Pumpkin Cheesecake - Fall 2011

When it comes to the holidays, trying to still have your favorite treats but eating healthy is a not always easy.  I was so happy to find Kalyn's Kitchen, a great blog with a lot of South Beach Diet recipes.  I would highly recommend checking it out! 

This recipe for reduced sugar pumpkin cheesecake recipe is pretty fantastic and I swear, no one knew it was low sugar/reduced fat! 

 I went with organic pumpkin, mostly because it was available before any other store had pumpkin available! 

 It's super easy to make, half cheesecake

 Half pumpkin cheesecake

Finished product - those who don't even like cheesecake or pumpkin, love this! 

When the Fall comes around, you better believe I'm making this again! 

Pinterest and Baking

All the way back in July, my friend Jessica, told me about Pinterest and I haven't stopped pinning since.  Over the past month or so, it seems to have doubled in users and now everyone has added a Pin It tab to their website.  If you aren't on it, GET an account ASAP! (Let me know if you need an invite!)  For me, it has encouraged baking, cooking and ideas for the future (you know - babies and weddings!) more then I can say! The first thing I made from Pinterest were these Nutella Cupcakes and Oreo Cupcakes.

The Oreo cupcakes have been going around to every group of friends, since September and each time they come out, I get more compliments then I've ever had on anything I have ever baked. The Nutella ones were good, but totally overshadowed by the Oreo ones. The best part is the crispy Oreo at the bottom that tastes almost fried then there are chunks of the Oreo on the inside. To be honest, since they weren't really South Beach Diet friendly, I waited 4 months to try them - and so grateful I did, because I probably would have gained so much weight from eating these. I highly recommend them for your next baking venture!

The Inside of the Oreo Cupcake

September 2011 baking them for the first time!

The Nutella Cupcakes

Happy Baking and Happy Pinning!

xoxo

Words with Friends Cake

With all the rage about the game Words with Friends, I thought it would be a great idea to do this cake for my dear friend Masha. It's a very simple square cake with an "M" but still a fun way to make her feel loved on her Birthday!

Graduation Cupcakes

These were inspired by a Hello, Cupcake and I wanted something similar. The only problem I had, was that I was going to be in a hotel room 2 hours away from my house so I had to pack everything and put them together in the hotel room. I wish I had pictures of that process.

I used a chocolate mold for the diplomas (painted red where the bow is) with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and a Ghirardelli square for the top part, with a piece of licorice for the tassel. I mean, for putting them together in the hotel room, they turned out pretty good!

Patriotic treats: Memorial Day and 4th of July 2011

When it comes to a summer BBQ, I always find it hard to try to decide what to make. I know when I'm hot, I don't need chocolate to melt everywhere. So for both holidays I went with something light and refreshing. Here's to Summer being only a few months away!

Mini cupcakes with cream cheese frosting:

8 oz. Cream Cheese

Heavy Cream (to taste)

Powder Sugar (2 Cups or so)

Vanilla (to taste)

Topped with your favorite berries, I stayed with Red and Blue to stay Patriotic

These were for the 4th of July, and I went with big cupcakes with both a strawberry and a blueberry together and some decorating on the side! They were made with Buttercream Icing and a Vanilla Cake.

Baseball Cake - May 2011

After taking a cake decorating class, I have found that anytime a birthday or a celebration happens, I MUST make a theme caked. This is by no one else's doing, except my own and there is always a moment that I'm doing it, that I wonder, what was I thinking, that I might be able to actually make this look the way I want it to! This was no exception. I wanted it to look like a baseball and was set on doing a 3d cake. My friend Ben, loves the Yankees (in typical New York style) and that was the inspiration for this creation!

Mini cupcakes are always a hit, I find that people love to have these more then the regular sized ones!

I used the Wilton Sports Pan for this and it wasn't that hard, but looked a little less like a ball and more like a space ship.

Obviously, nothing a little icing couldn't fix!

That dang logo - I mean, it's not that hard, but for whatever reason, it took me a while to get it the way I wanted it!

The Final product!

Back in time!

Well, it's been almost a full year since I have posted on this blog! Holy cow how the time has flown by! I know that the blogosphere is full of people who are way more talented, funny, entertaining and interesting then I am, so I kind of got discouraged and frankly, blogging takes a lot of time. Living in New York can take a lot out of a person, in terms of the commute, the people, the weather and just the vibe of the city. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't trade it for a second and have loved making this my 'home.' However, it's tough to find the time to bake, let alone blog about the baking!

So, my small number of followers might ask, have you not hosted any parties since your tea party? Of course I have and the funny thing is, since Pinterest entered the world, I have been baking and cooking more then ever. But I have also taken on a new part of my baking - to try to remain as low sugar/sugar free as possible. Some people start New Year's Resolutions - well I started mine in August. I was determined for the next summer to be in a smaller size by the next. I am happy to say that I did pretty well with that goal. With the help of Kickboxing and the South Beach Diet, I have gone down a few sizes and am so much happier with how I look and feel.

So I'm going to go back in time to update on the cakes, cookies and of course CUPCAKES galore that I have made over the past 10 months! I hope you enjoy the next few posts!