Sorting Hat Cupcakes

We LOVE everything Harry Potter in our house. So, for my boys 12th birthday, we went to a Harry Potter Trivia Night with some friends. I made these easy Sorting Hat Cupcakes to bring along.


What You Need:
Cupcakes
   (I used boxed mix and 'doctored them up' to taste a little better.)
Filling:
  1 pkg instant vanilla pudding
  2 cups half & half
Rich Chocolate Buttercream Icing

Charley's Deep Dish Pumpkin Pie {Recipe}

We had a bumper crop of pie pumpkins in our garden this summer. So, my son, Charley decided he wanted to learn to make pumpkin pie. This recipe is the result of lots of trial and error in using fresh pumpkins in our pie. We love it, and hope you will, too.

What You Need:
For the Crust:
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. powdered sugar
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp. butter

For the Filling:
1- medium sized pie pumpkin (for 2 1/2 cups pumpkin puree)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp. Corn starch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-2 Tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
2 large eggs + 2 egg yolks (beaten)
2 1/2 cups evaporated milk (about 1 1/2 cans)

For the Whipped Cream:
1 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp. powdered sugar

*Please note: this recipe makes a DEEP DISH pie. If you are using a regular pie plate, you will need to either cut the filling by about 1/3 or use the extra filling to make pumpkin custards (which I recommend).

Cake Decorating Classes in Minnesota

Join me for some fun classes this spring in Roseville, White Bear Lake, West St. Paul and Northfield!

Wild About Cupcakes

Learn the basics of icing and fondant in this three-hour class. We will use both buttercream icing and colored fondant to make adorable animal-print cupcakes. Parent-child pairs are welcome with children 8 years or older.

Monday, February 1, 6-9pm

White Bear Lake High School - SOUTH Campus.

  Saturday, February 6, 9:30am-12:30pm 

Roseville Area High School.

Monday, February 8, 6-9pm

Henry Sibley High School - West St. Paul.

  Saturday, March 12, 9:30am-12:30pm

Northfield Middle School.

Best Birthday Cakes 
In this one-session class, you will learn to frost a cake - with no crumbs - and use decorating tips to make many of the simple, beautiful designs you see on all of those Pinterest cakes.

  Monday, March 7, 6-9pm
Henry Sibley High School - West St. Paul.

Monday, March 21, 6-9pm
White Bear Lake High School - SOUTH Campus.
Wednesday, April 6, 6-9pm
 Roseville Area High School.

Gourmet Cupcakes Made Easy
Learn how to make three kinds gourmet cupcakes and icing, 
all starting with a basic vanilla cake mix.
Saturday, April 16, 9:30am-12:30pm
South St. Paul High School.
Monday, April 11, 6-9pm
Northfield Middle School.

Tank You Very Much! - Thank You Cookies

We are getting a fish tank. So, we need to thank (or "tank") the guy who is giving it to us.

We made him some "Tanks a lot" cookies... I think these will do it.

What You Need:
Chocolate Roll-Out Cookies
Buttercream Icing (or canned icing)
  OR Royal Icing
Nerds Candy
Swedish Fish Candy

National Donut Day (at home)

Did you know that today is National Donut Day? I'm a little behind, but here are some of my favorite homemade donut (or doughnut) recipes.

'Healthy' Homemade Donut Recipe

Easy Donut Recipes from Cake Mix

Best Donut Frosting and Glaze Recipes

Crazy Chocolate Donut Recipes

Strawberry Powdered Sugar Donut Recipe

Apple Cider Donuts

I've also done a post about donut makers and donut pans.

And, if you'd like to see my worst TV appearance ever, making some of these donuts with my son, you can go here.

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Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix {Recipe}

My boys and I made these homemade hot cocoa gifts for their teachers this year. Just because I thought they needed it, I also threw in a mini bottle of schnapps to flavor their cocoa. They work with second graders all day. They deserve it!

What You Need:
1 cup Hershey's Cocoa Powder
1 cup Hershey's Special Dark Cocoa Powder
2 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. corn starch
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
Pinch of salt
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

* Note: You could use all of the original Hershey's unsweetened cocoa, and you may cut back about 1/2 cup of the sugar.

Summer Beach Cookies

School's Out... Finally!

