Cotton Candy Cheesecake Minis

I use a mini cheesecake pan for these with 12 cavities. First, lightly grease the cavities with butter or baking spray and place one side of an Oreo in each cavity.

Preheat the oven to 250F

For the filling:
1 block of full fat cream cheese
1/2 cup of cotton candy floss sugar (or regular sugar and add cotton candy flavoring)
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
a pinch of salt

Mix cream cheese and sugar on medium for about 2 minutes, then add the remaining ingredients.

Fill a pastry bag (and use a round tip)so you can easily fill in the cheesecake cavities.

Bake for about 20 minutes but keep an eye on them. They bake quickly since they are small. You can test them by also moving the pan back and forth. Cheesecakes should only slightly wiggle at that point and spring back when touched.

Cool for about 4 hours in the fridge before serving.


If you would like to top with buttercream as pictured, here is the basic vanilla recipe:

1 stick of butter
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbs milk

Mix both butter and sugar on low speed and then add the remaining ingredients, mixing until well incorporated.

Chocolate Cake with Oreo Buttercream and Nutella frosting layers

For the chocolate cake, I use the recipe found here. I just love this recipe and among all of the recipes, I tried, tested, and concocted, I always go back to this one :)


http://addapinch.com/cooking/the-best-chocolate-cake-recipe-ever/


For the nutella buttercream layers:

*1 stick of butter
*2 cups of confectioner's sugar
*1 tsp vanilla
*1 tbs milk
*2 tbs of nutella


Mix together butter and sugar on low speed so sugar doesn't fly! Then add the nutella, milk, and vanilla and mix on medium until all ingredients
are incorporated.



For the outer Oreo buttercream:

*take about ten oreo cookies and crush them with a food processor until they are fine (I crush all the cookie even with the cream inside)

*4 cups of confectioners sugar
*2 sticks of butter
*crushed oreo
*1-2 tbs milk
*1 tsp vanilla extract

Mix together butter, sugar, and Oreo on low speed. Then add the remaining ingredients and mix on medium until well incorporated.


Spread the nutella BC between the layers of your cake. Then frost the outside of your cake with the Oreo BC.

Add toppings you desire like caramel or melted chocolate. I used marshmallow flavored Wilton candy melts. I melted the candies using the double boil method and topped on my cake after it had been chilled for a bit.

Happy Baking!

Ube Cake with Strawberry Buttercream and Matcha Buttercream layers

Ube confetti cake:

3/4 cup of unsalted and room temperature butter
1 1/2 cups of sugar
5 large eggs at room temperature
2 1/2 cups of cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup of milk (I use whole)
1 tbs of ube extract
Confetti sprinkles

*Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy (about 2-4 minutes on medium speed)
*Add eggs one at a time, beating on low speed
*Add the dry ingredients together in a bowl and alternate adding the dry ingredients and the milk with the ube extract added to it on low speed so mixture doesn't fly everywhere.
*Then do a final mix on medium speed to ensure it's incorporated. Stir in sprinkles

Bake at 350F for about 40 minutes - an hour or until you insert a toothpick in it and it comes out clean.



Strawberry Buttercream:

2 sticks of butter
1 tsp of strawberry extract, strawberry puree OR 1/2 cup of finely chopped strawberries, whichever strawberry flavor you have or prefer
4 cups of confectioner's sugar
1 tbs milk (more or less depending on the consistency you want)

Mix butter and sugar on low speed. Add the strawberry and milk until incorporated.

If you prefer Swiss Meringue, you can find a great recipe here!
http://www.woodlandbakeryblog.com/strawberry-buttercream/




Matcha Buttercream:

1 stick of unsalted room temperature butter
1 tbs matcha powder
1 tbs milk
2 cups confectioner's sugar

*Mix butter and matcha powder
*Slowly add in sugar and mix until well-beaten
*Add milk *if it's too stiff, add more, it's it just right, you can skip the milk



Chocolate ganache to top it off:

1/2 cup of heavy cream
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Boil heavy cream over medium heat. Once it comes to an immediate boil, pour the heavy cream over a bowl of chocolate chips. Stir until fully incorporated. If you find that it doesn't melt fully, you can always use the double boiler method. I just prefer this way for myself ;)

