Cookie Dough Truffles

Anytime I make chocolate chip cookies I can't help but eating some of the raw cookie dough. However, I know you're not suppose to since it has raw eggs in it. This is a great way to still get that cookie dough taste without worrying about any raw and uncooked products. No eggs even included. And no cooking! They have mini chocolate chips inside and are covered in semi-sweet chocolate and drizzled with milk chocolate. It's a triple chocolate trifecta. Yum! 

Cookie Dough Truffles www.jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com Yield: 48 truffles Time: about 40 min hands on time + 2 hours to freeze before dipping 1/2 C butter, softened 3/4 C brown sugar, packed 2 1/4 C flour 1 -14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk 1 t vanilla 1/2 C mini chocolate chips 2 -12 oz bags semi sweet chocolate chips 1/4 C milk chocolate chips 1 T shortening, divided 1. Cream your butter and brown sugar together until light and fluffy. 2. Add the flour, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla and mix well. 3. Stir in the mini chocolate chips. 4. Shape into 1 inch balls and place on a sprayed cookie sheet. Cover with saran wrap and freeze for 1-2 hours. You want them to be firm here folks. It makes the dipping a lot easier. 5. In a liquid measuring cup (I used the cup that will hold 16 oz, or 2 cups) melt your semi sweet chocolate in the microwave. Only heat it for 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each heating interval. Add about 2 t of shortening to the chocolate and stir to incorporate. 6. Dip each frozen cookie dough ball into the chocolate and then place on wax paper. 7. Melt the milk chocolate in the microwave and add 1 t shortening. Stir it well and then drizzle it over the tops of the truffles. 7. Put the truffles back in the fridge to set for about 15 minutes. Enjoy! Comments _displayNameOrEmail_ - _time_ - Remove _text_

X-mas Sweaters Take 2

Another order of Ugly Christmas Sweater Cupcakes.

Candy Bar Caramel Corn

I know I've said before how I love homemade caramel corn. This time around it's been taken to a whole new level! Caramel corn with candy bar chunks then drizzled with white and semi sweet chocolate...addicting! My dad can atest to that, he LOVED it!

Crunchy Candy Bar Caramel Corn www.jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com Time: 30 minutes + 15 minutes to set up Yield: One large jelly roll pan full Recipe adapted from Your Homebased Mom 16 C popped popcorn (1/2 C unpopped) 1 C brown sugar 1/4 C corn syrup 1/2 C butter 1/2 t baking soda 1 t vanilla 15 fun sized candy bars (I used twix, milky way and 1000 Grands) 1 C white chocolate chips 1/2 C semi sweet chocolate chips 1 t shortening 1. Pop 6 cups of popcorn. 2. In a medium sized glass bowl, or large glass measuring cup, place the butter, brown sugar and corn syrup. Heat it in the microwave for 1 minute. Stir the ingredients together with a wooden spoon. Repeat this step four more times. Heat and stir... Heat and stir... Heat and stir... and a final "heat and stir". It should be very bubbly and hot at this point. 3. Add the baking soda, vanilla and a dash of salt. 4. Pour the popcorn into a large brown paper grocery sack. 5. Pour the caramel right into the bag on top of the popcorn. Stir it around with a wooden spoon. 6. Fold the bag over and place it in the microwave, heat for 1 minute. Take the bag out of the microwave and shake it....shake it.....shake it. 7. Return the bag to the microwave and heat it for an additional 30 second, then shake it again. 8. Pour the caramel corn out onto a large jelly roll pan, lined with parchment paper. 9. Chop up the candy bars and lay them out over the caramel corn. 10. Heat the white chocolate chips in the microwave, for 30 seconds at a time, stirring after each heating interval. Don't let the chocolate get too hot. Add 1/2 t shortening to the melted chocolate and stir to combine. 11. Drizzle the white chocolate over the top of the caramel corn and candy bars. 12. Melt the semi sweet chocolate just like you melted the white chocolate. Drizzle it over the caramel corn. 13. Let the chocolate set up (you can pop it into the fridge for 10 minutes to hurry along the process). Break it up into chunks and serve. Store any leftovers in an air tight container. Enjoy! Comments _displayNameOrEmail_ - _time_ - Remove _text_

