You're the Straw to my Berry

Well there goes summer, it came so fast I can hardly believe it's over already! But school has begun and life is back in routine once again. No complaints from this girl here.

 

So forgive me for taking almost a month to get to this post...life has been doing its thing and leaving me no time to hang out with you guys. But Saturday has come and here I am.

 

My parents celebrated their 24th wedding anniversary on September 10 (now you know how long I've been procrastinating with this post). But anywhoooo, as per tradition, I made them something sweet for said celebration .

 

Chocolate. Strawberries. Almonds. Helloooo, Heaven! These were one of those random recipe searches...which on a normal day result in a big, fat fail. But to my delight, they were wonderful!  

 

 

And since I am such a generous gal, I shall give you the pleasure of knowing the recipe!

 

Strawberry Cupcakes

• 1/2 cups butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cups milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups sliced fresh strawberries

*Pre-heat oven to 350*
*Beat butter until it's smooth, add sugar followed by the eggs
*In a separate bowl mix together the dry ingredients
*Alternate between adding the dry ingredients and the milk until completely combined.
*Fold in sliced strawberries and vanilla
* Fill the prepared cupcake tin and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Strawberry Buttercream

• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 cups icing sugar
• 3 tablespoons strawberry puree (blend about five strawberries in a mixer...a magic bullet works magically)

*Cream butter and then gradually add sugar
*Mix in the puree
*Slather those cupcakes in this tasty creation
**I noticed that the icing got stiffer as it set in the fridge...so if you want a stiff icing for piping swirls on the cupcakes, leave it in the fridge for an hour or so before using it.

 

As far as decorating goes, I spread the buttercream because I didn't let it harden up in the fridge (patience, Sydney...). Then using some melted chocolate I added some detail and used the rest to cover the strawberries (cut in half first) and almonds.

Nothing overly fancy, but they turned out pretty elegant looking. And very delicious might I add! But don't be fooled by their decorating...these cupcakes are beauts even without frosting!

 

Here we can note my weird obsession with beautiful food...*tear* she's so gorgeous!

 

Well there you have it...I hope you pleasure yourself with trying these guys out. You won't be sorry, I promise!

 

And that's that...over and out,

Sydney :)

A Cake Fit for a King

Well here we are, less than one week from school starting. I can't believe this time of year came around so fast. Summer usually passes pretty quickly but this year was ridiculous! In a good way of course. As I've mentioned multiple times already, camp was wonderful! But not gonna lie, it will be good to get back to the routine of school. Weird that that is exciting to me...but it really is. Well maybe not the early mornings but other than that, I'm excited. Nerd Alert...I know, I know. But hey...I am okay with that now.

So this here, is what happens when my mom goes to Winnipeg for the day and leaves me home alone. Don't panic, guys, I cleaned it all up before anyone got home.



Now I'm not a big fan of fondant...I know, as someone who loves decorating cakes that sounds odd. But I just don't enjoy it...working with it or eating it. But when someone asks for a fondant cake, you suck it up and make a fondant cake for them. And that is what I did.

 

A Knight's Castle was the theme for this birthday party. The birthday boy, you ask? My sister's little nephew.

 

Now since fondant and me don't get along very well...I had prepared myself for a very testing cake...but to my surprise it wasn't bad at all. Well, okay, my fondant riped in one spot..BUT! Syd the Baker, can she fix it? Syd the Baker, YES SHE CAN!  Sorry, I got a bit excited there. That was the time when the little decoration guys came in handy and you can't even see the rip.

 

 

The main part of the castle was made with my usual vanilla cake but to make it more interesting, I added some sprinkles to the cake batter prior to baking it. And then it's iced with vanilla buttercream and marshmallow fondant. The towers were made with chocolate cake and the same icings.

For the towers, I was a bit unsure of how to go about them. I started with the idea of covering paper towel roles with fondant...but if ya can't eat it, it's lame! So I had to make them edible. So long story short I made a sheet of the chocolate cake and cut out circles once it had cooled. Icing the circles was a bit of a struggle but I got 'er done.

 

To finish it off, I dusted some luster dust on the castle and added a door and some grass around the castle. And that, was my castle cake.

 

I'm told the birthday boy and his friends loved it and that is all I was aiming for.

 

Well folks, that is the just of what I had to say today..but before I go... I have one thing to ask of you. Facebooker, have you liked my page yet? If not, go forth and do so! (here it is)

 

Have a happy Sunday and may your back to school season be wonderful.

Love always,

Sydney :)