Moist Chocolate Cupcakes with Caramel Chantilly Cream Cheese Cream

Some people have asked me what recipe I use for chocolate cake or cupcakes. Truth: I actually LOVE the taste of chocolate box cake over the chocolate cakes I've tried over the years whether I made them or purchased them at restaurants or bakeries. I found this amazing chocolate cake recipe that tastes like moist box cake and I have been using it ever since. I hope you like it! (Usually when I find recipes, I adapt them, but this is perfect as is)!


http://addapinch.com/cooking/the-best-chocolate-cake-recipe-ever/

For the Caramel Chantilly Cream Cheese Cream as seen in my YouTube video:

-2 cups of heavy whipping cream
-1 package of cream cheese
-2 tsp of caramel or caramel extract
-2 tbs of sugar

*With a whisk attachment, mix on low speed the whipping cream until you begin getting peaks
*Add the cream cheese, sugar, and caramel and whip on high speed until stiff peaks form


For standard vanilla buttercream:

-1 stick of butter (1/2 cup)
-2 cups of confectioner's sugar
-1 tsp of flavoring extract
-1 tbs of milk (more if you need a softer consistency)

Mix butter and sugar on low speed so sugar doesn't fly everywhere! When it starts to mix well, speed up to medium and add the remaining ingredients
until well incorporated

Chocolate Coffee Cheesecake
Preheat over to 250F.



1/2 cup of semi sweet chocolate, melted
1 brick of full fat cream cheese
1/4 cup of sugar
1 tsp of sour cream
1 egg
1 tsp coffee extract

*First, melt the chocolate (over a double boiler).
*Mix softened cream cheese and the sugar until well combined.
*Then add the remaining ingredients including the melted chocolate, first a bit slowly so the mixture doesn't fly everywhere. Then gradually speed it up.

For the crust, keeping it simple! Just use an Oreo cookie bottom!


Lightly grease a mini cheesecake pan with butter or spray with baking spray. Place the Oreo on the bottom. Add your cheesecake filling and bake
for about 20-30 minutes!

Here is a photograph of what the pan looks like..

YouTube video on handpainting roses

Hello, 2015

Happy New Year, everyone! Thanks for checking out my blog and recipes. My resolution is to try to keep more current with it. Some recipes I posted way after I made them! Also, please check out my YouTube videos if interested in learning decorating techniques. You can click on the video title below to directly link you or subscribe to the right! ---> Thank you xo!

Meringue Cups

I love meringue and even better, meringue cups that you can fill with whatever you like! For these, I filled them with chocolate ganache.


Recipe for meringue cups is as follows:

*2 eggs whites at room temperature
*1/2 cup of sugar
*1 tsp of vanilla extract
*1 pinch of cream of tartar

Beat eggs whites on low-medium until frothy.
Add tartar.
Beat for about a minute then gradually add sugar.
Beat on high speed until glossy peaks form (about 5-7 minutes).

Using a star tip nozzle, go around in a small circle and pipe the base and the bottom.

Then pipe upwards making walls around the center.

Bake on 200F for about 1 1/2 hours. Let them sit in the over after you turn it off for about 30 min. Fill as you desire!

Penguin Fondant Topper

How to make a penguin fondant topper:




Supplies:

fondant in black and white (yellow for the feet and nose or just color later w/ luster dust)
pizza cutter
circle cutter
heart cutter
small square cutter
small tulip (small flower) cutter to use for feet




1. Make a black circle and cover your cupcake
2. Make a white heart shape for the body using the heart cutter like demonstrated below:








3. Make the feet and nose (cut the square shape at the end for the nose)

VERY easy peanut butter and chocolate fudge recipe!




*1 12 oz bag of semi sweet chocolate chips (or milk chocolate depending on what flavor you like)
*1 can of sweetened condensed milk

*Mix together on low heat until all chocolate is melted. Pour onto wax paper (make
sure the wax paper lines the sides of the pan too) in a 9x9 pan. Put in the fridge while you continue.

*1 10 oz bag of Reese's peanut butter chips
*1 can of sweetened condensed milk.
*Repeat the above steps and pour over the slightly chilled chocolate layer.

Add any candy or marshmallows at this time then chill for a few hours!

Cotton Candy Donuts




Makes 6

3/4 cup cake flour
2 tbsp cotton candy sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 large egg, beaten
1/3 cup milk
2 tbsp butter, melted


*Beat egg. Sift and mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix together.
*Spray a donut pan with baking spray and bake for about
8-12 minutes at 350F or until tops of donuts spring back when touched. Be careful not to overbake.


