Jennifer's Wedding Cake

This is Jennifer Logan. She used to live down the road from us when she was younger and was in Kami's class at school. It was a thrill to do the wedding cake for her.





We haven't seen her for a long time! She lives in Montana now but she had the wedding in Hailey, Idaho. That's a two hour drive from where I live. So that's how far I had to go to deliver her cake. It's a 12", 9", 6" chocolate and white cake, covered with buttercream and fondant with sugar calla lillies and roses. I sure hope she liked it!!!

I didn't catch who made the grooms cake for them!! I thought it was cute!!!

Eastern Idaho State Fair Sugar Art Show

Yesterday was our cake show. I'm not sure if I should do these!! I can't get my life organized! I didn't even want to put my cake in because I knew it wasn't what it was supposed to be. Because of lack of time management, procrastination ("Oh this shouldn't take too long!!!"") and tons of other every day this you have to do (like having to take time to cook and eat) my cake didn't get everything on it! But that's my fault! Oh and I had a wedding cake on top of that! Phew!!! Now I'm tired, sore and feeling a little sick. The wedding cake will be in my albums.

Anyway, here's my cake and sugar flower display. I didn't place anywhere with my cake and I received second place on my rose display. I'll also add a few pics on how I did some of it.

I'll show the cake first. The cake was to be patterned after a plate design. I used a plate that my hubby Joe brought home from England.

I started trying to figure out how I can incorporate the scallop on the edge of the plate, so I ended up with this idea. I cut a round piece of fondant, put my styrofoam seperater on it and then put sucker sticks in to make it look wavy.

Naked cake!!

Then I steamed the whole cake and cake board with a clothes steamer, thinking it would give it the shiny look lthat a plate has.

When I got to this point, I was doing too many other things and was able to only get a few flowers done. I was going to hand paint some greenery and small flowers in the back behind where I was going to put my sugar flowers and the topper was supposed to be a teacup, but I kept screwing up and ended up putting leaves and petals on it for a vase like look and crappy flowers. Oh well!! Here's what went to the show.

Now for my rose display. I was pretty proud of this one! But the judges sure know how to squash those feelings!! Plus my roses did have cracks in them andI forgot to bring my write ups telling about my flower and showing the steps to do it. So I'll do it here!! My rose inspiration was of a Diamond Jubalee Rose picture that I found on the internet.

I forgot to take a picture of the cone base that I start my roses on!! The first picture I already have two petals on the cone base

I wrap 4 to 5 of the smaller petals around the base. Then I go to the medium petal cutter and do about 4 of those and let it dry for a couple of hours.

The next row or two is made up from the large petal cutter. I wire them and lay them on a spoon board that I made and leave them to dry. I dust the bottom half with a slightly darker shade of yellow.

Then I add them carefully to the main rose and dust them. With these being on wires, they can be moved and rearranged however you like.

I made a full rose, half rose and a bud. I carved a floral cone into a vase and covered it with fondant and put a ribbon around the bottom to hid some little imperfections! hehe The bottom board was covered in fondant and impressed with a diamond impression mat and dusted black and painted the lines with gold luster dust.

Anyway..it's still fun to go to the cake show and very good experience. I just have to take what the judges said and use their 'suggestions' to make it better next time!!

Beach Birthday

I made the cake for a customer, who asked for a beach themed cake. I like how the clouds and sun came out. It was a marble cake with chocolate cream filling and whipped cream frosting.

Over the Hill

My sister asked me to do this cake for her Bishop's wife. I had made a similar one for my dad's birthday last fall.

Miley Cake

This cake was for a little girl having a Miley Cyrus party. I try not to do people, but I think it kinda looks like her.

Honey Bun Cake

Doesn't that sound yummy just by the title. This is one that I definitely will have to try soon.

Honey Bun Cake

Ingredients

    1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
    3/4 cup vegetable oil
    4 eggs
    1 (8 ounce) container sour cream
    1 cup brown sugar
    1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Frosting Ingredients

    2 cups confectioners' sugar
    4 tablespoons milk
    1 tablespoon vanilla extract

   

Directions

   1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

   2. In a large mixing bowl, combine cake mix, oil, eggs and sour cream. Stir by hand approximately 50 strokes, or until most large lumps are gone. Pour half of the batter into an ungreased 9x13 inch glass baking dish. Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon, and sprinkle over the batter in the cake pan. Spoon the other half of the batter into the cake pan, covering the brown sugar and cinnamon. Twirl the cake with a butter knife or icing knife until it looks like a honey bun (or whatever design you want to make).

