Orange Ombre Butterfly Cake

October 30th is my daughter’s birthday.  Let me tell you, it made for a pretty crazy Halloween weekend.  (Did I mention we also had a church activity and family in town) It was totally crazy but so fun!!

Both my older kids talk about what kind of theme/cake they want for their birthdays months before it actually happens.  So, I usually wait until fairly last minute to be SURE that they won’t change their minds. 

My daughter picked a butterfly theme probably 4 weeks ago, and has stuck with it since.  She also has told me several times that her favorite color is orange.  Not pink.  Orange.  So, that’s what I ran with. 

I know that I had this awesome cake in the back of my head somewhere, giving me a jumping off point.  Isn’t it cool?

I didn’t frost the cake perfectly for 2 reasons: 1) I thought it was more whimsical and fun for the butterflies 2) hello, insanely easier to frost non-perfectly :)

You can’t really tell from the above picture, but the frosting wasn’t super thick, so you could kind of see the tint of orange from underneath, because the inside looked like this:

Love me some ombre!  I wish I had kept the top layer white then graduated more, but oh well.  I still think it looks so cool!

 

Orange Ombre Butterfly Cake makes a 6 layer 8” cake

I used this tried and true white cake recipe.  Love it.  Then divided it evenly into 6 different bowls.  I believe it was approximately 1 C and 2 Tbsp in each bowl. 

Then I started adding color.  At first I did just one drop in the first bowl, 2 drops in the 2nd etc, but it wasn’t near as vibrant enough as I wanted.  So, then I decided to get the darkest color right first.  I even added 1 drop of red to the darkest layer.  and it turned way more red then I was thinking, so I adding probably 10 more drops of orange (remember it already had 6) to finally get the color I liked.  A lot.  Wow, I’m totally rambling.  Basically, add colors to all of your bowls, until you get the colors that you like! Best part is, the cake cooks up the same color as the batter, so you don’t have to guess.  Whatever color it is as batter, that’s how the cake will look.

These layers are not very thick, so it only took about 15-18 minutes to cook. 

After I baked the layers, and they cooled completely, I wrapped each one individually with plastic wrap and then put them in the freezer.   This is a perfect trick so that you can make your cakes ahead of time.  I made them Wednesday, and they stayed in the freezer until I frosted the cake on Sunday!  Not having to worry about making the layers Saturday or Sunday was a huge stress relief. 

For the frosting, I wanted to continue the orange theme, so I used some orange emulsion.  Seriously, this stuff is delicious.  Delicious. The smell is so good, and added to the frosting, just made it taste like some fresh orange zesty goodness.  Loved it. 

Orange Flavored Butter Cream

1 lb butter, room temp  (yes, that is 4 cubes……)

6 cups powdered sugar

2-3 tsp Orange Bakery Emulsion, or to taste (I found mine at Hobby Lobby)

3 Tbsp cream or milk

• Beat butter, and then add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing to combine before adding more, scraping sides as needed.
• Add flavoring, and if needed the milk 1 T at a time, to get the desired consistency.

To assemble cake:

Remove layers from freezer, unwrap from plastic, and place bottom layer on desired serving platter.

Spread a thin amount of frosting on layer.  Because the layers are frozen, it makes it really easy to spread the frosting thin, without the cake falling apart.

Continue building the cake, alternating between cake and thin frosting layers.  After you put the top layer on, use remainder of frosting to frost the rest of the cake!

Even though it might seem like a decent amount frosting, I *barely* had enough frosting to cover the cake.  If you plan on decorating the cake with frosting, you’ll need to make more.

Fondant butterflies

To make the butterflies, I rolled out fondant, and used a little fondant cutter that I found at Michael’s.  After that, I used a piece of foil to help them get their shape:

 

I had 3 rows, and I used some orange Wilton Color Mist to get them 3 different shades of orange. *makes these ahead of time so that they have enough time to dry before you use them.   Probably around 2-3 days at least.

 

Thanks for stopping by! have a great day!

Caramel Apple Puff Pancake

I love breakfast food.  Funny thing is though, not really for breakfast….  unless it’s a brunch.  For the most part, I’m a cold cereal for breakfast type of girl.  I LOVE cereal.  I think maybe because I’m too impatient to cook a good breakfast.  (even if it is easy…..  I’m not a morning person…..)  Cereal is very instant gratification.

