Easy Candied Nuts and Spiced Pecans {Recipe}

Looking for an easy, and really good food gift for Christmas? Well, look what I have for you!
These Chai Spiced Candied Pecans are so good, and so easy! They're my gift for all of the teachers and neighbors in our lives this holiday season.

What You Need:
2-3 cups pecan halves (or walnuts)
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2-1 tsp. cinnamon*
1 tsp. salt
1 egg white
1 Tbsp. water
*Note: Use any spice combination you like. Below are some of my ideas.

Variations:
Chai Spiced Nuts
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. cardamom
add 1 tsp. vanilla to the water and eggs.

Spicy Sweet Nuts
add a pinch - 1/8 tsp. each:
- cayenne pepper
- chili powder
- ground cumin
- smoked paprika
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Cookie Decorating Kits - Perfect Holiday Gift!

Here's a fun holiday gift idea for you...

A cookie decorating kit for your friends and family.
Combine the icing, the sprinkles and the cookies all in one place... it's perfect! And perfectly fun.

What You Need: (for 3-5 kits)
(I will describe each in detail below with recipe links)
Cut-out cookies
Buttercream Icing
3-4 bottles of sprinkles
Disposable icing bags*
Mini treat bags *
*Available at craft stores

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"Acorn"y Little Thanksgiving Idea

After I saw this acorn treat idea on the website, The Fountain Avenue Kitchen, I decided my children must make them for their teachers as a treat for the upcoming Thanksgiving break.

Of course, being that I just looked at a picture and didn't read directions, I didn't realize I needed mini Nilla Wafers instead of regular ones. So, ours didn't turn out quite as well. But the 7-year-olds didn't care.

All you need is Hershey's Kisses, Mini Nilla Wafers (or regular-sized), and a butterscotch chip. Some melted chocolate or almond bark or even icing to put it all together, and let the kids go!

We put four in a bag and added a little note that said: "Acorn"y little gift to say: I'm Thankful for You!
Because well, we're just acorny like that!

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Yee Haw! Cowgirl Birthday Cake

A cowgirl-themed birthday cake for twin girls... one insisted there be a cow on the cake, and one insisted there be a horse. So, we ended up with this.
It's all buttercream, and really only three colors (chocolate, black and white), so it's not too hard to accomplish. The real surprise is inside of the cow tier-- which is also cow-spotted.

What You Need:
Cake Mix or Recipe for 1 vanilla and 1 chocolate cake 
1 recipe Buttercream Icing
Double recipe of Chocolate Buttercream Icing
Black Icing Coloring
Food-safe dowel rods
6" & 8" cake pans
Piping Bags and Tips #7, 10, 233
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Leftover Halloween Candy Treats {Recipe}

Sometimes just sending the leftover Halloween candy into the office to get rid of it doesn't work. People see right through that attempt at getting rid of it. So, I try to repackage it... into Cupcakes, Brownies and this year, Rice Krispies Treats.

What You Need:
6 cups Rice Krispies Cereal
1/4 cup (half of a stick) butter
10-oz. bag marshmallows
Various chocolate candy (We used about 25-30 pieces.)

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Easy Monster Cupcakes - 5 Ways

I found some Candy Eyeball Sprinkles at the store this week... so, I had no choice, I had to make some quick Monster Cupcakes for Halloween.

I thought I'd show what you could do with a few different, easy-to-find decorating tips. The tips are labeled in the picture above. I think my favorite is the easiest... Wilton Tip #233 in a messy pile. The center cupcake.
(Click on the picture to see the cupcakes larger and in more detail.)

My kids' teachers and our neighbors will hopefully enjoy their simple little monsters.

Click the Links Below to See:
Easy Monster Cake
Halloween Cupcake Ideas 
How to Make a Cake Mix Taste Homemade
Basic Buttercream Icing Recipe

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Easy Cat or Dog "Food Bowl" Birthday Cakes

My boys turned seven this weekend. Every year, we have a costume party for their birthday, to give them (and their friends) another chance to wear their Halloween costumes.

This year, they were cats. So, they wanted cat food bowls for their birthday cakes.

I decided to go with simple for the decoration because this year the boys were very particular about flavors and fillings. (Chocolate-chocolate-chocolate for Charley, and White cake with lemon curd filling and vanilla frosting for Jax.)

