Baby Shower Baby Bump Cake!

This is why I haven't posted in a few days! I've been busy like a bee, but I've got lots to share! First up-- My newest cake creation. Here is a pregnant belly cake.. preggo, maternity.. baby bump.. cake! One of my friends called me up last week and asked me to make a baby shower cake for an expecting mother :) Here is what I came up with.. Congrats on the baby boy on the way! How exciting! 

Carving the cake 'baby bump'

Working it all together with some chocolate! If only they made bandaids this good ;)

Ready for a pretty blue dress!

Preparing the cake boobies!

They needed a good coat of chocolate too.. hehe

OMG! This one's ready for delivery!.. (well, at 1:30) 

Coloring the baby blue dress... Gotta keep the expecting mommy fabulous!

Ah, the wonderful fabric of my cake dress... how sweet you are..

Covered and ready for some shaping and cutting.. Almost a dress!

Hello dress! You need something else....

How about a fantabulous bow?

And maybe some flowers.. but BLUE ONLY! (Boys can do blue flowers right??)

Ahh... and there she is.. ready for the party! It's been fun, but we've got a hungry mama waiting!! Off you go my little beauty!...

xoxo,

Yum! Brotchen @ Home!

I picked up some of these bad boys at the E Neukauf yesterday. Talk about 'yum'! I hate when the bakeries are closed here on Sundays, so I was looking for some breakfast (fruhstuck) items when I saw these on the shelf. You just heat them in the oven until they are crisp and brown and then serve.

Golden Toast's Sonntagsbrotchen.

I guess they are 'Sonntagsbrotchen' (Sunday bread) because this is the only stuff you can get for Sunday morning lol. They come with 8 per bag.. perfect for fresh bread throughout the day!

Ready for the hot oven! 400 F for about 12 mins..

Nice hard rolls.. Crispy on the outside and soft and warm on the inside. *Heavenly*

Serve with butterkase or pair with a fruit spread for a divine start to your day. I chose Zentis' wild berry jam... ugh! To. die. for.
Hope your Sunday morning breakfast was as tasty ;0) Now I just need to find a recipe to make them from scratch!
xoxo

The last few days around the house and from about..

The snow has been a bit crazy lately so we haven't done much of anything exciting. Here are just a few pictures of the last few days... I promise to have some interesting stuff up soon.. :0)

Nothin special cake lol

It was pretty tasty though.

Some really cute garden statues from the Baumarkt.. I think I'm going to get one for my entrance way.

A smaller one. :)

This is pretty crazy! It's in one of the old buildings in my neighborhood.. Built right into the brick.

A tunnel near our home..

Alright, that's enough for now. I'll be back later to actually post some good stuff. I've been working with all my new fabric, so maybe I'll give you all a peak!

Ciao

* The BEST Pumpkin Cheesecake! * (Cheesecake Factory Style!)

I found my new favorite recipe!! It's a copycat recipe for The Cheesecake Factory's Pumpkin Cheesecake! (Which is my absolute *dream* cheesecake) Here's the recipe.

Ingredients you'll need:

Crust-

1 1/2 Cups graham cracker crumbs (I used the cinnamon ones to give the crust a good flavor.. you could probably use gingersnaps as well.. Mmm!)

5 Tbsps melted butter 

1 Tbsp sugar

Filling-

3 (8 oz.) packages of cream cheese

1 Cup sugar

1 Tsp Vanilla

1 Cup canned pumpkin

3 Eggs

1/2 Tsp cinnamon 

1/4 Tsp nutmeg

1/4 Tsp allspice

Optional Topping.. Whipped cream.... etc

**MAKE SURE YOUR INGREDIENTS ARE ROOM TEMPERATURE BEFORE STARTING!!**

First thing I do is preheat the oven to 350º and create my water bath. You can do this by covering your springform pan in  foil and submerging it halfway up the side in a pan of water. The water surrounding your pan will help the cheesecake cook slowly at an even temperature....  OR, you can do like I did and place a pan full of water on the bottom rack of your oven to keep the air moist. (Just make sure there is plenty of water so it doesn't all evaporate) If you're taking the second route, go ahead and place your water pan in the oven to get the moisture going!

Now let's get started on the crust! Crush up your graham crackers until they are fine crumbs. I either put the crackers in a ziplock and smash the crap outta them, or use my blender attachment. While smashing the graham crackers let's get our butter melting!

I usually put the butter in the bowl I'm going to mix the crust ingredients in and pop it in the microwave for 30 sec.

Your crumbs should be done now.. Throw them in your bowl with the butter and 1 Tsp sugar.

Mix until moist. (with the pale dead hand you have in your utensil drawer)

Now, spray your 8in. springform pan with Pam.. or oil it however you feel. Pour the crumbs into the pan and pack into the bottom and sides. (About halfway up the sides)

Pop your crust into the oven for 5 mins.. then, take it out and set it aside.

Grab a bigger bowl and begin on the filling! Blend your cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth...

Perfect!

Now measure out your pumpkin and plop it in the bowl!

::pLoP::

Measure out your spices and toss them in! (I don't think they need to be adjusted, but feel free to experiment!)

Toss in your eggs and gently mix until combined. Don't over mix or you will end up with a mess of nasty!

Pour your filling into your crust...

Place in the oven above your water bath....

Bake for about 60 mins until just the very center jiggles!

Stare at your full sink and laugh... because it's ALLLL gonna be worth it! ;0)

Yay! It's done! shut off the oven and let it sit until it cools to room temperature!... (A couple hours)

I took mine out a little early (after about an hour) and it felt the cold draft in  my kitchen.. cRaCk! *Tisk Tisk* You must have patience!

The next Morning after it cooled and was put in the fridge over night.

*Delightful!*

See.. just cut down the big ol crack and no one will know how impatient you were lol

Hope you enjoy as much as I did! ... It really hit the spot and filled the craving I had for The Cheesecake Factory! I should be good while we are stationed in Germany now! (Not too mention the money I saved making it myself .. YAY!)

Any tips?.. Mods... suggestions?...

Ciao4now!
Steena