Holiday treats and using up cake mixes

I came across the most interesting recipes, and I just had to share with the holiday season quickly approaching.  These are some ideas to use up those cake mixes you purchased because they were on sale, or you had more then you thought you would need.  There are three recipes:  one for cookies, one for a sort of fruit crisp, and one for fudge.  I know what you are thinking...but yes, I am going to tell you how to do all three with only a few ingredients.

Ok, the first recipe is the easiest cookie recipe you will ever make.  It requires only three ingredients, but you can add others that you wish to it.


This recipe is my personal favorite of the three, because the possibilies are endless to what you can add to a variety of different flavor cake mixes with a little imagination.  You just have to watch the liquid content.  But if it isn't too wet, you should be able to add it to the mix.  For example: chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, peppermint pieces, heath pieces, reese pieces, reese cups pieces, hershey kisses, spices like cinnamon, flavorings like almond, strawberry, peppermint, vanilla, lemon.  You can also add nuts, jams, or roll in cornflakes (don't laugh it's good).

Cake Mix Cookies

1 cake mix any flavor
1 egg
1 stick of butter

Mix the three ingredients.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes ( I baked for 12 minutes for a chewy cookie).  You can also add chocolate chips, butterscotch morsels, carmel bits, cookie bits, reese's pieces, bits of thin mints, various types of flavorings.  The sky is the limit.

Note:  My personal favorite is Dark Chocolate Fudge cake mix (Duncan Hines) with chocolate chips.  But I have only begun to test out different recipes.  I want to try White Cake mix with almond flavoring added and make a type of thumbprint cookie with raspberry filling.

I do offer one piece of knowledge that I suffered (oops, I mean gained) by experimenting.  If you want caramel with your cookies, do not place a carmel on the cookie dough as it bakes clear through the cookie onto the cookie sheet and becomes very hard.  I would just melt caramels and drizzle over the cookie.  Just ask me how I know this...heavy sigh!  I tried to make turtle cookies with the dark chocolate fudge and place my caramel on top of the cookie dough thinking it would melt over the top (NO).  So I would may place my pecan on top of the cookie and bake and then drizzle with the caramel. Oh well, how do you know if you don't try, right.

The second recipe is for fruit crisp:

Cake Mix Fruit Crisp

1 Box Cake Mix
Fresh fruit or 2 cans Pie filling (enough to fill the bottom of a 9x13 pan)
1 stick of butter

Put fresh fruit or pie filling in the bottom of a 9x13 pan.  Pour dry cake mix over the top of fruit.  Slice the butter up into thin slices and place on top of the cake mix.  You may need to sprinkle on a little water or add a little more butter if you notice the cake mix is to dry after some baking.  You can also spice it up with some cinnamon if you like.  Or throw on some pecans.  Or maybe add some pineapple to your fruit.  Mix and match fruits.  You could use blueberries and raspberries.  Apples and pecans.  Let your imagination run wild.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes.  The top should be browned and the fruit soft if you used fresh fruit.

I may try tweaking this one with a little Oatmeal and brown sugar  sprinkled on top.

Fruits to use include: apples, blueberries, peaches, cherries, blackberries, raspberries, etc.

Oh, I just now thought of caramel apple or caramel pear...yum.


Cake Mix Fudge

3 cups cake mix

3 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 stick butter or margarine, cut into small squares

1/4 cup milk

sprinkles or nuts(optional)

Line a 8×8 glass pan with foil and grease with butter. Mix cake mix and icing sugar in microwave-safe bowl. Add butter and milk. Don’t stir.

Microwave for 2-3 minutes, until butter is melted and bubbly. (Baking time might be slightly lower or higher depending on your microwave’s power.)  Stir immediately until completely combined. Add sprinkles. Do not overmix as sprinkle colour may bleed.

Spread into greased pan. Refrigerate for at least one hour.

Here is another that I wasn't going to add because it wasn't cake mix related, but oh well it is easy enough:

Peanut Butter Quick Fudge

1 cup Peanut Butter
1 stick of Butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 pounds powdered sugar

Place peanut butter and butter in a microwave safe bowl and heat JUST until the mixture is melted.  Try not to get it any hotter then you have to.  Stir in vanilla.  Slowly mix in the powdered sugar until it forms a fudgy consistency.  Place in a greased 8x8  pan. Cool in the refrigerator until firm.  Hey, I didn't say it was healthy.

Now, I don't want to hear anyone say that they can't create some type of holiday treat with this knowledge at their fingertips.  Make and enjoy.  And Happy Holidays to you all!

