The Tortoise and the.......Well, Just a Tortoise.

I had a cake order this week for a tortoise cake. The client is also buying his son a real tortoise. I think the cake is as big as the real thing! The body is all cake and the head and legs are RKT. Everything is frosted in butter cream and covered in fondant and hand painted with brown and green food coloring. This was a fun cake to do!!

Happy 2nd Birthday!

I don't have a lot to say about this cake, except that I made it for a very special little girl who will ALWAYS hold a place in my heart! 


I made it with chocolate cake and butter cream icing, and covered it in fondant. It was my very first "box" cake and I found that covering a square in fondant is SO MUCH harder than covering a round cake. I made the sides separate and  then pressed them to the sides of the cake. Next time I will let them dry longer so they will have a bit more strength , especially before trying to drive it 2 1/2 hours away! The sides did buckle a little because they weren't dry enough. Like I said this was my first experience in doing this, so lesson learned. I seem to be having a lot of "firsts" lately with cake decorating....and I always seem to learn a lesson from it when I'm done. lol. The bear's head was cake also, and the whole thing stood approximately 12 inches high and a 12 inches wide.  Hope you like it!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SWEET GIRL!

Happy Spring!

I don't know about the rest of you, but Ive had it with the cold weather and Spring flying by( because we don't really have a Spring) and all of a sudden its summer! Give me the SUN and warmer weather. Notice I didnt say "hot" weather? I love the spring but, living in New England, its almost non-existent. (sad face) 


So, when I found out my friend's birthday was coming up this week, I really wanted to make her a cake that screamed SPRING! Her favorite flavor is lemon. The more lemon, the better. I wanted to make it all from scratch, because that's what I do, but I found this weekend to be extremely busy. I had a bunch of cakes to do and I just didn't have the time to do that. So, yes, I'll admit it....I cheated. I ALMOST feel guilty about it. I would feel worse except another friend of mine just happened to send me a bunch of recipes the day before, and this recipe was one of them. Call it coincidence??? Maybe....


This lemon cake was so easy to make and really good!! I was afraid it wouldn't have a strong lemon flavor but it really did. I was happy, and so was she.

This is the recipe I used. It makes a 2 layer 8 in cake. Enjoy!


Double Lemon Cake with Fluffy Frosting


Prepare 1 package (18.25 oz) white cake mix according to the package directions, adding 1 package (3 oz) lemon-flavored Jell-O.

For frosting, stir 1 package (3 oz) lemon flavored Jell-O into 3 tbsp boiling water until dissolved. Cool 5 min. On medium speed, beat 1 c butter (room temperature) and 1 jar (7 1/2 oz) Marshmallow Fluff until combined. Gradually beat in Jell-O, 1 c confectioners sugar and, if desired, yellow liquid food coloring, until fluffy. 


*Frost cake layers. If desired, garnish with lemon slices.*




I didn't garnish with lemon slices, obviously. I decided it wouldn't be "me" without some kind of fondant topper. So, as I said previously, I need a splash of spring, and when I think spring, I think flowers. So I quickly rolled out white fondant, cut out 7 large leaves, rolled the edges of them with a fondant tool to thin them out and to make them look more realistic, and let them dry for a short time over flower formers. (They really needed to dry longer, but I did this last minute) I should have taken a picture of this step, but, I dropped the ball on this part. Sorry.

I then dusted them with pink, purple and yellow shimmer dust, and laid them on the cake. They kept their form for the most part but I also knew I could stick the end of the leaves into the frosting and that would hold them up. Then I rolled a ball of  light pink fondant and flattened it a little with my hand on the counter, wet the bottom of it with a little water, set it in the middle of the flower and dusted it with pink shimmer dust.


*Water on wet fondant works as a glue to hold fondant pieces together*

Homemade Gold Cake with Homemade Whipped Cream Frosting

I just wanted to share this with you.I made this for my daughter's birthday. It was so delicious and light.

Add strawberries! Yum!!!

Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros

In case you have never heard of them, I am a HUGE fan of The Flight of the Conchords. I just had to name this post after my very favorite song from them. This post has absolutely nothing in common with the song, except for the mere fact that there is a hippo on the cake that I am posting pictures of. I made it for a friend's birthday. She loves hippos!

