A Teaser...

Just a teaser of one of my orders from this last weekend...sooo yummy! More to come...

Cookie Time!

Hi Sweet Readers! Hope you all had a great weekend! Here are some cookies I just had to make last week..craving the chocolate chunk ones big time! I got the recipe for the chocolate chunk ones from "Cooks Illustrated". I love that magazine! They were good, but could have used some more chocolate chunks!

Hope your week starts well!

A Funny Looking Mini Carrot Cake

Hi Sweet Readers! Well, here is my kinda cute little mini carrot cake. I decided to top this little cake (at about 4 inches in diameter) with a homemade marzipan carrot that is a) a bit big for the little guy, and b) a little too "looks like you just pulled it out of the dirt" looking...oh well. By the time I got it on there, it was too late to take it off! Next time, I will go easier on the carrot's embellishment and make it look more like a genetically modified carrot than an organic one! LOL!

The cake itself was fabulous, though! The recipe is from Dorie Greenspan's "Baking ..from my home to yours" cookbook (absolutely fabulous cookbook, btw). It was my favorite carrot cake recipe ever! So moist and delicious! Go get that book!
Have a fabulous weekend! The weather is looking great here in Northern California. I have lots to share with you this coming week...been very busy baking :)

A Birthday Bite

Good Morning, Sweet Readers! Are you frightened at what has been created with cupcakes? :) I made these howling werewolves for a dear friend's bday today. She is a huge fan of what she calls "girl's kickin' butt vampire novels" so I made these little beauties with loving thoughts of her. Happy birthday, sweetie!

Movie Night Cupcakes

Hello Sweet Readers!

In January, I posted some fun popcorn mini cuppies that I made from the very fun "Hello Cupcake" cookbook. Last week, I tried these cute ones from another amazing cookbook called "Little Cakes" (incidentally, Liv Hansen, one of the coauthors of the book, put my cuppies on her blog! http://whimsicalbakehouse.blogspot.com/2009/03/lisas-take-on-our-popcorn-cupcakes.html.) I really like these because of the cute little individual candy shell made by striping candy on a silicone cupcake liner and peeling away the shell. It looks so festive!


The"popcorn" on these cupcakes is not marshmallow, but yummy buttercream with a bit of caramel swirled in. I also colored some of the vanilla buttercream yellow to make it look like the buttered part of the popcorn. The cuppie just sits in the cup ready to eat along with the candy (the paper wrapper is discarded).

I made these for a sweet six year old boy's birthday. They were having a movie themed party and I think these went very well with the candy, hot dogs and even real popcorn!

I have to say, I really had a fun time making these! I was a bit skeptical as to whether the candy shells would work, but they did! Thanks for checking them out and Happy Birthday, Ryder!

Dinosaur Times...

Ok, so they are not baked goods, but they are my sweets and my creations..in part, well, kinda sorta...not really...! These are the boys enjoying their jurassic face painting from the Dinosaur science fair we went to today. They had a wonderful time learning about dinosaurs, making fossils and seeing some really cool reptile.
Not what you have been seeing here lately, but the artistry on their faces was just too wonderful not to share.
I guess I am going to have to strap them down to their beds on their backs tonight so it doesn't get messed up...LOL! They are very excited about it and DON'T want it to come off..we'll see how it goes!

Card Club Creations

Hi Sweet Readers...

Here are some of the other "creations" of "Smiley's Sweets and Creations". We had our card club Thursday night and made these wonderful beauties. I love the spring colors and the flower theme. Our hostess, Rachel, did a great job designing everything and coordinating it, too. We just had to put it together and add our own touches.

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Got Milk? Peanut Butter and Jelly Cupcakes!

My kiddos love PB&Js so I thought I'd make some cuppies out of them! These are buttermilk cupcakes filled with honey roasted peanuts, grape jelly and peanut butter buttercream and topped with the same!

The weather has been so nice here and this picture really makes me long for more Spring days...speaking of which, Happy Spring! It is the first day of Spring and that is a very good thing for Vitamin D junkies like myself!

Have a sweet day and a sweeter weekend!

Happy Birthday Cuppie

Good Morning, Sweet Readers!

Here is a fun little cupcake container that I found while in Southern California earlier this month. I'm going back to get some more because they are just the perfect little thing for a sweet birthday surprise for a friend. I made this filled cuppie for a friend's birthday on Tuesday and made sure not to make it green! I figured she must get a lot of "St. Patrick's dayish" things for her birthday so I wanted to make it all her own (my birthday is in December and I can decorate my home for the holidays with all the wonderful birthday/Christmas items :)

I stamped the tag with a cute little cupcake stamp a friend bought for me-actually, two friends thought of me with the stamp! (thank you both! I have very thoughtful friends:)

Anyhow, enjoy and have a great rest of your week!

Cupcakes for a Princess

Hello Sweet Readers!

