Hippo Cookies and Lemon Cupcakes!

I made Hippo Sugar Cookies for my friend Melena's class.  She teaches preschool and on the last day of school she wanted to send the children home with a sweet little something.  Her class is the "Happy Hippos".  I found a cute little cookie cutter online. Hippo-Cookie-Cutter

I used the same recipe as I did for my Valentine's Day Cookies. I bagged each cookie individually and put stickers on them that say "Have a great Summer".  My friend Erica designed the stickers.  Thank you Erica!!

On the back of the wax paper bags, I placed another sticker, that Erica designed for me, with my information on it.  Everything was Hippo-y!  I loved making these cookies!

Melena decided at the last minute she wanted just a few cupcakes to go with her cookies.  Not a problem!

I made her some Lemon Cupcakes.  These came out so good.  I was in the middle of making a Lemon Lust Cake out of The Cake Book by Tish Boyle, so it worked out wonderfully!

The raspberries were a fun added element.  Hope you are all having a great weekend!  

Cherry-Topped Cheesecake Cups

Oh my, these are absolutely scrumptious!  I wanted to make something (besides my tart) just for the moms in my life.  Something special, small, and well, delicious.  These fit the bill, and I'm not just saying that.  Ok, well me and my taste buds are saying that!  :)  I did have to keep a few, I'm a mom too you know.  

Oh, you will never guess where I found this recipe!  That is what I call a little joke.  If you have been reading this blog, you just might know what my favorite cake book is, and that is where I found this scrumptious recipe!  The Cake Book by Tish Boyle.  Oh yes I did!  These were really easy to make and came out perfectly!  I couldn't be more happy with them.  The only thing I did differently was I used canned cherries, instead of the Morello Cherries, but it still tasted super yummy.  

I have some exciting news!  Well, at least for me.  :)  I keep raving about Tish Boyle's book, and well, she emailed me!  She has put BabyCakes by Rachel as one of her favorite blogs on Tish Boyle's Blog.  If you want to see, just click on this link Tish Boyle's Blog, and scroll down, and it's on the left side.  How cool is that?  I am so honored!  Her recipes are so good!!  I am so glad I found her book, and it has helped me develop my baking skills.  If you are interested in learning to bake cakes, develop you skills, or learn new wonderful recipes, this is the book for you! 

I hope you all have a great week!  I have some cakes I'm baking this week so I'll have them up soon!  

Giant Cupcake "Happy Second Birthday!"

A Giant cupcake!  I loved making this cake.  It is a vanilla cake, with buttercream icing.  I made matching Billy Vanillie cupcakes to go with it.  This was the first time I've used the Giant Cupcake Pan by Wilton.  (I made the Easter Basket after this one!)

I made this to match her birthday party plates:

Girl's Lil' Cupcake 2nd Birthday Dinner Plates (8) Party Supplies

I made a candy shell for the bottom of the cake, then I covered it with stripes of fondant.  I placed the cake inside the candy shell.  Then I put the top half of the cake on.  I made the matching fondant circles for the top of the cake.

Next I made a cute little cherry for the top of the cake.  I made this out of gum drops.  I thought it looked just like a maraschino cherry!

Here is the Birthday Cupcake Cake with the matching cupcakes.

The cupcakes again!  

I hope you all had a great Easter weekend! 

Lauren's Cupcakes

My good friend's daughter, Lauren, just turned 6 and she wanted vanilla and chocolate cupcakes for her birthday party.  Her birthday is just one day before Valentine's Day.  She had Valentines theme this year.  It was so cute!  I made the Devil's Food Chocolate Cake from Tish Boyle and Billy's Vanilla cupcakes.  All cupcakes were frosted with Billy's Vanilla Buttercream.  

Purple, pink and white cupcakes are decorated with pink and purple fondant hearts.

For Lauren I made a L on a special cupcake just for her.

Below is my new cupcake tree (a present from my step-mom).  It's so cute, and it worked perfectly for these cupcakes!

