Its Pie Week!

 Hope everyone is looking forward to summer, and those with kids aren't too nervous about them being home all...the....time...  I'm SO glad to get a break from packing lunches and rushing out the door but it will be interesting without the structure that school provides.

Here are some pictures of my family's favorite french berry pie.  I have no idea why its called that, it contains only strawberries... 

I also made some black forest cupcakes. This recipe came from annies-eats.com. I'll try a different cake next time but thought the cherry filling and frosting were flavorful.

Last but definitely not least was a storm trooper cake for Alex!  I'll be honest, I don't watch Star Wars (I think that's right.  I always get it confused with Star Trek and Jason doesn't understand how that can happen) and wasn't sure what a storm trooper was but with a little internet research and after talking with Jackson I was educated! 

Here's what I have this week:

Its all about pie!

-Individual Smores Pie-$3 each

We are going camping this weekend so I thought I would provide you with the experience of enjoying smores without spending the night in a tent. Graham cracker crust, home made chocolate pudding filling and mini marshmallows on top!

-Individual Blueberry Pies-$3 each

Just like it sounds-A homemade blueberry filling sandwiched between two layers of crust-delicious!

Let me know by Thursday afternoon if you would like to order anything. Orders will be ready by Friday at 2.

Thanks and enjoy your week,

Leigh Ann





Week of May 22

Last week I totally forgot to take any pictures-whoops!  Friday night I left for a girls weekend so I guess I was a little distracted.  However, I made a cookie cake, peanut bars, a carmel-pecan black bottom pie and so much babka that Jason made me turn my mixer off for a while before it exploded! 
Below is what I have available this week, have a nice Memorial Day weekend.

•        French Berry Pie-$15

This is the most requested pie in my family!  It starts with a homemade pie shell, a light cream cheese layer and topped with strawberries.  A refreshing summer dessert!
•        Black Forest Cupcakes-$10 for 6; $18 for 12
Black Forest in cupcake form-Chocolate cake, cherry filling and whipped cream frosting!

With graduation and Fathers Day approaching let me know if you would like anything special!

Items will be ready for pick up anytime after 2 on Friday, let me know by noon on Thursday if you would like to place an order.

Week of May 14th

Its back....Chocolate Babka!  I made this before Easter and got lots of positive comments and requests for it again.  The great thing is I make the dough and freeze it.  You just put it in the fridge the night before you want it and then bake for an hour in the morning.  Nothing like the smell of baking bread to get people up and moving on a Saturday morning.  The recipe says you can freeze it for up to four weeks but I froze ours for six weeks and it was fine.  This would be great for a graduation brunch, when you have visitors spending the night and want something special in the morning, or just becauseJ.

·        Chocolate Babka-$10 for a large loaf, feeds 12

This is a delicious chocolate yeast bread.  I’ll freeze them and all you have to do is put it in the oven. 

·        Peanut Energy Bars-$1/bar

I got this recipe from Eating Well, some of the ingredients are peanuts, sunflower seeds, dried fruit, wheat germ, and peanut butter.

With graduation approaching let me know if you would like anything special!

Don't forget to order by thurday at noon.  Babka and Energy Bars will be ready by 2 on Friday afternoon.
Thanks everyone!

Hello Kitty and more Cake pops

Well, after making the bee cake pops last week I wanted to attempt cake pops again and see if I could do them any better.  I was all ready Friday morning-Lauren was going to school and Amanda would take a long nap, giving me lots of time to experiment.  However, Laurens school was cancelled due to a water issue and Amanda's nap was very short.  The girls became my helpers and we got to work.  I didn't get to try as many things as I had hoped but I had fun baking with Lauren and sometimes that's all that matters.  I was able to figure out some tricks and these were much easier to make.

The pink and purple ones are red velvet cake with
cream cheese frosting, nicely decorated by Lauren:).  The
white ones with pink drizzle are vanilla cake with butter cream
frosting and a chocolate-same as the soccer balls below.

Soccer!

A friend asked me to make cute soccer balls for her daughters team.  I started with melted chocolate poured into a cup shaped mold and a ball of vanilla cake and butter cream frosting placed on the chocolate.  These were briefly frozen, then the tops coated with white candy coating and then I did the black "soccer" decorations on top.

Maya wanted a red velvet Hello kitty cake for her birthday!  This was a fun cake to decorate!  You can only see one flower but there are several around the sides of the cake.

