THE SWEET SPOT

I love art-themed parties for kids. So creative and full of activities to keep the kiddos busy! Even better is when the party is at an kids' art studio, so no artsy messes at your house. I've been asked to create several art-themed cakes for parties at local childrens' art studios in town, and I always have fun with them. My most recent one was for a friend and enthusiastic supporter of my business, Carisa, for her adorable son, Robby. Robby's party was at Paint, Paper, Scissors . Robby's cake was a mixture of buttercream and rolled fondant. I did an artist's palette with splotches of paint and a paintbrush in fondant. I usually don't do cakes entirely of fondant--few people ask for them--and I don't like the taste of fondant either. But I think fondant is great when used for the detailed decorations on a cake. Isn't he the cutest little artist ever?! I loved using the primary colors with the buttercream frosting and sprinkles. I'm a bi...

This is one of those recipes from my childhood that I didn't like or appreciate much at the time, but grew to like much more as an adult! I rediscovered this cookie when I was 29 years old and needed a recipe that would make alot of cookies to give out as Christmas gifts to friends and co-workers. I called my Mom and asked for this recipe, the name of which I don't remember because I just think of them as 'Ugly Cookies' due to the way they look when they come out of the oven. They are a conglomeration of textures and tastes due to the many ingredients, but they taste really good! The recipe was originally from Theresa, our next door neighbor when I was growing up in the 80s suburbs of Dallas. I haven't seen her smiling face in 23 years but remember her fondly with this recipe. Theresa O’Dell’s "Ugly Cookies" 2 cups brown sugar 2 cups sugar ¾ cup butter, softened 1 cup veg oil 4 eggs 2 tsp vanilla 3 cup flour 2 tsp salt 2 tsp baking soda 3 cup uncooked ...

(We devoured our Victoria Sponge without even taking any of our own pics!) I learned a new recipe recently for a specific occasion, Girl Scout World Thinking Day . Thinking Day is celebrated by Scouts around the world on February 22, but my troops celebrated early this year on February 5 due to my surgery the following week. I wanted to make a traditional English tea cake, and you can't get much more traditional than the Victoria Sponge Cake. The Victoria Sponge Cake was named after Queen Victoria, who favored a slice of this cake with her tea. Since my Scouts were celebrating with an 'Around the World' Tea Party, I thought the Victoria Sponge would be the perfect treat to represent a very proper British tea tradition. I've made the cake twice already, and I personally love it and so did my Girl Scouts! It's super-easy and requires no fancy decoration. In fact, the Sponge Cake is never iced or decorated beyond a dusting of powdered sugar on top. Victoria Sponge...

I think part of being a good cake designer is combining a good amount of inspiration and creativity with a healthy amount of decorating know-how. An inspired cake design on paper is great; an actual cake beautifully decorated with intricate detail is awesome. Since 1998, I have taught over 500 students the basics of cake decorating, and a good number of those have also learned advanced cake decorating techniques and about cookies, cupcakes and candies from me as well. I'm very confident that those 500 students can bake, frost and decorate a simple yet elegant cake for just about any occasion. I have also had the honor of teaching several employees of local bakeries, some of them recently hired and in need of basic decorating skills for their new job. I'm confident that they too have gone on to create amazing cakes at work. So it makes me a little bit sad when I see really badly decorated cakes out there. Funny, yes (unless you actually paid for one of them). Outrageously ...

In honor of Valentine's Day, I made a heart-shaped Cookie Cake yesterday. However, due to my recent surgery, this one was made with a few shortcuts, such as using pre-made cookie dough from the grocery store and having my kids decorate it instead of me! But no matter, our friends for whom we made it enjoyed it just the same. Cookie Cakes had their day in the sun about a decade ago, when shaped cookie pans hit the market. These days, cupcakes and cupcake cakes have totally eclipsed cookie cakes, although you can still find them in nearly every mall in America. However, I still love cookie cakes! I like baking them in different shapes using my Wilton novelty pans and doing as much (or as little) detail with frosting as I feel like doing. That is the beauty of the cookie cake-- it's totally acceptable to have the "cake" showing, unlike a real cake! Today I baked a heart-shaped Valentine cookie cake using my regular heart-shaped cake pan. Wilton sells a heart-shaped coo...

Wow, it seems like forever since I shared a cake recipe, what with my erratic blogging. "52 Cakes" is back this week, and this week's recipe is a variation on cake. A very popular one right now, actually. Cake Balls . So unbelievably simple, yet trendy at the same time. Cake balls are the sophisticated cousin of the cheerful cupcake. As with cupcakes, you can customize cake balls in so many different ways. There are endless combinations of cake and frosting flavors, plus your choice of candy coating and decorations. And so easily devoured at once! I like to make cake balls out of extra cake I have left over when I create shaped cakes, but you can start with a basic recipe like this one if you don't have any. My Favorite Chocolate Cake Balls: Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Frosting, Chocolate Coating! Basic Cake Balls 1 (18.25-ounce) boxed cake mix plus ingredients called for on box 1 (16-ounce) can prepared frosting Almond Bark Coating or Confectionery Wafer Coating...

As I've mentioned before , until a couple of years ago, I'd never done a Classic Winnie the Pooh cake. I'd done the brightly colored Disney Pooh in various forms many times, but never a more low-key, pastel version of the loveable childhood friend. So when one of my best girlfriends told me her new baby's nursery theme was Pooh, I jumped at the chance to do a Classic Pooh themed shower for her! The invitations were sweet but still boyish enough for her soon-to-arrive Sam: I love this invitation, which we printed in a light sage green ink. All Classic Pooh and other Disney theme invitations are from my fabulous Carlson Craft Disney album of wedding and social invitations and accessories. It's been my go-to source for all of my kids' Disney-themed parties (and we've had quite a few of them over the years.) My girls love picking out their party invitations from the big blue Disney book! Designs for the cake followed the invitation, using the same muted p...