Hello Sunshine

A First

2011-12-13T15:56:00.000-08:00

There is a confession I must make: I have never made a chocolate cookie before. I know, it's almost sinful. Everyone who knows me knows I'm a chocoholic. So while I was staring at the search bar on the home page of allrecipes.com, I decided it was time to type in "chocolate cookie". Randomly, I chose a high-rated recipe, and Noel and I immediately began whipping up a batch.
These cookies came out so freaking delicious! My father-in-law and hubby loved them, and they can be a tough crowd at times considering they aren't big on desserts. The texture was a cross between brownie, cake and cookie. Incredible. One batch makes 3 dozen cookies when you use a 1.5 TBS scooper (given none of the cookie dough is eaten, which is a challenge for me). Here is the recipe so you and your family can indulge in this quick and easy recipe. And chances are, you probably already have the ingredients :)

Ingredients

1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I use vanilla bean paste)
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup baking cocoa
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Optional: 1 cup white chocolate chips (yum!)

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until easy to handle. Using 1.5 TBS sized cookie scoop, place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are firm. Remove to wire racks. Enjoy <3

Original recipe here.

Zucchini Bread

2011-08-29T18:42:00.000-07:00

A few days ago while I was making iced pumpkin cookies, my father-in-law suggested that I make zucchini bread with the shredded zucchini in the freezer. If I had known this home-grown zucchini from my grandmother's garden had been in the freezer, I would have made a loaf much sooner. I'm crazy for zucchini bread. I mean crazy. The first time I ever had zucchini bread was when I worked at Starbucks in 2006. A few days a week we would sample out some of our pastries to our customers, and of course we would sneak a few bites. One afternoon we were sampling my soon-to-be fix. After my first bite of zucchini bread I was hooked, and continued to have a slice every morning that I worked. Needless to say, the following week that I had ceased to work there, I naturally dropped five pounds.

So as soon as I had the chance, I took advantage of the lonely shreds of zucchini in our freezer to make my very first loaf of this beautiful concoction of veggies and grain. It is BEYOND delicious. The crumb topping is to die for. The crunchy, buttery sweet topping is mixed with chopped walnuts, adding a nutty flavor that complements the moist bread. I do wish, however, that I added an extra cup of zucchini.

Nonetheless, out of two loaves, only one remains. And to think they just came out of the oven an hour ago. Our household doesn't mess around.

Something New

2011-08-28T19:53:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I received an order for a pirate and princess themed birthday party. You wouldn't believe how excited I was to be able to do something different! Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy fulfilling orders for my regular desserts, but doing something new is such a fun breath of fresh air. It keeps me creative and keeps my passion for baking alive. So as you can imagine, I was beyond thrilled to make pirate and princess themed cupcakes.

My customer had sent me a few photos of what she really liked, and I used those as my inspiration. I have to admit, this was my first time working with MMF (marshmallow fondant). I have been wanting to play with MMF for months! But I have always been intimidated by it. Yes, intimidated by sugar.

To say that working with fondant was time consuming would be an understatement. But... it was fun! I felt like Picasso. Although it can be a little difficult to work with tiny pieces, overall it's not as hard as it seems! If you haven't played with MMF, I highly recommend just diving into it. You will mess up, get sugar everywhere and become frustrated. But you will ask yourself in the end why you haven't done it before!

And it tastes good with buttercream, too!

The princess cupcakes were really fun to make. And it was really simple! I piped the chocolate tiaras one by one onto parchment, and wrapped it around an appropriate sized bottle and placed it in the freezer for a few minutes. They came out super cute! Next time I might try royal icing so they don't melt as quickly, although it isn't as tasty. Maybe.

Overall, it was a fun weekend in the kitchen. Especially when it came to eating the left over vanilla bean cupcakes ;)

Tootles <3

Meet Toby

2011-08-23T00:42:00.000-07:00

Even though this is a baking blog, I have to share some exciting news with you all.

For the past year, I have literally been begging my father-in-law for a dog. Whenever I had a question, he anticipated it had something to do with a wet nose and fur. I'm not sure why this time was different, but he said yes. Not even 24 hours later, Matt and I found our new fur baby.

