Tiramisu Layer Cake

Tiramisu is a delicious Italian dessert. Traditionally, tiramisu consists of ladyfingers soaked in coffee and layered between a sweet mascarpone filling. The first time I made this dessert, it was for dinner at a friend's house. I wasn't sure what to make and wanted it to be something more than cookies or a plain cake. I scoured allrecipes.com for a new dessert to try. Because this was for dinner at a friend's house, I wanted the recipe to be highly rated. I narrowed it down to two possibilities: tiramisu or baklava. Apparently I was feeling ethnic that day. Because I didn't have access to thawed out phyllo dough to make the baklava, I went with the tiramisu. This recipe has over 1000 five star ratings! I didn't make many changes to it the first time...I omitted all of the liqueur and replaced it with plain coffee. Now that I've made it a hundred times, I still haven't changed a thing.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Recently, my sister and I were talking. She had made some cheesecake stuffed strawberries that she saw on pinterest. She couldn't stop gushing about how great they were. Then she made them again but this time drizzled them in chocolate...another pinterest idea. Even better than before!

So, two days before Valentine's Day we decided that it would make a great cupcake. We discussed what type of base cake, what type of icing, what type of toppings and now...I present "Sweet Temptations":

This is a chocolate cake topped with fresh strawberry buttercream, rolled in chocolate bits, and garnished with a DELICIOUS chocolate-covered, cheesecake-stuffed strawberry. Doesn't that just sound amazing?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Cakes of the Week

This week was a busy week! I had a total of 4 cake orders, which wouldn't be too bad...but wait until you see one of the cakes! On top of those 4 cakes, our church is having their Valentine's Day fellowship today and I signed up to make some desserts. Plus, my weekly Blessing "Basket". And then yesterday, my husband announced, "I think I need a cake for Sunday." A total of 8 cakes!!! Here they are!

There were two tiramisu cakes and the chocolate truffle cheesecake. One cake is not pictured here because it had already been picked up:

Sweet Saturdays ~ Cheesecake Cupcakes

These are one of my most popular cupcakes. They disappear as soon as I open a box of them. You can make them in a variety of flavors and not change the recipe. I think my favorite are the Blueberry Cheesecake (pictured below). This is also one of the easiest "recipes" to make!

Crock Pot Gumbo

My husband is a big New Orleans food fan....gumbo, jambalaya, etc. He always asks for it. However, I am NOT a seafood person. I don't even do fish...at all. However, I am a crock pot fan and occasionally, I do like to spoil my husband. So, when I recently searched for new crock pot recipes and I saw this gumbo, I knew I'd give it a try. Oh, the sacrifices I make for my husband....that's true love!

Sweet Saturdays ~ Chocolate Passion Cupcakes

This cupcake is ALL about the chocolate: chocolate cake, topped with chocolate icing, drizzled with chocolate fudge, and sprinkled with chocolate chips. My sister as adequately nick-named these cupcakes the "PMS Cupcakes". Ladies....you understand. I'm even debating adding a fudge cream filled center. Okay, truth is, I've wanted to add the filled center but my memory is lacking so I never remember until after I've put the mound of chocolate icing on top. Either way, these will definitely cure any chocolate cravings that you have.

Sweet Saturdays ~ Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes

This recipe perhaps one of my most requested cupcakes...even if it is the same repeat customer every week! In all seriousness though, this is my most popular fall flavor. I modified a recipe from Annie's Eats but just barely. She has such great recipes - be sure to check them out. I have yet to find one that I don't like!
I originally searched for this recipe because I tend to follow Starbucks as far as seasonal flavors. The very same day I started searching for it, Annie posted the recipe on her website. It was fate!

Seuss-tastic Birthday!

When our youngest daughter turned 2, we threw a huge Dr. Seuss themed party for her. It wasn't really "huge" because we went all out and spared no expense. It was huge because we have 50ish family and immediate friends that we invite to our get togethers. My husband has 7 immediate brothers and sisters, who {mostly} each have several children, plus I don't know how many half brothers/sisters and step brothers/sisters. It's really confusing and after 7 years of marriage, I still don't know them all.