FALL is Coming...

I am in big time denial. I just don't want summer to end quite yet! I was convinced that summer was still trying to hang around but there is no fooling Mother Nature and what she says GOES. Here is the proof that I found today that fall is coming, in addition to the fact that it now gets dark by 7:30pm and I have to remember to turn on my head lights when I am driving around.

That is the glorious thing about the Pacific Northwest. In the middle of summer it will stay light out until 10pm.

I guess there are SOME good things that do come with fall. Cozy sweaters, Pumpkin Spice Lattes, boots and falling leaves. And my Fall Pinterest Board (SEE HERE) is BLOWING up with inspiring fall themes.  

And on that Pinterest board I had a pin for a Chocolate Pumpkin Spice bundt cake from this awesome blog, Chocolate, Chocolate and More Chocolate. Naturally, I am a fan. Check out the blog HERE for the recipe! 

So there was just one little problem standing in my way of this confection and me...a bundt pan. I was just in William Sonoma the other day admiring the REALLY nice bake-ware section they had. TONS of bundt pans, but they were all around $20-30 bucks a pop. I made a mental note and left with just a high quality cooking spray, this stuff works AMAZING! Go get some it is only $10 at William Sonoma. 

Say NO to PAM! Buy Me Instead!

 

So here I am ingrediants and all but no bundt pan. Fortunately I live down the street from a Value Village and I decided to pop in. Within 5 minutes I find this little GEM. In brand new condition and for $5.99. SCORE! Even looks like a crown!

Gotta Love Value Village!

I got out my recipe and proceeded to BAKE! Now I know that my oven is a fast cooker to begin with so I set the timer to 45 minutes according to the recipe and it was definitely not done cooking in the middle, still very gooey when I tested it. But the bottom of the cake was perfectly cooked and I didn't want to come out uneven. The solution - tin foil. I literally just cut a piece and set it over the top of the bundt and 10 minutes later, it was done and not burnt. 

MMMmmmm....perfecto

Now you have to let it cool before flipping it on to the cooling rack. And sure enough the non stick spray did the job because that little cake popped right out of there no problem! 

The bundt cake

 

Now once it is cooled the recipe said you can either sprinkle powdered sugar on it OR frost it...when in rome FROST IT. I just so happen to have a little bit of left over butter cream frosting in my fridge from last weekend so I proceeded to pull that out. I then also had a little bit left of a bag of white chocolate chips. I melted the white chocolate chips over a double boil on the stove and added it to the butter cream to make...wait for it....WHITE CHOCOLATE BUTTER CREAM...yup you guessed it. 

The Finished Product

Well if you can't beat them, join them. HAPPY FALL FRIENDS!

Life is Like A Box of Chocolates - Truffle Class

I had to name this after the Forest Gump because that is all I could think about while taking the class!

My best friend got me a gift card for my birthday to my favorite baking shop, Dawn's Candy and Cake in Bothell. They offer a wide variety of classes you can take and if there is something that you want to learn how to do but is not on the schedule you can request it! This is also where I took my cake pop class!!

They also have an AWESOME supply of just about anything you need related to baking and I am talking about all the weird little stuff too that maybe you haven't heard of. And all of the prices are really reasonable compared to Michael's.

I am always looking for baking enthusiasts friends to join me when I do classes. I was at a bridal shower when I discovered a friend lived by me and liked to bake so I invited her to come along! This is Erin - say (hi Erin!)

My Partner in Crime!

In this class we learned how to temper chocolate which is a process of heating and cooling high quality chocolate into truffles, candy bars, you name it. This is a technique that is taught in culinary school. Dawn the owner and instructor, told me that she had culinary students come to her class and said she made it so much easier than in their school lessons.

Filling the Chocolate Shells with Flavored Ganache 

I have melted and shaped chocolate for years so I was up for a challenge! I am not going to describe in detail the whole process because honestly, I only understood bits and pieces myself. But the end result was great AND the best part was we HAD to eat chocolate all night.

In Deep Concentration

Filling Bottles of Tasty Ganache

Now Thats A Big Candy Bar!

Here is a picture above of the chocolate that we were tempering! I secretly wanted to get a picture of me holding it and trying to take a bite.!

Erin Filling Her Truffles

Cheesecake Truffles

Baileys and Rum Truffles

Peanut Butter Truffles

Peppermint Mocha Truffles with Disco Dust! 

