Christmas Cookies

There's nothing like baking and decorating cookies that can get you in the Christmas spirit. I got this wonderful order for Christmas cookies for a church class. I originally was planning on doing all stars, but the hubba-bubba suggested throwing in some gingerbread men, Christmas trees, and snowmen. I'm glad he did, because it was really fun getting festive.

here they are on the pan:

and here they are wrapped up and ready to go:

My son got his usual sugar cookie snake. This is a great way to finish off the extra sugar cookie dough. I think I've got a prodigy :)

Heritage Boutique

What a weekend! I had such a great time at the Heritage Boutique. My chEAT treats were a hit (if I do so myself) and it really pushed me to my limits. Why you may ask?

-I was told by my hubba-bubba at 6pm the night before that chEAT day could participate

-I was fresh out of almost all ingredients

-I hadn't thought about presentation, what to make or a baking schedule at all!

Nonetheless, I decided I did want to participate. I sent the hubba-bubba with my shopping list (thx!) and started preparing for an evening of slaving away in the kitchen.

In the end I was tired, oh SO tired, but I pushed out 8 dozen lemon chiffon, 4 dozen strawberry covered chocolate, 4 dozen chocoholics and 50 chocolate covered strawberries. And that was all before 1am Thursday morning. We went and set up early after a few zzz's and hoped it wouldn't flop. Guess what? I nearly sold out!

I did a repeat of kitchen duty that night between different meetings and again the treats nearly sold out Friday! {insert happy dance here} I was so excited they were received so well and got to meet lots of great people at the boutique, and even better, 10% of the proceeds go to Sub-for-Santa. Thank you Heritage Schools for allowing chEAT day to participate!

Heritage Schools Boutique NOW!

chEAT day cupcakes being sold individually at Heritage Schools Boutique 'till 5pm today (Friday, Nov. 5th) !

Flavors: Chocoholic, Strawberry Covered Chocolate & Lemon Chiffon.

5600 N Heritage School Drive, near Riverwoods

We nearly sold out yesterday, so go get them while they last! ($1.50 ea)

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone had a safe and wonderful Halloween weekend! I made these Halloween cupcakes for "cupcake walk" that involved just as many grown-up goblins as munchkin monsters.

Roadkill Cupcakes

I doubt I'll ever have the opportunity to say this again, so here it goes:

"Over the weekend I made over 400 ROADKILL cupcakes"

I was hired by Teagan, a local photographer who did an artshow of her photographs of roadkill. I went through MANY ideas of how to do this. Everything from blood and guts, to creating a roadkill scene, but I'm pleased with the final product and was assured that Teagan loved the treats as well.

What I did was for each of the 3 different flavors ordered (chocoholic, blondie & strawberry blonde) I used coordinating colors with her photographs and although most were plain, there were a few of each that were customized for the theme.

Roadkill Chocoholics

Skidmark Blondies

Slithering Snake Strawberry Blondes

gLee Cupcakes

Three words: gLee premiere party

Monkey Cake

Ooo-ooo-ooo Ahhh-ahh-ahhh!

This cake was made for the cutest little monkey of a boy you've ever seen. I just had to make the Monkey face 3D for the little guy to try to make him come alive. Although, it looks like my penmanship could use some work... oh no... having flashbacks from elementary where the teacher holds up my notebook on how NOT to write in cursive. I'd better go find some chocolate therapy NOW!

Welcome to the Nest Cupcakes

"Welcome to the Nest" was the theme I was given for these cupcakes and I LOVE how the cute little bird's nests turned out. I was a little worried about how the toasted coconut would affect the flavor of the chocoholics, but I got the go ahead from my hubba-bubba/personal taste tester and heard later that the "tweets" were very much enjoyed by the baby shower attendees!

Baseball Cupcakes

Take me out to the ball game... or at least let me sit on the sidelines with one of these.

I can't believe summer has flown by so fast. For example, I made these bad boys back in June and only now am getting around to posting about them! I love sports, but I might love CHOCOHOLIC sport cupcakes just as much...

Baby Boy Polka Dot Minis

These were made for a baby boy shower for my adorable nephew, Mana.

Very simple, very fun, very yummy!

It's a Girl!!!

In January 2011 we'll be welcoming another princess into the chEAT day family! My son kept telling me it was a girl baby, but I wasn't convinced seeing as how he also told me there were two babies in my tummy (!!!) at one point. Well, he was right and can't wait to meet his {other} baby sister. I feel so blessed to be a mother and I'm sure my daughter will inherit mommy's love for sweet treats!

