Happy Holidays!

Happy holidays from Sweet&Splendid! Thank you for another wonderful and successful year, and we look forward to serving you in 2013!

-Danielle

jingle balls

When the shopping malls start playing Christmas music, I know it's time to start the Christmas baking. This time I'm starting with cake pops (also because a few people have already asked them. It's not even December!). 

These chocolate pops were dipped in white chocolate and covered a) completely in christmas non-pariels; b) sparingly in white non-pariels; and c) in shredded coconut. Simple and delicious.

For something a little different, these snowmen pops were dipped in chocolate and accented with fondant hats and noses, and finished with blue bows.

And lastly, these ornament pops were dipped in chocolate and then coated with different shades of luster dust, finished off with fondant ornament top details. 

I can't wait to see what the rest of the holiday season has in store for us.

-Danielle

the season of giving

I might be infected with the Christmas spirit. Or I really like an excuse to be in the kitchen.

This year I put together little cookie and treat bags to give as holiday party favours. I couldn't decide (besides gingerbread) what the best holiday flavour was, so I put together a few of them. I definitely wanted to include peppermint and butterscotch, and of course shortbread.

Shortbread stars, gingerbread men, peppermint meringue kisses, chocolate bark and honey florentines were packaged together in little cello baggies. The honey florentines are the easiest cookie I've ever made and they're absolutely delicious. They're somewhere between a candy and a cookie, which makes the packages exactly half candies and half cookies.

And still over 2 weeks until Christmas! Plenty more time for holiday treats.

-Danielle 

no tricks, just treats.

Now that I'm too big to get dressed up and try to swindle the neighbours of their candy, it's up to me to create my own treats. 

 

Plain almond macaron shells were sandwiched with a yummy whipped chocolate ganache (pretty much mousse) filling. Macarons are probably my favourite treat, but when they turn out badly...

 

Absolutely terrifying. Nothing is scarier to this baker than a dreaded macawrong. This one was baked at the back corner of the baking sheet and probably received a bit too much heat from the oven. I'm still trying to figure out how to diffuse the new oven's hotspots in addition to using the convection setting.

Next up: going all-out pumpkin and trying these with a pumpkin buttercream. Or eating these ones all to myself the way they are. Probably both. 


Happy Halloween everyone :)

-Danielle

happy mother's day!

-Danielle

valentine's treats

I've been spending a lot of my down time from the 9-5 (or in my case, the 24/7... that PhD won't earn itself!) in the kitchen lately, and I've been having fun with some Valentine's Day baking. There are so many fun things I want to try so I'm getting a head start on this holiday's baking, which happens to be a favourite of mine not for the celebration of love, but for the celebration of sweet, sweet carbs.

a) A small 1-2 serving heart-shaped french vanilla cake covered in red fondant with a tiffany blue gumpaste bow.

b) Another small 1-2 serving heart shaped french vanilla cake covered in chocolate ganache and a white chocolate drizzle, with a glitter-accented gumpaste rose.

c) A cupcake bouquet - a dozen cupcakes with buttercream piped roses in a decorative vase. This was a little trickier than I thought it would be. Piping the cupcakes was no problem, but getting them to sit in the vase was a challenge. They're stuck into a styrofoam ball (available at any craft store) with lollipop sticks. The styrofoam ball was really stiff, and every once in a while a cupcake would topple off. Some structural arrangements were made (i.e. crossing my fingers and hoping for the best) and everything worked out fine in the end!

d) Box of chocolate (covered cake truffles) - peanut butter cake truffles covered in dark and white chocolates, each one uniquely decorated, atop a chocolate mud cake candy box. This was a lot of fun! Too bad the cake truffles didn't stand a chance in my household. 

e) Dark chocolate cupcakes with pink vanilla buttercream icing - a sweet and simple treat. 


-Danielle

happy new year from sweet&splendid bakeshop!

Here's to a sweet 2010 and an even sweeter 2011!

happy holidays from sweet&splendid!

it's holiday season!

The holidays are fast approaching!

Christmas ornament cupcakes:

Cupcakes are covered in buttercream and topped with a thin layer of fondant. Dusted with luster dust, covered in edible glitter or piped with royal icing, these cupcakes make great great gifts and party favours.

Snowmen cupcakes:

These cupcakes are topped with a generous dollop of swiss meringue buttercream and edible snow flakes, finished with a sculpted fondant snowman. 

Poinsettia cupcakes:

These cupcakes are covered entirely in hand-piped swiss meringue buttercream.



Can't wait to think of more... 


-Danielle

ghoulish goodies...

I know it's a little bit early, but with the changing leaves and cooler temperatures I had the urge to bake some fall cupcakes. Pumpkin spice with cream cheese buttercream icing cupcakes are even sweeter with some sugary figurines. 

 

Happy Halloween!

-Danielle