Experimenting with SugarVeil...

Today I delivered a wedding cake all done in chocolate fondant (which I love by the way), and SugarVeil ribbons and bows. I'm still learning allot about SugarVeil. I really like this product, but it can be a little tricky to use. Some things I learned this time around are...

1. Always make extra SugarVeil for your project...just in case you need it.

2. If you're making bows, make extra as a backup.

3. When SugarVeil dries completely, it is very, very fragile.

4. I need to get a larger air-tight container to store my set SugarVeil pieces, so I don't need to make so many seams in my ribbons.

5. I did not use wafer paper to make my bows; I will try using it next time to give the bows more stability. 

Horse Cookies...

Last Saturday evening, we delivered a little 2 tier wedding cake for a small Sunday wedding, to a ranch in Peyton, CO.  The customer, Barb, was a  mature bride (actually she was exactly my age), who was a horse breeder. After showing her how to set up the cake stands, she asked if Bruce and I would like to go see the horses. So knowing how much Bruce would love that, we stayed a few minutes to visit with the horses. Barb gave Bruce and me each a handful of horse "cookies" that resembled hard little tootsie rolls, and off we went to meet and treat the horses. They were all beautiful. Barb introduced us to all of the eight horses, and gave us a brief history of each one. And I bet you thought cake deliveries were only about cakes, and that I only worked with sugar cookies. Now you know the rest of the story...

More Cricut cookies...

Today is St. Patrick's Day...a great day for making cookies. I used my Cricut Cake to make cute shamrocks and little leprechaun hats, using my MTC (Make the Cut) software. Here is what the patterns look like on my computer screen... 

Next you put the gumpaste, rolled out onto the cutting mat, into the Cricut, press the cut button, and I end up with these cute cookies...

So much fun!

Updates on Icing Recipes

After doing some tweaking, here are recipes for buttercream icings...especially for our climate here in Colorado Springs. I just like the way the chocolate buttercream tastes when you make it with all butter. You can actually make the regular buttercream using all butter also, but it just doesn't hold up as well for decorating purposes, especially when it gets too warm. If you use the stencil method to press patterns into your icing, and this icing does not crust well for you, just put it in the refrigerator or freezer for a few minutes to let it harden up a bit. While it is still cold, go ahead and press your pattern into the icing.

Buttercream Icing Recipe

12 oz. (1 1/2 cups) high ratio cake shortening

12 oz. (1 1/2 cups) lightly salted butter

3/4  tsp. salt

Butter vanilla flavoring, or vanilla

3 lb. powdered sugar (approx. 12 cups) Sift if lumpy

3/4 cup of heavy whipping cream

With flat beater (not wire whip), beat shortening and butter together with salt and flavoring, on medium high speed for about 5 minutes, until smooth and very light and fluffy. (It should look like fluffy frosting at this point). Add powdered sugar and cream, and beat on low speed. Be careful not to incorporate air bubbles into your icing by beating at a higher speed. Cover bowl with a towel to avoid having a "sugar storm" in your kitchen. This is a good consistency for icing the cake and piping borders. You will need to add extra sugar to stiffen the icing to make flowers.

Chocolate Buttercream Icing Recipe

1 1/2 lb. (3 cups) lightly salted butter

1/4 tsp. salt

Vanilla

3 lb. powdered sugar (Approx. 11 cups  (12 cups sifted)

Approx. 3/4 cup cocoa ( or to taste)

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1 cup - 1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream

Mix as directed above, adding the cocoa first, and corn syrup with the cream. Add just enough cream to make the proper icing consistency. If icing is not soft enough to spread, add a bit more cream or corn syrup. If you prefer, you can replace 1/4 cup of the cocoa with 1/4 cup melted chocolate chips. I use the Ghirardelli Bittersweet chocolate chips. 

Updated on 4/20/16

So she was actually learning something...

So all of those years that my daughter watched me decorate cakes and I thought she didn't care...now she is decorating her own cakes, and I must say...doing a pretty good job. Look at the last cake she did for a friend's wedding...great job of basketweave. We had a basketweave refresher course over the webcam between Colorado Springs and Honolulu prior to her decorating it.  It inspired me to do my most recent cake in a partial basketweave. Great job Paula...keep up the good work!

Paula's little wedding cake in basketweave

My most recent cake...dark chocolate fudge with cherry filling and chocolate buttercream.  Basketweave half way up on sides...a little different look

Another successful cake tasting...

So yesterday I had another cake tasting day. I enjoy the one that I have each year just before Valentine's Day because I do extra things like Valentine Cookies and a strawberry topiary tree. I met some wonderful people that came and even secured a few orders. We share leftovers with friends and neighbors. Lots of work? Yes, but worth it in the end. Here are a few pictures...

 Valentine sugar cookies...dipped in fondant and decorated with buttercream

Two most popular flavors...

 Raspberry Fudge with chocolate buttercream

 Strawberry shortcake...yellow cake with whipped cream and 
fresh strawberries iced in whipped cream

Strawberry topiary tree...this is my small version...always a huge hit!

A new toy for my kitchen...

A few months ago, I got another new toy for my kitchen. I went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond (this is the place I should never go...if money were no object, I'd buy almost one of everything they sell) to get a new step stool, and came home with this...

It's a KitchenAid 12 cup food processor. I LOVE IT! My friend Sheila had just purchased a similar one and so I just thought I would check to see if they had one and check the price. I can blame Bruce...he talked me into it. Said I needed it for my catering business and to make my life easier, and it was on sale, and also had a rebate, so I couldn't resist. First of all, it's very heavy, so I just keep it out on my counter...but it's pretty enough that I can do that. Also, I use it almost as much as my Kitchen Aid mixers, so it would be pointless to keep digging it out of the cupboard. It comes with a nice little box to store the attachments in that I keep in a nearby cupboard. It is so powerful, yet so quiet, that it finishes the job before you have a chance to watch it work. Slicing and chopping veggies for soups, shredding carrots for cakes, making bread crumbs in seconds. Tonight I used the dough blade for the first time and made pizza dough in about 2 minutes...wow! So here's my suggestion...if you are in the market for a new food processor, don't fool around with the other brands...save your money and buy a KitchenAid...it's worth every cent.