Coconut Truffles

English Toffee Truffles

Pumpkin Spice Truffles

Coffee Truffles

The End Result - Truffle Box

Here are my beautiful creations! At this point in time I had been in the class for 4 hours and it was pushing after 10pm. I was tried and was just trying to finish them as fast as I could! I forgot I also made salted caramel flavor which is my favorite!

Medieval Themed Cookies

I had a couple big cookie projects this weekend. I actually made cookies for a corporate gathering this past friday. My uncle is the General Manager for Mass Mutual Financial (click the link to check him out hehe). Anyways, they were having their annual picnic outing and I was asked if I was interested in making themed cookies for them. Naturally I was.

I have to say that these cookies took some thought and creativity to them. Usually if I don't have a particular cutter, I can go to Etsy.com and buy some from my favorite shop - the cookie cutter guy, check him out great products!!  However, in this case it was a little bit shorter notice so I couldn't order some of the shapes that I wanted.

For example, a shield cookie cutter or a sword cookie cutter would have been really cool to frost. But I had to get a little creative which means PINTEREST to the rescue. I also found on Pinterest how to turn a gingerbread man into a knight. I also ended up using a plain circle to make a shield.

Shield Cookie with Piped Butter Cream Frosting

I was at my local craft store and I lucked out when I saw the Fleur De Lis cookie cutter! I thought to myself, thats kind of medieval right? I think this one turned out to be my favorite and would be really cute for future parties like Mardi Gras!

Fleur De Lis Cookie Cutter

The party really lucked out weather wise. The night before we were having TERRIBLE thunder and lightning storms which is so uncommon. The sun did come out and shine for the party though and the cookies received good feedback to me. Check them out!

Shield Cookies 

The whole time I was frosting the shield cookies I couldn't help but think about one of my favorite shows....GAME OF THRONES. Each shield is a different pattern and it made me think of all the different clans and townships they would represent. I know it is silly but sometimes you have to exercise your imagination!

Game of Thrones Anyone?

The diamond shapes were meant to match the table clothes which were the blue and white Oktoberfest pattern you see in the background. The below are the finished product cookie platters. 

Medieval Cookies

Medieval Cookie Platter

Of all the cookies I have made thus far, I would say this project challenged me the most and I was a little nervous for the finished product.

Grandma's 90th Birthday Celebration!

This year my boyfriend's grandma, Phyllis, turned 90 years old. To celebrate, the family threw a surprise birthday party. She was surprised to say the least and it was a beautiful day for a party! All the kids, grandkids and great-grandkids made it out for the party and it was really special for her and everyone.

The Birthday Girl Arrives!

Naturally I had to make some cookies. The only problem was the drive. From our house it is about 2-2.5 hours east and over the mountains to the little town of Wenatchee. I knew there was no way I could get the cookies over there in one piece. The other difficulty is the fact that his parents live in his grandma's house (long story) and because it was a surprise, I didn't want her to see them! I decided that I had to frost the cookies over in Wenatchee... but where?

Don't Mess With the BDAY Girl

Thankfully our friend's Kyle and Becky came to the rescue and let me use their kitchen to frost the cookies and let them set over night! Big shout out to Becky for letting me do that on such short notice. It worked out perfectly! I made the cookies the night before we left and then frosted them the night before the party. Here are some pictures of the treats and the birthday girl!

The Cookie Platter

The Big 9-0

Dragonfly Cookies

 I love this little dragonfly cookie cutter. The only difficulty with this cookie cutter is the tail. It is VERY fragile. I made extra's just in case and I ended up breaking about half of them.

90th Birthday Crown Cookies

 I almost didn't do the crown but I am glad I did because the birthday girl was wearing her tiara and it was too perfect!

Daisy Flowers and Dragon Fly Cookies

The daisy sugar cookies were one of my new cutters and I was so excited to use this one. I loved the bright colors and the cookie is about 1-2" which is the perfect "cookie" size in my opinion!

Cupcake Sugar Cookies (My First Cutter)

The cupcake was the first cookie cutter from a class I took back in the spring, and what started my passion and hobby of baking and frosting cookies. Without that class, I would not be where I was today! 

The Other Cookie Platter

 Happy birthday to Grandma!