Feature on Wedding Chicks!

I'm very excited to announce that Sweet as Honey was featured on Wedding Chicks! Follow the link to see the beautiful bridal shower designed by Couture Events and catered by yours truly :)

Link: Sweeter Than Honey Bridal Shower

cupcake cake pops... with surprise ingredients!

These are, quite possible, some of the most adorable confections that have been produced in my humble kitchen. Last week, I bought a mini-peanut-butter-cup-shaped candy mold for the graduation cake pops that I'm working on (coming soon!), and thought i'd give these mini cupcakes a try. A few tries and some sprinkles later... ta-da! cuteness!

And they're so tiny! (they're sitting in mini muffin cups here) Calories don't count when they're bite-sized, right?

Oh, and I haven't forgot about telling you about the surprise ingredients...
I got crazy with the cake pop concept this time - I added marshmallows! If you have any brilliant ideas on how to turn a chocolate cake & marshmallow cake pop into a s'mores-flavored cake pop, let me know in the comments, k?

My other crazy cake pop idea was borrowed from the homemade peanut butter cups that I learned how to make last year from Every Day with Rachael Ray. Peanut butter cup filling replaces the cake entirely in this cute cupcake :)

p.s. thanks to George's Camera for helping me out with getting my camera charger fixed so I could take these photos! You're the best!

Mini Honey Cheesecakes

The beautiful and sweet Krystel of Couture Events asked if I could supply a recipe for one of the desserts that I made for an adorable photoshoot that we shot a while ago. I am happy to oblige:

Mini Honey Cheesecakes
Crust
1 cup graham cracker pieces
¼ cup sliced almonds
¼ tsp cinnamon (approx.)
3 Tbl butter, softened
Filling
2 pkg cream cheese, softened
3 Tbl honey
2 eggs + 2 egg yolks
1 cup sour cream
1 Tbl grated lemon peel
1 tsp cornstarch

Preheat oven to 350°
Line mini muffin tin with mini muffin cups. In a food processor, combine graham cracker pieces and sliced almonds. Pulse, scraping down sides, until almonds are finely chopped. Add butter and a few dashes of cinnamon and pulse until mixture resembles gravel. Spoon about one teaspoon of the crust into each muffin tin. Now, grab that tacky souvenir shot glass your aunt bought for you on her last trip to Hawaii. Use it to firmly pat down the mixture into the bottom of the muffin cup, making it as even as possible.

Blend the honey and softened cream cheese. Beat in eggs and egg yolks, then add sour cream, lemon peel, and cornstarch. Beat until mixture is smooth. Fill each muffin tin about ¾ of the way full, and bake for 12-14 minutes. The cheesecakes might seem a little jiggly when you pull them out, but they will set after they have cooled. (If your cheesecakes start cracking on the tops, pull them out of the oven immediately! They are definitely done!).
Let them cool in the tin for a few minutes, then take them out of the tins and let them chill completely in the fridge (at least 30 minutes). Before serving, carefully remove cheesecakes from the paper muffin cups – by this point they’ll most likely be all crinkly-looking anyway. Right before serving, top each cheesecake with a "smidgen" of honey. You know, a smidgen*. Considerably less than a dollop, but more than a pinch.
Makes about 24 mini cheesecakes.

This could be fun to try with normal sized cupcake tins as well. Just increase the bake time a bit (again, be wary of cracks in the tops of the cheesecakes!), and make sure they have ample time to set in the fridge. Also, these would be yummy with all sorts of toppings. Like raspberry sauce! Or sugared strawberries! Yum. How sweet :)

*update: Did you know that "smidge," "dash," and "tad" all have uniform measurements? There is even a special measuring spoon set if you're going to be precise about it! I think I need one.

Sweet as Honey

I just got back from filing for my fictitious business name... and the winner for the name of my business is.... dun dun dun.... Sweet as Honey! Thanks to Couture Events for the inspiration :) Here is a sneak preview from the photoshoot I worked on with them yesterday!

Valentine's Day!

Fortunately, being broke and being a baker are not mutually exclusive...

as long as you still live at home where your parents stock the

pantry. Anyway, This year, I told Steven that I would be baking a gift for Valentine's Day, and I just needed one flavor/ingredient to base my gift off of. He could choose anything, and I am very surprised that he did not choose bacon! Instead, he requested toffee. This was a challenge, since I had never even had toffee

before, much less made it. This was certainly my first little

adventure into candymaking - candy thermometer and all!

After

some hard work, a few burned batches of toffee, and a 7/11 run

for Heath Bars, I ended up with a beautiful batch of Pecan and Almond Chocolate Toffee, and some Espresso-Toffee Cupcakes with Mocha Buttercream Frosting. And I couldn't help but

add the heart garnish :)

I got to use so many new, fun ingredients this time around! I received a bottle of vanilla from

the Dominican Republic. It has a

wonderful, almost tropically sweet taste to it. Also, I finally found instant espresso! I've been looking for it for a while, and I think I'll be making a lot of "mocha" recipes that I've bookmarked for the last few months.

Happy Halloween! Ok, this is post is a liiiiitle late. But hey, being a kindergarten teacher tends to take up more time than you would think. So here are some cake pops that I made and sold for Halloween last year. The "eyeballs" are red velvet cake with white and red candy coating, an m&m, and a miniature chocolate chip. The pumpkins are chocolate cake with orange candy coating, green candy leaves, and a chocolate "stem."

people actually buy this stuff?!?

Turns out that if you give away baked goodies long enough, people will start ordering them from you! Ordering and pricing information for San Diego coming soon...