Sweaters & Hot Cocoa Cupcakes

Ugly Christmas Sweater Party's have become all the rage the last few years. I think the last three or so years we've been invited to one. This past Saturday our friends Sean and Annette had their first Ugly Sweater party, so in keeping with the theme I decided to make cupcakes that fit the occasion. I tried Googling them for other people's ideas but only came up with one!!  So I can actually say these are a "My Buns Are Done Original"!!

I was told that some of them aren't even ugly, they're cute and they would actually wear them. So let's just call them Christmas Sweater Cupcakes :)  I do love how they turned out thouugh!!

I wanted to made these Ugly Christmas Sweater Cupcakes with a festive cupcake, I choose a hot chocolate cupcake with mint buttercream frosting. I found this recipe, although it calls for peppermint bark to add as the garnish so I included it for you in case you don't want to make your own marshmallow fondant Christmas Sweaters.

Hot Chocolate Cupcakes with Peppermint Buttercream
(makes 24 cupcakes)

For the cake:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 eggs
1 packet Hot Chocolate mixed with 1 cup warm milk
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pans with cupcake liners.
2. In bowl of stand mixer combine dry ingredients: flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients: eggs, hot chocolate/milk mixture, vegetable oil and vanilla.
4. Beat on medium speed until well combined, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
5. Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full with batter.
6. Bake for 16 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
7. Let cupcakes cool in pans for 5 minutes, then remove to wire racks to finish cooling.
8. Once cupcakes are completely cool frost with Peppermint Buttercream and garnish with Peppermint Bark.

For the icing:
3 sticks unsalted butter, softened
6 cups confectioner’s sugar
1/4 – 1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp peppermint extract

1. In bowl of stand mixer beat butter until creamy.
2. Gradually add in confectioner’s sugar one cup at a time, scraping down sides of bowl as necessary.
3. Add milk until you reach desired consistency.
4. Add peppermint extract and mix well.
5. Place icing in piping bag fitted with a large round tip and frost cupcakes.
6. Garnish cupcakes with Peppermint Bark and white nonpareils (optional).

Peppermint Bark:
12 oz Chocolate Bark
12 oz Vanilla Bark
20 mini candy canes, crushed
1/2 tsp peppermint extract

1. Line a baking sheet with wax paper.
2. Melt chocolate bark in microwave safe bowl for 1 minute. Continue to microwave at 15 second intervals until melted. Pour melted chocolate onto prepared baking sheet and spread evenly with a spatula. Let chocolate harden for about 30 minutes.
3. Melt vanilla bark in microwave safe bowl for 1 minute. Continue to microwave at 15 second intervals until melted.
4. Add peppermint extract to melted vanilla and stir. Pour melted vanilla overtop of hardened chocolate and spread evenly with a spatula.
5. Sprinkle crushed candy canes ontop of candy bark.
6. Allow bark to harden for about 30 minutes before breaking into pieces. Garnish cupcakes.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

Mini Cheesecakes

The perfect mini dessert! I served mine with a teaspoon of strawberry jam and fresh chopped strawberries.

Individual Cheesecake Cupcakes

• 1 (12 ounce) package vanilla wafers
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• favorite toppings

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line muffin tins with miniature paper liners.           
Crush the vanilla wafers, and place 1/2 teaspoon of the crushed vanilla wafers into each paper cup. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy. Fill each miniature muffin liner with this mixture, almost to the top. Bake for 15 minutes. Cool. 

I'm Back

I've been here for 7 days.

Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. Husband and I needed a MUCH needed vacation and decided to take it for our Thanksgiving.

And lounging here, relaxing!

