Cookies, Cupcakes, and Cardio

How to Make a Fondant Reindeer Cupcake/Cake Decoration Video

December 16, 2011 by Jenn

We are on a roll with the Christmas decorating videos these days! It’s so much fun! The ideas are endless, there are unending Pins to Pin on Pinterest and it’s just a jolly good time around this holiday. The thing that gets me every year, and I’m guilty of it, is that WHY IS IT SO STRESSFUL?

Every year, I approach the season with excitement, but as soon as December is two weeks old, I’m freaking out and a ball of stress!! There is always so much to do at home- baking, decorations, finding the perfect tree, wrapping all the presents. At school- Christmas Concert practice, Secret Santa, decorations, Gingerbread Houses, and now, add a business to the mix- cupcakes, cakes, cookies, platters!

There are always so many gifts to buy, despite the fact that every year I say “I’m going to give the gift of time with my family” as if I’m gift enough . . . hahahaha! I’d like to think that I am 😉 but I’m sure they would think differently. I know that I must be on crack when I have those thoughts as they just delay my inevitable freak out, as I run around shopping to buy things I swore I wasn’t going to.

Christmas Cupcakes Video – Christmas Tree, Candy Cane and Christmas Holly

December 14, 2011 by Jenn

Bah humbug!

Just kidding. I live with a bah humbugger, but I definitely don’t feel that way! But, after a week of 22, 5 year olds with Christmas excitement, I’m about ready to boycott the holiday. There are only two more days of teaching left though, so I’m sure I can make it through . . . and then I will be basking in my unlimited time time off to bake!

Unlimited? Ha! Christmas cupcakes! Christmas Cakes! Christmas Cookies! Christmas Platters! They are all on my agenda for my time away from the day job.

I have found the time to put together a couple of Christmas Cupcake videos for you to enjoy. These Christmas Cupcake ideas are dead easy. Dead! I promise. If you don’t think so, you can leave a mean comment in the comment box . . . like some people like to do! Honestly, why waste your time commenting, if all you have to say is something mean? I just don’t get it. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Cupcakes, Holiday Baking, Tutorials, Videos Tagged With: candy cane, Christmas Cake, Christmas Cupcake Decorating, Christmas Cupcakes, Christmas tree, cupcake, decorating, Holiday, Holidays, how-to, Icing, Merry, Merry Christmas, winter

Cricut Cake — Cutting Fondant and Gum Paste Basics for Cake Decorating

December 13, 2011 by Jenn

I’m going to be honest with you right now and tell you that if there is an easy way, or a short cut, or a lazy way to do something, I will find it. Just ask Paul about my housekeeping “abilities”.

Sweep? Isn’t that what a vacuum is for? Dishes? Dishwasher! Bleach? I don’t want to wreck my clothes!

When we first bought the Cricut Cake, I thought, “Awesome! No more hard work!” Boy, was I ever wrong.

Paul and I have filmed a tutorial on how to use a Cricut Cake, but before you go off an watch it, I have a little bit of stuff to tell you . . . let the honesty continue!

Background Information:

The Cricut Cake™ Personal Electronic Cutter is specifically designed for decorating cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and confections in no time at all. Just choose a shape, a size, and press “cut”. Decorating like a professional has never been faster or easier. (source) The idea of the Cricut Cake is brilliant. How awesome would it be to have a machine that would cut out whatever shape you wanted, in a matter of seconds? Cake decorators everywhere would be lining up to buy them by the truckload!

The Cricut Cake is different from the Cricut that scrapbookers use with paper, as all of the parts of the machine that come in contact with food are made from food safe plastic or stainless steel. Cricut also added silicone covers to protect the machine and to make clean up easier. Also, according to the Cricut website, the machine was specially designed for cutting food materials.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Cakes, Tutorials, Videos Tagged With: Cricut Cake, fondant, gum paste

What I’m Reading

November 30, 2011 by Jenn

Time for reading? Who has that?

If you count five minutes of reading when I get to bed before my eye lids shut, then I do!

This book has kept me interested right from the start, and despite the limited amount of time (um, ZERO) that I have to sink into an easy chair, curl up and read, I’m still enjoying getting through it bit by bit, in bed . . . challenging my eyelids to focus and stay open.

When you’re faced with this kind of a situation (an extreme lack of time for relaxing enjoyment), a good, quality book is the only thing that will keep you coming back for more. Many books have laid on my bedside table, unfinished, and covered with dust as they just didn’t keep my attention between times when I was able to pick it up.

On a recent trip to Vancouver, having finished my previous book, I was in the market for a new one. I was at a large bookstore chain, trying to remember the name of a book that had been suggested to me by a friend this summer, and the customer service representative recommended this one . . . and it was the book from the summer! Two random recommendations had to make it good!

[Read more…]

Filed Under: What I'm Reading

How to Ice (Frost) a Cupcake

November 27, 2011 by Jenn

I’m back into the land of blogging, after WAY too long of a break. They (who “they” are I have no idea, but lets just go with it) say that having your own business is like having a baby. You have to feed it, love it, encourage it, encourage it, promote it . . . and while all those things are being done, my blog has been NEGLECTED!

Over the last couple of months, some of our encouragement, promotion and love for our business has found us doing Bridal Fairs, craft fairs and Winter Markets! My favourite thing about running this business is getting out and hearing from our fans. It makes the hours and hours of hard work worth it. Here are some of the comments that we get regularly:

“How to you make your cupcakes look so beautiful?”,

“They look like pieces of art!”

