The Amazing Gelatin!

Hey all,
Remember when I was on last time I said I would tell you all how to do that gelatin thing? Well, I didn't forget and I will share with you how it's done. First let me show you again the cake I put it on.

Well in case you are wondering...this cake is suppose to be some kind of metal "thing" with a portal enshrouded with purple flames. It didn't quite make it past the idea stage but all those "flames" are made of gelatin. Here's how you can do it. Bye the way...try a bow.

Okay. Take 2 1/2 parts of water to 1 part gelatin. Warm in microwave. Let sit 5 - 10 mins. Peel the scum off and rewarm what's left so that it liquefies. Take a paint brush (1/2 inch works well) and paint the gelatin onto a stiff textured plastic surface. As it dries it will pop off by itself. Don't touch it until it has popped off a good amount. You can color and flavor the gelatin as you heat it. When it gets to the point of popping off you can peel it off the rest of the way. From here you can cut it with scissors into whatever shape you want. Now...I got this idea from my favorite website: www.cakecentral.com . You can visit their website and search for gelatin bow. You then can see pictures of all I've listed. Have fun and check it out! 'Til next time!

Let's Celebrate Birthdays!!

Hello friends.
While we celebrate the birthday of our nation...Happy Fourth!...I've also been celebrating my kids' birthdays. Happy Birthday Carter of "Carter Safari" clothing! Check her clothes line out at http://www.cartersafari.com/.
It's been a busy time of year for me with cakes to make and then there were also my own kids' birthdays to also celebrate with cake. This is a picture of Sean's cake. He wanted a Runescape cake complete with portal. (Runescape is an online computer game set in a medieval world. It's actually a fun game. I play it myself...when I have time...and my two sons taught me.) Sean wanted 8 characters. They are all his character wearing different armor and garments. But eight???!!! It was very hard to do these figures. I made them out of gumpaste. I was so stressed that when it came time for Christian's cake... I said no please no! Here's what it looked like.

and one more closer.

Christian's birthday was next. Now this wasn't one of my better cakes. Chocolate cake from scratch. That was good...but...he wanted "Sonic the Hedgehog" in two different forms and...quite frankly I wasn't up to it. After doing Sean's cake, (remember he wanted 8 guys on that cake!) and trying to make those men...I just...didn't...want to...do it!!! NOOOOOOO!!! Please no! So he opted for purple flames. I did try to put 1 Sonic in the middle but it didn't work out. It looks kind of messy to me. But...here's some interesting technique to use. The flames are made of jello! This is such a cool and fun thing to do! I will share it with you on my next post so be looking for it! Oh...I cheated on the piping frosting. Don't do what I did and buy store bought already made frosting unless you plan on adding a lot more powdered sugar. It just doesn't work out. My piping (I was feeling a little lazy and didn't add the sugar) looks poorly. :( Again...he was happy with it. Kids are so forgiving. His friends and he enjoyed the eating.

Then there was Samara's cake. Well...not really cake...BROWNIES! They could be CAKELIKE brownies...anyway she wanted a Rain Forest Cafe Volcano cake, only I forgot the whipped cream!
I added some exotic looking flowers and we didn't have a sparkler. Oh well. She was very happy with it. Isn't that all that counts though. If we could make everyone happy with cake wouldn't that be nice? I doubt the French would say yes to that! Or parts of Africa! It was truly yummy!!!

So until next time...Happy Birthday United States and happy celebrating!

Babies and Showers

Hi again! Twice in a month and within 2 days of each other! I'm making up for lost time.

Well, I can upload some photos for you and would like to share some sugar with you. I mean it. First take a look at this cake.

This is a baby shower cake I did recently but take a look at the bassinet. Here is another view.

See the texture? It's ALL Sugar! This is the first time I've ever done a dry sugar mold. Here's what you do:

Take 1 cup of sugar (granulated)

1/4 teaspoon of water

Mix with your hands thoroughly. Avoid the temptation to add more water. It will feel dry. I should know...I made that mistake and it fell apart. Now I didn't have a mold for the bassinet. I just used a small bowl about the size I needed that was smooth inside and nice and round. Pack the sugar into the bowl all the way to the top. Now you do need to judge just how many cups of sugar you will need for the bowl you are using. After you pack that bowl (like you would with brown sugar), smooth the top with wax paper. Take a carboard piece or cake board, put over the top and invert. Wax paper and all. Let it dry overnight or for at least 8 hours. It will be solid and hard. Then just carve it out with a spoon. All the sugar you carve out is reuseable. Put it right back in your sugar bowl for coffee or tea. It's that easy! One caution...when you decorate it, don't use anything that is too wet or you will cause it to crumble. Have Fun! And please send me pictures! I'd love to see what you come up with!