Sculpting website just "lovely" for the cake designer

I on occasion like to put sculpted figures on my cakes.  I will be the first to admit that sometimes I lack a creative mind in this area.  Oh, I can come up with the ideas with what I would like to put on the cake, but I am not always the best at the intricate details of the figures.  So, I was looking for a tool to guide me, you know, maybe some type of tutorial to shed some light on my short-comings in figurine making.  Well, I came across a website that I simply must share with you.  It has the most wonderful tutorials for figurines that I have come across yet.

The name of this website is Lovely Tutorials.   I will warn you in advance that the website is in Russian, but you can still get the general idea from the photos presented on the page.  The website operator works in polymer clays, but the same techniques can be applied to fondant figures (you may need to mix in some gumpaste for some figures).  I found many different figures that I would like to give a try.

So, if you are not good at the fine details, slip over to this website.  You may find something to help you.  I just love the little frog figures.  You can also find some good figures on Pinterest as well.  If you aren't a member on Pinterest, and would like an invite let me know.  Just send me an email, and I see if I can't help you get up and running.

 Good luck with you figurine sculpting.

No-Fail Sugar Cookies

Now I know what your thinking, what does cookies have to do with cake decorating and design.  Well, let me tell you.  You can decorate cakes with many different mediums...gumpaste, fondant, buttercream transfers, royal icing transfers...and yes, cookies.  If you don't believe me, do some surfing on the web.

I found this Sugar Cookie Recipe on cakecentral.com, and it was posted by Jackie.  There is also a tutorial posted by antonia74  showing an exact method to bake these cookies perfectly without fail. These cookies are awesome, and if you follow the instructions as she has given them, you will have some really awesome cookies.

I won't go into significant detail, because as I have said, there is a complete tutorial here.  I just wanted to expand your mind to another method of decorating.  Halloween is coming up.  Imagine a cake with tombstone cookies or a haunted house cookie with frankenstein peeking his head around the corner.  A ghost cookie coming out of the cake with crushed up oreo cookies for the dirt.  Let you imagination go wild.  If you have a cookie cutter for it,  you can do it.  Ideas can be limitless if you can cut the shapes out freehand. 

Here are some pictures of cookies I made with my grandchildren.  Give them a try.  We had a blast!

 

New approach

I have hit a lot of different cake decorating techniques in my blog, but it dawned on me today that I haven't shared a lot as far as baking.  So, at least for a little while, I think I am going to start sharing some scratch cake recipes.  So here are a couple to get you all started off...beginning with the basics white, butter, chocolate.

The first recipe is for a very popular cake, and I'm sorry I don't know the original poster of this recipe or I would give them full credit for it.  I found it online and I just love it.  It's called White Almond Sour Cream Cake, and it has so many different variations to change it up.  But for right now, I'm going to stick with the original recipe, and maybe later on I'll tell you some variations to the recipe.  This version was submitted by Rebecca Sutterby and only uses egg whites (which in my opinion if it is a white cake it shouldn't contain yolks, but that is only my opinion).  I mean really, if it contained yolks it would be a yellow almond sour cream cake right?

I would just like to say before getting started to always make sure you are starting with fresh ingredients to insure you get the best results (e.g. eggs, baking soda, baking powder and cake mixes always check expiration dates)
WASC Cake (White Almond Sour Cream)

WASC - Rebecca Sutterby version w/ egg whites
2 boxes white cake mix (I only use Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe)
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 teas. salt
8 egg whites
2 2/3 cups water
4 Tbls. vegetable oil
2 cups (16oz carton) sour cream
2 teaspoon clear vanilla flavor
2 teaspoons almond extract 

*Mix all dry ingredients by hand using a whisk in a very large mixing bowl (I would also sift all ingredients together, but again that is just me). Add the rest of the ingredients (I mix all liquid ingredients together in a separate bowl and then add to the dry)  and beat on low speed for 2 minutes  (I mix slightly, scrape down the sides of the bowl and then finish mixing just until the batter looks silky...be sure not to overmix). Bake at 325 degrees  (I bake until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out with crumbs...if you wait until it comes out clean it is overbaked).

Chocolate Cake

by Jackie Cabe

2 boxes Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge Moist Deluxe (The only kind I use)

Ingredients on the box

2 cups flour

2 cups sugar

2 boxes Jello Instant Chocolate Pudding (Large box)

2 cups sour cream

2 eggs

2 Tablespoons Hersheys Chocolate Syrup

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl, sift together the cake mixes, flour, sugar, and pudding and set aside.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the water, oil, eggs, sour cream, and chocolate syrup until eggs are blended well.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix a little, then scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix again just until the cake becomes glossy or silky looking.  DO NOT OVERMIX.  Bake just until a wooden skewer or toothpick pulls away with a few crumbs on it.  If you wait until it pulls away clean, it will already be overbaked.

