TiPsY's SwEeT* sPoT*

Red Velvet Christmas Cake

2010-12-23T14:27:00.000-08:00

December means baking & Christmas parties galore! I needed both a cake for a party and a birthday cake for my sis.

I thought a big batch of red velvet cake would do the trick! Frosted and filled with some white chocolate cream cheese icing & butter cream.

Adding a classic border. I loved the vintage look of the colors I used!

The Christmas mini cake...

A larger version for the birthday girl!

The fun red velvet surprise when you slice up the cake...

YUMMM!

Cheers to the holidays and surviving the many parties!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

xoxo,
Tipsy

Thanksgiving Pumpkin Goodness

2010-11-24T20:37:00.000-08:00

I was racking my brain this year! What to make! I made soo many pumpkin desserts and goodies last year and although they were all delicious, I love to try new things. My bright idea was a pumpkin cheesecake with a gingerbread crust. I thought I would google it for inspiration and soon found out that everyone and their mother and mother's mother had already made one. Oh well! It is new to me and for a brief moment, I thought I was about to invent something that nobody else had heard of!

Here we go!

Crust:
2 cups crushed gingersnaps (Trader Joe's has the best ones with big chunks of real ginger..can't beat it!)
1/4 c. finely chopped pecans
1/4 c. melted butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon (I used a full teaspoon)
1/4 c. brown sugar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line 9 x 13 inch pan with parchment paper and lots of pam...or use a cupcake pan with cupcake liners with pam.

Blend cookies, sugar, cinnamon in the food processor until finely ground. Add pecans and butter.
Bake 10 mins. until firm.

Filling:
1/2 c. pumpkin
1 tbsp. flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon ( I used a full tsp.)
1/4 tsp. nutmeg (I used a full tsp.)
1/4 tsp. cloves (I didn't have any, so I used a 1/4 tsp. of pumpkin pie spice which has all that spicy goodness in it)
3 8ox. packages of cream cheese
1 c. sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs

Stir together the pumpkin, spices, and flour. Set aside.

Beat the cream cheese until it is nice and smooth. Have a glass of spicy Pinot Noir. It pairs well with the spices of this dessert.
Add sugar & vanilla until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, until just combined after each addition.

Then stir 1/3 of the cream cheese mixture into the pumpkin goodness.

Pour the cream cheese batter onto crust and then add stripes of the pumpkin mixture.

Use the back end of a fork to make some napoleon inspired stripes!

After baking 20-30 minutes...

The cupcake version!

Cheers to some pumpkin inspired baking remix and feeling grateful for all of our blessings!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!

xoxo,
Tipsy

German Chocolate Cupcakes! MMkaay!

2010-10-24T09:58:00.001-07:00

Elinor Klivans is my new love! I am usually not too excited about cupcake cookbooks. There are oodles of them out there and not too many of them beat my online recipe researching. But, this lady knows her sweets! I tried out her German Chocolate Cupcake recipe and it is amazing!

You will have to check out her cupcakes! book for the recipe.

This lady has some sweet tricks up her sleeve!

Adding chocolate chips on top of the out of the oven cupcakes...melting for a nice little chocolate surprise..

Mixing up the custard with coconut and pecans.

After the topping sets up over night, completing the little beauties!

soooooo good! I can't put these things down.

MINI'S!!!

In honor of my boss, who inspired me to make these for his b-day...MMMMKaaaay!

Cheers to trying out new recipes and being flabbergasted by the results! Sending my love to Elinor!

xoxo,

Tipsy

Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eater

2010-10-24T09:37:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile! Tipsy has been a very busy girl these past few months! What's a busy girl to do? I had three parties to bake for last week, so I grabbed some boxed mix for the cupcakes and some pastry pride for the topping....shhhh! Don't worry! I doctored up both mixes with extra vanilla and chopped white chocolate chips for the white cake and chopped semi-sweet chips for the chocolate cake...you gotta be sneaky to make the box mix delish!

I also called for some decorating help! Luckily I had a couple of volunteers in no time!

I baked up the chocolate and vanilla cupcakes, whipped up the pastry pride (adding chocolate to half of it), picked up some vino and called the girls over!

We whipped up some colors per our Cupcake Consultant, Alicia. I did the base frosting and passed em' on over to the lovely ladies to make them.

We had plenty of supervision!

And Pico helped too!

The girls getting their decorating going!

The first masterpiece...

The crazy cupcakes. Each one got a little more funky as we sipped our Sauvignon Blanc..Alicia even invented the Pumpkin Waterfall look and Natalie created the Starry Night cupcake. It was amazing!

Cheers to cheating with some box mix/nobody guessing and cupcake decorating ladies night!

Happy Halloween!

Fun times!

xoxo,

Tipsy

Cupcake Challenge!

2010-08-08T17:45:00.001-07:00

When my super sweet and creative friend has a birthday boy in her life, I have to make something special! My friend Luna's son turned 2 and got baptized all in one day! It was a crazy fun day for everyone! You can check out her amazing florists skills here.

I enlisted the help of my friend, Alicia. She was a rookie, but caught right on and saved me from some serious cupcake drama! We decorated about 120 cupcakes in 2.5 hours! It was Cupcake War boot-camp!

We got crazy with some chocolate whipped buttercream, regular buttercream, and some white chocolate cream cheese decadence...and of course, some Sauvignon Blanc! It was a hot summer desert day!

This kid knows how to party! I think he had a cupcake in his hand every time I saw him!

The final look, inspired by Luna's design. We even used some shredded coconut to mimic the sweet white feathered angel wings that she incorporated into the centerpieces!

Check out the adorable decorations on the cake table!

(Nope, I didn't make the cake! Just the cupcake accessories!)

Happy birthday and blessed baptism to Sky! Kisses!

Cheers to some Cupcake War style decorating, sharing some sugar skills with a rookie who caught right on, and real good times with real good friends!

xoxo,

Tipsy

Une Autre Aventure Française!

2010-07-02T22:15:00.000-07:00

My sister has FINALLY returned from her year abroad in France!

She had a rich experience, but does describes it as bittersweet. If living in France is half as complicated as any French baking recipe, I can relate! Why is it that every time I make a French inspired dessert it stresses me out like no other and requires extra special beverages??

My dad asked me to make some Nougat to add to the vanilla ice cream he was making. I didn't hesitate.....until he sent me the recipe! I started having Macaroon flashbacks! Anything that requires a candy thermometer really freaks me out...and I promised to make something else too! This was one long week in my hot hot desert kitchen!

I was such a good girl getting my mice en place together before starting the process!

Oh French recipes, you scare the hell outta me!

I boiled right along with this mixture! I stood right over it until it reached 315 degrees! ahhhh!

The stickiest s*** I've ever worked with! Now you know how I really feel!

I sprayed and sprayed and sprayed Pam and Pam and Pam to make sure it didn't stick to the pan. This was a mess....but, it already tasted amazing!

then I popped it into the fridge for 4 days to set up.

The next night I started up some French Tarts! What was I thinking?

My most genius moment was placing a strip of parchment paper between the Pate Sucre and the tart pans. I could lift them right out when they were done!

Don't worry, I totally cheated! My Pastry Cream for the Tart Frangipan didn't set up. So, I just whipped up an egg with almond powder, sugar and loads of vanilla.

Didn't matter though! These turned out perfectly browned and delicious!

I whipped up some sweet American Pastry Pride to fill these bebes! I couldn't stand the thought of starting from scratch one more time! It's not even dairy! Shhh! Don't tell any Irwins!

I did follow the website's Ganache Recipe and I whipped some of it in with the Pastry Pride for a chocolate filling and kept half of it plain for non-chocolate lovers.

The completed and complicated tarts!

Why it was so worth it!

Ok, so photo props to my sis! She set the nougat/vanilla ice cream combo up in my mom's tea cup from France. I am so in love with this! YUMMMy and SWWWEEEEt!

Cheers to the last time I bake two French recipes in one week!

...and even more cheers to cheating on French recipes with American shortcuts! :) I feel so scandalous!

xoxo,

Tipsy

Hello, Sunshine!

