About Me

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Anchorage, Alaska, United States
My name is Cher, an amateur baker in the Anchorage area looking to fulfill a dream. Since I can remember I’ve been baking. Every year at Christmas my Mom, Sister and I would get our hands sticky making fudge, “snow-balls” and sugar cookies decorated with a delicious icing. We packaged and delivered numerous tins containing tasty treats to our closest friends and family. It was one of the few traditions our family had and I loved it. I first started baking on my own with a peach cobbler recipe given to me by my Grandma. She always had the most delicious cobblers, pies and of course lots of ice cream waiting for me any time I would visit. I am sure this is where I developed my sweet-tooth. :) Follow me as I learn the odds and ends of baking and strive for my ultimate goal, a successful cake business.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Flowers

 Before
After

My boss and her husband were lucky enough to adopt two beautiful girls. They celebrated by having friends and families join them at the zoo for food and fun. I was so grateful that they asked me to do their cake and so happy that everyone enjoyed it. This is the biggest cake I have made...so far. :)

The cake was accompanied by these sugar cookies which were a huge hit with all the kids. I had so much fun making these but they are very time consuming!

Baby Shower Request

Received a request for a "baby bump" cake. This will be my first baby shower cake and I'm super excited. I'm working on designs now and will have photos in a few months when it's complete. Wish me luck!

Royal Icing Transfer



This was my first attempt at a Royal Icing Transer and it turned out pretty good. The transfer is so fragile once it has dried but was successfully placed on the cake with just a small crack that wasn't too noticeable.

German Chocolate Gloriousness

This has been one of my favorite cakes so far. I'm not a huge chocolate person but this inside-out German chocolate cake was absolutely delicious! The walnuts and coconut are toasted to perfection and then mixed with a cooked, sweetened, condensed milk that make for a fantastic filling. I roasted extra coconut and used a cookie cutter as an outline for a coconut maple leaf as well as extra for garnish. Yum!

Just another tickle



These little beauties were made for my Sister's Birthday. They are a coconut cupcake filled with raspberry and then topped with buttercream and a royal icing flower. I should have used more raspberry filling to give a bigger burst of flavor but they were still very delicious and enjoyed by my Sister and all of her co-workers.

For these I used Vanilla Cupcakes but added Coconut to the batter and then filled with Raspberry filling.

Cupcakes:
  • 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 4 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup sweetened, flaked coconut

One Recipe Raspberry Filling or Jam

Directions:

 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line 2 muffin-tins with cupcake papers.
In a small bowl, combine the flours. Set aside.
In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not over beat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to make sure the ingredients are well blended. Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

Fill decorators bag with raspberry filling or jam and using a filler tip or large star tip, pick up cupcake, push tip halfway into the center of the cupcake and slowing squeeze while removing the tip. When cupcakes are filled, frost with your favorite buttercream.

Carrots!


These are are carrot cupcakes with an orange cream cheese frosting. I made little carrots out of royal icing and placed them into the frosting. Although they looked really cute, the carrots disolved after being at room temperature for a little while so next time I'll use gum paste or some type of sugar dough.