Thursday, September 25, 2008

Just for fun

I got this from the Cake Spy Blog, thought it looked fun!

Recently, a website called Very Good Taste started something of an internet fire with a list called "The Omnivore's Hundred", which listed 100 foods which "every good omnivore should have tried at least once in their life." We liked the idea, and inspired by the vegan variation on Hannah Kaminsky's site, we thought--why not make our own Sweet 100!? Like the original, our list includes "fine food, strange food, everyday food and even some pretty bad food"--but in our universe, it's all sweet! (In case any of them are foreign to you, links to pictures and recipes are included; also, for any vegans, feel free to go through the list assuming it's a vegan counterpart). How many have you tried? If you'd like, feel free to follow the same guidelines:


1) Copy this list into your site, including the instructions!

2) Bold all of the sweets you've eaten!

3) Cross out any of them that you'd never ever eat.

4) Optional: Post a comment here linking to your results.


1. Red Velvet Cake
2. Princess Torte
3. Whoopie Pie
4. Apple Pie topped or baked with sharp cheddar
5. Beignet
6. Baklava
7. Black and White Cookies
8. Seven Layer Bar (also know as the Magic Bar or Hello Dolly bars)
9. Fried Fruit Pie (sometimes called hand pies)
10. Kringle
11. Just fried hot doughnut
12. Scone with clotted cream
13. Betty, Grunt, Slump, Buckle, or Pandowdy
14. Halvah
15. Macarons (not to be mistaken for macaroons)
16. Banana pudding with nilla wafers
17. Bubble Tea (with tapioca pearls)
18. Dixie Cup
19. Rice Krispie Treats
20. Alfajores
21. Blondies
22. Croquembouche
23. Girl Scout Cookies
24. Moon Cake
25. Candy Apple
26. Baked Alaska
27. Brooklyn Egg Cream
28. Nanaimo bar
29. Baba au rhum
30. King Cake
31. Sachertorte
32. Pavlova
33. Tres Leches Cake
34. Trifle
35. Shoo Fly Pie
36. Key Lime Pie (made with real key limes)
37. Panna Cotta
38. New York Cheesecake
39. Napoleon/mille-fueille
40. Russian Tea Cakes/Mexican wedding cake
41. Anzac Biscuits
42. Pizzelle
43. Kolache
44. Buckeyes
45. Malasadas
46. Moon Pie
47. Dutch Baby
48. Boston Cream Pie
49. Homemade Choclate Chip Cookies
50. Pralines
51. Gooey Butter Cake
52. Rusks
53. Daifuku
54. Green tea cake ro cookies
55. Cupcakes from a cupcake shop
56. Creme Brulee
57. Some sort of deep fried fair food (twinkie, candybar, cupcake)
58. Yellow cake with chocolate frosting
59. Jelly Roll
60. Pop Tarts
61. Charlotte Russe
62. An "upside down" desser (Pineapple upside down cake or Tarte Tatin)
63. Hummingbird cake
64. Jello-O from a mold
65. Black Forest Cake
66. Mock Apple Pie (Ritz Cracker Pie)
67. Kulfi
68. Linzer torte
69. Churro
70. Stollen
71. Angel Food Cake
72. Mincemeat pie
73. Concha
74. Opera Cake
75. Sfogliatelle/Lobster tail
76. Pain au chocolat
77. A piece of Gingerbread House
78. Cassata
79. Cannoli
80. Rainbow Cookies
81. Religieuse
82. Petits fours
83. Chocolate Souffle
84. Bienenstich (Bee Sting Cake)
85. Rugelach
86. Hamenstashen
87. Homemade Marshmallows
88. Rigo Janci
89. Pie or cake made with candy bar flavors (Snickers Pie, Reeses pie, etc)
90. Divinity
91. Coke or Cola cake
92. Gateau Basque
93. S'Mores
94. Figgy Pudding
95. Bananas Foster or other flaming dessert
96. Joe Froggers
97. Sables
98. Millionaire's SHortbread
99. Animal Crackers
100. Basbousa

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Dream Series by Nora Roberts

I'm on the third book in this series but thought I'd go ahead and let you hear about it. This is a good series...unless you're lonely and in need of some lovin'. Three sisters (just like the Born in series) find love and the drama that goes along with it. I have to say that I do love Nora Roberts and these books are great reads to pass the time but they are not books that I would tell someone, "You've got to read this book!" Anyways, entertaining even if a little predictable.


9/20/08

Well, this pic is a heck of a way to start a blog post, huh? Did this cake for a guys 40th birthday...there was another cake that was modeled after human anatomy but would be inappropriate to post without having some sort of disclaimer! Chocolate cake iced in buttercream with fondant thong.
This was a grooms cake baby grand made from cheesecake with chocolate fondant
$ tier buttercream iced cake at Stonehaus Winery in Lee's Summit. This cake is nothing spectacular but what I learned while delivering it is...you can go to the winery and park your butt at the bar and have free wine tasting! That is some useful knowledge. (I also plan on going to Vino 100 in Martin City for a few sips too!)
And I thought this one was cute...maybe I can get my daughter to want a Strawberry Shortcake cake....yea right, it's always Spongebob or something. :(
No, nobody died. This for my friend Jamie's (love you so much James! *squeeze*) birthday...no, she didn't turn 40 (32 actually) she just likes dark things. Weird!

