Birthday Surprise

So my baby sister (I use that title lightly since she is only 2 years younger than me, and as you can see,  she's definitely not a 'baby' any longer!) celebrated her 29th birthday (for the first time ~wink~) on the 18th. As the host of her fabulous birthday dinner, I wanted to make a special cake. For those of you that know me, cake, at least the decorating part, is not really my thing. My older sister is far more talented in the realm of the 3D, while I find comfort in my 2D cookie designs! That being said, I wanted something with a wow-factor, that I could successfully create. After scouring Pinterest, I came upon this tutorial from Once Upon a Pedestal and thought it was too cute not to try. This is a great tutorial and I followed it fairly closely:

First, I had found this pan at Bed Bath and Beyond in the clearance section. It's one of those fancy-shmancy cake pop pans. Now, I'll probably never use it to make actual cake pops, but it was perfect necessary for this cake and on sale for $9.99. Translation = Destiny! I used a white cake batter and separated it into 5 different colors. For those of you that are crazy for symmetry, I'd use 6 colors! I went with my sister's favorite colors (and a couple of mine!) with the yellow balls for the center of each cake layer. 

(notice I forgot to spray the entire pan-don't worry, the pink ones came out just fine!)

pop on the top of the pan...peek-a-boo, I see you! (ignore me!)

Bake them in a 350 degree oven for about 1/2 the time suggested by the pan manufacturer. Mine were done in about 15 minutes. Yes, they will look like colorful volcano eruptions. Have no fear, the round shape holds up. Just peel off the lava flow and consider it a treat for the baker :)

mmm...colorful lava!

Voila! Beautifully round egg-shaped cake balls! The shape did not matter in the end result, but if I were to use this pan to make cake balls, then I would make sure to fill the base sections completely. At this point I froze the cake balls as suggested in the tutorial. Not sure that it made any difference, but I had the time. 

The next step is to whip up another white cake batter. You'll notice that I use three 8'' pans here, but quickly realized that I would not have enough batter to cover each cake ball. I changed my strategy and used just 2 pans. Put enough batter in the bottom of each pan to cover it. Then place your cake balls in the pan and cover each with more batter. I used my 2 Tbl cookie scoop for the last step.

mmm....cake batter!

Bake for 30-35 minutes. 

GBD-golden brown and delicious!

I frosted the cake with a simple buttercream frosting. My sister requested the girly colors! 

make a wish!

I was nice and only put 9 candles on the cake.

must have been a great wish! 

Only my husband and brother knew about the surprise inside and at this point I was giddy with the anticipation of knowing if the cake would look as cute as I hoped. My wackiness kind of freaked my sister out. I think she thought something was going to jump out of the cake at her, so she very tentatively cut into it. This did little for my unbalanced behaviors.

Finally...Success!!! 

My sister is saying 'oooooohhh' in her super high-pitched excited voice at this point. And my father is saying his famous 'whoahoa', which means he's impressed! 

Not the best picture, and it doesn't showcase all of the colors, but look how cute!!! I will totally make this cake again. Be sure to check out Once Upon a Pedestal for a full tutorial and ideas for other surprise cakes!


~Auntie Amy~

A toast: Champagne Cupcakes

Yes, it has been ages since my last post, but I plan to resolve that this year! My baking/blogging resolutions are to:

 1) Post at least one time per month 

 2) Post more than just my latest cookie designs and include recipes! 

 3) Actually start a 'real' webpage! 

 My track record with resolutions is not perfect, but I'm thinking that if I can accomplish 2 out of 3, then I'll be proud of myself. Now for the good stuff! 

Matt and I went to a friend's house for a New Year's Eve party and I had to bring something delicious. These elegant and delicious cupcakes fit the bill to help bring in the new year! The decadent recipe from The Tomkat Studio found here was a huge success. Of course I made some changes and put my own spin on parts of the recipe. I made a raspberry champagne prosecco custard filling, which was crazy delicious (even on my pancakes the next morning!). The process of these cupcakes is lengthy, but it is well worth it and each step is easy to follow. This recipe is definitely a keeper for those special occasions!

Love is in the air!

There was a whole lot of love floating around last week, and much of it was created in my kitchen! For those of you that know me, you know that Valentine's Day is one of my least favorite holidays (my husband love this about me!). However, you also know that would never stop me from baking dozens of heart-shaped cookies! The real challenge was coming up with so many different decorations! Yes, each bouquet was going to different people, but I wanted to make them unique. I drew inspiration from a vinyl tablecloth and some images off the web.

Thank you to all my coworkers who kept me very busy the week before February vacation. I hope that your gifts of love were appreciated and devoured!

Facebook Here I Come!

I have finally made it to facebook! However, I mistakenly made a regular FB page,rather than a business page. I'll figure out how to convert/fix that in the next couple of weeks. For now, you can search for Auntie Amy's Cookies and send me a friend request! I have attempted to categorize my albums for easy viewing. Enjoy!

I seem to be having some problems with my Flickr page. I hope to have that up and running ASAP. In the mean time you can view images right here and on my new Facebook page.

I have been busy since my last post, but clearly too busy to post pictures. Here are a few of my creations from this fall and winter.

Super Bowl Cookies.

A Holiday Tree

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Pumpkin Mousse filling and Cream Cheese Frosting!

Homemade Girl Scout Cookies, yum!

I loved these! A dear friend donated a kidney to one of his closest friends. These cookies were part of a basket donated for a fundraiser raffle. I found the cartoon on google images and had to recreate it!

Baby Shower cookies for one of my MANY pregnant friends!

My mother, the nurse, wanted to do something nice for all the nurses on her floor! Happy Med-Surg Nurse Appreciation Week (even if it was back in the fall)!

These were for a 21st Birthday basket.

Summer Slacking

My cookie creations took a back seat to a LOT of much needed 'R & R' this summer. I did manage to create some beautiful sea shell cookies for a wedding, but that was pretty much it for the season. Since the start of fall, orders are slowly moving in and it looks like this could be a promising holiday season! Enjoy these new pictures, I hope lots more will follow.

Upcoming Events/Cookies:
- I plan to finally start a facebook page (not sure what has taken me so long)
- Nurse appreciation cookies
- Fall foliage cookies

Sea Shell cookies for wedding centerpieces. Unfortunately I forgot my camera when I arrived at the location to assemble the centerpieces, so I don't have a final product picture. They were entirely edible. In a large glass bowl I added graham cracker crumbs (sand), assorted sea shell cookies, and chocolate rocks. I'll be sure to have my camera next time :-)

First order of the fall. A bucket-o-beer (check my flickr page for more pictures) for a 21st birthday celebration.

Busy Bee

It has been a LONG time since my last post, but I have been one busy bee. Spring proved to be a challenge filled with holidays, communions, baptisms, birthdays, cookies for new homeowners, and a wedding. Check out some of my creations below and be sure to browse my flickr page for more!

I made 100 of these centerpieces for a dear friend's wedding reception. This was my biggest challenge yet, but with support from friends and family it was a success. Check out my Flickr page to see the chaos!

Easter Tulips for a co-worker.

Baptism cookies for a friend.

Cookies for a new homeowner.

Baby's first birthday cookies for my nephew.

Local Heroes, Inc. Fundraiser

I had the honor and privilege to make a cookie basket for a fundraiser that supports our local heroes. The event was a huge success and tons of fun. Check out my Flickr page for more images. I would like to thank all of the servicemen and women who continuously risk their lives for our freedom, we are forever in your debt.