Butter Cake

was submitted in a magazine called Sunset Magazine (sorry I don't know the name of the author)

2 1/4 cups cake flour

• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  1 teaspoon salt
  1 1/4 cups sugar
  1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
  2 large eggs
  2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  2/3 cup milk
  
  Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 2 round 8-in. cake pans.

Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl; set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat sugar and butter until creamy. Crack eggs into a small dish (do not beat) and add vanilla. Add eggs to the butter mixture, one at a time, scraping down the inside of the bowl as needed. Beat in flour mixture and milk in alternating batches, starting and ending with the flour and making sure each addition is fully incorporated before adding the next.

Divide batter evenly between pans. Let batter sit in pans for five minutes.

Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of each cake come out clean, 20-25 minutes.

Cool cakes in pans 5 minutes. Invert onto a rack, remove pans and let cakes cool to room temperature, at least 40 minutes.

Frost with your favorite and enjoy.
1. (Cakes can be made up to 2 days ahead and wrapped in plastic wrap and chilled).
   
   
   So there you have it, if you want a yellow cake just add the yolks to the WASC cake above.  But I also have a special treat for you as well.  BONUS!!!  I am also going to include a couple of snack cake recipes as well.  These are made in a 10-inch tube pan or a 8X8 inch square pan.
   
   
   Apple Spice Cake
   
   
   1 cup butter, melted
   1/2 cup oil
   2 Cups sugar
   3 eggs
   2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
   1/4 tsp. cinnamon
   3 cups all-purpose flour
   1 tsp. baking soda
   2 tsp. salt
   3 cups chopped apples
   1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
   1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
   1/4 cup butter
   3 T. milk
   1 T. cinnamon
   
   
   Combine butter, oil, sugar, and eggs in mixing bowl and mix until thick and lemon colored.  Beat in vanilla, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon and mixture of flour, soda, and salt.  Fold in apples, nuts, and walnuts. Pour into greased and floured  10-inch tube pan and bake at 325 degrees for 1-1/2 hours.  Remove to a wire rack to cool.  Bring remaining ingredients to boil in a saucepan, mixing well, cool and pour over cake.  Yields 12 servings.
   
   
   Apple Sauce Cake
   
   
   2 tsp. baking soda
   2 cups unsweetened applesauce
   2 cups sugar
   1 cup butter, softened
   1 egg
   4 cups all-purpose flour
   1 pound of raisins
   1 tsp. cinnamon
   1 tsp. allspice
   1 tsp. nutmeg
   1 tsp. cloves
   1 tsp. ginger
   1-1/2 to 2 cups black walnuts (if unavailable you can substitute English walnuts)
   
   
   Grease tube pan and line the bottom with greased wax paper.  In a bowl, stir the baking soda into the applesauce and set aside.  In another bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy.  Add the egg and beat well.  Add the applesauce mixer and mix well.  Sift flour over raisins in a large mixing bowl.  Add the spices and walnuts and mix well.  Pour into your prepared tube pan and bake at 325 degrees for 1-1/2 hours and cool in pan.  Invert onto a cake plate and remove the wax paper.  Top with whipped cream and serve.  Yield is 20 servings.

If you didn't have any "go to" recipes, I hope you like these, and they can become your "go to" recipes.  Good luck and happy baking!

Jackie Cabe's Blogspot: Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh...New Airbrush

Jackie Cabe's Blogspot: Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh...New Airbrush: I am so excited.  My husband got me a new airbrush and compressor for my birthday.  Now typically my husband doesn't spend this much on my birthday, so this was quite a surprise.  I can't wait to give it a try.


Update:

My first airbrushed cake.

Transfers can be an inexpensive decorating medium

One way to decorate cakes is by using transfers.  These are fairly simple to make and, as well, are fairly inexpensive to make.  There are at least three types of transfers.  There are chocolate transfers (these are a little more expensive due to the price of chocolate), frozen buttercream transfers, and royal icing (or color flow) transfers.

Transfers are all basically done in the same manner.  You start with a printed image (in reverse of the image you want).  It will be done in reverse because the side facing you will actually be the back side of your project.  You will need the following tools:  Printed image in reverse, wax paper, tape, and whatever type of medium you are using (chocolate, buttercream, or royal icing).

Begin by taping your printed image to a flat surface (bottom of cake pan, cookie sheet, cutting board).  Then tape your wax paper over the printed image.  Once attached, use whatever medium you have choosen to outline the image.  Here's where things start to differ a little.
If you are using chocolate, after doing the outline you can stick in the fridge for a few moments to harden up the chocolate.  Then remove from frig and finish filling in the rest of the print.  Allow it to firm up and remove from wax paper (this step will be covered later).