  3. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Frost cake while it is still fairly hot. Serve warm.

  4. To Make the frosting: In a small bowl, whisk together the confectioner's sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth.

Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies

Collin and I tested out another eggless recipe that maybe Carlee can eat. Collin and Joe loved the cookies, but I thought they were a little too hard around the edges. The cookies also stay in a ball when cooked so I had to flatten them with a glass before I put them in the oven. Had to cook them longer too, about 13 minutes. They're not too bad though.

Collin helping with the cookies.

Ummmm...I think they need more chocolate chips!!

Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup margarine or butter

1/4 cup shortening

1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

~Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets.

~In a medium bowl, cream together the brown sugar, white sugar, butter and shortening until light and fluffy. Stir in yogurt and vanilla.

~Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until incorporated, then mix in chocolate chips.

~Drop by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.

~Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in preheated oven, until the edges begin to brown. Cool for a minute on the cookie sheets before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

Banana Bread for Those with Egg Allergies

We took are baby girl, Carlee, in for allergy testing last week. Ever since she was a few months old, she has had eczema. It is an awful thing to have! Anyway, back to the testing. I won't even go into how bad it was for Carlee and for Kami and I to watch her go through it!! She is such a good little girl!! We found out that she is highly allergic to eggs (white and yolk), peanuts, weeds, cats, and tobacco. She was mildly allergic to a few other things but the doctor said that we shouldn't worry too much with them.

Sooooooooooo......on with the search for foods she can or will eat that have no eggs or peanuts in them. I did come across some egg replacement products that I will buy the next time we go to town. (That will be another blog!)

While searching the internet, I came across a banana bread recipe that looked good and had no eggs, and I had some bananas I needed to use up. I didn't put in the walnuts or the chocolate chips but did add a little flax seed meal to the recipe. It was a very good recipe! So it would come in handy for someone that ran out of eggs!!

Eggless Banana Bread

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sugar

3 large bananas

1/2 cup applesauce

4 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

~Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

~Mix the first five (dry) ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.

~In a separate bowl, mash bananas well.

~Stir in the butter, vanilla and applesauce into the bananas.

~Add the banana mixture into the mixing bowl with the dry ingredients.

~Mix gently by hand, just enough to form a thick, clumpy batter. If the mixture seems too dry, add more mashed bananas or applesauce to adjust the consistency.

~Fold in chocolate chips and/or walnuts, if using.

~Pour batter into greased loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes or until the bread is a deep golden brown and a knife inserted comes out clean.

Philly Brownie Cheesecake

If you are looking for a different way to put a bit of zing into ordinary brownies, here is a great recipe from Kraft Foods. This is really delicious and it's best to do it the day before so that the cheesecake can set on the brownie right.

Ingredients

1 pkg. (19 to 21 oz.) brownie mix (13x9-inch pan size)

4 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream

3 eggs

2 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 325°F. Spray 13x9-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Prepare brownie batter as directed on package; pour into prepared pan. Bake 25 min. or until top of brownie is shiny and center is almost set.


MEANWHILE, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add sour cream; mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended. Gently pour over brownie layer in pan. (Filling will come almost to top of pan.)


BAKE 40 min. or until center is almost set. Run knife or metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen side of dessert from pan; cool. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.


MELT chocolate as directed on package; drizzle over cheesecake. Refrigerate 15 min. or until chocolate is firm. Cut cheesecake into 16 pieces to serve. Store any leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.

Eric's Birthday

Poor Eric!!! He didn't get much of a birthday this year!! Carlee, Kami and I had doctor appointments all day and didn't get back home until after 9:00 pm!! I think he spent the day with Collin, his mom Tina, and Grandma Brewer. Not sure what they did though!!!

The day before, I made him an ice cream cake. It's my first. It's a spice cake with vanilla ice cream, Dolce de Leche filling and Cool Whip. So when we got back from town, I hurried and slapped the Cool Whip on it, had Collin call Tina and Larry to come and have some, and we ate our cake and ice cream. That was it!! And since it was so late at night, no one really wanted to be eating cake!! Hopefully next year will be better Eric!!!

How about those left over Wall-E plates!!!