But I'm back and ready to reacquainted with my kitchen, which I have missed. I have lots of recipes I want to start cooking up this holiday season and cannot wait to get started.

Mozzerella and Tomato Focaccia

I love homemade bread but unfortunately I don't make it very often, like maybe only once or twice a year! Another food blog I follow, see here, makes a lot of homemade bread (she's where I got the yummy Pretzel Bread). Kathleen now sells her homemade creations and every time I see picture of those delightful carbs I cannot stop thinking about them and craving fresh homemade bread!!

I love focaccia bread so this mozzarella and tomato bread was on the top of my list. I think it looks like a pizza but it's so much more hearty and filling! This is perfect for winter time and will go great with some warm winter soup.

Mozzarella and Tomato Focaccia Bread
(adapted from Allrecipes.com)

• 1 Tbsp honey
• 2 cups warm water
• 1 Tbsp active dry yeast
• 1 Tbsp kosher salt
• 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1 Tbsp fresh chopped basil
• 5 cups all-purpose flour, or as needed
• 3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Topping

• 1 Tbsp fresh chopped rosemary
• 1 Tbsp fresh chopped basil
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 2 small-medium tomato
• 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Dissolve honey in the warm water in a large bowl, then sprinkle yeast over the top. Let stand for 5 minutes until the yeast softens and begins to foam. Stir in 1 tablespoon of salt, 1 tablespoon olive oil, onions, and 5 cups of flour until the dough comes together. Knead on a well floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 20 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 415 degrees F 
3. Place dough onto oiled 9x13in baking pan, and flatten to cover the whole pan evenly. Use the tips of your fingers to make indentations all over the dough spaced about 1 inch apart. Drizzle the focaccia with 3 tablespoons olive oil, then sprinkle rosemary, basil's, Parmesan cheese, tomato, mozzarella cheese, and remaining 1 tablespoon of kosher salt over the top. Let rise for 10 minutes
4. Bake in preheated oven 20 minutes until golden brown.

sausage dip

This one was a complete surprise. I read how good this dip was but have been pretty hestitate about making it because honestly, how good can sausage and cream cheese be?? But I was dead wrong. I swear this is highly addicting! And it's another super easy recipe with only 4 ingredients. It was a huge hit served with Fritos Scoops.  

 

Spicy Sausage Dip

1 (16 ounce) package pork sausage
1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes with mild green chilies, undrained
2 (8 ounce) packages of cream cheese; room temperature
hot sauce to taste ( I used Sriracha)

Cook the sausage in a skillet over medium heat until evenly browned and no longer pink. Drain. Reduce heat to low, and stir in the tomatoes and cream cheese until evenly blended. Cook just until heated through. Serve warm.

Pumpkin Dip

This tastes just like pumpkin cheesecake and takes minutes to make. Plus it has only three main ingredients and you can play around with the rest. I found many different recipes but liked this one mainly because I already had everything in my pantry and refrigerator. Once I made it I did make a few changes and added what I thought would taste best. It turned out creamy, sweet and delicious. Dip ginger snaps into it for a major crowd-pleasing dessert! I loved dipping green apples, the sweet dip and tart apples went really great together.

Pumpkin Dip

1 c. granulated sugar, sifted
2 (8oz.) cream cheese blocks, softened
15 oz. pumpkin
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Mix cream cheese and pumpkin together until well blended. Add sugar, cinnamon, ginger and pumpkin pie spice, mix until well combined. Refrigerate at least one hour. Serve with ginger snaps, graham crackers, Nilla wafers, or fruit for dipping.

Rocky Road Popcorn

I'm a bit behind on a few new posts that have been patiently waiting for me to finally finish them from all the craziness these last two weeks.....time to play catch up ;)

I'm a huge fan of popcorn. Caramel corn. Cheddar Cheese. White cheddar. Loaded with butter. Or just plain stove top with salt.  Should I go on? I am obsessed with the homemade caramel corn I made last winter, found here. I've been looking forward to trying something new that you can't go buy at the store. Plus homemade is always better! This Rocky Road popcorn is the best of both worlds, salty 'n sweet and it's just as addicting at the caramel corn is.    

