Tea Party Dessert Table and Buffet

Birthday Tea Party Buffet

Dairy & Egg Free Cocoa Krispie Treat Cake for the Birthday Girl

Flower Shaped Watermelon Kababs, Tiny Tea Sandwiches, Chocolate Cuties

No Muss...No Fuss

Summer's approaching so cut out the extra fuss by not having to actually cut the cake..especially at those beautiful sunny outdoor parties. Instead, say it with cupcakes! This is nothing new...but just a quick tip reminder!

Our Online Bake Shop Is Almost Ready...Yayyyy!

Rum Cake Pops

Over the weekend, a client requested Rum Cake Balls and of course not wanting to say no without at least an attempt, I said sure...all the while having a "HUH" moment lol.  I have to admit I've never even tasted rum cake before but I was sure that it should probably have a sweet rum flavor throughout the cake which would also have to be tasted beyond the white chocolate coating of the cake ball. So, I started with our vanilla cake recipe with some tweaks, added rum to the batter as well as made a rum syrup to really intensify the flavor. If that wasn't enough I added rum to the cream cheese frosting for reassurance. Although, I'm not fond of the slightest taste of alcohol, I really did fancy the flavor. LOL using words like fancy, maybe I taste tested a little too much..just playing. The cake balls were made, white on white as requested, and with the extras, cake pops for our impromptu slumber party were made. I really hope our client enjoyed them just as much as the EBD team and family.... even my mom who is NOT a drinker at all thought they tasted pretty good...btw tomorrow's her b-day...

Happy Birthday Mommy!!!

Sweet Rum Cake Pops

Sesame Street Dessert Table...

We're Kids in a Candy Store w/Twizzlers & Lemon Heads

Cookie Monster Cupcakes eating his favorite, "Coooookies"

Elmo Cake Balls & Mini Whoopie Pies

Juicy Strawberries & Grapes/Mini Red Velvets & Whoopies

Sunny Days For Sure!

Elmo Cake Pops

Adults Can Enjoy Cake Pops Too ;)

What A Happy First Birthday

All Desserts Made W/Love by Us!

Such A Cute, Sweet, & Yummy Gift!

EveryBuddy dreams of our cake bons...they're perfectly delicious!!!

Cake Pops - Get Ready for the Holidays

If you make 'em...they will come...



Red Velvet covered in either dark cocoa w/walnuts or white chocolate w/toasted cake crumb.

 

Sweet Words From You...Thank You Much!

We thought we'd share some of the awesome feedback and love we have been receiving. We appreciate it all, always!

Miss Rashidah writes:

It goes without saying- you women are Off the Chain with these cupcakes. You have gained the attention of the cocktail party attendees, a brooklyn house party and a college study group. Everyone is amazed at the large amount of taste within such a cute mini package. The texture, the moisture, the presentation and greatest of all the taste- is absolutely astounding... I salute the effort and love that you ladies place into being the pastry queens you are because without that love it wouldn't be this amazing. I eagerly anticipate the day when you all have your very own storefront and the world gets to take the same pleasure in your tasty delights...



Isis writes:

Your business will prosper because those cupcakes were made with love, they were awesome
Put me on speed dial!
My son, Isaiah said "a nice lady must have made these cause these are soooooo good- now mommy can I get some milk?"

2010 Making Strides of Bronx, NY

In 2009, nearly 700,000 walkers across the country joined the American Cancer Society in our united fight against breast cancer. Together, we raised $60 million through Making Strides events - and we did it one donation at a time. I had the honor of walking for the cause, on this beautiful Sunday morning. Not only did I walk to raise awareness, I walked in support of my family and friends. Cancer has affected so many of our lives; I don't need to tell you how many forms of cancer there is. There are many...too many.

EveryBuddy Dreams wants to thank everyone for their purchase of our Cute, Sweet and Yummy awareness cupcake charms. Proceeds have gone to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Passionately Pink!