Basic Baking Equipment

There are all kinds of utensils and appliances that are used for baking, including the improvised versions of baking equipment that you may not have. Below are just a few basic baking essentials to have handy:

Baking Sheet

9-by-13 inch bar cookie pan
3/4 cup ramekins or custard cups

9-inch pie pan
Standard size 12-muffin pan


8-inch springform pan
9-inch round layer cake pans


9-by-9inch metal brownie pan

Very Best Baking

Now how cool is this site. Nestle Very Best Baking has all kinds of things to tease you sweet tooth. From free recipes for gift jars to coloring book pages for the kids. Also you can even win prizes by collecting brownie points.

Nestle Very Best Baking

National Root Beer Float Day

Today is national root beer float day. And what better way of having one of this wonderful treat, is having a taste of it on a hot day, relaxing somewhere cool and enjoying the memories of days gone by. The traditional root beer float consist of vanilla ice cream and one of your favorite colas. Here are a few root beer ingredients from C's Ice Cream & Deli that you try out to make a new favorite.

Ingredients: Bourbon Vanilla,Licorice Root, Sarsaparilla Root Extract, Sasafrass Root Extract, Nutmeg, Anise, Wintergreen, Cinammon, Clove, Molasses, Pimento Berry Oil, Balsam Oil, Oil Of Cassia, Malted Barley, Citric Acid, Cherry Bark, Fennugreek, St. John's Wort, Maple Syrup, Yucca Extract, Cane Sugar, Corn Syrup.

Chocolate Cake in 5 Minutes

This is such a cool way of making a small serving cake for 1 or 2 people. I'm going to have to try this soon and see how it comes out. This recipe I came across from the blog of Dizzy Dee.

Ingredients:

4 Tablespoons cake flour
4 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons cocoa
1 Egg
3 Tablespoons milk
3 Tablespoons oil
1 Mug

Mix flour, sugar and cocoa together into the mug. Spoon in one egg. Then pour in milk and oil and mix well. Put in microwave for 3 minutes. Wait for the cake to stop rising and set in the mug. Tip the cake onto a plate.

Is This Salt or Sugar?

A great tip is if you are using the canisters or clear jars to store your sugar and salt, it's a good idea to label the jars so that it won't be confusing to which is which.

Kraft's Food & Family Magazine

Kraft Food issues free magazines during each season of the year. They have wonderful recipes for any occasion, even quick, easy and fun recipes that your child can help you prepare. There is an archive of each magazine that has been issued that include every recipe.

Kraft Food & Family Magazine

This is the first of many free goodies that I would love to share when I come across them.

My First Belly Cake!

I finally had a chance to do a baby shower cakes!! I was excited when Cindy asked me to do a cake for her daughter Jenna. We discussed the options, I showed her some pictures and Cindy chose the belly cake idea!!! I have always wanted to do one!!!

It's a chocolate cake with cookies and cream filling covered in buttercream. The dress and ribbon roses are fondant.

Men's Birthday Cakes

I was asked to do a man's birthday cake from someone I only know casually. Her son was coming for a visit from out of state and it happened to be his birthday. The only details that she wanted was for it to be a 10" round chocolate cake. Okay...can do. "Do you want certain decorations or colors?" "Oh whatever you do is fine." Aaaaagggghhhh! I like a little bit of an idea or my mind runs rampid!!! There are too many things for me to choose from!!! But this is what I came up with.

Donut Holes

These were pretty easy to make. After making the dough, I put it in the refrigerator while the oil was heating in the fryer so I could handle it a bit better with a little of flour on my hands to roll the dough into balls. I made about 2 dozen of these and put them in a container so that they would stay fresh.

1 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 c. milk
1 tsp vanilla
3 c. flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp. baking powder
Cinnamon to taste (optional)

Heat oil in fryer to be ready to put the dough into. Mix flour, baking powder, sugar and salt together in a large bowl. Add eggs, vanilla and milk into the dry ingredients and mix well. Roll the dough into balls and about 5 into the fryer (less or more depending on how big your fryer is). Fry the dough until they brown, then set them aside on paper towels to drain. After the donut holes have drained a couple of minutes, roll them into sugar and cinnamon.

Disco Cake

I have a client that always orders very creative cakes. This was for a disco party in honor of her niece who was turning 12. The disco ball was made of Styrofoam, because the weight of the fondant would have been hard on a ball shaped cake.

Brown & Pink Cupcakes

I did these cupcakes for my friend's stepmom. They were for a woman in her office. I did half of the cupackes with white cake and half with chocolate.