As far as the giveaway goes, thanks to everyone who participated... the winner of a dozen chEAT treats is:

MEL!

Let's stay in contact to get you the goods girlie!

Guess the Gender GIVEAWAY!!!

Hello chEAT day-ettes! (or dudes... anybody?) I've got a cupcake cooking in my oven and am excited to find out if it should be frosted with pink or blue icing. Translation: I'm pregnant and will find out the gender soon. Since so many people have let me help them celebrate, I am taking this opportunity to involve you all in my exciting news. I already have both a boy and a girl, so what will the tiebreaker be? Another princess added to our castle, or an additional member to team chEAT day?

So here it is: Leave a comment stating if you think my baby will be a boy or girl. It's that simple! A random winner will be chosen among the correct voters and you will get a dozen chEAT treats on me! (the chEAT treat will probably be whatever I'm craving that day, but feel free to leave a suggestion if you'd like)

*For those of you out-of-towners who haven't had a chEAT day treat yet, you're in luck, because I will ship!

details:

-giveaway will close Tuesday, August 31st

-one "normal" vote

-additional entries for blogging, facebooking, or twittering about this giveaway!

-feel free to tell your friends!

Safari Cupcakes

Made for a book club, these Safari cupcakes were WILD! Tigers and Zebras on cupcakes oh my! I know this is an absolutely terrible picture, but what can I say, I'm a baker... not a photographer.

Avatar Cake

As always, there's a story behind this cake.

One day I got an e-mail asking if I could make an Avatar (The Last Airbender) cake for her son's 7th birthday. She had attached a picture of what she wanted and said she really liked my work. I felt nervous and underqualified so I e-mailed her back that I'd need a day to think about it and may just refer her somewhere else.

Later that same day, I showed my hubba bubba (husband) the requested picture and he said, "you can do that!" My self confidence was restored and I e-mailed the mother back saying I would be able to do the cake.

It was tricky, and I learned a lot, but I LOVE the way it turned out! My son was sad to see it go, just as he was with the Transformers cake, and Spiderman cupcakes, but excited for the little boy to receive it. Happy Birthday Loi!

Baby Girl Cupcakes & Cake

I have been excited for months (thx to the organized mommy) to do the treats for Isabel's first birthday party. The colors were to be bright yellow, bright orange and bright pink. We did the chocoholics with a bright orange frosting, the strawberry blondes were tinted further to become hot pink, and rather than put the guava chiffon gel on the outside, I kept it hidden on the inside and airburshed the tops bright yellow. I thought that they were so fun, fresh and fantastic.

Then there was the cake. (dun-dun-dun....!!!) At the last minute the cake was added to the order, and although I knew it was a stretch I knew I wanted to make it for them. Long story short: I had to go home and fix the cake not once, but twice!!! I was ready to die. I've never had a cake have frosting melt right off it, and then on trip two slide into the side of the pan. It was crazy and I was about to lose it. I called the mother, and she was great and I knew I could still get it to her on time. In the end, everything turned out well and the party looks fantastic!

Oh yeah, she also ordered 30 sugar cookie pops for the kiddies. I thought I'd make them look kinda fun with multi-colored swirls. Looks like the kids couldn't keep their hands off them :) You'll have to check out the photographer's page to view these babies. All these wonderful pictures were taken by Elsie Mcdonald Lopez I haven't met this cute girl yet, but she sure can take amazing pix!

Wedding Cake & Cupcakes

I was so honored to be asked to cater a beautiful wedding this summer. The bride was the exact opposite of a bride-zilla, she was amazing. She was great to work with and in fact cared about me as a person concerned if I could handle everything with being crazy-sick-pregnant.

Her colors were black and white with a lime green accent. She asked for 8 dozen cupcakes and 8 dozen mini cupcakes, with every couple dozen decorated differently. We had roses, vintage toppers, sugar pearls, sanding sugar and lots of frosting!

In talking with her I suggested perhaps doing a small wedding cake so that she and her groom could have something to cut into for that whole feeding each other thing.

I was so worried because free-hand piping black icing onto white fondant is SCARY! You can't mess up, you can't re-do it, you get one chance. I think it turned out great, along with all the cupcakes and 8 dozen white chocolate covered strawberries.

Unfortunately I didn't take as many pictures as I should have, but I'll just have to add that to the list of things I've been learning through this wedding and other catering adventures. The reception was decorated beautifully, the bride was gorgeous and I am so happy for this cute couple.