 Rocky road popcorn

Adapted from recipes by “Mouse Potato” and foodchannel.com

• 1 cup popping corn, popped
• 1 to 2 cups almonds (I used peanuts)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 stick butter
• ¼ cup light corn syrup
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2½ cups miniature marshmallows, divided
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 250˚F. Spread popped popcorn on a greased baking sheet, and sprinkle with the almonds.
2. In a large heavy saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar, butter, corn syrup and salt, and stir constantly until the mixture begins to boil.
3. Stop stirring and let the mixture boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
4. Add 1½ cups of the marshmallows and stir until melted. Stir in vanilla. Pour marshmallow mixture over popcorn mixture; stir until well coated.
5. Bake popcorn and nuts for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Remove popcorn from oven and let cool.
6. Put chocolate chips into a large heatproof bowl set over, but not touching, a pot of simmering water, and stir until melted.
7. Add a few scoops of popcorn and nuts to the bowl of melted chocolate, and stir until coated. Then add a couple more scoops, and stir some more. Repeat until about half the batch of popcorn is coated in chocolate.
8. Pluck the popcorn pieces from the chocolate with tongs and spread them out on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. Sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of marshmallows over the chocolate-coated popcorn, and let cool.
9. When the chocolate has hardened, mix the chocolate-marshmallow-coated popcorn with the rest of the candied popcorn in a large bowl for serving. Store in an airtight container.

Prayers Please

Hello My Dear Readers,

If you could please keep my family in your thought right now. My grandfather had a massive stroke yesterday in which he was taken to the Waterloo hospital and then flown to the University of Iowa Hospital in Iowa City. He is currently in ICU. Although he is in great hands in Iowa City and has a lot of family and friends rallying around him, the more thoughts and prayers would be much appreciated!

Thank you!!

Safari Birthday

A few weeks ago I made Drake a smash cake for his One Year pictures, here. This past weekend was his 1st birthday party in which he had a Safari Themed party. This being my first jungle/safari theme I had no idea what to do or where to begin. Luckily Drake's mother included this link to all the party supplies she was going to use which gave me my inspiration. I wanted to make all the safari animals....

The beginning of my animals

Starting to come together

They actually look like animals!

And it all comes together :) 

A 2 layer 10-inch marble cake with chocolate ganache filling and vanilla buttercream

I love how it turned out! The safari animals turned out better than I pictured.

We have lions, tigers, zebras, giraffes, elephants, and monkeys!

The smash cake

Birthday cupcakes for all of little Drake's friends...I'd say my handwriting is starting to improve (at least on the cupcakes!)

Happy 1st Birthday Drake!

Hope you had a wonderful party and enjoyed your cake.

Wells Fargo Cupcakes

My best friend Tiffany's father gave me a call a few weeks ago for an order of 3 dozen cupcakes for his birthday. He recently took a new job a few months ago at Wells Fargo and requested what I could do to make them Wells Fargo related. I'm not sure if he was serious or kidding about wanting the horses and carriage that is part of their logo but this is my attempt....

Delicious Red Velvet cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting (yes its homemade and to die for!) and Triple Lemon Cupcakes (lemon cupcake with lemon curd filling and lemon cream cheese frosting). I think I could seriously eat the whole dozen lemon cupcakes all by my self! Topped with marshmallow fondant "Happy Birthday Mark!", "WF" for Wells Fargo of course and my free hand of the WF carriage, in red, yellow and black.

My carriage minus the half dozen horses....they wouldn't fit :)

Chocolate cupcakes with Peanut Butter frosting!

