Thanksgiving Cakes

Well, here it is the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and I have many cakes to decorate, so i’ll just post 2 that i’ve gotten finished. Both have pumpkins & fall leaves made out of fondant and the mums are buttercream.  Happy Thanksgiving to each and everyone.

Apricot Oatmeal Bars

I wish I would make these bars more often and not just on holidays. They are so good.  I love the taste of the apricot preserves, making them just sweet enough. I hope you’ll give them a try.  

APRICOT OATMEAL BARS

      Crumb layer
1& 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1& 1/4 cups quick cooking oats
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup melted butter
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon vanilla
     Combine all ingredients, beat on low speed
til crumbly. (Reserve 1 cup for topping) press remainder
into bottom of 9×13″ greased pan.

      Filling & topping
 Spread 1 jar (10 oz.) apricot preserves over crumb mixture.
(do not spread to edge of pan). Sprinkle reserved crumbs over
top, add 1/2 cup flaked coconut.
      Bake 22 to 27 min. until edges are lightly brown. Cool & cut in bars.
                       Makes 3 doz.

A Parachuting Grooms Cake

This cake has a lot “going on”. The groom (a highway patrolman) had lots of interests, flying a helicopter, a parachutist, fishing, golf and his team was NCS “wolf pack”. All these things had to be put on the cake somewhere. So this is what I came up with. The off set squares worked out well, the corners gave me a place to display all the different items. The man I made out of fondant, all the others were toys. I created the chute from cake. Flavors of the cake were marble, yellow, and chocolate with almond/vanilla butter cream frosting. The flowers were butter cream and the fall leaves were fondant.

Another view.       

Scottish Shortbread

I know there are a lot of recipes for this cookie but this is the one i use. If you love shortbread cookies as much as i do then this is for you. If you’ve never made shortbread you must try it, it’s so easy. Just be sure to use real butter, no margarine here. You can only get that rich buttery crisp taste if you use butter.

Shortbread Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, soft

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 cups plain flour

   (and granulated sugar to sprinkle when done)

     Cream butter, add powdered sugar. Beat til light and fluffy. Add flour and stir well. Press into 15x10x1 inch jelly roll pan, cut into fingers or squares, prick all over with fork lightly and chill for 30 min. Bake 375 for 5 min.-reduce heat to 300 and bake for 20 min. until a pale golden color.  When done sprinkle with sugar.

Candy Strawberries

I wish i had a picture to go with this recipe because these are so pretty. It’s not a new recipe, it’s been floating around a long time. I’m not sure where i got it. They look especially pretty for showers or for gift giving.

Candy Strawberries

2 (3 oz) packages of strawberry gelatin

1 cup ground pecans

1 cup flaked coconut

3/4 cup condensed milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Red decorators sugar & sliced almonds tinted green for stems

         Combine all ingredients (except red sugar & almonds) Mix well and chill 1 Hr. Shape into berries. Roll in red sugar. Place “green” stem in top.

Lemon Butter Cake

This cake was for a 80th birthday only they didn’t want the age on the cake, only the name “Lady” along with Happy Birthday. All the flowers were butter cream, the cake was lemon with lemon  frosting. The cake design was very simple and easy to do. On a sheet cake ( this was a 11×15) you have such a large area to work with so i divided it into 2 sections, one for the writing, one for flowers.