Wedding Shower Cookie + Cupcake = YUM

Short, but sweet. I think I posted these cookies on facebook. In fact I am pretty certain I did. Funny how things work...........I had a rash of sugar cookie requests for awhile and then - nothing. After the original request for Palm Trees I bought a few fun cookie cutters that I thought might come in handy. Then I was looking for things to do with the cookies - so I started sticking them on things I was giving to people.

These went on a little box of cupcakes I gave to a friend who had just gotten engaged. Sweet!

Cupcakes were White cake and Chocolate cake with a pretty Vanilla Buttercream swirl on top.

Rapunzel & Architecture

It is the sweetest thing ever (pun intended on the use of sweet because....well this is about cakes) - Dave watches Alton Brown videos about cake stuff. I am not sure if he is doing this because I out loud say, "Why does that happen?" when some cake related thing occurs ........ or if it is because I try to explain something about a cake related thing and Dave doesn't get what I am saying and wants to hear an experts take........or if it is because really he has always like Alton Brown - which I shouldn't overlook - he has watched Alton on Food Network for years - but now he is looking up cake stuff and watching on the computer so I am totally taking it to be a sweet support to my cake dealings.

How is this related to the mess of stacked cake above? Well he was watching an Alton Brown episode about whipping eggs or something and there was a question/answer thing happening and he made the statement that many cake designers have an architecture background. Usually I can zone out what Dave is watching........because unlike the kids when they watch videos (like Annoying Orange) on the computer.....I don't make him put on earphones. This statement by Mr. Brown caught my attention - because in High School I studied drafting and architecture.......and then in my first year in college I continued my studies. Many of you know that following that first year I switched schools and eventually attended many colleges before earning my bachelors and masters in social work and counseling related fields - not architecture. Still.......I do have an architecture/design background of sorts. So this statement was kinda cool.

See Mr. Jackson........apparently I am using my years of architecture after all - just in cake building. Kudos to you for making me so good at it all.

Now the first picture is of a budding tower. And I didn't just stack those cakes up and hope for the best. That would have been ridiculously not smart.

This is the beginning of the roof top of the tower. The original cake I found on line had a roof just like this. But this looked pretty.........well..........boring and like a hat that I made in kindergarten with construction paper.
In fact if you turn it upside down you will see that it basically is the hat I made in Kindergarten. I took a piece of poster board - created a cone - lined that with plastic wrap so the fondant didn't adhere to the cone - then I put a base on the cone so that the weight of the fondant didn't pop it (I'm a mother - I worry about everything).

Then to make the cone head roof look a little nicer I put shingles on. This is my first shingle making and while I did really well, they are by far not at all uniform........of course if I think about it do you think the elves who were making the shingles in the forest for the magical tower that Rapunzel would live in made them all uniform? No probably not. Besides they were using wood - which is probably way easier then fondant. Elves have such an easy life. All they mostly make are cookies and shingles.

Now .......this is really the only architecturally structural picture I took. I knew that if I left the stacked cakes without a base support I would be crying the next day. So I put 3 very long dowel rods into the cake. Unfortunately one of the dowel rods went in at a slight angle. Personally I began freaking out as soon as I realized that to take it out and replace it might mean to cause holes that would cause cracks.

My husbands advice was that I was worrying about nothing that needed to be worried about. It would all be fine. Move forward and let it go.

My focus was to drive him berserk. "Can you come here and look at this?"......"What do you think does it look like it shifted?"......"Do you think it will hold?"......."How about now has it shifted now?"......each question came with his having to bend over and peer at the cake (or pretend to in order to appease me) as I turned the cake swirling around thing (you store may call it something else if you go to purchase one of these).

Once it seemed Dave had enough of this I left him alone.........for a bit at least.......and moved onto the next thing.

The landscape. I iced the landscape to include a river. Can you see the river?