This is Toby

Toby is a 10 week old Yorkie and Maltese mix.

The name "Toby" means "God is good".

Very appropriate indeed.

(he loves frolicking through the grass, hence the hand to keep him still for photos!)

He beyond adorable. Our cats love him, and he loves them. Being stern with him during training is hard- he runs off like a little fluffy bunny, ears flopping all over the place. Not squeezing him to death is not easy. I want everyone in the world to hug him and feel his cute fuzzy licky love, but I do realize this is probably not likely.

Cake Dummy

2011-07-31T19:29:00.000-07:00

It has always boggled my mind how display cakes in grocery stores were made. Never did I once think I would make one of my own. I mean, what do you do with a fake cake??

Soon I will be launching my Etsy store, Hello Sunshine. Crafting has my heart, but my home does not have the space. My crafts will be for sale online, and others across the country will partake in the joy of my home-made goods. One of these will include cupcake toppers and cake bunting, and I need a way to display these. This is where the cake dummy will come in handy.

"How would one go about making one of these faux confections?" Oh I'm glad you asked :) Now, this is how I made my cake dummy, and it could totally be the wrong way, but so far it's working for me.

1. Cut out two 9" circles (or the diameter you want your "cake" to be). I used an old cardboard box that was in the garage.

2. Cut out strips for the edge of your "cake". I wanted a tall cake, so I cut mine at 5" tall. Make sure the corrugating is vertical so you can curve the cardboard around the edge of the circles.

3. Using a glue gun, glue the outer edge to one of the circles. Place a strip that is the same height of your outer edge through the middle for support. You don't want your "cake" caving in!

4. Glue the other circle on top of outer edge. You now have a cake skeleton.

5. This is where you have to get creative. I used joint compound for the first layer of "icing", but you can use royal icing or butter cream icing if you wish. I just didn't have enough powdered sugar. Make sure this layer covers all the cardboard. Let this layer dry over night.

6. Use stiff royal icing (or butter cream) to decorate top coat. Let dry for a few days.

Ta-da! It's not the greatest, but it's functional. It will come in handy for sure. And I won't have to make a cake every time I need one for a prop! Easy on my wallet and stomach :)

"X" Marks The Spot

2011-07-21T11:58:00.000-07:00

Throughout the month of July, Neighborhood Church is holding a family fun program each Thursday night called Connect For. It's a chance for families to get together, worship, eat and have fun. There are many volunteers who make this program possible, but since I'm more of the behind-the-scenes kind of person, I made two dozen cupcakes.

Since my energy level hasn't been too high lately, I cheated and used boxed cake mix. I did however, make my favorite recipe of frosting. I then used graham crackers to be the "sand", and piped a red "X", along with a black trail. They turned out super cute :)

It looks like the pioneer who made these "maps" had a little too much, but it makes me smile. Well... it's nap time. Tootles :)

My Apologies

2011-07-17T19:58:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure who I feel more bad for: the tiny handful of my family that follows my blog, or my blog itself. You have not been neglected, rather *gently* placed on the back burner for 40 days (or is that the same thing?).

Summer has not been much of the season I love so dearly. Instead, time has been spent indoors studying and baking. The summer semester is only a few days from ending, with a few weeks rest before Fall semester begins. I wonder if one day I will ever look back and think "I miss being a college student." Maybe someday when I'm a mother and the children are screaming bloody murder over taking a bath, then the thought may cross my mind. Until then, I just want to be done.

Although Heavenly Treats' blog has not been very active, my trusty sidekick, Noel, and I have been baking up a storm. Lately our hobby has been sugar cookies and cupcakes. Cake pops have been mastered, so it's on to the next challenge. My mixer, Noel, is been running non-stop. She is hands-down the best birthday present I have ever received. Thanks, babe :)

Here are a few photos of creations I've made since my last entry:

Pink and Minnie Mouse themed cakepops

Salted Caramel Cupcake. Mmm ;)

Inside a Salted Caramel Cupcake

Patriotic Sugar Cookies

Sugar Cookie Bunting.... so cute!