If you are using buttercream, you can stick it in the frig or freezer for a few minutes to stiffen up the outline, and then finish filling in the print.  Once the print is filled use a toothpick to fill remove any air bubbles or pockets to completely filled.  Once the image is completely filled and air bubbles are removed, place in the freezer for no less then 45 minutes to completely freeze the image.  Once completely frozen it can be removed from the wax paper (this step will be covered later), but it must be placed immediately on the cake before the image starts to thaw.

If you are using royal icing, you will need to let it dry slightly (the amount of time will vary depending on the printed images size).  Once the icing has dried enough to hold its shape, you can continue filling in the rest of the printed image.  Allow the image to completely dry (this step takes longer for royal icing...up to 48 hours or more depending on size of the image).  Once dried, remove from paper (this step will be covered later) and place on cake.

Removing the Image from the Wax Paper:


This step is basically the same for each medium, but it must be kept in mind that when dealing with the frozen buttercream...you will want to work as quickly as possible to avoid thawing.

First you will need to remove the wax paper from the flat surface you have attached it to.   Gently pull the paper loose from the front the part of the image that is facing you.  Lie the image on the edge of your countertop.  Slowly pull the paper down over the edge of the countertop.  This will pull the image forward off the edge of the countertop.  Place your other hand under the image to catch it.  Continue pulling the paper downward until the image pulls loose from paper.  Flip the image over and place it on the cake or other flat surface until ready to use. Remember...if you are working with a frozen buttercream transfer, you must put it on the cake immediately, because they thaw very quickly.

Click on the highlighted words to see examples of chocolate transfer this photo belongs to mommawants1more and was uploaded to flickr, frozen buttercream transfers uploaded by Dawn on Cake Central, and royal icing or color flow transfer on Let's get caking's blogpost.  I am not taking any of the credit for these images, I am simply using them as samples of the different types of transfers.  I hope I gave adaquate credit where credit was due.

Check out this transfer I recently did of "Pablo" in my slideshow to see a royal icing transfer I did.
I hope you will give them a try.  As you can see from the samples, they can achieve great decorating results for both cake and cupcakes.  Happy decorating!

Totally not cake related...or is it?

I recently had a lifelong friend marry a man she has been with for 22 years.  They had both came from bad relationships, so they just took each day as it came.  Thankfully, they finally decided to tie the knot.  The problem is, what do you get a couple that has been together that long...that already has a household established.  My friend isn't into the trinket thing, so I decided to make her something homemade...from the heart.

What is more romantic then chocolate?  In my personal opinion...absolutely nothing.  So I decided to make her some homemade chocolates.  This is what I came up. 

This started the old creative juices flowing, and then I thought...why couldn't you apply some of these techniques to cake designing?  Prezel rods covered in chocolate would make great tree trunks.  Chocolate covered strawberries could be used for rocks or boulders.  Mini-marshmallows covered in red candy melts could be mini-apples or covered in orange candy melts could be oranges.  Marshmallow treats covered in chocolate could be formed to make mountains.  Unlimited ideas could be formed from chocolate.  Let your imagination run free.  Oh and you might want to try this recipe for modeling chocolate to make 3-D figures:

Modeling Chocolate

10 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup corn syrup

You can also substitute the chocolate chips with almond bark or colored candy melts

Microwave the chips in short 30 second intervals (or use a double-boiler being careful not to get water in the chocolate)  Don't allow chips temperature to exceed 100 degrees.  Stir often to insure they melt consistently.  Once all chips have melted add the corn syrup.

Add the corn syrup and stir with rubber spatula until the mixture becomes thick and forms a ball.

Spread out on a piece of wax paper until thin (about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick).  Let it cool completely.  It can be used at once or can be stored in an air tight container for up to a month.  Be careful not to handle the chocolate to much, because the clay becomes sticky.

Dipping Chocolate

1 bag semi-sweet  chocolate
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Microwave in short 30 second intervals until the chocolate is completely melted.  If chocolate is still to thick, you can add a little more vegetable oil.

The dipping chocolate can be used for covering pretzels, fruit, caramels, peanuts, rice krispie treats or cake balls.  The sky is the limit.  Use your imagination.

My First Attempt at a Lambeth cake

Well, I told you that when I finished my Lambeth cake I would post a picture of it.  So, here you go.  I realize it looks a little rough.  The piping was much more difficult then I thought it would be, but actually creating the design for it presented more of a problem then the piping.  It was interesting to try and make it all look cohesive.  Hope you like it.

Where do I go from Here?

