Carolyn Braden: Strawberry Lemonade Cake

I created this as a Mother's Day/Birthday cake for my mother-in-law. It was truly delicious. 

Get the recipe at myrecipes.com. Search for Southern Living's Strawberry-Lemonade Layer Cake. It will be your new favorite cake! 

Carolyn Braden's Under the Sea Cake

I created this Under the Sea cake for my friends 1 year old. It was her first birthday so it had to be special. It was 3 cake layers that were each 4 layers of fresh strawberry cake with lemon zest and homemade strawberry lemonade jam. I also dyed it bright pink to match the white chocolate sea candy I made. I dusted the candy and fondant "pearls" with an edible shimmer powder. I love having an idea in my mind come to life and look even better! It was my first try at the ruffled fondant and I love the look. I dyed the fondant so it would have an ombre look. I put took picks under the ruffles to keep them 3-D as it dried. 

Here was Brinley's own cake. I made this with buttercream icing so she could easily eat it. She loved it. 

Carolyn Braden: Spider-Man Cakes By Me!

I created these Spider-Man cakes with some inspiration from Pinterest. 

Carolyn Braden's Monster High Cake

I created this Monster High themed cake for my niece. I added a touch of shimmer dust as everything looks better with a little sparkle! 

Carolyn Braden: How to Make Oreo Pops

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5tfyZNwJ7Y

Carolyn Braden's #Firetruck #Cake: #Birthday

Here is my version of a firetruck cake. I created it for my nephew's 3rd birthday. I haven't made a fondant cake in a while but it still turned out exactly the way I wanted. It was a fresh strawberry cake (I pureed strawberries and added them to the batter) with sliced strawberries as the filling.

Carolyn Braden: Wholesome Chow Cupcakes, #glutenfree

These are the best cake mixes ever. Wholesome Chow cake mixes are organic and gluten free but full of flavor. I've made their chocolate, spiced chai and lavender cake. All three are yummy! I wasn't sure I'd like the lavender but it really tastes good. The lavender adds a bit of a spice flavor. Two mixes made 22 cupcakes. I made my own organic buttercream for these cupcakes.

Carolyn Braden Is Making Life Easier, Crock Pot Style

To have homemade meals waiting on me when I walk in the door....a dream, right? Oh, but that is possible......I must use my crock pot!
Teaching elementary students can wear me out! Sometimes it seems so much easier to order some to go food and pick it up on my way home so I don't have to cook. That gets expensive.
So, this year I've decided I'm going to crock pot it as much as possible. I found this great website that will help me achieve my goal. Check it out, the recipes look yummy!

http://crockingirls.com/recipes/

Also, here is a recipe from a someone at my school for Crock Pot Lava Cake.
A book that is great for easy weeknight meals is Southern Living's Easy Weeknight Favorites.

Tie-Dyed Cookies?

I had some extra shortbread dough and icing left from my recent cookie creations so I decided to try some icing techniques. I call this the tie-dye icing technique.

Carolyn Braden: Completed Anniversary Cookies

Thanks to the website http://sweetopia.net/ I completed Project Anniversary Cookie. It has been a very long time since I've made decorated cookies. I needed these to be perfect so Sweetopia gave me all I needed to be successful. I used the shortbread cookie and royal icing recipe from her site. I love the taste of the shortbread. The only drawback was how delicate they were. Good thing I made extra! Next time I will attempt the sugar cookie recipe. I truly enjoyed making cookies. I love cakes and cupcakes but cookies may become my new baking adventure.

Elegant Birthday Cake

A cake once again inspired by the pastry chefs at Whole Foods. I melted chocolate on a wax paper covered cookie sheet to create the flat chocolate pieces to create the "crust."

Carolyn Braden's Giant Oreo Shaped Cake

My sister gave me a Nordic Ware Creme Filled Wafer cake pan set for Christmas. My cousin's birthday is today and when asked to make the cake, I was excited I could use this pan set. I made a chocolate cake and the filling was my whip cream icing. I can't wait to reveal this creative confection tonight!







Carolyn J. Braden
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Carolyn Braden's Yummy Banana Nut Cake

With only making cakes for friends and family now, I enjoy having the freedom to create my own ideas. My grandfather's birthday party was last weekend and I made him this mini banana nut cake with cream cheese icing. My little cousin asked if I could make him a batch of just the icing sometime because he loved it so much. It really was yummy! I made cupcakes too.


Carolyn J. Braden
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Carolyn Braden's Strawberry Whip Cream Cake

My mother-in-law's birthday cake looks so yummy! It's my fresh strawberry cake with my own recipe of whip cream icing.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Carolyn Braden's First Birthday Cupcakes

My nephew just turned one. Made these cupcakes for him. Fresh strawberry of course!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Carolyn Braden's Winter Wonderland Cupcakes On Display

Carolyn Braden's Winter Wonderland Cupcakes!

Carolyn Braden Says "The Yummiest Apple Cake!"

Here's a recipe from Southern Living magazine this month that rocks!  It is Fresh Apple Cake.  After a visit to Huber's Orchard in Starlight IN over the weekend, I decided to try making it tonight.  Of course I tweaked the recipe a little, but it is yummy!


Here is it:
1/2 cup butter, melted (use real butter!)
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 lb. Granny Smith apples (that's about 4 large apples), peeled and cut into 1/4 inch thick wedges (then cut the wedges in halves)
If you like nuts, you can add either 1 1/2 cups chopped, toasted pecans or walnuts


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  If you are adding the nuts, bake them in a single layer in a shallow pan for 5 to 7 minutes or until lightly toasted and fragrant, stirring halfway through.
Stir together butter, sugar, and eggs in a large bowl until blended.
Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.  Add to butter mixture and stir until blended.  Stir in the apples and 1 cup of the nuts (if you wanted the nuts).  
Note!  The batter will be really thick!  Almost cookie-dough thick!
Spread batter into a lightly greased 13x9 inch pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean.  
Cool completely.
Spread the Browned Butter Frosting over the cake when cool and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup of nuts (if you want). 




Browned Butter Frosting
1 cup butter (use real butter!)
1 (16oz.) package powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract


Cook butter in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly.  Cook 6-8 minutes or until butter begins to turn a golden brown. Remove pan from heat immediately, and pour butter into a small bowl.  Cover and chill 1 hour or until butter is cool and begins to solidify.
Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until fluffy; gradually add powered sugar alternately with milk, beginning and ending with powdered sugar.  
Beat mixture at low speed until well blended after each addition.  Stir in vanilla.