Bees, a Monster and some cupcakes in between!

Before I forget, here is what I have available this week.  Please order by noon on Thursday, May 10th with pickup Friday after 1:30.

•        Raspberry-Whipped Cream Truffle Cake-$15 for a six inch cake, feeds 6; $25 for 9” cake, feeds 12

My family rates this cake a 9 out of 10.  They are really harsh critics and have never rated anything a 10, this cake is as close as I’ve gotten!  It’s three layers of chocolate cake with chocolate glaze and raspberry whipped cream. 

•        Coconut Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake-$15

I’m always asked for the recipe when I make this coffee cake.  Its made in a 10” springform pan.  The recipe says it serves 10 but I always get more servings out of it.

•        Carmel Brownies-$1.50 each

This recipe comes from a friend, Courtney.  I’ve been hearing about how fabulous these brownies are but they always disappear before I can try one.  Last year, she left some by my neighbors front door and when the neighbor got home the brownies were gone-we joke about how some neighborhood kids enjoyed delicious brownies that day… 



Now, onto the baking updates!

My cousin gave me a cake decorating book several years ago and I've always admired this monster that was in the book.  Since Jackson was turning 6 and his cousin 11 I figured their birthday would be a good time to try out this monster.  Usually I have fun decorating cakes but this one was stressful.  Lots of new techniques and trial and error.  It took me a good 10 hours to do from start to finish...

Here are some of the butterfinger cupcakes, we thought they turned out really good.  The kids gave them two thumbs up.

A neighbor and really good friend asked if I could make something for teacher appreciation at their preschool this week.  We decided she would get some pots and grass and I would make these cute bumble bees that I had seen online.  I have been looking for an excuse to make cake pops, I've never done them before.  Well, they didn't turn out quite like the pictures but now that I have a little practice making them I'm looking to work on technique-look out for more cake pops in the future.

All boxed up and ready for school in the morning

bet you didn't know that bees like to smile!

Have a great weekend!
Leigh Ann

Week of May 1

Happy Tuesday!  Yes, more strawberry items this week…

Remember to place your orders by noon on Thursday, forward this email to anyone you think might be interested and let me know if you have any special orders/requests. 

Here’s what I have this week:

•        Ricotta Orange Pound Cake with Strawberry topping-$15

This is a recipe from Food Network, Giada De Laurentis and sounds great.  The pound cake is made in a regular sized loaf pan.

•        Butterfinger Cupcakes-$8 for 6, $15 for 12

My cousin sent me this recipe and said it was “beyond fabulous.”  Think chocolate cupcake, filled with fudge, topped with buttercream, chocolate ganache and then a layer of crushed butterfingers!

 Don’ forget about Mother’s Day next weekend, let me know if you want anything special for that!

Thanks, Leigh Ann

Ariel, Angry birds and a horse

Thanks for a great week!  I made three cakes, six loaves of strawberry bread and a bunch of "dirt" and strawberry/lemon parfaits.

For several years I have wanted double ovens but its never seemed a very practical investment.  In all reality we would probably use them a couple times a year.  This year for Thanksgiving we were fortunate because our neighbors were out of town so we used their ovens(yes, she has double ovens!!)-thanks Stacy!  Anyways, here's a shameless plug for my double oven investment-I had a full oven and lots of pans waiting to go in.  I'm also hoping for an industrial size mixer but I'll save that for another post!

All mixed up but no where to go....

Parfaits!

 Now, here comes the fun stuff!  Cakes!  We will start with Jacksons.  He is turning six this week-can't believe my little boy is 6!!  He had a party with a few friends at Chuck-E-Cheese and wanted an angry birds cake.  The fortunate thing is that we have an angry birds game and he wanted to use the pieces from the game on his cake-made for minimal decorating from mom. 

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!

 Malin was turning three and wanted an Ariel doll cake.  I love these doll cakes because you can be so creative with them.

This is the one I was most worried about!  Rachel is a super sweet girl, the only kid who has ever hugged me over a strawberry pie!  She wanted a cake that was "pink and with a horse and a person on top, but not a real horse or person!"  Well, I got the horse and the pink but couldn't pull off the person-sorry Rachel! 

Hope everyone has a great week!  I'm gone this week but will be back, refreshed and ready to bake next weekend!