It's time for fall baking!

This time of year always seems to draw me into the kitchen and baking.  I'm not sure if it's the warmth of the oven or the delicious smells, but it always makes me smile.  This is the time of year that I start thinking about our bake sale and decorating contest at work....and what in the world I am going to make; and also Thanksgiving with all the wonderful desserts.

I do have to say that I usually go overboard for the bake sale.  I can never make up my mind what I want to do, so I do a little of everything (cake, cupcakes, cookies, brownies and candy)!  This does make my hubby a little crazy as this means many hours in the kitchen and  more than a few late nights and frantic runs to Michael's and the grocery store.  Then the huge task of transporting it all to work and hoping that no one hits me because I'm driving so slow. LOL  

This year I made two cakes.  One choclocate with buttercream icing and covered in fondant and one pumpkin cake with buttercream icing and also covered in fondant.  I did my usual brownies and also some adorable ghost s'mores and some candy filled mummies.

For the Boo Cake, I used cookie cutters for cut outs in white fondant of the "Boo", ghosts and headstones.  The large ghost and "Boo" went on top and the smaller ghosts and headstones went on the sides.  The ghost eyes, mouth and the "RIP" on on the headstones were written with edible markers.  To finish out the cake a shell border using a tip 18.

For the Day of the Dead Cake,  I covered it in hot pink fondant.  I cut a separate piece of fondant the the skull.  All of the designs are hand painted using luster dust (diluted with vodka...the vodka evaporates and leaves just the color).  The border is rosettes piped with at tip 18 and a gold dragees place in the center of each rosette.

The candy filled mummies were made using the center cardboard from a roll of toilet paper.  I filled them with candy and then wrapped them with strips of cheese cloth and added googly eyes.

Now these were so adorable.  Ghost S'mores were made using 2 squares of graham crackers, a miniature Hershey bar and a ghost peep all placed in a treat bag and secured with a ribbon.

What's your favorite fall baking project?

Wow, What a YEAR!!!

A lot has changed since my last blog post.  Did you know it is now legal to bake from your home in the state of Texas?  A lot of work and 4 years went into this effort and I think the biggest thank you goes to Kelly Masters, if you know her please tell her "Thank You".  For information and details on the Baker's Bill please visit the website: http://www.texascottagefoodlaw.com/.

Now, let's get to baking!!

The cake I'd like to feature for this posting is my very first Topsy Turvy cake.  Thank you to my friend Kim for trusting me to make this cake.  I had always wanted to try one, but it is a lot of cake.  This cake is three tiers of cake each with their own style.  The bottom tier is 12 inches, covered in fondant with sparkled zebra print. The zebra print were hand cut then brushed with piping gel on one side and covered in black sugar.  The second tier is 10 inches covered in teal fondant with a black fondant/gumpaste bow.  The third tier is a 6 inch covered in white fondant and covered with fondant polka dots.

I was concerned about the cake falling over but once the process was figured out, it was a very stable cake.  Each tier has the top cut at an angle and a small well is cut into to the top of the tier below.  The well that the tier sets in is level. It is such a neat cake to make and I stressed over it the entire time (like I do for all of my cakes!).  As much as it stresses me to try a new technique, I do love the challenge of doing something new and have such a sense of accomplishment when it works out.  So, here is what the final product looked like!

Since I'm never sure what topics you guys are interested in seeing, feel free to comment and tell me what technique you'd like to see me blog about next!

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Gruesome Twosome

This cake was made for some very dear friends for their Anniversary.  They were married on Halloween!  So this triple threat includes cake, cookies and popcorn balls.  This cake was so much fun to make and was inspired by a cake in Wilton yearbook...if anyone really wants to know what book it's in, I'll look it up for you.  Instead of making one skeleton coming out of the grave....I made a couple.  Now for the details:

I started with a regular 9 x 13 pan and chocolate cake (for the dirt).  Casually iced the cake in chocolate buttercream.  I used tip #233 to make the grass border.  The gravestones are cookies on sticks , iced in grey buttercream icing with black buttercream lettering.  I dug up two shallow areas that the gruesome twosome  would be exiting from and sprinkled some of it on top of the cake.    I made two proportional heads using a popcorn ball recipe ( I also insterted a cookie sticks for stability).  Other pieces of popcorn were used for the arms and fingers.  The elbow portion is two toothpicks with popcorn on them (glued with buttercream).  Eyes, nose and mouth are piped with buttercream using a tip #5.  The hat is fondant and attached using a toothpick and the veil is made of tulle (also attached with a toothpick). Each skeleton got a sprinkling of chocolate cake to resemble the dirt they came through. 

