Fish Cupcakes

 


One Fish



Two Fish



Red Fish

 

Blue Fish

Gotta love a Dr Seuss rhyme! Last night I got the pleasure of baking with this little lady

Katelyn Rae

Katelyn and her sister Ashlyn are spending the weekend at my parent's house. Her mom and dad are out of town at a fishing tournament. Katelyn sent me an email earlier this week asking if I would make cupcakes with her. She wanted to make Dora the Explorer cupcakes but they looked a little complicated. I found these fish cupcakes and though it was the perfect opportunity to make them! Katelyn was in 7th heaven.  Katelyn was incredibly helpful in the kitchen. She helped pick out the right color M&Ms (eating half along the way), mix the frosting colors (she had to stop halfway through, her arm was sore), and of decorating her little heart out!

We each made our own school of fish. Here is Katelyn's school.

Katelyn's School

As you can tell Katelyn got quite creative. She ended up naming a few of her creations. Here is a close-up of her favorite fish.




This is her blue fish. It is pretty dang good if you ask me!

This one's name is Windmill. It can swim in any direction

Here is a picture of my school of fish. I think they are super cute!

Emilee's School

If I were thinking I should have had some swimming in the other direction

I had the idea to send her parents a picture of the fish with a little message for their tournament this weekend.

Good Luck!

Katelyn's parents loved the message! Hopefully they will be able to catch some big fish and win the tournament this weekend.

Katelyn was a great helper in the kitchen and she couldnt wait to try her first fish cupcake!

Katelyn ready to eat!

I was really tempted to eat one too, but it was just too darn cute.

Orange Fishy

The two of us had so much fun baking and decorating these fish cupcakes together.

Katelyn and I

Birthday Cake Balls

Yesterday we made 2 dozen cake balls for one of our customers. It's a birthday present to herself, and if I do say so myself it is a pretty fantastic gift! She just wanted a basic cake ball dipped in chocolate candy melt and drizzled in white. For some reason after describing the cake balls to you I cannot get Michael Jackson's Black or White song out of my head. Yes, I know random. Happy Wednesday!

Birthday Present Cake Balls

Drizzled to Perfection

No Bake Cookies

Yesterday I got the itch to bake, but due to the No Baking Ban I figured it was a lost cause. I tried to distract myself by reading and attempting to take a nap but my brain kept wandering to the fact I was craving a homemade goodie. I decided to do a little Internet browsing and found there are lots of No Bake Cookie recipes. I thought I had hit the jackpot!

Most of the recipes were similar in ingredients and process so I jotted down the ingredients and hit the kitchen.

No Bake Cookies use 7 basic ingredients that most people have in their houses. The best kind of new recipes to try are the ones where you already have all the ingredients on hand!

The Goods

Butter, Milk, Peanut Butter, Sugar, Vanilla, Quick Oats, Cocoa Powder



The first step is to melt 1 stick of butter, 1/2 cup of milk, 2 cups of sugar, and 1/2 cup of cocoa powder over medium heat.

Once these four ingredients have melted together and have boiled for one minute, you add in the remaining ingredients, 1/2 cup of peanut butter, 1 1/2 tsp of vanilla, and 3 cups of oats.

Stir all the ingredients until combined. I then used my cookie scoop and placed them on my silicone baking sheets to harden. I put my in the fridge to speed along the process. Truth of the matter these actually taste much better when they are cold!

Just a little side note, my father came home from work yesterday and looked in the fridge and saw the cookies. His exact words "Emilee Ann I told you there wasn't suppose to be any baking this week!" When he busts out the middle name you know he is upset! I was happy to reply that these cookies didn't require any baking.

No Bake Cookies Slew

No Bake Cookies Close Up

A few quick notes I would like to make about this recipe. This is the perfect treat to whip up on a hot summer day, or week if you are in Minnesota. When kept in the fridge they are cool and refreshing to snack on. Next time I make these I am going to try using Rice Krispies instead of the Quick Oats. Some of my family members aren't huge oatmeal fans so it would be a nice substitute. Finally the next time around I might add a little more peanut butter. These were very chocolatey and rich and I think a little extra dollop (I love that word!) of peanut butter would do the trick.

So whether you are located in Minnesota, Atlanta, or Arizona these cookies will be your saving grace in the (no)bake department!

HOT HOT HOT

My father has officially banned all baking in the Duffey household for the week. I cant say I am super upset because lets face it, it's way too hot to be baking. Minnesota  has successfully throw its resident for another weather loop. We have been rocking 90+ degrees temperatures since last Friday and the humidity is out of control!

