Happy Valentine’s Day and Give-Away Reminder

Five Valentine’s Day projects complete and one more to go!

This is what I’ve been working on since Sunday – nearly 100 heart cookie pops for a trade show that is being held today.

I rushed all the cookies outside to take a photo before I left and then packed up my car. I loved the heart light dangling over my monogram on my L.L. Bean tote so I took another photo.  Can you tell I’m sleep deprived?  Who takes a photo of the trunk of their car?

When I arrived at the show I set up the table top with glittered hot pink paper, and made a pot with bare tree branches and strung heart lights to wind through the branches.  I then hung cookies from the branches with ribbon.  I also made cookie arrangements in terracotta pots.  I added glittery heart picks here and there.  I wouldn’t be surprised if we won the best dressed table, but you never know.

One more baking project to do today. I’m making mini Valentine’s Day vanilla cupcakes and using up the Meyer lemon Italian meringue buttercream from my macarons this past Saturday and decorating them as I did for the Mini Boston Cream Cupcakes.  They’re for my MIL who moved to a new place this past weekend and I thought she could take them to dinner with her and make new friends.

Then I’m taking a nap!

But I wanted to remind you the “Ooh la la Sur la Table Give-away” ends tonight at midnight, Pacific time.  If you haven’t already entered, here’s your chance.

I’ll post the winner later this week after I catch my breath.

Wishing you all a wonderful day of love! 

Seattle (Macaron) Space Needle Cupcake Topper

This past weekend my family had two occasions to celebrate so I decided the requested chocolate cake would incorporate both upcoming events – a Valentine’s Day birthday of my brother and the departure of my nephew, his wife, and baby-to-be who leave this week to make Seattle their new home.

When I thought of Seattle, it was obvious to me what I had to make – the space needle!

 

I made a batch of lemon macarons without color tinting for half of a cookie to be placed  on top of the support base I made out of gum paste.  The remaining macarons I filled with Italian meringue buttercream laced with lemon curd made from the Meyer lemons from my nephew’s tree.  It was quite a project for the one little cookie half I needed.  And yes, I tried a full macron but it looked like a Big Mac sitting up there.

For the flagpole, I coated a strand of spaghetti with royal icing and attached a gum paste flag I made with a red royal icing heart.

My intension was to make enough towers for all the cupcakes.  After making one tower I decided to make a cake instead with one tower!

Something else reminded me of Seattle - coffee beans.  I found chocolate in the shape of coffee beans that were perfect to be placed on rosettes around the edge of the cake.  Since we were celebrating a Valentine’s birthday, I added hearts along with pink chocolate curls.

Come a baby in July, ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ is going to have a whole new meaning! 

“Ooh La La” Give-Away!

I’m celebrating my third blogging anniversary with a little Parisian flair. 

When I recently took a French macarons baking class at Sur la Table, I found the cutest little stand-up Eiffel Tower treat bags that are tied with double-faced hot pink satin ribbon! 

I knew one thing - I must have them.

Okay, I knew two things.  I had to share a set with you. 

And because the Eiffel Tower is much more fun when shared with others…

… I invited some friends to come along…

… a set of Parisian pink melamine prep bowls…an Eiffel Tower spatula… and French poodle napkins, all from Sur la Table.

Just a little something to say merci beaucoup for an incredible experience I never would have thought possible.  You have made it so much fun!

L’amour,

Marilyn

 

To enter the give-away, leave a comment.  That’s all.

Open ‘24/7’ till closing on Valentine’s Day at midnight.

‘Tushie Cookies’ for Valentine’s Day!

Amy from Ohio had a great idea. She asked me if I would make her my Tushie Cookies for her boyfriend for Valentine’s Day.

How could I resist such a sweet and fun request?

Amy had a couple more requests – pink, red and…

… Tiffany blue with Ben’s name in a black tattoo!

Tushie Cookies aren’t just for bridal showers anymore!

And beginning Friday until Valentine’s Day I’m hosting my “Ooh la la Give-Away” because I'm feeling 'tres magnifique' since this past week was my third year blogging anniversary and I also learned how to make French macarons (which you’ll see in a future post)! C'est bon!