   

For my Dear Friend Sharen

Cake Decorating is all about making memories.  Watching the recipients face light up when they see the cake that was made just for them.  There are many people who want to help make those memories.  They accomplish this by taking cake classes and it's a good thing they do, otherwise I would have no one to teach.  My friend Sharen had wanted to take classes.  Like many of us, time gets away from us and we are pulled in different directions and it just isn't possible.  When Sharen finally did have time to take the classes, she didn't have the strength.  Sharen had stage 4 colon cancer, and she was losing that battle.  Myself and a few other friends spent  a lot of time at Sharen's house those last few months.  She was very independent, yet she needed round the clock care.  She hated that we were hovering over her or babysitting her as she liked to say, but we were as stubborn as she was.  I finally told her that we weren't going away, but as long as I was there I would do what she wanted.  If she wanted to talk, we'd talk.  If she wanted to sleep I'd let her sleep. If she wanted me to leave her alone, I would sit in a corner and read a book but I wasn't going away.  I wanted to spend time with her and if she was having a good day we would do whatever she wanted.  She kept asking about my classes and when the next ones started, but I knew that she wasn't strong enough.  The next time I came to visit, I was armed with cake decorating supplies and a student book.  I stood in her kitchen and baked a cake and then I taught her how to decorate.  Sharen collected lighthouses, so when it was time to do the piping gel transfer I pulled out the lighthouse picture and her face lit up.  When her son, Thad, showed up, he joined in (he had a knack for it and I still think he should take classes!)      

Sharen learning how to do a Piping Gel Transfer.



Thad and Sharen with the completed cake.

I'm a better person for having known Sharen.  She was an awesome lady and I know that she is with my mother in heaven and they are giving St. Peter a run for his money.  Her time on this earth was too short but I was blessed enough to have known her,worked with her and to call her my friend and casino buddy {another story for another time ;) }  This week it will be one year since she passed away and in the words of Toby Keith,  "I'm gonna miss that smile, I'm gonna miss my friend.  Even though it hurts the way it ended, I'd do it all again." 





Every cake has a story

Now whether the story of the cake is just to satisfy a sweet tooth, or to say Happy Birthday, Congratulations, We're starting a new family, We're having a baby...whatever.  The cake does have a story.  I'm going to share some of  the stories of cakes I've made.  I've often heard people say, "Why are cakes so expensive?  It's just flour, sugar and eggs!"  If only cake were just flour, sugar and eggs, bakeries would go out of business. A cake is a labor of love, a creative outlet.  The cake is the centerpiece of a the celebration.  It says something about the person that it was made for.  When I look back at the pictures of my cakes...they all have a story.  Some are happy, other's make me smile or chuckle, and other's make me just a little sad. 

My First Class Cake

OK, if this cake doesn't make you laugh, there is something wrong with you.  But let me tell you I was so proud of the cake.  I couldn't wait to put the 9-1-1 Mascot (Red E. Fox) on my cake using a piping gel transfer.  Now to all my students pay extra special attention to the crazy uneven zigzag border and the not too smooth icing job.  The story of this cake is all about learning a new set of skills yet still clinging to that which was comfortable (9-1-1).  My co-workers at the 9-1-1 center were the beneficiaries of this fine piece of culinary art. :) 

Have you made a cake with a story?  If so, I hope you'll share.

Cake Susan

Witches Brew

This is a Halloween cake I did for a bake sale. The pans used were the mini wonder mold (aka mini doll pan). I made 4 of the dome shapes, 3 for the witches and 1 for the cauldron. They are iced in buttercream an the hats are half of an oreo, minus the cream filling topped with a cone shaped mound of buttercream. Each doll pick is holding a cookie stick that is inserted into the cauldron. The cauldron is the remaining dome shape with the top cut off and inverted, then I scooped out some of the cake from what used to be the bottom to create the inside. The "brew" is buttercream with various gummy candies (frogs, worms, etc) inside.

In the beginning...

I've always had this facination with cake.  What's not to love?  It's sweet and delicious and the center of almost every celebration.  My Mother was an awesome baker.  She was known for all of  her cooking.  In grade school we used to sell her peanut brittle and fudge on the school bus, and every summer we got the community pool for free (as long as my mom would promise to bring her famous German Chocolate Cake!)  Mom's baking was always delicious.

I was always the one to try and make everything pretty and I always marveled at the bakery cakes with their sugar roses and shell borders.  But never really knew how to go about learning the skills to be able to create a beautiful cake.  In 2001, I saw a flyer for Wilton Cake Decorating classes.  There I met my first cake Mentor and Instructor Rhonda and I was hooked!  I took every class that was offered and still wanted to learn more.  Now I teach those same classes.  I like to share with my students and was asked by one of them to start this blog....Here you go Susan!! :)