 I do wish I had done something different with his eyes.

Hippo Butt!

It's Spring, but We Still Love Penguins! (Spiral Cake)

I have been very busy with cake orders the past few weeks, which is one reason it has been a couple of weeks since my last blog post. The other reason is that I started a new job in a field that I NEVER imagined I would be in! I am now a medical assistant at a Chiropractor's office! Who ME?? Ya, I never dreamed I would have a job like this. Ive always had jobs in a "creative" field. However, since I have been unemployed for a while now, I thought I would try my hand at something new....and, the job was offered to me. :) I am finding it challenging but I really like it a lot. They are training me on the job. When I'm not working, I'm making cakes for people. 


A friend of mine asked me to make her son a penguin cake for his birthday. Ive made a few in the past but I wanted to do this one a little different than the others. I don't like to so the same cake twice, if at all possible.


I started with three 8 inch cakes and two 6 inch cakes..

Then the fun began!

I decided to carve the cake BEFORE I put frosting in between the layers, in case I messed up with the carving, I didn't want the layers stuck together. I used toothpicks as a guide for my knife. I had to adjust them a few times until I was able to get the right line ALL the way around the cake at a downward slope. Top to bottom. 

Then starting at the top of the cake, I carved a notch out of it and followed my toothpick line. 

My goal was to create a spiral all the way down the cake.I kept carving, a little at a time. I took my time to make sure I had the angles right. (Most people find it better to freeze the cake before carving, and then carve it frozen. I didn't have the time to freeze mine.)

Eventually, I had a spiral around my cake from top to bottom. 


Then I frosted it with homemade whipped cream frosting! (Yum!!) And I handmade a bunch of penguins out of a fondant and gumpaste mixture to go on the cake....Here is the finished product!!

Hope you like it!

85 Cookies and counting....

I baked and baked and baked today. 

My previous post was explaining how Amanda, from "I Am Baker", was looking for bakers to help her with a project. She asked if she could pair us up with a family that had been originally nominated for her to send cookies to. She ended up with almost 200 nominations and couldn't pick just one family to win the cookies. She needed help and I was more than happy to lend a hand! 


I picked the cookie I wanted to bake and the recipe said it made 112 cookies! Maybe mine were bigger than they were supposed to be. Ha ha...I ended up with 85. Thats still A LOT of cookies! 

I decided since I had SO MANY cookies that I would give some to other friends too. I packaged them up in clear goody bags.....

Then wrapped each sleeve in bubble wrap.....

Tomorrow I will box them up, with MORE bubble wrap, and send them on their way. 


I am so glad I was able to help with this project. There are so many people out there that just need a little pick me up and to know that there are other people that appreciate them and care. Sometimes, something as small as a few unexpected homemade cookies can bring a smile to someone's face. It brought one to mine just being a part of it. :)


Here is the recipe that I used. These cookies are soooooo good!!
(You may want to cut the recipe in half if you dont need 85 or more cookies!)

2 cups butter
24 oz. chocolate chips
4 cups flour
2 cups brown sugar
2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
2 cups sugar
1 8 oz. Hershey Bar (grated)
5 cups blended oatmeal
4 eggs
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. vanilla
3 cups chopped nuts (your choice)

Measure oatmeal, and blend in a blender to a fine powder. Cream the
butter and both sugars. Add eggs and vanilla, mix together with flour,
oatmeal, salt, baking powder, and soda. Add chocolate chips, Hershey
Bar, and nuts. Roll into balls, and place two inches apart on a cookie
sheet

Bake for 10 minutes (I baked mine for 13 minutes) at 375 degrees. Makes 112 cookies.

CALLING ALL BAKERS!!

I just finished reading a blog pot from "I am Baker", one of my favorite baking blogs to read. She is looking for bakers, professionals or just anyone that can help, to bake cookies for people very much in need of a pick me up. There are a lot of heartbreaking stories of people who need to be cheered up. Please consider helping her. I'm already signed up!.

On another note, I came across this recipe for "fry bread tacos" that I thought Id share with you. Looks SO GOOD! It looks to be just like fried dough but she shares ideas of how to serve them. Check it out!