But breakfast food for lunch or dinner?!?  I’m all in!  This recipe makes a great lunch or dinner (or breakfast, if you’re so inclined!)

I got this recipe from a friend probably 5 1/2 years ago.  I’ve also heard it called things like German Pancake, or Dutch Babies.  But this is what she called it, so it’s stuck with my family.

It’s even easier if you don’t include apples, I’ve made it without several times, it’s great either way.  It’s also good with maple syrup, but I like it even better with this caramel syrup!

I hope you make this sometime this fall, it’s a great fall flavor combination!  And if you like it as much as my family, you’ll make it again and again.

Caramel Apple Puff Pancake  makes a 9”x13” pan

4-6 Tbsp butter

1-2 apples, peeled, sliced and cut into chunks (I’ve used several different kinds, I say use your favorite!)

6 eggs

1 1/2 C milk

1 C flour

3 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

• Turn oven to 425 degrees.
• Slice the butter into 1 Tbsp and place in 9”x13” pan, place pan in oven to melt butter.
• Add the apples, and toss them a bit in the butter, put pan back in the oven and cook for 5 minutes.
• In a bowl, combine remaining ingredients and stir to combine.  (Sometimes my flour gets really lumpy, and doesn’t mix in very well.  If this happens, I use a whisk to try and mix it in, but I’ve never had this not turn out, so don’t worry too much if it doesn’t look completely smooth)
• Pull the pan out of the oven, pour batter over the top of the apples, and stick back in the oven for about 20 minutes.

      butter slices            melted butter             added apples          batter poured on top

                                                          All done!! 

Isn’t that fun how it puffs up?  It will deflate after you take it out and start cutting it, but it tastes good!

Caramel Buttermilk Syrup from OurBestBites

(We had quite a bit left over from this recipe, but I was glad.  It keeps in the fridge great, just reheat and use again! or eat it cold with a spoon)

3/4 C buttermilk

1 1/2 C sugar

1 stick real butter

2 Tbsp. corn syrup (Karo)

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. vanilla

• Combine buttermilk, sugar, butter, corn syrup, and baking soda in a large pot. (Bigger than you might think, you don’t want it to boil over!)

• Turn heat to low to melt butter and mix all ingredients. 

• Once ingredients are combined, turn heat up to medium high and bring to a boil.

• Reduce heat to medium low (make sure it keeps bubbling) and cook, stirring constantly for 8-9 minutes.

• When it’s done, it should be a nice golden-brown caramel-ish color.

• Remove from heat and add vanilla. 

Drizzle over your puff pancake and enjoy!

Halloween Cut-Out Cupcakes

I’m not a huge pumpkin carver.  I really don’t see the point honestly.  My kids pick out the design, and they’re really excited about that.  But….. they don’t like to scoop out the guts, and they’re too small to really carve, so it just comes back to me and my husband.  I refuse to do the whole ordeal if my husband is out of town. 

I think decorating cupcakes is way more fun.  Thankfully, I think my kids do too!  We had so much fun last night, and I wanted to show you an easy, cute way to decorate some.

I started with a box mix, because that’s how I roll….  Betty Crocker Devil’s Food to be exact, but you could make your favorite chocolate cake recipe if you want!  I also added some black coloring BEFORE baking, because I like black as a Halloween color better than chocolate brown.

For frosting, I made a double batch of buttercream, and separated it into 3 bowls.  Then I used Americolor regal purple, orange, and electric green.  I think they were the perfect colors!  (I got these colors at Hobby Lobby, but you can get them on Amazon as well)

So, now that you have cooled cupcakes and colored frosting, let’s get to it!

1: Cut off the top of the cupcake.  I did it right at the top of the cupcake liner.

2: Take the top you just cut off, and use a cookie cutter* to punch out a shape.

3: Frost the top of the flat cupcake.

4: Place the top of the cupcake back on

5: If you want, fill in the cut out.  (it adds more frosting which is a huge + in my book!

Ta-Da!

I love that they are flat across the top, and that it has a ring of color where you don’t expect it. 

I totally intended on taking some rocking pictures of them today.  But……  the cupcakes got knocked off the counter, and were all pretty much destroyed.  Such is life huh? 

