Hi, yes I am still alive and baking!

What a day...week...month...year. It's almost September which means SPRING! I am already enjoying these warmer days and even more so now that our resident plovers have moved on. Do you ever get the feeling of not knowing what day it is, or noticing your underwear are on inside out!? Yeah, me neither...... I got a mini promotion a few weeks ago while my boss was away getting married and I don't think I have ever been so exhausted in my entire life! ( all of the mothers reading this have permission to mumble under their breaths that I'm in for a surprise one day). 

For any of you that don't know, yes I do still work a full time job at BOQ in their fraud department. It's one of the best and most challenging jobs I have had so far. 

So when do I bake? Good question, usually once I'm home, showered and fed i'll whip out the tools around 6:30 or 7 o'clock and then on the weekends! I am lucky enough to finish a bit earlier on Thursdays so I shouldn't complain too much I guess. I am bloody tired though! Ok enough of me whinging, lets talk cake! 

So since my last post I've had a bit of fun trialling different flavors finally! These chocolate and caramel fudge cupcakes were deeeeeeelish. The best part is I only used the dipping sauce you buy in the fruit section of the supermarket. I put a spoonful inside the batter and then drizzled it on top for decoration. Hello calories! 

I also got to make some monkey and crocodile cupcakes for Franklin, my almost second cousin, like he cares! 

Frankie has to be one of the smartest 4 years I know and I know alot of 4 year olds. He can list out all the planets in order AND he knows to leave out Pluto. He can also tell you about his favorite dinosaurs.

I purchased the monkey toppers they are Wilton brand (only my favorite!) and the crocodile toppers were hand made by yours truly, what a mission! But I was happy with my first attempt, the rest of the kids seemed to enjoy them too! 

I also managed to whip up some cupcakes for our good friends Dom, Jeanette, their daughter Harper and newest edition Hendrix! Safe to say these didn't last very long! 

I managed to squeeze in another baby shower batch of cupcakes for another lady at work and I have to say I am in love with this design!!!

Last but certainly not least, I made two dozen gluten free cupcakes for my other almost cousin (Ben has A LOT of cousins) Steph as it was her birthday, yay! These GF babies also got the tick of approval from other GF homies which made me feel even better! Ps I loved the theme on these too! 

 

Well boys and girls that's enough from me. September is going to be a busy month and i'll be sure not to leave it so long between posts!!! 

TTFN! 

Baaaabbbiieeessss!

So I don't think it's any secret to my friends or family that I love squeezing other people's babies, in a good way. I love their kankles, chubby cheeks, gummy mouths and wrinkly little butts! Sadly I am not making these cupcakes for myself just yet BUT they are for someone who is the same height as me so I've got a good indication of how big I'll get one day and I have accepted the fact that I'll be wider than I am taller. 

Today at work we wished our colleague Daisy off into the scary and unknown world of (DUN DUN DUN) parenthood and honestly how else would we do that than with mini pink cupcakes with little pink feet on top in little pink papers (apologies to my future daughter/gay son) 

Daisy managed to keep her pregnancy a secret for 20 whole weeks before we all accidentally found out - not going there! 

I've had many a conversation with her unborn baby as I've been told they eventually recognize voices from inside the belly and I like watching them move around - so alien like. So I expect in about 2-3 months she'll walk in the office and be all like 'sup KP!'. 

So we sent Daisy on her way with all our mostly useless parenting advice and I yelled at her belly one last time 'WAKE UP', I got nothing. I have already called shot gun on first cuddles when we get a visit to the office and we'll probably make Daisy do a few hours work too ;)

I LOVE BABIES (minus the poosplosions)

Holy Santa Claus....I did it!

Soooooo I should get some sort of certificate or medal for my ability to convince myself I probably can't do something and then finding out I actually CAN if I use a little self belief and that thing called effort. I received an email for a CAKE order and immediately told myself I probably couldn't do it. My client Elle had a little something to do with my decision making and me actually attempting to decorate something bigger than an apple, or cupcake.

There was also a little underlying apprehension due to the fact that Elle and her brother Jake were runners up on My Kitchen Rules 2013, yeah I KNOW. Throughout the whole process (4 days yikes) Elle was so friendly and so understanding that I hadn't attempted anything like this before but still encouraged me to do the best job I could so that's what I bloody well did!

I started with two round cakes about 7 x 3 inches stacked on top of each other then 'dirty iced' with buttercream to hold it all together!

I then proceeded to start my layers of rosettes around the cake with great caution and a few curse words in between.  Once I got started I said to myself 'Hey, this a not so bada!' and yes I do tend to talk to myself A LOT when I bake. So four colours later and a lot of butter this was the end result

Yes, I actually did make this and I am still trying to convince myself also. Everything went as smoothly as I could have hoped and not ONE rosette fell off YAY!

The best part of all was that Elle loved it! I get so wrapped up in each order that I forget how good it feels when I see the smile on my clients face. Admittedly, I was terrified. This girl has been on National TV and was a runner up on a cooking show for pete sake! So Happy Birthday Elle and I actually cannot wait to do another one of these bad boys! 

Shoot me an email if you are interested! karleeskupcakes@gmail.com :)