We are Passionately Pink for the Cure®. We've created cute, sweet, and yummy awareness with our cupcake charms. Proceeds from the sale of these adorable charms will go to, Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
Enjoy!

Morning Autumn

It's the first day of Autumn!! My favorite season of the year. When we have those good old Indian Summers, it's just perfect. I love seeing the transition from summer blooms to autumn leaves, it's just beautiful. Walking under the warm colored trees with falling foliage, it's something that can never be replaced. A feeling of happiness I get when I walk or ride down a tree lined street, it immediately makes my heart smile! There's so much to do this season, all the fun stuff, from apple picking, pumpkin eating,  to harvest festivals. Preparing for Thanksgiving and then Christmas....whooo hooo. I love Christmas, it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling just thinking about Christmas. It makes me think of my Grandma. Ok, let's get through Autumn first and everyone stay tuned!
Happy Autumn!!!

We Say...Let Them Eat Cupcakes!

The smell of toasted coconut, mmmmmm

...and they did! Sadly, so did we. We filled our order of Carrot, Coconut, and Red Velvet and made enough to have extras. We planned on making extra minis to give away, let people taste test, but it never made it to "people". I don't know about anyone else but I had carrot cupcakes for breakfast and coconut for lunch and dinner. It was ridiculous. I couldn't even help myself, it seemed to be a pre-requisite for leaving the kitchen. If I went into the kitchen, I had to eat one. So I 've discovered the drawback of baking, you wind up eating everything you make. I mean, I guess we can make just enough to fill our orders, but we have to do quality control don't we?? We have to make sure every batch is just right; it's only right. We're looking out for you guys, we wouldn't want you getting anything less than yummy. Well, that's my rationalization for my yet again careless over indulgence!

Coconut            Carrot                 RV

Stumbled Upon A Cool Find....Simple Taste

Hey all, I stumbled upon a really cute shop on Etsy, Simple Taste. Simple Taste makes favor boxes, cupcake boxes, and party favors to go with a variety of themes. Quality card stock, vibrant colors, and cute designs are used to create these simple yet impressive little packages. She also does custom orders. You can read all about Simple Taste and her products at http://www.etsy.com/shop/SimpleTastes.  

Out With The Old, In With The New...Color That Is

I bought a closet last year from Home Depot because I need some more storage space. It was a plain ole white closet as you can see, no big deal. I bought white because it was the cheapest(white is always cheapest), quickest way to find a solution to my storage problems it was also out of the way, so I really didn't mind the color. Well, now due to new storage issues and a change in positioning, I needed to move the location of the closet to, one of the most used spaces...the living room. Since the closet is in the living room now, I decided to paint it. I chose GOLD. I love gold in all forms, especially metallic. So here are my pictures. I highly recommend a primer, because the material used to make this cabinet does not hold color well. So remember to prime if you take on such a project. I bought some metallic gold paint(Painter's Choice) and went to work. I painted three coats and then did touch ups. It was quick and I was finished in an hour, complete drying time was a day. I used a roller brush and like I said, I did it in no time. I also changed the hardware(bronze), which was $3.59 a handle at Home Depot. The paint was $7.68 and the roller was $2.98(2 pk). I would suggest the purchase of a good paint brush, that should be less that $10. This was a great UPCYCLE moment.

Ramekins

I love these little things. Let me tell you, it is the best way to make a dish on a smaller scale. Last night I made some delicious macaroni and cheese in these little guys, they are little casserole dishes. You can put them in the oven for up to 500 degrees, they are dishwasher and microwave safe as well. If you don't have them, please go out and get some. I got mine from my neighborhood Marshalls for $3.99. Money well spent.

What We've Been Up To...Cupcakes, Treat Pops, & A Baby Shower

Behind the scenes, upstate NY, setting up our cupcakes and treat pops for a baby shower. We had a time baking for our ultra cool client and we especially want to thank Chef Pablo and his team for all their help AND for the trip to the Warwick Winery afterwards. I don't know about the wine but that food was delish! Thanks so much!
♥The Buddies.