I put the L cupcake on the top of the tree.  I made so many cupcakes we had to put the extras on a platter.  You really can never have too many.  ;)

A close up of the cupcake tree.  

Happy Birthday Lauren, you are so precious to us!!  We love you!!  

Blessings, Rachel

Snowmen Cupcakes

Fondant Showmen on Billy's Vanilla Cupcakes.  Aren't they cute?  I just fell for them.  I wanted to keep them all but off they went to school.  Courtney took them to her daughter's Christmas party.  I was told some were devoured right away, and some got to sit on their children's desks.

I got my inspiration from Elisa Strauss.  She has some very cute snowmen in her book Confetti Cakes. Mine are nowhere are fancy as hers but I had so much fun doing them, and I love they way they came out.

I made these guys in three different colors- blue, pink, and light green.  The green is looking yellow, but I promise it really was green!

Here is Mr. Snowman with a green scarf.

This blue scarf snowman has a bit of cornstarch on his scarf.  I think he looks a little frosty that way.

Profile view of Mr. Snowman.

If you want to see Elisa's snowman, take a look here.  She is an amazing artist.

http://confetticakes.blogspot.com/2009/10/snowman-cupcakes.html

Have a great weekend!  Many blessings, Rachel

Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes

I love MOPS!  Mothers of Preschoolers that is.  I know, I know, my children are too old!  That's right!  I'm a Mentor Mom at MOPS.  I just love the ladies and the fellowship I find at MOPS.  We meet once a month at our church and take turns bringing the food.  It was my turn to bring food, so of course I could not resist trying a new recipe- Chocolate Coconut Cupcakes- a similar flavor to Mounds candy bars says Tish Boyle author of "The Cake Book".  What's not to like?  But just in case I made the Vanilla, Vanilla cupcakes for those who are not Chocolate lovers.  :)

I found out the lighting is dark at MOPS!  Who knew?  

Back to the cupcakes!  The chocolate cupcakes had a chocolate coconut batter, were topped with a chocolate coconut milk ganache, and sprinkled with dried flaked coconut.  Very rich and tasty!  The Vanilla, Vanilla cupcakes are the same recipe I have posted before - a keeper for sure!  This time I topped them with colored leaf sprinkles.  They were were very festive.

The Chocolate Coconut Cupcake- Yummy!  The rich chocolate ganache makes this cupcake!

Enjoy your visit!  I love comments and followers!  
Blessings, Rachel

Shark Cupcakes- end of soccer season!

Such a fun cupcake to make!  So, when Courtney asked me to make her cupcakes for her daughter's soccer team "The Blue Sharks", an idea formed!  Being a girly girl and having only girls, this was a new venture!

I managed to find a cute shark cookie cutter, and went to work on some fondant.  I wasn't sure exactly how the shark face should look so I called on my husband for some help.  After his artistic suggestions this is what we came up with.

Here's a school of sharks swimming on some fluffy vanilla buttercream frosting.

Watch out!  I think these guys are serious!  It makes me want to play soccer.....

Here's the cupcakes all ready to swim off!  I found this great cupcake carrier from Snapwear, I just love it!  The weather is rainy today, I hope it clears up for the game.  At least the cupcakes are dry and secure.

I love to read your comments and I always love more followers!

Princess Cupcakes

This week I had a fun project!  I made Princess Cupcakes for a birthday party.  The little sweetheart was turning 9.  Her mom showed me one of the invitations, and one of her napkins for the party.  The invitations had beautiful princess crowns and pink, and the napkins were the same pink with zebra strips.  Her party was at a beading store.  This is what I came up with.

She wanted Butter Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting.

I made the little crowns out of fondant and I brushed a little bit of luster dust on each one.  I had fun making different designs on each crown.

In the background (pic below) is the birthday girl's crown.  Her's is just a tiny bit bigger than the rest.

The whole ensemble.  What fun!

Thank you Nesha for letting me make your cupcakes!!  I hope your daughter had a wonderful party!!