2010-06-06T10:46:00.000-07:00

If apricots and oranges were my Spring celebration this year, what better fruit to ring in the Summer sunshine than some yummy lemons!

My parents have a beautiful lemon tree in their backyard and I took advantage of the gorgeous lemons they gave me.

I found this recipe and had to try it out on a hot June, Saturday afternoon. I couldn't get the house below 85 degrees!!! Summer is definitely here.

2 sticks of butter at room temp
2.5 cups sugar (divided into 2 and .5)
4 eggs at room temp
Zest of 6-8 lemons
3 cups flour
.5 tsp. baking powder
.5 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup lemon juice (divided into 1/4 & 1/2)
3/4 cup Buttermilk
1 tsp. salt

First, I poured myself a glass of nice and chilly Sauvignon Blanc. Then I got out all of the cold ingredients to get them to room temp. That didn't take to long....Next, I added some ice to my Sauvignon Blanc which had also quickly reached room temp.

While everything came to room temp, I started zesting the lemons. This is about all the workout that a girl wants on a lazy Summer Saturday afternoon.

I mixed up 2 cups of the sugar with the 2 sticks of butter and lemon zest. Smells amazing!

Next, I sifted the dry ingredients (using only 2 cups of the sugar) and placed the buttermilk, vanilla and 1/4 cup of the lemon juice in a bowl.

Add the wet and dry ingredients alternately to the butter/sugar mixture. The batter already tastes amazing! Look at all that zest!

While the cakes baked at 350 for about 30 minutes I mixed up the glaze. Ina glazed the cakes and that was that. I had to take it a step further...maybe it was the heat getting to me.

The glaze is the 1/2 cup lemon juice and 1/2 cup sugar. Just heat it up on the stove until all the sugar crystals disappear!

Once the cakes were outta the oven, I used a toothpick to make little flavor spacers for the yummy lemon/sugar glaze.

I wanted to try something new. Does lemon, white chocolate and cream cheese go together? YESS! I mixed up some white chocolate cream cheese frosting, just like the red velvet recipe, but added 3 tablespoons of lemon juice. It is actually quite refreshing, but added some decadence to this lemon delight!

This is what happens when Tipsy is trying to make sky blue after a few hours of baking in a hot kitchen drinking wine on the rocks!

I was a bit disappointed with me heavy hand in the food coloring department, but I still like the way it turned out.

I added lemon wedges and a yellow twist for fun.

Then some leaves and dots.

Had to try it out! YUMMMM!

Cheers to Summer sunshine, cold white wine, and eating cake all the time!

XOXO,

Tipsy

Easter Cake!

2010-04-04T17:57:00.000-07:00

Anyone who was at the Fam Easter celebration this year will know that I had a really hard time answering the question, "What kind of cake is that?" The reason Tipsy was stuttering? Not because I had a drink! This cake is so delicious and has so many key ingredients that I couldn't simmer it down to a brief title! Instead I replied, "Apricot Brandy, Almond Orange Cake with Apricot Brandy Jam, Apricot Grand Marnier Cream Frosting and Chocolate Ganache with Grand Marnier."

Is that a sentence? I don't think so! But this cake says enough for itself! I just loved it!

What says Spring more then some fruity boozey cake? To me, nothing! ;)

Ingredients:

3 eggs

1 cup sour cream (I skipped the sour cream and went for the fruit/booze! I substituted 1/4 cup apricot Brandy, 1/4 cup orange juice and 1/2 cup whole milk)

2 teaspoons vanilla

2.5 cup cake flour (sifted)

2/3 cups (unblanched) almonds (toast em' up and toss them in the food processor until finely ground)

.5 cup sugar

1/4 cup OJ

6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate (grate it up in the food processor separately from the almonds)

1.5 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons orange zest

1 cup butter

1/3 cup Grand Marnier ( I probably used about 3/4 cups...)

1/2 cup heavy cream

Chop up the almonds and broil them up in the oven...then toss into the food processor until finely ground.

Mix up the 1/4 cup OJ, vanilla, apricot brandy and eggs

Mix up all the dry ingredients with the orange zest.

Add the butter to the dry ingredients until well creamed-then add egg mixture in thirds and mix well between each addition.

This batter is sooooo yummy! I had to celebrate with a little voddie tonnie with my left over oranges!

Bake in (2) 9 inch round pans at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Once the cakes were done I used a toothpick to make holes all over...then brushed on a generous amount of orange juice and the Grand Marnier...you can't go wrong here!

Once the cakes were cool and the OJ & Grand Marnier was absorbed I filled the cake with Apricot Jam which I had heated up with some apricot brandy for extra flavor.

I whipped up some cream and added about a cup of Apricot Jam and some Grand Marnier for extra flavor. SO DECADENT!

Next, comes what I cannot live without...CHOCOLATE! Scald the cream on the stove and add the grated chocolate. Remove from the heat, stir until smooth and add some Grand Marnier to taste. It really just brings out the richness in the chocolate!

For decoration I wanted to add some Marzipan oranges. Just roll the color onto the Marzipan and then shape.

I added chocolate ganache to about half the cake so that there was something for everyone, scattered some grated almonds and then used the Marzipan pieces to complete the Spring look.

I couldn't wait to taste the final result, but it was worth it. So many fresh flavors happening...a perfect Spring inspired Easter dessert!

Cheers to boozey/fruity/chocolaty baked goods! This is just one of the reasons I love baking so much!

xoxo,

Tipsy

Magic Cookie Bars for a Cause

2010-03-29T13:19:00.001-07:00

I love a good bake sale! Who doesn't and what better a cause then fighting cancer?

I was excited to join my team at the Ace Hotel in the Relay for Life this year.

You can still donate-just click here.

I decided on some sweet, simple and irresistible Magic Cookie Bars. I have been making these with my fam since I can remember and they always hit the spot!

You will need:

1.5 cup graham cracker crumbs

.5 cup butter (melted)

1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

2 cups M & M's

1 1/3 cups flaked coconut

1 cup chopped pecans

...I added about 1 cup mini chocolate chips to make them extra chocolately and too good to pass up for all the relayers!

Smashing up the grahams is the most fun!

Mix the melted butter with the graham crumbs in the ziploc and then place in greased 9 x 13 inch pan. Spread evenly and press down to form the crust.

Then pour the condensed milk over the crust evenly.

Bring on the toppings! Just spread em' all out evenly and press down tightly!

Can I dig in now???? Nope, must bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes first.

The roasty toasty bars! YUMMMMMM!

I sliced and bagged them for sale. The theme of the relay this year was, "More Birthdays" so we sold the sweets as more Love, Smiles & Hope! I know these were a hit because the tray came back to me empty!

Cheers to baking for a good cause and bringing people together for one goal!

xoxo,

Tipsy

Tortilla Trade Off

2010-03-07T13:31:00.000-08:00

In turn for the Family Apple Pie Recipe my sweet friend Luna promised me her family tortilla technique! I have to warn you that they has even less of a recipe then my Granny's "globs of lard" and splashes of this and that. So, if you want to learn you will probably have to ask Luna! I don't think I have quite the credentials after just one go at it!

Luna instructed me to fill a deep bowl with Tortilla Flour-La Pina to be the best.

Next, add some water and some lard. Like I said, I really have no idea on the quantity. I guess the value of this post is the story, not the recipe.

Knead it up until all the moisture is absorbed...

...you can see the Mr. getting the shrimp cleaned in the back... Go hubs!

The dough should be slightly sticky, but you should be able to roll it into about 1.5 inch balls.

Let the dough sit for awhile. We started up the shrimp and the margaritas while it sat for about 15 minutes.

We sliced up some colorful peppers and simmered them down with tomatoes, garlic and some chicken bouillon for extra flavor.

SO DELICIOUS and colorful!

Next, we started slapping out the tortillas. This technique took me a few tries before I got the rhythm down. I definitely couldn't get the tortillas as thin as Luna could, but I will have to get more practice!

