LOVE MONSTERS

Happy Valentine's day from some sweet little monsters!
(Only words of love can ever pass over their heart-shaped tongues past Rice Krispie lips.)

Up, Up and Away! (Cakes for boys! part 3)

Just finished up this cake for the ever-talented Amy Atlas, who put together an over-the-top, beautiful "Ready For Takeoff!" birthday party for her 4 year old son.My friend Patti Paige of Baked Ideas, who's amazing attention to detail NEVER ceases to amaze and inspire me, created theseUNBELIEVABLE cupcakes and cookies:

(above cookie & cupcake photos courtesy: Amy Atlas & Patti Paige)*Thank you so much to cake artist, Liz Shim and Kristen Veloria for coming to my rescue at the last minute to help me out with the cake & the delivery!

An other FAVORITE Tool: Flexible Measuring Cups

I just had to say how great these silicone flexible measuring cups are for kids to work with.
(OK, its true, I'm a big fan of most silicone baking tools, but this one's special...)
Kids can get a good, fun, bendy grip and measure and pour away.
Flexible Measuring Cups, Ken LeVan, 2008
Made of translucent silicone, these nested measuring cups allow you to form a spout anywhere along the flexible rims for precise pouring. The textured surfaces provide a secure grip, and two clear measurement windows allow you to view the contents. The large size may also be used as a mixing bowl. Microwave- and dishwasher-safe. Set of three. Capacity: one, two, and four cups.

2009:A Year of Cakes For Boys: Part 2

Jedi, Legos, transformers, Bakugan, sports themes, superheros... trains, planes and automobiles have been making their way out of the kitchen all this year.

Luckily, there have been plenty of opportunities for field research (Transformer cake in progress above) I was able to gain access to the finest 5 & 6 year old masters, technical advisers and experts at every playdate. (Transformer cake finished above)

So, big thank you to all the super sweet and appreciative little (BIG) boys!

Cake Ball Snowmen

We're loving the snow right now. Here's a variation on "cake lollipops", Cake-ball Snowmen. PHOTOGRAPHS BY GAIL ALBERT HALABAN.

These cake balls were formed then put in the freezer for about 20 minutes...(we had "play breaks" while they set up and chilled).
the chilled cakes covered lightly in buttercream icing (with our fingers, very messy!) and rolled in our hands to reshape balls and set into the freezer for an other 10-30 minutes
...the kids rolled the chilled and iced cake balls in a coating of confectioner's and sanding sugars. For supports we poked lollipop sticks into small 1/2" thick foamboard squares I cut in advance.

...and then they decorated away, with tubes of gel sparkle icing, rainbow mini chips, heart sprinkles, modeling chocolate, or you can use any colorful candies you have on hand.*step-by-step how-to video:*

2009: A Year of cakes for Boys: part 1

At our house, we could have titled this past year,"Boys R Us". Between Star Wars play-dates and pirate birthday parties, somehow word must have gotten out to our clients who all seemed to be celebrating their own amazing boys as well. This 4 foot high monument to the Yankees was made for a truly gorgeous Bar Mitzvah party designed by event planner, Marcy Blum which was held at the new Yankee Stadium.
I was so lucky to enlist the talents of some of my favorite cake makers to help to execute this design, since this was a very last minute order---only one week to do the whole project:LizShim, Mark Randazzo and Dan Pasky & my wonderful extern Kristen Veloria.Kristen's husband Anthony and Patti Paige just stopped by to say hi--- but got put to work instead! A very special thank you to Catherine Leonard photography for being so kind and supportive and letting us use these great photographs of the finished cake!

Holiday Smiles

Happy Holidays! baked with love, and kisses:

Read-to-me Cakes

With very little time and even less brain power to come up with a teacher's gift this year, luckily I came across this really warm and wonderful idea from Bakerella.

Below is our version, (baked with Sam, 5) with one of our favorite books on top. Instead of cake balls, we used a round cookie cutter to cut cake and covered it in chocolate ganache. Tiny color-copied books were attached to rock sugar stirrers and skewers with hot glue:

Magical Bite of Gingerbread!

Is this the best idea ever?
I'm very much in LOVE with this perfect little gingerbread house by Patti Paige at Baked Ideas.

2009 Gingerbread Adventures Show at New York Botanical Garden

No Shirt, No Shoes, No Wolves!
This year's Gingerbread house theme is fairy tales and it was really fun making the safe and sturdy 3rd pig's brick house...
O.K., so the whole house is edible, but the wolf never needs to know. The truth is, I don't know what I was thinking... but those pigs and wolves were made of chocolate... and it was unseasonably hot... and the houses are displayed in a green house... I won't recount the gruesome details. Needless to say there is a new set of characters (very un-meltable) in that house now...a kind of a happily ever after ; )

Snug inside the house the pigs are constructing their own Gingerbread House in front of a cozy fireplace covered in multicolored jellybeans. Their rug is made of string licoriceand the lamp is gum-balls. The art on the walls were drawn with edible markers by 5 & 6 year olds.

