My last post

Hello friendly readers!
Thank you for following my adventures in the last 7 months...it's now time to go on to better things. I really enjoyed writing this blog, especially to vent my anger at failed experiments, but I feel that it is now time to stop dreaming and start doing! So my new blog is http://thatbakinggirl.blogspot.com/ and it will be very similar-I kept the same design-but I will try to write more about starting my business and hopefully orders I get, and possibly keep it as a way to interact with potential customers. I got scared thebakingdreamer could just scare them away! I hope my few members go join thatbakinggirl and regular readers actually take the step and become a member too! It'll just help my reputation really, if you want to support me!
Thanks again for reading the baking dreamer!!

Doctors, nurses and patients

If you don't already know, I am now obsessed with pinterest. Yes, I am, and frankly, I am not even ashamed of it! I love it! As soon as I find something cute on the internet, I pin it on one of my boards, and I don't ever have to go looking for them again! 

One of my favorite things about this site is finding cake pops, cookies or cupcake inspirations. Some days, like today, I have nothing to do, and enough leftovers to make something fun, but no ideas at all. That's when pinterest comes in handy. I had posted doctors and nurses cake pops for my brother's girlfriend, and today I decided to make them myself! I added a few patients to make it a bit more interesting... Here is the result!

I like the way the patients came out. He looks like he was in a bar fight!

I have been having problems with my chocolate as of late-I don't know if it's because I order it, so it's not super fresh, I don't know if it's the paramount crystals...but they have tiny little lumps and unless I am really quick, I don't manage to get rid of them all... I didn't manage for these guys, but I decided to turn the mistakes into noses. I think they are super cute! Much better than the noseless ones!!

See what I mean?

Still I think the surgeon is quite cute.
Hope you guys enjoy!!

My niece Zoé's birthday Cake pops

My niece is turning 2 today! And she loves frogs and owls. So her parents asked me to make 15 of each. This is how they turned out!

I tried to give all the frogs a different facial expression, a few with tongues sticking out!

A shy one!

This isn't the only genuinely happy one, but I find him particularly cute!

I made the owls all the same though-only variation being the shape of their feet and that half are with orange ones, the other with yellow ones... I haven't quite figured how to give them their own personality yet...

These I made because after waiting 2 entire days at home for UPS to redeliver a package, I finally got my funky letter Tappit Cutters (at 6.30 in the evening, grrrrrr) and I decided when I lost so much time waiting after them, I might as well try them out! I love them! I just hope they stick on during the transport! I hope she will like them! Or at least all the guests...I don't know how amazed a 2 year old is about cake pops...Hope you like these!!!

My latest projects...

I have been rather busy in the last few weeks and kept putting off writing about my baking experiments... I don't really know why, it usually soothes me to write about my mess-ups and meltdowns, but I haven't had too many lately, no yelling in the kitchen, or, very little anyway... Anyway, these are the latest projects :

Ducati Monster motorbikes for my ex-roomate's husband's birthday. Came out alright, but I don't like that royal icing often caves in in smaller areas... and this was a complicated drawing for me, and I think I could have done it better-but that is only after having tried it once...somehow I don't think I will have to do too many of these again!!

These easter cookies I made basically for my brother's girlfriend...unfortunately she lives in Canada, and I am in Switzerland, I may try to send them, but I really don't know that they will survive. Well, all but one survived me dropping the camera on them, so who knows!! They were inspired (not quite copied, but almost!!) by a pin she put up on pinterest (my new favorite passtime).

These spring critters are also because of Katie, and that is because the shapes come from cookie cutters she got me for Christmas! (Thank you Katie!!!) I think the apples, the worms and the bees are the cutest. I could make these everyday!! Oh yes, and the chocolate cookies turned out PERFECT!! Finally I have the right chocolate cookie recipe for decorating cookies!!

Carrot cupcakes with chocolate cream cheese frosting. This frosting is so perfect, I want to take a bath in it. I cannot remember where I found it, but YUMMMMMM!!

I put these baby toppers on the cupcakes, I wanted to try some things I had seen on Etsy (my other fav. website) and I think they came out really really well!!

Apart from that, my website is starting to take shape, and I have only a few changes left to make in my kitchen, and I will be ready to sell for real!!! Wish me luck! I can't believe I have finally found what I like most doing in life! And I can do it with my little Lily right next to me!! I hope it all works out! :)

Guess How Much I Love You Cookies

When my boyfriend got me the book "Guess How Much I Love You" for Christmas almost 10 years ago, I didn't know I was getting a present from my future husband, and I didn't know how making cookies would change my life...all I knew is that I was as in love as that little rabbit hopping up and down. And because I still am, I decided to give hommage to this book, to my love story, by making cookies. 

Here is the result...

I love you as far as my arms can reach!

This is the first time I tried painting on cookies (apart from cookie alcohol bottles I made for a friend...did I post those?), this time it worked flawlessly, and frankly, I am more than happy with the result! I hope you guys like them too!!

Party cookies, while I am in no shape to party...

My last post was short and sweet really...but not for me...I am still quite down. I mean physically, not mentally, I just feel like a truck has run over me!!! I am so surprised by its strenght (the virus', not mine), and especially by the fact that I will have to go back to work in a few days, and oh do I not feel like it!!! I had to get myself in cookie mode though-my friend Nancy needed some before going back home to Canada. 

Now, Nancy is more of a party girl than I am...well, I mean, I don't party at all, and she seems to be out alot...so she wanted cookies representing her's and her friend's biggest passion (partial joke). And here they are. The cookies that I made while wanting to sleep very very badly. 

These, what can I say, I don't really like them...not because of the idea, I like her idea of giving the individual's favorite drink as cookie, but I just can't paint or write nicely. That's all! So I like the shape, I mean, how the bottles and glass turned out, but once I put the personal touch on them, I think I ruined them...