Then we tossed them onto a super hot pan and pushed down any air pockets with a paper towel. Once there are little brown bubbles on one side -flip it!

The gorgeous delicious meal with some refried beans and queso fresco.

Thanks Luna! I had so much fun and I can't wait for our Peach Cobbler/Tamale trade off!

Cheers to sharing delicious family traditions and learning something new.

xoxo,

Tipsy

Chocolate Birthday Truffles

2010-03-07T10:38:00.000-08:00

After soooo many cupcakes and cakes over the holidays and the recent family birthdays, I was ready for a different sweet treat for my birthday.

How can you make cookies & cookie dough better??? Cover them in chocolate of course!

I had received some Oreo Cookies Truffles from a friend at Christmas and I had to have more. They are so easy to make!

Just toss a regular size package of Oreos in a blender or food processor until they are crumbles....everything good in the blender, of course! I went with the Oreos with chocolate filling for extra chocolatey chocolate truffles.

Next, just toss in an 8 oz. package of softened cream cheese and blend together.

Roll the dough into balls (it's ok if they aren't perfect because you can roll them into better balls once they are chilled) and put in the fridge for at least an hour.

I also looked to my dear Paula Deen for some inspiration and that sweet lady never lets me down-Cookie Dough Truffles! Are you kidding me??? How can you beat that!

1/2 cup softened butte

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 (14 oz.) can of sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups flower

1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

(I skipped the 1 cup chopped pecans, but the recipe does call for that-I wanted more chocolate instead!)

1.5 pounds chocolate candy coating (melted)

First, beat the butter and brown sugar until fluffy (just like regular cookies.)

Add condensed milk and vanilla and beat until combined.

Gradually add the flower and lastly the chocolate chips (and pecans if you included them.)

It looks and tastes just like cookie dough! I wanted to just eat this stuff up!

Again, roll into balls-this one needs to be in the fridge for at least 2 hours. This batter is waaaay stickier then the Oreo dough.

Once the dough is chilled melt up that chocolate! For both recipes I used a total of 2 pounds of chocolate. You can buy chocolate candy coating in almost any grocery store baking aisle.

Use toothpicks to dip the chilled doughs in the chocolate and place on a baking sheet-definitely use some parchment paper if you have some. Clean up would have been such a nightmare without it. CHOCOLATE EVERYWHERE! :)

I used some Oreo crumbs and m & m's for the garnish on the Oreo Truffles

The Cookie Dough Truffles were not as easy to make pretty, so I mixed up some frosting to cover up the cookie dough that didn't get completely coated.

The real mess. YIKES!

SOOOO YUMMY!

The final look....you won't believe how delicious these un-baked good are! They will definitely be a tradition in my house now...and I already have friends wanting to order some more!

Cheers to birthdays with good friends and LOTS OF SUGAR!

Cheers,

Tipsy

Love & Colors

2010-02-17T19:08:00.000-08:00

For Valentine's Day I just had to pull out the old DeYoung cook book for some sweet sugar cookie love!

It is a family recipe...shhhh! So, I thought I would just share the colorful frosting that I mixed up with my dear friend Michelle instead of all the Dutch details!!

Rolling out and cookie cutting the dough...

Crispy baked cookies and all the colorful frosting!

I asked the Hubs to make one for me and look what he came up with! I LOVED IT! :)

My cookies for my Valentine! So cheesy, but I love it! If you can't be cheesy on Valentine's Day after a few mimosas, when can you be?

AND!!!!!! My new official Tipsy Baking mascot! We adopted her Valentine's weekend and she loved watching me make cookies/eating up any little crumb that I dropped-my little girl, Tipsy! She has three legs, so she doesn't really need a drink for an excuse to be tipsy...literally, she tips over! LOL! I just love her and have to share a cute pic of her!

Cheers to the hubs being creative, adopting a new little love and celebrating love with some fun colors and sweet treats!

xoxo,

Tipsy

Baked Brie Heaven

2009-12-28T19:04:00.000-08:00

Oh Paula Deen! That is all I have to say! She has done it again!

I went in search for a yummy baked brie recipe for one of the Christmas parties we had and I found just what I was looking for! Brie is one of my favorite cheeses and it only gets tastier when it is melted between some flaky puff pastry with sweet raspberry jam and toasted pecans!

First melt a tablespoon of butter in a sauce pan and then add 1/2 cup of chopped pecans or walnuts. Add 1/8 teaspoon of the cinnamon and stir over the heat until the butter browns and the nuts are toasted.

Then roll out the pastry dough so that it is large enough to wrap around the brie and toppings. Her recipe is for an 8 oz. wheel of brie, but I doubled it and used a 1 lb. wheel. The more the better!

Whipping up the eggs a bit...

Then I got the brie ready by topping it with the nuts and the jam.

Then washing the egg on both sides of the puff pastry for that golden crispy layer!

Wrapping up all the goodness!

The baked beauty! This is such a decadent treat! Best served with some chilled white wine or some of my sassy spicy cider! ;)

Cheers to decadent brie heaven!

xoxo,

Tipsy

Italian Cream Cake Remix

2009-12-28T18:41:00.000-08:00

With so many places to go I had to turn my kitchen into a bakery like never before! I had made a yummy Italian Cream Cake for someone at work and because it was for them, I didn't actually get to really try it. I just snooped a tiny morsel...so it was time to make one (or maybe 3 or 4) that I could sink my teeth into.

I found a great recipe at this Tasty Kitchen site...one of my new found favs.

I toasted the pecans in butter and brown sugar....these little bebes are irresistible by themselves!

Then, I toasted the coconut.

I made a few different sizes...using all the different pans that I had....of course, the little heart is for the hubs.

Getting the frosting and coconut coating going.

The many finished products..,

All the yummy pecans and coconut inside the rich cake! This is the richest tasting, non-chocolate cake evah!

Cheers to some rich Italian Cream Cake and many many parties! Even Tipsy is ALL partied out! Can you believe it!

Cheers to good times with friends and families and eating until you can't eat anymore!....and hopefully sticking with some New Years resolutions to undo the damage.

xoxo,

Tipsy

Sassy Spicy Cider

2009-12-24T13:20:00.000-08:00

After braving the malls and party after party, the hubs and I are always ready for a little at home relaxation!

Our good friend Jeremy taught us this little delight and I added my lazy mans touch to it!

You can buy mulling spices at the store, heat the cider up with the spices and then strain them out. I went for the Starbucks Chai Tea Bag (lazy) approach. Once the cider is spicy enough, just remove them.

Once the cider is hot and spicy, pour it into your mug of choice and then add the sassy part. I went with DeWar's, but Crown Royal is delightful as well.

To measure the sassy addition, or not to measure? That is the question. Tipsy says-add to taste, but feel free to measure if you would like to know just what you are getting yourself into!

This little Holiday bevee is sure to make you warm...and toasty!

Enjoy with your favorite Holiday cheeses and treats.

Cheers to the Holidays! Merry Merry Christmas and much love to everyone!

xoxo,

Tipsy

Pumpkin Obsession Finale

2009-12-08T21:30:00.000-08:00

So, I know I got carried away with the pumpkin, but I love me some pumpkin! This is officially my last pumpkin creation for this Holiday season that I will admit to making!

My sassy cousin Kaitlyn shared this recipe with me after she made my Thanksgiving with it and I made it for my Thanksgiving II with the hubs and friends. It turned out so good and I think it is because this recipe actually uses a whole can of pumpkin...the more, the better!

Thanks Kaitlyn Rose!

3 eggs beat

1 cup sugar

1 can pumpkin

3/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix together and pour on a cookie sheet that has sides. I lined mine with parchment paper and plenty of pam.

Bake for 15-20 minutes at 375 degrees. If you line the pan with the parchment paper and pam you can place the whole pan in the fridge for 20 minutes after it bakes. If not, turn the cake out onto a waxed paper covered in powdered sugar and then refrigerate. The cake is very sticky, so I would definitely recommend the parchment paper and pam option.

