Merry Christmas!

'Tis the season to try something new!  In the past I've made Christmas desserts using the red, green, and gold color scheme, and have done Christmas cupcakes such as these:

But this year I wanted to experiment with something new.  So after perusing Google images for inspiration, I saw a cake ball tree and knew I had to give it a try!  Armed with a foam cone and toothpicks, I went to task.  Here is how it turned out:

I rolled the cake balls on the bottom slightly larger than the top ones.  Different sized cake balls also came in handy when I finished a row around the cone and needed a slightly larger or smaller one to fit and complete the row.  The toothpicks worked well holding all of the cake balls in place.  I hand-fashioned the star on the top, but next time I'll just take the easy route and find a cookie cutter star of a similar proportion.  I can barely draw a 5-pointed star, let alone mold one out of cake, but it turned out pretty well!

'Tis The Season

Although cupcakes and cake bites are my dessert of choice to make, I'll occasionally bake a regular layered cake.  This time, I wanted to be festive and make a 'present' from the cake.  I debated on whether I wanted to make the bow out of fondant or chocolate and decided on chocolate.  While chocolate is more fun to eat than fondant, it's definitely a more delicate medium.  I crafted these chocolate bows on strips of parchment paper, then curved the paper before the chocolate set.  On the next go around, I'll make the strips the same width and length, yet a little bit thicker, but not too bad for a first attempt!