I am ready for something non-green and perhaps you are, too. So here you go...some pink princess birthday cuppies. I made these butterfly cuppies with vanilla buttercream for a little girl's birthday. Her mom said that she would like something "princessy", so I went with crowns and wands. I hand-piped them with melted candy. The little sprinkles are butterflies and they are adorable, though hard to see in this pictures. I hope she likes them!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Here are yet some more of the cuppies I made for various St. Patrick's Day events. I had a lot of fun playing with all the different flavors and toppings...
There is so much you can do with green...
and fun scrapbook paper...
that says, "Kiss me, I'm Irish"..I'm not Irish, but my hubby is, so that's good!! :)

This set of photos aren't the best due to some lighting and user :{ issues, but I hope you enjoyed them and I hope you have a fantastic St. Patrick's Day!

Don't forget to wear green and have a SWEET day!

St. Patrick's Day Collection #2

Which one do you want?

These are four of eight St. Patrick's day themed cuppies I made for a hostess gift...from left to right they are 1)pistachio irish cream filled with vanilla buttercream and topped with irish cream buttercream 2) Dark chocolate Guinness filled with chocolate ganache and topped with chocolate buttercream 3) vanilla filled with caramel and topped with vanilla buttercream and 4) mint chocolate chip filled with chocolate buttercream and topped with mint buttercream.

Mint Chip Brownies with Ganache & Mint Buttercream

Happy Monday, Sweet Readers!

I hope you had restful and wonderful weekend. Here are some cute little mint chip brownies I made for an event at my church on Friday. I topped them with some rich ganache and yummy mint buttercream. To finish them, I used some Andes mint chocolate pieces and gold sugar. On others I used the little shamrock marshmallow from good ole' Lucky Charms cereal. Yes, I actually pilfered through a couple boxes to get the goodies. :) These were very tasty, but I have to say, it was strange eating a brownie like a cupcake. It probably would have done fine without the buttercream, but hey, you've got to live a little, right? At least they were mini! :)

A close up of my "lucky" cuppies...

And the Andes mint ones..

Pretty Cupcake in a Box

Hello Sweet Readers!

I hope you are having a fabulous weekend! I had a client order this pretty boxed cupcake for her sister's birthday. It's a jumbo butterfly cupcake filled with coconut cream and caramel and topped with pink and purple vanilla bean buttercream. I topped it with an embossed fondant flower with her initial and added some M&Ms for stability and decoration. (Thanks to http://www.mysweetandsaucy.com/ for the box idea and link!) This is such a fun gift to give!

Shamrocks and a Pot of Gold

So we are getting ready for St. Patrick's Day here in the Smiley household. There is lots to do...make a leprechaun trap, make Guinness cupcakes, irish cream cupcakes, buttercreams, corned beef and cabbage, some hostess gifts and of course, get ready for the leprechaun to visit...

Here is the first installment..gotta start with the cupcakes, right?! These are pistachio irish cream cupcakes with a wee bit of green food coloring and topped with vanilla buttercream (the irish cream buttercream is not going out with this order since little kiddos might eat it). I made fondant shamrocks and a little fondant pot to hold the "gold". The "gold" is buttery, brown sugary coconut cream topped with some gold sugar sparkles. I finished it with some green non pareils and some more gold sugar.

Here are three in a row. Cuz I like these kind of shots. Note that every cupcake is her own unique self. Just like those tricky leprechauns, my cuppies don't ever do exactly what I think they should!

A Birthday Cake for a Friend.. And Some Cuppies for Us to Share

Hello Sweet Readers! I wanted to share this cake I made to give my friend for her birthday. How does it look? Or rather, how big does it look? Big, huh? Actually, it is three full layers with some yummy filling in between, but the cake itself is only 4 inches in diameter (OK, well maybe 5 with all the frosting). It looks like a biggie, but it's actually quite a darling little cake! :)

Here is the cake next to some cuppies I made to go with it..OK some cuppies I made to eat. I brought the cake to a birthday lunch (HB Michelle!), but thinking she might want to take it home, also made some "coordinating" cuppies for the gals. Couldn't resist!

And another picture together:

By the way, if you are wondering why it's on a green platter...it was just a reminder to me to give my friend back her platter. These days, I do what I can to remember things! LOL!

Thanks for checking in and sharing in my love of baking!

Lego Themed Birthday Cupcakes

Hi Sweet Readers!

I hope that you have been having a fantastic week! I want to thank you for checking in and for all the wonderful comments you have made about my cupcakes this week. I appreciate it so much and love hearing from you. So keep writing in :)

These are some cupcakes I made for an order for a little boy's 6th birthday (Happy birthday, Benjamin!). He is having his party at the Lego store and mom ordered these to go with the theme. I found some fun ideas via Flickr and then made a trip to the very same Lego store to purchase a Lego ice mold for the toppers. The tops are melted candy and some fun sprinkles I found at a newly discovered bake shop during my recent trip to Southern California.