Cotton Candy buttercream

2 cups of confectioners sugar
1 stick of butter
1 tbs milk
1 tsp of cotton candy flavoring or 1 tsp of vanilla extract if you do not have this or don't want too much cotton candy flavor!

Mix all together and frost your donuts!

Pumpkin Mini Cheesecakes

To make this the easy way, you will need a cheesecake mini pan like this which can be found on amazon.com:

If not, you can spread the cheesecake in a brownie pan (after you have made a crust bottom with graham crackers) and cut into circles with a circle bun cutter.

If you have the pan, just use Oreos!

Place vanilla Oreos (a single cookie; not the full cookie with the filling) in each cup. The pan is non-stick so you don't necessarily need anything, but if you want to be completely safe, you can add a bit of butter to each cheesecake cavity before filling.


For the cheesecake filling:

*one block of full fat cream cheese (room temp)
*1/2 cup of pumpkin from the baking aisle(I use Libby's pumpkin filling)
*1/2 cup of sugar
*1 tsp of vanilla
*1 egg
*pinch of salt
*pinch of nutmeg (I don't like a lot so I didn't want to use too much)
*1/2 tsp of cinnamon

1. Mix the cream cheese and sugar on medium speed for about 2 minutes until well blended and fluffy. Then add the remainder of the ingredients.
2. Fill a pastry bag to easily fill in the cheesecake cavities (you can fill just about to the top)
3. Bake for 20 minutes on 350F
4. Cool for about 20 minutes and then place in the fridge covering loosely with saran wrap. They will be ready in about 4 hours.
5. Top with ganache, buttercream, whipped cream, etc!

Coffee No-Bake Cheesecake with Chantilly Cream

Finally posting this recipe! Sorry that it took so long; I've been neglecting the blog.

For the Crust:
*1 cup of vanilla Oreos (about 20 cookies) OR just buy graham cracker crumbs and you can skip the whole process of crushing Oreos :)
*2 tbs of unsalted melted butter

To make the crust:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 6-inch springform pan
2. Crush Oreos in a food processor and mix with melted butter.
3. Press the mixture into the pan and bake for about 10 minutes.
4. Refrigerate or freeze to cool while you make the filling.


The recipe for the cheesecake itself can be found on the back of Knox Gelatin, but I doubled it as follows:

*2 envelopes of gelatin
*1 cup sugar
*2 cups of boiling water
*4 packages of 8 oz full fat cream cheese (softened)
*1 tsp vanilla

For coffee flavor add:
*1 tsp black coffee



1. Mix gelatin and sugar in a small bowl and add about 2 cups of boiling water. Stir for about 5 minutes or until the gelatin is dissolved.
2. Beat cream cheese, vanilla, and coffee in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add the gelatin mixture slowly and beat until well combined.
3. Pour the mixture onto the prepared crust.

It should be completely done in about 6-8 hours (to be completely safe though, I usually let set overnight). Thereafter, you can remove from the springform pan and top with whatever you would like! I put buttercream, Reese's Cups, and chocolate sauce on this one

For the Chantilly cream on the outside of the cheesecake itself:

*Place mixing bowl in the freezer for 5 minutes.
Take out and add two cups of heavy whipping cream to the bowl. Then add two TBS of pure granulated sugar and 1 tsp of vanilla.
Mix on medium and then up to high speed until soft peaks form

No-Bake Pastel Rainbow Cheesecake

I love no-bake cheesecake for the summer! Plus, it's so easy to make for a quick cheesecake craving :)





For the Crust:
*1 cup of vanilla Oreos (about 20 cookies) OR just buy graham cracker crumbs and you can skip the whole process of crushing Oreos :)
*2 tbs of unsalted melted butter

To make the crust:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 6-inch springform pan
2. Crush Oreos in a food processor and mix with melted butter.
3. Press the mixture into the pan and bake for about 10 minutes.
4. Refrigerate or freeze to cool while you make the filling.


