I have a new blog just for fiber-related things (knitting, crocheting, spinning, dyeing, etc.)!! Here's the link:
http://hookedonllamas.blogspot.com/
I'm super excited about starting up crocheting again and learning how to knit!! :) I do still have cake-related things to do too! My brother-in-law found me this awesome cake pan at a giant flea market, where I also found my mother's soon-to-be Christmas present (I can't say what it is yet! She reads this thing!) and a super cool map of Canada from the 1720's (though I'm sure it's a reprint and not 300 years old) that's completely in French! C'est merveilleux!! I should probably upload some pics. Maybe later! ;) Restez à l'écoute!!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Monday, August 16, 2010
End-of-the-Summer Slump
Well things have been pretty slow and groggy at my place as of late. I made all the cookies and cupcakes for some of the final projects, but before I could decorate them, we went on vacation. We got back and I just wasn't in the groove; that was a week ago. Needless to say, I think I need to make new cookies :\
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Four More Projects
The summer is almost over and I still have a few projects left to do in the course book. I have a total of three cake mixes in the cupboard and plenty of ingredients for frosting. I broke it down earlier into 4 projects:
1) Sugar cookies
2) Cupcakes
3) Final Cake 1
4) Final Cake 2
Yes, I realize it's counter-intuitive to have two cakes labeled "Final," but There's only one in the book, and, well, I want to do two! :)
I've researched some tricks to solve a few of the problems I've been having. For the drippy filling problem, I've read that if you heat up the jam and add a box of the same flavored jello to it, the filling works better. The website didn't give much more direction than that, but I'm assuming you fill a cake while the jam mix is still warm (they said to spread it on one layer of jam at a time, so it's probably still warm and needs to cool before the next layer), but wait until it cools a bit to fill cupcakes. Again, I'm only assuming, so we'll see what works and what doesn't. It'll be an adventure!! :D
1) Sugar cookies
2) Cupcakes
3) Final Cake 1
4) Final Cake 2
Yes, I realize it's counter-intuitive to have two cakes labeled "Final," but There's only one in the book, and, well, I want to do two! :)
I've researched some tricks to solve a few of the problems I've been having. For the drippy filling problem, I've read that if you heat up the jam and add a box of the same flavored jello to it, the filling works better. The website didn't give much more direction than that, but I'm assuming you fill a cake while the jam mix is still warm (they said to spread it on one layer of jam at a time, so it's probably still warm and needs to cool before the next layer), but wait until it cools a bit to fill cupcakes. Again, I'm only assuming, so we'll see what works and what doesn't. It'll be an adventure!! :D
Friday, July 23, 2010
Whaat? Three New Posts in One Day??!
Yes. Here is yet another post of what I did today :) Busy day for decorating!!
The blue ghost on the Pac Man cake was going to be a pull-apart cake, thus composed of cupcakes iced as one entity. Since I ran out of room on the Pac Man cake board for the poor little ghost guy, I had to find another use for the left over cupcakes. I just practiced one of the lessons in the Wilton book :) These are the result:
The one on the top left was my first one...they progressively got better ^_^ The next step is to use tip #233 to make a shaggy mum flower. This one turned out the best:
Oh yeah, before I iced them, I filled the cupcakes with Red Raspberry Jam with tip # 230. The picture on the directions show that you don't need a coupler. I learned (the hard way, of course) that you DEFINITELY DO! Since you have to put pressure on the tip to get it into the cupcake, the tip will slide back up into the bag and your filling will go everywhere except where it's supposed to :P So, please, for the love of a cleaner counter top, use a coupler. Also, I used my hand mixer to make the jam more liquid. I might try not doing that next time as the liquefied jam just slides out the tip and onto the floor/counter/dog/everywhere.
Today has been a good day :) Lots of experience points. I may just level up soon!! ;) Until next time.
The blue ghost on the Pac Man cake was going to be a pull-apart cake, thus composed of cupcakes iced as one entity. Since I ran out of room on the Pac Man cake board for the poor little ghost guy, I had to find another use for the left over cupcakes. I just practiced one of the lessons in the Wilton book :) These are the result:
The one on the top left was my first one...they progressively got better ^_^ The next step is to use tip #233 to make a shaggy mum flower. This one turned out the best:
Oh yeah, before I iced them, I filled the cupcakes with Red Raspberry Jam with tip # 230. The picture on the directions show that you don't need a coupler. I learned (the hard way, of course) that you DEFINITELY DO! Since you have to put pressure on the tip to get it into the cupcake, the tip will slide back up into the bag and your filling will go everywhere except where it's supposed to :P So, please, for the love of a cleaner counter top, use a coupler. Also, I used my hand mixer to make the jam more liquid. I might try not doing that next time as the liquefied jam just slides out the tip and onto the floor/counter/dog/everywhere.
Today has been a good day :) Lots of experience points. I may just level up soon!! ;) Until next time.
Pac Man Cake!
And here's the second cake for the cake walk at church tomorrow :)
Wakkawakkawakka...
