Oreo Red Velvet Brownies

Will someone please just tell all the other brownies that they've lost and they should just go home? Because these oreo red velvet cheescake brownies will win every single time.

 
 Red velvet brownies. Why? Just do it, okay.  Start off with a dense, red velvet base.

Generous cheesecake swirl on top. 

 Oreos. Oreos, Oreo crumbs, Oreo pieces. Everywhere. These brownies are incredibly decadent but you'll keep going back for more. Guaranteed crowd pleaser!

Baseball Cake

Take me out to the ballgame! This baseball cake was commissioned as a birthday surprise. A three-tired cake with a baseball on top. The biggest layer, the bottom one, was only 6 inches across. Think miniature.

The birthday boy's girlfriend wanted a Giant's colored baseball themed cake and left the designing up to me (my favorite kind of order!). Well, baseballs aren't orange, so I did the best I could to keep tried to the theme and stick to the basics of the game.

Everything is fondant-free, of course. I just used swiss meringue buttercream for everything. It's nice because it hardens up in the fridge so it's easy to work with.

My first time using the grass piping tip, can you believe it? I like the added texture.I had some trouble with the orange/white seam, as you can see, but I learned enough that the next time I make a cake like this, it'll be even better. Not everything I make is perfect, especially not the first time around, but I try to make each project into a learning experience.

I got lucky with the dome shape at the top  - the carving could have gone horribly wrong but it worked out great! Overall, not a perfect cake but definitely a fun one! Raspberry chocolate cake on the inside, by the way. Yummy!

Surfing Cookies

It took long enough, but let's celebrate the sun FINALLY coming out after a long winter.

These were actually Christmas/Holiday cookies for some of my dad's surfing pals, but I didn't think my East Coast readers would appreciate the bragging about SoCal weather had I posted them back in December.

Hawaiian shirt cookies and edible surfboards. 

The floral print on the Hawaiian shirt cookies was done using a marbling technique. I put icing drops of one color onto the still wet base and used a toothpick to draw each dot in to make a petal. I always want to make a tutorial, but you have to work fast with this technique and I never have enough hands to keep the camera frosting-free!

The little pocket on the breast of the shirt is my favorite. 

I had fun with the surfboard designs. I just piped wavy lines and filled them in what whatever color pastry bag I was holding.  I was running out of royal icing at the end so I eeked out whatever was left and I just made it!

Don't they make you want to head to the beach and lay out in the sunshine?

Here's to springtime and summer!