The recipe for the cheesecake itself can be found on the back of Knox Gelatin, but I doubled it as follows:

*2 envelopes of gelatin
*1 cup sugar
*2 cups of boiling water
*4 packages of 8 oz full fat cream cheese (softened)
*2 tsp vanilla


1. Mix gelatin and sugar in a small bowl and add about 2 cups of boiling water. Stir for about 5 minutes or until the gelatin is dissolved.
2. Beat cream cheese and vanilla in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add the gelatin mixture slowly and beat until well combined.
3. Get three bowls and add the cheesecake mixture to each bowl as evenly distributed as you can. You can then add food coloring to each; whatever color you desire. I added blue (bottom), yellow (middle layer), pink (top layer)
4. Pour the first color on top of the crust and freeze immediately. Also at this time, you will want to refrigerate the other two bowls of cheesecake filling. The reason for freezing the first layer is because you want it to set before you add the second color on top and you want it to be fairly quick so your other two bowls of cheesecake don't start to set! If you add all layers on top of each other right away, it will blend through and be more like a rainbow swirl rather than distinct layers (which would be a great look too)! After freezing for about 30 minutes, you can add the second layer. Freeze again for 30 minutes, and then add the last and third layer on top. You can then place normally in the fridge at that point.

It should be completely done in about 6-8 hours (to be completely safe though, I usually let set overnight). Thereafter, you can remove from the springform pan and top with sprinkles, whipped topping, or whatever you like!

Hi all!

I wanted to walk you through my latest cake because it was experimental, and I also have some tips to share from other great cake artists!



Goal #1. In need of a fluffy vanilla cake/cupcake recipe

I've been searching and experimenting to get the best fluffy cake recipe; like the "box" brand. Yes, I love the fluffiness of that cake and even though I make homemade cakes, I do still love that fluffy mix for myself from time to time. Then I found on Sweetapolita's blog that she mentioned the same thing about fluffy cake and her yearning for the box brand too! :p Anyway, she has a fantastic recipe that I tried out for this cake and I LOVE it. Here is the link to her recipe and here is a photo of what mine looked like.

http://sweetapolita.com/2011/07/fluffy-vanilla-cake-with-whipped-vanilla-bean-frosting/






Goal #2. Sequins on a cake. I've been wanting to try this as well and found out through The Cake Blog that Jenna Rae Cakes has a great step by step tutorial on this. It's way easier than I envisioned! I did run into a problem because instead of using pastel candy confetti, I used regular color and thus needed SO much silver luster dust to cover up that deeper color. I ran out of luster dust so if you can see in my photo below, the sequins aren't as silver as they should be and you can see some color peeping out. Otherwise, it was a success.

http://thecakeblog.com/2014/06/diy-gold-sequin-cake.html




3. Fantasy gumpaste flower and/or sugar peony

I don't have the materials needed to create one with wires and this seems like the best way to do so. I hardly ever make flowers with wires and usually only do roses. I didn't want to buy materials I probably wouldn't use much so I used the wilton peony cutters and I think it worked great. It was really easy to do; you just use a ball tool to roll out the edges much like with sugar roses and put in an egg carton to dry. You can see my Youtube tutorial on roses in other blog post if you want a reference point of what I mean here.





And for those who have asked me to do tutorials on icing a cake cleanly with buttercream as my bottom tier is here (although there are some imperfections)... Instead of me doing a tutorial, I would highly recommend you check out Tessa of SweetBakeShop's tutorial because she does a fantastic job explaining it and I use the same method as her. Below are some of the tools I use and the link to her page.

http://sweetbakeshop.com/video-tutorial-how-to-stack-and-frost-a-cake-with-perfectly-smooth-sides/

Chocolate Cheesecake/Brownie Base - Easy and delicious!




I love cheesecake but not so much a fan of the graham cracker or cookie base. Also, I've never tried a no bake cheesecake using gelatin so I thought I'd give it a go.


For this cheesecake, I just used a brownie mix to create the brownie base (I put it in an 8inch springform pan).


After baking, I put it in the freezer to cool while I made the cheesecake filling. I found the recipe for chocolate no-bake cheesecake here and just made the filling portion of it.

https://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/28806/easy-elegant-no-bake-cheesecake/detail.aspx



For the coffee buttercream topping, mix all these together in a mixer with the paddle attachment:

*1 stick of butter
*1 tsp of coffee flavoring (extract or coffee itself)
*2 cups of confectioners sugar
*1 tbs milk

Matcha/Green Tea Cake with Mint Chantilly Cream

*I used the 5 layer Wilton cake pans for this but you could use a 6 inch pan or it would make 12 cupcakes*



