Cards Win! Cards Win!

This has obviously been a Cardinals-themed blog as of late, but this should be the last entry that's more Cardinals than baking.  With the holidays coming up, I'm sure I'll have plenty of cookies, cupcakes, cake pops and more coming your way.

To celebrate the Cardinals World Series Win, I baked Champagne Cupcakes - complete with mini champagne bottle candles and Cardinals World Series logos.

CHAMPAGNE CUPCAKES

I was originally going to go with a "from-scratch" recipe, but truthfully, I made them and they didn't taste all that great.  The Betty Crocker version is pretty delicious, easy to make and way less time consuming.

The past month has been crazy to say the least.  In between Postseason games at Busch, trips to Texas, baking a LOT, and games that made me feel like my stress level had hit new highs, it was all worth it.

Pulling Out The Stops

I've given up sleep in order to bake my butt off in the hopes that the Cardinals win tonight (and tomorrow)!

Here's what we've had to enjoy this week...

Mini Chocolate Chip Maple Pancake Cupcakes

(click on the link above for the recipe from Two Peas and their Pod)

Breakfast of Champions

Cinnamon Sugar Donut Muffins

(Recipe from Sweet Pea's Kitchen)

Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit Muffins

(Recipe from Cooking with my Kids)

Rally Squirrels & Wedding Pops

I like to go for the oddest combinations of titles on this blog.  Baking has been crazy lately...Rally Squirrel cupcakes, Bride & Groom Cake Pops, the occasional random cupcakes.  Here we go...

Rally Squirrel Cupcakes

I made these in my kitchen in front of a camera crew.  That is nerve-wrecking, I'm just saying.  I don't even like squirrels, which made it even worse.  Regardless, throw a cute little Cardinals hat made out of Starbursts and these aren't nearly as creepy as the real things. 

These were very time consuming with all of the icing details.  Tails are Nutter Butters dipped in melted icing and "glued" to toothpicks with chocolate.  Eyes are mini m&m's, noses are tootsie roll pieces and the ears are cut up mini-marshmallows dipped in pink sanding sugar.

Bride & Groom Cake Pops

A friend of mine got married this weekend and asked me to make cake pops as the guest favors. So, at the time the Cardinals were 10 1/2 games back out of the Wild Card and I figured I'd have PLENTY of time to take care of these.  Silly me.

Birthday Cupcakes

 

Another friend of mine threw a purple-themed birthday party for her daughter who turned one-year old.  I couldn't say no when she asked me to make cupcakes.  I love purple and her daughter is adorable!  Win-Win situation there, I was just sorry I couldn't see her shove the cupcake in her mouth.

Cardinals Cupcakes

Last, here are some very lame-themed Cardinals cupcakes that I made on a tight time schedule.  But, despite their lack of ingenuity in design, they were delicious.  Chocolate cupcakes with homemade vanilla buttercream frosting and red sprinkles.

My poor refridgerator.....no room for real food:

Postseason Fun with Torty & Lots of Cupcakes

So, since the Cards started making their run for the Wild Card in September, I've been baking after each win.  Muffins, Cupcakes and now Torty Pops.  Soon to be Squirrel Cupcakes, which I cannot believe I'm doing.  I don't even like squirrels.  Unless they're Busch Stadium #RallySquirrels apparently.

Some of you may have heard of Allen Craig's pet tortoise, immortalized on Twitter through @TortyCraig - he shares Batman stories, #HappyFlight chants and Sprinkled Donuts with abandon.  And he's adorable, who doesn't love a Tortoise in a Cardinals baseball cap.  He was the obvious choice for a cake pop project, which due to timing and lack of sleep from Postseason craziness turned more into a cake ball project.

Torty Pops








Candy Bar Cupcakes



S'mores Cupcakes

Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes

Blackberry Cabernet Cupcakes (For Jennifer's Birthday!)

A Vintage Affair

In case it wasn't obvious by my previous posts on this blog, I really love to throw parties.  I blame my mom, she threw the best birthday parties when we were little and I guess it rubbed off on me.

This party was Audrey Hepburn themed and so much fun.  I love vintage everything so it was really nice to incorporate it into a theme.  All the ladies came in cute dresses and the first thing we did was give everyone an Audrey moment with vintage jewelry, hats and the big sunglasses.

 After our fashion shoot, everyone grabbed some wine or water and brushed up on a little Audrey trivia.

Angela won...of course.  We still can't figure out how she's cheating, but she's good.

Breakfast at Tiffany's followed and a trip to Mama's on the Hill for some delicious Italian food.

And of course there were desserts :)

Audrey Cupcake Pushpops

Raspberry Sorbet

Chocolate Dipped Oreos and Cupcake Poppers

Chocolate Mousse

Champagne Truffles

Next party theme is yet to be decided...but here are some more fun pictures :)