Pretty In Pink Baby Shower Cake

This weekend was another fun and fabulous baby shower. I, fortunately, got to make the cake. I made grandma Ruthie's italian cream cake which I make with a cream cheese frosting. Yes the piping took forever, and yes I colored each gradient.

Yummy!

Parisian Inspired Cake Pops

I'm not usually a step-by-step blogger but I recently tried out a new baking contraption and thought I'd blog a little more in-depth about it. I picked up this sweet new toy from Target:

The Bella 12 Pop Cake Pop Maker

It cost me $20 and it was seriously one of the best gadgets I've bought for this cake making buis-nus. I say that, mostly because I think cake pops are a pain to make. Anyway, this machine cuts production time a lot. It takes 3 1/2 minutes to cook 12 pops and this is what you get:

I think I appreciated the very small learning curve the most. I only burnt half a dozen and I still ate that half dozen. 

The shower was a Parisian themed baby girl shower and I made a red velvet cake with a white chocolate coating. I lessened the food coloring in the red velvet recipe to make it more of a pink rouge. I liked the vintage tone of the cake.

After the baking I let it sit for 10 minutes before inserting the lolli sticks with chocolate on the end and stuck them in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. I used Wilton candy melts because they come in a variety of colors and taste pretty good. I have read and experimented with adding gel coloring to chocolate but I would advise against it. If the temp is not right or you add too many drops, the chocolate will harden and and you'll have to start over. Also if you buy cheap chocolate I noticed it won't work as well either. 

After inserting the stick, I poked each pop into a styrofoam cube and set it in the fridge for 15 minutes. I then dunked each pop in two coats of the chocolate melts. If you don't do a second coat you'll see the cake coming through; especially with a darker cake.

I finished the pops off with a royal icing-piped Eiffel tower in black. I would have chosen gray for a more vintage look but the color scheme of the shower was pink and black. 

Yum!

Oooo Baby Banana Cupcakes

Mmmm nothing is tastier than peanut butter smeared on a banana for a tasty snack. A little potassium, a little protein to get you through the rest of the morning or afternoon till you reach your next meal. As a toddler my husband fondly called eating peanut butter right off the spoon as "peanut butter lick." Sounds yummy doesn't it? Well the nostalgia of peanut butter and bananas were my inspiration for my recent confectionery creation. I had the privilege of hosting a baby shower for a dear friend whose having another baby boy. Of course, you may guess what one of my primary tasks were for such a joyous occasion.

Banana cupcakes with peanut butter frosting. It tastes like a cross between banana bread and banana pancakes. This frosting, which is loaded with all the good stuff: butter, cream cheese, and of course peanut butter makes for a light and airy texture. A delightful combination. Of course the creativity doesn't stop there. I found a great tutorial online with step by step directions for making individual cupcake boxes which you can find here. I left the little window off my boxes and decided to make little tags instead. As you may guess, the shower favor is a take-home individually-wrapped cupcake. So much fun!