Baking, Baking, and More Baking

Hi, my name is BreAna and I LOVE to bake. One of these days, I'll start posting all of my cooking stuff on a different blog. But until then you will just have to scroll through it all. :) Here is a little glimpse of what's been going on at our house this month:

Blueberry Lemon Poppyseed Cookies -- I wanted to re-create a yummy cookie I ate last summer from My Dough Girl. They didn't quite turn out the way I wanted them to...but they still tasted good. I used this recipe: http://www.southernplate.com/2011/02/lemon-blossoms.html and added some blueberries, poppyseeds, and lemon zest.

French Meringue Macarons with Lemon Buttercream Filling: Every time I see I picture of a macaron, I am intrigued. They are so cute! I read that these adorable cookies are finicky and a challenge to make. A couple of weeks ago, I decided I just had to try them. I used the Basic French Meringue Macaron recipe from Tartlette. I was really disappointed when almost all of my shells stuck to my parchment paper. However, once I filled them with a little Lemon Buttercream Frosting (from my Better Homes and Garden cookbook) they were a lot better. I decided that everyone is right, they are a challenging cookie to make. One of these days, I'll try them again. But for now I will probably stick to my sugar cookies. :)

Calene's Birthday Cupcakes: I made two types of cupcakes for Calene's Birthday.

Chocolate with Raspberry Filling and Cream Cheese Frosting: For the filling, I used boughten raspberry pie filling. These for so yummy!!

Better Than School Cupcakes (This is what Calene called her favorite cake growing up): I used a chocolate cake. After they cooled, I poked 3-4 holes with the handle of a wooden spoon. I then filled them with sweetened condensed milk and caramel ice cream topping. I topped them with homemade whipped cream and chopped toffee bars.

The cupcake toppers were made using leftover royal icing from the last time I made sugar cookies.

Dried Pineapple Flowers: Okay, these don't really count as baking. But I just had to share them too! I bought a pineapple the day after I saw Annie's tutorial: http://annies-eats.net/2011/02/28/how-to-make-dried-pineapple-flowers/. Pineapple is one of my favorite foods! However, I hate cutting pineapple. So, it sat on my counter for a few days. By the time I got around to cutting it up it was very ripe. I think it would be a lot easier to slice the pineapple thin if the pineapple isn't too soft. :)

I feel bad for not posting pictures of my little girls, so here are a few. My goal for this week is to take more pictures of my girls. Nearly every picture from this month has been taken while they were eating. :)

Yummy...I'll clean it up Mommy!

Re-dipping the bottoms of the cake balls I made for a bridal shower last week. When they say use wax paper...use wax paper...parchment paper just didn't work for me. Stay tuned for the finished cake ball pictures. I'll post them later. I also made cupcakes for a RS activity. I'm disappointed that I didn't take pictures of the finished product. Oh well, next time. :)