Cupcake Stand Topper Cake

When my sister heard that her friends would be ordering cupcakes with no cake topper for their cupcake stand at their wedding, she offered my services to them.  It was a bit nerve wrecking thinking this was going to be at someone's wedding but it all came together without a hitch.  Cake was 3 layers of chocolate cake with raspberry buttercream frosting and chocolate buttercream frosting.  Entire cake was covered and decorated in marshmallow fondant.  I wish I was provided with ribbons but instead I made fondant ribbons.

In addition to the cupcake stand topper cake, I made over 50 fondant daisies for their cupcakes.  I love how everything looked after the professionals came and set it up with the stand and real flowers.

Elmo Cake

My nephew celebrated his first birthday over the weekend!  Of course, I had to offer to make a cake for the occasion.  When my cousin told me he loves Elmo, I was so happy to get the chance to redeem myself as I made one last year for a friend and the cake was a disaster for me.

This turned out exactly as planned, to a point, thankfully.  This was a standard white cake with vanilla buttercream frosting.  For some crazy reason, I thought royal icing would be a great idea to make Elmo's fur.  I should've stuck to buttercream frosting and a #234 pastry tip.  Also, when I carved out the shape of Elmo's face/head, because I used an 8-inch square cake, I had these straight sides.  So, I fixed that by adding some cake spackle - a mixture of cake and buttercream frosting.  After the crumb coat, you can't even tell.

Batman Cake (Cake4Kids.org)

I finally got a chance to bake another Cake4Kids cake.  I don't think I have made one since January!  This one was a doctored white cake mix cake with vanilla buttercream frosting.  I used a mix of homemade and store bought fondant to cover and decorate the cake.  One of my favorite cakes for this organization to date.  Simple and sweet.

Strawberries and Cream Tart

 

Adding to my summer baking repertoire, I made my first fruit tart courtesy of Martha Stewart's Pies and Tarts cookbook.  Both recipes, the pate sucree (sweet pastry tart) and the vanilla pastry cream, were followed to a T.  I glazed the strawberries with raspberry preserves which I warmed up in the microwave and then strained through a mesh colander.

I love that everything could be made ahead of time and assembled right before I was taking off to my friend's backyard BBQ.

Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars

When making these, don't cut back on any of the butter!  I was being lazy with cutting an extra tablespoon for the cookie dough.   So, it didn't spread out like the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies.  It took a lot of effort to smash the crumbs together as it wasn't as adhesive either.  Nonetheless, these were a hit with my coworkers at our company pre-fourth of July BBQ.

Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars
slightly adapted from Brandy's Baking

Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough:
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Cheesecake Filling:
10 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1 large egg, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Line an 8" square baking pan with foil, allowing a little overhang, and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.

Mix the melted butter and graham cracker crumbs until thoroughly combined. Press the mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 6 minutes. Remove pan to a cooling rack. Leave your oven on while you prepare the dough.

While the crust is cooling, prepare the chocolate chip cookie dough. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt and vanilla until smooth and thoroughly combined, about 1 minute. Mix in the flour on low speed and mix until just incorporated. Stir in the mini chocolate chips. Set aside.

In a separate large bowl with an electric mixer, cream together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Mix in the egg and vanilla on low speed just until incorporated. Pour the cheesecake batter into the prepared crust.

Using your hand to form clumps, distribute the cookie dough onto the top of the cheesecake batter in teaspoon-sized clumps. Be sure to use all of the dough.

Bake for about 30 minutes, until the top feels dry and firm (the cookie dough) and the entire pan looks set if given a gentle shake. Move bars to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely. Chill in refrigerator overnight or for at least a couple hours.

Lift the bars out by the overhang and cut into squares for serving.  Keep leftovers stored in an airtight container in the fridge.