This is the first question the new cake designer is asking themselves when they make the decision to try out cake designing.  If you are fortunate enough to have the resources to take classes or attend some type of pastries/culinary institute, you are pretty much in there.  But, if you just want to do this as a hobby for family and friends, you really don't want to invest that type of money into it.  So you check the internet.

There are many valuable resources on the internet.  Hobbyists have never had it so good.  You can get information on virtually any type of hobby at your fingertips.  You have access to social forums like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace.  You also have access to specialized forums for cake decorating (my personal favorite: cakecentral.com).  You can get online video tutorials via youtube.  There are people willing to share their knowledge around every corner.

When I decided that I wanted to learn cake designing, I first went to google search.  Through this search, I found various cake related websites, including cakecentral.  I quickly realized that if I was going to get into this seriously, my most valuable piece of equipment was going to be a notebook with dividers.  This will be more valuable to you then anything and probably the least expensive thing you will need to get started.  This will help you mass your knowledge in one central location, so when you ask yourself "what was it that that said again", instead of having to re-search the web all you have to do is open your trusty notebook.

This website is an accumulation of some of the knowledge that I have learned in a very short time.  Invite others that share your interests to a Facebook or Twitter account.  Share the tidbits that you pick up here and there.  Honestly you can learn loads from books from the library, magazines, the internet, cake designing clubs, classes and cake decorating conventions like ICES.

Whichever medium you choose to invest your time into, I hope you enjoy the journey as much as I have.  I've made a lot of online friends through this hobby...maybe you will be one of them.  Feel free to friend me on Facebook at cabescakes, maybe we can teach each other something.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Dream

This recipe has been passed down as far back as I can remember from my grandmother, my mother, myself and hopefully my kids.  It is a very rich dessert, and it will satisfy any sweet tooth.  It is called Peanut Chocolate Dessert.  It is made the following with the following ingredients:

Peanut Butter Chocolate Dream

1/2 cup butter
1 cup flour
1 cup peanuts
8 ounces cream cheese
1/3 cup peanut butter
1 cup powdered sugar
12 ounces whipped topping
1 box instant vanilla pudding
1 chocolate bar

In a bowl, cut butter into flour.  Stir in 2/3 cups of the peanuts.  Press the mixture into a 9x13 inch baking pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  In another bowl, combine cream cheese peanut butter, and powdered sugar.  Beat until fluffy.  Gently fold in 1 cup of the whipped topping.  Spread this mixture over the cooled crust.  Chill.  Prepare the instant pudding according to package directions beating for 2 minutes.  Spread the instant pudding over the cream cheese.  Spread on the remaining whipped topping.  Shave any type of chocolate bar or pulse in a food processor (you can use any type of chocolate bar you like, but chocolate covered toffee bars are my favorite)  Sprinkle candy bar bits onto whipped topping and sprinkle on the remaining chopped nuts.  Chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

This is my little piece of heaven on a plate.  Hope you enjoy it too

Dulce Leche (Caramel Topping)

I tried this recipe.  It was submitted to the Food Network by Alton Brown.  It is the bomb.  It can be used on ice cream, cake, or eaten right off a spoon (not recommended though it's not good for the hips). 

Dulce Leche (Caramel Topping)

1 quart whole milk
12 ounces sugar, approximately 1 1/2 cups
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Combine the milk, sugar, vanilla bean and seeds in a large, 4-quart saucepan and place over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved. Once the sugar has dissolved, add the baking soda and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to low and cook uncovered at a bare simmer. Stir occasionally, but do not re-incorporate the foam that appears on the top of the mixture. Continue to cook for 1 hour. Remove the vanilla bean after 1 hour and continue to cook until the mixture is a dark caramel color and has reduced to about 1 cup, approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer. Store in the refrigerator in a sealed container for up to a month.
Another trick to making caramel topping is to boil a can of Carnation sweetened condensed milk completely submerged in water for 2 hours.  Make sure the can stays completely covered with water for the whole 2 hours.  After 2 hours remove the pan from heat and set aside to cool completely. 
DO NOT REMOVE THE CAN FROM THE WATER.  LEAVE IT IN THE WATER UNTIL THE WATER AND THE CAN ARE COMPLETELY COOL.

Will keep in the unopened can for quite some time, once open though it usually disappears pretty fast.  If you use a lot of caramel topping, you can always do multiple cans and keep them stored in your pantry.

