Holiday Parties

I can't believe it's almost December! Where did this year go?!

Well, as we all know with December comes lots of holiday parties and everyone expects you to bring something to share.   I have good news for those that don't have time to bake for all those holiday parties - Vices in the Kitchen can do it for you! I love the holidays more than most people and for that reason I am running a December promotional. The first 5 orders will receive a DOZEN free sugar cookies! So you either have dessert for 2 parties, or one for your party and one for yourself. It's a WIN - WIN! If you're interested, email me at sarakatescakes@gmail.com and hurry, it's only the first 5 orders!

I can't wait to start doing my baking and hopefully some of yours!
Sara

The last few weeks...

Well, it's back to the world of firsts - and the last few weeks have been full of them! I've been trying lots of new recipes and decorating techniques and even experimenting with some cookies.  As opposed to doing a new post for each job, below are some photos of what I've been up to and trying out.  And  while it's not related to desserts, this past weekend I sabered my first bottle of champagne! 

As the holidays approach I'm looking forward to trying some new recipes and techniques, but in the meantime enjoy the pictures! 

Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake 

White cake with vanilla buttercream monogramming

Rose petal cupcakes 

Pink Champagne Cupcakes with Champagne Frosting

Mine's the one in the middle! 

Chocolate and Vanilla

As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, not having to choose between chocolate and vanilla is a wonderful thing.  So when my friend Sharon asked me to make chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting I knew I had the perfect recipe.  My husband likened the cupcakes to a brownie with vanilla ice cream in the form of frosting - you don't get a much higher compliment than that.  In fact, they were so good, I made an extra batch for both of our co-workers to enjoy today, you can definitely add these to the list of one of my new favorite vices!

Makes me hungry just looking at them

Those black flecks are vanilla bean seeds,
just like vanilla ice cream 

Monster Cupcakes

I love experimenting with new recipes and decorations! A few weeks ago my friend requested some "Halloweeny" cupcakes for her friend's birthday. She mentioned red velvet cake with chocolate frosting which gave me the challenge of finding a new recipe.  I am happy to report that the search was a success! The real trick was to give them a halloween feel - so I made monster cake balls! I must say that the end result was enough for a monster mash!

The whole gang, with a few extras

So cute

One of my favorites - isn't he scary looking?! 

Black and White Cookies

I've been hearing a lot about Black and White Cookies lately.  I've learned they're a very northern treat (New York and Chicago especially) and these people take their black and white cookies very seriously.  So I thought I would try my hand at these cookies.

For those that may not be familiar, the black and white cookies isn't just a regular sugar cookie, it's much softer and cake-like. And the frosting is much more like a donut glaze. I asked a true New Yorker for her opinion and the response was pretty positive.  Of course, she then gave me a true black and white cookie and I learned what all the hype was about! I think my favorite part of these cookies is you don't have to choose between chocolate or white - you can have both!

Other Vices

As you might've noticed I've been a little absent recently, but I have good reason.  For the last 12 days I was enjoying some of my vices, traveling, food and wine.  My husband and I joined a group of 15 people from our favorite wine bar, Winetastic, on a wine cruise through the Mediterranean.  We enjoyed a visit to parts of France, Italy and Spain and were fortunate to hit several wineries along the way.  Here are some pictures for you to enjoy!  

The marina in Monte Carlo

Nutella crepe - bread, nutella, bananas and whip cream! Delicious! 

Locals come to this winery and fill their jugs from the tap 

A winery in the Chateauneuf du Pape region in France, the vines grow into glacial rocks

Oreo Cake

So I'm a little behind on some updating...

A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege to do a birthday cake for a good friend of my husband and me. His wife asked me to do a Oreo cake as he loves oreos.  I tried 2 different recipes and think I found a winner.  I used crushed oreos and put them inside a white cake.  The cake itself was very subtle, but really moist.  I knew I was going to cover the cake in chocolate buttercream frosting, but wanted to incorporate the cream filling of the oreo cookie so I used vanilla buttercream frosting between the two layers.  I decorated the outside with oreos and white fondant and topped it off with a white bow.

Cake Class

As I mentioned in an earlier post I took a 5 week cake decorating class in fondant.  While covering cakes in fondant has gotten a little easier, I still have a ways to go before it's perfect. I'm hoping to take the advanced cake class some time in the spring, but guess I should probably keep practicing before that. But I did learn how to make some pretty cool stuff and thought I'd share some of those pictures with you.

Just what the doctor ordered

This week I got to make a birthday cake for my friend's boyfriend who is in his first year of residency.  I made a lemon cake with lemon curd filling and lemon buttercream.  I have to say I was really excited about how the decorations turned out.  We wanted to go with a doctor theme so I made a stethoscope out of fondant and put a heartbeat rhythm and hearts around the side of the cake. And what would a doctors cake be without a prescription? His prescription - well, take a look.