Yesterday I got the pleasure of having Twins tickets. They were a make-up game from April that got cancelled due to rain and snow. Nothing like going from one extreme (wearing long underwear to the game) to the other (not being able to take off enough clothes to stay cool).

My one saving grace yesterday when I got home, a slice of  ice cream cake I made the other weekend. It was glorious and I will be consuming the rest of the cake by the end of the week, or maybe even tonight.

Homemade Ice Cream Cake

Try and stay cool Minnesotans!

Pool Party Cake Pops

Breanna is spending her summer nannying the Disher family. They have two daughters, Lauren and Maya. Breanna has been taking care of Lauren ever since she was 3 months old. It's quite nostalgic to think she has been involved in this little girl's life for 9 years. Lauren requested Pool Party Cake Pops for her 9th birthday party. The Dishers just put in a pool so it was quite fitting.

Bakerella had made some of these up and and published them in her book. We just followed her instructions.

Each guest at the party walked away with one girl and one boy swimming Teddy Graham. Bre did the prep work of getting the Teddy Grahams situated in the life saver gummy and added their bathing suit apparel. Krista and I did the dipping, sprinkling, and bear attachment.

Lauren absolutely loved them. Holy Hannah's wishes Lauren a very happy and special 9th birthday!

Slew of Pool Party Cake Pops

Swimmer Girl

Swimmer Boy

The perfect party favors!

Strawberry Lemonade Bars

One of my thoughts for Tyler's birthday cake was to make a Strawberry Shortcake Cake, but you all know the story, Ty rates strawberries as a 7. Needless to say I had a few extra strawberries around. I found a recipe online for Strawberry Lemonade Bars. The title immediately caught my attention because what doesn't quench the thirst better on a hot summer day than Strawberry Lemonade?


This was my first experience baking fruit not inside a pie. I wasn't quite sure the exact science of baking fruit bars but hope our oven would cooperate and bake the bars to perfection. Mom was the first guinea pig and gave them the A-OKAY. I brought the bars into work for one of my co-worker's birthday and they were a hit. This will be in the recipe box to be made at least once a summer.

The first step in this recipe is to make a basic shortbread crust for the bottom of the bars. It is a mixture of sugar, butter, flour, and salt

Shortbread Crust

Here is a look at the food processor with all the strawberry lemonade goodness inside. I am so glad I bought a food processor, you don't realize how often they can come in handy.

Strawberry Lemonade Mix



Once the crust has set you pour the strawberry lemonade mixture over it and bake until the filling is set.

Strawberry Lemonade Pre-Baking

There is a lighter color crust that forms on the top of the bars, I was worried at first, but my mother informed me that is completely normal with strawberries (or rhubarb).

Strawberry Lemonade Bars Post-Baking

Once the bars have cooled top with powdered sugar

Powdered Sugar



A final look at the bars after they have been cut, sooo yummy!

Strawberry Lemonade Bar Side View

Strawberry Lemonade Bar Top View

Banana Bread with Chocolate Glaze

Kasey was looking at my Food Network Magazine and came across a recipe for banana bread covered in a chocolate glaze. She requested it as a birthday present. How modest of her! Making her the bread was a benefit for the both of us. She got the treat she wanted and I used the rest of the bananas in the house. A win-win.

I ended up making my old standby banana bread recipe and just topped it with the chocolate glaze. It was ooey and gooey but Kasey and the rest of the family raved about it.

Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips and Chocolate Glaze

Chocolatey

Chocolate Glaze

Banana Cake

I know you are all going to be thrilled when I tell you I used the rest of the bananas in the Duffey household. I used the bananas in two different recipes. The first recipe was a banana cake with a vanilla bean frosting. Two very important ingredients in both the cake and frosting were (a) obviously the bananas and (b) vanilla bean paste. I have never used the paste before and I like that it is a mix between the extract and an actual vanilla bean. Its a good combo.

Vanilla Bean Paste



Here is a look at the frosting with the vanilla bean paste. I love that you can see the flecks of bean in it.

Vanilla Bean Frosting

The final product - Banana Cake with Vanilla Bean Frosting

The frosting got a little runny, but had delicious flavor it really didn't matter

Banana Cake with Vanilla Bean Frosting

Packed and Ready To Go

Ty and I are heading to Appleton this weekend for a wedding. I did the essentials, packed and baked. We are bringing the group favorite, Special K Bars. I also made a batch of the World's Softest Chocolate Chip Cookies. I found a couple cake balls laying around so I made a Bride and a Groom Cake Pop for the happy couple. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Special K Bars

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Bride and Groom Cake Pops

Bethany and Ellie Return

Our 5th sister, Kasey, celebrated her birthday yesterday! She turned the big 19. Man, she is getting old. Do you all remember last year when Bethany and Ellie made a cake for Kasey? If not, lets take a quick trip down memory lane.