Mix up the filling:

1 cup powdered sugar

8 oz. cream cheese (soft)

4 tablespoons butter (soft)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Spread over the cake.

ROLL it up and then sprinkle powdered sugar on top. Mine looked a bit messy and split on the side, but it tasted so good and once you slice & serve it you can't see any of the flaws.

Sliced and delish!

Cheers to the pumpkin spice flavor that just brings in the Holiday feel! I love it!

xoxo,

Tipsy

Pumpkin Treats Meant for Breakfast

2009-12-08T21:17:00.000-08:00

After eating cookies for breakfast I thought it would make sense to actually make a pumpkin scone breakfast!

I went with a recipe that looked delish..and I had some extra buttermilk in the fridge from my last Red Velvet Adventure!

2 cups flour

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon soda

1/2 cup cold butter (cut into small pieces)

1/3 cup cold buttermilk

1/2 cup pumpkin

1 teaspoon vanilla

First, mix up the dry ingredients and then use the pastry cutter to cut in the butter.

Mix the buttermilk, vanilla, pumpkin in a separate bowl.

Combine-don't over mix. Then knead into a circle and cut into 8 slices.

Mix up an egg wash with 1 egg and 1 tablespoon of milk. Wash each slice.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.

Cut in half and cover with butter! Sooooooo yummy and you just get the feeling of Fall with one of these to start your day!

Cheers to the Fall and my pumpkin obsession!

xoxo,

Tipsy

Passing on Delicious Traditions

2009-12-08T20:14:00.000-08:00

My sweet and super creative friend, Luna, wanted a little lesson in pie baking! I have done many events with her and she is a phenomenal florist! We finally had a day off at the same time and couldn't wait to get some baking going. After my Pie with the Queen lesson I felt totally prepared for some Sunday Funday Tipsy Baking lessons!

We started with some huge Washington Apples from Costco. These bebes were juicy and delicious!

We sliced them up and added 2 tablespoons of Tapioca, 1.5 teaspoons cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1 cup sugar, splash of vanilla and a squeeze of lemon juice to get the flavors going.....instantly made the whole house smell DELISH!!!

Then for the dough! The most important part! Fruit can do it's job easy...but the crust needs much work and help! We just had to bust out the Sauvignon Blanc to make it happen!

We used Granny's Recipe, of course!

Stirring up the filling again...maybe an excuse to smell this deliciousness!

Luna loves photography and I think she is hired full time for my blog...if only I can pay her in sweets! I think this is my favorite pic that I have posted!

After covering the pie with crust we made the slits for steam.

Ready to eat with some vanilla ice cream! YUMMMMM!

Thanks for joining me Luna! I can't wait to learn how to make your Abuelita's tortillas, frijoles y arroz! I was just so entertained to know that both of our grandmother's secret ingredients would be lard! ;) I guess we are both carrying on the tradition of knowing what makes things delicisous! I love it!

Cheers to carrying on delicious family traditions, no matter how fattening!!

xoxo,

Tipsy..and Luna!

Eet smakelijk, eet-het-met plezier!

2009-11-04T08:36:00.000-08:00

In the Fall I just can't have enough pumpkin goodness and I wanted to make something that takes me back to my childhood. My mom was always baking something on a Saturday morning and many times it would be yummy pumpkin muffins. The recipe comes from our family cookbook which was compiled by my mom and aunts while I was literally a bun in the oven. My mom saved the books for my sister and I and we cherish the recipes! Look forward to some dutch delights in the future! There are some great ones in this book and I love to make them!
~
I just love the cover with my oh so Dutch great-grandparents. My grandpa was one of 12 kids and so there is much love that went into these recipes and into the food. I just can't imagine baking for 14 people every time I want some sweets! They would be gobbled up in no time and these muffins are no exception!

~

My sweet Aunt Glenda did all of the hand drawn art work within the book.

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I am really am spilling all the family secrets!
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1.5 cup sugar
1 cup oil ( I substitute half cup apple sauce and half cup oil-it is healthier and I like the hint of apple flavor -even more reminiscent of Fall!)
2 eggs
1.5 cup pumpkin
2.5 cup flour
1.5 teaspoon soda
1 teaspoon salt
1.5 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon (add some extra and a little nutmeg if you want)
.5 teaspoon vanilla
.5 cup raisins (optional)
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Beat oil & sugar (and apple sauce if you are substituting) well. Add beaten eggs, pumpkin. Sift dry ingredients and add raisins and vanilla. Sprinkle muffins with sugar.
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Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees.

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YUMMMMM! I had to enjoy them with a cup of tea! My mom would be proud.

Cheers to family traditions, comfort food, and the crispy Fall weather!

xoxo,

Tipsy

p.s. The post title translates to "Tasty eats-eat with pleasure."

Cookies for Breakfast

2009-10-29T21:48:00.000-07:00

This week the temperature FINALLY dropped in the hot hot desert and I was oh-so ready for some Fall inspired treats! I LOVE pumpkin everything! I had already made my bossy cakes in anticipation of the crispy air and when it finally did arrived I wanted to try something new....how can you make pumpkin even yummier?-add chocolate!
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I found this recipe for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies and I am so glad that I did!
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1 cup butter
3/4 cups brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon ( I added a bit more-love love love cinnamon!)
1 c. pumpkin puree
1.5 c. chocolate chips (of course, I added more)
1 c. cooking oats
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Cream butter & sugars
Add Egg & Vanilla
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Combine flour, oats, baking soda, cinnamon
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Stir dry ingredients into butter/sugar mixture alternately withe the pumpkin puree. Then add chocolate chips
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Bake at 350 degrees for 11-12 minutes.
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Can't wait to make some brandied cider to go with these sweet little babies!
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These are so yummy and I must confess that I have been eating them for breakfast! I think the oats and pumpkin make them an acceptable breakfast food, what do you think?!

Cheers to being an adult and being able to eat cookies for breakfast...Next time I will call them pumpkin scones...the hubs won't know any better and then there will be more for me anyways. ;)
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xoxo,
Tipsy

Red Velvet & Pink Champagne

2009-10-27T08:52:00.001-07:00

One of the hub's best friends got married on Sunday. He was nice enough to volunteer a wedding cake (made by me, of course) as their wedding gift from us......ok, so I did tell him I would do it before he volunteered, but I have to give him a hard time after the fact.
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I have never made a two tiered, stacked cake, covered in fondant with all kinds of details before. I was up for the challenge, but a little nervous.
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The bottom tier is Red Velvet and the top tier is Pink Champagne. You would never know that there are such colorful cakes underneath all that butter cream and fondant, but it was a fun surprise for all the guests!
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I started with the bottom tier, covered in butter cream and then added supports for the top tier. Watching the top tier sink right into the middle of the bottom tier would be my worst nightmare for this little sweet thang!
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Fully supported-that top tier isn't going anywhere!

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Then I covered both tiers with rolled fondant and started adding the accents.

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Testing the supports. Yessss!!! So glad I did because it was only about 95 degrees on the wedding day!
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The day before the wedding I cut some pieces for the bow accents on top of the cake so that they could dry over night.

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I also made some ribbon roses for the topper just like I did here.

I made a sheet cake to make sure everyone could get a nice big piece of cake. I tested out my swirly skills here before trying it out on the wedding cake that everyone would see. By the time the guests would see this cake, it would be sliced and plated.

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The final wedding cake! Thank you to the hubs for "supervising" the operation...no really, he did keep me sane on the three day operation....and he poured me a couple glasses of vino too!
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Cutting the cake...

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Congratulations Sarah & Darren! Have fun in Maui!
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Cheers to toning your arms by rolling out fondant and to the hubs "supervising" and being my sommelier!
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xoxo,
Tipsy

Pie with the Queen

2009-10-18T19:20:00.000-07:00

My love for baking and sweet treats has definitely been passed down through my family. As you can see from my photo, Little Tipsy had no shortage of sugar growing up!

I was so excited that my Granny spent a weekend with me and the hubs. The only thing on the agenda was to make pie. Granny makes the best pie...and food in general! I thought if I could at least get her fabulous pie down that it would be an accomplishment in itself.