Come See the Gingerbread Adventures Show at NY Botanical Garden

It's beginning to look a lot like...
I should get started on this year's Gingerbread house.

I created these for the Gingerbread Adventures Show at New York Botanical Garden (I love, I love, I love the Botanical Garden!) in the Bronx.
Gingerbread Moose Caboose Train Station, 2006; Rocket-Sam's House, 2007 and How Does a Dinosaur Pick-up House, 2008.

The show starts on November 21st.

Chocolate Superheros

For this costume party we have Rice Krispie treats & modeling chocolate disguised as Superheros, (disguised as storm-troopers).

A happy collaboration with Katie Robinson who baked and painted the amazing detailing on the tiers of the cake.

Kindergarten Modeling Chocolate

Kids Baking and Cake Decorating: Here's what happened when the kids let their imaginations run free with the chocolate modeling clay and cupcakes---pure fun! (See next post for recipe)

Chocolate Modeling Clay for Kids

This recipe is super easy to make and makes for some sweet sculptures. Shape the chocolate clay into animals, people, cars, or any thing your heart desires. I made the bears and horses shown for a baby cake.
10 ounces compound chocolate coating or candy melts (also called chocolate wafers)*
1/3 cup light corn syrup
*I like Wilton's candy melts and Merckens Rainbow Wafers. You can find this recipe with all different kinds of chocolate, but I think coating works best. 1) In a medium mixing bowl, melt the chocolate without heating it above 100°F. I heat the chocolate in microwave approximately 10-30 seconds at a time until its 2/3 melted and then stir together until its all melted. 2) Once the chocolate has melted, add the corn syrup. Using a rubber spatula, stir and fold the mixture, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl well, until no shiny syrup is visible and the mixture forms a thick ball. Do not over-mix. 3) Turn the clay out onto a sheet of waxed paper. Using the rubber spatula, pat it into approximately an 8-inch square. Let it sit uncovered at room temperature until firm, about 2 hours. Use the clay at once, or store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to one month.

Katie Robinson's Cat Burger Cake & Threadcakes.com

Go, Katie Robinson!
Not only is Katie one of my favorite people in the world, but now she has made one of my favorite cakes of all time.
The Painted Lily - Cakes by Katie Robinson
This was created for an online cake competition by Threadless.com called Threadcakes

Baker's Dozen

I've been having such a great teaching experience conducting an After School program cake decorating class one a week. Here I am with handful of super sweet and talented 12 to 14 year old's make edible art in a Middle School in the Bronx, NY.

more than one way to ice a cake

Above are some off the entries into a school rocket ship cake contest in Ohio. All different and all beautiful! for video instructions on making a rocket of your own click on the sidebar image of a rocket.

Got Cake?

Got Cake?
These dear deer cupcakes inspiration are from Baked, a sweet little spot in Red Hook, Brooklyn

healthier recipe ideas

A few of our favorite classic cake and icing recipes have been added to the bottom of this page called "A Few Good Recipes" We welcome any suggestions to add to list of recipes.

Healthier Recipe ideas:
Photo © Kate and Georgina
For a bit more of a nutritional bang for your buck, here are a number of cake and cupcake recipes from the book Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld:
Deceptively Delicious Blueberry Cheesecake Cupcakes

Chocolate Milk Cake
from the What To Expect book's Best Odds Recipes
I love the handful of recipes in the What to Expect book, because kids really like them and you can feel a little bit better about serving them.
Makes one 13 X 9-inch cake pan
Butter and flour, for the baking pan
1 C whole-wheat flour
1/4 C unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 C wheat germ
2 t baking powder
2/3 C unsweetened cocoa
1/4 C vegetable oil
1 3/4 C apple juice concentrate
*1/2 C milk mixed with *5 T nonfat dry milk
2 whole eggs
1 egg white
1 t vanilla extract

1. preheat the oven to 325˚F. Lightly butter and flour a 13 X 19-inch baking pan
2. Place the flours, wheat germ, baking powder, cocoa, oil, juice concentrate and milk in a large mixing bowl; beat until smooth. Add eggs, egg white, and vanilla and beat until thoroughly mixed.
3. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake until the top springs back when lightly pressed about 35 minutes. Cool slightly in the pan before turning out onto a rack to cool completely. Or serve right from the pan, if desired with whipped cream.

M&M's Decorated Cake

Here's a great decorating idea from our cake and cookie design expert & friend Patti Paige at Baked Ideas custom baking NYC. You can get the m&ms at the m&m store around times square - where you can pick out any amount of each color that you want.