The 'water' is piping gel colored blue. (I added a small layer of white icing underneath the blue gel to make the water look lighter in color.) And the cat food is cereal. Each cat chose his favorite cat-food-looking cereal to go on his cake.

I made each a two-layer 9x13 cake, filled in between the layers, and to get the 'indentation' for the sides of the bowls, I used a tip #12 to add a thick layer. I added three layers, then tried to get them as smooth as possible (easier said than done).

In the end, they weren't perfect, but they won over the cats, and their friends.

Click the Links Below to See
How to Make Cake Mix taste Homemade
Rich Vanilla Buttercream Icing Recipe
Silky Chocolate Buttercream Icing Recipe
Lemon Curd Recipe
How to Frost the Corners of a Cake
Last Year's "Backson" Monster Birthday Cake

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Easy Pumpkin Creme Brulee {Recipe}

I love Creme Brulee. It is such a decadent, rich, perfect dessert.
I've long wanted to create a pumpkin creme brulee recipe for fall because it seems like that carmelized sugar yumminess on top is just the right flavor to go with spiced pumpkin.
This recipe did not disappoint.

What You Need:
 2 cups half & half
1 tsp. vanilla extract
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
  (OR 3/4 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. ground ginger, 1/4 tsp. nutmeg, 1/8 tsp. ground cloves)
2-3 Tbsp. granulated sugar

Yield: Six 1/2 cup custards 

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Apple Cider Doughnuts {Recipe}

The perfect fall breakfast... apple cider doughnuts. And these are actually not terribly unhealthy for you-- if you can look past the sugar coating.

What You Need:
(Yield: about 1 1/2 dozen large donuts, 3-4 dozen small donuts)
2 large eggs (beaten)
2 Tablespoons melted butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup plain yogurt (Greek yogurt best)
3/4 cup apple cider
1/2-1 tsp. ground cinnamon (to taste)

For the cinnamon-sugar coating:
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
* paper lunch sack & gallon plastic bag

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Game Night Cookies

Super simple cookies made for a 'Game Night' at my kids' school. Three colors of icing, if you count the white. Can't beat that!

What You Need:
Roll-Out Cookie Dough
   (I used both my Chocolate Sugar Cookie & Vanilla Sugar Cookie Recipes)
Royal Icing
Red & Black Food Coloring
Ruler & Knife (or pastry wheel)

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Cake Decorating Basics: Easy Ruffle Cake

Ruffle-covered cakes are very popular right now. The problem with a lot of them is just the amount of time it takes to do them.

This strawberry-banana ruffle cake is much easier than most. For this 2-layer 6" round cake, I spent less than half an hour piping the decoration.

What You Need:
6-8" Round Cakes (2-3 layers)*
Buttercream Icing**
Piping Bag fitted with Tip #21

*I used my Banana Cake Recipe. You could also use Cake Mix Made to Taste Like Homemade.
**I used my favorite Strawberry Buttercream Recipe (with some red food coloring added to make it a little darker). You can find all of my Icing Recipes Here.
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S'Mores Buffet - The Best Cookout Dessert EVER

My new favorite summer dessert plan: S'Mores' Buffet!
SO. MUCH. FUN!
I hit the candy aisle at the grocery store... found some fun crackers and cookies... even some leftover Girl Scout Cookies (highly recommend those!)... it was awesome!

The kids, of course loved it, but after the kids went to bed, the adults had a great time trying so many different options.

The biggest hits involved the Girl Scout Cookies, Reece's Peanut Butter Cups and Peppermint Patties.

If you come over for a cookout this summer... this will be the dessert. No question. LOVE IT! So easy, so many choices, perfect for all!

Click the Links Below to See:
S'Mores Cupcakes
S'Mores Cake 
More Spring/Summer Ideas 

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Marshmallow Flower Cupcakes on Fox 9

If you have trouble viewing the video above, Click Here to visit the MyFox9.com website to see the video.

I'm super excited and super nervous to take one of my little men on TV with me this morning to make these marshmallow flower cupcakes.

We first made them last year for Teacher Appreciation Day for their preschool teachers.

What You Need:
Cupcakes
Mini-marshmallows (about 20-25 per cupcake)
Icing (any kind will do, even canned icing)
Sugar sprinkles in pretty flowery colors
Sandwich Bags

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Half-Birthday Half-Cake

Yes, I realize that celebrating my children's half-birthday makes me the embodiment of all that is wrong with parents in America... or whatever.
But it's so fun! I made this half-birthday half-cake after seeing something similar online.