I do have to say a few words about Granny before we get to the baking. To sum her up...she has a bumper sticker that says, "I am the Queen" as she is the queen of her Red Hat Society group. And I quote, "It isn't easy being the queen." She also has a license plate frame that says, "Numero Uno Raiders Fan." Don't get between the woman and her football!

Needless to say, she is full of sass and this picture says it all!

So, my favorite thing about Granny coming over to make pie is that she packed a little cooler full of lard. "Well, I didn't expect that you keep lard around." Leave it to an Irwin to make a fruit pie that a vegetarian can't eat!

For One Pie---In a large bowl-
Filling:
Combine fruit ( we did a peach/plum combo and then a blackberry with berries from my dad's garden)
Tapioca-the box indicates how much to use depending on what fruit you use
Juice of half a lemon
1 cup sugar

Stir it up and let it sit while you make that flaky crust!

Crust: (double the recipe if you are making a pie with a top crust)
1 cup flour per crust
1/2 teaspoon of salt
Stir together and then add lard.

5 Globs of COLD lard-yes, globs. It is a little more then a tablespoon. Granny doesn't measure and a glob is aapparently just the right ammount!

Use a Pastry Cutter to mash the ingredients together. Mash until the mixture consists of small flaky pieces.

Then take one egg and whisk with a fork to combine the yolk & white. Make sure the egg is COLD and then also add about a tablespoon of COLD water. With a spoon, make a small dip in the flour to add a couple tablespoons of the liquid at a time and fold the mixture together in that area. Rotate the bowl to slowly integrate the liquid throughout the flour mixture evenly.

Do this until the dough starts to stick together. Turn the mixture out onto a floured surface where you can roll the dough out. Roll away with a floured rolling pin and then line your pie dish...or cupcake pan for your pie!

Then add the fillings. Make sure to make some slits on the top crust for steam.

Tillman got into the flour when we weren't looking. Love that guilty little face!

Our mini pies filled with the Plum/Peach combo. We sprinkled cinnamon and sugar on top for some extra sweetness!

Warm pie with ice cream! You can't beat that!

Cheers to family traditions and yummy lard crust....did I just say that?

xoxo,

Tipsy

Aloha HELLO!

2009-09-25T19:04:00.000-07:00

After a loooong wedding season, it was time for the hubs and I to take a little vacay!

I have been to Hawaii before, but this time I was even more ready for some SERIOUS relaxation and some SWEETS! :) I was in for a treat and I didn't even know to what amazing extent. We had some awesome baked goods and sweets. I can't wait to try some of these out on the mainland!

Here are just a few of the Island delights we enjoyed!

This is tempura vanilla ice cream with chocolate and caramel sauce with macadamia nuts! soooo tasty!

I am so in love with macadamia nuts in everything! We went to a macadamia nut farm and grabbed some fab breakfast for the next day!

Next stop! Honolulu Coffee co! I had to try some of the macaroons after my personal shot at it!

Look at all these ADORABLE delights! I only wish I had room in my tummy by now to try all of them!

That Tiramisu cup couldn't be more perfect!

I choose the strawberry and the haupia, which is coconut...

The haupia was amazing, but the strawberry could have used some chocolate in there someplace! I am such a chocoholic!

We stayed with my BFF, Chappy, for a few days before checking into our hotel. She introduced us to the most delicious bagel creations!

A whole wheat...or even better, an everything bagel starts it off. We mixed up sun dried tomatoes with the whipped cream cheese, then spread it onto the hot toasty bagel. Then added some capers, then sprouts ,and then sliced tomato. The perfect way to start a tipsy day at the beach. YUMM! I could eat this everyday!

On the road to the beach....YUMMMMY HOTTT purple sweet potato Manapua! This one is definitely dessert! We also tried a Kung Pao Chicken and Chicken Yaki which is more of a meal and super delicious. I have never tasted anything like it. The yummy steam bun is so fluffy and then the savory or sweet center is more than I can ask for! You can find them at the 7/11! Wish we had them in Cali! sooooo satisfying!

Our final dessert at The Bali aka, The Mahalo! Yummy chocolate truffles in a Diamond Head Crater over steaming dry ice. It was a perfect way to end a meal...too bad we were so full of seafood that we could barely eat them! They were soooo decadent!!!!

Cheers to sweet Hawaii sunsets and treats!

xoxo,

Tipsy...and dreaming of the islands!!!!!

Love, Sweet Love

2009-09-02T18:27:00.000-07:00

My cousin Ashley eloped about a month ago and asked me to make some sweets for the family bash! I was so excited when I found out she was going with a Vineyard theme! She wanted some deep purples, greens, and white.

I made white cake filled with strawberry cream and chocolate cake filled with white chocolate cream cheese-all in cupcake form except for her and Justin's cake topper, of course!

Word to the wise-making purple frosting, just the right shade, takes longer then baking! wow! I didn't see that one coming!

The 75 bare beauties-

I carefully filled each one! I love filled cupcakes....

Frosting each one (in the 3 colors)...

Then I rolled out some fondant and cut out flowers with little fondant cutters..

I curved the flowers out and let them dry over night so I could paint them with the food coloring and vodka concoction that works so well.

I mixed up different hues of red wine tones.

The finally dried and painted flowers with added yellow buttercream centers on the mini cake:

The finished cupcakes with fondant flowers.

The final combo:

Time to cut the cake:

CONGRATS ASHLEY & JUSTIN!

Cheers to newlyweds!

xoxo,
Tipsy

Gift Cake!

2009-08-17T21:20:00.000-07:00

Anglaise Macarons Pour Ma Petite Soeur

2009-08-17T20:57:00.000-07:00

My sweet lil' sis left for a year of studying abroad in Paris just last week. Of course, we had to send her off full of sweets and memories of a week long celebration...we are just trying to make sure she comes back at the end of the school year! :)

You can follow her adventure on her brand new blog at From P-town to Paris

I wanted to make something French inspired for the party and these colorful macaroons were just what I was looking for. I was a bit intimidated as so many blogs and articles mentioned the difficulties of getting them just right, but I was up for a challenge and my fridge was stocked with cold bevees to get me through!

I started with a chocolate recipe that I found and doubled the recipe.

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 cup powdered almonds

2 tablespoons Dutch cocoa

2 large egg whites

5 tablespoons sugar

I lined a couple of cookie sheets with parchment paper and got my pastry bag ready.

I grind the powdered sugar, almond powder, and cocoa in the food processor.

Then, in the kitchenaid I beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks and then added the sugar while it continued mixing.

Folding in the dry ingredients (in 2 batches) and being careful not to over mix.

The combined ingredients:

Then I piped the cookies onto the baking sheet as close to the same size and shape as possible.

I baked them for 16 minutes at 375 degrees. YAY! They actually look like macaroons!

I paired them up to prep for the filling.

The filling is super rich and not too sweet. I think next time I will use semi-sweet chocolate..I just can't get enough SUGAR!!!

I went with a Raspberry Chocolate Ganache Filling that I found on Epicurious.

3 oz. bittersweet chocolate-chopped

1/3 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon unsalted butter-softened

1/16 teaspoon raspberry extract

I heated the cream and chocolate in the microwave (instead of on the double broiler-too much work). Then stirred in the raspberry extract and butter.

I cooled it completely and it was still too thin, so I refrigerated it until it was thick enough to spread like butter! I am so turning into Paula!

The finished Chocolate Macaroons with Raspberry Chocolate Ganache Filling-so yummy!

For my regular macaroons I made the mistake of blanching the almonds myself. It took me a good 45 minutes and lots of vino! I was going crazy peeling the skins off of these little monsters!

I used this cookie recipe where I also got the raspberry chocolate ganache.

I doubled this recipe:

1 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar

6 oz. blanched almonds

3 large egg whites

3 tablespoons sugar

3/4 teaspoons salt

Food coloring ( I chose four colors to compliment the party in hot pink, lime green, lemon yellow, and bright orange)

Blanching almonds consists of pouring boiling water over them-let sit for a couple minutes:

Then rinse with cold water. All the articles I read made it sound like the skins would just fall right off-BUT NO!