As I was putting the landscape to the side to dry before putting fondant on it my 5 year old came in and said, "Maudy that is way too bumpy to be smooth." I said, "It is going to be a valley with a river in it. Can you see the river?"........he looked at me like I had lost my mind. Nodded his head and smiled at me like he was afraid to tell me he didn't think it did. And walked away.

I can see the river........can you see the river?

Then I iced the outside of the tower. A nice gray mortar kind of a color. And Dave and I did another round of "Can you come here and look at this?"......"What do you think does it look like it shifted?"......"Do you think it will hold?"......."How about now has it shifted now?"......

Then I began placing the rocks on the tower. Added a few windows that Rapunzel would have swung open if she were planning to throw her locks out to Finn to climb.......and did another round of Does this look leany to you Dave? Dave was getting quite tired of this game, but he was playing it really well by continuously stating, "No it is going to be fine." "It looks great.".......but he didn't want to play anymore and left - then luckily my friend, Sheri, showed up to drop her son off for a sleepover. Unfortunately for me though.....when I asked her "Does this look leany to you?" she said, "Yes."

So I spent the rest of my night LOOKING at the tower.....over and over and over and over. I was so paranoid about the cake leaning into breakage that the side I thought was leaning I put a towel under the cake swirling thing to make sure it started leaning straight - because things can lean back to straight right? In my head at least........hey no one ever said I was a GREAT Architecture student (but I was - right Mr. Jackson?).

While waiting for my tower to fall over I went back to the valley. Put a nice layer of fondant over the top......pretty right? Then started to fill in the river........My five year old started to see it.

Add in a few boulders around the river - some grass - a few pine trees........a lizard - rather I believe he is a chameleon.
Then a few flowers scattered all about............. After that I called it a night. Tried not to think about the tower that I had propped to lean straight in the china hutch and played with the kids.

The next day we took the entire collection of cake pieces - and two cookies - to the party.

These are views of the car ride to the Birthday Girls house. I thought that the view from this angle was kinda cool. What I did was place the tower on the cake and then pushed the remaining portion of the dowel rods into the base cake. There was also a cake board at the bottom of the tower that had hole punches matching the top of the tower - so there was a foundation at the top and bottom that kept the dowel rods from shifting much.

Although in my head the whole thing was about to fall at any moment. Poor Dave driving the van........

Once we got to the party I put the roof on the tower - placed the figures they had given me to use on the cake........and all was right with the world.

The cookies were Shortbread........I was trying to think of a way to get the Birthday Girls name and message onto the cake and also incorporate the crown that Finn had stolen and was a pivotal point for the characters. Plus everyone loves a cookie right?

So in the end Dave was right (please don't tell him I typed that). The tower was fine. I worried for nothing. But hey, I'm a mother - I worry.

This cake was Chocolate with Vanilla Buttercream and White with Vanilla Buttercream.......Vanilla Fondant and Shortbread cookies with Royal Icing. The pictures of the final cake could have been better, but honestly - I was so crazy nervous putting it together I am just happy I remembered to TAKE a picture!

Shooting Stars To You

A Star Was Born...........thanks Pennie for the idea of making Star cookies! You must be feeling all patriotic lately with your Stars and your Patriotic Apple Pie references (more on that later). But a Star was born this week.......well last week really I guess, but this week was when it was made. It was fun to see my follower numbers go from 4 to 12 in less then 3 days. And I was more then excited to make and send you all cookies!

They are in the mail by the way..........unless you live near by - then if I haven't given them to you yet (Susan should be the only one left) - They are in my van. I will drop them by after church. These cookies were pretty fun to make and I took a little extra time to try a new recipe out on you all. A lot of Stars were made. A LOT. So many cookies were sitting out as I iced them that they caught the attention of my youngest and Dawson asked, "Who are you giving these too?" and I said "My Fans" (because it is good to have an ego). He looked at me and said "Are you hot?". "Huh?" and then I realized F-A-N + 5 Year old ='s LITERAL INTERPRETATION........."Oh, not Sweets I am not hot, well......I mean I am hot (remember good to have an ego), but I am not that kind of hot. These cookies are for my friends who read my blog stuff." Generally he leaves once I try to be funny with words, but I guess I peaked his interest because he asked, "They all have fans for you?".........in his head you all were sitting somewhere (probably Chuck E Cheese) holding fans - or standing near fans - waiting for me to show up with cookies. After I told him a Fan can also mean a person who likes cookies A LOT - he cocked his head, looked at me like I had again (and I truly mean again) gone MAD and he went to jump on the trampoline.