I hope you enjoyed the photos. I promise not to let 40 days go by without a blog entry! You'll hear from me again soon. Tootles :)

Minty Fresh

2011-06-08T19:44:00.000-07:00

I don't even remember the last time I posted a blog! That makes me sad. Spring semester ended and Summer semester has begun. The weather here has been stormy, until yesterday, and within a 12 hour period Redding went from sluggish Spring weather to our typical warm sunny Summer. My husband and I celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary yesterday. God is good :)

Today I made Mint Chocolate Chip cake pops for the first time, which is funny because it has been on Heavenly Treats' menu for some time now. They most definitely tie with Chocolate Dream. The mint extract leaves a tingly aftertaste in your mouth, and the chocolate coating is so creamy and pairs well with the moist minty cake. Everyone in our home loves it, and I think it's my husband's new favorite flavor :) As you can see, our Jasmine has bloomed! It's gorgeous, but I'm considering using a differnt background. The flowers don't seem to contrast well with my desserts. What do you think?

A few weeks ago, I made these gorgeous butterfly cupcakes. The idea came from Hello Cupcake. I can't wait to try other designs!

Bad Bananas

2011-04-30T12:49:00.000-07:00

My mother-in-law and I love bananas. I mean LOVE them. But over the last few years, we have made a very healthy collection of "bad bananas" in our freezer. We always mention banana nut bread, but never follow through with it. That collection of bad bananas in the freezer was starting to become a little too much, so I decided to take care it.

Sadly, I tend to forget ingredients more often than I wish, so the first loaf was missing butter. At first, I was hoping the butter who was MIA wouldn't be such a big deal, but the more I tried to convince myself it would be okay, the less I believed it. So I decdied to make a second loaf - with butter.

The non-butter loaf came out just okay. It wasn't as moist as the second loaf, which came out perfect. Before the second loaf was put into the oven, I sprinkled a good amount of sugar over the dough. This created a candied bread effect, which was crunchy and delicious. The bread itself was very moist and filled with banana flavor; sturdy and not gooey. It was perfect. That loaf was gone in a day, while the other one has been sitting in our kitchen for days. We really only needed to eat one loaf anyway :)

Scone Craving

2011-04-16T21:45:00.000-07:00

Thursday night, while the men in our family were having their men’s group in our house, my mother-in-law, Anita, and I went to my Aunt Robin’s home. While we were there, Aunt Robin handed me a magazine from King Arthur Flour. Their bake ware is ah-ma-zing. King Arthur Flour offers a scone pan, and as soon as I saw their photo of this neat pan, I had the strong urge to consume a blueberry scone.

So this morning, I looked at America’s Test Kitchen and found a flakey blueberry scone recipe. Unfortunately, we had a tiny bit of fallen pizza on the bottom of our oven, and mid baking, it began to smoke. The blueberry scones came out perfect, aside from a distinct smoky pizza flavor. I was bummed. Our oven was punished and sentenced to a 4-hour long self-cleaning.

Regardless of pizza taste, they came out beautiful. These scones were light and flaky, topped with the right amount of crunchy sugar. I love America's Test Kitchen's recipes, and I would have never known about them if it weren't for my cousin, Sarah Tona. Now that the oven is clean, a do-over is a must.

Redding Distributing Beer Tasting

2011-04-09T10:11:00.000-07:00

Hello there J There aren’t enough hours in a day. Much has happened since Matt and I came back from our short & sweet spring break. Together with my amazing mother-in-law, Anita, we made 210 cake pops in 13 hours. I’m not sure how we did it either! The Redding Distributing Beer Tasting event went really well. Of those 210 cake pops, we chose 180 of the best looking treats for the 15 dozen order. These addicting desserts were gone in under 2 hours! Everyone’s flattering comments and kind words about my cake pops were surreal. These compliments were amazing to receive, but nothing could compare what I witnessed. There was a woman sitting with her friends at a table, and as she bite into a cake pop, her eyes shot open really wide while simultaneously nodding to her friends in approval. Seeing that pure and genuine bliss, would have been sufficient enough if no one had said a peep about them J

Yesterday, Matthew and I went to the Small Business Development center here in Redding. We met with a pleasant woman named Mary, who gave us much valuable information on starting a mobile bakery. As I type, my brother, Jason, and I are sitting in front of our house hosting a yard sale. All proceeds are going to a mobile kitchen, and I can’t express enough how excited I am to be able to start this business. Later this year, people will see us at local events and see my yummy treats in local stores. Yay J

If you grabbed my business card at the Beer Tasting event, I want to thank you so much for taking the time to visit my blog!

