| More Than One Sweet Tooth |

year end sugar cookies

2010-06-26T16:22:00.000-07:00

My children and I baked and decorated sugar cookies for the class and teachers. The blue and red cookies were for my son's preschool graduation (flooded and decorated with a modified royal icing) and the pink cookies were for my daughter's terrific twos class (decorated with royal icing). We packaged two cookies in each Wilton Lollipop Bag and packaged six for the teachers.

ufc birthday cake

2010-05-25T22:55:00.000-07:00

This was a UFC octagon request from my brother's girlfriend for his 28th birthday.

breast cancer fundraiser cake

2010-04-25T19:38:00.001-07:00

I had a request for a Breast Cancer fundraiser cake this week and I was unsure in the beginning, but I'm glad that we went for it! It's definitely a different cake and I hope the fundraising was a success!

red velvet cake peeps carousel

2010-04-13T15:46:00.000-07:00

All I've been hearing about lately is red velvet so I decided to see for myself if this cake can actually live up to its reputation. This recipe was an adaptation of Paula Deen's pound cake recipe.

In the spirit of Easter, I decided to decorate a cake dedicated to the ever popular Peeps. I should have sketched out my cake beforehand since the top of my carousel looks more like a mushroom rather than anything else. At one point, I did have the idea of overlapping a number of rectangles above the carousel, but in the rush of things I clearly forgot all about it.

Why do I always skip the proper steps when it's a cake for myself?

cupcake bites

2010-04-13T15:40:00.000-07:00

As inspired by one of my favorite bloggers, Bakerella, I finally had the opportunity to try her ever famous cake balls. I thought they turned out simply adorable but I didn't care too much for the ball itself... Sorry Bakerella.

whimsical pink and black cake

2010-03-27T12:27:00.001-07:00

I had a request for a topsy turvy cake (and I've never made it before) so we compromised with a whimsical cake. I also have to emphasize that she didn't want her cake to be plain.

I decided to use a few more elements and techniques for this cake and I found that it added so much more dimension. Hope the birthday girl felt the same way!

MukMuk Cake

2010-02-26T11:13:00.000-08:00

This cake is in honor of our family favorite mascot, MukMuk. The kids just adored this little marmot who is the sidekick of the 2010 Winter Olympic mascots! He's my first carved cake and it was a little intimidating to do and he sure is flawed. But overall a very fun project!

This cake was a coconut pound cake with a whipped cream filling and vanilla bean/coconut buttercream. I had some extra Virgin Ice fondant that I used on the cake and I decided to refrigerate the cake because of the filling. My findings: ZERO condensation - I know homemade fondant gets tacky after refrigeration so I was pleased with the result!

Happy caking everyone!

ultimate cinnamon buns

2010-02-10T17:45:00.000-08:00

I've been cooking through my new cookbook: The Best Of America's Test Kitchen and the entire family is really enjoying everything. I've always wanted to bake cinnamon rolls (I have the saved recipes to prove it) and this morning I finally made them - I had to adjust the rising period though as I was in a bit of a time crunch. This recipe was awesome (I also modified it and used 2 cups of flour and 2 1/4 cups of whole wheat flour)! Who knew it was so easy to bake cinnamon rolls? Now I do.

diaper cake

2010-02-06T11:51:00.000-08:00

A couple of friends and I got together one afternoon and assembled our very own "diaper cake!" It's our first (for an upcoming baby shower) and we had so much fun. Our schedules were all different the week leading up to it so we all picked up our contribution separately -- The center of the cake is a Winnie The Pooh 2 pc. fleece set and we surrounded it with size 1 diapers, sleepers, onsies, wash clothes and topped it all off with a blanket & pull toy gift set. We wrapped the entire ensemble with a green gingham ribbon and VOILA!

orchids and tulips wedding cake

2010-02-02T15:10:00.000-08:00

JG Wedding Cake

OMG! I've done my first wedding cake ever! Wow, were there ever so many bumps and surprises along the way -- I thought had everything organized -- On paper, with my cake dummies and even in my mind, but that was obviously not the case the morning of the big day.

The days leading up to it is a bit of a blur... I prepped a few weeks before by multiplying the cups of batter, filling and icing required to build the cake that was to serve 90 guests. My friend and I designed a cake consisting of 2 - 10" X 3" cakes (double stacked), 1 -8" X 3" cake and a slab cake. I picked up my ingredients a week before and by the end of the week, my friends guest list shrank quite considerably. At this point, we were down to 71 guests so I was left with quite a few extra ingredients. We changed the design since we no longer needed the extra slab cake that I thought let's just double stack 2 - 8" X 3" cakes for the top tier. May as well display the cake, right?

It was now Thursday evening, I decided to make my filling and buttercream which took 2 hrs at the most to complete.