You have no idea what this meant to me once these were lookin' like this...2 drinks later!

I lined my baking sheets again and got the piping bag ready!

I pulsed the almonds and 1/2 cup of the powdered sugar until very finely ground (3 minutes).

I transferred it to a big bowl and then sifted in the rest of the powdered sugar and stirred it up.

Next, I beat the egg whites and salt in the kitchenaid until soft peaks form and then slowly added the sugar while beating the eggs until stiff peaks formed.

Since I had four colors to make, I divided the mixture into four bowls and added the colors. I love this part!

Then, divided the almond mixture into each color....

The finally piped cookies. These were harder to get into the right size and shape then the other batter for sure!

I let them stand for 30 minutes until they were no longer sticky and had a light crust. Then into the oven at 300 for 25 minutes (or before edges begin to brown).

I started up the delicious buttercream filling... this is soooooo buttery and irresistible!

1 cup unsalted butter at room temp

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla (my addition to the recipe)

(I skipped the 1 teaspoon of instant coffee in 1 tablespoon of hot water as I was going for a vanilla flav)

Whip up the butter until fluffy and add the powdered sugar and drizzle in the vanilla.

I had so much fun mixing up the colors of frosting to match the cookies.

The damage! I was tipsy dish washing for hours!

The FINALLY finished cookies. These are so much work, but they are so cute and delicious! I will definitely be making them again.

The dessert buffet with my dad's beautiful fruit tarts.... I think this will make her want to come back at the end of the year! We are already planning her homecoming party sweets!

My beautiful sis!

Je t'aime Natalie!

à la vôtre!

xoxo,

Tipsy

My "Go To" Linzertorte

2009-08-02T18:09:00.001-07:00

The hubs and I had some last minute plans for a little mid-week dinner get together at our place and with dinner looming in the back of my mind I knew I had to whip up an easy dessert. I learned how to make this Raspberry Linzertorte in a baking course that I took at Cooking with Class and it is sooo delicious and easy!

I started by mixing up the yummy Almond Short Dough the night before...you won't even need a glass of wine to make this dessert, but you will want one with it!

Blend 8 oz of butter and 6 oz of sugar on low until they are smooth.

Then add 5 oz. of powdered almonds ( I just threw some almonds in my food processor).

Then mix in 1.6 oz of eggs and 1/2 teaspoon on vanilla until just blended.

Then sift in 10 oz of pastry flour. I don't always have pastry flour around, so I substituted at a ratio of 1 3/4 cup of regular flour to 1/4 cup of cornstarch.

Then blend and chill. I chilled it over night and then rolled it out and filled the pan during my lunch break that day... making chicken piccata took up all my time that evening!

This is the best part! Just fill it with Raspberry Jam.

Rolling and cutting the lattice crust.

I didn't have time to weave them, but it tastes the same and no one will notice by the time dinner and a few glasses of wine have been enjoyed!!

Bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes.

Topped with yummy Trader Joe's Vanilla Ice Cream!

Cheers to great food and great company!

xoxo,

Tipsy

The Perfect Margarita

2009-08-02T17:56:00.000-07:00

This recipe was introduced to me this weekend by my sweet friend, Michelle. These are the best margaritas I have made and we enjoyed them at the pool. You must try this!

They are so easy to make:
Equal Parts of....
Tequila
Frozen Lemon Lime-aid mix
Corona
Lemon Lime Soda

Just stir up all equal parts and serve on the rocks....

Sooooo delicious and the fiz makes them even more refreshing! A new poolside tradition!

Cheers to weekend margaritas by the pool and great company!

Thanks Michelle!

xoxo,

Tipsy

Sweet LA Sunset

2009-07-26T20:04:00.001-07:00

My dear friend Heather made the move to LA and we had to warm her new place up this weekend with a little get together. She is an amazingly creative and talented photographer and you can check out her photography here .

I wanted to make her a special cake as she shoots weddings and special events with beautiful custom cakes all the time! It was her turn for a special treat made just for her!

I loved the chocolate cake from the Paula Dean PB & Chocolate cupcakes soo much that I reused that recipe for the cake.

I just have to give a shout out for all the butter that was in this cake. 1.5 lbs. makes this cake so delicious!

Because the cake is so rich, I went with a thick layer of chocolate and vanilla pastry cream to lighten up the intense chocolate flavor of the cake.

Here is the start of the sunset I created on the side of the cake. I used thick and messy layers of each color so that I could blend the frosting out with the swoop of my knife afterwards.

I had so much fun mixing up all the forsting colors for this cake! Who doesn't love a colorful beautiful California sunset??

I added dark and light blue frosting on the top and then blended the blue into the pink.

Rolling out two shades of grey fondant and then cutting out the buildings for my skyline... I made just enough for a few gatherings of buildings around the cake. I didn't want to cover up all those colors of my sunset!!

Starting to place the buildings.

I finished the night sky with some bright yellow stars.

Congrats Heather! I wish you all the best in your new place!

Cheers to colorful Los Angeles sunsets and sweet LA sunset cake!!!

xoxo,

Tipsy

PB & Chocolate Decadence!

2009-07-19T16:21:00.000-07:00

In addition to the wedding cake I made for my parents I had to make something to please my chocolate loving father. Who better to turn to then Paula Deen? I am obsessed with her dessert recipes right now and this one sounded too good to pass up!

I took her Lip Smackin' Chocolate Peanut Butter Layer Cake and turned it into cupcakes. That was pretty much the only thing I could think of to make it even tastier!

You can find the recipe here http://www.cookingwithpauladeen.com/recipe_results.php?id=205

The only change I made was to the cake -using dark cocoa instead of regular cocoa. I love rich dark chocolate taste and it made a difference!

I made the chocolate frosting a day in advance as the day of required making two flavors of ganache and Peanut Butter Mousse.

Oh Paula, sifting the dry ingredients twice??? I would only do it for your recipe!

The yummy batter and my yummy Sauvignon Blanc.

Filling up some jumbo cupcake liners to make for some taller cupcakes (and they keep the toppings in too!)

The yummy cake! It is so moist and rich!

Folding the Whipped Cream mixture into the Peanut Butter & melted Peanut Butter Chip Mixture to make Peanut Butter Mousse...

I used a long cupcake filling tip to get all the mousse goodness into the center of each cupcake.

Then, I topped each one with her chocolate frosting recipe to hide all the holes.

After the frosting I topped each one with some mini peanut butter cups from Trader Joe's-they are so yummy! Of course, I enjoyed a few on the side with my vino!

Peanut Butter Ganache---before the microwave.

Topping the frosting with the ganache...these are only getting yummier. The whole house smelled like a peanut butter cup!

Filling the piping bag for the Peanut Butter Ganache.

The finished beauties!

The hubs and I had to smell these babies in the car for TWO HOURS and resist them all the way to my parents house. It was worth the wait when we finally enjoyed them with my dad's homemade vanilla ice cream.

Cheers to peanut butter & chocolate decadence!

xoxo,

Tipsy

p.s. Donna--- don't hate me for this one!

1979 Wedding Cake Re-Mix

2009-07-13T18:06:00.001-07:00

For my parent's 30th wedding anniversary I decided to attempt a mini recreation of their 1979 wedding cake. I loved going through the old picture and seeing everyone looking so young and gorgeous.....and super 70's!

True to the 70's, they had peach and baby yellow wedding colors and I loved it!

This is my very first wedding cake creation! WOW! So much work....and even more anxiety. I was so nervous and finally so relieved when I pulled it off better than I thought I could!

I made a 6 inch top layer and a 10 inch lower layer using the Classic White Cake Recipe from The America's Test Kitchen Cook Book. You cannot go wrong with the recipes from this book. Everything from the chicken to the cookies and cakes are so delicious....not to mention the drink recipes, of course! ;)

You can view the recipe at http://losangeleschronicle.blogspot.com/2007/09/classic-white-cake-recipe-from-americas.html

The cakes were golden brown out of the oven...a very good sign!

