Mary Casey Cakes

Cupcakes' Crazy Cousins...

2011-05-07T20:00:00.000-07:00

MUFFINS!

I don't often make muffins,
but today - I did.

The idea originated from me thinking about
Banana Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake this morning.
A few weeks ago, I had some
from Starbucks, and it was
AH-MAZE-ZING.
So, I started looking for recipes...
but none that I found felt right!
I either didn't have adequate ingredients
(e.g., Buttermilk. Buy a quarter-gallon just to use a quarter-cup? No.)
or I didn't own the right size pans.
(Note to self: Purchase a bundt pan!)

I started thinking about what I did have,
and I remembered my under-used
mini cupcake/muffin pan!
I found a pretty basic, but well reviewed, recipe online.
Then, after one quick trip to the store
to buy bananas and mini chocolate chips
(kind of essential ingredients, I guess),
I was off and baking!

They came out delicious!
I sampled a few (or four) to make sure they were good.

I packaged 'em up
to take to my family tomorrow
for Mother's Day.

Here's hoping all the moms out there
have a very sweet day!
<3

CheerCakes

2011-05-07T19:38:00.000-07:00

This past Wednesday night was

the last cheerleading practice of the season
for the team I coach.

To celebrate a successful year,
I brought in some cupcakes for the girls.
They came out pretty cute... I was thinking,
I should call them CheerCakes :)

The cakes were chocolate,
but I added some coffee right into the batter.
They're topped with whipped cream frosting.
Yum!

2 - 4 -6 - 8 -
Cupcakes, cupcakes sure are great!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-30T13:50:00.001-07:00

After Easter Mass, my church does an Easter Egg Hunt and reception.
I volunteered to bring some MaryCaseyCakes!
I made a whole bunch of them so that I could bring some to my family, too.

Chocolate, vanilla, and marble cakes,
with creamy chocolate frosting! Yum!

Decorated with some icing "grass," jelly bean "eggs," and "flower" confetti...
and of course, some sparkly white crosses
to remind us of the reason for the holiday!

Faith, family, and cupcakes...
What a perfect day!

A Very Special Occasion

2011-04-30T13:29:00.001-07:00

A special occasion calls for a special cake.
Saturday, April 9, 2011, was a very special occasion...
I received my Catholic Confirmation!

To celebrate, a special person got me a special cake for my special day.
I'm over-emphasizing "special," I know... But the day was just that great!
The cake was from Modern Pastry in Boston.

It was chocolate mousse cake,
with an edge of chocolate-drizzled, mini cream puffs.
Cream puffs are my absolute favorite things on the face of the planet.
Seriously.
The sugar calla lilies on top were perfect and so beautiful.
This cake was amazing.

The whole day was amazing.
Thank you to everyone who played a part in it.
I am so blessed!

Not quite cakes...

2011-04-30T13:12:00.000-07:00

...but sweet all the same!

A few months ago, I joined a few lovely ladies
at a lovely little placed called SpecialTeas in Northboro, MA.

Our lunch was delightful.
Our teas were delicious.
And our dessert... divine!

Above is a snapshot of everyone's tiny treats.

And here is a shot of my own personal plate of heaven.

I don't remember the official titles of my dessert choices,
but to give you an idea of their flavors...
Chocolate, Toffee, Whipped Cream (left)
Bailey's Irish Coffee Cream (top);
White Chocolate Mousse (right);
and Key-Lime Cheesecake Bite (bottom).
All four were amazing!

I loved, loved, loved everything about my visit to SpeacialTeas,
and can't wait to go back!

Just a little tardy in my postings...

2011-04-30T13:09:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween cakes!
Eight months late... Whoops!

Perfection

2011-04-30T13:05:00.001-07:00

A red velvet cupcake from
Lulu's Sweet Shopp e
in Boston's North End.
And a glass of milk, of course.

Summer Sweets

2010-08-12T19:05:00.000-07:00

This summer has kept me insanely busy,

and yet again, I'm apologizing
to the small corner of the universe
that actually reads this blog.

I'm sorry!

Hopefully, this longer-than-usual update
will make up for my recent lapse in communication.

***

JULY was a fun month in Mary Casey's Kitchen!

I experimented with cake balls.
Red Velvet cake balls, to be specific.