Here’s a sneak peek of the give-away goodies.…

See you Friday, bon amis!

xoxo

Your First Kiss … do ‘kiss and tell’!

I have a love affair with Valentine’s Day.

It’s when I received my first kiss from a boy named Kenny Watkins. In second grade, while we were passing out Valentine’s among the decorated shoe boxes adorned with paper doilies and hearts, Kenny puckered up and planted one on my right cheek. Totally surprised but secretly pleased due to my reciprocal crush, I did what any self–respecting seven year-old girl would have done – I promptly walked up to my teacher, Mrs. Fedor, and tattled on him. What would be deemed as terribly un-PC today and probable cause for expulsion for the kissing bandit, she smiled and said, “What a lucky girl you are!”

Even at that age I remember not expecting that particular answer since it would have been so much more fun to have gotten him into trouble. Walking back to my desk I noticed Kenny was already back at his, which was right next to mine. He sat there with the biggest, most beautiful smile. Mrs. Fedor was right. I was a lucky girl.

I’d love for you to ‘kiss and tell’ and share your first kiss story with us in the comments section.

Valentines Supplies:

Valentine (make your own) Hang Tags, Valentine Hemp Twine, Lady Bug rubber stamp, Valentine Typography Cotton Ribbon, Fucshia Heart Card with Magenta Vellum Envelope - Paper Source.

Pink chocolate curls, pink pearl chocolate dragees – Calico Cake Shop

Royal icing hearts –  made by me

Confessions of a ...

That's been me this past week.

I confess to falling in love with Kate Spade's "Bow Valley" bag when we first locked eyes this past Sunday in Fashion Island in Newport. Nordstrom's being my first stop, I obsessed the rest of the day over this soft, buttery leather bag with a shiny patent half bow.

The one thing I was obsessing about was the cost. Ugh.

This is when I became a stalker. I saw the black version was on sale at KateSpade.com so I thought the pink must have been an exclusive to Nordstrom. I stalked the Nordstrom site online. Morning. Night. And finally I found it had been reduced 33%!

I quickly made my purchases (I'm seeing which one I like since the store only had the smaller bag).

Which one do you like? The smaller, more prim bag or the shoulder tote?

Decisions. Decisions.

Also Kate Spade's Spring 2012 hit today. Very mod and very pink. Love!

This is also my first attempt at Polyvore. Be kind. lol!

Winner! Winner! Winner!

Congratulations to Krista Trentham who was chosen by random.org to be the lucky cupcake goodies give-away winner.

Krista, please email me with your info.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the fun!

I’ll be hosting another Sur la Table give-away before Valentine’s Day with a French theme.  “Ooh la la!”

Mini Boston Cream Valentine’s Day Cupcakes!

Three words…

Begin with the cutest mini cupcakes wrappers ever by Meri Meri.

They are part of the give-away I’m hosting that ends on Friday.

Fill them with your favorite vanilla cupcake batter. My recipe is at the end of this post, hot stuff.

While the cupcakes baked I made Julia Child’s recipe for pastry cream. And just like Julia, I made it thicker and added a little cream after it completely cooled to thin it out. As Julia said, you can always make it thinner, but not thicker once it’s made. The pastry cream can also be frozen.

Julia also said, “If you’re afraid of butter, use cream.” What a wonderful philosophy to live by. No wonder I love this woman.

There are so many gadgets on the market to core out cupcakes. I used a large star tip by inserting it into the top of the cupcake, twisting and pulling it up. This worked perfectly.

Something as simple as a grapefruit knife or a small paring knife or a strawberry corer would work equally well. The trick is to go deep enough so you have a good cavity to hold the pastry cream.

Chocolate ganache is nothing more than chopped dark chocolate with hot cream poured over the chocolate to melt it. Bam! You’ve got chocolate ganache. Couldn’t be easier, really.

Finish with a swirl of sweetened whipped cream and decorate with the candy heart sprinkles (also in the give-away).

Plate.

