Lightning McQueen Take TWO

So, the frosting was getting hard on the cake and I rolled out the red fondant. I bought it pre-made for a couple of reasons. Yes, I know how to make my own fondant now and it tastes better than the pre-made stuff I had used before (the stuff I bought at Joanns or Michael's...) BUT getting the white fondant a true red is so hard and time consuming. I was willing to fork over the dough to buy it made- it was worth the $20 for 2 lbs of it. I found a cake bakers supply shop on my way home from work so I picked it up the other day. It is the same brand used on the show "Cake Boss".

Let me just say- I was pleasantly surprised. It was soft, moist, pliable and a true red. So, I rolled it out, took the cake out of the freezer....



...rolled the fondant onto my rolling pin and then unrolled it on top of the cake. I only have 2 hands so I couldn't take pictures of this process. It went ok... I need practice and perhaps a lighter rolling pin. Plus I need to get better at knowing what thickness to achieve when laying the fondant on a sculpted cake...



I smoothed it out on top of the cake, and believe me there were some cracks and tears. I waited too long before I rolled it ON the cake and this stuff dries out quickly. Also, because I rolled some spots out too thinly, it tore. More lessons learned ;) I also learned a trick- to smooth out and shine the fondant use Crisco. yeah, another use for good ol' Crisco!


So, I'm gonna call it a night. I'm beat and The next steps are going to be a lot harder and time consuming. It's almost midnight and I did A TON today... Bakery, #1's birthday shirt, sewed some buttons (yah, swear!), finally decorated Moochies room (I'll put pictures up later), wrapped #1's gifts, made dinner, made Oma's bday cake, and now this. It's been a LOOOOONG day... g'night!

Oma's Bday Cake

I had about 12 ideas for this cake. I had very little direction- use fondant, any color, make it 'impressive', flavor/color didn't matter. OK.... At this point, open ended cake directions are not good. I need some focus because my mind races with possibilities of what I would like to try. And then I end up wanting to do too much and then the cake loses its focus.

First, I needed to whip up some buttercream. My bestie came over and kept me company while I got this going. I got to share w/ her the magnificence of watching the egg whites and sugar whip up to pearly white goodness in the Kitchen aid... and she also witnessed first hand the ridiculous amount of butter that goes in as well... yikes.

I've showed the pictures of the buttercream already so I won't bore you with that, or me actually stacking the cake. It is a 6 inch round yellow cake with banana ganache, covered in HOMEMADE marshmallow vanilla fondant in white. I LOVE that I know how to make fondant now :)


Notice the pink bow loops in the background? Yeah.. I should have assembled the bow before working on the cake. Lesson Learned. It needs to harden and set well before placing it on the cake. Sigh... I got too excited.

Then I rolled out some bright green fondant. I decided on making bright pink and green polka dots in addition to the bright pink bow... So I cut out circles in 2 different sizes and started to throw them on the cake...
Then I added the 'ribbons' that I THOUGHT were hardened enough to hold their bend. Two things: 1) they weren't hard enough. Why? I have no idea. They kept falling flat. 2) I should have put these on BEFORE I did the polka dots.
It was at this point that I realized, "Hey I should have assembled the bow by now so I could set it on the cake RIGHT now". Sigh... So I just put the bow together using a TON of frosting to hold it in place and put it in the freezer for a while. Then I put it on top of the cake and Voila!


I LOVE this little cake. I think it's very cute and girlie. Probably too youthful for an Oma, but whatever I had little direction so they get what they get ;) After I put the bow on I threw it in the freezer again to harden up and now on to #1's cake...

Wow Wow Wubbzy schooled me

I went to bed last night before 9 pm... haven't done that in a while and my alarm still came too early this morning. I worked on that cake for about 15 hours total I think over the past week and a half. Wubbzy schooled me for sure.

**Lessons learned:

1) It's ok to make a simpler cake than you imagined. It relieves a lot of stress
2) Make the gum paste figures at least 5 days to a week in advance. They really need the time to harden
3) The microwave is your friend when mixing colors into the gumpaste. Just a few seconds is all you need and it saves you SO MUCH time kneading.
4) Homemade gumpaste and fondant is not hard to make at all. It's almost laughable how easy it is and much much cheaper than buying it pre-made. And it tastes better.
5) Wear gloves when coloring the gumpaste/fondant.
6) You don't need to use edible glue, water works well too.
7) A turn table is a God send.
8) You never know how much you take your fridge for granted until it dies on you.
9) Youtube has a WEALTH of knowledge on cake decorating. It's inspiring and humbling to see how talented people are. wow...

I have two cakes coming up this week. #1's birthday is coming up and so is his Oma's. I'm unsure if I will take another stab at the Yo Gabba Gabba cake or if i will try something new (Cars possibly? Monster trucks??). Stay tuned!

Wow Wow Wubbzy final take

It all started with this sketch....







