happy 35th jennie

the yellow buttermilk from sky high cakes has become my family's favorite cake and everyone's request when it's their birthday. along with magnolia's sweet vanilla buttercream & some rainbow sprinkles, this is the quintessential birthday cake.

MarthaStewartCupcake Club: candied sweet potato cupcakes

this month's msc club choice was the perfect preview for thanksgiving. 2 cups of sweet potatoes in the batter? no milk or oil? where would the moistness come from? obviously you have never baked sweet potatoes for over an hour so their juices seep out and caramelize. holy candied sweet potatoes! i baked these the night before so i could save my fingers from burning...

i woke up at 6 and was finished with the whole process by 8. waking up this early for me is not easy. but one must wake up early on thanksgiving morning to get the turkey in the oven, so this too was a sneak peek of sorts. mash potatoes until they are smooth & drink coffee until you are awake.

the batter tasted delicious! while the cupcakes were baking, i made my own caramel (so simple this boiling of sugar and water!) and caramelized myself some sweet and crunchy pecans.

next came the broiling of the marshmallows. have you ever tried to make pyramid stacks of mini marshmallows? have you ever tried to take a melted pyramid of sticky marshmallows and transfer them to waiting sweet potato cupcakes? not easy.

for my next 12 i nestled the cupcakes back in their pan and broiled the marshmallows right to the top of the cupcakes. much easier! i stuck a few pecan pieces into the melty marshmallows and voila!

these tasted so GOOD right out of the oven -- melted sweet goodness with a slight pecan crunch on top of moist sweet potato heaven. just like the candied sweet potatoes on the thanksgiving table.

these were favorites with everyone, including paul who doesn't like sweet potatoes.

these will definitely be repeated! in about 11 days...

special thanks to karen of karen's cookies, cakes & more for her pick this month. kayte of grandma's kitchen table picked december's challenge: gingerbread cupcakes with cookie cutouts. make sure you check out the other msc bakers creations.

w is for william

it's a boy! 30 chocolate, 30 vanilla, vanilla buttercream frosting.

a special cake for a special lady

paul's polish grandmother (Baci) turned 95 on monday. it was a rager of a party.

i made a 12-layer cake (i must confess, i got this from bakerella too!)

i held this cake on my lap for the 4 hour drive down to palmer, MA! only one slight mishap that was easily fixed.

 baci -- maybe you'll get a 20-layer cake for your 100th.

topsy-turvy haunted halloween house cake

the scariest thing about this cake was the assembly of it all! 

let them eat cake's first (and last?) attempt at a topsy-turvy cake.