Saturday eventually rolled around and I started first thing in the morning. I'm not sure what I was thinking because I instantly thought to combine the ingredients 4X as listed on the recipe. I should have maybe worked with two batches at a time and done it two separate times, but like I said, everything was a blur. I had way too much batter to mix in my stand mixer and I'm lucky I had a mixing bowl large enough to support 36 cups of batter. I have this paranoia of over mixing batter that I under mixed it with my whisk and I started baking away. This was probably the most time consuming portion of the whole ordeal. Eight cakes later, they were finally cooling. I had a chance to make my simple syrup and now it was time to bring my filling and buttercream up to room temperature. I was able to crumb coat 2 cakes before dinner and there were 2 cakes left to crumb coat. We had some family over so I quickly got back to the cakes and took a 5 hr hiatus. It was 2 am before I put my final coat of buttercream on the cakes.

Sunday morning I neglected to set the alarm clock and didn't get cracking until 10 am. I started the morning off dowelling the two bottom layers. I decided to roll a round piece of fondant to place on top of the bottom cake since the plan was to stack two cakes on one another for the one tier (I didn't want the buttercream to stick to the board so I thought this was the best way to do it). I finished that. Then, I have no idea what I was thinking but I started rolling a huge chunk of pre-made fondant. I've been so use to homemade fondant that I forgot how temperamental the other stuff is - It took a lot of muscle and a chair to assist in rolling out fondant as large as the kitchen counter! When it came to lifting the fondant, I dusted with cornstarch and placed it on my stacked cakes. Obviously, I rolled the fondant too thin and it tore as soon as it touched the cakes. I was so distraught at this point that I told DH "I think I'm going to cry." He immediately just started rolling the fondant out again. Meanwhile, I'm thinking it's 12 pm and there's 2 hrs until delivery and my friend has no wedding cake. Thankfully, I regained my composure long enough to think of my backup plan which was to cover each cake individually. My friends SIL rang the door and I was too upset to collect the fresh flowers for the cake so I sent DH to take everything. I had to remove my round of fondant and just started covering cakes. DH and I then started experimenting with the placement of the ribbons. There was no real design to the cake at this moment. I packed all the supplies up and we were off to the restaurant.

We arrived at 3 pm (1.5 hrs before the ceremony). I placed my pedestal on the table and the first tier and it started wobbling. With no time to think I decided to forget it and started building the cake up. I attached the four main ribbons but it didn't look quite right. We had all previously discussed a ribbon draped idea in the past that I thought to wrap the thin ribbon around each tier once. DH went with it and started pinning away. I placed the initials on top and started cutting the fresh flowers. Tulips were suppose to surround the base of the cake but I found that they looked awkward. There were so many orchids left that I decided to use them up first. I had no clue what to do with my 4 bunches of tulips. DH started placing them behind and we collaborated to stack and bunch them behind the cake. Lastly, I dusted the entire cake with Edible Lustre Spray. There were a few imperfections that were so visible to me. The guests started arriving and DH told me just to leave it. We went for a stroll around the block and I couldn't help but think about the lack of support on the top tier. I quickly walked back to the restaurant, headed for the car, pulled out another skewer and stuck it quickly under one of the orchids. Now I could relax.

The ceremony was beautiful.

They started serving appetizers and the only anxiety I felt was the cutting and dismantling of this huge beast of a cake. Cake cutting was romantic and I was able to catch the catering manager before they got to the cake. I advised them of the best place to lift and voila, cake was gone! It was served and in front of me to finally enjoy!

My stress was immediately lifted and I was proud to have delivered my first wedding cake!

jg wedding inspiration

2010-01-18T11:27:00.000-08:00

My dear friend is finally engaged!

She and her fiance gracefully asked if I could bake and decorate their wedding cake (I had initially turned them down but when I realized they were serious, I was honored to do it!). I hadn't yet seen what her invitation looked like when we picked up a few supplies together ie. virgin ice fondant, metallic initials and ribbons but I was pleased to see that the colors all matched beautifully. I have also gone out to purchase her gourmet chocolate for the cake and filling and today, we'll be ordering her tulips. I'm so excited for her and I can't believe I'm doing her wedding cake - my first!

Wish me luck.

bite-size oatmeal raisin cookies

2010-01-17T14:49:00.000-08:00

This recipe is my all time favorite for the classic oatmeal raisin cookie. It happened to be on an episode of The Martha Stewart Show courtesy of guest Mayor Bloomberg. I think the 1/4 cup of water is the secret to these great cookies! My son and I decided to bake this batch into bite-size cookies and they disappeared twice as fast.

house of brussels chocolates dessert shell

2010-01-02T14:36:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

This was my dessert contribution for New Year's Eve. I purchased the dark chocolate shells and filled them with chocolate mousse and topped this decadent dessert with a fresh blackberry.

saskatoon berry tartlets and snowflake cupcake tower

2010-01-02T14:26:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas!

This was my Christmas breakfast display. We also served Belgium waffles, eggnog lattes and mimosas to close friends and family. I was also fortunate enough to have a friend to photograph everything just beautifully!