TA-DA!!! :) I'm really happy with it.. And, as I had anticipated, the appendages didn't harden as I had hoped. Huge lesson learned...

Red Velvet

I've been skeptical about Red Velvet. It is so trendy to 'like' Red Velvet. Seriously, what's the big deal? Maybe it's because I haven't had any that knocked my socks off. And as I've mentioned before I ate a ton of it from various bakeries in Chicago a couple of weeks ago. None of which blew me away.

There are a few birthdays coming up that I'm going to be baking for and I've offered Red Velvet as a flavor choice. This afternoon was my first attempt and what a MESS! A "hot mess" if you will...

Lessons learned:

1) Maybe wear gloves while making red velvet? The red gets everywhere and it dyes your hands.
2) Mini cupcakes are a mess to scoop. I need to find the right sized scoop for these smaller cups.

3) Everyone likes a mini cupcake. They are 'cute' and you don't feel as guilty eating them.
4) I like the idea of a mini cupcake. It's like a dessert amouse-bouche (a single bite sized appetizer type thing. oh yeah, whipping out my french culinary terms).
I also tried out a new cream cheese frosting recipe. I knew I was wanting a thicker one, since I found this a.m. that the previous attempt was more of a glaze not a frosting. I wish I took a picture of this whipping up because it was perfect. Serious cream cheese frosting perfection. It piped out so well on the mini cupcakes and spread perfectly on the big ones too.



Huge smile on my face as I decorated these. I was calling and texting anyone in the vicinity- "come quick, just frosted some red velvets and they look good!"
#1 ate one and per usual, he bit the top off and gave me the muffin 'stump'. oh dear...


And after all were picked up/delivered I got this glorious text message:
"OMG sandy- sooooo good!!! I luv having a baker bff!!! :)"

I'm going to bed happy....

Morning Baking

We got pummeled with snow the last night! Roads were too scary to make the drive in to work so I'm working from home today. And since I was up at my normal pre-dawn time, I decided a sweet morning treat was in order.... Cinnamon Rolls from scratch w/ some cream cheese icing (I had to use up that left over cream cheese frosting/icing from the spice cupcakes anyhow).
I've never had much of an inclination to bake bread. I think I got a bread maker as a gag gift once (a la Old School), and it has since been re-gifted... The whole yeast thing and waiting for it to rise and proof and OMG that's just way too much waiting and seeing.
I set to work with the packet of yeast, flour, (and HOT water) etc etc and began kneading. My arms have been getting a workout lately- the beating, kneading, rolling, frosting- seriously, baking is a workout...


OK, so I had the dough in a ball... then had to let it 'rest'... and I got breakfast going for #1 and started doing work email (oh the juggling working mom's must do!) which got me thinking, maybe I LIKE making bread, it allows you to do OTHER things and not babysit the ingredients!!

The timer went off and I proceed to roll it out, and add a TON of butter, sugar and cinnamon before I rolled up the dough and cut into slices... To let it rest again in a warm place... Warm place, warm place...hm... OH! the first floor bathroom! there is a heating vent under the sink that dumps hot air on my feet every a.m. when I'm getting ready for work. It serves zero purpose besides to warm my feet up because the rest of the bathroom is freezing. It now has a second purpose. Anyhow, the dough rested, I read #1 a book, talked to my boss and then popped them in the oven.

I forgot to take a picture of them before I iced them- I got too excited. They actually looked pretty, smelled good and they ROSE. holy cow I can make dough rise and not have an I Love Lucy moment where the dough comes spewing out of the oven!

The icing melted so nicely- I now know that this specific icing is PERFECT for cinnamon rolls, not so much to frost a cake or cupcake. ****LESSON LEARNED!****

They were too good not to share, so they found their way to various work places today. Although, they tasted best steaming hot right out of the oven with the icing melting into the buttery sugary cinnamon goodness. Don't think about it now if you ate one yesterday, but I added some extra butter, sugar and cinnamon on top before I popped them in the oven ;)

HOLY....

Mountain, Sandy. Sandy, Mountain....

I had NO idea how labor intensive this was going to get. Let's just say I put the cart in front of the hourse on this one. Lessons learned:

1) bake ALL cakes well in advance of actually using them to decorate

2) make your OWN buttercream and make MORE than you anticipate using

3) red is nearly unattainable without actual red food dye.

4) food coloring/dye is a mess

5) gumpaste and fondant should NOT be used interchangeably

6) a cake turntable is essential in cake decorating.

7) mise en place is HUGE. ... HUGE.

and number 8...

8) I need a TON of practice. a TON.

thankfully, I signed up for some practice in a few weeks at an old college haunt.

in the mean time, my hands are all shades of green, blue and red. My back is seriously aching, my kitchen is a MESS and I'm sure I have powdered sugar all over my face and hair. I'm refusing to look in the mirror.

But I know I would see this- a GIANT smile on my face. Today was awesome....