What You Need:
One boxed cake mix or about 5 cups cake batter
8" round cake pan
6" round cake pan
Chocolate Ganache
Buttercream Icing
Icing Colors
Piping Bags and Tip #7

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Easy Superhero Birthday Cake

A special friend requested a little 'different' kind of cake for his 6th birthday. He wanted Green Lantern, because Green Lantern is his favorite superhero. BUT he was having a party at a pool, so he wanted Green Lantern... swimming.

I decided to try to make what is called a 'frozen buttercream transfer' to make Green Lantern.
But when I got started, I was certain, just completely sure, it would not work. (I planned a trip to Target to buy the figurine. I was that sure it would be awful.)
So, that is why I don't have a whole lot of pictures of the technique, but I have a few. I will share my lessons, and give you a few links to more complete tutorials by others.
And maybe soon, I will try it again, and do a better tutorial, because it really wasn't as hard as I'd imagined.

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Teacher Appreciation Cookies

There's nothing like treats to make a teacher feel loved and appreciated... especially homemade treats.
(Even though one of my kids' teachers told me early in the year that she didn't eat too many homemade treats. She then revised that, after I brought her a few. Now, she doesn't even wait until the kids leave the classroom before digging in!)

What You Need:
Vanilla Sugar Cookie Recipe
Chocolate Roll-Out Cookie Recipe
Royal Icing
Coloring (Green, Brown, Black, Red, Blue)
Piping Bags and Icing Tips #1, 2 & 3
A ruler and knife or pizza/pastry cutter
For the stars, I used a star cutter, and this gold sprinkling sugar from Williams-Sonoma.

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How-To Make a Petal Cake

Learning something new... I decided to try the "petal effect" on the side of a cake. I had a birthday cake to make for our favorite babysitter, and I had carte blanche to do whatever I wanted on it. So, this is what I tried.

This white cake was actually the trial, because I was impatient, again, and the cake fell. So, I decided to just use shorty here to practice.

This was the actual birthday cake. I'm not sure that I don't like the practice one better.
I have to tell you that for how pretty this cake is, it's surprisingly easy to do! It took me less than an hour to decorate this cake!

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"Wild About You" - Easy Monster Cake

How about a hairy, purple Monster to say I'm Wild About You, Valentine!?!
This cake is super easy! It took me less than an hour to decorate. It's perfect for Valentine's Day, Birthdays, whatever!

What You Need:
6-9" Round Cake (This was 6"x3")
2-4 cups of Buttercream Icing (depending on the size of your cake)
  Colors: Purple, Pink, Black (and white)
Decorating Bags & Tips #5, 12, 233

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Polka Dot Baby Shower Cake

So, I spent last week trying to learn how to make the cake with the polka dots inside.

I offered my attempts to any friends who might need cake for the weekend... as long as they didn't mind that I'd cut a piece out and re-cover the cake with icing. A friend hosting a baby shower took me up on the offer. And since my Baby Boy Cake Pops are the most popular post on this blog (and they're really nothing special), I figured the world was hurting for more BOY baby shower ideas.

While the cake is cute with its blue and green on the outside, it's the inside that really counts.

What You Need:
6", 8" or 9" round cake pan(s)
2-3 white cake mixes (or Vanilla Cake Recipe doubled)
Food Coloring (I used the McCormick NEON that you find at the grocery store)
1-2" Round Cutters (Biscuit cutter, Fondant cutters or Cookie cutters)
Buttercream Icing (Canned icing would also work here)
For the dots on the outside:
2 Piping bags
2 Couplers
Round Tips in varying sizes (I used # 3, 5, 7, 10)

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How NOT To Make a Polka Dot Cake (and How-To)

Oh, Pinterest... you evil, evil website, you.

I saw a cake like this polka dot one on Pinterest from a blog called Once Upon a Pedestal. It's beautiful, and an awesome idea.

However, she uses a cake pop pan to make the polka dots. I don't have one of those, and the last thing in the world that I need is another cake pan! So, I decided to try some other options.

It took me four cakes, and five days, but I finally got it! (Well, mostly.)

Cake Trial #1
The mini-cupcake pan

I thought, oh, sure, I will just pop some multi-colored mini-cupcakes into the batter... they're round, it will be perfect.
Not. So. Much.

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