Transformers Cake

I loved making this cake for a 4 year old boy's birthday party. When speaking with his mother about the cake we came up with the idea of doing the autobots logo. I was warned to be sure it wasn't the decepticon's logo because her son was very particular. Well, I double and triple checked the logos and think it turned out well, what do you think?

I also made 2 dozen cupcakes for the kiddies with red frosting and the birthday mama put transfomers rings as toppers. I didn't get a pic, but I imagine they were adorable!

Tina's Tuesday Tip: Make It Work

If any of you noticed, I missed Tuesday Tip Day Last Week. I. AM. SORRY. Don't go thinking that I don't want to share tips with you anymore, this pregnancy has just been kicking my baking booty! Anyway, enough of that. The show must go on and like one of my favorite design critics says, "Make It Work".

I can't even begin to explain how excited I am to be doing my first wedding this weekend. I'll share the details of how we met later, but just know it was *magical* LOL The wedding colors are black, white and lime green. I know, so fun right? Anyway, for today's story I want to tell you about my experience with lime green sugar pearls.

On some of the cupcakes we need sugar pearls that are lime green. Well, guess what? No one {I found} makes/sells these babies. I went to quite a few different shops, and when none were found, would bounce ideas back and forth about how to color white sugar pearls lime green. I wasn't satisfied.

Today I finally went out and got these white sugar pearls.

I walked each aisle hoping for inspiration (with my kids going crazy I might add). And here she was:

So using this gem (air brush machine, not insect torturing device) that my grandmother gave to me (thanks Gigi!):

I ended up with these:

I can't wait to use them. And now I am ready to paint the town red! Ooops, I mean Lime Green ;)

a "CUPCAKE" in the oven

chEAT day is expecting another SWEETIE

(no this isn't me, but I'm pretty sure I HAVE to get this t-shirt now!)

Hello all my chEAT day-ettes! Just wanted to share a little {personal} information with you all. I'm so excited to be expecting our 3rd child. I've already got a 100% boy curly haired cutie, one diva-in-the-making and can't wait to meet our newest addition around the new year.

Those of you who know me, know I get yucky sick during pregnancy (don't worry it's not contagious) LOL but yes, I am still taking orders. In fact, being busy doesn't give me time to realize how sick I am. My only suggestion for those of you with CRAVINGS like me, is put your requests in early since I won't have the energy to do several different orders at once. I haven't had to turn anyone away yet, and hope to keep it that way.

Thanks to everyone for all your love and support through this business venture and to me personally, and keep chEATing!

Tina's Tuesday Tip: $2 DIY cakestand

This is one of my favorite cake stands. Not because it's the most beautiful, or biggest, or anything grand really, but because A) I made it and B) it was $2!

Here's how you can make one too:

supplies

-1 candlestick holder (got mine @ the dollar store)

-1 glass plate (also from the dollar store)

-a tiny bit of GORILLA GLUE

directions

-put a thin line (too much will really show like mine) of gorilla glue around top ring of candlestick holder

-hover and center glass plate over candlestick holder

-push down gently

-place something somewhat heavy on top to keep in place (can of soup, bag of beans...)

-let dry overnight

-use frequently and don't worry, it was $2!!!

I use mine all the time when I have left overs, or someone brings me a treat (anyone? anyone?). The pic isn't great, but it really looks nice with treats on it rather than by itself, hey, it looks nicer and is cheaper a dinner plate, and if my kids get to it and break it, no big deal. Love it!

Do you have a DIY (do it yourself) tip to share?

Tina's Tuesday Tip: Use Mayo!

Today's tip is quick and simple: instead of using vegetable oil in a cake recipe, use mayonnaise! This will result in a lighter texture for your cake, and you won't taste a difference. For a healthier substitution, you can substitute vegetable oil for applesauce, but hey... it's a chEAT day ;) so go big or go home. And FYI: there's no substitute for chocolate!!!

Do you have a favorite baking substitution?

Train Cakes & Cookie Pops

My son turned 3 last week! We'll call him "CURLY". He has several loves: his family, his friends, his bike, Spiderman, Barney & Trains. We used to live just a few feet away from train tracks that were used VERY often. Since he was born, he loved hearing the train blow it's horn and would run outside to watch it go by. So this year we had a Thomas the Tank Engine themed party. The invitations, the hats, the decor, and of course the cakes and cookies. We even had a Thomas tank engine and cars running around the cake the whole time (did you notice he's carrying mini cupcakes :).

The 3D train cake was a blondie with cream cheese frosting and lots of candy accents. The round cake was an imposter, it was a fake left over from fondant practice. The mini cupcakes were chocoholics.

