Almost a treatless party...

I absolutely LOVE baking treats for class parties!! So of course when Halloween rolled around I volunteered to bake a treat for my daughter Carlee's pre-school class.

What was I thinking???

I can't believe all of the allergies in that classroom.

No eggs, peanuts, strawberries or watermelon.

I knew those though since it's Carlee's allergies!

But they also said no milk, cinnamon, or root beer.

Yikes! Give me an egg allergy any day over dairy! Everything I wanted to make had milk in it. Cake mixes, brownie mixes, butter, etc.

I finally settled on making Jell-O popcorn balls. When I went to make them my air popper wasn't working. Go figure.




So what the heck can I make? I thought. Well, they got orange jigglers shaped like pumpkins and pie crust sprinkled with orange sugar. Not what I wanted to make but it worked.

My little Carlee.

The kids seemed to enjoy them although they thought the pie crust was a sugar cookie. Hope they weren't disappointed!



I think next year I won't volunteer!

They are so cute though. How can I resist???

Frosting Clowns

For our 3rd cake decorating class one of the things we had to do was make frosting clowns. I've never seen these before but it was a cute idea! :)

My friend Julie made this purple clown.

Her daughter Lyndsey made a pink clown.

I thought she did a pretty good job!!

This cute plate of cupcakes was made by my mother in law Tina.

And here you go. This is my boring white clown. I'll admit it. I was too lazy to get out another bag and split colors!

That didn't stop Collin from trying to lick it though!

Or the hubby either as he tried to eat it up in one big bite!!

I have been having so much fun learning new techniques and the intricacies of the sugar arts. I think after the beginning course is done we'll have to move onto more advanced courses. Can't wait to try and make fondant flowers in lessons to come!

My first cake!

This month has been a whirlwind of icing! Why? Because I am now taking my first ever cake decorating course. My mom is so gifted in the sugar arts and now I decided that I would like to learn how she does it all.

I know, I know, my cake isn't the greatest but hey it was my first try. It was a learning process. I'm not very talented when it comes to smoothing out the icing. It's a pain in the rear!

Plus, my icing lines weren't the best on the side. You could even see some of the cake peeping through where the icing wasn't connected very well! In the end all that mattered was that my kids loved it and I had a lot of fun with everyone else in the class. That's all that matters right?? Plus I know I'll get better with time. How could I not with such an awesome teacher! Luv ya mom!

Mummies in a Blanket

I haven't really been in the kitchen much except to hog down pizza or cereal. Nutritious aren't we? So I thought I better get back into the swing of things!

My son and I made these mummies in a blanket the other day and both kids thought they were fun. Collin was just disappointed I wouldn't let him put chocolate chips for the eyes. Hot dogs and chocolate? The very thought makes me queasy!

Mummies in a Blanket

Ingredients:

1 can crescent rolls 8 ct.

8 hot dogs

raisins

Directions:

Pre heat oven to 375 degrees. Separate crescent roll dough into 8 triangles. Taking one triangle, cut it into strips lengthwise. Wrap strips around hot dog leaving a space for eyes. Repeat with remaining dough and hot dogs. Bake for 13-17 minutes or until golden brown. Cut raisins in half for eyes.

Horsie, horsie on your way!!

I just had to share the horse cake my mom made for my babies 4th birthday.

It was so cute!!

Everyone loved it.

It was a chocolate cake with cookies and cream filling. Ummmm... The stable, fence and horse were chocolate with rice krispies underneath.

The silly birthday girl devoured an entire side of fence waiting for her daddy and grandpa to come. It was too yummy to wait!!

Banana Chocolate Cupcakes

Oh what to do when you have a pile of brown bananas and you're sick of banana bread. Mash 'em in cupcakes! No one ever gets tired of cupcakes do they? I was perusing the joy of baking website and came across a recipe for chocolate banana cake. It looked so good that I immediately set about making it. This is my first time making ganache frosting but it turned out yummy. Enjoy!

Chocolate Banana Cake (or cupcakes!!):

2 cups (400 grams) granulated white sugar

1 3/4 cups (245 grams) all-purpose flour

3/4 cup (75 grams) cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2 medium sized bananas)

1 cup (240 ml) warm water

1/2 cup (120 ml) milk

1/2 cup (120 ml) safflower or canola oil

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract


Chocolate Ganache Frosting:

8 ounces (227 grams) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, cut into small pieces

3/4 cup (180 ml) heavy whipping cream

1 tablespoon (14 gram) unsalted butter


Chocolate Banana Cake Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven. Butter, or spray with a non stick vegetable spray, a 9 x 13 inch (23 x 33 cm) pan. Set aside. Or you can line muffin pans with paper liners.

In a large bowl whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In another large bowl, whisk together the eggs, mashed bananas, water, milk, oil, and vanilla extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir, or whisk, until combined. You will notice that the batter is quite thin. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 35 to 40 minutes for the cake. Bake 18-20 minutes for cupcakes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. When completely cooled, frost with the Ganache.


Ganache Directions:

Place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized stainless steel, or heatproof bowl. Set aside. Heat the cream and butter in a medium sized saucepan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil. Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Stir until smooth. When Ganache has completely cooled, beat until soft and fluffy. Then spread the frosting on top of the cake. Can garnish with dried banana chips if desired.

Serves 16 people.

Quick Halloween Snacks

Here are a couple of quick snack

ideas for your little boys and ghouls!

Cut out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with a bat cookie cutter. Then put on mini chocolate chips for the eyes. My son usually doesn't eat PB&J but when I fixed them like this he gobbled them right up!

Roll out refrigerated biscuit dough. Top with pizza sauce, cheese and pepperoni cut into fun pumpkin faces. Bake as directed on biscuit container.

Happy snacking!!