ENJOY!!

St. Patrick's Day Cake Ball Disaster!

Remember when I told you I would tell you about my experiences with baking, both good and bad?? Well, I honestly didn't think the BAD would come so soon! Ha Ha....My third post and this is me, keeping it real!

I saw this idea on Wilton's website the other day and thought it was a really cute idea for St. Patrick's day. Adorable little St. Patrick's Day hats! However, I didn't have the Cordial Cups Candy Mold and honestly didn't want to go buy them. 

I have wanted to do something with cake balls for a while now but never got around to trying to make them. Seeing them on Bakerella, it looked SO EASY, and maybe they are for some, but this was my very first experience making them and maybe, like everything else, practice makes perfect. (I'm really hoping that's the case!)


So, to make a long story short, I decided in my infinite wisdom, to combine the two ideas. I would make those cute little St. Patrick's Day hats out of cake balls! Seriously, how could this possibly go wrong? (Famous last words).


Did I mention Im not even a little bit Irish? Ive never even celebrated St. Patrick's Day before. Well, actually thats not entirely true. I did have a beer once, about 10 years ago, at a pub with some friends. We were having lunch, and it happened to be St. Patrick's Day. Does that count?


Anyways..


I started with baking a 9x13 cake with my new favorite gold cake recipe. You can use whatever recipe you prefer or a cake mix. Whatever makes you happy.

Have your favorite icing set aside. Mine is a homemade buttercream, but as I said about the cake, use whatever icing you like the best.

While the cake is STILL WARM crumble into a large bowl and add your icing to it. I honestly dont know how much I added to the crumbled cake. I would say it was aprox. 3/4 cup but I just added a little at a time until it was the consistency I was looking for. I added icing until I could "squish" it in my hand and have it stick together. Yes, "squish" IS a baking term. It looked like this....

Since I didn't have the Cordial Cups Candy Molds, I decided to improvise and find something in my house that I could use in place of them as a mold for my hats. I ended up using a 1/4 cup measuring cup from a set that I had bought at Pier1.

I sprayed cooking spray inside of it to keep the cake ball mixture from sticking and to have it come out easily. I did this every 3-4 times I filled it. 

I made 12 of these and put them on waxed paper as I made them. 

Ok, so here's where it started to go downhill!!



As you can see by the picture above, my "hat" didnt come out in the perfect shape of a hat so I had to do a little tweeking here and there. A little freehand sculpting, if you will. 

I have to be honest, after doing this 12 times, I had had enough. I rolled the rest into balls. I wasnt doing this for a client or for anyone else. This was just for me to experiment and try to learn a new technique, so I didnt feel bad at all taking the easy way out this time. lol

 

I then put my green candy melts in a microwavable bowl and melted them down. When using a microwave to melt them, do it in 30 second intervals, stirring in between.


I think this is where I made my first real mistake. Like I said before, I molded my hats while the cake was still warm and put them on waxed paper. I think maybe I should have dipped them into the melted chocolate right after I molded each one because it seems like the cooler they got, the more they started to fall apart. I inserted a toothpick into each and as I dipped my cooled off cake balls and "hats". Pieces were falling off into the melted chocolate and then this happened....

Awwwww........


Then to top it off, I couldn't get a smooth coat of chocolate on my cake balls. I kept reheating the chocolate to keep it thin and smooth, and gently rolled them in it. It came out way too think and not pretty at all!! I cant understand how to get them covered evenly and not clumpy looking. PLEASE, if anyone out there knows how to do this, email me!


This is what I ended up with. Its Ok, You can laugh.....really, I dont mind. Its not pretty and Im the first to admit when Ive been defeated.

Ok, try to catch your breath now......I know, its funny. They look terrible!


I was able to salvage 2.....count 'em......2, out of the 12 that I tried to make. I then took the chocolate and spooned out 2 circles to make the brim of the hats. I let them dry and used a tiny bit of melted chocolate to "glue" the top part of the hat to the brim.

I colored and rolled out yellow and black fondant to make the buckle on the hat.

This is what I ended up with. These two were the only two that were even remotely "hat like". 

