Pumpkin Pie Pudding

Here is a simple, and easy treat that you can make to share with your family. It tastes just like a pumpkin pie, but without all the work. I tweaked the recipe a little for my taste.

Pumpkin Pie Pudding

Makes one 9" pie

1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust (Much easier than making your own)

2 (5.9 ounce) package instant cheesecake pudding mix (I used cheesecake, but you could also use vanilla)

1 container of Cool Whip, thawed, halved

1 can of (15oz) Libby 100% Pure Pumpkin

1 cup of heavy whipping cream (I prefer heavy whipping cream because it makes the pudding thicker; you could also use milk)

1/2 cup of Pumpkin Spice flavored coffee creamer

1/2 tsp of cinnamon

1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice

Directions

In a large bowl combine pudding mix, heavy whipping cream, coffee creamer, and spices. Whisk until well incorporated, then add the full can of pumpkin, and whisk again until incorporated. Then fold in half of the Cool Whip into the mixture. Spoon mixture into pie crust, and top with reaming Cool Whip. Refrigerate for 3 hours, or until chilled.

This pie taste awesome, and is super easy to make, or you can eat it right out of the bowl! You should try it out. it is a great fall treat! Happy Halloween everyone! I can't wait to see all the great costumes tonight.



Jack-o-lantern Pumpkin Cake Tutorial

So, earlier in the week I promised that I would show everyone how I did the jack-o-lantern cake that I made for my nephew's first birthday. Well, today is your lucky day, just in time for Halloween. This cake was really challenging to figure out. First, off how do you make a cake hallow, and light up like a jack-o-lantern? The cake would not be stable enough  to hold it shape if it was carved, and then to have a face carved outof it...forget it. So my husband, and I started thinking about different options for this cake (believe we me we had quite a few ideas). He finally came up with the idea of using the pumpkins I had purchased from Michael's (our local craft store) as the face of the pumpkins. So, that is exactly what we did!

All three pumpkins carved out! I just free handed the carvings, but you could do whatever you want. It is very similar to carving a real pumpkin, and I used the same tools. I wanted the pumpkin faces to be happy since this was a first birthday cake.

The my husband took a hole saw and drilled the tops, and bottoms out of all the pumpkins, so they could be placed on the stand.

This gives you an idea of what it will look like finished.

Since I only needed about 35 servings, we decided to leave the top two pumpkins in tact, and just decorate them with fondant. I covered each cake in fondant by piecing together two large strips one for the front, and one for the back, and then hiding the seam. Then, I took an exacto knife, and cut out the cravings I had already done.

They looked pretty good at that point! Then I just had to paint them orange, and let them dry.

The bottom pumpkin was a little more challenging. My husband cut the front part of the pumpkin off, so that we had only the face left. Then he took the cake, and carved it to match the size of the pumpkin. I then, buttercreamed the inside of the cake that would show through when the cake was lit up. Then I again, covered it in fondant, and painted it. In order to light the pumpkin we had to cut a hole in the side of the cake to insert the battery operated tea lights. I covered the hole with a well placed leaf. The top two pumpkins we lit up by inserting the tea lights through the hole in the bottom, if they were cake though we would have had to do the same thing.

All done, and pretty impressive since the guests didn't know it was the actual cake!

I think it looks awesome lit up!

Hope you all enjoyed this little tutorial! Have a very Happy Halloween!

Owen's Halloween First Birthday

I am very excited to share this party because it is my nephews first birthday party. My brother, and sister-in-law went with a Halloween theme since his birthday is so close to Halloween. Everyone at the party dressed up in costumes including the birthday boy! For the cake my brother wanted a stack of jack-o-lanterns to spell out "Happy Birthday Owen". If you have ever constructed a cake you know that this is no easy task, especially to make a cake hallow. However, we made it happen, and I was very happy, and excited with the outcome!

Here is the birthday boy checking out his cake before the party!

Here is the table all set-up for the party. We made sugar cookies and chocolate covered mummy pretzels for the dessert table.

Isn't he just the cutest! I love that scrunched up face!

We couldn't actually get any pictures of him smiling next to the cake.

Here are the sugar cookies we made for Owen. He loved the cookies, and ate two before the festivities even started.

I didn't actually manage get any pictures during the party, but I did manage to get the cake at the end of the night all lit up!

Happy Birthday Owen! I can't wait to make your cakes for many years to come. Stay tuned this week I will be showing how I made the hallow pumpkins for this cake.

Mike McCarey Demo

So way back when in August I mentioned that I have went to some demos at the ICES convention. Well, I am finally going to share one of those demos with you. I went to Mike McCarey's (Mike's Amazing Cakes) sitting dog demo. In the demo he explained how to make the stand, and also showed pictures of how he built the dog. It was a great demo, and he shared some great tips. I took pictures along the way to share with all of you. The pictures were taken of a projection screen, but I think that the pictures are clear.

Here is the diagram of the stand that he used.

This is the portion of the stand were the cakes goes.

For the underbelly of the dog, he used a large piece of modeling chocolate, and secured it with some white chocolate.

Arms and legs were also made of modeling chocolate.

The head is a solid piece of modeling chocolate, but rice crispies could also be used.

The cake is crumb coated and covered in fondant. Mike suggests covering the cake in two pieces of fondant, and then smoothing out your seam. It will be easier to manage this way.

After the cake is covered in fondant, he airbrushed it with shades of yellows and browns.

To make eyes look realistic Mike suggested always adding a white dot in the eye where the light would reflect off of it.

Mike is truly an amazing artist, and one of the best at this craft. I only wished I possessed the skills that he had to make cakes look realistic. I hope you enjoyed this look at his demo. Don't forget if you are local to Harford County, Maryland, and are getting married please come see us at the Deer Creek Overlook Bridal Show this Sunday from 1-4pm.

Happy Anniversary

I just wanted to wish my wonderful husband a Happy Anniversary! Yesterday we celebrated our one year wedding anniversary together! Wow, how fast a year goes! May we have many many more!

Stay tuned for more cakes and treats to follow!

Pin Prick Method for Piping Scroll Work Tutorial

So, I wanted to share with everyone how I did the scroll work on the BMI wedding cake. This method can be used to replicate designs from invitations, or just something that catches you eye. Please excuse the photos I was in a hurry, but still wanted to share the technique. First, choose a design that you want to replicate. I found this design online, and then added a little of my own design.

Next, you want to make sure the image is the size that you want to put on the cake. My cakes are usually over 4" tall so I knew I could make the image that larger and not run over the sides of the cake.

Next tape the image to a piece of foam core board (you can find this at any local craft store) so that the image is secure. Then over top of the image tape a piece of acetate. (Acetate is the same thing as an overhead transparency).

Then start to mark out your design using a pin. Place as many holes as you think you will need to replicate the design.

Can you see the holes?

Then, take the acetate with the rough side out, and line it up with where you want it on your cake. Then, press the acetate firmly into the cake so that the pin prick design will transfer to the cake.

See the pin prick design on the side of my cake?

Lastly, just follow the design transfer to replicate the design that you want! Simply, easy, and stress free!

I hope this little tutorial will help with some of your more complex designs in the future! Stay tuned for some exciting new cakes to come. Especially an awesome Halloween birthday cake that I am working on!