I made these summer beach cookies for my kids' teachers and helpers at school.

Helpful Links:
Vanilla Sugar Cookie Recipe
Royal Icing Recipe
How to Color Icing

But there's something extra cool about these cookies. The backs are imprinted with "Beki Cook's Cakes."

Half-Iced Half-Birthday Cake

I know, I know, half birthdays are not a real thing. But with these two monkeys in my life, I really embrace any chance to make a cake and have a party.

We've done some pretty fun Half-Birthday Cakes around here the last couple of years.

See, my guys are twins. They share a birthday and a birthday party, so I don't see anything wrong with making a Half-Birthday Half-Cake and celebrating in the spring.

This year, though, we had a lot going on with a sick kid, Easter, the usual... so I just half-iced it.

The cakes were some leftovers from the freezer, and the icing job took me maybe 30 minutes. So, if you're looking for a simple, silly way to celebrate... give it a chance!!

Click the Links Below to See:
How to Make a Cake Mix Taste Homemade
Buttercream Icing Recipe
Chocolate Buttercream Icing Recipe
How to Ice a Cake without Crumbs

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Bakery-Style Soft Sugar Cookies

So, the bummer about having small kids and loving to bake sweets is that most schools these days won't let you send in homemade treats. (Now, calm down, I understand why this is, we have good friends with food allergies, but it's still a bummer!) 

So, my guys have learned to love those sugar cookies with frosting and sprinkles from the grocery store bakery-- since that's what so many of their friends bring for birthday treats. I'm not a huge fan, but after weeks of begging for me to make some, I gave in, and made these for my guys.

What You Need:
For the Cookies:
5 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup (unsalted) butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup (granulated) sugar
2 cups powdered sugar
3 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. almond extract
1 1/2 cups sour cream

For the Icing:
1 - 8oz. block cream cheese (at room temperature)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter (at room temperature)
4 cups (approx. 1 pound) powdered sugar

Yield: 4-6 dozen 2" cookies

Homemade Chocolate Cream Cheese Mints {Recipe}

These mints are perfect for a special Valentine, or any special occasion. And they are really, really easy to make.

What You Need
4 oz. (half of a block) of cream cheese, at room temperature
1 pound (approx. 3-5 cups) powdered sugar
2 tsp. creme de menthe (or 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract)*
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
 Either:
  10 oz. Chocolate Almond Bark (or Candy Melts)
  or Semi-sweet chocolate for melting

*I prefer Creme de Menthe for my mint-flavored treats. I just think the taste is better. You can find it in the liquor store or liquor aisle (if you don't live in Minnesota). For this recipe, the clear version would be better. I was stuck with green because that's what I usually carry.

'Tween Girl Birthday Party: Animal Print Cupcakes

One of the cake-y things I do is go to birthday parties and workshops in the Twin Cities and teach cake, cupcake or cookie decorating. I tend to have a lot of 10-14 year-old girls at the parties, and one wanted to go with a "fashionista" idea. So, we came up with these really, really easy cupcakes.

What You Need:
2-3 dozen standard-sized cupcakes
Homemade Marshmallow Fondant*
Ball-shaped sprinkles
Parchment or waxed paper
Powdered sugar
Rolling pin
Large round biscuit or cookie cutter

* Note: I made two batches of fondant. One white and one using 3/4 cup chocolate chips, melted. I colored some of the fondant pink, yellow and black, and saved some white and some light brown.

** Note #2: The top row of cupcakes above shows the fondant decorations atop a cupcake swirl, if you go that route, you'll need to make some icing, as well.

Cookie Decorating Kits - Perfect Holiday Gift!

Here's a fun holiday gift idea for you...

A cookie decorating kit for your friends and family.
Combine the icing, the sprinkles and the cookies all in one place... it's perfect! And perfectly fun.

What You Need: (for 3-5 kits)
(I will describe each in detail below with recipe links)
Cut-out cookies
Buttercream Icing
3-4 bottles of sprinkles
Disposable icing bags*
Mini treat bags *
*Available at craft stores

Gingerbread Houses for Kids

There are plenty of amazing websites out there devoted to those perfect, architectural-wonder gingerbread houses. This is not one of them.


