Tami's Wedding Cake

WHY do I love baking so much? After pouring cup after cup of batter into pans and waiting hours for all of the layers to be done, and after getting flour and powdered sugar and cream cheese all over my clothes and hair... you would think I would be sick of cake. But I'm not! I would gladly start it all up again tomorrow morning if given the chance. Seriously. This is so funny to me but I'm glad I have found something I'm so passionate about! I can't wait to do Becca's wedding in a couple of weeks. This cake was vanilla with raspberry filling and cream cheese frosting. I loved it. Tami and I definitely have similar taste preferences when it comes to dessert. Can I tell you a secret though? This cake was flavored with vanilla, almond, and lemon. I totally messed up one of the layers and put PEPPERMINT in instead of lemon! Haha I couldn't believe it but when I tasted it afterwards it wasn't half bad, so I went with it. I'm sure some people were very confused if they were lucky enough to get one of the random minty pieces, but I actually thought it was a nice addition! Who knows... maybe I have created a new favorite. Just don't tell Tam Tam.

Tami also wanted 250 cupcakes in varying flavors to go along with her cake (she had a dessert bar for her reception), so I got to decorate all of the cupcakes on Friday with one of my best friends. Luckily I didn't have to do it all alone-- Tami's sisters and cousin offered to bake a lot of them. We had chocolate, pumpkin, oreo, vanilla, and coconut. I should have taken more pictures before the crowd showed up, but here is one:

I've never had Oreo cupcakes before so I had to just invent a random Oreo recipe. It's not hard and they turned out to be my favorite flavor!

Oreo Cupcakes

1 white cake mix

1 small box vanilla instant pudding

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup oil

4 eggs

5 Tbs cocoa powder

6-8 Oreo cookies, crushed

Mix all ingredients well. Fill cupcakes 2/3 full (I found that the perfect amount was 2 Tbs plus 1 tsp.... or one ice cream scoop in my case). Place in a 350 degree oven for 12-15 minutes or until the cupcakes spring back when lightly touched.

We served these with Oreo cream cheese frosting and a mini Oreo placed on top.