Lots and Lots of Ruffles...

Today I designed a 4 tier wedding cake all done in ruffles... even the flowers were "ruffly." When I got this order, I had never done a cake like this, and so I went online to see if I could find out how to make the ruffles, and instead I found an entire tutorial on how to make a ruffle cake, and another tutorial on making the flowers that the bride wanted... yeah for technology!

http://acaketorememberva.blogspot.com/2011/11/ruffle-wedding-cake-tutorial.html

Each tier on this cake was a different flavor...

• Yellow with cream cheese and fresh strawberries
• Lemon with lemon curd and cream cheese
• Swiss chocolate with raspberry mousse
• Vanilla with raspberry and cream cheese

All tiers were covered with buttercream icing, and then covered in ruffles made from 50/50 modeling chocolate and fondant. The dough was rolled out thin and cut into 3/4 inch strips and ruffled with a wooden dowel dipped in cornstarch. The end result was just what the bride ordered. Not too difficult, just time consuming. The first tiers took quite awhile, but I got faster as I went along. If you want a cake that's a little different and impressive, give this one a try.

My Favorite Carrot Cake Recipe

My friend, Jill, is making a carrot cake for her husband's birthday, and asked me if I had a good recipe, and of course, I do. Whenever I do a carrot cake for a wedding, this is the one I use, and I get nothing but rave reviews. The recipe also includes a White Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing, but I prefer to use my favorite cream cheese icing recipe instead. Instead of baking this cake in 2 layers and then slicing them to fill, this cake is baked in 3 thin layers, and the filling is put in between without having to worry about cutting any cake. Also, instead of grating the carrots, I just throw them in the food processor and chop them...easy.

Kory's Carrot Cake

4 eggs

1 1/3 cups vegetable oil

2 1/4 cups sugar

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground cloves

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

20 ounces carrots, finely chopped (about 3 1/4 cups)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

1 cup crushed pineapple, well-drained

May add 1/2 cup raisins if desired

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing

1 1/2 lbs. cream cheese, room temperature

2 cups white chocolate chips, melted 

3/4 cup ( 1 1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature

2 tsp. grated lemon rind

Chopped walnuts or pecans

To prepare cake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottom of three 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper. Leave sides of pan dry-no cooking spray needed. Combine eggs and oil in a large mixing bowl. Beat 2 minutes with mixer on medium speed. Add 1 cup sugar and continue mixing 2 minutes. Add remaining sugar and mix 3 to 4 minutes. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg; add to egg mixture, beating on low speed until blended (about 1 minute). Add carrots, nuts, and pineapple; mix until well combined. Divide batter evenly among pans. Bake 60 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool to room temperature on a wire rack. Run knife round edge of cakes and remove from pans. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. 

To prepare icing, place cream cheese in mixing bowl; beat with a mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add melted chocolate a little at a time, continuing to beat at medium speed. Add butter a little at a time. Scrape down sides of bowl; add lemon rind and beat until combined.

Remove cakes from refrigerator. Ice top of one layer. Place second layer on top; ice top. Place third layer on top; ice top and sides of cake. Press chopped nuts into sides of cake. Serves 20.

Tips from Cathy:

1.  For high altitude, I usually add an additional 1/4-1/2 cup flour.

2.  In my oven, I bake (3) 8 inch layers for approx. 40-42 minutes. Each oven is different, so keep checking it after about 40 minutes. If you bake it too long, it will turn out dry.

3.  If the cakes fall slightly in the center, push down around the sides while warm. 

4. Once I have the layers wrapped in plastic wrap, I like to stack all 3 layers together to refrigerate. It helps to level them out.

5.  If the layers are still slightly lower in the center, just level them out with lots of yummy cream cheese icing. Nobody will mind. I usually stack the bottom 2 layers with top sides up, and the final top layer with the bottom side up, to give the cake a more level top.

6.  For larger cakes:

1 1/2 batches=(3) 10 inch rounds. Bake for 50 minutes @ 350 degrees.

2 batches=(3) 12 inch rounds. Bake for 1 hour @ 350 degrees.

7. I like to add little icing carrots to the top of the cake, with a simple border (only on top because of the nuts). If I'm serving it at a wedding, sometimes I'll just add fleur-di-lis on top instead.

Beating all records...

In my 36 years of cake decorating, tonight I had the fastest order and pickup ever, and all thanks to technology... specifically Facebook.

I have an order for a large 4-tier wedding cake next Saturday... all done in ruffles. Since I have never done a cake like this, I did research online, and found a tutorial...thanks to Kara Buntin at A Cake To Remember LLC.  I had cake batter left from cake samples I did on Thursday, so I baked a small 2 layer 6 inch round to practice on. The cake was iced in buttercream, the ruffles were made with 50/50 fondant and modeling chocolate. After a little practice, I got the hang of it, and I think the wedding cake should turn out fine. I'll just have to allow quite a bit of time. 

In the meantime, the last thing I needed was an extra cake sitting around the house. So... I took a picture, posted it on Facebook, and asked if anyone nearby would like a free cake. I said that the cake would go to the first person that responded. They would just have to come and pick it up. So, within a matter of minutes, Michael Kuhns responded, his wife, Jennifer, was out of the house, and within 20 minutes of my posting, the cake was out the door. How's that for a quick response? Gotta love Facebook!

Modeling Chocolate Recipe

PLEASE SEE UPDATE AT BOTTOM OF POST.

