John Deere-like cookies and cupcakes

Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting and fondant tractor toppers

I used Wilton fondant. The green, yellow and white are as they came in the package, I added Americolor Super Black gel food coloring to fondant to make it black. I did the original image on the computer, printed it out, cut it out and then used it as a template for the tractor - all in green. The I cut out yellow and black circles for the tires, additional green pieces for the fenders and white windows. This was my first time making fondant toppers - I'm so happy that they were a success.

Vanilla sugar cookies with royal icing

I had no idea that John Deere was so popular with little boys! I have had two 3 year old boys to do cookies for in the last 4 months. Apparently they really love JD.

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.

1D party cookies

Vanilla Birthday Party Cookies

This was my first time making 1D cookies. When I was asked if I could make them, I have to admit that I didn't even know what 1D was! Thank you Google! Turns out, 1D, stands for One Direction, an insanely successful boy band - I guess I'm embarrassingly behind the times!

These cookies are made with Callye Alvarado's (SweetSugarBelle) sugar cookie recipe.

Callye is crazy talented! She is my cookie guru if there is such a thing!

I made Callye's recipe but I used Nielson-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla Extract and because I love the little specks of vanilla seeds, I added a small dose of Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Paste The icing is 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!!

Pink Ombre Rose Cake

I bravely attempted this cake for our final Ladies Fellowship Hour in May - what was I thinking?
This is a three layer strawberry cake - each cake layer is a shade of pink - similar to the icing pictured.
By the time I transported this cake to church, the flowers were beginning to slide off of the cake! Disaster! I mad the best of it and took an "oh well" attitude, what else could I do? I took the cake to the kitchen and tried to force the roses back into place with a knife. It worked somewhat but when a friend began to slice it, it all just started falling apart - again, disaster! Everyone said it tasted good but what could they say? I hope I have learned my lesson but somehow, I think I will continue to take risks with my baking adventures!

Tiered Cake - final Wilton course

I made this cake on May 29, 2012 for my "tall cakes" class at Michaels. It was a 3 hour class and we brought our cakes ready to go - each tier iced smooth and ready for fondant or final touches if we chose not to do fondant. I chose smooth buttercream because I really don't care for fondant and my family feels the same way. 

The board was decorated with a soft pink satin ribbon and each tier received the same ribbon treatment. The flowers were fondant/gum paste mixture & some were just gum paste - all were made in advance. The 

leaves were piped on with buttercream when I was adding the finishing touches.

Each tier consists of two layers, the top is 6" layers and the bottom is 8" layers on a 10" board. 

The top tier is on an eight inch board and there are 4 dowels in the bottom tier to support the weight of the top. There is a long dowel that goes straight through the two tiers into the bottom board for stability. Driving the dowel through the cake and board proved challenging to say the least! I had to use a hammer and of course I missed the dowel several times and smashed my top tier - this explains the positioning of the flower cluster on the top tier! 

As you can see, there is a bit of a "lean" to the final cake - in transporting it home, it shifted on the uneven seat of the car and some of the icing got smooshed her and there. It was definitely an eye opening  & learning experience. I haven't had the urge to make another tiered cake since then.