What my kitchen looked like mid-process. Many dishes mean many glasses of Pinot Grigio to keep this Tipsy Baker afloat!

Trimming the layers for an even cake...wedding cakes have to look perfect or it just won't be a wedding cake!

I cheated on the filling by whipping up some Pastry Pride. It is super yummy and so easy to make. I was looking for a quick and yummy filling fix to simplify the process and this did the trick!

Adding a ring of Butter cream to keep the filling inside the cake-SO KEY!

FILL-ER-UP!

Getting the crumb coat on and then back into the fridge before the smooth layer of frosting is added...

Adding the smooth top layer of frosting..

I made about two dozen roses planning to use only the best ones...I like making funkier roses and these needed to be traditional, so it took me some extra tries! I froze them so that I could easily add them to the cake without damaging the delicate petals.

So, here is the photo of my parents and their cake that I had to work with. I just love that my mom is wearing a bonnet! Oh, the 70's!

I decorated the top layer first....

Next, the bottom layer with the roses and then leaves wherever they would fit in the bunch.

I assembled the cake at my parents house where my mom had saved her original cake topper. So cute! She even added new flowers to freshen it up.

A close up of the two tier cake, fully assembled. Whew! What a relief.

Congratulations Mom & Dad!

Cheers to crazy anniversary celebrations!

xoxo,

Tipsy...and tired!

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-05T22:39:00.000-07:00

I just love the 4th of July! What better reason to celebrate then the ability to enjoy our freedom every day of the year.

I had to come up with a patriotic and delicious bevy for the big day. I picked up some blue raspberry martini mix from BevMo and went to work. This was super simple and sure to be a new 4th tradition for us.

I added the blue raspberry martini mix, vodka, shook and served. YUMM!

A patriotic drink for the hubs...a classic Bloody Mary, his fave. Clamato, fresh lemon juice, voddy, Cholula hot sauce, and Worcester sauce on the rocks.

After a day at the pool we were so ready for the amazing fireworks show at the Indian Wells Golf Resort.

So much fun and so beautiful!

I hope you all had a fabulous 4th of July!

Cheers to the land that I love!

xoxo,

Tipsy

Abigail is here!

2009-06-28T20:27:00.001-07:00

My sweet cousin, Theresa, just had a BEAUTIFUL baby girl, Abigail! So sweet!

I know this post is a long time comin', but I have just completed a four week cake decorating course, just in time for the shower. I seriously have been workin' on the flowers for three weeks and put it all together the week of the shower! I need a martini already! :)

I also tried out a lil' Paula Deen Butter Meltaways recipe for the tea time...so yummy! I hope I am as JOLLY and butter-licious as you one day, Paula Deen! :)

CONGRATS TEA & KEVIN! Abigail is beautiful!

XOXO,

Tipsy

Something Summereee and Fun

2009-06-02T20:37:00.001-07:00

When my sweet friends only request it to make something sweet and summereeee for our weekend in SD, the first thing that comes to my mind is COCONUT!!

I didn't have as much time as I wish I did, so I did a funfetti mix (c'mon, you know it reminds you of carefree childhood), added some extra vanilla and made my own butter cream frosting.

I was so glad to take it to my cake decorating class where we made roses, which I love! These are made with Buttercream, not fondant-much more delicious!

I added LOTS of toasted coconut between the layers:

The crumb coat, then into the fridge:

Something about lime green is so refreshing and reminiscent of summer:

Making it smooth:

Adding the details of red roses, blue leaves and yellow accents! I love mixing up the colors!!!

Had to have a piece for the hubs before I left with the girrrrrls:

Cheers to coconut and a weekend with the ladies!
MUAH!

xoxo,

Tipsy

Friki Tiki

2009-06-02T20:14:00.000-07:00

After a seven day work week, Tipsy is ready to relax in all the right ways!

My dear co-worker, on Friday of Memorial Day weekend, saw all the boats in a row on her way to work. They were, of course, ready for the river and full of laughter. The most memorable boat, just had to be, "The Friki Tiki" and though she had to curse as she passed them because, like me, she was on her way to work while everyone else on the 10 freeway was on the way to the river, I just had to invent a drink to erase my memory of work on Monday, my long awaited day off work!!!

Here is that gem, and boy did it work!

Muddling some raspberries, then I ran them through a strainer to get those seeds out of the equation!

I started with Ice, Vodka ( I know, I love vodka-honestly,to anyone else White Rum would taste better, so feel free to substitute) and then added GUAVA PINEAPPLE juice...my new obsession!

Then I added the fresh raspberry juice that I made, stirred and topped with whipped cream and some coconut that I toasted in the oven. It tastes like Hawaii; just what I needed to forget about a long work week and put the friki in the tiki!

So delish!!

A hibiscus from my front yard completed the look! Thanks to the hubs with the green thumb!

Ahhhh! So refreshing! Ready for some pool action!

Cheers to a happy Memorial Day! Hope you all had a great one!

xoxo, Tipsy

Playing With Color

2009-05-27T14:58:00.001-07:00

I am always looking to try new things and have been looking for some cake decorating tips. I gave in and signed up for my local Michael's Cake Decorating class with a bunch of kids and house wives. It has been fun, but I like to put my own spin on things and the class is pretty focused on making things look just like the book. PLEASE! We were supposed to bring in a frosted cake....no surprise to me that I was the only one who brought in a neon orange cake!

The crumb coat...the refrigerated before adding the colored layer.

Smoothing out the frosting. Too bad the cake looks like a block of cheddar cheese!

Mixing up some colors for the piping bags...

Playing withe the different textures...

So, here is the finished cake with after my class. I used flower shaped fondant cutters to layout the flowers and then filled them in with the frosting.

Cheers to new experiences and making things your own!

xoxo,

Tipsy

Red Velvet Gone Bonkers!

2009-05-13T21:44:00.000-07:00

For my dear friend's birthday I decided to make some red velvet petit fours! Even though he asked for the same cake as last year I thought I could give it a little re-mix. I just can't make the same thing the same way twice, I love trying new things!

I started with the red velvet cake recipe (just like I made for Alyssa- same frosting and all from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Red-Velvet-Cake-IV/Detail.aspx

Once the cake was baked I popped it out of the pan and chilled it in the fridge.

P.S. You will have to drink all the White Wine in your fridge to make room for all this madness!

I cut the cake in half and filled with a generous layer of the white chocolate cream cheese frosting.

I could eat it just like this... but there are many steps ahead to make it look even better.

It went back into the fridge with a crumb coat to keep it together and for extra flavor!

In the mean time, what to do with this mess that didn't come out of the pan so nicely!

I crumb it up and mix in some frosting so that I can roll it into balls for some cake truffles.

Once they are chilled I dip them in some white chocolate (8 oz.) and (2 tbsp.) shortening to make it easier for dipping.

Then back into the fridge with them~

I cut the cold cake into small petit four size/shape mini cakes and then, you guessed, back into the fridge.

I mix up some easy glaze to seal in all the yummyness! http://www.ehow.com/how_4489842_make-petit-fours.html

Then I started pouring the glaze over each one. The rack is over a pan so that I can use the glaze that runs off each one to glaze the next.

Back into the fridge of course.

Then I melt some chocolate to fancify the petit fours. They need a little something and the cake truffles came out so funky they needed a cover up!

Before:

After:

The Final Petit Fours-so yummy I can't resist.

Finally, everything comes together for the birthday boy!

I don't know when I will ever try this again! But, it was fun and ended deliciously. I just have to say that you need almost a whole day to make these petit fours happen. Let me know what you think!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVID!!!!!

xoxo,

Tipsy...and Bonkers

Bossy Cake

2009-04-20T22:22:00.001-07:00

When your boss comes into your office for the sole reason of letting you know that just in case you were to bake her something for her birthday to just go ahead and bring it on Tuesday because, don't forget she has Monday off, do you have to bake her something?? I sure as hell felt like I did. Thus, this is Bossy Cake!!

