hot plate. : )

Spread it around in a circular motion with a miniature windshield wiper thingamajig thingy.

And keep spreading until it’s super thin.

Look at that steam.

This is Jose. He made a bunch of crêpes, too. Non stop. It was almost like a sport with these guys. Lots of action and teamwork. They were really focused on what they were doing and what the person next to them was doing. Ready to jump in and fill or fold or move them to another plate at any moment.

And if they couldn’t, someone else was ready to jump in at all times.

There were several of these hot plates going at the same time and never any of them empty.

When ready… lift it off the plate.

Fill it. Fold it.

And repeat. And repeat.

You can have them filled savory or sweet with anything from eggs and bacon to bananas and nutella.

I recommend the ratatouille crêpe for the savory. I even recommend it over something sweet. What’s the matter with me?

It was kinda sad when our breakfast was ready, because it had been so fun watching all the action.

And the staff was pretty entertaining, too.

So, naturally we had to go back at night for dessert.

Stop 3: Lovely Confections Bakery

This cupcake shop is several minutes from the 16th Street Mall area, but I had to check it out based on a recommendation from Cupcake Julie.

So my friend and I took a quick cab ride to investigate.

I love how the cupcakes are decorated with different sizes and colors of sprinkles.

And I loooooove these chocolate sprinkles. I must acquire some immediately.

All of the cupcakes were yummy with this chocolate one coming in third. Again, I don’t have an answer for myself.

Second was this vanilla cupcake. The strawberry frosting was to die for and that’s saying a lot since fruit isn’t really my thing.

Also, hello … are these the sweetest baking cups or what.

But this was my favorite. The Bees Knees.

No, for real. That’s it’s name, too. It was a lavendar cupcake with a honey lemon buttercream. Amazing!

This is Porche. Lovely Confections is her shop. Thanks for making our cab ride so worth the drive.

Stop 4, 5, 6 and 7: Amore Gelato

Back on 16th street was this little gem. I wanted to pack this store up and bring it home in my suitcase.

I’m now completely in love with gelato.

And I’m especially in love with Dulce de leche gelato. So thick. So creamy.

I don’t know if I can go back to regular ice cream anymore. Okay, you know that’s not true … but still. It was soooo goooooood.

I did find a brand since I’ve been back called Ciao Bella Gelato. It has a dulce de leche gelato that’s delish.

And like the store, it also carries sorbets, but I really couldn’t tell you much about that.

I guess it’s a good thing I wasn’t free to roam the city in search of more sweets.

But if I had been with car, do you know of any Denver sweet stops I’ll be sad I missed?

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I was in the mood for something cold and lip-smackingly sweet. Something I could sink my teeth into. Something to maintain my weight. So I made this treat with a few of my favorite things.

Cheesecake.

Chocolate. (Hello there my friend)

and these cookies.

If you ever fly Delta, then you’ve probably had them before. They’re one of the snack options. I always get excited when the cart comes down the aisle. Time for cookies. They’re so good, I’ve started buying them if I travel other airlines because it feels wrong to fly without them.

They’re a crunchy, no-frills, sans chocolate type of cookie. Actually, I’m surprised I like them so much. But I do. Oh I do.

So I thought they would be great to use for the cheesecake crust.

Throw the cookies into a food processor and chop them up into beautiful golden brown cookie powder.

About 1 1/2 cups worth.

Then add 3 tablespoons of brown sugar.

Don’t you love how packed brown sugar looks? Even in the size of a tablespoon. Wouldn’t it be fun to have buckets of it and make brown sugar sand castles? One can only dream.

To make the crust, mix the cookie crumbs and brown sugar together. Add 6 tablespoons melted butter and combine. Place the mixture in a 13 X 9 pan and press firmly into the bottom.

Mix up the cheescake ingredients and pour it on the crust.

Oh yeah!

Then bake it at 325 degrees for about 45 minutes.

And let it cool.

And try not to eat it.

And try not to eat it.

Then whip up some chocolate ganache to pour on top.

Oh yeah.

Spread the chocolate evenly on top of the cheesecake and then refrigerate overnight.

Cut into cute little cheesecake bars…

Or if you save a few of the cookies, you can sprinkle them on top of the chocolate before you refrigerate.

P.S. … I didn’t make two pans of these cheesecake bars. That would be criminal. I just did half with and half without cookies on top.

Chocolate Biscoff Cheesecake Bars

Crust
1 1/2 cups crushed Biscoff Cookies (about 27 cookies)*
3 Tablespoons packed brown sugar
6 Tablespoons melted butter

• Mix cookies and sugar together.
• Add butter and stir until combined.
• Press mixture into a 13 X 9 pan.

Cheesecake
3 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons flour
3 eggs
8 oz. sour cream
1 Tablespoon vanilla

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Cream the sugar, cream cheese, and flour with an electric mixer on medium until light and fluffy.
• On medium low, add eggs one at a time, mixing well with each addition.
• Add sour cream and vanilla and mix until just combined.
• Pour on prepared crust and bake for about 45 minutes.
• Remove and cool.
• Prepare ganache.

Chocolate Ganache
8 oz. heavy whipping cream
2 oz. butter
8 oz semi-sweet chocolate
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

• Heat cream and butter on stove until just before boiling.
• Remove from stove and pour over chocolate. Stir until completely combined.
• Add confectioners’ sugar and beat with a wire whisk until combined and smooth.
• Pour over cooled cheesecake.
• Cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Cut into bars and serve.

Makes about 30 bars.

* Use the remaining cookies from the package to crumble and sprinkle over the chocolate before refrigerating.

Enjoy sinking your teeth in!

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