Your Favorite Cakes of 2012

Am I the only one that thinks time is speeding up?
Doesn't it feel like every year seems to go by just a little faster? 
  
My personal life has seen some big changes this year, with my return to working full-time
...after being a stay-at-home mom for thirteen years!
Yep, I'm still trying to find the right balance. But there is always time for cake!

Watching the growth of Bird On A Cake has definitely been one my favorite parts of 2012!
It has been amazing to share and connect with all of you wonderful cake lovers. :)
Let's take a look at your Top 3 Favorite Posts from the past year, shall we?

 

 #3 - Perfectly Packaged Rose Cupcakes
Elegant, simple cupcakes that make perfect gifts!

 

#2 - Hummingbird Cake with Petal Tutorial

A delicious recipe + pretty decorating technique = awesomeness!

#1 - Rainbow Tie Dye Cake

 The popularity of this cake just astounds me...it's been viewed almost half a million times!!

Thank you SO much for all your support and sweet comments through the year!

You have made sharing my creations here an awesome experience, 
and I love bringing a little fun & sweetness into your life with my cakes.

Happy New Year!

Are you ready for lots more cakey goodness in 2013? I am!

Chocolate Gingerbread Men Cake

  
"Run, run as fast as you can;
You can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Man!"

Do you remember what happens to the gingerbread man in that classic tale?

Yeah, that fox was pretty sly.

I would have gobbled up that boastful little gingerbread man too...YUM!!

I decided to put a tasty twist on classic gingerbread by making this
Chocolate Gingerbread Cake.

I loved the two flavors together...a fantastic combination!

I also made the cute gingerbread men around the cake out of chocolate.

Chocolate Gingerbread Cake
by Bird On A Cake

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Ingredients

Chocolate Gingerbread Cake

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (room temperature)
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 cup boiling water

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8 oz. package cream cheese ( room temperature)
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter ( room temperature)
• 4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Heat your oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of two 9 inch cake pans with wax paper; spray cooking oil on the sides of the pans. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and both sugars. Mix in the oil and molasses. Add the eggs, one at a time. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves and ginger. In another bowl, mix the boiling water with the cocoa powder. Alternate adding the dry mixture and wet mixture to the batter until well combined. Pour your batter in the prepared pans and bake for 30-35 minutes.

Let the cream cheese and butter sit in mixing bowl until softened. Mix together. Add vanilla. Gradually mix in the confectioners' sugar. Spread frosting over cooled cake.

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 To make the gingerbread men, I used a silicon mold and melted chocolate.
First, I filled in the eyes, mouth and buttons with white chocolate.

Then, I filled in the whole cavity with chocolate.

 After these little guys set up, gently push on the other side of the mold until they pop out.
Then arrange them around your cake.

Enjoy!
I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

 I share my recipes & tutorials at these fun link parties.

This post was featured!

Bacon Wrapped Cheese Stuffed Dates

These are SO delicious!  They’re probably one of my favorite appetizers ever.    

Perfect appetizers for holiday parties, dinner parties or for a special dinner for two with your honey on Valentine’s Day. 

Equipment: Toothpicks, Large Baking Pan/Sheet (I use Stoneware), Cutting Board, Small Paring Knife, Small Bowl, Tongs

·      16 organic dates – pitted (buy pitted or remove pit during prep)

·      ¼ cup organic cream cheese, softened

·      ¼ teaspoon Celtic sea salt (See Resources)

·      ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon – optional

·      8 pastured or organic bacon slices, cut in half (See Resources)

·      16 toothpicks

1.    Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2.   Prep dates – open up dates carefully with a paring knife, cut 2 lengthwise slits in the dates, making sure not to cut all the way through the date, remove small piece of date (save to snack on), remove pit if necessary.  See picture.

3.   In a small bowl, mix the cream cheese, sea salt and optional cinnamon.  Stuff dates with about ½ teaspoon of the cheese mixture.

4.   Tightly wrap each cheese stuffed date with ½ slice of bacon.  Secure with toothpick.

5.    Place bacon wrapped dates seam side down on baking pan.  Place baking pan in oven, set timer for 10 minutes.  At 10 minutes, use tongs to flip each bacon wrapped date.  PLEASE USE CAUTION, the bacon grease is very hot, use an oven mitt to protect your hand/arm.  Set timer for another 10 minutes.  Bacon is done when it “looks” crispy and is dark golden brown.  Watch the bacon closely, all ovens cook differently, you don’t want the bacon to burn.  You should be able to tell at the 10-minute mark about how much longer you will need to cook the bacon.  If you’re not sure, just keep an eye on them.  You may need a few more minutes after the 20 minute mark to crisp the bacon enough.

6.   Serve warm or at room temperature.  Make sure to wait a couple of minutes before taking a bite, they are super HOT when they come out of the oven.      

    

Yield: Makes 16 bacon wrapped stuffed dates.  