(Forgive me for not capturing a photo of the inside of one of these treats.
Whenever I took a bite to take a look at the red, velvety insides,
I got caught up in the deliciousness and gobbled up the rest of it!)

These were an extremely messy treat to make,
but well worth the effort.
I decorated them with red, white, and blue
melted chocolate drizzles, and brought them
to my family's 4th of July celebrations.
They were a hit!

***

Later in the month, I was asked by my favorite extended family
The Dennetts!
to make mini-cupcakes for their family cookout on the Cape.

The theme?
THE BEACH!!

A hand-made and hand-painted fondant beach ball
atop a mini chocolate cupcake.

A cute, little hand-made fondant lobster!

I covered half of the cupcakes with graham-cracker crumbs,
which look like the sandy beach.
The other half of the cupcakes were topped with swirls of
blue-tinted vanilla frosting, which look like wavy waters.
I made a few little flip-flops out of melted chocolates, too.
There were a total of 80 mini beach-themed cakes!

***

In August, I was so happy to catch up with
The Keeler Family!
I hadn't seen Kristen, Scott, or the five Keeler kids in years.

Since they're such a sweet family,
I knew that I needed to bring them a few sweet treats!
The result?

The Keeler Cupcake Collection

I knew that most of the Keeler boys were baseball fans
(and more than one is destined to be an MLB player in the future)
so I had to include some baseballs in the bunch.

I also included some newer recipes that I'd tried...
A vanilla cupcake with milk-chocolate frosting
and an actual mini-s'more on top!

A cookies 'n cream cupcake featured chocolate cake
and a Oreo-cookie frosting.

But, the Keelers' FAVORITE cupcake was...
The Chocolate Minty-Cream Dream Cupcake!
(Otherwise known as the Aquafresh cupcake)

It was a chocolate cupcake with a peppermint-cream filling,
milk chocolate frosting, and an Andes Candy topper.
(When one of the Keeler kids asked what was inside the cupcake,
I joked that I filled it with Aquafresh toothpaste.
I love to kid with those Keelers!)

Three new treats, which I think were terrific!

Here's hoping that this busy summer allows me
just a little more time to attempt
even more fun, new treats
for my fun friends and family!

Batter Up!

2010-05-18T08:15:00.000-07:00

Get it?
Cake batter?
Batter up!
Baseball cakes?!

I thought it was clever :)

I made these cakes well over a month ago,
but keeping consistent with my inconsistent blogging,
I'm just posting a picture now.

They were chocolate and vanilla cupcakes
with whipped cream frosting and hand-iced red stitching.

These cakes were a HIT!
You got that one, right!? ;)

Boy, I hope I have more time for baking and blogging this summer...
I need some new material!

Frog Princes and Lady Bugs!

2010-04-05T10:58:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm officially a bad blogger.
It's been way too long since I've updated this thing.
But alas, I found some time today
to upload some photos of some recent projects...

In March, my friend Chelsea asked me to make
some princess-themed cupcakes
for her little girl Allie's 1st birthday:

I wish I had gotten better pictures, but I was in a rush
to get these goodies delivered to the party!

They were mini strawberry and vanilla cupcakes
with little stars, crowns, castles, and frog princes.
(I was inspired by these princess cakes.)

Here's a close-up of a fondant frog prince I made by hand:

Later in March, I visited my dear friend Kimberlee,
and we celebrated her little Dorothy's 1st birthday!
Dot loves lady bugs...
(and meatballs, if you can't tell from the sauce on her cute little mouth!)

...and together we made these cute cakes for her:

We used Oreo Cookies for the heads
and peppermint candies for the eyes.
Then, we just piped on the dots!

Hooray for Spring, first birthdays, and friends! :)

The Fanciest Cupcakes I've Ever Tasted

2009-12-06T17:09:00.000-08:00

This weekend, I was overjoyed to attend a Cupcake Tasting at the Ritz-Carlton, Boston Common, with some of my very best friends. We sampled some of the most delicious cupcakes ever while sipping tea, marveling at the beautiful holiday decorations, and listening to Christmas songs being played on a grand piano right there in the restaurant.

From bottom left to top right: New England Caramel Apple, Boston Cream Pie, Chocolate Peppermint Patty-Cake (which was my favorite!), Eggnog, and Gingerbread Spice.

