Wilton Cake Decorating Course 1

In order to move forward with my teaching cake decorating idea, I have signed up for the Wilton Cake Decorating Course 1. I probably don't really need it and could possibly be bored out of my mind, but I thought it was a good place to start just in case the next courses that I want to take mention anything that happened in course 1. I will keep this updated as the course progresses. The class starts January 5th.

Just some thoughts..

I haven't posted in a while, huh? I haven't decorated anything either. I haven't had any special occasions or even felt like baking or decorating.

I have been doing some thinking though (this could be really scary or really good. lol)  I had this idea of starting my own little business. Not sure where to go with it or how to begin or if I even want to put the idea out there for others to steal. I have not seen this idea anywhere. It would combine the success of the party sales companies and my own cake decorating expertise minus the actual cake. Do I even want to say what I am thinking? What is it you ask? I am thinking about teaching cake decorating, but in the party type setting like the popular companies like Scentsy, Pampered Chef, etc. I would charge a flat fee depending on the number of people that will attend the party, supply the icing/fondant/gum paste and a dummy cake. The only thing that party goers would need is a basic cake decorating kit they can get at a craft store or I could include it with the fee (I haven't decided yet).  In order for me to do this, I would need to brush up on my cake decorating skills, so I was thinking about taking the Wilton classes offered by Michael's. I know the basics and can make a pretty rose, but as far as other flowers go, I have no clue. I also don't have much experience with fondant or gum paste. Knowing more about them and how to use them would be helpful in teaching others.  I put the idea out there on facebook and have some hits, but not nearly enough for me to consider this as a business. So whatcha think? Should I go for it? Take the classes and go from there?

Any business names are welcome.. :D

Happy 40th Birthday Bill!!!

Sorry I haven't posted anything recently. I didn't have any occasion to bake for until now. Today, my hubby is 40!  I was going to keep the cake simple with just a border, some streamers and the writing, but he wanted roses, so he got roses.  

The cake is a box mix, Funfetti.  I made my own icing though. Now that I have a recipe I really like, I don't mind making it myself. I used Buddy Valastro's, The Cake Boss, recipe, but tweaked it to get the flavor I wanted. I used a full stick of unsalted butter instead of the 6 tsps and I added an extra 1/2 tsp of vanilla. Let me just say, I could sit and eat it by the spoon fulls. It is THAT good. :D

One Direction Cupcakes

I was asked by a friend to make some cupcakes for one of the dancers where Emma dances. The girls favorite band is One Direction and she will be going to the concert when they come to Minneapolis.  The faces/circles are made out of fondant. I drew the eyebrows,noses and mouths on with a food writer marker. The eyes, hair, and writing are all piped on with buttercream icing.  Here they are.. :D

The Golf Cake

I had another chance to practice my sculpting skills. I made my Father-in-law's birthday cake for him. All the golf stuff is made out of modeling chocolate. The golf clubs are skewers covered in the "clay". The flag pole is a lollipop stick. The sand on the cake is brown sugar..

 

The Teacher's Cake and Graduation Cake

As promised, here are the pictures of the two cakes I did this week. I was right, I got in the "zone" and didn't take progress pictures. 

I'm so excited!

I am so excited! I can't wait to start decorating!☺ 

This week, I am making two cakes and will be using the Cake Boss, Buddy Valastro's recipes for Vanilla Cake and Chocolate Cake out of his Baking with the Cake Boss book. One cake is for the Teacher's/Staff Appreciation for Wednesday and the other for a dance mom friend who is graduating from college for Friday. I have been experimenting with modeling chocolate and different structures trying to get just the right look. For the Teacher's cake, I used candy melts and light corn syrup to make the modeling "clay" and made these:

The chalkboard will have ABC 123 written on it with icing. I tried the writing with the "clay" but it just didn't work out. I am quite impressed with myself. I am by far the worst sculptor you could imagine, but these came out pretty well, I might say. ☺ This cake is just for fun, although I wanted to show off a little. ☺ I wanted to try a few new things and this gave me the perfect opportunity to do so.