Rainbow Petal Cake {Virtual Baby Shower!}

I had a lot of fun making this cake,
because it is for a very special occasion...
a Virtual Baby Shower for the fabulous Meaghan 

from The Decorated Cookie & Edible Crafts!

Meaghan just welcomed her darling baby girl, Violet, into the family.

I'm excited to be included in a group of creative bloggers that are celebrating
with lots of RAINBOW treats!

Meaghan is seriously awesome!
First of all, she is amazingly creative. 
She's all famous and stuff (have you seen her cookbook, Sugarlicious?)
and she has been so encouraging and sweet to me!

She was one of the first bloggers to feature one of my cakes,

and I was so thrilled that she liked something I made! Little old ME!

Don't you love rainbows? I sure do!
Have you seen my Rainbow Tie Dye Cake?

To create this Rainbow Petal Cake for Meaghan
I combined one of my favorite decorating techniques with pastel rainbow colors.

I could just stare at these pretty colors all day.

Here is my palette of buttercream frosting.

I filled plastic decorating bags, then snipped off the ends.

To learn how to make this petal design (it's easier than it looks!),

go check out my tutorial here!

 
I wanted to make the inside of the cake a girly pink,
so I whipped up my favorite Strawberry Cake recipe.

Congratulations, Meaghan!

Here are all the awesome bloggers participating in the virtual baby shower...

Go see all their fabulous rainbow goodies!

1.  Vanilla Bean Baker - Baby's First Christmas
2.  Not Your Momma's Cookie - Rainbow Swaddled Baby Cookies
3.  Crazy for Crust - Rainbow Peanut Butter Cookie Cups
4.  Dollhouse Bake Shoppe - Rainbow Sprinkle Sugar Cookies
5.  Creative Food - Rainbow Pancakes
6.  Hoosier Homemade - Rainbow Jar Cupcakes
7.  Kitchen Fun with My 3 Sons - Rainbow Smores Pops
8.  Pink Little Cake - Baby at the End of the Rainbow Cake
9.  Love From the Oven - Rainbow Cake Pop Cupcakes
10. Munchkin Munchies - Rainbow Balloon Cookies
11. The Baked Equation - Rainbow Baby Shower Cookies
12. Sweetology - Marshmallow Baby Pops
13. Sugar Swings - Rainbow Madeleines
14. Pint Sized Baker - Rainbow Meringue Tarts
15. Bird on a Cake - Rainbow Petal Cake
16. Haniela's - Rainbow Centerpiece
17. Miss Candiquik - Marshmallow Baby Bottles
 

 I share my recipes & tutorials at these fun link parties.

This post was featured!

Roasted Winter Root Veggies & Apples w/ Rosemary & Thyme

This is one of my favorite veggie combos to roast when the weather turns colder.   It’s super easy to make a big batch ahead of time and reheat as needed. 

Enjoy!

Equipment: Cutting Board, Sharp Knife, Peeler, Large Mixing Bowl, 2 Large Casserole Dishes or 2 Large Baking Sheet Pans

Note: Please use organic vegetables and apples when you can.  I would highly recommend at least using organic apples and potatoes if you cannot find all organic produce.  These are on the “dirty dozen” list of having the highest amounts of toxic pesticide residue. 

·      3 parsnips, peeled

·      3 carrots, peeled

·      3 red potatoes

·      1 large sweet potato, peeled

·      1 large golden beet, peeled

·      3 sweet apples, peeled (I use Fuji apples)

·      1 sprig fresh rosemary, leaves removed from stem

·      5 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed from stem

·      4-5 fresh individual garlic cloves, peeled

·      3 tablespoons pasture butter, ghee or fat of choice (See Resources)

·      1 teaspoon Celtic sea salt (See Resources)

1.    Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2.   Wash all produce.  Prep produce, peel all of the produce that needs to be peeled (see above).  Cut parsnips, carrots, potatoes, sweet potato, beet and apples into 1 to 1 ¼ inch cubes … this can be a rustic chop, don’t worry about everything looking the same.  Don’t cut pieces too small as they will shrink some while roasting.  Add chopped produce into large mixing bowl.  

3.   Remove fresh herbs from stems and chop finely.  Again, a rustic chop is fine.  Add to chopped produce/mixing bowl. 

4.   Remove skin from garlic cloves.  Add to chopped produce/mixing bowl.

5.    Add salt and melted fat of choice to the chopped produce/mixing bowl.  Combine with clean hands or large spoon, toss well to coat.

6.   Add all chopped produce in a single layer to 2 large casserole dishes or 2 large baking sheet pans. 

7.   Bake for 25 minutes, stir with a metal or wooden spoon/spatula.  Bake for another 25-35 minutes, or until vegetables are tender and have some golden brown edges.

8.   Season to taste and serve hot. 

Yield: Makes about 10-12 servings.    

This recipe is part of Pennywise Platter Thursday @ The Nourishing Gourmet and Slightly Indulgent Tuesday @ Simply Sugar and Gluten Free.