The cake is take on a "butterfly" cake. I hadn't heard of it before, but I guess it is a popular type of cake in some regions. It is a vanilla/almond cake. It tastes delicious and has a wonderful slightly crunchy top. The frosting is the vanilla bean buttercream that I just love. I love seeing specks of vanilla seeds in anything, I think! :)

Thanks for checking in and have a sweet day!

"Water" Mini Cupcakes

Good Morning, Sweet Readers!

I have to say, I am overwhelmed. I was gone this weekend and came back to find that my slider cupcakes were published on two blogs, Digg and Cupcakes Take the Cake! On my Flikr account , a photo of my slider cuppies (http://www.flickr.com/photos/smileyssweets/3331745348/) had over 110,000 views as of today! That is just crazy! Very fun, for sure. Thanks to all of you who made the sweet comments about them and for all of you always checking in. I love baking and creating, and it gives me great pleasure to share it with you.

So what are these? They are mini dark chocolate Guiness cuppies topped with dreamy chocolate ganache and vanilla bean buttercream. I made them for a "water" themed order. Just the perfect bite!

Have a fabulous week!

Butterscotch and Hearts

Here are some very sweet butterscotch cuppies with cream cheese butterscotch maple buttercream I made a couple weeks ago. Very tasty and scrumptious!

Little Slider Cupcakes!

Hi Sweet Readers!

I made these for an order yesterday and am so pleased that they came out looking like little sliders! Makes me want summer to come even faster. These are vanilla and chocolate cupcakes with coconut as the lettuce and "ketchup" and "mustard" frosting. I was so happy to be able to make these for my friend, whose hubby loves burgers. She is throwing a surprise party for him Saturday and ordered these for the occasion. I'm sure it will be fun!

Have a great weekend!

Yummy Yummy Treasures! Samoa and Coffee/Kahlua/Guiness Cupcakes!

Hi Sweet Readers!

Since it's Girl Scout cookie time, I thought I'd share a couple yummy cookie-like cupcakes with you. I have been dying to make the Samoa cupcake since September and was inspired to just do it when I saw Melody's post over at My Sweet and Saucy. The recipe for the Samoa cupcake is from Chockylit. It's a brown sugar cupcake, topped with ganache, a wonderful coconut butter topping and more ganache. Yum! Oh, and it's filled with caramel. More yum!


The other cuppie is a Dark Chocolate Guiness topped with creamy ganache and the best ever coffee/Kahlua buttercream (thanks, Carrie from Fields of Cake for my new fav buttercream!).

Thanks for checking in!

Cupcake Pull Apart Cake

Hi Sweet Readers!

I wanted to share with you this new cute cupcake pull apart pan that I got last week. I purchased it and got home, just in time to read a fb message that a friend wanted just that for her daughter's birthday cake! Perfect! Her daughter loves lemon, so I did a lemon curd lemon cake with part lemon vanilla buttercream and part vanilla bean buttercream. I did her name and some peace signs on it because it suits her. It's really cool because it breaks up into 12 cuppies without having to cut it. And don't worry, I put enough frosting on the top so those who got the middle pieces didn't get jipped (always a bummer with frosting lovers like myself!).

Enjoy and have a great day!

"Low" Hats

Hello Sweet Readers! I just got back from a relaxing weekend of scrapbooking and spending time with some great girlfriends. It was lovely and refreshing and I got soo soo much done! :) I didn't bake, but did bring some yummy treasures I will share with you later this week.

As for now, I wanted to share a very yummy blunder. Lately, people have been asking me if there is anything I make that doesn't turn out well. Uh, Yah! I have many blunders and recipes that just don't turn out the way they should, but I don't post them much because, well, they are usually not very pretty and I like pretty things :) However, given the recent comments and the absolute yumminess of these not-so-beauties, I wanted to post them.

These are my hi hats I made at the end of January. Nope. They are not high, so I renamed them low hats. They were supposed to be hi hats. For those of you who don't know, hi hats are a delicious cupcake concoction. It is basically a very generously frosted cupcake dipped in melted chocolate. They resemble a chocolate dipped ice cream cone. Well, my frosting sank and did not hold under the chocolate because I did not beat it long enough (I was soooo impatient waiting for these cuppies!). So they crashed and I decided to just pour the chocolate over the whole batch. They looked like a disaster, but then I tasted them. Oh my goodness, they were delish! I rarely eat two cupcakes at a time - rarely. But with these, I just HAD to! They were very rich and decadent and I could not stop myself! The cake was rich, moist and very chocolately and the massive amounts of chocolate over the cuppie just did me in. I was in heaven.

So, there ya go. I make mistakes, but sometimes I just use them as a "flopportunity" and enjoy! I even gave some of these away to some friends...they didn't look pretty, but I knew they would like them and they did!

Ok, so I am done blabbing on, but thanks for letting me share my mistakes as well as my successes. I am certain there are more to come!

Have a sweet week!

Cupcake Treasures!

These are some very fun cupcake treasures that I have been given by some very thoughtful and caring people (thanks Mom, Deb and Mikela!). They know what I like! Just wanted to share!