'Cuse Cake Off

Well this is a first!  It's my first "competition" that I have entered my baking into!  My friend posted a Syracuse sports blog post on my Facebook wall and challenged me to enter the 'Cuse Cake Off as part of Nune's Magician bake off.  I only had one day to get something together.  I decided to make mini cupcakes and form them into one giant Otto (Syracuse's mascot is an Orange named Otto!)

I entered the competition and it went live today!  Check it out here.  I am in the lead as of now - Otto Cupcake Cake (Vicki S.) but this is only the first round, I need to make it into the final four.  So if you have some free time, cast your vote - or even leave your comment below if you like the cake!  I appreciate all of your support!

Bake on!

Pure Decadence!

You may find this surprising, but I actually try not to eat TOO many sweets...now, how can I do this with all of the sweets I bake on a weekly basis?  I wish I had a definite answer, I just try and take half a bite to make sure its tasty and sweet enough for whomever I am giving them too and then I walk away!

This latest experiment with baking, was VERY difficult to walk away from - it was a lot of my favorite sweets/desserts combined into one cookie!  This is a super simple recipe, because nothing is from scratch, but together it's a whole lot of YUMMY!  So, you start with smaller cookie tins (I used mini-cupcake tins) and you cover the bottom of each of the tins with pre-made frozen chocolate chip cookie.  I used Pillsbury.  And don't forget to spray your cookie/cupcake tins with an anti-stick baking spray!

Next up, squish a Reese's mini cup into the cookie mix, and then top it all off with brownie mix.  Bake it for 18 minutes, let it cool for a bit and then pop them out for some deliciousness.  Let me know what you think if you try it out!  And kudos to Pinterest for sharing this recipe with me!

Trix Treats

Most people have heard of and love Rice Krispie Treats, but have you heard of Trix Treats?  I didn't before I saw this image on Pinterest! I nicknamed them Trix Treats, because I thought they sounded cuter than Trix Krispie Treats.

Basically, I did the same thing I normally do for Rice Krispie Treats - melt 1/2 stick of butter, a bag of mini-marshmallows (in a double boiler) and then mixed it into 6 cups of Trix cereal.  I poured it into the pan and let it sit for a while.  The best part of the Trix Treats- they are SO colorful, and definitely filled with sugar!  I brought them to my youth group on Sunday, and they couldn't stop eating them!  So easy to make, and so fun for any occasion!  (I'm going to test them out with Fruity Pebbles and maybe Cocoa Pebbles!).  Have you created anything like this? Bake on!

My New Obsession

So I may be a little late to the game with my obsession with Pinterest, but I think it is one of the most beneficial and healthy obsessions that I could ever have!  I don't spend too much time on Pinterest, but when I have a few minutes to spare, I'll sift through the "Food and Drink" section - it's my absolute favorite!

I have come across some of the most interesting and challenging recipes that I would never think to try or even find on my own accord!  Over the past two months I have attempted and experimented with so many new techniques and flavors - I feel like I have developed into a more capable baker!  I started with Irish Car Bomb cupcakes where I infused alcohol into a cupcake, created a chocolate ganache, and a Bailey's icing all from scratch.  I made Oreo rice Krispy treats that had my office ranting and raving.  S'mores bites, lemon blueberry cupcakes, chocolate cinnamon cakes, stout brownies, PEEP cake and many more...I found all of these recipes on Pinterest and made them my own!  Check out my Pinterest boards - most of them are for sweets, but every so often I add a different recipe, or style in there!

And if you have any favorite, unique recipes - feel free to share!  I love experimenting, and I am always looking for an excuse to bake, so please share and remember to bake on!

Something New!

My boyfriend really isn't that much into sweets, which makes it difficult dating me :)  I bake sweets all the time, and I love giving him a taste test of everything.  Every trip I make to see him in VA, I have to bring some sort of baked good (along with hummus, cracker, pizza, pepperoni and chicken cutlets - all his faves)!

I usually pick something pretty easy to make and transport to VA, but this time I really thought about what HE likes, and what his favorite flavors are.  I came across a Cinnamon Toast Crunch cupcake recipe, and guess what!  That's  HIS FAVE cereal!  The recipe was super easy, and it allowed me to incorporate box (yes, BOX mix) Vanilla, with some extra buttercream, crushed up CTC and a few additional ingredients.  The cupcakes smelled delish!  I then created a CTC cream cheese icing - just added a bit of crushed up CTC to the cream cheese icing.  I topped each cupcake off with some sprinkled cinnamon and sugar and a piece of Cinnamon Toast Crunch.  I tasted them when I brought them to VA (we attempted to share one, but he ate the rest of it!).

I loved the recipe, and it was super easy to make - so I'll definitely have to make them more often!  Stay tuned for some other fun recipes I have been trying!  Bake on!

(P.S. I didn't take a picture of the cupcakes, but I have a cute one of my BF and me at the beach!)

A backup cake!

I know I posted a while ago about my Youth Group's bake sale - but I don't think I fully explained HOW MUCH baking I actually did that weekend... It was actually quite absurd.  I had researched a whole bunch of different cakes, a variety of flavors, designs, etc, this way there was a flavor, cake and sweet for everyone!

I was a Girl Scout growing up, and I came across a cake based on one of the most popular Girl Scout cookies, the Samoa.  I thought this was a great dessert - taking a classic cookie and making it a cake! I bought all of the supplies from the recipe and didn't bother to actually read the recipe.  As I was about to start the Samoa cake, I scrolled through the recipe to find out that one of the main steps included boiling condensed milk for over 10 hours!  Goodness- I couldn't do that.  So I hopped on Pinterest and found a simple chocolate-cinnamon bundt cake, and knowing I had all of those ingredients - I started on that cake.  It was simple and a huge hit!  I was happy I was able to think on my feet, but it definitely still is on my to-do list to figure out how to make a Samoa cake :)  Check it out below and remember to BAKE ON!

Hoppy Easter, Everybunny!

I know, I know, yesterday was Easter!  But, I took yesterday off from blogging, but I still want to wish everyone a late Happy Easter!  We had a great Easter here, and the weather was perfect for a few Egg hunts outside (that tricky Easter Bunny snuck outside!)

On top of all of the food and festivities - it was my aunt's birthday on Friday, and since she was away on her actual birthday -- we celebrated on Easter for her!  I wanted to make her a special cake but also tie in something fun for Easter.  I found this cute Peep Sunflower cake on Pinterest, and attempted it!

What do you think?  Everyone enjoyed it and it was super simple!  Bake on and stay tuned to some other recipes and new flavors that I've been experimenting with.