Kids are funny like that. So anyway..........back to cookies. I made 2 sorts. And I also took some pics for my sis-in-law (even before she sent me a link as to how to flood cookies) - mainly because another friend told me that the way I was flooding looked too hard. And she was kinda right. The flooding wasn't hard, but the putting the flood icing into a piping bag was a bit idiotic - runny sugar doesn't stay in a bag with a tip hole at the end. Duh Patti. So I invested in a few bottles. Step 1.........line the cookie with the stiff (I don't know how else to describe it) Royal Icing - and let dry a bit. Most sites with instructions say hours - ahhhhhh.........I think I waited 15 minutes. Then take the remaining icing you were using (if you are staying with the same color) and add a teaspoon of water or more - until you have the desired consistency. Pour that into a bottle (unless you have a better idea - as I thought I did) - these can be found at deco stores or at Michael's/Hobby Lobby. And basically flood the inside of the lines you drew.

Simple enough. The trick - is you also need something pointy - like a tooth pick - and then you scoot the icing out to the sides or into the corners (stars have lovely corners) to make certain the cookies are evenly iced. Then you let this dry overnight. Really I would wait overnight - the flood icing has a great deal more liquid in it and it does not dry quickly. So if you are planning on adding any decorations on top wait.

Now I forgot to take pictures of the drawing of the faces..........it was a crazy week. But again - 2 types of cookies. The cookies that are Yellow Faced are Traditional Shortbread cookies. The cookies that are White Faced are Peanut Butter Shortbread cookies. I was interested in trying a Lemon Icing, but time left me. The Peanut Butter cookies are VERY YUM!!

And I would Love Feedback on the cookies please..........and on if any were broken.

Speaking of broken - how to ship them to you was a question. So I searched the deco supply store. I wanted it to be cute - I wanted it to be safe for the cookies - and I wanted it to be inexpensive. Love you all, but I also didn't want to spend $50 shipping cookies. $50 is a crazy amount I picked out of the top of my head - I never really thought........okay I did think it was possible, but since I wasn't planning same day delivery I didn't expect that type cost.

Back to this and out of my head. I picked up these cute little white candy boxes. The shop clerk and I measured them with one of their star cookie cutters. We measure I could fit 9 cookies per box. Done. Bought. Then at home I looked at them............boring...........white...........needed flair. So I added in my other favorite hobby - STAMPING!! I have some great cupcake stamps and there were this perfect saying........so I did that really quickly.

Then I packed in the cookies. My Star cutter must be different from the Star cutter they had - because I could only fit 2 cookies per level in the box when I got home. No matter how I finagled the cookies they would not fit 3 across. And I didn't want them broken when you receive them - so I had to pack less in. Still 6 cookies is a Sweet Treat!! And these shortbread's are PERFECT with a cold glass of milk - melt in your mouth perfect. Or my favorite way - with a hot cup of coffee that is hardly sweetened so that the sugar on the cookie pops.

Dang...........wish I hadn't mailed them all - I have coffee right here.

All that said........your cookies are In The Mail. Cute packages - cute cookies - for FABULOUS friends helping me get rolling!! Rolling where is still here to be seen.........but as Pennie said - listen to the Siren. So I am listening.

These cookies are Traditional Shortbread and Peanut Butter Shortbread. Both have a simple Royal Icing top. ENJOY!!

Please let me know what you thought and when you get them how they survived.

