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.

Baking Filled Weekend!

This past weekend was filled with baking, probably one of the busiest baking weekends I have had in a long time!  The church youth group that I run held our first bake sale on Sunday!  Knowing that it was Palm Sunday, and a lot of families have big family dinners and would need to bring dessert - we were the solution!


All in all I baked 3 different bundt cakes, 42 cupcakes (2 different flavors), and 3 batches of cookies!  You can see all of my baked goods below!  I think my favorite was these Lemon-Blueberry Cupcakes with a Lemon cream cheese frosting!  YUM :)  I even put them in a very spring-like box, because presentation is very important!  I found the recipe and pinned it on Pinterest - check my pinterest out for a bunch of awesome new recipes!  What do you think of everything below -  stay tuned for more of the recipes, and more of what I baked this past weekend!  BAKE ON!