The tassie cups that I used for the Saskatoon berry tartlets is from Paula Deen. My cupcake tower was topped with a faux snow globe as seen on bakerella.com and decorated with royal icing snowflakes.

disney/pixar cars tire cake

2009-11-24T12:51:00.001-08:00

sponge bob cake

2009-11-07T13:30:00.000-08:00

I'm sure a fan of Sponge Bob after baking and decorating this cake!

This was my first sheet cake so there were a few challenges along the way but I was pleased with the outcome. He was so simple to decorate!

Wow, was this cake ever HUGE!

piglets cake

2009-11-01T10:57:00.000-08:00

The piglets were for DD's 2nd Birthday.

I tried a few new ideas with these cakes:

1. Ganache instead of buttercream to cover the cakes - I didn't notice a huge difference between the them - I just ended up with more waste and a messier kitchen.

2. A new fondant recipe that uses glycerin - I found that the texture and color was actually closer to pre-made fondant compared to my previous fondant recipe that uses shortening.

3. I finally had a chance to use Wilton's Gum Paste - I went with the 50/50 recipe for the pigs faces - they really turned out great. I can't wait to make roses with it - since the bulbs of my previous roses were heavy and soggy!

I did experience another problem with my sport ball pans. I filled them with more batter this time around but the top middle of my pound cake didn't cook fully (so I had to scoop out a couple inches of the center to save it!) and my chocolate cake didn't come out of the pan successfully (it may partly be because I ran out of Wilton's cake release but I ended up gluing it back together with chocolate filling). Sometimes I think carving would be easier - I've run into so many issues with these pans!

Someone has requested a Sponge Bob cake for this Wednesday so keep your eyes peeled! I'm so excited to finally decorate a character cake!

strawberry/pineapple colada trifle

2009-10-27T18:51:00.000-07:00

I also served this trifle for dessert this past Thanksgiving. DH requested it after I had decided to do something similar with a previous orders cake scraps. I also decided to experiment with freezing the pound cake since it wasn't imperative that it be super moist (after all it would be layered with whipping cream and chilled prior to serving). The result is that I prefer not to freeze my cakes. I'm not sure if I did the process correctly but a fresh cake tastes much better -- to me. Luckily my guests had no complaints since they left all but a couple of servings for us to enjoy the next morning!

DD's birthday is on Friday and I'm planning on baking her two pigs to represent her second birthday. I'll be using my ball pan so wish me luck this time around!

thanksgiving turkey cookie

2009-10-12T17:28:00.000-07:00

This is my rendition of a freehand turkey - on a cookie at least. I searched for some inspiration but the cookies I found were all decorated using turkey cookie cutters. We didn't actually serve turkey this Thanksgiving so this was it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

thirty cake with blossoms

2009-09-14T10:45:00.000-07:00

This cake was for a friend of my brother's girlfriend. She requested a special 30th birthday cake that was specifically "girly." We decided to go with a blossom design with a pink fondant base and black, white and grey blossoms. She also wanted to add a silver dragee to the centre of the blossoms.

As for the cake flavor, it was again with the pina colada - coconut pound cake with whipped cream pineapple filling covered with coconut and vanilla bean buttercream. The fondant was also flavored with coconut extract and it turned out beautifully this time around - I think my last batch was on the stickier side.

I just received my books from Amazon: Planet Cake and The Whimsical Bakehouse so I'm looking forward to trying some new techniques. My next cake will be for dd's second birthday and I think I'm going with a pig theme - check back in late October!

ribbon and rose

2009-09-05T20:46:00.000-07:00

This was a cake for a dear friend of mine. Her DH requested a cake that was not too princess and raspberry/chocolate flavor. It was a last minute order so I didn't get the chance to search for raspberry extract. I decided to go with the preserve route instead. The cake is a gourmet chocolate butter cake with gourmet milk chocolate filling and raspberry preserve. I crumb coated with raspberry buttercream and covered it with a light brown fondant - I was aiming for beige but I've been having trouble tinting my homemade fondant so this is the color I ended up with. I did run into a problem with my fondant having air pockets, again - I'm not sure what is causing this as this is not the first time I've seen this happen to my cake. The original design was suppose to be a white fondant ribbon at the base with 3 fondant roses. As I attached the fondant ribbon, it started to sink, looking like it was almost melting. What a nightmare. I had already attached it to cake (dabbed around the entire cake with water) and there was no way of removing it. After my panic had passed, I decided to cover it up with brown ribbon... and then more brown ribbon. The roses were another story. I was completely satisfied with how the center turned out but as I added the outer petals, it started clumping and was getting quite heavy. The bottom of my roses were an absolute disaster. I was at the point where I decided not to attach the roses anymore. These roses were definitely too heavy to stack so I ended up attaching only 2 out of the 5 that I had actually made. I accented them with a pink centre and pearl outer petals. I think if I use gum paste next time, I'll be able to avoid this problem. So, this is not exactly what I had planned, to say the least, but I was still happy with the outcome.