For the graduation cake, I made this:

The laptop is made out of Rice Krispy treats and the "clay". The screen and keyboard are just a picture of a laptop that I added the wording to in Paint Shop Pro X2 and printed out and laminated. I was going to make the medallion look similar to the laptop, but it just would not cooperate, so it is just a picture of the friend's real medallion that I laminated and will lay on the cake just like it is pictured. ☺ This cake is pretty important to me. If the friend likes it, I will probably be getting more "orders" from other dance moms through word of mouth. I don't and cannot charge for my cakes, so I could be really busy pretty soon. ☺ 

Pictures of the cakes will come once they are done. I will try to post progress pictures like I did for one of Emma's birthday cakes. ☺ We'll see how that goes. Once I start decorating and get in the "zone," I usually forget to take pictures until it is done. ☺

Snickerdoodles

I admit it, I have never had a Snickerdoodle, until today, that is. Emma and I made 4 dozen after school today. I LOVE cinnamon, so these cookies are fabulous. I used the recipe from Food.com. This recipe would also make a killer sugar cookie, omitting the cinnamon, of course. ☺  I added an extra 1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon. These cookies were unbelievably good. I have braces and can't eat crunchy cookies without dunking them in milk first. I don't always like to do that. These cookies stayed soft until the last one was gone. I will definitely make these again. Em and I even came up with our own cake recipe. Be on the look out for that in a couple of weeks.

Soft Snickerdoodle Cookies
from Food.com

• 1 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 3/4 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 3 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Mix butter, 1 1/2 cups sugar and eggs thoroughly in a large bowl.
3. Sift the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt together in a separate bowl.
4. Blend dry ingredients into butter mixture.
5. Chill dough, and chill an un-greased cookie sheet for about 10-15 minutes in the fridge.
6. Meanwhile, mix 3 tablespoons sugar, and 3 teaspoons cinnamon in a small bowl.
7. Scoop 1 inch globs of dough into the sugar/ cinnamon mixture.
8. Coat by gently rolling balls of dough in the sugar mixture.
9. Place on chilled un-greased cookie sheet, and bake 10 minutes.
10. Remove from pan immediately.
    
    
    

Scratch Baking

I made a cake from scratch on Tuesday. By from scratch I mean I did not use a cake mix. I actually used flour and other ingredients. I even made the icing from scratch. I have to say this cake was pretty good. It needed more chocolate for my taste though. I'm a self proclaimed chocoholic. I always have chocolate around in some form. ☺

Here is a picture of the cake. I admit, it's not my best decorating job, but it was mostly made for us to eat here at home and so I could practice the scratch recipes. From posting this cake on Facebook, I now have a friend that would like me to make her a cake for her graduation.

I didn't have cake flour, so I searched for a recipe that used all-purpose instead and found this one Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake   . There is also a "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Icing to go with  it, but I didn't use that part.

Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water
• cooking spray

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Spray two 9-inch round baking pans or one 9x13-1/4 sheet pan with cooking spray. ( The original recipe says to grease and flour the pans, I never flour a cake pan. I just spray it with cooking spray. I have found that flouring the pans makes the cake gritty and makes decorating difficult.)
2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. (I sifted these ingredients together over the mixing bowl.) Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (the batter is really thin, watery thin, not like the box mix at all). Pour batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely. Frost or ice with your favorite icing or use the "Perfectly Chocolate"Chocolate Frosting from the Hershey's page and decorate however you want. :D

Baking Plans and a Dream

I just wanted to add a little update. I have been wanting to bake and decorate lately,but I recently lost 30 pounds and don't want to gain it all back. I have been limiting the amount of cakes,cookies, etc. that I have been eating and feeding my family. I still eat all that stuff, just in moderation. If a cake is in there, I'm gonna eat it. LOL. As of right now, I am only baking for special occasions. I really want to do more, but don't have anyone nearby that would want one if I did.

I am still looking into getting Food Safe Certified. I'm hoping to get that done when I can. I feel that would open a lot of opportunities for me. I have also been thinking about taking a class or two toward a business degree. I would love to open my own cake shop. I had a dream one night that I opened my own nut free cake shop. I know a lot of kids in Emma's school that have peanut/tree nut allergies and there isn't a bakery in the area that sells only nut free bakery products.

Happy 8th Birthday Emma!

Today is Emma's 8th birthday, as in my usual fashion, I baked and decorated her cake. I took it kind of easy this year. I didn't get too crazy with the decorations because I just didn't have as much time this year. She is having a karaoke/sleepover party this year so I had to get the house ready. Anyways, here is the cake/cupcakes. I still need to add the candles to the cupcakes,but you get the idea. :D