Floral Crowns...for your CAKE!!

Floral crowns have been trending all over the blog sphere lately so why not translate that into cake?! 

Here is a very simple photo tutorial on how to create this look:

Supplies: Floral sprig, Floral wire, and a pair of wire cutters or scissors to cut the wire.

I chose a nice, full sprig with lots of bright, colorful buds for this cake. I loved the contrast of the deep, dark pink of the flowers with the soft, pastel pink of the buttercream.

Bend your sprig starting at the bottom with the woody end. 

Simply wrap your floral wire around your sprig where the bottom and the top meet.

And there you have it. A beautiful floral crown for your cake! Add a large focal flower and any other filler flowers that you want and you just can't go wrong.

Not your typical 'Frozen' Cake!

My sweet little angel girl turned 4 a couple of days ago and like the rest of the 4-year-old population, she is obsessed with the Disney movie 'Frozen'. When I asked her what kind of cake she wanted, "A FROZEN CAKE!" was the obvious reply. As I scoured Pinterest and Bing for cake inspiration, I saw the same blue-and-white-ice-castle-themed interpretations of the movie. Not that that is bad. I saw some gorgeous and creative cakes. I just wanted to do something a little...different.

Personally, I was OBSESSED with all of the beautiful Scandinavian design, fashion, and scenery in the movie. It HAD to be on this cake. Also, instead of the Ice Castle, I wanted to create the Arendelle Castle. Then it came to me... Frozen...in the Springtime!! It is Springtime after all. 

I wanted to pull in subtle aspects of the movie that only a true fan (like my 4 year old who has seen the movie a million times) would appreciate. Let me take you through them...

ANNA:

The repeating design around the cake is the design on Princess Anna's Winter dress that she buys so that she can search for her sister, Queen Elsa, up in the North Mountain.

The Arendelle Castle:

The Arendelle Castle seemed to fit much better with the "Springtime" theme of the cake. Plus...it hasn't been done before. :) This was made from Rice Cereal Treats and fondant. I used an impression mat to get the brick texture on the fondant. 

 Elsa and Anna:

For the portraits of Elsa and Anna, I had them printed out on edible paper and adhered them to some fondant disks that I had cut and dried out ahead of time. Then I piped a delicate beaded border around them with royal icing.

"Sven's Antlers"

I just love that adorable reindeer, Sven. I had to represent him somehow. I cut a pair of antlers out of gumpaste using an exacto knife and painted them brown with food coloring. Then I simply added some beautiful fresh flowers (because it needed some floral) from a vase of flowers that I had sitting on the counter from Easter. It was the perfect touch!

Olof:

Of COURSE I had to represent Olof. But this is a Springtime scene, remember? So I brought in the purple flower that he sniffs a couple of times throughout the movie. I simply cut out the petals using a large leaf cutter and shaped them in a Wilton Forming Tray. Then I painted it purple and added some stamens. The kids pretended to sniff it and quote Olof all night long.

So there it is..."Not your typical" 'Frozen' Cake. Now let's see what YOU come up with!! PLEASE e-mail me your pictures. I would just be so thrilled to see them.

Oh...and here's another something sweet that I just HAD to share with you. My Alice on her birthday enjoying her new clothing rack stocked full of Princess dresses. She's changed 5 billion times already.

I got the idea for this Dress-up-Rack from the blog Dear Lizzy and I couldn't WAIT to do it for my own little Princess. Go HERE to see her MUCH better version. :)

It's Personal...

One of my favorite things to do with cake is to personalize it. Taking the time to add personal touches of your loved one into their cake makes them feel special and loved. It doesn't have to be complicated or difficult. It just has to be personal.

This past weekend was my adorable niece's birthday. Even though I had so much to do for Easter and my own daughter's birthday, I still had time to whip up these easy cupcakes and throw some personalized cupcake picks on top. It took me probably 1 1/2 hrs total and I figure that if I don't have that kind of time to make someone feel special, then chances are I'm probably way too busy. 

And when this is the result...It's all worth it. She almost died laughing from the "Huge Face" cupcake pick. It was the favorite of the night.

This is my brother, Mary's daddy. He sure loves her. In fact, every body loves her and with everyone holding, eating, and talking about these cupcakes that were all about her, she sure felt the love that day.

 So cake on everyone! And spread some love through cake this week. 

Have an Egg-cellent Easter!

The Easter Egg symbolizes when Christ emerged from the tomb bringing forth new life to all. I wish all of you a wonderful Easter filled with family and thoughts of the Savior and his infinite atonement. These are some of the Easter eggs that we colored yesterday. 

The {Actual} BEST Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

{So I know that I told you that I would have cakes coming soon. I promise that this IS for a cake. You are going to need this recipe for my post...get this: The Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake!! It's going to be amazing. }

I have searched and searched for YEARS trying to come up with the PERFECT Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. 