Modeling chocolate (or candy clay) is an easy and fun medium to use when decorating cakes. You can use it in candy molds, use it like regular clay to mold figures free hand, or you can use it in combination with fondant or gumpaste (50/50) to give the fondant better stability and flavor, and then use it for anything that you would use gumpaste for. It can be made with real chocolate or with candy melts. The tutorial that I'm posting today is made with candy melts. You can use dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, or any other color.

12 oz. package Wilton candy melts (you can use any brand-just make sure you measure out 12 oz.)

1/4 cup light corn syrup

Pour candy melts into microwave safe bowl, and melt according to directions. Each microwave is different as far as power, but it usually takes me 1 1/2 minutes, stirring at 30 sec. intervals, until smooth. 

 Assemble tools and ingredients

 Only 2 ingredients needed - candy melts and corn syrup

 Pour candy melts into microwave safe bowl

 Stir after 30 seconds

 Stir again after 60 seconds

Final stir after 90 seconds - candy melts should be smooth

To allow corn syrup to pour out of measuring cup easily, coat the inside of the cup with vegetable oil spray. Measure 1/4 cup light corn syrup (any brand will do), and pour into melted candy melts. Mixture will begin to firm up immediately. Continue to stir until completely incorporated and mixture has formed a ball. Pour onto wax paper and allow to cool. When cool, put in zip-lock bag and allow to set over night at room temperature. When ready to use, take off a small piece, color as desired with food safe colors, and knead in your hands, until color is fully incorporated, and chocolate is pliable. Mold into desired shapes. 

 Use vegetable oil spray to coat inside of measuring cup

 Corn syrup will pour out of cup easier when coated

 Add corn syrup to melted candy melts

 Stir until fully combined and formed into ball

 Place on wax paper to cool

When cool, place in bag to cool at room temperature overnight

Here are a few examples of cakes items I have modeled with modeling chocolate...

 Hat, boots, and belt molded from modeling chocolate

 Booties made from 50/50 fondant and modeling chocolate

 Golf ball and tee molded from rice krispie treats and covered with modeling chocolate

Rope heart, garlands, hat, and horseshoes molded from modeling chocolate

UPDATE FOR MODELING CHOCOLATE RECIPE (DECEMBER 2016)

After making and using and loving modeling chocolate for many years, here are some tips that will help to make your recipe for modeling chocolate easier and almost fool proof:

1) My favorite brand of chocolate to use is Ghirardelli melting wafers, both white and dark chocolate. Use 1/2 cup corn syrup per lb. of wafers. 

2) If using colored candy melts, use 1/3 cup corn syrup per lb. of candy melts.

3) Be sure not to overheat your chocolate. It's best to stir the last few wafers until melted, instead of keep heating them up. 

4) Warm your corn syrup for a few seconds, so that both the syrup and chocolate are same temperature... just barely warm to the touch. 

5) If you need to color an entire batch, add the paste color to the corn syrup, stir, then add to the melted chocolate. 

6) Make sure all chocolate is incorporated without over-stirring.

7) Spread out chocolate mixture very thinly between layers of plastic wrap, and let set for no longer than 1 hour. When it is set, but still pliable, knead it into a smooth ball or log. Wrap tightly, put in zip lock bag, and let set until firm. It can usually be used in about 2 hours if necessary.

8) The modeling chocolate will be very hard. When you need to use a piece, you can put it in the microwave for no longer than 5 seconds to soften just a bit.  

More examples of modeling chocolate

Finally ... a cake leveler that really works!

I received my new cake decorating toy yesterday ... my new Agbay cake leveler. It is amazing! I absolutely love it. Yes, it was expensive, but worth every penny. Sometimes, you just have to pay for quality tools and equipment. This thing is heavy, solid, steel, and MADE IN AMERICA!! Check it out at:

http://www.agbayproducts.com/products.html

Ride 'Em Cowboy!

A client from Alabama that found my name online, called to order a cowboy baby shower cake for her daughter who lives here in the Springs. Her order was for a small 2-tier cake...the bottom tier should be white fondant with black cow spots, the top tier, denim look with a belt and buckle that says "Milam," the baby's name. On top of the cake she wanted baby cowboy boots and anything else western plus some daisies, since they were decorating with daisies. I had to do allot of research for this one. I actually ordered 3 chocolate molds that I thought might help. 2 out of the 3 arrived in time...the horseshoe mold is still on its way. The 3-D boot mold ended up being "life-size," so was definitely too large for the 6" inch top tier. My husband's idea was to scan the mold and then make it smaller. I'm still trying to figure that one out, since the mold is clear plastic and 2 part 3-D...hmmm. Anyway, I found an adorable baby cowboy boot pattern online, and just cut the horseshoes, belt buckle, and cow spots out with my Cricut Cake. I made modeling chocolate, and used half chocolate fondant, and half modeling chocolate for the belt, cowboy hat (which I pressed into a mold and then reshaped a bit), and rope border. I ordered a special basketweave rolling pin to make a denim texture, which didn't really work that well. The one thing I would have done different on this cake is to paint the denim color on with a brush instead of airbrushing it on. I think it would have looked more like denim. I played around a little more after the cake was completed, and that's what I decided. 

This is what I think I will do next time... basically same color, just a little different texture since you can see some of the white fondant through. Color is brushed on instead of airbrushed. I used navy gel paste instead of airbrush color. 

You can see how large this mold is by comparing it to my hand... and scanning it? I don't think so.

Cake Pops for 1 Year Old...

Wow, this little girl must be loved allot...6 dozen cake pops and cake for her first birthday! Cake pops ... just a little bit of cake, but a whole lot of work. Colors were basically brown and pink with a little green accent. Four different flavors, each designated by a different color ribbon. Happy Birthday Hosanna!

 And her very own cake to smash and eat...