Slow and Steady

My focus this past week or so has basically been on one thing and one thing only- moving. 

I'm in the process of moving into a town home with some awesome girls, and boy is it exhausting. Who knew furnishing a house could be so thought provoking and time consuming? Pictures will be coming very, very soon...I hope! It's a slow process (hence the slow and steady blog title), but we're getting there. 

On top of moving, I'm working 30 hours per week (with work days beginning at 5:00 am, might I add). I can literally hardly keep my eyes open when the clock strikes 8:00. I know, I know. I'm a party animal.

However, amongst the busyness that is my life, I've managed to squeeze in a little baking.

These first cupcakes are Coca-Cola cupcakes with Salted Peanut Butter frosting. 

These next cupcakes are Cookie Dough Cupcakes with Minnie Mouse decorations (obviously). I told y'all in my last post about the trip I took to Disney World. So, to thank the sweet family that took us, I made some well-suited desserts!

I know it's been quite a while since I've posted a good recipe for y'all to try, so I'll be sure to get one up soon! Hope everyone has a blessed rest of the week!

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

This past week, I went to the wonderful land of Disney World! I hadn't been since I was about 6, so everything was pretty new to me. It was so, so exhausting (no idea how I did that when I was so little), but so, so fun. Some of my friends are just plain experts on Disney, so we definitely did it the right way- fast passed the most popular rides, packed our own lunches, used park hoppers to hit all the parks, and developed some serious strategy to fit ALL of the rides in during the two days we were there :) I even rode some roller coasters AND Tower of Terror. It was a successful trip for me. 

Early tomorrow morning, I'm off to my second vacation of the summer- Gulf Shores! I'm so excited about this. If you know me at all, you know that the beach is one of my absolute favorite places in the whole world. Plus, I'm going with my very best friends. What could be better?

Before I leave, I wanted to post a couple of pictures of the cupcakes I made during my vacay break. 

First, we have some Reeses Cupcakes. These are available for order anytime! $18 per dozen! This cupcake is a homemade chocolate cake with a Reeses PB Cup baked inside. The cupcake is frosted with peanut butter frosting and decorated with chopped Reeses (or a decoration of your choice). Visit my website, www.kristens-cupcakery.com, for more details on this and many, many other cupcakes. 

Second are Cookies and Cream Cupcakes. These are also available for order at $18 per dozen. They have a cookies and cream cake (so delicious) with an Oreo on bottom. They're then frosted with cream cheese frosting and decorated with chopped Oreos (or a decoration of your choice). 

Lastly are some Luau cupcakes very similar to ones I made a couple of weeks ago. These are just vanilla with vanilla frosting and some beachy fondant decorations. 

And on that note...Gulf Shores, here I come!

Friends Helping Friends

I have the best friends EVER! They're all great, but the one I'm talking about now is miss Stephanie Godfrey.

She's an INCREDIBLE photographer who agreed to take pictures of my creations. I'm so excited about these pictures. She just gave me the disc tonight, and I'm already here posting them! Make sure you check out her website and facebook page. She can take your senior pictures, photograph your wedding, take some "just because" model shots, and so much more! Really. She's so talented. Don't keep reading until you click on those links :)

Now for the pictures. First up are some generic cupcakes. These were made for teachers who helped with the Creative Arts Camp at church last week. Speaking of which, I'd like to give a shout out to the lovely Joy and Ashley Poole who made it all happen! It was wonderful! 

Next up are some Independence Day cookies. And what's the Fourth of July without some Atlanta Braves?! 

Steph also took some pictures of me actually decorating the cupcakes. It had been a very long day, and baking is always quite messy, so excuse my lack of beauty :) 

Family Fun Day

Happy Fathers Day to all the dads out there! My family had a great weekend visiting my grandparents in South Carolina.

I made a carrot cake (Dad's special request) for the occasion, but it pretty much got devoured quicker than I could take a picture of it. Father's Day lunch today was at Hudson's BBQ in Columbia. It won multiple awards over the years, so I was really exciting about trying it. It had an awesome atmosphere and some pretty delicious food.

Anyway, I have quite a few desserts to show y'all that I've made over the past couple of weeks.

Number 1: Wedding Shower Cupcakes (Vanilla and Red Velvet)

Number 2: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes; This is a Chocolate Chip Cookie cake with a Cookie Dough filling and Brown Sugar frosting

Number 3: 5th Birthday Cupcakes (Vanilla)

Number 4: Bride and Groom Chocolate Covered Strawberries

I think I've caught you up on everything, so that's all for now!

Hope everyone has a happy, happy Monday tomorrow!

I Scream, You Scream...

We all scream for ICE CREAM CAKE! 

Now, I'm not usually a huge fan of ice cream cake, but this one was pretty delicious. I included the recipe below, but basically, the bottom half of the cake is ice cream and cake combined, while the top half is just ice cream. And, of course, Oreos are mixed into the whole cake. If you're thinking, "That looks like too much trouble", don't think that! I promise it's not. Unless you want to make your own ice cream and cake (I made my own cake but not my own ice cream), you're basically using all pre-made desserts. All you have to do is combine them into one yummy, chocolatey, ooey, gooey, frozen treat. 

One quick tip for all you Georgians planning on making this recipe- the cake pretty much starts melting the second it hits the hot, humid air of your kitchen. Air conditioning is not enough to protect this bad boy. That being said, move quickly to cut and serve it and get that baby back in the freezer! 

Frozen Chocolate Oreo Ice Cream Cake

Frozen Chocolate Oreo Ice Cream Cake
16 ounces chocolate cake (you can use store bought cake or homemade)
2 quarts vanilla ice cream, very soft
1 cup chocolate sauce, warmed
4 ounces dark chocolate
1 tablespoon butter

One 13-ounce package Oreos or chocolate sandwich cookies, plus additional to garnish if desired

Prepare a 10-inch springform pan by greasing extremely lightly with butter or baking spray. Roughly chop or crumble the sandwich cookies into quarters or smaller bite-sized bits, and divide into three parts. Crumble the cake into a large bowl, and stir in about 1/3 of the crumbled sandwich cookies.

Dump in about 2/3 of a quart of very soft vanilla ice cream, and stir gently but thoroughly until the cake and ice cream are well-combined. Press this mixture into the bottom of the springform pan.

In a separate bowl, mix the remaining 1 1/3 quarts vanilla ice cream with another 1/3 of the crumbled cookies. Swirl in about 1/2 cup of the chocolate sauce. Press this on top of the cake mixture in the springform pan; it will come nearly up to the top of the pan. 

Lightly cover the cake pan and freeze for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight. 

After the cake sets in the freezer, press the remaining cookies into the top of the cake and drizzle the remaining sauce over top.

When ready to serve, run a knife around the inside of the cake pan. Open the springform mold gently; it should release easily from the cake. Re-freeze the unmolded cake while you prepare the dark chocolate.

Gently melt the chocolate with the butter over low heat in a small saucepan. When completely melted, drizzle over the ice cream cake and serve in big wedges with additional cookies to garnish.

Mmmmm good :)