Sushi For Babies?

Sushi for babies?  Can it be?  Yes - well, its not for them to eat (obviously).  Allow me to get to explain...

I was browsing Twitter today and saw an intriguing tweet from @TipJunkie: "Sushi baby shower gift http://bit.ly/oq9xSp".  I love sushi, so it only took me nanoseconds to check this out.

Ready for the cutest thing ever?

Jolene at Creative Dollar came up with this absolutely adorable "sushi" plate, made with baby socks, washcloths, onesies, etc... and she did it all for $17!  Even better... she shows you how she did it in a photo tutorial!

I cannot get over how flippin' cute this is, and so original!  Happy Friday ya'll! :-)

xoxo,
  Kim

Tuesday Muse-day

Today's muse is a little something I whipped up myself, tie-dye cupcakes!  A lot of people loved these when I posted them on Twitter (@KCbakes), so I thought I'd make a tutorial. 

Tie-Dye Cupcakes
1 box of vanilla cake mix (& ingredients it calls for)
Food dye (I used Wilton's gel colors)
# small bowls for the amount of colors you'll have (I made 8 colors)
Oe spoon for each small bowl

-          Prepare the cake mix as instructed on the box. 

-          Divide the batter equally between the small bowls. 

-          Use a toothpick and put a small amount of the gel color into the batter.  Note: Gel food dye is very concentrated, so start off light... a little bit goes a long way.  Remember, you can always add more coloring, but you can't subtract it.

-          Tip: if using colored bowls like we did, don't use the same color bowl for the same color dye (i.e. yellow bowl for yellow batter); its very tough to tell if you've mixed the batter thoroughly, or if the batter is reflecting the color of the bowl.

-          After you've mixed all of your colors... fill up those cupcake pans!  A scoop of blue, a scoop of pink… there’s no rhyme or reason to it.  In fact, the more random your color pattern, the better!  Be sure to only fill the cupcake liners 2/3 of the way full to avoid them spilling over.

-          Bake cupcakes according to directions on the cake mix. 

-          Since there’s so many colors in the batter already, pair your cupcakes with a beautiful white frosting.



Great project to get the kids involved - they had so much fun!



A rainbow of cake batter!



Fresh out of the oven - I was surprised the colors stayed so bright!



Sprinkle decoration courtesy of the kiddos.



My cupcake, sans wrapper.

The middle - look at those layers of color!



Different color patterns.




We used tiger-print cupcakes, which made them even cooler.



Icing mustaches for the hard-working sous chefs :-)

These cupcakes were so fun to make... I can't wait until I have a reason to bake them again!

xoxo
  Kim

Cupcake Pops Tutorial

I had some leftover cake balls from the pops I made last night.  I've been seeing a lot of these cupcake pops lately, and they are just so cute!  I've made cupcake bites before, but never made pops out of them.  So I decided to give them a try :)

Roll your cake ball so that it fits nicely in the peanut butter cup mold.

Fill the cup up about 1/2 to 3/4 full.  You don't want it to overflow when you insert the cake ball.

Insert the cake ball into the mold. Press the cake ball down so that you feel it touch the bottom of the mold.  This is crucial for inserting the pop stick in the next step.  Big thanks to my friend Debbie who taught me this trick.

Place your mold tray in the refrigerator for 5 minutes to allow the chocolate to harden. When firm, turn the tray over onto a plate, and they should fall right out... sometimes they might need a small nudge.

Notice how you can see the cake peeking through? This is the "soft spot" where you'll insert the stick.

Dip the pop stick tip into melted candy, and insert into the "soft spot".  Set to the side for a few minutes to allow the candy to harden.

Keeping the pop straight up-and-down, dip into the melted candy - just up to the edge of the bottom half (yellow).
Depending on the thickness of your candy, you may have to tap off the excess candy.  Don't be afraid to get snazzy - grab some sprinkles and jazz them up!

Ta Da!  My first cupcake pops :)  These were so fun to make; I'll definitely be making them again!

xoxo,
  Kim

Let's Do The Twist

Tired of the of the normal "bon bon" style drizzle design?  Try something different with the side-drizzle! 

Check out my little demo:

Tips:
- Spin the pop at a slow speed as it moves through the stream of chocolate.  Spinning it too fast will cause you to decorate your kitchen in melted chocolate.
- Spinning the pop too slowly will create short wavy lines (see the 2nd pop I did).
- The finer you want your drizzle, the smaller the corner you need to snip off of the plastic bag. 

I hope you like my first video... let me know what you think!

xoxo,
  Kim

Fourth of July Cake Pops

On Monday, July 4th, America turns 235 years old! Two hundred thirty-five... geesh, and I was worried about turning 30 next year!  What better way to celebrate than to make some holiday-themed cake pops, right?

So while I was perusing Bakerella's Facebook page, I saw THE most festive cake pops on the cutest blog, My Juice Cup,who's tagline says it all... inspiration for everyday creativity.  Katie lives up to that promise, sharing recipes, party ideas, photo tutorials... the works!  Check out these patriotic pops:

4th of July Cake Pops

However you choose to celebrate this holiday weekend, I hope you have a safe and happy Fourth of July!

xoxo,
  Kim

Phillies Cake Pops!

I've been talking about them for so long, and now they're ready for their debut.... *drumroll*... my Phillies cake pops!!!

These pops will be paired up with Phillies Hall of Fame Club Seats- Phils v. Marlins (8/28/11) and will be up for auction tonight at the Phillies Block Party to benefit Kisses for Kyle.  (click on the picture to see a larger image of the pops)

There are 48 pops total, so here's the breakdown: each player on the 40-man roster is represented, as well as manager Charlie Manuel and the Phillie Phanatic, and six pops with the Phillies "P".  I think these are my favorite cake pop tags I've made so far!

I had so much fun making these, I decided to do a tutorial so you can make your favorite sports-team hat pops too!  Check it out after the jump ("Read More").

xoxo,
  Kim