I am actually glad she so subtlety hinted to make her something because she loves cinnamon and pumpkin anything, so I tried something I wouldn't have otherwise.

I found this recipe for the cake and icing and it sounded so good (I always go for cakes with no oil..butter is better...and buttermilk is always a good sign!!): http://www.classbrain.com/artfamily/publish/pumpkin_spice_cake_recipe.shtml

I added about half a teaspoon extra cinnamon and nutmeg to spice it up...and am so glad I did!

The Flour, Salt, Baking Powder & Soda, Nutmeg and Cinnamon...

The Pumpkin, Buttermilk, Vanilla & Orange Zest (some extra vanilla and orange zest made it extra delicious).

Blending the Wet and Dry Mixture into the already blended Brown Sugar, White Sugar and Butter.

The perfectly bakes beauties...

The Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting is super strong with pumpkin flavor and the cupcakes are too good to cover with it.

I had to add about 2 extra cups of powdered sugar before the frosting was thick enough to use.

I decided to go really light with the frosting by using a piping bag and then finished them off with a touch of brown sugar mixed with pumpkin pie spices...They turned out looking like mini pumpkin cinnamon rolls!

I just had to eat one...or maybe I had 2! These little bebies are so addicting!!!

Good luck keeping your hands off these bossy little things and cheers to growing cahones big enough to demand baked goods on your birthday everyone!!!

xoxo,

Tipsy

Strawberry Sunday Special

2009-04-20T22:02:00.000-07:00

After a day with the little kiddies on Saturday, the hubs and I were oh-so ready to relax yesterday!

I was so excited to find that I had some strawberries in the house! I blended them up and started mixing this magical beverage!

Vodka and some orange mango tonic water...mix to taste, no measuring necessary. If you must it is 1 shot vodka (+/-), then half orange mango tonic (love the Stater Bros. Brand)/half orange peach mango juice and then strawberries on top.

Can you guess which one is mine?

Top off with my favorite juice: Orange Peach Mango

Add a couple tablespoons of the strawberries:

Stir, drink, repeat and most importantly, be merry!

Cheers my dears!!!

xoxo,

Tipsy

Jonathan is 1!!

2009-04-19T11:14:00.001-07:00

My cousin's sweet little Jonathan Bean turned one this weekend and of course I had to make something BIG for him! I just couldn't wait to see him demolish his first sugary baked good!

I mixed up a funfutti & chocholate cake mix for the top & bottom of the cake.

Mixing up some classic buttercream frosting while the cake is baking...

Mixing up some fun frosting colors, no vodka required this time!

Building the giant cupcake...

The frosting..mmmm...

Drawing on some J "sprinkles"

Adding some little rainbow sprinkles...

This bebe has no idea what's comin!

Not sure what to do and very careful...

Getting a little messy

The damage...I know if it were me this thing would have been destroyed!

Happy Birthday Jonathan! Love you lots!

xoxo,

Tipsy

Easter Upsidedown cake

2009-04-13T19:21:00.000-07:00

For Easter this year my dad made his famous homemade rich vanilla ice cream. My job was to make something to go with/under it. I decided to go with something fruity instead of chocolate...after much debating and I am so glad I did!
~

I went with a Nectarine Upside down cake recipe from America's Test Kitchen. http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/login.asp?docid=6329
~
I started out with about 5 nectarines and because they weren't as ripe as I would have liked them to be, I tossed them in some Vanilla and Brown Sugar to sweeten them up and bring out that delicious fruity goodness.
~

~

After melting about 2 tablespoons of butter into 9 inch round pans and adding 1/2 cup brown sugar to each, I tried out a couple of designs with the fruit.
~

I just had to smuggle a few slices of the nectarines into my Sauvignon Blanc a la sangria style-so yummy!

~
Mixing up the batter: with butter, sugar, 2 whole eggs+1 egg white, baking powder, salt, vanilla and whole milk-you can't go wrong!

Out of the 350 degree oven and golden brown! Ice Cream please!!!!!

The caramelized sugar made the whole house smell super tasty!

FINALLY serving up the buttery carmely fruity goodness.

We heated up each slice in the microwave and then topped with my dad's ice cream.

A happy ending to our Easter eating extravaganza!

Hope you all had a very delicious and happy Easter!

xoxo,

Tipsy

Tipsy Fondue For Two!

2009-04-07T18:57:00.000-07:00

When it comes time for the hubs to join me in the kitchen what better occasion then some cheesey goodness with our drink-a-links??

Although this doesn't fall under any baking category it did involve pots n' pans and some fruity drinks in the kitchen, so I thought I would share our findings.

We decided to try a couple different kinds and have a fonduel, so to speak.

Of course, he went for a classic Cheddar and I went for some Parmesan & garlic form of the yummy stuff!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Basic-Fondue/Detail.aspx

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Parmesan-Fondue/Detail.aspx

Cheddar:

Parmesan:

Our Favorite dipping items: Green apples, red grapes, broccoli & sourdough french bread.

The Official Fonduel Result: We both won because we liked ours the best! So, I guess you will have to decide when we have you over for some cheesy fun and cheers!

xoxo,

Tipsy.... & the hubs

Monday Morning Prep

2009-03-29T19:46:00.000-07:00

After a wonderfully enjoyable Sunday afternoon at the pool with a new beverage concoction that I will sooo have to educate you all about later, I am ready to bake something for my Monday blues tomorrow...

With the buttermilk leftover from those lovely red velvet delights, I start up some Buttermilk Biscuits with my own additions of some candied walnuts and dried cranberries with the intention to drench the things with butter and syrup, once they are browned up, to soak up my weekend fun before another week of work!

Mixing up the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder & baking soda:

Chopping up 1/2 cup cold butter:

Adding the candied walnuts & cranberries,

Stirring in the Buttermilk..

The pre-baked beauties:

Even more exciting, there is a website called biscuitpower.com (new fan--- highlights the recipe I used)!

http://biscuitpower.com/home-cooking/recipe-best-buttermilk-biscuits/

With the butter & syrup (my preview to breakfast tomorrow):

DQ, it's not QUITE a breakfast feast, but it will have to do for now!

This should shake my Monday blues away....let's make the week go faaaaassssssst my dears!

XOXO,

Tipsy

Instant Party

2009-03-26T21:15:00.000-07:00

Just a quick night of the classic pairing of Chardonnay and cookie dough! I think EVERYONE needs to try this combo!

I made my never failing chocolate chip cookies, but with some colorful sprinkles to make them festive for a friend at work who is having a birthday tomorrow!

There is just something about sprinkles that makes anything feel like a party!

Happy FRIDAY tomorrow! :)

xoxo,

Tipsy

*TiPsY's* SwEeT* sPoT*

Red Velvet Christmas Cake

Thanksgiving Pumpkin Goodness

German Chocolate Cupcakes! MMkaay!

Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eater

Cupcake Challenge!

Une Autre Aventure Française!

Hello, Sunshine!

Easter Cake!

Magic Cookie Bars for a Cause

Tortilla Trade Off

Chocolate Birthday Truffles

Love & Colors

Baked Brie Heaven

Italian Cream Cake Remix

Sassy Spicy Cider

Pumpkin Obsession Finale

Pumpkin Treats Meant for Breakfast

Passing on Delicious Traditions

Eet smakelijk, eet-het-met plezier!

Cookies for Breakfast

Red Velvet & Pink Champagne

Pie with the Queen

Aloha HELLO!

Love, Sweet Love

Gift Cake!

Anglaise Macarons Pour Ma Petite Soeur

My "Go To" Linzertorte

The Perfect Margarita

Sweet LA Sunset

PB & Chocolate Decadence!

1979 Wedding Cake Re-Mix

Happy 4th of July!

Abigail is here!

Something Summereee and Fun

Friki Tiki

Playing With Color

Red Velvet Gone Bonkers!

Bossy Cake

Strawberry Sunday Special

Jonathan is 1!!

Easter Upsidedown cake

Tipsy Fondue For Two!

Monday Morning Prep

Instant Party

TiPsY's SwEeT* sPoT*