The cake itself was decadent, moist and crumbly. I do think the raspberry flavor was lost because of the gourmet chocolate though. In the end, I was thoroughly satisfied with this cake.

ariel cupcakes pt. 2

2009-08-30T19:15:00.000-07:00

These cupcakes were a fantastic experience! I had so much fun making them. I wasn't too pleased with the result of my shells and shellfish cupcakes though because my frosting started melting on me at the end. In retrospect, I should have just piped the same style on each cuppie. Nonetheless, I was very happy with my non-peril cupcakes and Ariel. I did run into some problems getting the skin tone from Wilton's copper skin gel color - it was too dark and orange. I was able to save it by adding a portion of it to some more white fondant.

I used the coconut and pineapple recipe from Hummingbird Bakery. I've actually ordered their book from Amazon and I can't wait to try out some more - the batter was just heavenly! I did find that the frosting could have used some extra confectioners sugar to make it more stable but it was already too sweet for me. Overall a good response.

I love my new Wilton cupcake and more dessert stand!

ariel cake pt. 1

2009-08-29T10:07:00.000-07:00

I think I've finally gained some momentum!

This is a cake that went according to plan with the exception that I wasn't too pleased with the fondant colors - I was aiming for darker hues but I didn't want to alter the fondant with too much gel. It's a coconut pound cake with a pineapple whip filling (a lactose free alternative to whipped cream). I then covered the cake with coconut buttercream and vanilla fondant. The sea base is 10" and it was so tall and heavy (it took me 4 tries to get that fondant on but I was so happy that I didn't require a ribbon - wahoo!). I think this was plenty big to feed 20 people.

There are also 18 cupcakes cooling for the kids party. I'll be posting them soon!

watermelon cake

2009-08-21T10:36:00.000-07:00

This is my attempt at a watermelon cake.

I was so excited to bake in my brand new Wilton Ball Cake Pan and I'm I ever glad that I did a trial run. I didn't have enough batter for the cake itself and my cake decorating skills were put to the test. This was a strawberry cake with vanilla bean buttercream (not my best tasting cake).

This is one that I will have to re-visit in the future.

homemade s'mores

2009-08-12T10:31:00.000-07:00

I experimented with a combination of recipes that I've collected and decided to bake my very own batch of s'mores. I used the graham cracker recipe, the marshmallow recipe and melted some Hershey's chocolate chips. I then layered it all (separately) into the pan. A very sweet treat!

oh, cupcakes!

2009-08-04T20:03:00.000-07:00

These cupcakes were so very moist and screamed flavor, flavor, flavor. I had their Strawberry Cheesecake and DH had their Chocolate Truffle. The strawberry cheesecake was perfect for a hot summer afternoon -- not too sweet and slightly refreshing. The chocolate truffle on the other hand was the complete opposite. It was sinful -- and I'm a chocoholic. Great cupcakes nonetheless.

key lime tart

2009-08-01T15:33:00.000-07:00

I've finally decided to purchase my second bag of key limes so it's time to try baking Key Lime Pie!

I looked at a few recipes from Paula Deen, Nigella and Martha Stewart. I ultimately decided to go with the recipe from Martha Stewart's Cookies book titled Key Lime Bars based on the fact that it was a simple recipe. I did make a minor change to the recipe by using a tart pan instead of a square glass baking dish.

My brother-in-law and his wife just happened to visit that very same day and we decided to test it out after about 4 hours of refrigeration. The filling definitely tasted like key lime pie but I found that the key lime peel added a sharper almost bitter flavor; I also found that it lacked the creamy finish. The crust itself was a bit chewy. I had mixed reviews at this point. Later that night, as I put the kids to bed, I thought to myself and realized that I forgot to serve my tart with whipped cream. Goodness me! To my surprise, that made all the difference. Now, I feel I must redeem my reputation to my brother-in-law and his wife...

freesia cake

2009-06-27T10:43:00.000-07:00

This cake was an order from my brother for his girlfriend's 21st birthday. It's a lemon pound cake with raspberry preserve and vanilla bean buttercream. I'll have to say that pound cake might just be my cake of choice - with few ingredients and no hassle instructions it was a dream to bake. It tasted heavenly. I've also mastered my finicky buttercream predicament - I found a new recipe!

cream-filled chocolate cookies

2009-06-23T19:27:00.000-07:00

I baked a big batch of cream-filled chocolate cookies (homemade Oreo's) for my son's last day at school today. I also made a larger version for his teachers to enjoy. In total, I ended up making 24 regular sized cookies and 4 extra large cookies.

The recipe is from Martha Stewart's Cookies book. It was a crunchy cookie overall -- and eating them without a glass of milk I found was not an option. The cream filling was bang on and I'm certain the chocolate cookie itself will make an excellent cheesecake crust or even cookies and cream ice cream!

Happy baking.

transformers cake

2009-06-16T15:44:00.000-07:00

This was a fun, easy cake to bake and decorate.

It's a Transformers Tropical Carrot Cake. The cake itself was listed as one of the top ten cake recipes on http://www.epicurious.com/. The verdict - It was just okay. I found that the extra work and additional ingredients that it required was just not worth the trouble. The tropical cake version, in my opinion, didn't taste that much different from a regular carrot cake. This cake sounds better than you can actually taste.