Monday, September 15, 2008

Caramel Apple Pie


So....my dad has an apple tree in his yard that has so many fruit that the poor branches are breaking off! I gladly helped myself to a bag of apples thinking I would make a pie. Well, I probably picked about a bushel of apples and it really only takes 5 or 6 to make a pie. SO, being the over-achiever I am, I thought I would scout out some Caramel Apple Pie recipes and see which one was best. I tried three recipes, had my parents and the hubs' parents over and we took a vote. The count was pretty even but one recipe had a slight lead so here you go...we think this is the BEST Caramel Apple Pie!
Caramel Apple Pie

1 recipe pastry for a 9" double crust DEEP DISH pie
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
1/4 c. butter, melted
1/3 c. all-purpose flour
5 cups thinly sliced apples
2/3 c. white sugar
3 T. all-purpose flour
2 t. ground cinnamon
1 t. lemon juice
20 caramels, halved
(they actually make little caramel pieces, that's what I used)
2 T. milk
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
2. To make taffy: in a small bowl combine brown sugar, melted butter, and 1/3 c. flour. Mix well and set aside.
3. To make apple filling: Place apples in a large bowl. Add white sugar, 3 T. flour, cinnamon, and lemon juice. Toss until all ingredients are mixed well and apples are thoroughly coated.
4. Spoon half of apple filling into pastry-lined deep-dish pan. Top with half of caramels and half of taffy mixture. Repeat process with remaining apple filling, caramels, and taffy mixture. Place top pastry over fillings and seal well (this is very important-if edges aren't sealed, caramel will leak out all over). Cut steam vents and brush top crust with milk or light cream (I actually prefer a beaten egg white).
5. Cover pie with foil and place on baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and continue baking 25 additional minutes. Serve warm with some yumm-o vanilla bean ice cream! :)
And, you wanna hear something sad after all of this? Most husbands would thank their wife for making such a lovely dessert, right? Mine says, "Honey, you have to quit cooking like this. We're over 30 now and we need to be careful about what we eat?" WHAT?!?!? Ugh.....

9/13/08

I actually had 5 weddings this weekend but was in such a hurry I only snapped a couple of pics. This cake was for my friends Ashley and Rob's wedding. 5 tiers iced in buttercream with red buttercream accents and red satin ribbon. (I love this scroll Ashley picked out!) :)
This was Rob's fire helmet grooms cake.
Did this cupcake "buffet" at Hawthorne House in Parkville, MO. I love how the mother of the bride arranged the trays to display the cupcake. They had white cake with almond buttercream, chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream, chocolate cake filled with raspberry and topped with chocolate fudge icing, and red velvet with cream cheese icing. Yum!


Sunday, September 14, 2008

The Amber Room by Steve Berry

I just finished The Amber Room by Steve Berry. This is a fiction mystery which I LOVE. The story is about a room that Prussians had crafted out of amber pieces....imagine, an entire room pieced together from beautiful golden amber! The story is that during WWII countries (namely Germany under Hitlers regime) were stealing precious works of art from each other and hiding them away. This is a sort of war crime (I think) and when the war was over, the art should have been returned to it's rightful owner(which of course, was an argument in itself)....well, the Amber Room disappeared. Treasure hunters have been searching for this room for decades trying to find their fortune. This is a great book, very thrilling and to make it even better...the Amber Room is real. After I finished the book I went to the Internet to look for info....I have posted a picture of the replicated amber room below, the original is still missing. You can also view this video clip from ABC on the subject. I think this is fascinating! http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4215553
Isn't this just beautiful? I'm sure it would be hard to keep your jaw off the floor in a place like this. :)

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

So, I had a bride who wanted to do cupcakes with whipped icing and fresh fruit so I made this cute little sample cake. I turn my back for one second.....
and guess who's in the whipped icing and fresh fruit! Sheesh, nothings sacred around here!
Texas Longhorns grooms cake

Coarse sugar crystals on buttercream. This reception was at the Cadillac Room downtown...this is now one of my favorite venues...very cool!
A western themed wedding...buttercream iced with fondant accents.
How cool is this ribbon? This bride had a great thing goin' with this brocade throughout her decorations. This reception was at Boulevard Brewery (also a VERY cool place to throw a partay!)
Simple swiss dots with a giant satin bow and fresh poseys! :)
And this is the sweetest thing...see, I always make cakes for everybody else and no one ever makes me a cake. Well, my lovely step-mom gave it a go and this is the cake I got for my birthday! I love it so much but I love how she thought of me and put forth so much effort to do this even more! Love you Wanda Jean!