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!

Week of April 17

Happy Tuesday!  Yes, more strawberry items this week!  The berries are handpicked by the kids and I and are from the Hall Family Farm berry patch.  If you haven’t been there they  have awesome berries, you can pick yourself and they offer pre-picked ones as well.  My kids love going.  http://hallfamilyfarm.com/

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.  Pick up for your items is usually on Friday after 1:30.  Also, check out my blog(listed below) to see what I’ve been up to-I posted some cakes I have made in the last several weeks. 

Here’s what I have this week:

•        Dirt Cups-$1.50/each

Sounds delicious, right??  In honor of earth day I thought this would be a fun dessert for the kids.  Its chocolate pudding, oreos, cool whip all layered with a few “worms” coming out the top.

•        Strawberry custard and lemon cream parfaits-$2/each

Made with fresh strawberries and lemons it’s a refreshing spring time dessert.

•        Strawberry bread-$4/mini loaf

Yummy for breakfast or a snack, bread with pieces of strawberries baked in.

I’ll be out of town next week (Jason and I are heading out of town, without the kids!!!) but will have items available on the following weekend, May 5^th.  Also, Mother’s Day is coming up, let me know if you want anything special for that!

Leigh Ann

http://myneighborsoven.blogspot.com

march/april cakes

Here are pics of some cakes that I have made recently.  For most of them I have found a design on-line or in a book which I use as a baseline and then I make my own changes as I go.

My friends son was turning six and he wanted a race track cake that he could put cars on. 

This is not the finished product but it was my first time making flowers.  I made it for my family so I could practice.  It took me a little while to figure out how to make them but once I got started it was fairly straightforward.   If Jason hadn't cut me off I might have made 50 more flowers!

This cake looked cute in person but my camera skills seem to be lacking.  The picture doesn't make it look as nice.  I've also learned that covering your cake board can go a long way in making a better presentation.

Princess/Barbie cakes are fun to make because you can be so creative.  Mali wanted a barbie cake with bright pink frosting. 

Obviously this is a learning experience for me. I have always enjoyed making cakes but haven't gotten a lot of practice. Thanks to everyone who has asked me to make a cake or food item for them!  I appreciate all the support that I have received. 
This week I am excited to be making three cakes-another princess, one with a horse on top and an angry birds cake. They are all for kids birthdays which makes me a little nervous-they can be the  most honest critics!  Hoping they all turn out like I've pictured in my head...

Week of April 10th

Happy Tuesday!  I love this time of year because its Strawberry season!  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.  Also, check out my blog(listed below) to see what I’ve been up to-there’s a cute easter dessert on there. 

Here’s what I have this week.

·        Strawberry Pie-$10

Crust and filling made from scratch, a light refreshing dessert

·        Nut and Fruit Power Bars-$1 each

This is a new recipe I found.  Some of the ingredients include-oats, whole wheat flour, honey, sunflower seeds, walnuts, dried fruits.  It would be a good choice if you need to detox from Easter.

·        Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cupcakes-$10 for 6; $18 for 12

Chocolate cupcake with a peanut butter ball filling and peanut butter buttercream frosting

Thanks, Leigh Ann

Push Ups....with cake

Several months ago a friend told me about a new trendy baking idea know as cake push pops or cupcake shooters and ever since then I've been looking for an excuse to try them. I ordered the containers in February and finally used them to make some Easter cupcakes. They were so much fun to make and the combination of cake and icing flavors are limitless, so are the ways you could decorate them. Since this was my first time I looked on the internet and got the idea to do bunny peeps from another side but plan on getting more creative in the future. The kids enjoyed helping to make them, and we all enjoyed eating them!

There are lots of ways you could present these.  In baskets
with grass or sand.  You can add styrofoam underneath to
 allow them to stand up, and there are several other options.

so proud of the push pops they made

They come with lids for transporting and
keeping the cake fresh.

If you still have any doubt about how good
these were, her face should convince you:).

Babka

Yum!  Chocolate babka
photo from marthstewart.com

I probably shouldn't share this with you but since most people ate their babka last weekend I thought I would.  There are some reasons why we make special things for the holidays and don't eat them year round.  I made six babkas and used:15 eggs, 18 cups of flour, 9 sticks of butter and 5 pounds of chocolate!!  Yes, thats what made them so good! 

My family was sick over Easter so I didn't make ours.  Hopefully we will have company over soon so we can indulge on this bread.  At first I was nervous about making it(that seems to be a theme with my baking) but it was fun!  I love starting with simple ingredients like butter, flour, sugar, eggs, etc and being able to create something special.

I love how bread will rise when you let it set for an hour. This
dough started out as 1/3 that size!