My boys and I went to visit Fox 9 to show the weatherman, Cody, how gingerbread houses are done. Click the video above to see the segment, or you can click here to go to the Fox 9 website.

Gingerbread houses in our house generally involve a whole lot of sugar, layers upon layers of candy, marshmallows and sugar cereal, and who knows what else. And with kids, I think that's really what it's all about. Below are some of my ideas for making the kid-friendly gingerbread house a more fun experience.

It's all about the icing

Whether you're making your gingerbread house with a kit or graham crackers or Homemade Gingerbread, whether or not it stands up to the test of a child decorating it is all about the icing.
Most of the kits come with some pre-packaged icing, which is fine for adding your decorations and making snow around the outside of the house, but I've found that real Royal Icing makes a huge difference for getting the house to stay together.

"Acorn"y Little Thanksgiving Idea

After I saw this acorn treat idea on the website, The Fountain Avenue Kitchen, I decided my children must make them for their teachers as a treat for the upcoming Thanksgiving break.

Of course, being that I just looked at a picture and didn't read directions, I didn't realize I needed mini Nilla Wafers instead of regular ones. So, ours didn't turn out quite as well. But the 7-year-olds didn't care.

All you need is Hershey's Kisses, Mini Nilla Wafers (or regular-sized), and a butterscotch chip. Some melted chocolate or almond bark or even icing to put it all together, and let the kids go!

We put four in a bag and added a little note that said: "Acorn"y little gift to say: I'm Thankful for You!
Because well, we're just acorny like that!

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Easy Monster Cupcakes - 5 Ways

I found some Candy Eyeball Sprinkles at the store this week... so, I had no choice, I had to make some quick Monster Cupcakes for Halloween.

I thought I'd show what you could do with a few different, easy-to-find decorating tips. The tips are labeled in the picture above. I think my favorite is the easiest... Wilton Tip #233 in a messy pile. The center cupcake.
(Click on the picture to see the cupcakes larger and in more detail.)

My kids' teachers and our neighbors will hopefully enjoy their simple little monsters.

Click the Links Below to See:
Easy Monster Cake
Halloween Cupcake Ideas 
How to Make a Cake Mix Taste Homemade
Basic Buttercream Icing Recipe

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Easy Cat or Dog "Food Bowl" Birthday Cakes

My boys turned seven this weekend. Every year, we have a costume party for their birthday, to give them (and their friends) another chance to wear their Halloween costumes.

This year, they were cats. So, they wanted cat food bowls for their birthday cakes.

I decided to go with simple for the decoration because this year the boys were very particular about flavors and fillings. (Chocolate-chocolate-chocolate for Charley, and White cake with lemon curd filling and vanilla frosting for Jax.)

The 'water' is piping gel colored blue. (I added a small layer of white icing underneath the blue gel to make the water look lighter in color.) And the cat food is cereal. Each cat chose his favorite cat-food-looking cereal to go on his cake.

I made each a two-layer 9x13 cake, filled in between the layers, and to get the 'indentation' for the sides of the bowls, I used a tip #12 to add a thick layer. I added three layers, then tried to get them as smooth as possible (easier said than done).

In the end, they weren't perfect, but they won over the cats, and their friends.

Click the Links Below to See
How to Make Cake Mix taste Homemade
Rich Vanilla Buttercream Icing Recipe
Silky Chocolate Buttercream Icing Recipe
Lemon Curd Recipe
How to Frost the Corners of a Cake
Last Year's "Backson" Monster Birthday Cake

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Donuts for Dads on Fox 9

Big day! Lots of donuts! An excited six-year-old! We're heading to Fox 9 this morning to show off my Jackson's donut-making abilities for Father's Day.


Click here to go to the Fox 9 site to see the video there, if it doesn't show up well here.

If you're visiting to find the recipes I mentioned on the show, here's a list of links, or you can scroll down the main page, and you'll find them all from the last week.

'Healthy' Homemade Donut Recipe
Easy Donut Recipes from Cake Mix
Crazy Chocolate Donut Recipes
Best Donut Frosting and Glaze Recipes 
Strawberry Powdered Sugar Donut Recipe

And click the links here if you're interested in taking a Cake Decorating Class or hosting a Cake Decorating Party or Workshop.

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