Oreo Red Velvet Cupcakes

Red velvet cupcakes with oreos at the bottom. Dipped in chocolate ganache. Cream cheese frosting on top.

Silver dragees and edible glitter to top them off. Why? Why not!

What more can you ever want?

Engagement Cookies!

My friend (and suitemate!) got engaged over the summer! Naturally, I made cookies.
 

These decorated sugar cookies had to be mailed from Los Angeles to Boston, but they were definitely worth it.

The bride-to-be has the most gorgeous red hair, so of course the cookies with the stick figure proposal had to include that personalization.

 These cookies were all pretty big - about 3 inches across, and I cut them nice and thick, too.

 I love the disco dust (rainbowy-clear glitter) on the details. It made everything seem that much more special.

And, of course, the ring. The little diamonds (actually dragees coated in luster dust and disco dust) along the sides were part of the actual engagement ring, so I tried to stay true to that as much as I could.

 Lots of pretty hearts and details.

By the way, I started using meringue powder for my royal icing instead of egg whites, and it's wonderful! The icing dries super strong and I have much less of a problem with bleeding when I use deep colors.

 

Anyways, much love and congratulations to you both!

Yummy Mousse/Chocolate/Cheesecake/Raspberry Thing

I don't really have a name for this fabulous dessert, so I'll just explain what's in it, layer by later. 

At the bottom, I cut out a ring of flourless chocolate cake.
 

Above the chocolate cake layer is a tin but decadent layer of dark chocolate ganache. 

The pink layer is a tart raspberry mousse, made with raspberry and whipped cream. That was my favorite and I used the leftovers to fill a cake. So tasty and it helped lighten up this super-rich dessert quite a bit.

The chocolate layer in the middle is a mixture of mini chocolate chips and chocolate ganache. This added some nice texture with a crunch from the chips.

The light layer almost at the top is vanilla bean cheesecake. Deliciously perfect. 

It's all drenched in gooey chocolate ganache. 
 

And drizzled with homemade raspberry sauce. 

I was happy with how all the elements went together nicely. Even though this was a very rich dessert, most of us completely polished off out plates! Next I have to try this with a layer of ice cream...