Mark sent me a text stating how much everyone at work were raving about them, makes me feel all warm and fuzzy when people tell me how much they love and enjoy my product! He also brought to my attention how I need business cards so I am currently in the process of thinking of a name (aside from My Buns Are Done), if you have any ideas or suggestions leave me a comment or email me at bunsrdone@gmail.com

Baptism

Another first for me....my first Baptism cake!

I got the honor of making our friends Chad and Kelsey a cake and cupcakes for their son Jackson's Baptism. I always feel so honored when asked to make special cakes for any occasion and especially for this precious little boy! 

White Vanilla Cross cake with light blue marshmallow fondant ribbon.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese frosting and each topped with a fondant cross

These cupcakes were definitely a hit with all of little Jackson's family!! 

Happy Baptism Jackson and may God bless you! 

Cubs Grooms Cake

This week I made my first grooms cake!!

I'm intimidated by anything wedding related, that's a lot of pressure. I mean there are a lot of people that will see your work and your works going to be photographed which will be looked back on for years and years and years.  Yikes!

The majority of the pressure is put on by myself. But this week I stepped up to the plate (no pun intended :)) and finished my first grooms cake. The bride requested a baseball theme related to the Cubs. She really like the first birthday baseball cake I made earlier this year. I made a White Vanilla cake for the glove with vanilla buttercream and a Triple Chocolate for the base (chocolate cake, chocolate filling with chocolate chips and chocolate buttercream), covered in marshmallow fondant.

A true Cubs fan's most famous line it "There's Always Next Year" so it seems fitting for the bride to tell her groom on his cake "Glad I Didn't Have To Wait Till Next Year!".

10/22/11

Congratulations Sarah and Mattie!  I hope you enjoyed your wedding day, it's was an absolutely beautiful day for a wedding ;)

Rockstar Birthday

Chocolate cupcakes with chocolate buttercream and strawberry cupcakes with strawberry butterceam fit for a rockstar. These cupcakes were for a young girls 9th birthday party with a rockstar theme. I used pink, purple and black marshmallow fondant cut out in different size stars.  

Strawberry Buttercream

• 3 large strawberries
• 1 stick butter, at room temp
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 3-4 cups powdered sugar
• 1-3 Tbsp heavy cream (milk also works if you have no cream)

In a food processor, pulse strawberries until pureed. In a mixer beat butter until fluffy, then add in pureed strawberries and vanilla. Add powdered sugar one cup at a time. Add cream until you reach desired consistency. Frosting will be smooth and soft, yet able to hold its shape!

Stuffed Mushrooms

The perfect appetizer. Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms. I was never a big mushroom lover, that might have been because growing up my mom only bought the canned mushrooms (gross!), they definitely don't compare to the real thing. Stuffed mushrooms with cream cheese and bacon are now one of my favorite appetizer and they are very easy to make! You can even prepare them ahead of time and pop them into the oven when guests arrive.

Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

• 1 pkg whole fresh mushrooms
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup grated Mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 3 slices cooked bacon, chopped (optional)
• Panko bread crumbs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Carefully break off stems. Chop stems extremely fine, discarding tough end of stems. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add garlic and chopped mushroom stems to the skillet, cook until tender. Turn heat off and stir in cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, Mozzarella cheese, bacon, black pepper, onion powder and cayenne pepper. Using a little spoon, fill each mushroom cap with a generous amount of stuffing and top with Panko bread crumbs. Arrange the mushrooms on the prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the mushrooms are piping hot and lightly golden brown.

Diaper Shower Cupcakes

Everyone loves a baby, all precious and sweet. For this blue and green themed diaper shower I knew I wanted to do something to match. I have so many ideas running through this head of mine that it can be a bit intimidating since there is so much I've never tried doing yet (or know how to!). I decided to play around with some marshmallow fondant to see if I could come up with some cute cupcake toppers.

Blue and green cupcakes - "Welcome Baby" with blocks and bibs and a baby carriage...

chocolate and vanilla with vanilla buttercream

They actually turned out easier than I thought they would, it just took a little creativeness!! I love them!!! Definitely my favorite cupcakes so far :)

Smash Cake

I have a Safari Cake coming up in two weeks for a first birthday that I'm very excited to make. In preparation of little Drake's first birthday, he's getting his one year pictures taken and his parents asked if I could also make a smash cake for his pictures.