CHOCOLATE 101

Chocolate Guide

• Filed under: Candy, Chocolate, Dessert

The percentages listed on a chocolate bar represent the amount of cocoa butter and cacao solids by weight. The rest is largely sugar. Depending on the quality of the bar, there might be other additives present, like vanillin or lecithin, but they generally total less than one percent. Milk chocolate must have a certain percentage (12% minimum) of either powdered or condensed milk added as well.
Chocolate comes in the following levels of sweetness, from least to most added sugar:

• Unsweetened chocolate (which is exactly what it sounds like; it's also sometimes called baking chocolate).
• Dark
• Bittersweet
• Semisweet
• Milk Chocolate

White chocolate is made from cocoa butter, without any cocoa solids, so it's technically not chocolate at all.
Cocoa, which is key to the distinctive chocolate taste in baked goods and candies, comes in two styles: Natural (non-alkalized), and Dutch-processed (alkalized). These should not be confused with the instant sweetened versions intended for hot chocolate.
Cocoa powders are primarily used for baking, but make top-notch hot drinks when mixed with sugar to balance their bitter taste. Natural cocoas, like Hershey's or Ghirardelli, tend to be lighter in color than Dutch-processed varieties like Droste. Which is "better" on the taste front? Some bakers prefer the direct chocolate flavor of natural cocoa, while others vote for the mellowness of Dutch.
However, when using chemical leaveners (baking powder or soda), make sure to use the type of cocoa called for in the recipe. Natural cocoas are acidic enough to activate the baking soda in cakes and cookies; alkaline Dutch cocoas should be used in recipes that rely solely on baking powder for their lift.
Storing:
Keep chocolate wrapped well, in a cool, dry place (not the fridge). Milk chocolate keeps for up to a year; dark for even longer. If the chocolate develops white dots or streaks on the outside, that's called "bloom." It means the cocoa butter has become un-emulsified (separated), but it's still perfectly safe to eat.

How to make Homemade Piping Gel

This is not my recipe, and I never found who wrote it.  So I would like to thank whoever submitted it.  Since they posted it to the internet, I don't think they would mind if I share it.

PIPING GEL RECIPE:
INGREDIENTS:
2 envelopes (2 tablespoons) unflavored gelatin
2 tablespoons cold water
2 cups light Karo syrup, or light corn syrup
INSTRUCTIONS:
Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water in a small saucepan and let set for about 5 minutes. Heat on low until the gelatin has become clear/dissolved - DO NOT BOIL. Add the syrup and heat thoroughly. Cool and store, refrigerated, for up to 2 months.
TO COLOR: Add coloring paste/gel or food coloring drops to get desired color.
TO USE: Put in icing bag or plastic squeeze bottle and decorate.

Posters review:
1. Worked well for the whipped cream
2. Took color nicely!
3. Tried to pipe with it but all my letters just bled into itself.
4. Look like it would work for a pool or lake on a cake.

Pistachio Cake...YUM!

My daughter, for whatever reason, recently told me that she wanted me to fix her a Pistachio Cake.

This is not a cake that I had in my arsenal of recipes, so I had to do a quick search on the internet.  I found a few but the one I finally chose was rated four and a half stars out of five stars.  If you would like to try this recipe you can find it at allrecipes.com .  It looks delish, and I can't wait to try it.  If you decide to give it a try too, let me know how it worked out for you.  I may choose to tweek it slightly, but for the most part I will probably stick to the original recipe as much as possible.

There is one concern with this cake, however, I did read that the cake will sometime collapse.  I need to exam the recipe a little more closely to see if I can remedy this problem.  I'll keep you posted.

Happy Thanksgiving tip for new bakers!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my followers!
Pretty busy today, but I just wanted to take a moment to share this important baking tip.  Always, always, always check your oven's temperature using a oven thermometer.

Many a good baker has been brought to their knee due to a lack of one.  Ovens (even brand new ones) temperatures can be off by several degrees.  This can effect the end results of your baked goods slightly or terribly, depending on the degree of difference in temperature.  OOOOwww! (degree...forgive the pun). 

I recently had to bake in a new oven, and I kept burning my baked goods.  For under $5.00, I fixed the problem.  The oven's temperature was almost 75 degrees higher then it should be.  Yeah, it was an old oven.  But when I checked my brand new oven it was also off by 25 degrees.  So, you see how this can turn a lovely cake into a dry clump of sawdust.

Hope this tip helps with your baking, and Happy Thanksgiving.

A couple new recipes I want to try.

I recently was looking for some new recipes to try, and I came across these in the Joy of Cooking Cookbook that I got from my mom.  I can't remember a time when my mom didn't have this cookbook.It is very "old school", and I love the recipes in it.  So I thought I would share these with you.  If you try them let me know what you think.