First Birthdays

Chances are you don't remember your first birthday, but there are probably pictures floating around or if you ask your mom or dad, they can tell you all about it.  I can say that first birthday's have come a long way since I was a kid.  

Yesterday, I did a cake for my friend Carrie, and her adorable daughter, Elli.  The theme of the cake was "Ladybug" in hot pink and black with a smash cake of course.  

We'll start with the layer cake first.  The bottom layer was chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream and the top layer was french vanilla with vanilla buttercream.  All the decorations were made of fondant and the ladybug on top was made of rice krispies covered in fondant.  The smash cake was yellow cake with vanilla buttercream with buttercream decorations to match the candle to match the candle. 

Ladybug cake complete with antennas  

Smash cake and matching candle  

The two cakes ready to go

Happy birthday girl with her momma 

Here's a picture of me and my pig cake on my first birthday

What was your first birthday cake? 

Veggies and Cupcakes

This past weekend I made Carrot Cake cupcakes for my friend Denton's birthday.  Denton is an amazing cook and he and his wife are pretty much the biggest foodies I know, so I wanted to find something a little more unique, but that still sounded delicious.  So I took to one of my favorite recipe sites, pickycook.com and found a recipe for Carrot Cake cupcakes with Vanilla Mascarpone frosting.  I have to say, after a little doctoring of the frosting, I was very pleased with the finished products! And I think everyone will agree that they go well with wine and italian food.  

Happy 35th, Denton! 

The recipe said it makes 14, but I disagree, I  like big cupcakes 

Yummy! 

Cars Cake

As I mentioned in my last post, this past weekend I had the distinct pleasure to do a "Cars" cake for my friend Kim's son's second birthday. Kim and I have known each other for over 20 years and I cannot associate my childhood without thinking of Kim. Amazing how we both ended up in Dallas!

Colton's cake was a two-tier cake with the bottom layer French Vanilla and the top layer Devil's Food Chocolate.  I did chocolate buttercream between the layers with vanilla buttercream covering the cake. The track around the top of the cake was black fondant and the cars were the birthday boy's. Kim had a great idea in putting M&Ms on the top of the cake underneath the Lightening McQueen car to look like gravel.  We chopped up the M&Ms and lined with black M&Ms and it looked really cool. Such a fun cake and so glad I got to be a part of it.  Happy Second Birthday, Colton!

Before the "Colton" banner

Side view of the finished product

From the front

Things to Come

So, I've been a little absent lately and I apologize for that, but I promise things are going to start picking up again soon.  I am so excited for this week as I have two very exciting things going on.

1. I'm going back to cake class on Thursday.  I swore after I finished grad school I would never step foot into a classroom again, but cake class is totally different.  First of all, there's no grading.  Second, the end result is a delicious treat.  I'm struggling to find the downside.  Anyway, this class is Basic Fondant.  While I have played with fondant a couple of times, it's still not something I'm entirely comfortable with.  I'm really looking forward to practicing covering a cake, making bows and whatever else they decide to teach us! Look for my "cake class" posts.

2. A couple of weeks ago I received an email from one of my oldest friends (seriously, since we were 4) asking me to do her son's second birthday cake. My husband and I don't have kids of our own yet, but I know with certainty that a kid's birthday party is a BIG deal! So, you can imagine my shock for her asking me for this honor.  The party is on Sunday and the cake is going to be a Cars theme.  Kim and I have been planning this cake for a couple of weeks and are meeting on Wednesday to iron out the details.  I promise to post pictures as soon as I can, but in the meantime, wish me luck!

Until next time!

Peanut Butter and Chocolate

I'm continuing on from my last post with another first.  I decided this week to try a new recipe - peanut butter chip cookie dough cupcakes.  It's a revision of the chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes that I frequently make.

These cupcakes have raw cookie dough, but instead of the chocolate chips I used peanut butter chips and placed them inside of chocolate cake and topped them with chocolate buttercream frosting.  I'm very happy to report that they were a huge success! Take a look below and see for yourself!

The cupcakes

The lighter part is the cookie dough

Bird cake

Last week was a week of firsts.  I started my first blog, opened my first real gmail account and made my cake debut at a sip n see (actually it was my first sip n see too).  My sweet friend had twins 8 weeks ago and Saturday was a party all for them.    

However, the mom made some requests for her too.  The cake was three layers: strawberry, chocolate and french vanilla.  I layered the cakes with chocolate buttercream, crumb-coated it in vanilla buttercream and covered in white fondant.  The theme of the party was birds, so I made sure to stick with the theme when decorating the cake with birds, trees and leaves all out of fondant.  The only inedible part of the cake was the cake topper - the two birds at the very top.  

The cake 

A view from the side to see the decorations on the front and back 

Looking forward to my next first!