I know, its a bit of a stretch of the imagination. Maybe if you squint and let your eyes get blurry you can see it. They are lumpy and crooked and just not good. Im not sure what went wrong and how I should go about fixing it for the next time I try this, but I will keep at it and hopefully one day get it right!

Molten Lava Chocolate Cake

As I said in my previous post, I am always online looking at cakes and "How To" videos. I forgot to mention I have countless recipes that I have found online. Unfortunately I dont remember where I found most of them.When I do remember, I will be sure to share where I found it to give the proper person credit.

I have so many recipes sitting in my inbox, waiting to be printed. I even started sending them to Walt, my boyfriend, so he could print them for me! His work inbox is inundated with emails! He just said to me, the other night, that he might not ever catch up! lol. Maybe I should stop spending hours on end every night copying and pasting? Nah, I don't think so. He doesn't really mind (He told me he didnt). I have taken a little break from sending them to him though. .Ill give him a chance to get more of them printed first.

In my search for the perfect chocolate cake recipe, I found this one! I dont always give out my favorite cake recipes for fear that people will just make the recipes themselves instead of asking me to do do it, but I will be sharing some of them on here.This is not a recipe that I can make and send it home with someone. It needs to be served straight out of the oven. It is AMAZINGLY GOOD! So, I thought for my first "real" blogging post I would give you the gift of MOLTEN LAVA CHOCOLATE CAKE! And believe me, after eating this cake, you will fully appreciate the word "gift". Its so rich and full of chocolately goodness! And oh so easy to make! 


I made it for my family the other night. Everyone had smiles on their faces. Please, let me know if you try this recipe and what you think of it! 


Enjoy!

What You Need

4 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate

1/2 cup  butter

1 cup powdered sugar

2 whole  eggs

2 egg yolks

6 Tbsp.  flour

1/2 cup thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

Make It

HEAT oven to 425°F.
BUTTER 4 small custard cups; place on baking sheet.
MICROWAVE chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1 min. or until butter is melted; whisk until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in sugar. Add whole eggs and egg yolks; mix well. Stir in flour. Spoon into prepared cups.
BAKE 13 to 14 min. or until sides of desserts are firm but centers are still soft. Let stand 1 min. Carefully run small spatula or knife around cakes to loosen; invert into dessert plates. Serve warm with COOL WHIP.

About Me

Finding myself unemployed (and in my mid 30's....Shhhh, please dont repeat that little bit of info!), was quite unsettling. I had owned my own interior painting business and when the economy plummeted, so did my business. The phone stopped ringing altogether and I found myself wondering what I was going to do next to support my 2 children. Thank God I have a wonderful boyfriend that is there for my and supports all my decisions in this area of my life. Thank you, Walt!

Having a background in art and music, I really felt that I wanted to do something creative as an occupation, but what would I do and where would I find a job that I really loved doing? Its nice to "think" that way but was it realistic? I started thinking about it and one day it dawned on me that I had been watching every cake decorating show known to man on TV, and I obviously had an interest in it. The only difference is that it's a different artistic medium. I had never even considered a career in food before. Why not become a cake decorator? It looked to be very creative and a lot of fun to do! So I signed up for a few Wilton classes at a local cake supply store and learned the basics. I needed to learn the foundation of cake decorating. Every week was something new and interesting and I found myself not being able to wait until the next class. I had found a new passion and hopefully a new career. I worked VERY hard on my new skills and before I had even finished all the classes I had a job at cake decorating shop in Quincy, MA. I had found my calling! Unfortunately the economy had also taken its tole on the cake shop and it closed. So what would I do now? I LOVED that job! I was heartbroken. I began watching every video and looking at hundreds...no THOUSANDS of cake pictures on line to learn from and for inspiration. I started making cakes for friends and family. The orders started rolling in! I LOVE what I do, but I STILL need to find a job doing it!! I have decided to go back to school in the fall for culinary. I need to broaden my horizons even more. Fingers crossed that this will work out and I will find the job of my dreams once I graduate in 2 years. The strange thing is I will be going to college the same time as my oldest daughter!
I will share with you what I learn in the 2011/2012 and 2012/2013 school year. I'm sure it wont always be pretty, but hopefully it will ALWAYS be fun!