This is the cake they created last year.

Gangsta Fresh

This year we had a slight improvement. First they left the cake in the pan they made it in, as opposed to a cookie sheet. Bethany used store-bought frosting, tinted it and slathered it on the top of the cake. She did a pretty good job. They asked if I would do the writing. Now I will admit my writing isn't the best and they probably should have asked Krista, but she moved out so I was all they had.

Can you guess what part of the cake I wrote?

Bethany didn't think my writing of Happy Birthday Kasey was good enough so she decided to add the 19th and the flower. I will give her credit, the flower is pretty good. Her 19th needs a lot of work. Nevertheless I am sure Kasey enjoyed it all the same. This girl likes her baked goods.

Here are the happy bakers, and no, they will still not be joining the business anytime soon.

Bethany and Ellie

Snicker Bar Cheesecake

Every year for Tyler's birthday I try and make him a different kind of birthday cake. I like to try out new recipes or alter his favorite by adding a secret ingredient. This year I was having a difficult time coming up with something.

My first thought was to make a cake using Special K Bars. Layer two 8 x 8 squares on top of one another and cover it in the chocolate/butterscotch topping to disguise it as a cake. Krista shot down that idea so my next thought drifted to strawberries.

We had some in the fridge and they were on sale at Cub so I thought it might make for a nice refreshing cake. Tyler isn't crazy about strawberries however. I asked him on a scale of 1 - 10 how he felt about strawberries. He rated them a 7. I thought to myself well that's not too bad but he kindly pointed out that a 7 is a C and nobody likes to get Cs. So there went idea number 2.

After purchasing my spring-form pan I then thought of making cheesecake. I found a recipe where you get to include your favorite candy bar in and decided this was the winner for Tyler's birthday cake. This was my first time ever making cheesecake. I was quite nervous. With our temperamental oven and my lack of experience I wasn't quite sure when the cheesecake was completely baked through. The vague directions of the sides should bake away from the pan and the middle should be jiggly were not very helpful. So I baked as directed and prayed for the best.

Once the cheesecake was cut into, it didn't stand a chance. It was gone in a matter of hours and everyone raved about it. Thank goodness! I was so nervous about the results I forgot to take pictures of the entire cake. So this is what was left after the first go around.

Snicker Bar Cheesecake

From a little research this was a basic cheesecake recipe with snicker bar pieces folded into the batter.

Snicker Bars, Cheesecake, Chocolate Cookie Crust

Happy 24th Birthday Ty!

Ice Cream Cake

Last week I had baking on my mind. With the long holiday weekend ahead and Tyler's birthday I had lots of treats I wanted to try out. The first thing I made was a homemade ice cream cake. Let me tell you, it tasted just like Dairy Queen's, only better.

I found the recipe in the Food Network magazine, that my grandma so graciously gives me after she finishes reading them. This caught my eye immediately and thought it would be perfect for the pool party we had yesterday. The only problem was I didn't own a spring-form pan. I have come across a few recipes previously that call for a spring-form pan and have always decided to look for something else. But I decided to bite the bullet, and I bought not one, but two spring-form pans.

The cake was incredibly easy to make it just took time. I made this cake over a 3 day time span. The first step was to coat the bottom and the side of the pan with vanilla ice cream.

Vanilla Base Coating

While constructing the cake it was very important to leave it in the freezer long enough for the layer to set. I don't have the most patience so it was better to do this over a few days instead of counting down the minutes until an hour was up. The next layer was chocolate ice cream, which I forgot to take a picture of. After the chocolate ice cream was set you added a layer of chocolate cookie crumbs and chocolate syrup.

Chocolate Cookie Crumble

After the cookie crumble, the top layer was more vanilla ice cream. I love how the instructions specifically tell you to pack it in. The more ice cream the merrier!

Fully Assembled Ice Cream Cake

After all the layers of ice cream were frozen together the last step was to frost the cake with the whipped topping. I added a border and some festive Fourth of July sprinkles for the occasion.

Ice Cream Cake

Fourth of July Sprinkles

I was most excited to cut into the cake and see the layers. It looked like a work of art.

Inside View

Slice of Ice Cream Cake

Perfection!

I had so much fun making this cake. It's always exciting to be able to make something that you usually buy. I am very exciting to try different ice cream the next time around. Now that I have some spring-form pans my baking options have increased ten-fold and I am excited to try some new things!