The cookie pops were "thanks for 'choo-choo' choosing to come" party favors. It was a great party with great friends and family. I love my "CURLY"!

Tina's Tuesday Tip: Turn Dessert into Decor!

Lots of people have been asking about using my chEAT treats to enhance their party theme.

I figure, if you're going to have dessert anyway, why not tie it into the theme and save yourself some time, effort and expense by customizing your goodies.

On the left, you'll see custom chEAT day treats. I've got Spiderman, Sports, Dresses, Rattles, Lei's, Graduation Caps, Roses, Twilight, and so many more... the possibilities are endless.

Here's chEAT day's latest dessert turned decor. It was for a 1st birthday summer themed party. This was 3 chocoholic cakes with cream cheese frosting. The island on top was removable smash cake for the little man of the hour with crushed nilla wafers as sand. I used oreo straws, gum and M&M's for the coconut trees, and the surfboard being washed onto shore is an airhead with twizzlers and frosting. TIP: Next time you're in the candy/snack aisle use your imagination as to what you could morph those into. And if you're imagination fails you... "google it" ;)

Do you have any favorite themes you'd like to see... and taste? Or let me see some of your creations and feature them here!

Twilight Cupcakes

So... what is it? You know, the ultimate question:

TEAM EDWARD or TEAM JACOB?

Made for a 12 year old girl's birthday party, I thought I'd need to ask her mother if the vampire fangs with blood oozing out was too gruesome, her response was "oooooh she'd LOVE that!" The second layer had red sprinkles to represent the vampires, and white sparkles to represent Edward glistening in the sun (oh yeah, I'm a twilight-er!). And black forks holding up "Team Edward" like vampire fangs.

On Jacob's side we've got brown sprinkles to represent the forest the wolves roam in. We've got wolf prints on the second layer. And pretzel sticks proudly holding up "Team Jacob".

Based on the books, are you on Team Edward or Team Jacob? Now, same question based on these cupcakes!

Absentmindedness

Some things will never change I tell you. For those of you don't know me well I don't have the best memory. No, I didn't forget anyone's order... right? LOL, I just forgot to take pictures of a cute Mother's Day order.

It was perfect. 5 sugar cookie bouquets with 3 cookies each: a sunflower, a tulip, a daisy. All unique, and might I add tasty! They were in their own planter pots with colored paper decorating the stick bases. Oh how I wish I took pictures... I guess if you really want to know what they looked like you'll have to order them yourself ;)

Tina's Tuesday Tip: Resourcefullness = Greatness

Before starting chEAT day I spent countless hours creating the perfect recipes with the perfect frosting combinations. I have to admit, since then, I've been so busy filling your wonderful orders, I haven't created anything new for a while.

My latest pairing is called: Strawberry Covered Chocolate. I got a last minute request for a birthday cake due the next day and I promised to throw something together. The problem was that I didn't have the ingredients to make a new batch of frosting. Luckily I had a batch of strawberry cream cheese frosting in the fridge so I baked up a chocoholic cake real quick, lathered on the delicious frosting inside and out, garnished with chocolate covered strawberries added a few sprinkles and voila! a masterpiece was created.

I of course made a few testers and my response was "honey, have you tried my cupcakes, they're amazing!" he laughed and responded "they always are". Gotta love Mother's Day!

So where's the tip? Use what you've got, {sometimes} a masterpiece may be on the horizon!

*please ignore the terrible picture, my lack of photography skills were even worse late Mother's Day evening

Strawberry Blonde Cake

Who says you need a special occasion? So often people say to me, "I'm trying to figure out a reason to order for chEAT day." My response is always, "you don't need a reason, order 'cause it's Tuesday!"

This cake was for an awesome couple just because. When I let them know it was ready to be picked up, they said they were in an movie and would be by afterward. I was floored, it was mid-afternoon on a Saturday and they were at a movie... ah the life before kids! {FYI: I love my kids!} They are such a sweet couple and I picture them re-enacting their wedding cake ceremony from their wedding with this cake. {LOL, I hope it was a little messy too}

They reported back that they were planning on waiting 'till the next day to eat it, but got too tempted and dug right in. Hope you enjoyed it guys!

Tina's Tuesday Tip: Wax Paper

I want to start off with a warm welcome all the Utah Deal Divettes to chEAT day! Tuesdays are tip days and for today's tip I wanted to share one of my favorite baking tools... wax paper. I always have a roll or two on hand, because really there is no substitute in my book. Here's a quick list of chEAT day's wax paper cheats. And for all you deal diva's out there, I have noticed no difference between the name brand and store brand, so save on sisters!