It was absolutely fabulous, and I'm so grateful for all the girls who attended.

For Birthday Girl, Julia!

2009-12-06T16:56:00.000-08:00

Autumn turned busy very quickly!
Thankfully, there's always time for cupcakes :)

In November, I had the privilege of making birthday cupcakes for
my friend Lauren's daughter, Julia.
The theme: pink teddy bears!

Vanilla cakes with strawberry frosting.

I made the little teddy bears with a candy mold.

Lauren sent me the following pictures...
I'm so glad the girls (and the Birthday Girl, especially) enjoyed the cakes!

Wishing Julia a very, very sweet year :)

Ahh, Autumn!

2009-10-03T14:59:00.001-07:00

It has been a busy couple of months! Thankfully, I've been able to slow down on this rainy Saturday afternoon, relax in my pajamas, and bake some autumn-inspired cupcakes! Ahhh, autumn!

This morning, I made pumpkin cupcakes with maple cream-cheese frosting. I'm especially proud of myself because these cakes are HOMEMADE and FROM SCRATCH!
I'm sorry, friends, but I have to admit that sometimes I use a cake mix or a can of frosting when I'm pressed for time. It's ghastly, I know.
But not today! Today, I woke up at 7:30am to prep! I measured out every teaspoon of nutmeg, ground cloves, cinnamon, and ginger that this recipe required! I messily spooned pumpkin puree into measuring cups! I felt like a chemist, adding the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together, and then carefully adding eggs and then the buttermilk and vanilla extract -- just a little bit at a time -- until the batter was the perfect consistency. Then, as the cakes were cookin', I whipped up the frosting with cream cheese, confectioner's sugar, and maple syrup. Sticky sweet and scrumptious!

I'm pretty proud of these cakes. They came out delicious, and my family really enjoyed them. Also, I made them without a stand mixer! I beat and whisked these cakes together with my little, ol' electric hand-mixer and my own brute strength!!! A real labor of love!

Here's wishing I could share the aroma of these little treats with you, too!

Why, yes, I'm bilingual...

2009-10-03T14:41:00.000-07:00

Uno

Dos

Tres

A little experiment...

2009-10-03T14:32:00.001-07:00

For Crisp's birthday at the end of August, I decided to experiment with FONDANT!

I'd never tried to cover a cake, or decorate, with fondant before. I hadn't even touched the stuff, or read much about it. Everything that I know about fondant, I've learned from watching cake shows on TV: Ace of Cakes, Cake Boss, Amazing Wedding Cakes, Ultimate Cake Off, etc.

Since I'm such a novice, I bought pre-made fondant, made by Wilton. I spent almost an hour reading the included instructions. Then, I whipped up a cake, got out my rolling pin, and commenced in making a HUGE mess in the kitchen AND dining room...

Here is the end result:

Not bad for a first-timer, right?! :)

Cookout Cakes

2009-07-17T09:57:00.000-07:00

My aunt Heleena is having a big 50th birthday party cookout
in Maine this weekend.

I thought that these little cheeseburger cupcakes would be
a perfect treat to bring along!

They were so fun to make, and I think they are pretty cute!

They consist of vanilla cupcake "buns,"
brownie "patties,"
red, yellow, and green icing as the condiments and lettuce,
and sesame seeds on top!

I got the idea from Bakerella.

On the side? Sugar cookie fries!

Hopefully, this "happy meal" will make for a happy birthday for my aunt!

In Celebration of...

2009-07-13T14:28:00.000-07:00

...a day off from work!
What better to do on a random, lovely Monday when you don't have to go to work?
Make a cake!
Specifically, a vanilla cake with milk chocolate frosting and strawberry icing:

I could use a little more practice with my decorative icing...
but it's still a cute li'l cake, right? :P

Anniversary Cake

2009-06-10T18:50:00.000-07:00

Crisp and I recently celebrated our three-year dating anniversary. For one of his gifts, I decided to make him his very own cake. I thought of all the sweet things that he likes in desserts, and I found an appropriate recipe: A Coconut Rum Cake with White Chocolate Ganache. (It's a recipe from Bobby Flay that I "adapted.") The result: another somewhat awkward cake!