Whipped Cream Cake

2 cups cake flour
2-3/4 teas. double-acting baking powder
3/4 teas. salt
1 cup whipping cream
1-1/3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup water
1-1/2 teas. vanilla or almond flavoring
3 egg whites.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Have all of your ingredients at about 75 degrees (room temperature).  Sift before measuring: 2 cups cake flour and resift twice with baking powder and salt.  Whip the whipping cream until stiff.  Gradually fold the powdered sugar into the whipping cream and then gradually add the water and flavoring.  Whip the eggs whites until stiff, but not dry.  Combine the cream and the beaten egg whites.  Fold the sifted ingredients into the cream mixture, about 1/3 at a time.  Bake in layer pans for about 25 to 30 minutes.  Makes 2- 9 inch layers.

Sour Cream Cake

1-3/4 cups cake flour
1/4 teas. soda
1-3/4  teas. double-acting baking powder
1/4 teas. salt
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter
2 beaten egg yolks
1 teas. vanilla
2/3 cup yogurt or 1 cup cultured sour cream
2 egg whites
1/4 teas. salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Have all of your ingredients at 75 degrees or room temperature.  Sift flour before measuring.  Measure and sift again with the soda, baking powder, and salt.  In a separate bowl cream butter and sifted sugar.  When creamy, add egg yolks and vanilla.  Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in 3 parts, alternating in 1/3's with yogurt or sour cream.  Stir the batter after each addition until smooth.  Whip egg whites and salt in another bowl until stiff, but not dry.  Lightly fold the egg white mixture into the batter.  Bake in greased pans for about 25 minutes.  Makes 2- 8 inch round layers

When will I ever learn...Cream Cheese Frosting under Fondant...UGH!

Now I am not an illiterate person, in fact, I think I am slightly above average intelligence.  But when I do things like I did the other night, I really start to question that way of thinking.

I was asked if I would make a cake for our local business womens' cake auction.  I had done it before and enjoyed the experience, so I said sure, no problem.  Boy, famous last words.  Not only was it a problem, it nearly cost me my sanity.

I will make a long story short, and I will give you the condensed version.  Because I am certain you don't want to hear all the gory details about how I had to repair the same cake three times.  Let's just suffice it to say that I think you should heed this warning.  NEVER USE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING UNDER FONDANT.  Yes, I know that it is in all capital letters.  I wanted to make certain that you saw it.  I had read on the internet once that you shouldn't do this, and I attempted it anyway, with disasterous results.  So, I told myself then that I would never again attempt this feat.  Well, they say losing your memory is the first sign of old age.  I must be getting old, because I did forget that I told myself I would never attempt this again, and I did attempt it again with the same disasterous result.

I said I was going to keep this short, so I will sum it up by saying that the result was me scraping all the cream cheese frosting off of the cake and recovering it with buttercream to get it to stay decorated.  The cake was a 10" round cake filled with White Chocolate Butter Pecan Ganache, iced in Cream Cheese Frosting and covered with Marshmallow Fondant with American Flags made out of fondant for decorations.

The decorations began sinking on the cake.  I thought my fondant was stretching, so I removed the flags and smoothed the fondant and fixed the borders (This was repair number 1).  Two hours later, the fondant had cracked all the way around the top of the cake and slid to the bottom of the cake.  This is where I straped off the cream cheese frosting and fondant and recover with buttercream (repair number 2).  Three hours later (45 minutes from delivery) the flags start sliding down the cake again.  So, I pull all the flags off the cake and smooth the icing once again (repair number 3).  I don't know if there was cream cheese still on the cake or what, but even the buttercream didn't want to stay on the cake now.  I felt badly that the cake didn't look in tip-top shape, but it did make it to the auction and was sold.  I'm glad I was selling it for money, because I would have to have given it to they for free anyway.  I wouldn't have felt right selling it, not because it looked bad, but because I knew it wasn't what it was supposed to be in my mind.  They never gave me instructions on how they wanted the cake, in fact, they want you to be creative.  I was just disappointed it wasn't as I had imagined it.

So do yourself a favor, and stay away from cream cheese frosting when working with fondant on a cake.  Believe me, you will be doing yourself a tremendous favor. 

Now I have heard of people making a Whipped Cream Cheese Swiss Meringue Buttercream and using it under fondant.  But I have never tried it.  This may be an option that I will look into in the future if someone insists on having cream cheese frosting under their fondant covered cake, but as of right now, I'm staying well clear of using cream cheese frosting at all.  Hope this helps someone out.

White Chocolate Butter Pecan Ganache

The other day, through experimentation, I came up with the best tasting filling I have ever tasted. I wanted to create a filling for a cake that tasted like Butter Pecan, but I had no recipe for it. Using what I had at home this is what I came up with.