Allergy Free Desserts

I'm super excited....I received a nice pleasant surprise in the mail, Allergy-Free Desserts by Elizabeth Gordon, ordered for me by, Buddy Y (Yvonne). Isn't that cool.....so thoughtful! Time to pull down the kitchen aid and experiment baking all kinds of sweet treats for "mah babey". It's been fun figuring out ways to broaden my daughter's options in foods that she can, not only eat but really enjoy. A lot of my recipes for her specifically come from pure trial and error, my absolute favorite way of doing things.
Just the other day I bit into a plum forgetting I was allergic to them, I have selective memory ;) as I too suffer from some food allergies i.e. shellfish, raw nuts and FRESH fruit...bummer!! I'd give anything to bite into an apple or pear, I didn't develop the fresh fruit allergy until I was about 21 so I do know what I'm missing. Anyway, I took a couple of bites of the plum, Oh My Gee, (as Cymae says it), that plum was absolutely delish! I started an allergic reaction to it shortly there after. I don't like wasting anything, so instead of throwing it away, I made plum apple sauce. There was about 3/4 of an apple left from my girls' snack so I decided, hey, why not. I simmered the apple and plum, unpeeled, added a little water, a little sugar, covered, about 30 minutes or so, it was a pretty vibrant wine color and looked like jam. I then strained it through a sieve to separate the peel and viola, plum apple sauce. I spread it on some toast because I didn't feel like making anything else, it was like 12 or 1am...I'm a night owl. So I ate it on whole wheat toast. It had a tart note to it with a bit of sweetness, tasted like a freshly baked cherry or some sort of warm berry pie filling. THAT was definitely serendipity! I gave some to my sister and now whenever I visit, she asks me to make it. Once I figure out how to make a batch with the precise measurements, I'll post the recipe. You could probably look around on the Internet and find a recipe for it if as well.
Now back to what I was writing about, I go off on tangents quite often, actually so do the rest of the buddies, we understand one another though so it's OK. So, in thumbing through this book, I see some things that I've made before, my version of how I thought it should be prepared plus some desserts I've never thought of. I've had a lot of help via the Internet and vegan sites finding substitutes to take recipes I had and turning them into a dairy free, egg free, and *soy free delicious treat or meals. So what I'm going to do is sort of like a count down on  recipes in this book that I'll share with you. Did you ever see Julie & Julia, well something like that except my rules are different (BTW, I absolutely adore Meryl Streep, I think she's brilliant). I'm going to follow some recipes exactly as it is written, which as explained before is very difficult for me, I just like trying things my way. With the chosen few, I'm going to try it using my alternative or my little tweaks to fit our needs. Since this book also incorporates gluten-free ingredients to accomodate those who suffer from wheat/gluten, it uses things that I do not but am willing to try. These particular ingredients can be quite expensive, however I do understand that there are people that suffer from way more allergies than we do, so I'm going to give you the recipe in the book as it is written, as well as mine if I do have a different version. I want you to go ahead and make these recipes and tell me what you think, I'll take the good, the bad, and the ugly, I won't get sensitive if you don't like my recipe, promise, well I'll try not to, I'm pretty sensitive and wear my heart on my sleeve (batting my eyes with a smile). I have yet to determine whether I'm going to try a different recipe weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. I think I'll try it randomly for now since I'm kind of random, my ways are pretty arbitrary. Plus I have lots of other things on my mind to blog about!
Consequently, allergy free cooking is a bit healthier than "regular" cooking so even if you don't suffer from food allergies, give some of these recipes a try, it might be a nice healthy alternative to what you are used to.
Happy baking! ♥Chyna

*(Just to clarify OUR Soy allergy, it is not pertaining to all soy, just mainly soy milk, cheese, soy ice cream, but we can have soy products like tofu, vegan butters made from soybean oil etc., don't know why, it just is. However, if you do have a soy allergy you're probably better off staying away from soy completely unless of course you know exactly what soy products you can't and can have if any. Through experience, I'm fully aware of most soy products we can and cannot have)

