Merry Christmas 2015

HO HO HO! It's that crazy time of year again where we drive ourselves a little mad with all the holiday hustle and bustle. Christmas time is especially busy in my kitchen. This year I almost didn't have enough time to bake for myself and gifts for friends and family! I found time and luckily got it done though! *phew* 

I watched a bunch of TV baking specials this year which is something I typically don't do but I was really inspired and learns A LOT from these fellow bakers. I had no idea what "pate a choux" was ( I do now) or how to make petit fours. 

Tacky Sweater Cookies

So my New Year's Resolution is to branch out and explore more baking recipes and styles. I also want to concur my free and resistant of cakes so I have signed up for the Wilton Method classes at my local craft store and I actually could not be more excited! 

This year I baked many shapes and designs but probably one of the biggest crowd pleasers are the Tacky Sweater cookies. These cookies are always a big party hit! Especially since ugly sweater parties have become more and more popular every year. 

The hardest part of making these cookies is coming up with all the different designs. I try to channel my inner "tackiness" to come up different ideas for the sweaters. These featured above are just a few of the ones I did. Check my other blog posts for other designs. 

Holiday Cookie Dessert Platter

 Here are some other holiday cookies I made this year. I did a variety of Santa Claus faces, mittens and stockings, snow flakes, snowman and wreaths just to name a few. I have a whole drawer full of cookie cutters dedicated to holidays and christmas is about half of them! 

Holiday Cookie Dessert Platter

Another treat I made for the first time this year was Red Velvet Whoopie Pies! Nothing says "holidays" more than red velvet! I made it from scratch too. Did you know that red velvet has cocoa powder in it? That is what gives it that distinct taste...I did't know that until I made it. These were a party hit too this year. They are small and easy to eat and a perfect mix between cookie and cake. 

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

And lastly, the dessert I have really been working on this year and trying to perfect are my French Macarons. Man those buggers are little stinkers! They are so delicate and easy to mess up. Luckily I discovered earlier this year the right cookie time for my oven - we bought a house this year which means learning curve with the oven. 

Mini "Mac"

One thing I still struggle with these guys is their size. I for some reason can't get mine to be bigger than a quarter and I would like them to be more like a silver dollar size. Because they are so small, filling them can be quite tricky especially if you want to combined flavors like a chocolate ganache with a raspberry fruit filling.

French Macaron Tower

For this holiday season I made Chocolate Peppermint which I made with the red dye on top of the tower. In the middle a Chocolate Spiked Eggnog which ended up tasting more like straight gingerbread according to my professional taste tester aka my husband - lol. I kind of agree with him though. It was eggnog spiked with rum, anyways that is the flavor in the middle. And lastly I made a apple pie which was my favorite. It had really bits of apple in it and lots of cinnamon yum yum. 

Some other usual suspects made it to the party too. Those were my chocolate and vanilla cake pops and cupcakes. 

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season! See you next year... as they say in show biz...THAT'S A WRAP! 

Tacky Seahawk Sweaters!

OOPS! I meant to post this on Sunday during the football game but I was busy in the kitchen working on another order of cookies! hehe. One of my clients requested Seahawk themed sweater cookies for her tailgating friends! So much fun!

If you can't get enough of the legion of BOOM, check out these Seahawk themed tacky sweaters! LET'S GO SEAHAWKS!

Seahawk Themed Tacky Sweaters

Happy Holidays! If you would like to order cookies please hit the contact me button at the top for information!

Happy Holidays! More Christmas Cookies!

As I promised in my last blog post - more Christmas cookies! I threw a log on the fire, turned on the christmas music and baked the night away! And I made some NEW tacky sweaters as well. They are just too much fun to make! I hope you like them! Happy Holidays!

Frosty Snowmen

Sparkly Snowflakes

Jolly 'ol Saint Nick

Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer

New Tacky Sweaters!

Ugly Sweater

Snowman Tacky Sweater

JOY JOY JOY 

Merry Christmas!

Thanks for stopping by! If you would like to order cookies please email me!

'Tis the Season - Pull Out Your Tacky Sweaters!

I have to say I am proud of myself this year - I avoided holiday shopping this past weekend completely.   Instead I did some much needed work around the house and it was VERY productive weekend. My BF on the other hand needed some overdue R&R, which consists of beer, football and sleeping in until 10am.

Of course apart of that productivity was baking cookies, like the Starbuck's ones I posted the other day. I also started making some for the holidays too. I made a santa, elf and mitten/glove but I didn't take any pictures. Still perfecting them. The ones I REALLY liked were my "tacky sweaters" and angels. 

Tacky Sweater Cookie 1

Tacky Christmas Sweater Cookie 2

Love Them All! Which One is Your Fave?

Gotta Love Ugly Sweaters

Had to Throw in a Tacky Cardigan!

I think the Tree is Maybe My Favorite

Christmas Angels - Is It Me Or Are They Glowing?

I love the sparkly angels but I decided after the fact that I think I want to make them with faces. What do you think?

Fear not - there will be more Christmas cookies and treats through out the month. My calendar is filling up fast from cakes and cookies to cake pops for holiday parties! 

**If you want some holiday cookies for your party or for Santa's BIG night email me! If you are planning a cookie decorating party I also make cookies unfrosted for you and friends to decorate. Contact me at kaylas.career [AT] gmail [DOT] com! **

Happy Holidays!