Guys... I did it. It's done. I can stop tweeking and trying because here it is folks. I give you... 

(...Drum Roll...)

The actual BEST Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe EVER...Really. 

Here you go...because I love you. :)

The {Actual} BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

4 T. Unsalted Butter (Room Temp) 
2 T. Shortening (Trust me on this one.) 

1/2 C. Granulated Sugar

1 C. Brown Sugar

2 Eggs

2 C. Flour

2 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1/2 tsp. Baking Powder

2 tsp. Corn Starch 

1/2 tsp. Salt

1 1/4 C. Chocolate Chips (Good quality Chocolate Chips will change your life!)

Directions: 

1. Pre-heat oven to 350.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch, and salt. Set aside. 
3. Cream room temp butter with the granulated and brown sugar until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes). 

4. Add eggs to the butter mixture one at a time until well incorporated. Add that vanilla now too. 

5. While your mixer is on low speed, slowly incorporate the flour mixture into the butter, sugar, and egg mixture until well combined. 
6. Add in the chocolate chips and combine.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 min. Once those bottom edges give the slightest hint of turning brown, take those babies out. There's nothing that disappoints me more than an over-baked cookie. :)

Strawberry Scones

 Ok...I know what you're thinking... 1.) I wanna lick the screen. (And that's okay.) 2.) Betheny...this isn't a cake. And neither was your last post.
I know, I know. I just couldn't help it because they are so super delicious. There are cakes coming soon, I pinky-promise. 

Today we are making Strawberry Scones just in time for SPRING!!!
Not a fan of Strawberries? Not a problem! Switch them and the preserves out with Blackberries!!

Need ideas on what to serve for your next garden or tea party?? 

Strawberry Scones. 

Wondering what to serve at that baby or bridal shower that you are throwing next week?

Bam! Strawberry Scones.

OR do you just need something super yummy to put in your face?

 The answer to all these questions are very obviously "Strawberry Scones".

Enjoy.

Strawberry Scones

3 C. Flour (Plus more for your counter top)

1/4 C. Sugar

1/2 tsp. Kosher salt

1 Tbs. Baking Powder

3/4 C. (1 1/2 sticks) of cold Unsalted Butter (cubed)

1/4 C. Strawberry preserves

1 C. cold Heavy Cream (For a lower fat option, use Half & Half or whole milk)

1 C. Chopped Fresh Strawberries

Strawberry Glaze:

1 C. Powdered sugar

1 Tbs. Strawberry preserves

1 Tbs. Lemon Juice
1 tsp. Milk

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

2. I have a food processor, so I combine all the dry ingredients and the cubed butter in the processor and blitz it a couple of times so that the butter is a little less than pea-sized throughout. You can also do this by using two knives, a pastry blender or a fork, cutting the butter in until you see little tiny pea-sized(or smaller)bits of butter throughout your dry ingredients. Transfer dry ingredient and butter mixture into a large bowl. Set aside.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the strawberry preserves and the heavy cream.

4. Make a well in your dry ingredient and butter mixture. Pour in the Heavy cream, Strawberry preserve mixture and Fresh strawberries. Stir just until your dough comes together. (Add more heavy cream a tiny bit at a time if the dough seems too dry.) Don't overwork your dough!

5. Sprinkle your counter top with a bit of flour and form your dough into a flat disk (about 1 inch tall and 8 inches in diameter). Use a large knife or a bench scraper to section the dough into 12 "pizza pie" slices.

6. Place slices on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 20 min. or until you see the edges of your scones turning a beautiful golden brown.

7. While the scones are cooling, measure out 1 C. of Powdered sugar in a medium bowl and set aside. Whisk together the strawberry preserves,lemon juice, and the milk. Then whisk the strawberry and lemon juice mixture into the powdered sugar.  Drizzle scones with your glaze.

8. Stuff your face with these yummy beauties!! 

Banana Bread Breakfast

It was a

banana-bread-for-breakfast-and-look-at-pretty-cakes-on-Pinterest

kind of morning...

(A little whipped cream never hurt anybody, right? Right.)

And I may or may not have had it for lunch as well... 

Want a recipe for the PERFECT banana bread recipe??!! Yes, I know you do.

I got this recipe from the FABULOUS Kelsey Nixon. I got to meet her at her book signing and she is just so awesome. So sweet, so down-to-earth, so helpful.

The book is absolutely perfect. I bought her new book 'Kitchen Confidence' and I have not put it down! No joke, it's in my hands every day! I'm so in love with this book. You have to get it. I've already made so many home-run recipes from this book. She is genius. She does a fabulous job at teaching you HOW to cook and bake. Go buy it today so that you can eat this yummy banana bread for breakfast lunch and dinner too.