After 8 weeks of testing all the cupcake shops in my home town of DC, The Washington Post Food Section just crowned the winner, Georgetown Cupcake. Ah Georgetown, my alma mater. How lovely to have had that shop opened so few blocks away many years ago when I was in school. They won for their “Chocolate Ganache” cupcake. And … Read More ...
Fall Baking: Pies!
First, check out this reversible pie-top cutter by Nordic Ware, available at Sur la Table. It has leaves on one side and apples on the other. (You can also use the cut out pieces to decorate your dough).
Second, Williams Sonoma also sells these Fall Leaves piecrust cutters
. The stamps even have intricate detailing to imprint the leaf … Read More ...
It’s All in the Supplies
I thought I might periodically post on what’s behind the many of the items you see on this blog. Without the right supplies, you can’t create amazing edible crafts. I’ll share some of the great products and sites I’ve found, and feel free to send me tips on great products and sites you’ve found.
First, color for your frosting. I … Read More ...
Make a Paper Cake
What a good idea for a shower or birthday party…fill the slices of this crafty cake with toys or favors and give to guests. Woman’s Day magazine provides complete instructions, including the pattern to download. It’s just cardboard and construction paper and your own decor.… Read More ...
Owl Cupcakes (What a Hoot!)
OK, groan at the whatta hoot part, but not the cupcake part. So cute and clever and easy to make–with Oreos and M & Ms. The instructions are courtesy of “Ezra Pound Cake,” a wonderful foodie site by a pastry chef/writer. Of course, she had me at her site name (as a fellow lit masters gal, I appreciate … Read More ...
Chocolate Curl Tutorial…from The Pioneer Woman
Learn how to make chocolate curls–essential for any fancy dessert–from The Pioneer Woman. The Pioneer Woman is an incredible site from a city woman turned rancher. She has recipes, cooking tips, and a home and garden section, but what really makes this site stand out and read like a narrative are the stories of her ranch, children and … Read More ...
Cupcake Toppers, Play Cakes and the Beauty of Links
O the fabulousness of links. It’s a wonder how one thing leads to the next to the next….almost as if the internet were a “web” of sorts.
I happened upon the “Handmade Detroit” blog, who linked to our blog. (Check out the homemade cake toppers on the first page. So great.) “Handmade Detroit,” for “people who like to make stuff” … Read More ...
Egg Molds for Your Bento Box
One crucial prop from “The Dogs of Babel
,” a book by an alumna of my MFA program, Carolyn Parkhurst, is a hardboiled egg shaper. This garage sale find shaped eggs into squares. That tidbit has stayed with me long after I read the book, so perhaps that’s why my interest perked when I glimpsed these egg shapers for … Read More ...
Spider Eggs and Candy Corn
The lovely, dense (as in, lots o’ recipes) blog of “The Recipe Girl” has many many many topics and links to peruse. She gives great step-by-step instructions for these scary spider eggs, as well as beautifully done photographs. The spider eggs were originally Martha’s idea, as she is sure to give credit where credit is due, … Read More ...
Mmm…Bacon 5 Interesting Bacon Recipes
That’s right. A whole post dedicated to bacon (forgive me vegetarians, but these were too interesting to overlook). First, lollyphile. The San Francisco based company uses only high quality ingredients. That’s real bacon, sustainably farmed. They are only a year old, so thus far have three flavors: Maple-Bacon, Wasabi-Ginger, and Absinthe (yes, legal).
The uber-clever blogger of “not martha” … Read More ...
Endless Party Ideas
The Hostess (with the Mostess) site is chock full of fabulous ideas for hosting a party: Party themes, entertaining how tos, recipes, gifts, crafts, products, holidays, weddings and baby showers, the list goes on and on. And incredible resource. Shameful on my end to only just have discovered Hostess with the Mostess. You can even pick a party theme, and … Read More ...
And if you DO make a mistake…
Cake Wrecks is the perfect place to go for your cake mishaps. Or to have fun scrolling through other mishaps. Wedding cakes gone horribly awry, misspelled sentiments, misinterpreted designs, shocking or tacky choices… anything that is “unintentionally sad, silly, inappropriate.” The purpose is to turn that bad cake energy into good. And it offers comfort in a misery-in-numbers sort of … Read More ...
Cake Decorating Tutorials
Both novice and more experienced cake decorators will find useful tips at Cake Journal, a blog written by a talented cake decorator in Denmark. She offers online tutorials and detailed instructions for cake decorating techniques, such as how to work with fondant, how to make sugar flowers, how to make a cake stand, and how to prepare royal icing. … Read More ...
Fairy Tale “Mushrooms”
I first found these darling “mushrooms” on the “Museum of Happiness” blog. Scroll down her “Food” page and find all kinds of edible craft links (I especially like the link to Rainbow Jell-O from the “Do Better” blog). After some quick digging, I found the original link for the tomato-topped eggs at “The Clubhouse Scene,” … Read More ...
Chocolate Princess and Chocolate Madonna
Chocolaholic? Artist? Baker? Check out both of these sites for great chocolate inspiration. La Cerise, a Zurich-based blogger, created this Princess cake-topper from chocolate as a much tastier alternative to fondant. (And goodness knows, we could all use a tastier alternative to fondant.) She offers very detailed notes and step-by-step instructions, and photographs along the way. I’ve been getting more … Read More ...