Chantilly Whipped Cream Stabilizer

Couldn't remember whether or not I put a post about this yet...apparently, I took pictures, but never wrote a post. Anyway, the dilemma of using whipped cream to ice cakes...especially wedding cakes. I have always used a non-dairy whipped topping base, along with the whipping cream...2 parts base to 1 part whipping cream. Over the years, I have used several different brands...Pastry Pride when we lived in AZ, Rich's whipped topping when I had a supplier here in the Springs, and then another brand that I purchased frozen from Cake Crafts in Denver. Never liked it quite as much because it tended to leave a funny aftertaste. So, after doing some research online, I found good reviews about a product called Chantilly Whipped Cream Stabilizer. It is in a powdered form that I add to 100% heavy whipping cream, along with a little powdered sugar and clear vanilla. Works like a charm, tastes great, icing smooths on really great, and the icing holds up well. No more funny aftertaste. A little pricey, but worth it to be able to just have it on the shelf and not have to keep it frozen. It is basically a gelatin-based product. Yes, I could probably cook up my own gelatin to add to whipping cream, but sometimes time is of the essence when decorating, and it's just nice to have a product I can just add to the cream and whip up. Yesterday, along with the wedding cake, I also had an order for a chocolate mint cake, with chocolate mint mousse filling, iced in chocolate whipped cream...so I added a small amount of cocoa powder, along with a bit more powdered sugar to sweeten, and it turned out great.

And the wedding cake...

Whipped cream and fresh flowers...a great combination

I love fresh flowers on wedding cakes. I also love purple on wedding cakes...it's a very bold, beautiful, and striking color. So I designed this wedding cake for a bride yesterday...the flowers were beautiful. Lilies were a bit large, so I had to put on a few more flowers than I believe she wanted to balance out the size, but overall, I think the finished product was quite stunning. The cake flavors were lemon with cream cheese and lemon fillings, fudge marble with Bavarian Creme filling, and yellow with whipped cream and fresh strawberries. Used the Chantilly whipped cream stabilizer to whip up the cream to ice the cake.

Father's Day and Cookies...

I have friends who happen to love my sugar cookies. Here's a cute idea. Sheila ordered 2 dozen sugar cookies for her husband, so we put on them the names that he goes by. Happy Father's Day, Kim...hope you enjoy the cookies!

Don't care for cake, then have a cookie for your wedding...

So, a bride called me about a week and a half ago and asked me if I could do a chocolate chip cookie instead of a cake for her wedding. She still wanted it tiered, but a cookie instead of a cake. The order was for a 6 inch, 10 inch, and 12 cookie, not too much icing, but still super pretty. She gave me wording that she wanted on each cookie and decided to rent my pedestals to display them on. Her colors were silver, green, and lilac. The topper she made was a bit too large for the 6 inch cookie, but I put it on anyway. Here's the clincher...I delivered these to the Glow Golf place at the Citidel Mall, which is of course dark, so you couldn't really see the cookies anyway. I got a picture only because I used my flash. Like they say..."different strokes for different folks!"

Still learning...

This was a fun new learning experience for me...gumpaste animals for a cute baby shower cake...still much room for improvement, but fun to do...took me back to younger years playing with clay.

Making an abstract design for a wedding cake...

The bride and groom sent me a picture of this wedding cake with an abstract design. They wanted this design with fresh yellow daisies in place of the butterflies (which I thought made more sense), and yellow in place of the turquoise on white fondant.

So, I got out my styrofoam cake dummy, some paper, and some pins, and began drawing patterns. 

Here is the final product...the black is made from Hershey's Special Dark cocoa, and the dots are done with Sugar Veil...which gives you a perfectly rounded dot without a point. The beaded borders are done with a blue silicone fondant mold.

The mother of the groom owns a glass blowing store in Manitou and she made the perfect cake top for this abstract design.

Thank you, Liz and Eric, for letting me be a part of your special day.

Using Kitchen Aid mixer to make marshmallow fondant...

The last time I made marshmallow fondant, I used my Kitchen Aid mixer for mixing most of the sugar in, since I wanted to save time, and then just added a bit more sugar while kneading it on my silicone mat. It worked well, except the one thing you have to make sure of is that you add enough sugar and knead it long enough, or you will have air bubbles in your fondant when you roll it out. I have found out, that you can add more sifted sugar and knead it longer after you have let it set overnight. This way, you will have a nicer finish to your fondant. Click on this link for the complete fondant recipe:
http://cakeideas.blogspot.com/2011/05/tweaked-marshmallow-fondant-recipe.html

Making marshmallow fondant

Melt mini marshmallows with water in microwave at 40 second increments, stirring after each.

When marshmallows are completely melted, add the corn syrup and flavoring. The mixture will look very soupy at this stage.

Sift powdered sugar into Kitchen Aid bowl. I use a simple metal strainer...works better than a sifter.

Pour melted marshmallow mixture into Kitchen Aid bowl with sugar.

Use dough hook on low speed to mix fondant mixture.

This is the consistency it should be when you are done mixing.

Scrape the fondant mixture out of the bowl with a plastic scraper onto a greased silicone mat.

Dust with sifted powdered sugar and begin kneading.

Knead until you have a smooth and elastic ball and the fondant no longer spreads as it sets.

Cover with Crisco and store in ziploc bag to rest overnight.

This is some black fondant made with Hershey's Special Dark cocoa.