Spring Break

2011-03-21T14:30:00.000-07:00

My spring break has begun early this year. Three of four classes of mine are online courses, so this allowed me to finish my midterm project early and assignments due this week. I am school free until April!

Early tomorrow morning, Matthew and I are taking the Amtrak to visit my mom in Capitola, and I am beyond excited. Last night I even checked our train tickets hoping that the departure date was this morning. But my memory served me right, and it is in fact still another 12 hours. My mom is my best friend, and being away from her months at a time is killer. So as you can imagine, this long awaited trip is going to be amazing. Together we will chit-chat for hours, watch HGTV in front of her warm and cozy fire, go on a picnic at the beach (if the weather permits), eat our favorite treat (chips and salsa) and make tasty cake pops together. I can't wait :)

As soon as I return to Redding, I get to try my hand at 15 dozen cake pops for Redding Distributing's beer tasting event. This is going to be really neat. Seeing the assortment of my hand crafted cake pops on display will be surreal. I'm so excited to share these tasty treats with everyone and experience the smiles and "mmms!" they bring about :)

This week, I made a few fun batches of cake pops. One was for my Aunt Lala's St. Patrick's Day party...

....and another for my cousin Anna, who was hosting a baby shower:

See you in April!

Meet Noel

2011-03-15T21:10:00.000-07:00

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!

I nearly had a panic attack when I saw the large brown UPS truck drive down our street, because I knew my most favorite of all gifts ever to be received was in that vehicle. My husband, Matthew, waited by the door while the UPS driver turned around at the cul-de-sac to make his way back to our house. "Please don't do anything crazy when he gets to the door" Matt said with a sigh, afraid I was going to embarrass him. I might have been screaming at this point, but I can't be certain. Moments later, the uniformed man was walking towards our door with the large white box, and handed it over to Matt as he pushed the screen door open.

As soon as the door closed, the screaming and jumping and oh-my-goshing and hugging and kissing and dancing began because my most wanted gift in the whole wide world has arrived!!!

This is Noel. The most beautiful Kitchenaid 600 Professional Series mixer in the entire universe. Noel is 30 gorgeous pounds of fine machinery who bears a roaring 575-watt motor. She is my partner in crime, and together we are going to satisfy everyone's sweet tooth and warm each of their hearts with our love-filled creations.

Chocolate chip cookies will be a great way to welcome her into the Drake household. Tootles :D

Key Lime Pie

2011-03-08T21:01:00.000-08:00

Since I began making cake truffles in January, I have been wanting to create one that tasted like key lime pie. This flavor was almost the first one I made (which ended up being my own version of s'mores). Because of the demand for chocolate, key lime pie has been neglected. But now that it has finally been made, I ask myself "Why didn't I make them sooner?!"

The idea started with lemon cake, cream cheese, and good amount of lime juice. This truffle has the perfect amount of tartness, combined with the warm flavor of cinnamon and graham cracker. Small pieces of lime pulp were added to the mixture. When your mouth finds a bite of it, you get a small tangy jolt. Then, they are completed by being dipped into the complementary creamy flavor of white chocolate. I haven't had key lime pie in a few years, so memory was my only source of flavor inspiration. This cake truffle has the perfect combination of sweet and tart. It is definitely my new favorite.

While grocery shopping this weekend at Winco, I discovered they have large containers of my most favorite sprinkles: jimmies. These are the kind of sprinkles that I pour into a cup and top with a scoop of frozen yogurt. So I had to buy some for my cake truffles. For pictures' sake, a few key lime pie truffles were sprinkled with rainbow jimmies. They are so festive! I absolutely love them.

