Holiday Treat Ideas!

It's here! The holiday season. I went shopping yesterday for everything I need to make some fantastic desserts for Thanksgiving. I am fully aware that my family will be so stuffed on Turkey, ham, pork, my Grandma's rice, and much more that dessert might not be possible. That is why I plan to run to Michael's and buy some cute little bags so that people can take some treats home. The third best thing about Thanksgiving after family and food....is the leftovers you get the next day! So why not enjoy dessert too?

I plan to make...

Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry Shortcake Recipe

Instead of using regular ol' whip cream I just quickly whipped one up myself using whipping cream, sugar, and a dash of vanilla. I made this recipe on Sunday and it was delicious! I did serve this as a cake, and not in squares as this recipe suggests.

*photo is from the Betty Crocker website. Yum



Chocolate Chip Cookies...

because it isn't a holiday without this classic cookie. I haven't tried this recipe yet, but I can't wait.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

*photo is from the Martha Stewart website. Doesn't it look absolutely tasty? 

Outrageous Chocolate Cookies

I haven't tried these either...But need I say more? 

Outrageous Chocolate Cookie Recipe

*photo is from the Martha Stewart website...again. I  must be a secret 

Turtle Cookies

I asked my mom what she wanted me to make and without hesitation she said Turtle cookies. I can't say no. They were a big hit the last time I made them. 

Chocolate Turtle Cookie Recipe

*photo is from the Pixelated Crumb website....WARNING..these cookies are too cute to handle. 

Cornbread

Boston Market Style. I've always been a big fan of their cornbread. Joe and I used to go after church on Sundays and get half a dozen with a large pop and much on them. Delicious. So when my mom kept talking about cornbread this year I knew it had to be a copycat recipe. 

Boston Market Recipe

*photo is from the food.com website...I CAN'T WAIT TO TASTE THESE

These recipes are going to be so much fun to make for my side of the family and for my husband's family as well...

What will you be baking????

Monkey + Baby Shower = one cute cake!

Happy Thursday everyone. I hope you're having a better week then I am. :)

I was asked to make a baby shower cake two weeks ago. I immediately knew it would be a fun project once I saw that there were monkeys involved. 

There is a screen shot...see isn't it adorable? The color scheme for this baby shower was pink and teal. The decorations contained both light pink and hot pink colors. For this cake I used Wilton's fondant and Duff's pink fondant. The darker pink that you will see in the photos below are from Duff's fondant. In my opinion Duff's fondant is a little bit softer once you put in the microwave for a few seconds. It makes it hard sometimes to cover a large cake, but I like it because the colors are always so vibrant.

The bottom is cake, of coarse. The top, which is the monkey, is made up of Rice Krispies. Once you pop it into the microwave for a few seconds it easy to mold and form it into whatever shape you're looking for. 

The circles on the cake where done with a small cookie cutter. The balls around the cake and monkey's head, are made from a silicone ball maker. It's perfect for putting a border around the cake. I got it from amazon a little while back. 

The final product.  A cute little monkey and big congrats to the new parents. 

A little bit of pumpkin

This weekend I made a cake for an old co-worker of mine. It was her daughter's first birthday. She gave me three pictures to look at on Pinterest for inspiration, and she gave me a color scheme of orange, pink, and black. Her birthday was going to have pumpkin decorations to go with the season, so I decided to incorporate that. 

After looking at the photos from Pinterest I decided to use the middle one as inspiration. I wanted a frilly and fun pattern on the bottom and a large pumpkin on top. There had to be a bow and I knew that it had to be black in order to pull the color into the cake. I made a quick sketch and went off that. I always feel like sketches are a nice starting point.

Once I started the cake and saw how the colors were working with each other I made a couple changes. She wanted me to add Happy Birthday Ally. I wanted that on the top tier of the cake. The stripes didn't work quite right anymore, but I liked the name as the center of attention. Another change from the sketch was the color of the pumpkin. With the colors, orange felt right, and pink just made it look a little off to me. I think the colors came together in the end, and the black was minimal which added some contrast.   

It's always fun to make something new, and it's always fun when I'm given a creative freedom to do what I think is best. The final results are below!

If you'd like to know how I made this cake, please let me know!

Happy Tuesday! 

A New Begining

Ah a new blog and a new beginning. As a graphic designer, it's extremely satisfying to see that a website has finally been launched and that I designed it. As a cake decorator, it's extremely satisfying to see that my hobby is now a little bit more then that. I'm proud to call Spilled Sugar my very own. 

Why the name!? As my mom and I were going back and forth with names with suggestions from family members, I couldn't help but think that nothing felt right. I wanted a name that was cute, a little bit clever, and a name that didn't immediately scream BAKERY! I have an Etsy shop called Spill the Ink. I kind of liked the idea of incorporating spill to create a continuity among all my 'brands' but the first thing I thought of was spilled flour. Again, it didn't feel right. One day it hit me. Spilled Sugar....I laughed as I thought about how much powdered sugar ends up all over the kitchen, myself, and my lovely assistant (aka Mom). It just felt right. 

I proudly announced my website, and the new name. I hope to use this blog as a way to share with those who stumble upon this website and blog my quick tips and tricks, tutorials, and anything I find interesting that has to do with cakes. So I hope you enjoy this as much as I do, and please comment if you have any suggestions or requests! 

Thank you and until next time, 
Melissa