Cricut Cake® Personal Electronic Cutter

I'm totally excited about my newest cake decorating toy that posting about it on Facebook is just not enough. If you have been baking and caking for a little bit, then you've probably heard of the Cricut Cake® Personal Electronic Cutter. I got this baby for just $49.95! I have been wanting to get this machine since it came out last year but the $400+ price tag was just too much. Thanks to a Facebook post by Peggy Does Cake, I found out that CricutMachine.com had it on sale.

Toy Story Cake

My husbands godson, Christian, celebrated his first birthday party with a Toy Story theme. This cake took quite a few days in the making. I wanted to learn how to do color flow. I've seen it on the Wilton website (here) and so I figured I'd use that technique on this cake.

How to Make a Cupcake Stand

Build-A-Bear Cupcake Tower

Cupcake towers has been a trend at special events lately. I've looked at cupcake stands online and they can cost you from $20 to $70 depending on the design. So, here's a quick tutorial of how I make my cupcake stand. You can customize it to match your theme or whatever the occasion you are celebrating. Plus all the materials are very cheap. I think it cost me less than $5 for everything. The foam boards were on sale at $1 each and I had the ribbons on hand already.

Easy Cheese Rolls (Porto's Bakery Inspired)

Have you heard of Porto's Bakery in Southern California? My husband's co-worker recommended this place to us when he heard we were planning a trip to Legoland and Sea World. After a quick check on Yelp and finding out it's rated 4-1/2 stars out of over 2,000 reviews - we decided to add it to our itinerary.

We tried their most raved about items. The cheese rolls and potato balls did not disappoint. Between these two, the cheese roll will be easier to make at home since driving 6 hours to Porto's is out of the question when we crave for it.

Here's a super easy version I made. Only three people have tried it so far and have compared it to the original - me, my husband and a friend. Their feedback?

Clown Cake Topper

I know, I know it's been two months since I last posted something. My computer needs some kind of exorcism. It's possessed!

Anyway, here's a cake I did last year. It was a very hot August day that for some reason my fondant wouldn't stay flat on my cake. Air got inside and the sides of my cake raised a little bit. I still haven't figured out why. Maybe you guys can help me shed some light into this. It has never happened again, so...crazy, crazy phenomenon.

I just want to share how I made the Clown Toppers. The cake was for a double birthday party (a boy and girl) with a Circus theme. It's very easy and you can modify it a little bit to customize your topper according to your theme.

Black Forest Cake

I didn't know that Black Forest Cake can be so easy to do until I actually took the time to find out how it's done.   It just has four major ingredients:

1. Your favorite chocolate cake recipe (boxed or made from scratch) soaked in your choice of rum, brandy or just a simple syrup.
2. Whipped Cream
3. Your choice of fruit filling: real fresh fruits or if you have the sweet tooth, canned or your own recipe of fruit filling.
4. Shaved Chocolate

I used my favorite Beatty's Chocolate Cake recipe and brushed Strawberry Dacquiri on it instead of the traditional cherry brandy or rum because kids will be eating this cake. The traditional Black Forest Cake is also filled and topped with cherries but no one in our house is a real big fan of cherry filling so I decided to use fresh strawberries instead. It made the cake lighter and saved us a ton of calories. But if you love the cherry filling, here's a great recipe with videos. > Click here.

Chicken Siopao (Steamed or Baked)

My husband will rave about his mom's siopao every time he craves for them. Siopao is popularly known as steamed buns. It has a sweet dough with a delicious chicken filling. Anyway, my mother-in-law's final project for her Masters in Diet and Nutrition (University of the Philippines) was this recipe of siopao. They have a family friend who used this recipe and had thriving Siopao business in the Philippines. So, I wanted to make sure that I have permission to share this before I posted anything.

I used the exact ingredients but modified the procedure. Mom didn't have a stand mixer with a dough hook back in the late 80's. And I also tried a baked version because I don't have a big steamer.

Mom also advised me to make the filling ahead of time and freeze it. That way, it is easier to assemble and seal the siopao without the hassle of a seaping sauce. But of course, I have to learn it the hard way myself. I made the filling AFTER I made the dough. I wanted something to do while I waited for the dough to rise. LISTEN TO MOM! So, I'm writing down this recipe according to the better way it should be done.

Steamed Buns

Baked Buns

Here's the recipe and the pictures I took when I made them. I've done this three times already. I halved the recipe the time I took this photos so don't be confused.