• Home
  • Eat
    • Breakfast
    • Appetizers
    • Main Dishes
      • Chicken
      • Beef
      • Seafood
      • Healthy Dishes
      • Paleo Dishes
      • Salads
    • Desserts
      • Decorated Cookies
      • Cookies
      • Bars and Brownies
      • Cakes and Cupcakes
  • Shop
    • Cookie Decorating Supplies
    • Bakeware
    • Cookware
    • Kitchen Gadgets
    • House
  • About
    • Contact
    • Bucket List
  • Cookie Decorating 101

Follow the Ruels

Surprise Inside Gender Reveal Cake

July 20, 2018

Since gender reveal week is coming to a close, I guess it’s about time I reveal the gender. 

Some of you already know or have guessed. If you follow me on Instagram, then you may have seen my latest (and only) bump pic asking you whether you thought I was carrying high or low. A few were pretty certain you knew after I posted that picture. I guess my bump gives it away.

I also mentioned in the last post that I knew the gender of this baby before it was even born thanks to an old “wives tale” that my former boss used to preach to us anytime anyone we knew ended up pregnant. 

Here’s how it goes:

Because the gender of the baby is determined by the father (sperm), look at his family line. Is he the youngest of all girls? Is his dad one of four boys? If the male side of the family is dominated by girls, then there is a good chance you are having a girl. If it’s dominated by boys, well then you are having a boy.

I think this wives tale only really works well if there are lots of kids in the family and it heavily swings one way or the other. Otherwise, if the grandfather had an older sister, but dad has a younger sister, it may be a total crapshoot.

Luckily for me, Billy’s side of the family swings very heavily in one direction. 

It’s a boy!! 

Because Billy’s family is pretty much all boys (I don’t think he has a single girl cousin on his dad’s side of the family), we were pretty sure we were having a boy. So when the nurse called us after my 12-week blood test with the news, we were not surprised in the least to hear the results!

Of course, we would have been happy with either, but we are thrilled for a boy. If we were having a girl, I just know she would have her dad wrapped around her finger the instant she was born. At least now this child stands a slight chance of not being completely spoiled by dad. 

We’ll leave the spoiling for the grandparents. 

Okay, enough about this baby boy. Let’s get to the cake!

Recipes and Supplies

The beauty of this cake is that you can make any flavor you like! The only thing that really matters is the color of the candies in the center. 

However, I will caution you against strawberry cake if you are having a boy. That may be a little confusing. 

For my cake, I made a simple vanilla cake recipe, adapted from my favorite cupcake recipe. You can find the recipe at the end of the post. 

You could also make a boxed cake because there is no shame in that. Here are my tips for making a boxed mix taste like a homemade cake. 

You just need enough cake to make at least 3 layers of cake, so that one layer can hold the candy center. A typical cake recipe can make a 3 tiered 6″ cake, but I would double most recipes if you want to make a bigger cake, such as a 8″ or 9″ cake. 

For reference, I made a 4 tiered 6″ cake. I doubled my cake recipe and had enough batter left over to make a few cupcakes. It would have been the perfect amount of batter to make a 4 tiered 8″ or 9″ cake. 

Aside from the actual cake, you will need the following:

  • 1-2 batches of buttercream (1 batch for a 2 tiered cake 6-9″ in diameter, 2 batches for a 3-4 tiered cake 6-9 inches in diameter)
  • Food coloring
  • Fondant
  • Lollipop sticks
  • Sprinkles
  • Assorted candies in pink or blue

I would also recommend the following to make your cake assembly and decorating much easier:

  • Cake turntable
  • Cake leveler
  • Piping bags
  • Offset spatula
  • Bench scraper

[show_shopthepost_widget id=”3217770″]

How to Make It

Start with your already baked cake. Level and divide the cake into however many layers you like. 

Tip: Chill your cake before you start cutting into it. It will cut much easier and will not produce as many crumbs.

Identify your center layer or layers. Use a round cookie cutter to cut a circle in the center of the layer(s). 


To build the cake, start by placing the bottom layer on a cake board or cake stand. Afix it to the board or stand with a little buttercream. 

Then pipe a ring of buttercream around the edge of the cake as wide as the second layer. 

Place the second layer on repeat with the third layer.

Fill the center hole with blue or pink candies. 

Tip: Hit up your local candy store that sells candy by color. Many sell M&Ms, Jelly Beans, and other goodies separated by color. That way you don’t have to go digging through a bag of M&Ms for just the blue or pink ones. 