Here's one more picture of a closeup of the baby. I'll tell you about that next time.

Computers!

Hey you cake bakers, cupcake makers and I'll include you cookie makers as well.

My computer has been being a bad little machine and is being fixed. So I have no pictures for you. I haven't been able to get on here either. I am on a borrowed laptop right now.

I checked my e-mails today and Bakerella has sent out her blog for the month. I want to encourage you to check her blog out. She is very clever and creative and she has introduced us to a store you might be interested in. This is th 2nd time she is introducing it actually. This time though, there is a contest you can enter. Just type in www.Bakerella.com or just click on this link.

Good luck and I'll be back soon!

Weddings

A whole month of being very busy has gone by and I've missed writing to you! The final cake I created was a graduation cap. Quickly done and lotsa fun! I like rhyming.

Here it is:And here is another view...

What does this have to do with weddings? Just that it is wedding season! Weird that weddings actually have a season but this is when you cake makers/bakers/decorators out there are very busy. Before this cake, I was working on a wedding cake. Here is the picture of the finished cake:

And again...
And the final, full view...drum roll, please...

Sometimes you do all this work, get all excited about the creative process but when you see the finished results you're not happy with the work. That happens a lot with me. Does anyone go through this too? The cake looks great! Don't get me wrong. It's just that I know all the problems I had with it. For starters, it was suppose to be covered with fondant. The top tier is. I had ordered two nice big buckets (only 5 lbs. ea.) of ivory fondant. I didn't want to make my own and chance the texture not being right, so I ordered it. Well the 2nd bucket's texture was dry and wouldn't stretch. I tried to add a little of ingredients that would help but 3 hours later and behind schedule, I gave up. The end result was no one seemed to notice the 2 bottom tiers didn't have the fondant covering and ooed and ahhed at the cake. In my mind though...not how I wanted it to look.

I have found out though that even those beautiful professional cakes, even Duff's of Ace of Cakes, have something go wrong or is wrong that they have found a way of hiding. So...I won't be discouraged and neither should you be. Until next time...Happy baking AND decorating!

Recipe time!

Ever wanted to just bake all day or paint or...or anything you've been dying to do but just wasn't able to find the time? Running around with the kids, doing laundry, errands...etc. I know you all have had this happen to you at some point. Well me too. When you finally get to do what you've been longing to do, you feel like a burden has been lifted. Or, at least this is how I feel and felt the last few days. I've wanted to share this recipe with you. It is really chocolatety (is that a word?) and moist and...I think you'll really enjoy eating it! (The best part.) Or having someone else enjoying eating it.) So as I promised, here is the chocolate cake recipe. It is a Toba Garrett recipe:

2 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 1/4 c.granulated sugar
3/4 c. dark brown sugar (packed)
1 c. Dutch processed cocoa powder
2 1/4 tsp.bakingsoda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/4 c. buttermilk
1 c. unsalted butter (room temperature)
2 large eggs
1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
6 oz. melted semisweet fine quality chocolate

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and parchment line two 8x2" baking pans
2. Measure all ingredients (except the chocolate) into a large mixing bowl.
3. Blend for 30 secs. on LOW speed, scraping bowl constantly.
4. Blend in the melted chocolate and beat 3 mins on High speed, scraping the bowl.
5. Spoon into the pans and level them well with a offset spatula.
6. Bake layers for 45 to 50 mins. or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Storage: Double wrap the cake in plastic wrap. It will keep in the refridgerator for up to 2 weeks or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Yield: Two 8" cakes.

Check out this link to see Toba Garrett and an advertised class she will be doing in Massachusetts.
http://www.piskypixie.net/index.php/workshops/toba-garrett

Hope you like this cake. Blessings from me :) Pinkslppr

Congratulations Anna and Jason!

Absolutely Beautiful Day!!! What a great weekend we're having! Great week, too. I hope you are enjoying the weather and all the beautiful beginnings of green (my favorite color!) on the trees and grass and all the flowers starting to bloom!

It was a long, tiring past two days for me as I made the two cakes needed for the Saturday wedding of Anna and Jason. They were married and had their reception at Tupper Manor in Beverly, Mass. What a classy and elegant place! The grounds were also beautiful and meticulously maintained with a very large European style fountain. I promised to share with you a recipe and I will. But first I'd like to share with you the cakes.

This is the Bridal cake. Nothing on top per request. They did a lot of different and unique things at their wedding and reception that were very endearing and made some people cry. (I won't mention names here but you know who you are). The cake is chocolate with a filling of Grande Marnier and cinnamon ganache mixed with a little buttercream also flavored with Grande Marnier. I did get good reviews on the taste like, "Wow this is really good!!" and "Great cake! Delicious!" I was glad for the good reviews and when I tasted it...was satisfied. Remember how I've been looking for a good texture along with a great tasting and moist cake? This one has all three. I forgot to get a picture of a slice so you could see. Oh well. Next time.