I found the template from http://www.transformers.com/ and I was able to download the symbol from the Desktop Art link. It's all made out of Australian fondant. My colors are not that accurate since I didn't realize that the black Wilton color gel turns into a deep purple, not black (or grey which was what I was originally aiming for). I think I'll have to look into this issue a bit further next time I need to use black. I have heard that AmeriColor gels work well.

ganache cupcakes

2009-05-23T11:05:00.000-07:00

I give. My latest cupcakes have defeated me. These were white and dark chocolate cupcakes, with raspberry orange preserve and white and dark chocolate ganache, topped with a fondant strawberry.

I made a colossal error though. After I had assembled the batter in the tins (it was supposed to be a dual tone cuppie) - I realized that forgot to add the milk! It was just sitting on my counter and I scrambled as I had to dump and mix everything back together. I should have tossed this batch out with the liners (or let it bake without the milk), but want not, waste not. I was unsure of what frosting I could use at this point so why not experiment further with ganache. My recipe called for 45 minutes of refrigeration but it was still quite runny... I wish it had more time to cool -- This was their story and their unfortunate demise.

Good grief!

mother's day cheesecake

2009-05-09T18:33:00.000-07:00

I decided to make my very first attempt at cheesecake for Mother's Day - my own mother loves cheesecake afterall. In my opinion, cakes are easier (much easier). I just couldn't get the edges smooth enough...

I made a Key Lime Cheesecake, recipe from Epicurious and with Homemade Graham Crackers from Martha Stewart's Cookies for my crust. Now, I'm a huge fan of key lime pie (from Costco, when it's in season!) and I think this cheesecake just may have converted me. This was the best cheesecake that I've ever tasted and there is no going back. Unless time is an issue of course.

Happy Mother's Day!

sweet birthday treats

2009-05-06T10:10:00.000-07:00

My sweet birthday treats -- it's so nice not having to bake for myself!

thirty-seventh birthday

2009-05-03T10:22:00.000-07:00

A friend asked me to bake her a birthday cake for her husband's 37th birthday. The only request she had was that it be lactose free, chocolate, and enough to feed 15 guests.

My original sketch looked nothing like the finished cake - I visualized a more whimsical cake - inspired by Pink Cake Box with just the diamond pattern though, and just in chocolate and white. But, to my dismay the fondant wasn't up to par (since it was homemade stuff and I think I added too much icing sugar to the chocolate fondant making it too stiff to work with) and it turned out that the bottom of my cake needed to be covered up entirely. I ended up improvising to say the least.

The actual cake it self almost didn't come together either.

I decided to make my meringue buttercream a few days ahead and it was a sheer disaster! My stand mixer was going a full 3 hours before I gave up. I was intent on not throwing it away so I packed it overnight and started a new batch the following day. It turns out I would have the same problem the following day. I would mix on low, add my softball stage liquid to the meringue, then cool it on the mixer on low for 10 minutes. I would then add the butter, as usual, then it would collapse and start to look like whipping cream... that never came together. Out of frustration, I decided to put the second batch aside and try whipping up the first batch again. To my surprise, the first batch came together, so I decided to slowly add the second batch to it in hopes that it could all be saved. It all started to turn into beautiful fluffy buttercream! Thank goodness I didn't waste 2 days worth of work for nothing - much less throw the ingredients in the trash. I vow never to give up on meringue buttercream again, haha.

My cake batter was much more pleasant to work with since it was a proven recipe - see below for details. I also experimented with a new filling - this time chocolate, and I decided to add orange zest and extract.

The only nerve wrecking step left was the delivery and set-up of my fondant numbers... 37... as you can see it all worked out in my favor, phew.

This cake was definitely labour intensive but in the end everyone was thrilled with it! Yay!

butterflies, butterflies, butterflies

2009-04-21T11:16:00.000-07:00

I was very pleased with the outcome of my final cake for my cake decorating class. My instructor had a silicone butterfly mold that I was interested in trying out and we practiced swags last class so I wanted to incorporate them both. This design was what I had sketched for our last class and it turned out beautifully, thank goodness.

The bottom tier was a carrot cake with cream cheese filling and vanilla bean buttercream. The filling didn't set like I had hoped so it was gooey drippy after I cut a slice - I'll have to think of an alternative to the cream cheese next time around.

The top tiers were coffee cake with a coffee buttercream filling and vanilla bean buttercream. It turned out quite nicely considering it was an experiment. I decided to add hazelnut coffee cream to the batter instead of buttermilk but I found it too sweet. I was able to save them by brushing coffee on top after they cooled, just before I crumb coated, which made a huge difference with the end result.

