Big Changes

I have been absent for a while now.  I have my reasons.  

There have been some big changes going on in the Pixie household lately.

WE MOVED!!  There....I couldn't hold it in any longer.

Mr. Baking Pixie made it possible to get out of Florida with his new job.  We will soon be residents of North Carolina (as soon as I suck it up and take the drivers test at the DMV).  Our belongings are slowly getting unpacked and we are starting to explore the area.  We miss our favorite pizza place and hate that we have to go to three different grocery stores to get what we need now.  But we have family so much closer by and there is a whole new life to explore here.

Thank you for my visiting my page while we are still sorting through things.  Hopefully very soon I will have new recipes of deliciousness for you to enjoy.

Loving the weather here,
The Baking Pixie

Easter Cupcakes

Robins eggs, Oreos, and chocolate...

Can life get any better?

Just thought I would show you two cupcake ideas for this weekend coming up.  Both of them use the Whoppers Mini Robins Egg candies.  

*Note to self *

Next time, use a darker frosting for these cupcakes.  Even with my minor mistake, these cupcakes came together really fast.  Just crush up some Oreos and dunk the cupcake into the crumbs to coat the top.  I used regular canned frosting to tint green and then piped on some "grass".  Last step is to add some eggs to the grass. Now you have some cute cupcakes that look like you are hunting for some delicious Easter eggs in the garden.

The next cupcake requires a potato peeler and a large chunk of chocolate.

I have some bad memories associated with the potato peeler.  Don't ask.  My blood pressure still goes up with I have to use one.  But knowing that it can turn chocolate into little cute shavings makes me happy.

Again, this is a super simple cupcake to make.  Just pipe some frosting on the top.  And you don't even have to be that pretty about it.  Pile the chocolate shavings on.  And then drop an egg or two (or three) on top of the chocolate.  And voila!  Cute little bird nest cupcakes are complete!!

Have a great holiday weekend!

Nutter Butter Truffles

These little gems follow the same process as these Oreo truffles.  It's just I wasn't great at the whole taking pictures while I worked thing when I first started this blog.

And dare I say...these may even be better than their Oreo counterparts.

What you will need

1 package of Nutter Butter cookies
1 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened
1 package of almond bark or bakers chocolate
mini chocolate chips or creamy peanut butter for decorations if desired

Start by crushing your cookies.  I have a little food chopper that has pulverized many cookies in it's little lifetime.

Add the block of cream cheese to the cookie crumbs and combine.

Roll the mixture into small balls and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment or wax paper.

Throw the cookie sheet in the fridge for about an hour or in the freezer for about 15 minutes.  I ended up putting a toothpick into each truffle at this point.  You will read why in just a moment.

I chose to use almond bark because my mom gave me 47 pounds of it at Christmas. (Thanks Mom!) Melt the chocolate using a double boiler so you don't run the risk of burning it.  Prepare another cookie sheet with paper and place near the melted chocolate.  That way you can pull the truffles out of the fridge one at a time so they stay cold when you dip them.  The toothpicks slid out pretty easy on their own and it made dipping them so much easier.  You can dip the toothpick in the chocolate and use it to cover the hole left behind when the pick came out.

At this point, you are done if you want.  I chose to decorate mine a little.  Before some of the truffles hardened, I rolled them in mini chocolate chips.  With the other truffles, I melted some creamy peanut butter in the microwave for about 40 seconds stirring in the middle.  Using a small spoon, I drizzled the melted PB over the chocolate.

However you choose to finish off your truffles, just keep them in the fridge until it is time to devour. Enjoy!

St. Paddy's Day Ruffled Cake

So I need to practice and make this one again.  But I feel the technique has potential.  Lots of potential.  

Start off with a yummy cake.  Whatever flavor you are feeling will work.  I'm not going to judge.  I was feeling a chocolate cake with a mini chocolate chip vanilla frosting filling.  I stacked three layers for this cake and then applied a thin layer of frosting to the outside.

Make a batch of marshmallow fondant. I colored mine three different colors for a gradient look.

Roll out a circle big enough to cover the top and go down the sides about an inch.  Sorry I don't have a picture of this.  Then roll out the fondant in small batches and simply cut strips out.  I made mine a little wavy on one side.