Thankfully, my awesome mom, who took all the tutorial pictures, also took some of the finished cupcakes:

I think that zombie one far right middle is my favorite.  Love the purple ring of color, but with a green zombie, and purple eyes.  And, thanks to my little brother who was totally creative and started using the cut outs as part of the decorations too!  My kids followed his example, as you can see from the bottom row.

I think we may have started a new Halloween tradition!

 

Idea inspired from Martha.

*I used the same cutters as these cake pops.  I got them at Hobby Lobby.  The brand is Sunny Side Up Bakery, but I was unable to find them online.

Candy Corn Popcorn Mix

Remember how I love new seasonal products, like the pumpkin spice marshmallows? Well….  I found these new M&M’s, and knew I needed to use them.  That’s right, White Chocolate Candy Corn M&M’s.  I think they’re really tasty!

The inside is white chocolate, and the candy coating seems to have a slight candy corn flavor.  I think the flavors go well together.

I’ve seen a couple of different popcorn mixes, like this Monster Mash one, and decided that popcorn mix was the way to go with these M&M’s!

I had my kids help me with this recipe, it’s easy, and fun, and they loved it.

Candy Corn Popcorn Mix

(this recipe makes quite a bit.  and it’s fairly rich.  feel free to cut it in half!)

8 cups popped corn, buttered and salted as you like (we used an air popper, you can definitely use bagged instead!)

1/2 C candy corn (or more as desired)

1/2 C candy corn M&M’s (or more as desired)

about 1/3 bag white candy melts (I used about 1/2 bag, it was a little too much)

Orange & Yellow candy melts to drizzle on top

As you can see, this is a very specific ratio recipe.  Just kidding – it’s pretty much up to your liking! But this is a good place to start.

Take your popcorn and make sure all the seeds are out.

In a separate bowl, combine candy corn and m&m’s.

Melt white candy melts according to package instructions, and pour some on top of the candy. Mix until it’s all coated. (my idea for doing this is to make sure the candies don’t just sink the bottom, but get more incorporated….  I might be crazy)

Add the coated candy to your popcorn, pour the rest of the candy melts, and mix it all to combine. 

Put into your serving dish. (bowl, platter, whatever you’re thinking)

Drizzle with orange and yellow candy melts.

If you want, throw it in the fridge to help it harden faster.  We just started eating it :)

Need a gift idea? How about this mix in a bag?

Pretty sure someone would be excited to get this! (unless of course they hate candy corn……  I know they exist, because Mr. Fredellicious is one of them!)

Enjoy!

Halloween Cake Pops

My friend came over this past weekend we made some cake pops.  I love cake pops, let me tell ya. 

We made lots of eyeball cake pops, and that night the kids and I took a bouquet of “eyepops” over to a neighbors house.  So fun.  My kids Loved hiding around the corner, then jumping out and yelling surprise!  if you want to see a photo of the bouquet, jump on over to my Facebook page! Be sure to ‘like’ my page while you’re there!

Well, after we made all those eyeballs, I couldn’t stop.  I found some awesome little cookie cutters and I could only envision them as cake pops!  Instead of rolling only balls, I used the cookie cutters to get the different shapes.

My kids absolutely love them!  My oldest was ecstatic that I let her pick one to take to school.  She picked a jack-o-lantern:

and since I love them all, I’m going to feature each one in a picture :)

The Eyeball:

Cute Vampire (Inspired from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen):

Witch’s Cauldron:

Black Cat:

Witch’s Hat:

Candy Corn:

Bat:

Zombie:

They made my whole kitchen look halloween-y.  I wish I could just leave them up for the rest of the month for decorations!!  but..…  they taste too good for that to be an option.

What I used:

Candy Melts:

Black - Wilton only sells them this time of year, so I suggest buying a bag or 2 if you see them! I found mine at Michaels.  Walmart also carries them.

Spooky Green – also a Halloween exclusive color

Orange – I started with orange, then added both a little red and orange candy dyes to get it this color.  Make sure they are candy dyes that are oil based before adding it to your chocolate!

Purple

Yellow

Red

White

After I dipped each pop in the main color, I let them harden completely before adding details.  The details are all candy melts that were melted in a disposable piping bag.

For the candy corn, I used the hat cutter, then just cut off the edges.  Then I dipped it 3 separate times to get the color layering.

Oh, and I added a little shimmer dust to the witch’s cauldron brew.

If you have any questions, Please ask!!  I’d love to hear from you!

Enjoy! Happy Almost Halloween!!