KitchenAid Giveaway Roundup

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I’m always seeing KitchenAid giveaways all over the internet and this week several of my favorite blogs are giving away some of KitchenAid’s most popular products.

1. Head over to i am baker to enter for a KitchenAid® 7-Quart Bowl-Lift NSF Commercial Stand Mixer! (ARV $899.99)

2. If you’re in need of a toaster oven, Gourmande in the Kitchen is giving away a KitchenAid 12-inch Convection Countertop Oven. (ARV. $159.99)

3. TidyMom is also giving away a KitchenAid® 5-Speed Custom Metallic® Series Blender KSB580. (ARV $179.99)

4. For those of you who already have a KitchenAid Stand Mixer, enter to win the KitchenAid Pasta Extruder (Press) attachment from Dine and Dish. (ARV $199.00)

5. Also don’t forget to enter for this 13 cup KitchenAid ExactSlice Food Processor from Bakers Royale. (ARV $249.99)

 


You Might Not Want to Eat These Sweets

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These donuts look yummy, right? Don’t take a bite just yet. They’re made out of foam. That’s right, when I’m not making fun real sweets at home, I’m making these delicious food props at work. I work at a theater and make props for the plays and musicals in production there. This particular batch of donuts was crafted for a production of Sunsets and Margaritas by José Cruz González.

A couple of seasons ago we put on a production of The Baker’s Wife, a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and the book by Joseph Stein, in which we had to create an entire bakery of pastries, bread, and other delectable treats. Unfortunately I didn’t get very many great pictures of the food props we made for that show, but here’s a picture of a strawberry and cherry tart that didn’t turn out too terrible.

Not too long ago I made a chocolate chip cookie for a lunch tray that was used in a production of Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead by Bert V. Royal. If I were to make this one again, I’d do something more pronounced for the chunks of chocolate because it looks a little flat, but it worked for its purpose.

Believe it or not, making real treats is soooo much easier than making ones that have to hold up on stage. Sometimes we use real food, but it’s not as practical since it can attract ants, spoil, and be a mess to clean up. It is gratifying to make a prop replica of food and fool the actors with it, though.
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Shane’s Killer Cupcakes by Shane Russell is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://cupcakeattack.wordpress.com/contact/.


Crab Cupcakes

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These cute crab cupcakes made by Entertain Exchange for a Crab Shack Summer Party caught my eye because I wondered where she found those adorable crab candies. Turns out she made them herself using a crab shaped silicone ice cube tray and candy melts! I would have never thought of that. Knowing that silicone ice trays work as candy molds opens up a huge selection of candy molds for me.

For the candy mold instructions go here.

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The Last Cupcake: A Zombie Cupcake Deluge (And Other Halloween Treats) {Recipe}

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Halloween is my favorite holiday (with Christmas at a close second), so I try to go all out when it comes to costumes and treats.   This year I went with a zombie theme and tried to recreate the Shirt.Woot.com t-shirt design called The Last Cupcake as well as make the scariest zombie costume I could think of.  Both turned out better than expected!

I made the zombie bodies with a template I got from Skip To My Lou and cut the tops off with my Provo Craft paper shapers. I think it was a grass design. I have to give credit to death by cupcake for giving me the idea to make the arms and weapons from paper. It really helped make the cupcakes look exactly like the shirt design.

I also made a couple other Halloween treats for the party I went to this weekend. Since I only used 13 cupcakes to make the zombie display, I divided the rest into skulls and spiders.

I decorated the skulls with white frosting, white jelly beans, M&Ms, half of a mini Oreo, and black gel for the nostrils. The spiders were decorated with chocolate frosting, candy coated sunflower seeds for the eyes, white jimmies for the fangs and metal spider cupcake stands from Target.

The last treat I made were chocolate truffles. They always go over well and are super easy to make. I found the recipe on the Kraft website once and was surprised at how few ingredients went into them.


They can be decorated with pretty much anything. I used a combination of candy melts, unsweetened cocoa, coconut flakes, powdered sugar, Halloween sprinkles and sanding sugar. To make them a little more festive for the holiday, I displayed them in little wooden coffins that I got from Michaels that I painted and decorated with glittery designs.

{Recipe}

Easy Chocolate Truffles

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
  • 3 cups  powdered sugar
  • 1-1/2 pkg. (12 squares) BAKER’S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, melted
  • 1-1/2 tsp.  vanilla

DIRECTIONS

  • BEAT cream cheese in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Gradually add sugar, mixing until well blended.
  • ADD melted chocolate and vanilla; mix well. Refrigerate 1 hour or until chilled.
  • SHAPE into 1-inch balls. Roll in walnuts, cocoa, powdered sugar or coconut. Store in refrigerator.

SUGGESTIONS

  • For coatings: Ground walnuts, unsweetened cocoa, powdered sugar and/or flake coconut. The sky is the limit for coatings. Come up with your own toppings if you want.
  • Add liqueur: Make as directed except omit the vanilla and add 2-3 tbsp. of almond, coffee or orange-flavored liqueur to the mixture. If you want to use all three, separate the mixture into thirds and flavor each third with one tbsp. of the liqueurs.
Recipe via Kraft Foods.

Happy Halloween Everyone!!

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Creative Commons License
Shane’s Killer Cupcakes by Shane Russell is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://cupcakeattack.wordpress.com/contact/.


Silent Hill Nurse Cake

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So as I said in a previous post, I’m going to be a zombie nurse for Halloween this year. In my preparation for my costume I’ve come across many photos of the Bubble Head Nurses from the video game and movie Silent Hill. In my search, I found MammaJammaCakes Flickr that had an amazingly realistic looking Silent Hill Nurse cake posted. This cake is fantastic, but I’d be afraid to go anywhere near it. The nurse might start shuffling out of the base and kill me or something. *Shudder*

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Monster Movie Cakes

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Believe it or not, these awesome Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein cakes by DebbieDoesCakes are wedding cakes!  All I can think of when I see them is Halloween though. Wouldn’t these be great at a monster movie themed Halloween party? See more of her creations at her Flickr site.

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