I thoroughly enjoyed my five-weeks of instruction. I have definitely found my inner confidence in baking and decorating for my friends and family. A friend of mine actually placed her first order, a birthday cake in May! I'm so excited!

marshmallows and sugar cookies

2009-04-21T11:08:00.000-07:00

Sweet treats!

shells two-tier cake

2009-04-07T09:30:00.000-07:00

This two-tiered cake was supposed to be the final cake for my Wedding and Special Occasion Cake Decorating class but last weeks class was cancelled - so, DH requested that I still bake it for his birthday anyway. I didn't have as much time to decorate as I would have liked since I participated in the class tutorial (we did free hand fondant roses and swags which may appear on my final cake)... but not a bad overall effort on my part. I spent much of my time on the dragee pattern and I decided to go with shells since DH had prepared a fish ice sculpture. I do wish I had more time.

For my bottom tier, I was ecstatic with my results from Paula Deen's cake recipe. I baked her 'Is it really better than sex? Cake' and it was definitely a crowd pleaser. For my top tier, I went with the same cake as my previous cherry blossom cake post (see below).

It's Easter break so my final cake will be unveiled on April 18th. Happy Easter!

cherry blossoms

2009-03-22T10:38:00.000-07:00

Wedding and special occastion cake decorating - Week 3.

We all brought a crumb coated cake to class this week. Lately, I've been intrigued by the book Whimsical Bakehouse by Liv and Kaye Hansen so I decided to finally test out one of their recipes. I baked the chocolate butter cake with the cookies and cream filling -- outstanding! I have noticed that chocolate batters are a lot more forgiving (since I haven't yet come across one that I don't like) and this particular recipe actually retains most, if not all, of its moisture. I'll be ordering this book very soon...

We discussed fondant flowers this class. Our instructor did a tutorial on cherry blossoms, roses, daisies and leaves. We were supplied some Satin Ice fondant and gel colors along with a few moulding tools and foam. From there it was all magic! I decided to go ahead and decorate my cake with the simple cherry blossom. I was going for a more masculine approach since we'll be celebrating my brother's birthday with this cake - so I chose the colors red, yellow, orange, white, and green. I attached the flowers with brown royal icing which took forever to tint so I didn't have enough time to work out the fine details of this cake. I thoroughly enjoyed decorating this cake and I can't wait for week 5 -- our final two-tier cake!

australian rolled fondant and virgin ice fondant

2009-03-08T17:08:00.000-07:00

I'm pleased to announce that I have finally started Wedding & Special Occasion Cake Decorating. It's a 20-hour program that covers the basics in rolled fondant, gum paste and royal icing.

This week we practiced covering a cake dummy with Australian Rolled Fondant which we made from scratch and Virgin Ice - a ready to use fondant. I found both to be quite different from marshmallow fondant. The rolled fondant tasted typical but didn't necessarily smell all that appetizing - probably the gelatin. It was definitely pliable but it wasn't as white as the ready to use or mmf. The ready to use fondant didn't taste as bad as I thought it would (I've heard Wilton's Satin Ice is chalky) and the texture was unbeatable - it felt and looked like play dough. The only negative comment I have with the ready to use was that it cracked if it wasn't rolled thin enough, but on that same note, it was also very easy to repair. I can't say my preference as of yet but I'll let you know in two weeks when we decorate our very own cake.

I also learned a few new techniques - bows, ruffles, and roses. As many of you know, my cake decorating skills are not very traditional so I decided not to decorate with all of the above.

On next week's agenda - royal icing. And remember, we'll be decorating a cake in two weeks and I think I've decided on a cake recipe. Now, if I could only think of a design - as always your comments and suggestions are welcome!

homemade pizza

2009-02-28T22:22:00.000-08:00

I just had to share this incredible pizza dough recipe from The Martha Stewart Show - Popeye Pizza. I loved how this crust turned out, and I didn't even have the pizza stone. Why not try a homemade pizza tonight. It tastes just as good as take out or delivery, if not better!

nigella's lemon gems

2009-02-28T22:07:00.000-08:00

I understand why Nigella refers to these cookies as Lemon Gems - they're utterly delicious.

strawberry-rhubarb hand pie and strawberry-apple crumble

2009-01-30T11:53:00.000-08:00

This is the first time I've ever tasted and baked with rhubarb. I've heard that it is an acquired taste but I don't think I will ever acquire the taste for disgusting! Now, I do like tart - 'lemon' to be exact, but this was not that same tart flavor I have experienced or even craved in the past.

It may have been the lack of sugar in my strawberry-rhubarb hand pie filling, nonetheless, something went terribly wrong. I almost gave up pies altogether until I realized what rhubarb was exactly. This is an ingredient that I can do without.

Fortunate for me I had some fruit left over (strawberry and apple) to bake a quick crumble in its place. This actually turned out in my favor as I have now found the perfect crumb. I adapted from two different recipes (see previous post recipe and an apple crisp recipe from marthastewart.com) resulting an overall better crumble. All was not lost after all.

strawberry crepes

2009-01-27T13:17:00.000-08:00

Mmm, crepes.

I've always enjoyed these delicate pancakes. I had them savory, I had them sweet, I especially enjoy them plain - with just butter and sugar.