Kids Craft: Polymer Clay Day

...so for this week's CSI Project Kid's Craft challenge, I decided to designate Monday, Polymer Clay day. Which was perfect since it was so hot outside and we've exhausted the pool, the beach, the park, etc. Well,  maybe I'm the only one exhausted with those particular summer "adventures," with two little ones, everyday is an adventure! Besides, my husband's back to work from his little "vacation" and there's no way I'm taking them to the water park, pool, or beach by myself, ahh ahh, no way, José. So a great, super inexpensive, stress free, fun kid friendly craft is molding all kinds of mini cuteness with polymer clay. After just a few moments of starting this project I soon realized this was as therapeutic as baking, as long as I did not worry too much about the kid's techniques or the mess which wasn't bad at all. It was quite a controlled and organized mess. I threw caution to the wind and let them do their thing which is not easy for me because I tend to micromanage. Sweet treats were on my mind of course so that was my subject. We made charms, key chains, barrettes, and little miniature accessories and food for their doll house. I didn't think I was going to enjoy myself so much creating these little charms. This is definitely a craft for mostly all ages, from my 4 year old, to my 14 year old sister, to myself; we genuinely enjoyed playing with clay and was proud of our creations! Too bad these aren't edible, I surely don't feel like cooking dinner now!

I've included pics for your viewing pleasure, well not really, they are there so you can take a look at what you need and see a visual tutorial. I would have 'Vlogged' it but I don't want to hear my own voice and trust me you don't want to either....happy polymer clay day, enjoy!

Supplies: ●Molding Clay from your local craft store ($1.99 small pack of one color, or $9 pack of 12 different colors, you can also buy a pack of white and just paint it with acrylic paints after it's molded if you have some on hand and don't want to spend the extra money) ● Work Surface (I used an old left over ceramic tile) ●Something to cut the clay (I used a paint scraper because I didn't want any blades left around)●Something to bake the clay on designated for the clay and not food ever again(I used tin foil)

Optional Materials● A Glaze which makes the pieces have a nice shine, but please parents do the glazing, it's a toxic paint but if you look around you could probably find something that is not as toxic●A paint brush to apply the glaze (it's best to use a paint brush that won't shed bristles, an old make up brush that won't shed is a good option)●Pin heads to make charms●Findings around the house like ribbon, hair clips, key chain rings, paper clips, cheap measuring spoons(measuring spoons in the picture are not for measuring anything for this project, it was just something I found around the house that was no longer useful)●Craft Pasta Machine(This is not necessary at all especially for small projects, all you really need is a little elbow grease. The only reason I bought this tool was because someone in the craft store handed me a 40% off coupon and I just couldn't let it go to waste, could I now? I only paid $15 for it from original price of $25. My sister did enjoy playing with it but not suggested for little fingers)

Step 1: You have to condition your clay, make it soft and pliable. To do that you press with fingers and roll into a ball in the palms of your hands, roll into a snake, and repeat that process until it's nice and soft. The kids will enjoy this part.

Knead and Roll the clay to condition it, make soft, and pliable

Step 2: Once it's soft enough to mold with ease, shape it into anything your little hearts' desire. Below are step by step photos on making a cupcake charm.

                           

After you have baked it in the oven for 15 minutes @ 275°, then let it cool. You can stop right there or choose to glaze it. Glazing should be done by the parents or children old enough to do so carefully and responsibly, please use your discretion. Remember the dish or surface that you used to bake the polymer clay on, please designate that for clay only and never use it again for food. Along with any tools you use.

See below for glazing after it is out the oven and has cooled:

                            

Add your charms to a necklace, charm bracelet, key chain; glue to hair clips, ribbon, or just play with them

 

    

 My cute, sweet, yummy oldest baby Cymaé, enjoying her cute, sweet, and yummy charms!
❀Chyna

Check out the CSI Project for weekly craft challenges and join in the fun.