My humble beginnings with Fondant...

The purple boxes (my first fondant cakes) were made for one of my best friends 30th birthday dinner.

The purple bow cupcakes and purple Orchid cake were my 1st fondant covered cupcakes and my second fondant cake which I made for another best friend's 30th birthday. I also made the cupcake tower out of Styrofoam and ribbon.

My third fondant cake was the blue "Tiffany" like box which was made "just because" I wanted to test out my newly arrived can of Choco-pan. I had never used cocoa-pan fondant before and couldn't wait to test it out. I think I received it in the mail from my favorite online shop Global Sugar Art the night before I made the cake.

Finally the pink and brown cake was made for another one of my best friends' baby shower. The gal was made out of fondant and her dress was hand-painted to match the dress my friend actually wore the day of her shower.

This was too cute not to share.

Welcome New Ones!

I have been dying to try onesie sugar cookies and today I gave it a go. I used the sugar cookie recipe from Confetti Cakes (which I love) and Joy of Baking's royal icing recipe. In honor of Aidan born 9/08, Mari born 4/09, Chloe born 6/09, and Doran born 7/09... thank you for giving me a reason to bake today.

Thank you Amy for letting me borrow the onesie cookie cutter!




And a special congratulations on Mari's upcoming baptismal.

NOW that is a peach cobbler!!!

Teddy has been asking me to make peach cobbler for as long as I could remember so last Sunday I went to the Santa Monica Main street Farmer's Market and got the sweetest and Juiciest peaches I could find and adapted one of Paula Dean's Cobbler recipe's. What followed was a shower of compliments from a true cobbler connoisseur who called again this morning to tell me that "This is the BEST cobbler [he has] ever had"

Ingredients

* 5 Large fresh peeled and sliced peaches
* 1 1/2 cups white sugar,(set aside 1 Cup for later use)
* 1/2 cup light brown sugar
* 1/2 cup water
* 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
* 6 tablespoons butter (1 1/2 sticks but I think 1 stick is fine)
* 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
* 1 1/2 cups milk
* Dash or two of Cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the peaches, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup light brown sugar, nutmeg and water in a saucepan and mix well. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Put the butter in a 3-quart baking dish and place in oven to melt.

Mix remaining 1 cup sugar, flour, and milk VERY slowly to prevent clumping. Pour mixture over melted butter. Do not stir. Spoon fruit on top, gently pouring in syrup. Sprinkle top with ground cinnamon, if using. Batter will rise to top during baking. Bake for 45-55 minutes.

Paula Deen meet Gluten Free

There is nothing like a July 4th BBQ with Fried Chicken and watermelon. This year I adapted Paula Deen's famous fried chicken recipe to make it Gluten Free so that I could enjoy it too. I have never made fried chicken before so this was an entirely new experience. I used coconut oil which is said to have many health benefits and Bob Mills Gluten Free Flour. The results-DELISH!!!!

Ingredients

* 2 eggs
* 1/4 cup water
* About 2 tablespoons hot red sauce
* 1 1/2 cups Gluten Free Flour
* 1 teaspoon pepper
* Pepper, salt, garlic poweder
* 1.4 lbs chicken skinless breasts
* Coconut Oil, for frying, 1/2 jar Spectrum brand

Directions

In pie plate, beat the eggs with the water. Add enough hot sauce so the egg mixture is bright orange. In pie plate, combine the GF flour and pepper. In a seperate bowl season the chicken with salt, pepper and garlic powder (Be generous). Once the chicken is coated with salt, pepper, and garlic powder dip the seasoned chicken in the egg, and then coat well in the flour mixture.

Heat the oil to 350 degrees F in a medium sauce pan. Do not fill the pot more than 1/2 full with oil.

Fry the chicken in the oil until brown and crisp. For dark meat about 13 to 14 minutes, white meat around 8 to 10 minutes.