The cake itself was VERY dense. It called for 6 large yolks and 6 large whole eggs. I was supposed to whip the eggs and yolks, with sugar, over a pot of boiling water until the mixture tripled in volume. After 35 minutes of whippin' it good, it never actually tripled in volume. Maybe it doubled in volume... but the cake came out of the oven looking all right to me!

Next, I took a cup and a half of rum, mixed it up with some sugar, cooked it up, and then poured it all over sliced halves of the cakes. The rum fumes in my small kitchen made me a little dizzy!

While the cake soaked in its rum, I got to work on the white chocolate ganache. I melted chocolate with coconut milk, and whipped up two different batches of cream. The cream never actually got as whipped as I'd like (and I was working well past 11:30pm at this point). However, the recipe anticipated a runny frosting, and noted that if you let the ganache chill in the refrigerator, it would thicken up. I decided to leave mine in the fridge overnight, so that it'd get really thick and so that I could get some sleep!

The next morning, the ganache frosting was still a little thin, but I snuck a little taste of it. It was delicious, so I slapped it all over the cakes anyway!!

All the layers were assembled, and I still had a LOT of frosting left!

This picture really highlights the runny frosting :(

What do you do to camoflauge runny frosting? Cover the entire cake in coconut flakes, of course!

I topped each slice with blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries macerated with Chamboard.

Even though I thought this cake was another awkward creation, Crisp really liked it!
And I was proud of myself for taking on such a challenging recipe.
So, overall, I think it was a success!!

EasterCakes

2009-04-13T20:51:00.001-07:00

A few weeks back, I found a neat idea for Easter cupcakes...
Little green coconut nests with candy eggs!

I thought they were very cute, so I made 2 batches of them!

Upon first glance, these cakes look pretty cute,
but they maintain my standard of awkwardness!

You see, I tried to make chocolate-chip cupcakes.
Similar to a chocolate-chip muffin, these cakes were supposed to have
white chocolate chips distributed evenly throughout the insides.
However... I managed to mess it up somehow....

...and all the chips sunk to the bottom... and burnt. :(

The top part was very delicious, though...
Especially with the bird's nest on top!! :)

And amongst all the EasterCakes on Easter Day,
was one birthday cupcake for my friend, Sofia.

Happy cakes for happy days!

Some Past Projects

2009-04-07T18:24:00.000-07:00

Here are some treats that I've made in the recent past.
(Proof that I really am capable of making cute cakes,
despite the awkward birthday cake in the last post!

Here is my first big cupcake endeavor:

This is the cupcake tower I made for my sister CC's 30th birthday party in December. I made homemade red velvet and vanilla cakes with buttercream frosting. I colored some of the frosting pink, purple, and silver, as those were the party colors.
And here's a bit of trivia: I cooked ALL 85 of these cupcakes in a tiny toaster oven, 6 at a time, because the oven was broken! It took over two days. Now, that's sisterly devotion!

Next, I tried another recipe of red velvet cupcakes for Valentine's Day:

I tried one of those gourmet packets that include all the dry ingredients...
You just add eggs, water, and oil, and then make your own frosting. The batter was impressively red, and seems like it'd make some serious red velvet, but I will never again make any red velvet cupcakes that aren't homemade. The ones from December were much more delicious! I tried to jazz them up with hand-crafted red and pink icing hearts and festive Valentine's Day-themed baking cups (but you can't really see them in the picture).

I made these girly cupcakes at the end of February for my friend Kimberly:

Kim had recently found out that she was pregnant with a little girl.
I had a lot of fun making little feet with gel icing...

They were vanilla cakes with strawberry frosting. (However, I could definitely make these with vanilla frosting and blue coloring for anyone expecting a little boy!)

Most recently, in March, I had a bunch of friends over for a Spring Fling party, and I made these spring-inspired cupcakes:

These little cakes are my favorite treats of all the cupcakes I've made.
They were confetti cakes with vanilla frosting. Bright and cheery!

In my attempts to be more domestic, I've also learned to make real food,
not just cakes:

I don't mean to brag, but I've pretty much mastered breakfast. Here are some scrambled eggs, homemade homefries, whole wheat English Muffins with garlic-herb butter, and sausage.
Note: This is the Man's plate, not mine, shown here! I don't eat that much, I swear! :)

One morning, I decided to make my own breakfast sandwiches:

They were miniature, but they were good and surprisingly filling! (Thanks, Pillsbury biscuits!)