. . . and the number one comment I get?

“They look too beautiful to eat!” . . . and my response . . . “Then buy two! One to look at, one to eat!” Duh.

Paul and I put together a number of YouTube videos to teach our readers, customers and watchers exactly how to do it yourself! It must be the teacher in me . . . and the marketer in Paul. Watching others decorate cupcakes on YouTube is exactly how I learned to do this myself . . . a mere 8 months ago (how times flies!). Google searches and blog pictorials were helpful as well. Watching someone else do it and then trying it myself, is definitely my learning style.

The following four videos are going to show you how to do the following things:

How to get the perfect swirl on a cupcake using the 1M tip,

How to pipe hydrangeas as a cupcake topper,

The 1M Open Star Tip (Swirl) is also sold as Tip 2110 from Wilton. Find it here.

How to decorate a cupcake using the 1A round tip:

1A Round Tip. Find it here.

How to use a 2D drop flower tip to create a swirl top to your cupcake

2D Tip Drop Flower Tip. Find it here.

My tips that I use in the video are from Wilton, but you can purchase similar ones from any cake decorating supply store. Hope you find the videos helpful!

Filed Under: Cakes, Cupcakes, Tutorials, Videos

Gratitude

November 12, 2011 by Jenn

Thanksgiving was over a month ago, but I haven’t had time to write a post about how thankful I am for everything. Fortunate Fridays, which was my take on Oprah’s long forgotten “Gratitude Journal” . . . where did that go anyway? I miss Oprah.

Before I break down into an “Ode to Oprah” post, I think I better move on! I’ll probably get back to it later though.

Last weekend, we moved into our very own new home! New to us, and well loved and cared for by a previous owner. This place is immaculate! They clearly cared for it, and took the time to fix any problems that came up along the 45 years that it was in the family! We have not had to do any work on the place, as the painting is perfect, the original hardwood floors polished and in perfect condition, and the carpet is fresh and clean. It’s been a dream I tell you. Most of my stuff is unpack and organized, and we are slowly moving Paul in as well.

The purchasing of the house was not the dream that we imagined though! I saw searching through houses as an exciting experience, imagining how we would fit our furniture, and hang up our pictures. Boy was I wrong! We saw SO MUCH junk! Some people have really bad taste . . . and by this I will give you an example, so you don’t just think I’m catty. Someone had a lamp made out of deer legs. A LAMP! Made out of DEER LEGS! Complete with hair and hooves. This is Cranbrook after all, but COME ON! Disgusting. Our realtor was definitely a gem for us. She knew what we were looking for, and helped us find exactly that! If you’re about to begin house hunting, Carla Sinclair of EK Realty is the one to go with. We cannot say Thank you enough to Carla! We have run into a couple of other home owners that have used her to get their homes, and they are also very happy with her customer service and experience. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Randomness

Pecan Topped Pumpkin Pie

November 6, 2011 by Jenn

Pecan Topped Pumpkin Pie

After Thanksgiving the desire to bake my own pumpkin pie was high. As I have said before, I LOVE pumpkin pie. It is my absolute favourite and I could seriously eat it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and still want more. There is something about the creamy texture, comforting nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves, that makes me want to let each bite melt in my mouth. Umm, getting a little food-pornish here, so I won’t go into any more detail. Obviously, I love it.

I had heard about this recipe in one of our “staffroom women chats” (which often include menopause, ailments, general complaints and recipes), and I wasn’t sure if I would like the pecan crunch added to my creamy-pumpkin-that-melts-in-my-mouth pie. So, I went Googling, and found it at Better Homes! And then I found it on 7000 other websites. Apparently I have been living under a rock with regards to this pie.

It was pretty simple to make, follow along with the picture tutorial!

Measure out the brown sugar and pecans.

Combine them together.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Other Baked Goodies Tagged With: pecans, pie, pumpkin, pumpkin pie

7 Tier Acrylic Cupcake Stand Review

October 25, 2011 by Jenn

Back in the spring, we purchased a couple of tiered cupcake stands to use throughout the summer for the many weddings that we had booked. We ordered them from MCLazer Pro, through their store on Ebay.

We got a square stand . . .

And a round stand . . .

Overall, we are really happy with the way the tier stands look and are holding up. But, there’s a but.

BUT, when we got the stands, we opened up the round one, found everything in tip top shape, and left the square one unopened. Our mistake as the square stand was NOT in the same shape that the round stand was.

The edges were not smooth and the cracks had to be sanded out, and buffed smooth. We contacted custom service a number of times, sent pictures and basically their attitude was “too late, too bad”.

Obviously, we should have opened the box as soon as we got it, but hindsight is always clear! The packaging for shipping could include a little bit more protection, and obviously, a little more care in the customer service department would have been nice.

For more information, watch my video on it!

Filed Under: Videos Tagged With: 7 Tier Acrylic Cupcake Stand Review, cupcake stand

How to Make a Fondant Reindeer Cupcake/Cake Decoration Video

Christmas Cupcakes Video – Christmas Tree, Candy Cane and Christmas Holly

Bah humbug!

Cricut Cake — Cutting Fondant and Gum Paste Basics for Cake Decorating

What I’m Reading

How to Ice (Frost) a Cupcake

Gratitude

Pecan Topped Pumpkin Pie

7 Tier Acrylic Cupcake Stand Review

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