Hiatus

I've been on hiatus...
Being a mom and wife...working full-time and making cakes...it's a pretty busy life!

So this will be a short post. Just wanted to showcase the sweet projects I've done the past few weeks.

Enjoy!

nothin' better than cinnamon rolls...

Breakfast...my favourite meal of the day!

Last weekend, I planned to make cinnamon buns for breakfast.  Butt...Friday night came...then Saturday night came and I got too lazy to prepare the dough (gotta prepare it the night before or wake up 3 hours before breakfast...no thanks!).  So on Sunday morning, I scoured the internet for something scrumptious to make for breakfast.

And I found this:  cinnamon roll pancakes!

Reading thru the blog post, many commented on how runny the cinnamon filling came out.  So I put the filling in a ziploc bag and threw it in the fridge to help it thicken while I made the glaze and pancakes.

pancakes cooking with cinnamon swirl

The filling came out thicker, which made it easier to swirl onto the pancake.  This recipe was so easy peasy to make and the pancakes taste exactly like Cinnabon rolls!  Ugh...just thinking about this pancake is making my mouth water...definitely must make this again!

cinnamon roll pancakes...not as pretty as Recipe Girl's pancakes!  

pancakes, syrup and whipped cream recipes...homemade everything!

Weekday mornings are super busy for our family.  Since I don't have time to cook in the morning, my kids usualy have cereal, oatmeal, toast or bagel for breakfast.  So when the weekend comes, I usually try to make it up by making their favourite breakfast foods.

Today was pancake day.  :-)

I don't remember the last time I've bought a ready-made pancake mix.  Pancakes are so easy to make...all you need is a whisk, a big bowl and this recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1 egg

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat a lightly oiled griddle over medium-high heat.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  Add egg, milk and oil.  Beat until smooth.  

Pour or scoop the batter onto the hot griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake.  Brown on both sides and serve hot.  (from allrecipes)

See?  Easy peasy!  I usually add a teaspoon or two of cinnamon if I'm making plain pancakes.

I've also used this same recipe for blueberry and banana pancakes.

Chocolate chips were the special ingredients today.  I don't mix the chocolate chips in the batter...I sprinkle them on the batter while cooking.  This prevents the chocolate chips from sinking to the bottom.

I had leftover whipping cream in the fridge so I made whipped cream and because we had no syrup in the house, I also made homemade honey syrup.  The syrup turned out amazing!  I used half light and half dark corn syrup and also added a tablespoon of butter for flavour.

Yes that's right...homemade pancakes, syrup and whipped cream! 

I think I just gained five pounds this morning...

the chubbster...word up!

I survived!

I did it!

Five cakes in one week! 

I know I said only four cakes in last week's blog but I actually ended up making five!  As my husband said...I'm a glutton for punishment.

So I showed you the first two baby shower cakes I made last week. 

The third baby shower cake I made was for a very good friend from work.  Since 2012 is the year of the dragon (Chinese astrology), I wanted to make her a cake with a baby dragon.

The first gumpaste dragon I made was a fail.  He was a chubster and just couldn't hold up his own weight.  Chubbster...word up!



chubby dragon



dragon rolls



So I started all over.  This time I made a smaller, leaner, cuter baby dragon!

isn't he the most handsomest gumpaste dragon you've ever seen?!



I wanted a simple look to the cake so the baby dragon can have the spotlight.  (There's nothing worse than a super messy and busy looking cake) 

Since momma-to-be had to watch what she ate, I made a sugar-free cake with raisins and walnuts (from allrecipes) but with regular cream cheese frosting, made with icing sugar.  I figured momma-to-be can just scrape off the frosting...teeeheee.

Below are the other two cakes I made:  one is a St Patty's Day birthday cake and the other is a fondant ruffle cake I brought to a potluck "linner" (late lunch, early dinner).   

St Patrick's Day hazelnut cake with coconut cream cheese filling

ruffle cake...red velvet with cream cheese frosting

As much as I love creating all these different confections and having my creativity challenged...I'm so happy last week is over.  Now I can concentrate on what I love to do after work...sleep!



4 cakes and march break...

What a hectic week!

It's March Break plus I've got 4 cakes to finish this week! 

Here are two of the cakes I've made so far...more to come later this week. 

Baby shower carrot cake with cream cheese frosting

Baby Chucks! 

Red Velvet cake with cream cheese frosting

Pretty cake!  Got the decorating idea from bronniebakes!

The weather has been amazing and I've been trying to get my girls out as much as possible! 

driving a tractor

peekaboo?!

Happy March Break!

lazy Saturdays...

Happy Saturday!

What's for breakfast you say?  How about some homemade waffles with sweet banana topping?

Mmmmmm....nom nom nom....

happy birthday JB...and red velvet crepes!

I'm on a red velvet roll!

To celebrate Justin Bieber's 18th birthday, I made some red velvet cake pops last night!

JB red velvet cake pop

Yes I know...JB's got a new hairstyle but guess what?  His old hairstyle (aka combover) was funner to make!

Cake pops are quite easy to make but you gotta be careful when making cake pops from scratch.  I also tried to make chocolate cake pops but the cake I made was too moist so I couldn't form the balls properly.  Isn't that funny?  Everyone aims for their cakes to be nice and moist but moist cake isn't good for cake pops?  Huh? 


Anywhooo....this past Sunday, I made red velvet crepes for breakfast!

I used Tidy Mom's crepe recipe and Prevention RD's sweet cream cheese filling recipe.  The recipes were uber easy!  I used my kitchenaid blender for the crepe batter and my magic bullet to make the cream cheese filling.  Easy peasy!



I got some oooohs and aaaahs from the kiddies when I presented their plates full of cream cheese and Nutella filled crepes!  I'm looking forward to making more breakfast crepes...maybe next time, some apple cinnamon crepes? 

Mmmmm...nom nom nom...