You will need:
1 12-ounce bag of premium white chocolate morsels
4 ounces of heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup of pecans

In the microwave or over a double boiler, heat crean just until ready to boil. Pour cream over white chocolate chips. Fold the ingredients together,do not stir as this will make bubbles. Place mixture in the refrigerator to cool while you roast your pecans.

In an oven-safe pan, heat butter and pecans at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, and let mixture cool completely.

Fold the nuts into the white chocolate ganache.

This stuff is so good it's like eating homemade butter pecan ice cream. I can think of all sorts of uses for this stuff, or other general application ideas like homemade butter pecan ice cream, cookies, muffins. The possibilities are endless.

Sorry, I digressed there for a moment. Use this as a filling in-between layers of cake, but I wouldn't suggest using it under fondant as the nuts will tear your fondant to shreds.

Hope you enjoy this as much as my family did.

Creating Ocean Waves

I saw the simplest video ever for making ocean waves, and I just had to share the link with you.

I subscribe to an free e-zine (electronic magazine) called BakeMark's Bakin N Rockin. In the July 2011 issue is a video on how to create ocean waves on cakes. It is straight forward and simple. All you will need to create this ocean wave is a styrofoam cup and an airbrush system (if you don't have an airbrush system you could probably also use Wilton's Color Mist.

Here is the link: link

Totally ashamed for my absense

I have to say that I am both amazed at how fast the time has gone by and ashamed that I haven't kept up with my blog.

I seriously hate excuses, but I find that I must offer the only one that I have. The company that I work for has had us on mandatory overtime for months, and I also have been in the process of moving. So there you have it. My time has been very occupied over the past few months. I thought I would make amends by offering up a couple of recipes totally not related to cake, but sound very interesting.


These recipes were supplied to me from Bakerella. She always does such fun stuff. You might want to check out her website at www.bakerella.com. The first recipe is for homemade gumdrops and the second is for Nutter Butter Peanut Butter Pie.

Goodie Goodie Gumdrops
4 Tbsp gelatin (that’s about 6 envelopes)
1 cup cold water
1 1/2 cups boiling water
4 cups sugar
1/4 tsp flavored extract like lemon or peppermint
1-2 drops food coloring (I used four colors)
extra sugar for coating
……………………………………………
3.75 X 6 inch treat bags
Goodie Goodie labels (print the Goodie Goodie pdf)
• In a large pot, soften gelatin in cold water for five minutes.
• Stir in boiling water until gelatin dissolves.
• Stir in sugar.
• Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and boil for 25 minutes. Stir constantly.
• Pour mixture into 4 – 3X5 pans.
• Add 1/4 tsp extract and 1-2 drops food color to each pan.
• Stir until thoroughly combined.
• Cover pan and chill overnight in the fridge.
• Cut gelatin mixture into 3/4 inch cubes using a knife dipped in hot water.
• The gelatin may pull, but continue cutting.
• Separate cubes and roll in sugar until coated on all sides.
• Place gumdrops on wax paper and leave at room temperature for two days to crystallize.
Store in an airtight container.
Makes about 8 dozen 3/4 inch gumdrops.
You can also make 2 – 8X8 pans or 1 – 9X12 pan depending on the number of colors you want to make.
Adapted from the book, Celebrating Candy.

Nutter Butter and Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie
Prep Time: 15 Minutes | Cook Time: 7 Minutes | Difficulty: Easy | Servings: 8

Ingredients
• FOR CRUST
• 25 whole Oreos
• 4 Tablespoons Butter, Melted
• _____
• PEANUT BUTTER FILLING:
• 1 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
• 1 package (8 Ounce) Softened Cream Cheese
• 1-1/4 cup Powdered Sugar
• 1 package (8 Ounce) Cool Whip, Thawed
• 1 package Nutter Butter Peanut Butter Cookies
Preparation Instructions
Crust:
Crush the Oreos until they’re fine crumbs. Pour melted butter over the top and stir with a fork to combine. Press into pie pan and bake at 350 degrees for 5 to 7 minutes, or until set.
Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
Filling:
Beat the peanut butter with the cream cheese until smooth. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add in the thawed Cool Whip and beat mixture until smooth, scraping the sides as needed.
Pour about half of the filling into crust, lay in a layer of Nutter Butter Peanut Butter cookies and pour in remaining filling, evening out the top with a knife or spatula. Chill for at least an hour before serving.
Warning: This is ultra, ultra-rich. Cut small slivers—your guests will thank you!

I hope this will make up for my absense, and I will try to be more diligent. You know how it is though when you are a working outside the home, wife, mother and grandmother. Duty calls all to often, because someone always needs something. I would like to end this by say I enjoy the time I do put into this blog though both for my own relaxation and for the benefit of others.