There was one last cookie, of a guy drinking in a bathtub, but I felt the caption was slightly, how can I put this, politically incorrect. So I will just let you use your imagination...
What do you guys think? I can't think anymore, I am just going to bed...

Too sick to bake... :(

Ahhh, there are times, they are just hard. My hard times are now, and that's because I can't bake! I not only do not have the strenght to make a batch of cookies, but I would sneeze all over them! Please let this go away!!!!

Hockey Cakepops

Dessert and sports...a combination that will win a man's heart at any given time...but, I won my man's heart years ago, I am now just trying to hold on to it! So for his birthday, I made these cakepops in his favorite team's (well let's face it, the best team ever) colours, a player, representing him, a puck and a stanley cup. I really loved making these, and am especially happy how the stanley cup came out! Hope you guys like these too-and I can't wait to see the hubby's reaction!! Happy birthday sweetheart!!

It's high time the Canadiens win the Stanley cup again!!

A cookie platter

So...you could say I have discovered something new...but I don't think it's that new...there are just a few absolute cookie experts out there that have inspired me to start doing my own...the cookie platter experts. Check out The cookie Artisan's cookies on Flickr...I just keep gawking at them! Anyway, all this to say, I have started making my own-this was my first, followed by the Swiss Themed cookies from the last post-I just waited to post these up till my friend's birthday had already been celebrated. Needless to say, she is a great sewing artisan herself, and this was my hommage to her talent! I really like how they turned out and she said they were a hit at her get together! Now, because no one needs anything from me at the moment, I will have to make something fun just for me, I have an oscar themed look in my head, we'll see...hope you guys like them!

The entire platter

The sewing lady

Birthday cakes 

A little taste of Switzerland...

Ok, this theme is unusual for me. I mean, my name is Heidi, and I have gotten way too teased about it to go and embrace it with cookies...but the other day, I was taking a look at a few things on etsy.com (my new favorite online shopping destination) and saw these Heidi, Peter and Grandpa prints and thought ooooh, what a great way to welcome my friend Nancy who will be coming to visit me from Canada in a few days! What else could I use? Mountains, the flag, Edelweiss...that was pretty simple. I started looking for cute ways to represent money...didn't work out, but animals-our brown cows, our mountain groundhogs and Peter's goat seemed a good choice. 

I wanted to give it some sparkle, I got a bit carried away with the cow here... it was too late to change it though, I would have had to have a spare cookie (I didn't) and redo the entire cow (didn't feel like it)...

I love the goats, they are my favorite.

Heidi, Grandpa and Peter, I forgot grandpa's pipe, but you know, he'll live longer if he doesn't smoke...

The edelweiss is my husband's favorite. I quite like it too...

The flag. I think it looks quite nice actually.

So here are my swiss cookies. If you think they are too cliché, then let me tell you something, I am half swiss, I live in Switzerland, my name is Heidi and I love animals. What do you want!! You have to embrace the things that are lovely in life, whether they are corny or not! Hope you like them!!

Last chance to make valentine's day treats!!

So this is it, this Valentine's day is basically over, here in Switzerland...not the country that is most festive when it comes to this day of the year, but I remain strong in my love of everything with hearts. I took the last few moments of this day to make some valentine's day cakepops- and one other that went with the colours that I was using, and I wanted to try it anyway...

These are all cake pops I have already seen at one time or another, and wanted to give them a go, 'cause I thought they were too cute not to try! 

The heart bird...cute! Sprinkle hearts for the beak and tail...

A happy cute cloud...

A bird chasing love on a cloud...and the regular hearts...

The happy lady cloud wanted to be taken with the hearts as well...

And last but not least, the russian doll-nothing to do with valentine's day, just something I wanted to try from Clare O'Donnell's cakepop book, thinking it would be too hard to do. But it went just fine, despite the fact that I played it by ear...

Hope you like these! Happy valentine's day everyone!!

Valentine's day cupcakes

It's Valentine's day tomorrow, and although a staggering number of you out there seem to hate this holiday, I actually love it. Why? Because I love being in love, because I love the colours, because I love to bake special valentine treats! Granted, tonight's offering is hardly original or even creative...but it's valentine's day people! It's about hearts and cuteness, not about being edgy!! So here I present to you, the ultimate holiday cupcake, of course, the red velvet, here decorated with cream cheese frosting, sprinkles, hearts and lips! I hope you have a nice day tomorrow and enjoy the treats!! :)

A few cakepops!

Ok, let me start by saying that I didn't have time to do this, nor to write this blog...I should be in bed.I start work for real tomorrow and have to get up at  like 3 in the morning...but I just couldn't help it...it's like I couldn't stand the fact that the last time I baked was pre-work-I don't want to start work and suddenly not have time anymore!!! So I baked the cake this afternoon, and crumbled it with icing a few hours later, and once the husband was home, I made these.

I have wanted to try teeth for a long time now. First thing I have got to get straight is, don't try to make them to realistic. I wanted them to have the roots otherwise no one would recognize them, but I should have made a friendlier looking top and made sure that the shape under the chocolate was nicer, 'cause although they are cute, they are a bit wonky...they were also in the fridge too long, so they cracked-which is why I drew the other face...

Then, a direct copy of bakerella's popcorn bag. I unfortunately didn't have the mini marschmallows, I think it would have made a nice more real looking pop corn, but on the very plus side-look at how my edible ink pens worked out!!! First time ever that they do!!!

And last but not least, because I will be working for the next four days, my Valentine's day present for Andy. Cake bites that are made to look like cake truffles. Generally speaking, not great in the end, but they are ok, I guess, and they taste perfect!!

Hope you like them! Gotta go to bed!!!