-no crumbly cakes: to prevent your cake from sticking, cut wax paper to the size of the bottom of your pan. after you release your cake from the pan, just peel off the wax paper, let cool and decorate!

-cookie monster: roll out your favorite sugar cookie dough onto wax paper to prevent sticking (a little flour will help). this will also make for a less messy clean-up

-line up: line your baking sheet with wax paper to prevent any cookie from sticking to the pan, and an easier time washing dishes :)

-chocolate cure: when chilling melted chocolate (like for chocolate dipped strawberries), place the treat on wax paper for an easy release

anyone else have a wax paper tip?

Sweet as a Cupcake 1st Birthday

Is there really a better party theme than "Sweet as a Cupcake"?!?!

This amazing order consisted of:

*300 mini cupcakes

*2 giant cupcake smash cakes

*60 cupcake sugar cookie pops

The party was decorated amazingly with cupcake decor through and through. It was basically cupcake heaven for me, looooved it! This little "sweetie" was definitely sweet as a cupcake.

Isn't She Lovely Tiered Cake

This cake was actually for my own daughter's first birthday. Every layer was a different flavor with different types frosting. (Chocoholic with cream cheese frosting, blondie with marshmallow fondant, guava with filling and whipped topping) There was even a personal cupcake topper for my baby girl.

Baby Rattle Cake and Cupcakes

I can't believe I haven't posted these treats yet! These were for my favorite cutie's baby shower. I love how they turned out with the lollipop handles and ribbon bows. They were outside on a warm summer day which literally made these melt in your mouth!!! Shake, rattle and roll!

Graduation Luau Cupcakes

It's that time of year, congratulate your graduates!

This was a wonderfully busy week. I received an order for a graduation luau. I thought graduation=graduation caps, luau=lei's, and chEAT day=celebration.

Aloooooooha and Mahalo!

I also made 150 of these graduation cap cupcakes for a workshop to education teenagers how to apply for and obtain scholarships. I was so happy to help inspire young people to further their education without hindering their wallets.

Baby Boy Cookie Pops

These treats were for one of my very best friend's new baby boy. Baby's father and uncle played football for BYU so of course I had to appropriately add another member to the family team. Yes, I could have made regular cookies, but there's something child-like about eating it off a stick. Wouldn't you love to bring these "babies" to a new mommy?

Tina's Tuesday Tip: Think Outside the Box

...the cake mix box that is. Don't get me wrong, I love me some Betty Crocker (who actually isn't a real person, but a marketing "idea") just not in the way it says on the back of the box. I love using cake mixes to make cookies, as a base for coconut cakes, or even as a chEAT crust for cobbler. All I mean, is don't be afraid to make a cake from scratch. It's not as hard as you might think! I know there are rules out there about temperature, quality of products and adding rotating liquid and dry mixtures and blah blah blah, but just try it, you'll be glad you did. Even if it doesn't turn out perfect, at least you can say you've made a cake from scratch! Here's a great recipe for crumb cake from scratch. I like to make it the night or day before, it ages well on the countertop.

Crumb Cake

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

-preheat oven to 350°

-grease a 9x9 pan, set aside

-cream together butter and sugar

-add egg 1 at a time

-mix in sour cream and vanilla

-in separate bowl combine flour, baking soda & salt

-add dry ingredients (flour/baking soda/salt) to mixture

-pour 1/2 of the batter into the pan, set aside other 1/2

topping

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup butter

1/2 tsp cinnamon

-mix together to the consistency of wet sand

-sprinkle 1/2 the mixture in pan with 1/2 the batter

-pour remaining batter into pan

-sprinkle remaining topping over batter

-bake for 35-40 min (or until a toothpick comes out clean)

*try adding crushed nuts to the crust if you're feeling nutty!

Boy's Toys

What boy doesn't love a sports ball? The first time I made these were for my son's first birthday, and I love reminiscing about his hesitation regarding his "smash cake". However, once he tasted the frosting there was no going back (he's not the only one!).

For Jordan's cake his mom gave me several ideas: cars, characters, sports, balls. With a name like Jordan how could I resist doing a basketball!

This boy's family are big BYU fans :) and knew their son would get a kick over a football cake. I was lucky enough to see his face when he opened the box, he was ecstatic! Too bad he had to wait until that evening to dig in.

This was to help my {other} brother answer his date for their high school dance. She had asked him with sports ball Easter Eggs so he called in a favor and this is what I threw together. The outside of the box said "it would be a..."