Top with the final layer of cake and press down to make sure all layers are secure and level.

Cover the entire cake with a very thin layer of frosting to trap in all the crumbs then place back in the fridge to set for about 20 minutes. 

Once the cake is out of the fridge, cover the entire thing with a generous amount of frosting. The frosting doesn’t have to be perfect but make sure the entire cake is covered and it’s generally pretty square and level. 

Using a large spatula will make your life a lot easier in this endeavor!


To get the pink and blue streaks, just tint a small amount of frosting pink and blue. Then add dots of frosting haphazardly around the cake. Use a spatula or bench scraper to then drag the icing around the cake in one big motion. 

If you want to add more color, add more dots of icing and repeat the process. 

There is very little technique involved with this! Just keep spreading the frosting until you are happy with the results. 


If you want to add a little something extra to the top of the cake, might I suggest these little fondant question marks!

I colored several small balls of white fondant with gel food coloring. Rolled them out and cut them with a question mark cookie cutter, then attached them to a lollipop stick. 

Place one cut out question mark backwards on your work surface, spread a bit of water on the back, place the stick in the center, then add the other question mark on top. Be sure to press down the edges and wrap the top question mark around the stick.

Let these sit out flat for at least an hour so they can dry and harden.

All that’s left to do is to add some sprinkles on top and stick the question marks in!

Oh…and cut into it!

That’s the best part.

Which just slightly edges out eating it!

Vanilla Cake Recipe

[amd-yrecipe-recipe:167]

/ Filed In: Cakes and Cupcakes, Cakes New, Desserts, Eat
Tagged: baby, baby shower, cake, candy, decorated cake, gender reveal, Surprise Inside

Gender Reveal Cookies

July 16, 2018

Gender reveals are all the rage these days. From balloons to confetti to fireworks, everyone seems to have a different take on this gender reveal trend. 

Obviously, my favorite gender reveal ideas are those involving food! So even though we aren’t having a formal gender reveal I thought it would be fun to create some sweet treats to spread the fun news!

And, if I am being honest, I have been thinking up fun baking-related gender reveal ideas long before I was ever pregnant!

So first on the schedule are these gender reveal cookies! They can be as simple or as elaborate as you’d like because it’s what’s on the inside that counts!

Recipes and Supplies

To make these cookies you will need:

  • At least 1 batch of my favorite sugar cookie recipe (will make 2 gender reveal cookies and 10-12 additional cookies depending on size and thickness)
  • 1 batch of royal icing to cover all the cookies
  • A egg wash (1 egg + 1 tsp water)

You will also need:

  • Cookie cutters shaped like baby onsie
  • A pastry brush
  • Sprinkles in blue or pink
  • Piping bags or small zip top bags
  • Food coloring
  • Scribe tool or toothpicks
How to Make Them

Start by making the sugar cookie dough. Chill the dough so that it’s a bit firm, then roll out as usual. Cut the dough to the desired shape and immediately transfer to a baking sheet or plate and place back in the fridge to chill.

Each of the gender reveal cookies will actually be comprised of three layers of dough. Two will be baked together, the other will be baked separately and “glued” on top with icing. 

It is important that these pieces stay chilled so that their shape isn’t distorted. Because the pieces all need to match together in the end, you want them all to be the same shape and size. 

“Glue” one piece of rolled out cookie dough onto the other by brushing a bit of egg wash around the edges. 

Place another piece of dough on top of the other, then cut out a hole to fill with sprinkles later. 

Alternately, you can cut out a hole in the top layer of dough before placing it on top of the bottom layer. Just be careful not to distort the top layer when moving it. 

Bake the double layer cookies separately than the single layer because they will take a bit longer to bake. 

Also, because its a thicker cookie, it may expand more than your single top layer. 

Don’t fret!!

Use your top layer as a guide and cut around the thick bottom layer while the cookie is still hot from the oven. Polish any rough spots with a zester to get them to look like a perfect match.


Now it’s time to fill the cookies with sprinkles!! Obviously, you will need to know what color to fill first, then pour in enough sprinkles to fill the cavity. 

Add some stiff or piping consistency royal icing around the edges and then place your top cookie right on top. Press the cookie down firmly to make sure it’s nice and secure!

You can immediately start to decorate the cookies once the top layer is in place. 

For these cookies, I kept it pretty simple. I outlined the onsie with white icing, then flooded it with flood consistency icing. 