I've been searching for the pan for quite some time now. Finally, they seem to be readily available every corner I turn. I don't know what took me so long to get the pan - the kids loved it! And, it was super easy to make. The preparation took a little longer than expected but well worth the effort. Coincidentally, Martha Stewart's February issue of Living had a few crepe recipes (and also some new cupcake recipes!).

My next challenge will be the crepe cake. I'm so excited!!

blueberry scones

2009-01-18T14:18:00.000-08:00

Yep, I'm still baking.

I caught this recipe on The Martha Stewart Show last week - Mummy's Favorite Scones.

It was a quick one bowl recipe so I had to try them for Sunday brunch. I also decided to add some blueberries to the original recipe. Martha was right, the texture was pure perfection, but they didn't turn out as sweet as I would have liked. I don't add jam to my scones so that may be why I think I'll need more sugar next batch. Still an overall good recipe though.

impromptu dessert

2009-01-15T10:25:00.000-08:00

It's bad to bake especially for the sake of baking.

I've been feeling so bake deprived as of late - I was sick and miserable during the holiday break - which may explain my withdrawal.

So, this is what I came up with - we have a 5 lb bag of gala apples in the refrigerator so why not apple crumble? It was quick and easy to prepare. I had all of the ingredients on hand and I had even saved a recipe that I'm not sure where I got exactly (foodnetwork.com, perhaps?). Anyway, I found my crumble was not so crumbly so I'll be searching for another recipe next time around. The apples were wonderful though. Maybe I'll even tackle on pie next time around if I'm really inspired.

But for now, please feel free to share any recipes you may have for apple crumble/cobbler/crisp - I'd love to try.

matcha, matcha

2009-01-10T13:13:00.000-08:00

I love matcha.

I decided to adapt my new favorite recipe courtesy Billy Reese (details on previous post Nigella or Billy?). I've also been curious when it comes to cream cheese buttercream so I decided to try and adapt a recipe from marthastewart.com. I can't say that the buttercream is my favorite - at room temperature at least - but refrigerated it was extraordinary. I must say these cupcakes were phenomenal - success!

Please leave your email in the comments section if you would like to try this recipe.

gingerbread row housing

2008-12-26T13:50:00.000-08:00

This was a weekend project for us which we really needed after the big snow storm. I used Martha Stewart's Gingerbread Snowflake recipe from MS Cookies and Wilton's Royal Icing recipe for the construction. The template for the house can be found on marthastewart.com. Add a lot of candies, chocolate, and love - you get a winter wonderland!

From our kitchen to yours - Merry Christmas everyone!

wall-e birthday

2008-11-27T10:48:00.000-08:00

DS's birthday party was out of this world (literally)!

I decide to go ahead with my instincts and stick with Billy's recipe since I just love his vanilla cupcakes. The chocolate version was pleasantly moist, fluffy and light. Now I understand why chocolate is the batter of choice for scratch cakes. Although, I didn't find this recipe to be decadent enough. I will try adding cocoa powder next time to see if that adds some depth to the cupcakes.

DS ate three cupcakes to himself just as he likes 'em - with extra mmf and buttercream please!

nigella or billy?

2008-11-16T18:38:00.000-08:00

I recently picked up How to Be A Domestic Goddess by Nigella Lawson. I love the way this book is written and I honestly can't put this book down... the recipe for the Sour Cream Chocolate Cake with Sour Cream Icing has peaked my interest for DS's birthday but I had my heart set on trying Billy Reece's Chocolate Cupcakes with Simple Chocolate Buttercream.

There will be no practice cupcakes this time so I'm planning on searching for some reviews on both recipes before making my final decision.

I really wish there were more special occasions to give me a reason to bake!

thoughts of another birthday

2008-11-11T10:36:00.000-08:00

DS's third birthday is just around the corner and I'm planning a Disney/Pixar Wall-E theme for his party. Since the kids had such a fantastic time with my buttercream at DD's party, I plan on serving cupcakes exclusively this time!

more pink sugar cookies

2008-11-07T08:28:00.000-08:00

Think this is enough sugar? Not for DH -- he was busy stealing cookies that he insisted that I bake one more batch. I didn't realize that one batch was equivalent to 50 regular sized cookies! I still have a few leftovers stored in the freezer as I speak (yum!).

I used the same recipes as indicated below, although, this time around, I found that the cookie icing didn't harden the same as the mouse ears (try not at all after 48 hours!). I'll have to remember that next time.

minnie mouse inspired top tier

2008-10-31T12:48:00.000-07:00

The top tier of DD's (cup)cake display was my infamous marshmallow fondant cake. It was the same vanilla cake with white chocolate buttercream (as used in my cupcakes below), then covered with mmf.

Initially, I had planned on moulding a pink Mickey Mouse head out of rice krispie treats and covering it with MMF, but this proved to be an impossible task - DH even tried and we ended up with a sticky mess. How does the Food Network Challenge make it look so easy?

