Superhero Birthday Party

Cake and Cookies for my grandson's 4th birthday.

The cake is actually four 6" cakes individually iced and put together on a 14" cake board.

They were blue and yellow on the inside made with rainbow chip cake mix and cherry chip cake mix. Gasp! Yes, I used a cake mix. I read that boxed mixes take food colouring better than homemade but 

I have also had success with "jacked up" boxed mixes in the past. I do 4 eggs, sometimes butter instead of oil and I use mild instead of water. It makes a big difference and it is a convenient shortcut when pressed for time. Nobody complained and all of the cake was eaten eventually so I really don't apologize for using a mix in this instance. I forgot to take a picture of the inside of the cake - I can't believe I could forget that but they were dyed blue and yellow and looked and tasted delicious.

The cake toppers were cookies - I made four sugar cookies that were over 3" round and thinner than the other cookies to place on the cake instead of fiddling with fondant. I just wasn't up to dying fondant, rolling it out, shaping it and keeping it from drying out etc. I love the look of fondant cakes and the decorations but I have very little space to work with and to be perfectly honest, very little patience for all of that but nobody minded and it looked pretty good as it was. The icings were vanilla buttercream and almond/cherry buttercream.

The cookies were made using my go-to sugar cookie favourite: Sweet Sugarbelle's sugar cookie recipe and her royal icing recipe - but I used Kirkland Pure Vanilla Extract and Nielson-Massey Vanilla Bean Paste for the cookie dough instead of Sugarbelle's preferred almond extract. 

Late August cookies - Fishing, Ice Cream & Back to School

Last lazy days of summer

These cookies were made using Sweet Sugarbelle's sugar cookie recipe and royal icing recipe. ALWAYS my go-to recipe for cookies and RI - I use real vanilla extract in the cookie dough and add artificial vanilla to the RI. To me, both of these are no-fail recipes, always with excellent results.

More Valentine's Day cookies

Royal Icing Transfers - I didn't do them quite the right size but it was my first time.

"Wedding" style heart cookies

Brush embroidery and dots

"lace" and brush embroidery

Valentine's Day Cookies

Christmas Cookies

2012 Christmas Cookies

 Assortment boxes of 24 minis

Christmas 2012 was a great cookie Christmas! Many people wanted seasonal minis and large decorated cookies to decorate their plates of goodies for the holidays. I lost track, but dozens and dozens and dozens of cookies were rolled, cut, baked and decorated with love for holiday parties and family gatherings. Cookies included, gingerbread, vanilla and chocolate all with vanilla royal icing.

John Deere Fan

Chocolate sugar cookies (LilaLoa's recipe) - John-Deere-like symbol and tractor tires.

I made these cookies in September for a little almost 3 year old boy who is obsessed with all things  John Deere.

LilaLoa's "The End-All Chocolate Cookies" Recipe copied from her site:

1 cup butter

1/4 cup shortening

1 1/2 cups granulated suga

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla 

1 tsp. salt

3/4 tsp. baking powder

2/3 cup cocoa

3 or 3 1/2 cups flour

Cream butter, shortening and sugar together. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Add baking powder and salt and mix again. Stir in the cocoa until well blended. Add flour 1 cup at a time. IF YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE COOKIES RIGHT AWAY, ADD 3 1/2 cups flour. If you are going to "chill" the dough, or just wait for another day to make your cookies, STOP AT 3 cups. It will be totally soft and look all wrong, and you will want to ignore me completely and add more flour, but I'm telling you -- DON'T DO IT. Practice self-restraint. You will be glad you did and I will be proud of you. Roll out on lightly floured surface. Bake at 375°F for 6 1/2 minutes.

I have got to tell you - this is the easiest dough I have ever worked with - so smooth and rich - I just love it! LilaLoa knows what she is talking about. Go to her blog and indulge in all of the knowledge she so willingly shares - she is a very talented lady!!

Cherry Shortbread Cookies

New recipe!

First time seeing this recipe and just had to give it a go. The recipe can be found at Sweetopia along with a "how to" in making and decorating these yummy cookies. I followed Marian's recipe with one minor change - I added almost a full tablespoon of pure almond extract to bump up the cherry flavor. Next time I make these cookies I will be even more generous with the almond extract. These cookies are light pink with little specks of cherries throughout and are delicate and melt-in-your-mouth-delicious!

Check out Marian's blog and recipe here.

More Party Cookies

These cookies were designed for a party girl whose first name starts with a "B" and she was turning 3!