I immediately went in with blue and pink flood consistency icing to add some dots and stripes. 

And there you have it! Super fun and cute gender reveal cookies!

I recommend making at least 2 so that both parents can open them at the same time. 

You can even make these for twins!

I had so much fun making these, but of course, I’m not giving our gender away just yet! I have a couple more fun reveals planned this week so you will have to wait and see!

 

/ Filed In: Cookies New, Decorated Cookies, Desserts, Eat
Tagged: baby, baby shower, cookies, decorated cookies, gender reveal, sprinkles

Surprise Announcement Cookies

June 26, 2018

EEEEEEKKKKK!!

I have been eagerly awaiting this post for months! It has been so hard to keep this secret, but I think it’s finally time…

And in true form, I figured the best way to do it would be in cookie form. 

So….

…there you have it!

We are pregnant! 

Was that the surprise you were expecting? Maybe not. But for those of you who were wondering why I have been a little absent from the blog and Instagram over the past couple months, or why I stopped posting about my half marathon training…you have your answer.

Okay, so where should I begin?

How about with the pregnancy test? We found out we were pregnant on Master’s Sunday, which is perfect for my golfer husband. He will never forget the day he found out he would become a dad. 

He knew I was going to take a pregnancy test, so when I returned with a blank stare on my face he asked “are you pregnant” and I responded with “maybe?”. 

Even though I was the one that thought I was mentally prepared to become pregnant, he was the one that seemed the most excited. He thought it was great news, whereas I was treating it like a nasty rumor I was trying not to believe. In fact, I didn’t really believe it until it was confirmed by the doctor.

The first couple of weeks went by with no issues and I thought I was going to have a super easy pregnancy. By week 6 or 7, I started feeling horrible. Just so tired and nauseated almost all the time. 

Billy knew I wasn’t feeling well when I would just stay in bed until after he left for work. Normally, I am up out of bed before him to get my day started. Some days I would just sit in bed and eat crackers until 9 am. 

Also, sweet foods sounded disgusting to me! (Hense why I barely posted anything between the end of April and mid-May.) 

Actually, anything that wasn’t super bland and beige sounded pretty horrible to me. 

By week 10 I started feeling a bit better. Still a bit low energy but the nausea had mostly dissipated. Week 10 also happened to coincide with Mother’s Day, which was perfect because I finally started to feel confident that we could tell people. So for Mother’s Day we told my mom, who was so excited. She has been bugging me for grandchildren since we got married, so “Happy Mother’s Day, mom!” You got your wish. 

Our trip to California was soon after, which is when we told my dad and stepmom. 

By the time we left for Italy, I was feeling pretty much back to normal. Thank you second trimester!

I felt really good during most of our trip and only had a couple bouts where I clearly overdid it the day before. I mean, we were averaging 20k steps a day. This coming off of 3 weeks where I barely got 5k a day!

But Italy isn’t a bad place to be for a pregnant lady who craves carbs! I ate all of the pasta and pizza I could get my hands on. I only had to be a little careful around certain cheeses and meats. And wine…dang baby!

Now I am about 16 weeks along. The baby is the size of an avocado if you are curious. 

That means that the baby is due in early December. Or whenever it decides to make its debut. If it’s anything like its parents, then it will be stubborn and come whenever the heck it wants. 

So that’s it! Were you surprised?

Be prepared for some more baby related baking posts in the near future. Like a gender reveal of some kind or another. What would you like to see, a cake, cookies, cupcakes? Something completely different? 

In the meantime, feel free to send me any of your favorite baby products. I am in the middle of setting up a registry and it’s a bit overwhelming. So any advice is welcome!

 

 

/ Filed In: Cookies, Cookies New, Desserts, Eat, Life
Tagged: announcement, baby, cookie decorating, cookies, pregnancy, sugar cookies, surprise

Follow

Hey There!

Hey there, I'm Lindsey. I'm a number cruncher by day and a home cook and baker by night. While I love to eat healthy and find fresh and healthy alternatives for my favorite foods, I will never turn down dessert! Life is all about moderation, right?

Recipes

  • All Recipes
  • Breakfast
  • Appetizers
  • Salads
  • Main Dishes
  • Side Dishes
  • Desserts
  • Drinks

Favorite Finds

[show_lookbook_widget id=”388783″]

Theme by 17th Avenue · Powered by WordPress & Genesis