I recently made my own chicken quesadillas, too:

I used Garden Vegetable tortillas, which is why they're green! I seasoned my chicken and cooked it up with a nice blend of veggies, cilantro, and cheese. I served them with salsa, and they were deliciosas!

Here is the spread I put out for my Spring Fling party:

There was a variety of tortilla chips for the salsa, queso dip, and sour cream. I also made my very own spinach and artichoke dip for the first time, and it disappeared quick! I think my friends really liked it. I made a gigantic pumpernickel bread bowl, too. There was an assortment of fresh fruits, including mango and kiwi, and my dear friend Sara brought a veggie tray. Fresh food for a fresh season!

Since I've moved out on my own this year, I've had to be more proficient in the kitchen, but it's been fun! I love having my own kitchen to cook up all these goodies! :)

My First Cake-Decorating Attempt

2009-04-07T08:07:00.000-07:00

Last night, as I finished decorating a birthday cake for my co-worker Eric,
I stepped back from my kitchen table,
and I laughed.

The cake was an absolute mess!

It was lopsided.
The handwriting, reading "Happy Birthday Eric!," was terribly messy.
It looked too small to feed the 6 staff members in my office.
And, to boot, the cake carrier
(given to me as a housewarming gift by my lovely sister, CC),
on which the cake sat, was covered in smears of suspicious-looking chocolate frosting
and fine grains of hot chocolate mix.

Yes, hot chocolate mix.

See, I'd seen people use powdered sugar to decorate plates of fancy desserts.
Since my cake had chocolate frosting,
and since I had no powdered sugar in the house,
I decided that cocoa powder would look just as nice.

Problem: I didn't have any cocoa powder in the house, either.
Another problem: I didn't have the sifter that people use
to delicately distribute these fine powders onto plates.
Solution: I'd opened a packet of instant hot chocolate mix,
pinched a small amount between my fingers,
and dropped it randomly around the cake.

It looked AWFUL.

I grabbed a damp paper towel and wiped it all away from around the cake.
Then, (unfortunately) I tried again.
I was sure that if I was more careful in pinching and spreading it around the cake,
it would look much better.

It didn't.

I wondered if maybe I should just leave it.
The white cake carrier was already tinted a little bit brown
from the chocolate frosting I'd made a mess of earlier.
(No amounts of damp paper towels could make it white again.
I contemplated using some dishwashing liquid to get rid of the frosting residue,
but since the cake was frosted and couldn't be moved off the carrier,
I decided that putting liquid soap all around it MIGHT be a bad idea.)
The clumpy hot chocolate mix at least camouflaged
the unsightly, stained appearance of the cake carrier.

It was then that I wondered what hot chocolate mix tastes like.
I stuck my finger in the open packet and sampled it.
YUCK.
Hot chocolate mix does NOT equal cocoa powder.
It was bitter and grainy. Not delicious.

Again, I got a damp paper towel and wiped it all away from the cake.
Unfortunately, by this point, some of the hot chocolate mix
had gotten stuck in the decorative cake icing that edged the cake.

Now, I needed something to detract attention from the
grains of hot chocolate mix (which was supposed to detract attention
from the residual frosting stains).
I got some left over chocolate frosting, slapped it into a pastry bag,
and began making random swirls of chocolate.
I cut some strawberries in half, and placed them strategically around the cake.
I then picked up the pastry bag again,
and made a big
27!
next to the cake, as that's how old Eric is turning.
As I completed the exclamation point,
I realized that this piped chocolate frosting
had a remarkable resemblance...
to poop.
Quickly, I used a plastic spoon to scrape away the exclamation point, and
I used some red gel to highlight the big, chocolate 27.
(Even better, right? Poop highlighted with red. Yikes!)

Finally, I stepped back, looked at my awkward cake,
looked at the kitchen clock that read 11:27pm,
and I laughed more.
I locked the top onto the cake carrier, cleaned up my mess,
and headed to bed.
I knew my coworkers would share in my laughter the next day.

There is one good point to this story:
I had eaten a tiny bit of the cake earlier,
before the decorating fiasco began,
and it was very, very tasty.

My first cake-decorating attempt... Ugly but delicious.

P.S. Remember those cut up strawberries? They'd leaked a nice, pink juice
all around the cake by the next morning.
Scrumptious!