My second option was to place the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse characters on top of the cake, but I didn't want the toys to be the focal point!

So, finally, my third option. I ended up making another batch of MMF in white -- the idea was to just add the dots as if it were Minnie Mouse's dress - I'm not sure if the interpretation was clear though (??).

I'll have to say that the cake was the easiest to do but maybe I can attribute that to my three practice cakes -- I'll have to say that practice really does make perfect.

pink on white (cup)cakes

2008-10-29T11:59:00.001-07:00

The second and third tiers were Billy Reece's Vanilla Cupcakes with an adapted white chocolate buttercream (pink gel was added) and topped with MM pink candy melts.

My FIL visited the evening before and distracted me somewhat as this was not my original idea. I had planned on making pink on pink cupcakes but forgot to add the gel while in conversation.

The buttercream was also frustrating here - it turned peach since white chocolate is naturally cream in colour. I was able to keep my batch of buttercream by adding a white gel to it as well as the pink.

The children loved the buttercream and I should have just served a bowl of it!

mickey mouse shaped sugar cookies

2008-10-29T11:55:00.001-07:00

The bottom of the display were sugar cookies from Martha Stewart's Cookies.

I decided to place my cookies on the bottom tier and I did order my fancy Mickey Mouse cookie cutter (from LaughingPlace Store) so I thought to incorporate them.

These cookies were horrible to decorate because of the sheer size of the cookie. I ran out of decorator's sugar after seven cookies so I had to come up with another design. I decided to write my DD's name and first initial on the remainder of the cookies with Alice's Cookie Icing (from Wilton Forums), but I still wasn't to pleased with them by the end of the night. Fortunately, I was inspired the following morning and I was intent on not trashing these cookies! I used some melted chocolate and piped stars and bows. I accented these with metallic pink balls (carnivalettes) and they turned out good -- enough.

The entire process was a four day event and I really should have practiced the cookies beforehand. I was definitely lucky this time!

pink and white (cup)cake tower

2008-10-18T20:09:00.000-07:00

I assembled my much anticipated (cup)cake tower this afternoon. It took more time to construct than I expected but well worth the effort. It theoretically should hold at least 48 cupcakes in addition to a 6" cake on the top tier.

The finished cake stand looks a bit too frilly to me but DH says it's supposed to look that way -- it is for a girl's first birthday after all. I'm certain it will look different once the (cup)cakes are on it! At this point, the anxiety level has increased ever so slightly.

Special thanks to the CakeJournal for the idea and tutorial.

ghirardelli brownies

2008-10-17T11:09:00.000-07:00

I was thinking of serving these decadent Ghirardelli triple chocolate brownies alongside DD's birthday cake (my test batch is seen above). To my disappointment, Costco is currently out of stock.

It definitely has been a hectic week -- between the possible cancellation of my venue (after I have sent out the invitations!) and now this, argh.

I guess baking will commence next week as planned. Hopefully, I'll get to the cake stand this weekend (assuming there are no other surprises).

cake stand

2008-10-05T17:07:00.000-07:00

Pink stripes with white or gry/blk floral with white?

Decisions, decisions.

an unbirthday cake

2008-10-05T16:49:00.000-07:00

Vanilla almond cake with white chocolate buttercream, and MMF (of course!).

Divine.

scratch recipes

2008-10-02T10:08:00.000-07:00

I've been searching for the best 'scratch' (cup)cake and buttercream. There are too many resources out there! The basic yellow cake from MS was too dense. Her basic white cake was too sweet. I know that quite a few cake decorator's use cake mixes and doctor them up (from Wilton). This gives me an idea of doctoring up a scratch recipe...

Now as for buttercreams, I'll have to say that this is uncharted territory. I've never made buttercream and I'm definitely not sure what the difference is between (cup)cakes. I wasn't too pleased with the results of my vanilla custard buttercream. It tasted and looked too buttery. I have also tried a stabilized whipped buttercream made with vegetable shortening. This was not right either (perhaps it's the texture?).

I'm running out of occasions for my test kitchen. Luckily, there's already a cake in the freezer. I'll have to invite a few taster's over which shouldn't be too difficult.

Besides, who doesn't heart (cup)cakes?

pink mmf with almond

2008-10-02T09:37:00.000-07:00

In my opinion, almond MMF tastes fabulous. There was a tear hidden on this one, again. This time it was under my swag, so this was not the design I originally had in mind for my SIL. Another (cup)cake saved.

mini (cup)cakes

2008-10-01T21:07:00.000-07:00

These (cup)cake recipes courtesy of MSL Omnimedia: Cupcakes Week.

chocolate mmf

2008-10-01T16:32:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Wilton's discussion forums, I decorate my (cup)cakes with marshmallow fondant: Chocolate MMF above. I wasn't sure what the right consistency was exactly but the entire top of this (cup)cake was cracked... not to mention that the fondant didn't cover the entire cake. I had to improvise, to say the least. That pretty much sums up everything that went wrong with Anthony's (cup)cake. All duly noted.