Petite Puffs

My baker friend Rita inspired me to make cream puffs.  The base consists of flour, water (or milk), eggs and butter that is cooked on the stove top.  I watched a few tutorials and gave it my best shot! 

I was a little worried at first since the process can be very finicky.  You have to be sure you are following the steps exactly especially since you are cooking the dough first and then baking it. After the dough was cooked, I had a piping bag ready with a star tip to pipe these babies out.  The key is to work quickly with your warm dough.  It becomes nearly impossible to pipe them out once the dough begins to cool.  So if you're like me with barley any arm strength, remember to pipe like you've never piped before!

Once they were baked, I cut each one in half and filled them with a raspberry whipped creme.  Aren't they cute?! Check the pic below! :)

xo,

Daniella :)

Banana Pudding Please!

What do you do with leftover bananas?  Make pudding! Well, I guess you can make cupcakes, or a loaf too but pudding is a little more exciting.

Sometimes, believe it or not, I just don't want to wait for something to bake in the oven. I just want something fast, easy to make and delicious.  Honestly, who doesn't like pudding or bananas and why not combine them?

I started out by making a basic vanilla pudding.  As it cooled, I sliced some ripe bananas and sauteed them with some brown sugar and butter.  To give them a little something extra special, I added some amaretto liquor. Talk about yummy! I then mixed the fancy bananas with the pudding and that was it! Banana Pudding with an upgrade. Check out the pic below! :)

xo,

Daniella :)

Happy Birthday Bryan...DUH!

My California bestie Bryan loves any desserts that have lemon.  Naturally, I would make him my lemon cake for his birthday! DUH! 

Since I've made it before, I knew I wanted to tweak a few things this time around.  I decided to cut the two layers of cake in half and spread a thin layer of lemon curd in between. I also wanted to get a little more creative with the meringue frosting and thought I should swirl it on to the cake instead of piping it.  After it was torched, I was really happy with the unique design! Check out the pic below!

Happy birthday Bryan and thanks for being such an amazing friend! 

xo,

Daniella :)

Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

It really doesn't get better than having a red velvet whoopie pie! It's like having a sandwich cookie but a million times better.  I honestly made them because I had some leftover buttermilk I didn't want to waste. I totally hate when that happens.  

Check out the pic below! If you haven't tried these, please do!

xo,

Daniella :)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Deliciousness

I was so excited to take on this order for my friend (more like a little sister) Sarah! Her boyfriend loves Reese's and she wanted me to bake him the ultimate peanut butter chocolate cupcake for his birthday.  I decided on a basic chocolate buttermilk cake and added a mini Reese's in the center.  For the frosting, I made a chocolate ganche, mixed in some peanut butter and of course, added BUTTER! Lots and lots of delicious butter.  I then topped them with some cut up mini Reese's pieces.  Check out the pic below and Happy Birthday Mario! 

xo,

Daniella :)

2012 = 2 yummy cakes!

Happy New Year!!! I hope everyone had an amazing time with their loved ones.  Here are two delicious cakes I made.

The first is a Lemon cake filled with a lemon curd and frosted with a meringue.  I added some candied lemon and fresh lemon for decoration.  The bottom is a fabulous German Chocolate cake filled with a toasted coconut and pecan custard and frosted with a semi sweet chocolate ganache.  Check out the pics below! :)

Here's to another amazing year!

xo,

Daniella :)