Dab a small amount of water on the side of the cake where you fondant is overlapping on the top. Place the bottom of the strips around your cake where you applied the water.  It will help it stick better.  You can frill out the top of the fondant strip if you like so it looks more ruffled.  Continue down the cake until you have filled up the sides.

You can try to do ONE long strip around the cake if you are feeling ambitious.  But I stuck with smaller strips for this first cake.

Like I said, I need more practice.  But I have a feeling my old co-workers won't mind one bit.

Popcorn Cupcakes

Hi!  My name is Heather and I am addicted to Pinterest.  "Hi Heather!"

Umm...it all started one morning when my baby woke up at 4AM.  And by the time I fed him and got him back to bed, I was wide awake.  I turned on the computer and decided to see what all the commotion was about...this Pinterest that everyone on Facebook was raving about.

I thought "what the heck" and signed up.

I must confess.  I am weak.  I now visit Pinterest at least three times a day.

(gasp)

"Oh bless her heart"

If you are familiar with Pinterest, you might have seen these cupcakes pop up here and there.  I have so many ideas floating around in my head thanks to this site.  I see rainbow cakes, and ruffled fondant, and gumpaste dinosaurs in my future.

But back to these cupcakes for the moment.  They were super simple and I think they would be adorable for a slumber party.  I just used boxed cake mix and ready to use frosting.  The most time consuming part was pinching and twisting marshmallows.

           and           

I was able to do half a bag of mini marshmallows by the time the cupcakes were done.

All you have to do is take your frosted cupcakes and start piling on the marshmallows.  I started around the edge and then you can fill in the middle.

I added a little food coloring for the "buttered" effect.  I think luster dust might work out a little better though. 

Have fun with these cupcakes.  

That is ALL that matters.  

I wanted to start this post off with apologizing to you.  It's been almost 3 weeks and there have been no new cookies or brownies or peanut butter anything.  Then I realized I didn't need to apologize.

Most of you have had a time or two in your lives when things get pushed to the side.  And that is what is happening to me right now.  Flour has been pushed aside to make way for bottles.  Chocolate chips have been moved to make way for Spike the Dinosaur.  And instead of reading recipes, I am reading Green Eggs and Ham 3 days a week. 

I have my moments that I want to scream and I do not feel guilty for saying sometimes I wish I had my old life back.  But then my baby squeals with a little laugh or I catch him trying to eat his bunny rattle, both ears and all.

And then I realize that's more satisfying than eating any dessert I can make.

Fondant Molds and Neapolitan Cupcakes

I found this easy and cute cupcake idea here through Pinterest.  If you haven't been to Pinterest, don't go. You heard me.  Take my word for it.  You will spend ALL DAY on this site. Not...that...I...did that or anything.

So.  What were we talking about?

Oh, cute cupcakes and my new fondant mold.  I found a fondant mold online the other day and proceeded to weep because it cost 40 dollars.  40 DOLLARS!!!  As my mom would say, it better do the dishes too for that price.   If it could vacuum for me, I might think about it.

So I proceeded to JoAnns craft store with my 40% off coupon in hand and found this.

With the coupon, it was $5.99.  Go me! 

So I made up a quick batch of marshmallow fondant and left it white.  

I put a little bit of cornstarch on the mold so the fondant wouldn't stick.  

Placed the fondant over the mold like this

You can either press it into the mold or take a small rolling pin and run over the top.

Carefully pull the fondant off the mold and ta-da!  I took an old biscuit cutter to get the round shape I needed for the cupcakes.

For a little added color, I took lemon extract and a small amount of gel food coloring and mixed it together in a small bowl.  I heard you can use vodka with the food coloring too. The alcohol evaporates off so you don't have to worry about making drunken cupcakes.  But since we are not a vodka drinking household, I went for the lemon extract.

Carefully apply it to the fondant to pick up some of the detail.  Let them dry completely before moving them around.

When the cupcakes are done cooling, apply a thin layer of frosting and place the fondant right on top.  Keep the cupcakes in the fridge in an airtight container.  Just pull the cupcakes out about 20 minutes before you want to eat them!