If You Give a Cake a Cookie

This week we decided it was time to do my son, Ben's, teachers Half Birthday. Why a Half Birthday? Well primarily because my friend, Stephanie - our class lead, and the rest of us helping out in the class MISSED her real birthday. That was in September. So close to the start of the school year that honestly we didn't feel terrible about missing it - because we hardly had our backpack's on straight enough to have caught it. Yet at the same time - we LOVE LOVE LOVE Mrs. Burns and didn't want her to think we weren't "thinking" of her. So we counted 6 months from the month and had a party.

Now best laid plans are sometimes better then the actual happening. Stephanie contacted our favorite student teacher - Ms. Brown - who ALL the boys have a crush on (although Ben would deny this.........his friend, Malik, called him out on it by saying, "Dude you know you crush on her because we all think she is hot" - I even think she is very cute so he was totally fibbing). Anyway - Stephanie contacted Ms. Brown who helped her send out notes to the class asking for donations for a gift. Then I made a cake.......since we were buying her a gift card to a scrapping store I thought a cute Scrapbook Replica cake. Had it all planned out to the gumpaste scissors.


Then Ms. Brown let us know that while we could still do the party........it would also be the day they do the Multiplication Ice Cream party. You earn a scoop and/or topping for every times table you complete. Ben earned both scoops and 6 toppings with whipped cream - yea Ben!! Which seems weird since they did 0 - 12........where are the other toppings? So anyway - now we were doing the Birthday at the same time as the Ice Cream - as a parent we did the responsible thing and downsized the cake to a "Take Home Gift". Cake AND Ice Cream might be a party tradition, but it makes for a giant mess in the class and we didn't want to take away from the experience of what toppings they earned.

So the cake morphed. I was still thinking gumpaste scissors - but then I thought about the fact that it was very close to St. Pat's........and we are TOTALLY lucky to have such a Great Teacher.....and I just received a delivery of cutters.....and I was COMPLETELY surprised that the shamrock I bought was GIGANTIC!! and immediately thought "well that is as big as an 8" cake round......and I wanted to try out my cookie cutters and a few cookie recipes.......so why not use cookies to border the cake and top it with a cute Shamrock with a message?

Idea born. Cake Baked (I know Mrs. Burns a chocolate fan). Cookies Baked (I didn't know she was a shortbread cookie fan - bonus!). Cake Decorated!

Turned out pretty cute. A little icing flare at the bottom and the cake only took a few more minutes to decorate. Love the cookie thing. Ben came in as I was finishing and said in an unbelieving and thinking I had lost my mind voice (you know how kids do that?)...."Why would you put cookies on a cake?"....I said, "To decorate it and tell Mrs. Burns how lucky we are to have her teaching you." Ben thought for a minute and then said, "So she gets cake AND COOKIES TOO? She is the lucky one." followed by, "Are there any cookies left?"

This cake was Chocolate Chocolate Chip with a Chocolate Buttercream icing and small Cinnamon Shortbread Cookies and one giant Traditional Sugar Cookie.

Cookie Time!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! One day late - yeah yeah, but I still posted these pretty close to the date I actually made them. So many of the cakes are going up a few weeks - sometimes months after I make the cake.............unless the person I made it for has asked me specifically to put it up here so that they can share it with friends or family.

Anyway - cookies are something new for me. I guess making and baking cookie cutter cookies would seem to be a Gimme since I am decorating cakes, but in my sometimes addled head it seemed as though decorating cookies would be tedious. Honestly........all those sprinkles and jimmies are what I am avoiding.

Then people started to ask - Can You Do Decorated Cookies? And I found myself saying - Sure.........and buying cool cookie cutters and googling Royal Iced Cookies. Although I do already have a TON of cookies cutters! At least 200 - I know this because I cataloged them to make sure that I didn't buy anymore doubles in the same size.

To mess around and for a cake I thought I would make 3 sugar cookie style recipes. 1 Traditional Sugar Cookie - 1 Shortbread Cookie and 1 Cinnamon Cookie (I just added cinnamon - not brain surgery in my kitchen). Then made a bunch of shamrocks!! Tah Dah!!