Matcha cake
*5 TBS of room temperature unsalted butter
*3/4 cups of sugar
*3 eggs
*1 1/4 cups of cake flour
*1 tsp baking powder
*pinch of salt
*1/2 cup of milk
*1 tsp of vanilla extract
*1-2 TBS matcha powder

1. Preheat oven to 350F and line the muffin pan with cupcake liners OR grease a 6inch cake pan
2. Beat the butter and sugar until combined, then add the eggs one at a time
3. In a different bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and matcha
4. In a cup, stir milk and vanilla together
5. Add the flour and milk alternately to the butter/sugar mixture until combined
6. Bake for about 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick placed in the center of the cake comes out clean


Mint Chantilly Cream
*1 cup of heavy whipping cream
*1 TBS of sugar
*1 tsp of mint extract

1. Place mixer bowl in the freezer for about ten minutes
2. Remove from the freezer and place all ingredients in the bowl, whisking with the whisk attachment on low first and then moving up to high
3. It is ready when fluffy and peaks form

Almond Joy Cheesecake

For the crust:
-2 cups of ground graham crackers (about 30 squares or to make it easier, buy the crumbs already crushed :)
-1 stick of melted butter

For the filling:
-2 blocks of full fat cream cheese (I use Philadelphia)
-3 eggs
-1 cup of sugar
-1 pint of greek yogurt
-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
-1/2 cup of semi sweet chocolate chips (if desired)

Crust:
1. Preheat the oven to 325F.
2. Combine butter and crumbs until evenly distributed
3. Coat an 8 inch springform pan with baking spray and pour the crumb mixture into the pan.
4. Spread it evenly and pat it down with the bottom of a glass.
5. Bake it for about 10 minutes and remove to cool (you may want to just place it in the fridge at this time)

Meanwhile for the filling:
1. Beat cream cheese and sugar on low until smooth and free of clumps
2. Add eggs one at a time on low speed
3. Fold in the yogurt, extract, and if desired, chocolate chips and mix evenly with a spoon or spatula
4. Pour the cheesecake mixture onto the cooled crumb mixture
5. Place aluminum foil around the bottom and slightly up the sides of the springform pan to prevent spilling
6. I got this last tip from Passion For Baking Manuela's Blog! To avoid having to make the water bath used for cheesecake, she has an oreo cheesecake recipe recommending to bake at 212F for three hours. Yes, it takes long, but I preferred not to make the water bath so I went with the slow bake


Topping (for the Almond Joy flavor)!
- top with ganache, sliced almonds, and coconut flakes. Some of this could be included into the mixture, but I did not want to add almonds inside so I just went with the topping. It was delicious!

Dessert Lasagna

I made chocolate dessert lasagna a while ago and decided to try strawberry now as summer is approaching and it's getting hot! It's a great no-bake dessert and SO simple and delicious!



Strawberry Dessert Lasagna

1. Melt a stick of butter with a pack of crushed Oreos (chocolate or vanilla or Nilla cookies) and spread in a brownie pan. Refrigerate.
2. Meanwhile, mix 1/4 cup of sugar and a pack of cream cheese, 2 tbs milk and 1 1/4 cups of cook whip. Spread on Oreo layer and refrigerate again.
3. Combine two packs of instant pudding of any flavor with 3 1/4 cups of milk and then layer on the cream cheese. Refrigerate once again for a bit.
4. Finally spread cool whip on top and add some sprinkles!

Peanut Butter Cheesecake Mini Cakes

Chocolate, Peanut Butter, AND….Cheesecake!

Crust:
• 1 cup of Oreos (about 20 cookies)
• 2 tbs of unsalted melted butter

Filling:
• 1 package of softened cream cheese
• ½ cup of sugar
• 1/3 cup of peanut butter
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

To make the crust:
• Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a 12x9 inch (brownie) pan OR line a cupcake pan with 12 baking cups.
• Crush Oreos in a food processor and mix with melted butter.
• Press the mixture into the pan or baking cups and bake for about 10 minutes.
• Set aside to cool.

For the filling:
• Beat cream cheese, sugar, and peanut butter first.
• Then add in the egg and vanilla until well blended.
• Top the Oreo crust with the filling and bake for about 20 minutes.
• Serve with nutella , whipped topping, or as you desire!
*if you used a brownie pan rather than cupcake cavities, you can cut into circles with a biscuit cutter for the same look as I have in my photo. Enjoy!