Yummy.

Scrumptious.

Indulge.

Enjoy!

To enter the Cupcake Goodies Give-Away enter HERE.

Crème Patissiere (pastry cream custard filling) Recipe found in, From Julia’s Child’s Kitchen, page 504

Vanilla-Almond Cupcake Recipe (see below)

Chocolate Ganache Recip (see below)

‘Hot Stuff’ and ‘Love’ Spatulas, glass prep bowls, glass cake stand – Sur la Table

Meri-Meri Cupcake Papers –Sur la Table

Heart Sprinkles - Sur la Table

Serving Pieces – my own collection

Vanilla –Almond Cupcakes

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups superfine sugar

3 cups pastry flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

Preheat oven to 350. Line cupcake pans with papers. In a mixing bowl cream the butter gradually adding the sugar and creaming until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift dry ingredients and add to the mixture alternating with milk, beating well after each addition until smooth.

Pour or scoop the batter into the cupcake papers. Bake for 10-12 minutes for mini cupcakes or 25-30 for regular sized cupcakes. Cool briefly in pans and remove to finish cooling on a rack.

Chocolate Ganache

1 cup heavy cream

6 oz. bittersweet or semi-sweat chocolate, chopped

In a small saucepan, heat cream over medium-high heat to where the cream bubbles along the sides of the pan. Do not boil the cream. Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl and pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Let the mixture stand as is for 3 minutes without stirring.

After a few minutes, mix the chocolate gently to a smooth consistency. Let it sit for another few minutes to thicken. If it stands too long and becomes too thick to dip the tops of the cupcakes in, reheat in the microwave. Can be refrigerated.

Valentine’s Cupcake Goodies Give-Away!

Recently, I took a cupcake class at Sur la Table in Newport Beach.

One can always learn something new. For example, did you know there is a higher level of whipping cream other than heavy whipping cream? It’s called manufacturer’s cream. Restaurants use it. It’s 48% butter fat compared to heavy whipping cream’s 38%.

When I saw the nice helper pour some into my coffee I didn’t stop her. I actually told her to keep on going! That one cup of coffee alone was worth the cost of the class.

I love Sur la Table at Valentine’s Day.

I found so many new pink friends to keep me company in the kitchen while baking my own version of Boston Cream Cupcakes (pictured above - recipe to follow next week). A few goodies followed me home to make their way into my kitchen and some are for you too!

One perfectly pink spatula with sparkles!

A set of perfectly pink measuring spoons ~

A set of perfectly pink measuring cups ~

And the perfect finishing touches ~

(I used these for my cupcakes so you could see how pretty your cupcakes will look but these are yours.)

The whole perfectly pink cupcake kit in caboodle ~

To Enter ~

1. Leave a comment! :)
You must be a follower of my blog or let me know you are a new follower and leave a comment.
I'm grateful and appreciative of my followers and I feel they deserve the best chance to win! :)

For Extra Entry Chances To Win ~
Extra Entry #2 ~ Post about this Give-Away on your blog with a link back to this post.

Extra Entry #3 ~ Add a photo from this post on the sidebar of your blog with a link back to the Give-Away.

Extra Entry #4 ~ Tweet or Face Book about this Give-Away with a link back to this post.

*All entries must be left on separate comments.

Give-Away ends Friday, January 27th at midnight Pacific time.

Good luck and happy baking!

The give-away has ended. Thank you for joining in the fun.. The lucky cupcake lover will be announced on Monday. :)

Cupcake Goodies Give-Away Coming Up!

Whew!  Made it to the end of the week! 

Because you have been absolutely loves … this weekend I’ll be hosting a cupcake goodies give-away with pretty pink and red lovelies from Sur la Table so make sure you check back on Saturday!

In some fun news, my “Tushie Cookies” were featured yesterday in an article on Bridal Guide. com as one of 5 Fun Bachelorette Party Ideas.  These little risque cookies always seem to give a giggle.  The magazine called them “cheeky cookies.”  Now why didn’t I think of that?

Have a fantastic Friday! I’ve missed you!!!