Here is a closeup of the bottom tier.

And here is the Groom's cake. He is in the Navy.

It is a vanilla cake and the waves are made of modeling chocolate. The filling is caramel with a brown sugar buttercream Tastes like Maple. MMMmmm...good!

Recipe time!

Ganache

Ganache is very easy. It is simply melted chocolate and cream. Choose a really good chocolate. You can use it to glaze a cake or when it cools you can whip it for a lighter consistency or for piping. You can also add a little buttercream for a lighter form for filling a cake or for a frosting.

1 lb. of bittersweet dark chocolate

1 1/2 c. of heavy cream

Boil cream (don't let it burn) in a heavy saucepan. Take it off the burner and add the chocolate. If using a large piece of chocolate, chop into chip size pieces. Stir until melted. This is when you can add your flavoring. Choose whatever you want. Pour into a room temperature bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refridgerate until firm. This icing will keep up to two weeks in the refridgerator. Enjoy!

For the chocolate cake recipe, come by next time!

Blessings to you!

Pinkslppr

On a Beautiful Day

Hi
It is such a beautiful day today and I'm am smiling and happy. Unfortunately I have relegated myself to being indoors today. You see I have much to do for a wedding cake.
I want to show you my chocolate cake...

Doesn't it look good? My kids thought so...that's why it's almost gone. No...they didn't eat it without permission. I let them. You see I made three cakes yesterday. All chocolate. All FROM SCRATCH. I wanted them to get to enjoy all the cakes I've been making lately. When I started making cakes for people...I used a mix!!! How awful! Now a homemade FROM SCRATCH cake tastes a lot better. Yes it does. Take another look...

MMMMMMM!!! It is yummy! Yes I had some, too. : ( (I am getting fatter and fatter.)And look here...

Nice texture, too. No...this is not the Hershey's recipe. It's one I found year's ago. Well I was asked to make a wedding cake. JOY!
I have so many beautiful designs rolling around in my head for wedding cakes. This one will not be a traditional white. It will be the bride's favorite. CHOCOLATE! It's going to be a LOT of chocolate! Chocolate ganache infused with orange and a hint of cinnamon for the filling. I'll show you that later. If you'd like...I'll give you my recipe.
Right now though...I must get busy! So tomorrow, tomorrow. If there be a tomorrow you will have a recipe!

pinkslppr

Chocolate Cake Search

I have a good chocolate cake recipe that everyone who's tasted it loves. But I would like it to have a little more density since I am using it for cake decorating and tiered cakes. So I am trying more recipes. If I can't find this special recipe I will stay with what I have since it is yummy. I tried a new one tonight. Take a look.

Not too good is it? I baked it a little too long. (While making supper). Here's another picture after I cut off the top. I like this part because I get to taste it. I get my family to taste it, too.

It was good but not good enough. And definitely overcooked. And... : ( they did say so. Well tomorrow is another day to bake but I went to this website...

Ahhhhh...good old Hershey's!! Now why haven't I tried this before???

Mistakes already

If you've had trouble getting to this page, I apologize for the inconvenience. I also in a previous post said I would be putting up my artwork. That won't be happening. The title of this blog is "Everything Cake" so unless the artwork pertains to cake in some way...you won't find it here.
It has been a long day and seemed like a Saturday. It was so busy at the grocery store. It took me almost 10 mins. to find a parking space! Did anyone else find today very busy? Must be spring bringing everyone out of their homes.
Speaking of spring, I am trying out a new recipe for a very light and lemon cake. I will let you know how it comes out.

A Couple of Cakes

Two cakes I've done about the time I first got started decorating. Tuscan Villa was done for an engagement party. It had different handpainted scenes of Tuscan hillsides in each doorway, was filled with cinamon and orange infused chocolate ganache with chocolate cake! Mmmm...YUM! The "bride to be" loved the flavors so much she asked for it for her wedding cake .

The pink Ruffle Cake with handmade edible pearls was a vanilla cake with a flavored buttercream. (I don't remember what flavor...oh well. :( ) I did get to taste this one and I do remember it was good. Tough getting older.

I am very new to this blog thing and not quite sure about how or even why I would use it. But nothing ventured, nothing gained, so here I am.
I would at least like to share with anyone who might read this, some good information about baking or cake decorating. When I get some I will let you know. Lol.
Right at this point I can share Bakerella with you. She is a super creative soul who gives recipes and great posts on how to do things. If you have a chance, check her out. I know you will appreciate her and her blog! I will be putting up photos of things I've done as well as my artwork. Hope you'll check back to see.
pinkslppr