Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Christmas Sweets!

For many, Christmas is their most favorite holiday of the year and I made quite a load of goodies this year. First, French Macarons in three colors and flavors. The green one is filled with ganache, the red one is filled with hazelnut cream, and the gold one is filled with light caramel cream. I made five dozens and some extra for a Secret Santa dinner that us girls were having. The girls' macarons were packed in cute little chinese to-go boxes. =)





Secondly, Dr. Mike requested that I make four dozen Xmas themed cakeballs for him as a gift to the nurses he works with at the hospital. He requested them to be red velvet in flavor.





Next, sweetheart Kim, requested that I make anything that I wanted for her and her family. I suggested the Pumpkin Cheesecake since it was a big hit at the Thanksgiving party and also it was the perfect flavor for the holiday. =)





Lastly, Pecan Nut Bars! Have you ever had this craving to make something, no matter what time it is during the evening? That is what happened to me last night haha... My best friend John, brought over a pecan bar that his love made and one piece just didn't satisfy my craving... I wanted more! So at 10:00 PM last night, I decided to make some. After it was done baking, you're suppose to let it cool and harden over night in the refrigerator. Not me, I immediately cut myself a piece and ate it while it was still warm. MY GOSH it was sooo good! Today I cut them all into bar pieces and drizzled them all with bittersweet chocolate which gave it a balance in taste. I still have a lot if any of you would like some haha. No really, I'm not kidding.

You can tell that this piece was cut while it was still warm... Look at that caramel, its like its melting down the crust... MMMmmm

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Chocolate Cheesecake, Banana Nut Cupcakes & Mickey Mouse Cake

Last week, my good friend Sandra who I met through Culinary School, asked me for a favor to make a cheesecake for her and her husband's 14th year Anniversary.

This chocolate cheesecake was made with melted chocolate. The crust is an oreo cookie crust because it is Sandra's husband's favorite crust. I decorated the top with chocolate whip cream and sprinkled some cocoa powder over it. Sandra had me write a special message on their cake saying "Happy Anniversary Stud Muffin".





Happy Birthday Michael Le!!! My good friend Michael Le's birthday was last weekend and I made him some banana pecan cupcakes. The cupcakes were made with riped bananas, and fresh pecans that were handpicked and cracked by my family. I made a caramel buttercream to top it. One of my close girl friends, Linda, was studying for her nurse final exam so I saved a cupcake for her and sent it off to her.Later she responded back with: , "After studying for about two hours I suddenly got hungry. I went down stairs and open the frigde and saw a cup wrap in foil. Is it?? (heard holy background music) It is SANDIA DELICIOUS CUPCAKE!!! It gave me the strength to study...Now can I have another one? Lmao...Thanks Sandia! =]" And because it made her day, seeing her response made my day too =)

A picture of Michael Le and I after he got cupcaked!



Last but not least... Diem, Ashley's friend who I made the baby shower cake for (the one topped with a baby crib) in the previous posts has a little daughter named Chloe who had a birthday party and Chloe wanted only one theme for her birthday... Mickey Mouse! =) We agreed on a winter theme for her cake. The flavor was vanilla with chocolate icing. I put extra icing on there because Diem said Chloe loves chocolate icing!