I was going to have him chase a blue ghost, but there wasn't enough room on the cardboard for it. Oh well, I still like it :) Here's what I did with the leftover cake after cutting out his mouth:
It was a heart for my hubby :) He was sad that he didn't get to eat these cakes, so I figured I could at least do this much for now :)
I learned a few neat things with these last 2 cakes. First, buttercream made with real butter tastes WAY better!! I found this recipe on the back of the Hello Kitty pan:
1/2 cup Crisco
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp milk
First, you cream the butter and Crisco, then add the vanilla. Then add the sugar 1 cup at a time, beating on medium or low. Blend in the milk on medium then beat the heck out of it until it's fluffy :) The only downside is that it's not pure white. It's more of an off-white. But if you're going to color it anyway, might as well use the tastier recipe!!
Secondly, I've been having problems with my coloring separating from the icing, but it wasn't too bad this time. To avoid that, I used a hand mixer with a whisk attachment to blend the coloring in, plus I add a little bit of powdered sugar to kind of soak up the coloring and help blend it better. I guess it works!
Lastly, even though 1lb is 3 3/4 cups, I usually end up using about 4 anyways. Otherwise it's too greasy :P
Well, that's all for today!
Wakkawakkawakka...
I was going to have him chase a blue ghost, but there wasn't enough room on the cardboard for it. Oh well, I still like it :) Here's what I did with the leftover cake after cutting out his mouth:
It was a heart for my hubby :) He was sad that he didn't get to eat these cakes, so I figured I could at least do this much for now :)
I learned a few neat things with these last 2 cakes. First, buttercream made with real butter tastes WAY better!! I found this recipe on the back of the Hello Kitty pan:
1/2 cup Crisco
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 tsp vanilla
4 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp milk
First, you cream the butter and Crisco, then add the vanilla. Then add the sugar 1 cup at a time, beating on medium or low. Blend in the milk on medium then beat the heck out of it until it's fluffy :) The only downside is that it's not pure white. It's more of an off-white. But if you're going to color it anyway, might as well use the tastier recipe!!
Secondly, I've been having problems with my coloring separating from the icing, but it wasn't too bad this time. To avoid that, I used a hand mixer with a whisk attachment to blend the coloring in, plus I add a little bit of powdered sugar to kind of soak up the coloring and help blend it better. I guess it works!
Lastly, even though 1lb is 3 3/4 cups, I usually end up using about 4 anyways. Otherwise it's too greasy :P
Well, that's all for today!
Hello Kitty Cake!
Here's the latest creation!!
It's for the cakewalk at the Family Fun Fest my church is putting on tomorrow :) Next up is the Pac-Man cake!!! I've already baked it and now it just needs to be decorated. Stay tuned :)
It's for the cakewalk at the Family Fun Fest my church is putting on tomorrow :) Next up is the Pac-Man cake!!! I've already baked it and now it just needs to be decorated. Stay tuned :)
Thursday, July 8, 2010
First Cake: Not Bad, Not Great
Well here's my first cake of the course :)
To be quite honest, I sort of...winged it. And it shows a bit. First off, I don't have a scale to measure "1 lb" of powdered sugar, so I kind of guessed. I didn't think of googling it until after I had made the frosting (to anyone who's curious, 1 lb = 3 3/4 cups when it comes to powdered sugar). The frosting turned out ok-ish, but it could have been better. I also winged it on the filling. We'll see how that turned out when I test it on...I mean feed it to my friends :) For the filling I creamed a little bit of shortening with Irish Cream Coffeemate. Then I added powdered sugar and cocoa powder until it looked right. I ended up using the leftover for the cupcake bottom, the cherry, and the "red" border.
What did I learn? Well, 1 lb = 3 3/4 cups. Don't just wing it, especially after spending all day on your feet in the kitchen in the first place. I should have taken more time to practice making frosting earlier today, or even earlier this week. All in all, though, this was an evening well spent :) I hope it tastes good! :D
Update: It tasted good! The frosting was super-sweet, but that's cuz I forgot to add salt! Another lesson learned!! :)
To be quite honest, I sort of...winged it. And it shows a bit. First off, I don't have a scale to measure "1 lb" of powdered sugar, so I kind of guessed. I didn't think of googling it until after I had made the frosting (to anyone who's curious, 1 lb = 3 3/4 cups when it comes to powdered sugar). The frosting turned out ok-ish, but it could have been better. I also winged it on the filling. We'll see how that turned out when I test it on...I mean feed it to my friends :) For the filling I creamed a little bit of shortening with Irish Cream Coffeemate. Then I added powdered sugar and cocoa powder until it looked right. I ended up using the leftover for the cupcake bottom, the cherry, and the "red" border.
What did I learn? Well, 1 lb = 3 3/4 cups. Don't just wing it, especially after spending all day on your feet in the kitchen in the first place. I should have taken more time to practice making frosting earlier today, or even earlier this week. All in all, though, this was an evening well spent :) I hope it tastes good! :D
Update: It tasted good! The frosting was super-sweet, but that's cuz I forgot to add salt! Another lesson learned!! :)
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