This is my first time having one of my cakes getting professionally photographed!!  How exciting.....and a little nerve-racking. His color scheme for the pictures is navy blue, lime green and gray.   

Baking Bucket List

I read many other food blogs and Google lots of recipes that peak my interest. I came across one baking blog the other day who had a baking bucket list on her blog and thought it was such a great idea as there are a ton of recipes I have been wanting to make for a long time and I either email myself ideas or just keep a mental list (which we all know how bad of memory I have!). But starting a baking bucket list would put all my ideas in one place and help achieve my goal of making everything (eventually) I've always wanted to try. So I've starting making my list and added it as it's own page (up above) to keep track and refer back to. It's hard to think back and remember everything I've wanted to make, so this list is not final and will always be adding new items to it.


Feel free to give me ideas to add to my Baking Bucket List.... and friends you can always request me to make something off the list for one of our next parties or gathering :)

My Baking Bucket List

1. Chocolate Croissants
2. Homemade Cinnamon Rolls
3. S'more Cupcakes
4. Cherry Coke Cupcakes
5. Rocky Road Popcorn
6. Valentine's Day Popcorn
7. Sangria
8. Churro Cupcakes
9. High Hat Cupcakes
10. Cannoli's
11. Chocolate Mousse
12. Baklava
13. My Grandma's Kolaches
14. My Grandma's Rohlicky's
15. Vanilla Chai Cupcakes
16. 100 Grand Cupcakes
17. Espresso Cupcakes
18. Whoopie Pies
19. Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese
20. Red Velvet Cupcakes
21. Pumpkin Roll
22. Monster Cookies
23. Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes
24. Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes
25. Neapolitan Cupcakes
26. Margarita Cupcakes
27. Macarons
28. Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing
29. Mint Chocolate Cupcakes
30. Banana Split Cupcakes
31. Homemade Donuts
32. Tiramisu
33. Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes
34. Strawberry Lemon Granita
35. Salted Caramel Cupcakes
36. New York Style Cheesecake
37. Something Vegan
38. Something Gluten-Free
39. Caramel Apple Cupcakes
40. Banana Bars with Cream Cheese Frosting

More to come!!

Double IOWA Birthday

For a joint first birthday and 50th birthday party Jackie and Matt wanted to have a Iowa Hawkeye theme for their son Charlie and Matt's father.  

 For the main cake they picked a Iowa Hawkeye helmet and football.

To go along with the theme I matched Charlie's Smash Cake with Hawkeye colors.

I think this is my favorite smash cake so far!!

For the 50th birthday cupcakes they requested chocolate cupcakes with half peanut butter frosting and half chocolate cream cheese.

Topped with marshmallow fondant black and gold circles of "Happy", "50" and the tigerhawk.

Thomas the Train

Last week when I brought my latest cake creation from the cake decorating class to work my coworkers were all very impressed. One of them, Mary, had a vacation planned for this week  to drive down to visit her daughter's family in St. Louis and thought it would be a fabulous idea to bring a cake with them. So Mary got to thinking what kind of cake, what flavors to pick and what to put on it. Then she thought of her grandson.....he just LOVES Thomas the Train so she requested Thomas.

This is a chocolate chocolate chip cake with vanilla buttercream frosting and I even sprinkled chocolate chips between the layers.

I got a call at work today from Mary who is currently down in St. Louis, or I should say her grandson. When I answered he was on the phone telling me "Thank you"....he's 2 years old and it was the cutest thing!!! Mary said as soon as she opened the box for him to see the cake he yelled out "It's Thomas!" She took a video of it to saw me when she gets back and on the video he also say "Thank you Brenda", I love it! Now that makes me feel awesome and is a major reason I love doing this!!!