carlasconfections test: December 2012

Wednesday, 12 December 2012

Free Downloadable - Christmas Goodies

In the spirit of Christmas - I thought you may enjoy these! You can find the download links below. There are 4 types of Christmas cards for you to print out onto A4 Card and I have added cut and fold marks to make it easier for you (because I know there is SO much to do this holiday season!)

The tags can be either cut by hand or with a 2" round or fluted punch!

Thank you for visiting Bits of Sunshine! Hope to see you soon!

Christmas Tags
Christmas Cards - Landscape
Christmas Cards - Portrait

If you are looking for a really sweet homemade gift, why don't you make some of these tasty bakes and wrap them up for someone special...


Custard Creams
Delish and oh-so easy to make


Caramel Sauce
Not as hard as you think! Pop it into a cute jar and it will be swooned over!



Rolo Chip Cookies
Extremely Decadent!


Biscotti hot chocolate stick with marshmallows - From Top With Cinnamon
What a great idea!!!!


Chocolate chip oreo cream cookies - From Hearts in My Oven
I think these are the coolest cookies ever!


Monday, 10 December 2012

Rolo Chip Christmas Cookies

I love Christmas time. It is full of everything I hold close to my heart! The Lord Jesus, my family and friends, giving, and lots of Christmas treats! Its round about this time of year that all the baking bloggers are hard work, measuring, baking, photographing, editing and blogging - all in the name of Christmas Cheer - and I love it! Take a deeeeeep breath - can't you just smell all the goodies in the air! Ah! To make it all the more sweeter, Kristan from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen and Shelly from Cookies and Cups are hosting a fabulous Holiday Recipe giveaway! I mean, isn't that the very best excuse to get your holiday baking on! So, I am entering these Rolo Chip Cookies in the Creative Holiday Recipe Contest hosted by Confessions of a Cookbook Queen and Cookies and Cups!


They were inspired by my addiction to rolos - and they are probably the best cookies I have made to date (not that I am blowing my own trumpet or anything TOOT TOOT!) And they were pretty easy to make!


They started off like this. Anything that starts off like this has to be good!


Then, after a couple of ingredients like butter and sugar and flour and eggs and ROLOS, it looks like this!

Need a closer look?...


There you go! Feeling the holiday vibe yet?


How about now?


Or now?

Ok, ok, I will stop that now! After you have dropped spoonfuls of cookie dough onto a baking mat or VERY well greased baking tray (the rolos are quite sticky when baked), they will take 8-10 minutes until they are golden brown and you can munch on them while you pop the next batch into the oven.

A Silpat is one of the best baking "things" I have invested in. They are pricey, but I have found that even the stickiest stuff just slides off them. If you don't have one yet - and you have been good this year - I suggest you add it to your Christmas Wish List! And perhaps, if you make Santa some of these Rolo Chip Cookies, he may just surprise you with a Silpat :)


 If, by any chance, you have any cookies left after baking these moist, chewy, chocolatey cookies, I think they would make a really sweet gift for any cookie / chocolate lover! I know a couple people who would LOVE these, my only problem is that this whole batch seemed to have vanished already! I guess I will be making more soon to the tunes of Micheal Buble Christmas! Yey!


 So - are you planning on giving baked gifts this festive season? If so - what? Feel free to leave a link to your Christmas baking in the comments so I can check it out!


And if all of that didn't rev up your Christmas Cheer - I am sure this sweet little dog will!


Here is the recipe [Printable]

Rolo Chip Cookies


2 1/4 cup all purpose flour      200g / 2 cups chocolate chips
1 cup brown sugar                   2 packets mini rolos (or large ones)
3/4 cup white sugar                 1 teaspoon  baking powder
250g softened butter                1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs                                      1 teaspoon salt

  •     Preheat oven to 190 degrees celsius.
  •     In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt.
  •     In a large bowl combine butter, brown and white sugar and vanilla extract and mix well.
  •     Add eggs and mix well.
  •     Gradually add flour mix and mix well
  •     Stir in chocolate chips and rolos
  •     Drop spoonfuls onto a VERY well greased cookie sheet - the rolos are quite sticky once     baked
  •     Bake for 8-10 minutes until golden brown. DON'T over bake - or they will lose their chewy-ness
  •     Let them cool for a few minutes before removing from the baking sheet. Once completely cooled, wrap them up and give them away as a sweet gift to someone special :)
www.bitsofsunshine.com  (c) Heidi Hawyes 2012

Sunday, 9 December 2012

Candy Land Birthday Cake - with free printables!

I made this Candy Land cake a while ago for my special friend Megan.

She had a 21st Birthday Party that I am sure will NEVER be forgotten by those who attended! It was AMAZING! There were bowls and buckets of sweets everywhere. It was just fantastic!

When Megs asked me to make her cake, I have got to admit, I was kind of nervous! I mean a 21st cake is kind of a big deal! But she convinced me to give it a try :) and I think we were both pleased with the results!



I made her using my this chocolate cake recipe (minus the oreos) and iced it with my fav vanilla buttercream icing (recipe below).

I also made some matching cupcakes using my chocolate mayo cupcakes recipe.


See those cute little cupcake toppers? I made some generic ones for you!  If you are planning on having a candy land party, just download them using the links below!


You can also use them for cake pop tags, just punch two holes in them, one on the top and one on the bottom.


Download the printables here:

Candy Land Cake Toppers
These can be cut out with a 2"fluted or round punch

Candy Land Big Cake Toppers

Candy Land Invites

Enjoy them! If you use them I would LOVE to see some pictures from your candy land party and be able to share them on my facebook page!


Fluffy Vanilla Frosting

250g softened butter
560g icing sugar
dash of vanilla essence
dash of cream


  • In an electric mixture, mix butter and icing sugar until smooth and fluffy, adding the cream bit by bit until a nice smooth piping consistency is reached.
  • Add the vanilla essence and mix a bit more
  • Ice your cooled cupcakes as you wish!

Wednesday, 5 December 2012

Red Velvet Cupcakes

There is just something so Christmassy about red velvet cake. The colour is sooooo holiday-inspired! I made these a while back and have only gotten around to sharinng them now :) - but they are worth the wait! And just in time so you can bake a batch to wow your guests for the holidays!


These are no ordinary red velvet cup cakes! Yes - I know that look that way from the outside, but you guys know me...I can't resist adding a little something to everything! SO these got the Rafaello treatment. Have you ever had a Raffaello chocolate? Ok - think Ferrero Rocher, but in white with coconut. Yip! They are totally divine! And red and white is just so merry!


I had a little helper for these, my sweet little niece Olivia. She helped me unwrap the Raffaellos and push them into the cupcake mixture.


See that t shirt she is wearing? Cool hey. Ok - I know you can't see the whole thing, but it is a really rad logo that belongs to a very good cause - The Sabrina Love Foundation. If you have a moment, go and check them out! They also have a REALLY cool range of clothing that they sell online! I just love their colours!

Anyhoo...


Livi did such a good job! Thanks Liv xxx


To make these I used a red velvet cake recipe (yes really!!!) from Bakerella and just baked them for about 18 minutes. I also added about 1/2 C of coconut to the one batch which was really awesome! I will really do that again!



I used I am Baker's best cream cheese frosting for these. It really is the best! So smooth and sweet. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!


What are you baking for the holiday season?

xxx
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