Homework is calling my name. I hope everyone has a great evening :)

Drool

2011-03-06T15:55:00.000-08:00

I can't wait to tell you about what I just experienced! Seriously... I created pure ecstasy in cupcake form. This is the very first homemade cupcake I ever made. Usually we just use store bought cake mix, but my husband was away this weekend, and as you can imagine there was more time on my hands. Instead of sitting at the window awaiting his wonderful return, I kept myself extremely busy. I didn't even have time to be sad.

This is a rich, moist, and sturdy chocolate cupcake, topped with a light chocolate mousse, and a chocolate ganache surprise in the center. Honestly, I have never tasted anything like it. How badly I wish I could take credit for the recipe of this divine pastry that makes your taste buds sing. Each bite is creamy chocolaty goodness, and the perfect portion of smooth fluffy frosting complements the rich texture extremely well. And they taste better the next day, too.

I'm addicted.

Little Prince

2011-03-03T18:52:00.000-08:00

This week is flying by! I can't believe it's already Thursday. It has been kind of a lazy week for me. Stormy weather spins me into hibernation mode. You would think that I would be studying more, but instead I started a Facbook page for Heavenly Treats. You can access it here.

On a tastier note, the cake truffles I made this week were "little prince" themed for my cousin's first birthday party. Elijah is seriously the cutest little boy I have ever seen. His cheeks are to die for, and his smile just melts your heart.

These truffles were half blue, half yellow, to elaborate on his birthday theme colors. Some were drizzled with chocolate, and others were sprinkled with crunchy sugar (which I just love the texture of!). They were adorned with cute little tags with a faded crown as a background. Overall - super fun to make.

I hope everyone has a great, dry weekend!

Oh, Mickey, You're So Fine!

2011-02-19T17:05:00.000-08:00

Today I finished an order of 50 Mickey Mouse cake truffles.To say these were quite a task, is an understatement. The first one I made was great, Then my perfectionism kicked in when I completed the second truffle. My husband, Matthew, had to keep convincing me why not to start over... *sigh*

but...

They turned out to be pretty darn cute! To see the kids' faces light up while they indulge in a Mickey Mouse cake truffle would be a better treat than these. Especially when they are celebrating a little boy's birthday at Party ExtraordinAIR! Places like that make me want to babysit for legitimate admission.

Thinking about it... I have never even seen an episode of the Mickey Mouse Club. Am I still considered an American?

It's Friday!

2011-02-18T13:13:00.000-08:00

Being a full-time business major, a balance between all-that-is-good and school is essential to my sanity. After trying to cram more information into my already over-flowing brain, I just had to stop. So guess what I ended up doing...

Forty cake truffles were made, but only about 30 made it to the basket.. They just kept making their way into my tummy. These St. Patrick's Day pops are going into Crown Camera. My Uncle Frank offered to sell cake truffles at his camera and photofinishing store. I'm so excited! I can't wait for the world to indulge in these little pieces of glorious heaven-on-a-stick!

Back to homework.

Beautiful Bride

2011-02-13T19:27:00.000-08:00

Today I had the privilege of making pops for my cousin's bridal shower. Their wedding colors are purple, black, and silver, which made for fun decorating. My cousin, AJ, is marrying this beautiful woman of God named Meredith. Because she is not the biggest chocolate fan (yea, I about stopped breathing myself), I made a light flavored pop with french vanilla cake and cream cheese. These were so fun to make! But then again, which Heavenly Treats aren't?

Light Bulb

2011-02-12T21:45:00.000-08:00

God makes me smile. You never know what he has up his sleeve. One minute you're minding your own business, and the next you have this thing dropped in your lap! All it took was a trip to the baking section of a book store this past December. Well... I have found a new passion: cake on a stick. Once you take a bite, you can never go back.

Earlier this week I made some Valentine goodness. It started out with an experiment of Red Velvet cake, cream cheese, and melted white chocolate chips. They were rolled into a ball, dipped in white chocolate and covered in festive sprinkles. Oh. boy.

A picture was posted on my Facebook so my family could come over and pick up some of this heaven-on-a-stick. They didn't last long. Another batch was made for my Aunt Dannette for her cute son, Kyle, to take to his class' Valentine's Day party, and my Auntie Robin to gift to her good friend. These were a hit. If only I had started making them sooner to accommodate every one's tummy for the 14th.