Matching Mugs: Made with love!

My sister and I are pretty different in personality, but love a lot of the same things. I drink coffee, she drinks juice. I like flying, she hates it. But we both love sailing, and all things nautical. So for her birthday, I made matching big sister, little sister mugs!

DIY Instructions:
1. Find a blank ceramic mug
2. Draw on your design with permanent markers (I find Sharpies work best)
3. Bake in the oven for 20 min at 350 degrees F
Voila!

Super easy, cute, and personalized! Great for affordable gifts:)

Peanut butter cups!

I love peanut butter, and I love chocolate. Put together, they are heavenly. These homemade peanut butter cups are 10 times better than store bought, and so easy to make! There's actually no baking involved.
All you need is:
2 cups chocolate chips
2 tablespoons oil (I used e.v.o.o.)
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter (I used Kraft smooth)
3/4 cup icing sugar
All you have to do is:
1. Ready cupcake tin with liners (I used a mini cupcake tin)
2. Melt 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 tbs oil in the microwave (I did 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between until it was smooth
3. Put about 1 tsp of melted chocolate in each liner. Refrigerate.
4. Melt peanut butter, brown sugar, and butter in microwave (Only took 30 seconds). Stir.
5. Add icing sugar to melted peanut butter, 1/4 at a time until well blended and firm.
6. Take chocolate out of fridge and evenly distribute peanut butter mixture. Roll it into a ball, gently flatten, and place in liners over chilled chocolate.
7. Melt the rest of the oil and chocolate, then pour over peanut butter in liners.
8. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving, and enjoy

Spring Cupcakes

It's been a while since I baked, so my friend came over to make some vanilla cupcakes from Buddy's (TLC's "Cake Boss") cook book. I used Kosher salt instead of sea salt and I probably won't be doing that again. Other than that the cupcakes turned out fantastic. Using home made marshmallow fondant, home made buttercream frosting, and toasted coconut shavings I was able to come up with a few really cute designs. Here is a closer look:

Winter Wonderland Cupcakes

I got a chocolate cupcake recipe from a cook book by Buddy (TLC's "Cake Boss") and they turned out very well. Rather than getting too fancy, I just used the pastry bag to frost these with chocolate icing, added some blue crystal sprinkles and paired it up with wonderful "Let it Snow" tags from the dollar store (they came with matching paper cups as well!).

Cupcakes - Take 1

I was bored one evening and decided to try decorating cupcakes. Using toothpicks and butter knives, I just added food coloring to some store bought icing to see how well I could ecorate them by hand. Being close to Halloween, I started with the pumpkin & jackolanterns. Then I got a bit more creative and made a bear, a lion, a frog, a baseball, and an anchor.

Madhatter Tea Party

This teapot cake was made for my sister's Alice in Wonderland themed birthday party. My second cake was made with the same fondant from the first batch, so it still tasted a little funny. However, the cake itself was much better. I made it in a stainless steel bowl, so although it took longer to cook it came out round like a ball (almost). I did not have a steamer this time so the fondant was also a bit cracked and you could see where the edges came together (obviously). Not bad a for a second cake, and it was really fun to make!

First Fondant Attempt

The first time I made fondant, it was for this Mickey Mouse cake for a Disney themed party. It was pretty much a failed attempt for a few reasons. The Mickey Mouse cake mold did not bake well all the way through. Second, the fondant recipe I had gotten made it taste like Crisco and corn starch as the ingredient proportions were uneven.  Thirdly, I did not have enough experience or tools to do the job well. That being said, it was my first fondant experience and people didn't die eating it so I'd say it wasn't bad! haha.