Fondant Survival

Here is a "sweet" little video that answers some questions that you might have when working with fondant, courtesy of Sweet Wise.

http://youtu.be/nbPj9wHlTAo

Another Buttercream Icing Recipe

Occasionally, I have been using another buttercream icing recipe. This is another recipe that I got from Minette Rushing, owner of Custom Cakes in Savannah Georgia. A friend of mine hooked me up with Minette on Facebook. She does absolutely incredible work and I have incorporated many of her ideas and recipes into my work. This icing requires the use of high-ratio cake and icing shortening for the best results. It turns out super smooth. It is a non-crusting buttercream, so if you want to transfer a pattern onto the surface, you need to refrigerate the cake until the surface has hardened.

Minette's Buttercream Icing

1 lb. high-ratio cake and icing shortening

1 lb. lightly salted butter (softened)

2 lb. sifted powdered sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

Flavoring to taste (I used butter vanilla flavoring)

Beat shortening and butter together on medium speed until white and fluffy (several minutes). Add flavoring and salt, and beat. Add powdered sugar and combine on low speed until fully incorporated and very smooth. 

Here is a youtube video by Minette showing the process...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw6Q6AUXFFA

An interesting cake stand...

Instead of ordering a traditional wedding cake, this bride and groom ordered 5 different 8 inch specialty cakes. I was told that the cake stand would be set up at the venue, and I was just to put the cakes on the stand. When we walked into the venue, my husband and I were both surprised and a little shocked. The cake stand was so tall that you either had to get on a ladder or stand on the staircase in back of the cake in order to reach it. I'm sure cutting the cake was going to be real adventure. 

The flowers make the cake...

Whether you are using silk, fresh, or gumpaste flowers... the right flowers can make a simple cake beautiful and elegant. This cake was designed for a lady air force officer. I never spoke directly with her. All correspondence was done through email... not the first time. This cake design was very simple... four tiers with simple scrollwork. The flowers were placed on the cake by the florist, and as she worked, I could see this cake turn into a beautiful masterpiece. I also think that purple flowers are beautiful on a wedding cake... very dramatic. The decorations at this reception were perfect... all done by the mother of the groom. 

Sugar 'N Spice and Snips and Snails and puppy dog tails...

This customer was celebrating her twins first birthday, and was decorating using the poem words "sugar and spice and everything nice" and "snips and snails and puppy dog tails." The final products... puppy cupcakes, princess and cupcake cookies, and 2 smash cakes to match. Fondant cut out with cookies cutters, and the "cherry" on the cupcake was fruit leather. Tastes much better than red icing.

More recycled yellow buttercream...

An update to the earlier post about the yellow buttercream... here are two more orders that I was able to use it for...

Here you see the yellow and I added some orange color to the yellow to make the orange icing

I added orange color to make the orange buttercream to outline the cookies and added green to make the stems and leaves.

There is very little yellow icing left at this point. I think I learned my lesson.

Never on Sunday...

Today I delivered a cake for a wedding a day early. That's right... the wedding isn't until tomorrow. I told this customer that I didn't work on Sunday, but that didn't seem to matter. So, out we went to the Pinecrest, but this time to the Pinecrest Lodge, where the family was staying. I assembled the cake, took some pictures, then took it off the plateau, and put it in the refrigerator, due to the buttercream frosting and mousse and cream cheese fillings. They will need to transport it across the street to the event center... hopefully very carefully and without any mishap. A side note... there was another wedding reception about to begin in the event center, and my friend Shelley decorated the cake for that one. 

Garbage disposal versus decorating tips...

...and the disposal wins. First time in over 35 years of decorating. Still don't know how they got in there. Good thing I have plenty of extras.