Employee of the Moment!

In the kitchen at my job, we have a white board where we nominate the "Employee of the Moment" so someone who did something nice, changed the water bucket, or is just plain awesome!  So today, after a pretty dreary two weeks (I'm ready for SPRING!) I walked in to see my name!!!!!

And then of course I saw the side note "in hopes that she brings more cupcakes!"  Well...I am usually the one to not disappoint others - so here are my cupcakes that I am treating my co-workers to, tomorrow!  I went with pink icing and fun spring colors in hopes of bringing a little bit of flair, brightness and SPRING into our office!  Enjoy...and Bake on!

That's my "nomination"!  Let's just say all those who were in the office were super happy on Friday and those who were out travelling, were quite disappointed that they missed out on my cupcake.  I guess I'll have to bring some more in soon!!! :)

Memories of baking!

A lot of people ask me where I learned to bake, and why I love to bake so much.  My mom doesn't like to bake, neither does my grandma and for sure none of the men in my family bake! However, my great-grandma lived next door to me for the first 16 years of my life, and yes she was a baker (just for fun though).   I remember making pizelle cookies with her (these flat, wonderful, waffle type Italian cookies).  I grew up with my great-grandma, I blame her for my love of coffee and tea- because every morning and afternoon I would go over there and have coffee and Stell D'Oro biscotti, or tea and of course a biscotti.

To this day, one of my favorite things is having one cookie (preferably a biscotti) with my cup of coffee.  But, the best memory now aside from thinking back to sitting outside in the summer with my grandma having tea and coffee is sorting through all of her cookie recipes and bringing back all of those great memories through the taste of her cookies. I found her old biscotti recipe and they beat any cookie I have ever had from any bakery.  It takes a lot of time, patience, and love to get the cookies just right- but at the end, they are definitely worth it! Biscotti in Italian means twice baked, so that is why it takes a little extra patience, after some practice - it just becomes second nature on how to make them just right. I think it's time I bring that recipe back up and bake some biscotti this week or next...yummy!

Bake on!

Sleeping Beauty for A Beautiful Friend!

It was my best friend's 23rd birthday and well, I always tease her that her boyfriend is the Prince from Disney's Sleeping Beauty.  I've never been home for her birthday, so she's has not gotten a "Cute Cake by Vicky" just yet.  This year, I drove up to her school (she's in grad school  now) and surprised her with a Princess Aurora cake (that's Sleeping Beauty's real name, for all those non-Disney fanatics!)

She was so shocked and happy- she hoped I would bring a cake, but didn't know if I could transport it the hour-plus drive up to her house!  I couldn't NOT make a cake for her birthday!  She absolutely loved it and so did all of her friends and roommates.  It was a perfect start to a great birthday day and night!  Next up...her wedding cake!  (okay, okay...in a few years!).  Happy Birthday best friend!

BAKE ON!

Minion Cake part 2

I am guessing my first minion was a success, because....I GOT ANOTHER ORDER!  This time for a minion with one eye from the movie "Despicable Me".  It's a great family movie, I watched it with my nephew before creating the first cake and feel like watching it again!  Maybe tonight?!

Anyways...this was for a friend of mine, her daughter who was turning 19!  Yup, 19 and she LOOOOVE the minions (I mean...they are adorable!).  Check it out below...pretty much exactly the same as the first one. Except this time, I changed the letter on his overall for V, because the cake was for Veronika!  Enjoy and remember to BAKE ON!

Cookies to Go!

I have some exciting news!!! First of all, I had my first shipment order!  A friend from school ordered half a dozen sugar cookies to be shipped to her friend for her birthday!  I created daisies, tulips and butterflies with pink and purple icing and sprinkles (and of course sparkles).  If they get there successfully thanks to USPS, I may start shipping more and more- no cakes, just cookies and other baked goods! 

I used pink and purple ribbon to make the box look super special and added a fake flower to tie it all together.  There may be snow on the ground, but I wanted the gift to look like a burst of spring, and fun! 

What are your thoughts?

Do you want to know what the 2nd half of the good news was?!  The interior designer I used to work for (who has this MOST AMAZING BLOG!) featured my blog in one of her posts!  Be sure to check her blog out, www.adasinteriordesign.com/blog, she offers economical design tips and inspiration (on life too!)  If you're having a bad day, definitely check out her blog and even her portfolio, her designs, colors, and words are such an inspiration to be a happy and loving person.  So thanks Ada! 

BAKE ON!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!!!  Even if you're not with your loved one today, or even if you don't have a specific sweetheart- I hope you had a great day!  I don't believe in all of the hustle and bustle of V-day, but believe you should try and enjoy every moment you have with all of your loved ones (for me...my boyfriend who lives 800 miles away, and my nephew...who lives 8 minutes away! two of the most special people in my life!)

Instead of doing the typical box of chocolates for my boyfriend (he's not a big chocolate fan) I created these cupcakes below which I got inspiration from a cupcake book (Hello, Cupcake!) to make them LOOK like a box of chocolates! I used conversation hearts, M&M's, sprinkles, and chocolate molds that I made to decorate the top of the mini-cupcakes!  What do you think?

And for fun...we went to see the Blue Man Group in Chicago on Saturday night (AMAZING!) Then on Sunday after our lovely brunch - we ventured around Millennium Park and found a great chocolate shop around the corner from our hotel where we experimented with an Irish Cream Chocolate, a Hazelnut Cream Chocolate and a Peanut Butter filled Chocolate... YUM! 

 I loved spending time with my boyfriend- because isn't that what V-day is all about, being with your loved ones?  Not necessarily impressing them with fancy chocolates, or jewelry- but to find a neat way to say I Love You (even though you say it everyday)!  Happy Valentine's Day to everyone... just know you are loved by someone, somewhere- and they love you everyday- not just today!
BAKE ON :)

My Signature...

I guess I have found what my signature cake and cupcake is...MINNIE MOUSE!  This is now my third time making this cake and cupcakes- however this time I had a new twist to it.  Take a look and see what is different!!

This Minnie Mouse cake is only one layer! And I made the bow different...it was a challenge trying to get the fondant to swirl into a bow like that.  I love this cake...next time I'll have to spice it up again - any suggestions?

These cupcakes took FOREVER!  The ears, bows, white polka dots and '1' medallions were all made from fondant.    Yet they came out fun and classy...even if Carmen was only turning 1!!!  Hope she enjoyed them :)


Bake on!