Whimsical Cake Class

I got a great deal on a Whimsical Cake Class, only $25!  I asked Chris if we had the money and for such a great deal, of course!  Then I got the supply list!  I have to bake 2 - 12 inch cakes, 2 - 9 inch cakes, and 2 - six inch cakes, and they all have to be pound cake!  I found a recipe for the bottom tier which I will be serving at church, it is honey-whole wheat pound cake and I will be using palm sugar for the cake and frosting.  I wanted to use palm sugar for the whole cake, but that would have been over $30 for just the palm sugar!  Not to mention the about 6 pounds of butter I'll be using!  Needless to say the two top tiers will be cane sugar.  Did I mention the over six pounds of buttercream that I need to make?
I also need a pvc pipe cutter.  I'll have to pray someone has one I can borrow, because after buying 6 lbs of fondant (about $16 with a coupon) I'm broke.  I have a little bit of fondant and modelling chocolate left over from a previous project, I hope it will be enough for the decorations.  If not I'll try to save back a few dollars in case I need to buy more.
I had trouble figuring out what a sewing gauge is too, it turns out to be a metal flat thing I already have in my sewing box!  I learned something new!
I have lost my roll and cut mat, it would not stay flat so I stopped using it, who knows where it is.  I also need separator plates, dowel rods, spatulas, rolling pins, pizza cutter, cake drum and etc.  PTL that except for the cake drum I seem to have everything else!  I'll have to make the cake drum out of some pizza rounds that I got (sounds like a great job for Chris!)
The class is two days away and I still cannot decide on the design!  I want whimsical gerber daisies, and garden with toadstools and bugs, and elegant.  There are so many to choose from!  I am excited about my class and I know the Lord will provide everything I need, He always does!
Happy Baking!
Missy

Cheesecake

I had a great time at the Arlington Cake Club today.  We learned how to do petit fours and cake balls.  Here is a link on cakeballs from Bakerella.  http://www.bakerella.com/hope-these-put-a-smile-on-your-face/
I made a cheesecake today.  My favorite recipe is from Kraft Foods.  http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/philadelphia-new-york-style-sour-104996.aspx
They include a video and everything!!  I prefer to use a 10 inch round cake pan to the 9x13 pan that they use in the video.  They also use aluminum foil in the video, if you use a 9x13, parchment paper works better.
Remember that when you make a cheesecake that it will look wet in the middle, it will firm up in the fridge.  The best thing about cheesecakes, is that you can make them the day before!
If you want to make it diabetic, you can use palm sugar which has a lower hypoglycemic index than cane sugar.  You can buy it asian grocery stores.  It also tastes good.
For palm sugar use the same amounts you would use for cane sugar.  When making the crust, you will want to melt the palm sugar with the butter.  Go ahead and make the topping in advance so the palm sugar can be "melting" in the sour cream while the cheesecake bakes.  That is the only difference!  Make sure you allow the cheesecake to cool thoroughly before you put it into the fridge.
Here is the information on palm sugar and it's glycemic index.
http://sweet-tree.biz/
Happy Baking!

Oatmeal Raisin Walnut Bars

I made some of the best oatmeal cookies.  I am a firm believer that everything is better with nuts, and with less steps.  First of all I was craving oatmeal cookies and I did not have much time and cookies can be pretty time consuming.  To remedy this I put a piece of parchment paper in a 9 x 13 casserole dish and put the cookie dough in there to cook.  Less steps this way to get my cookies!  I got the main recipe from the bottom of the lid of the Quaker Oatmeal Box. 
http://www.quakeroats.com/cooking-and-recipes/content/recipes/recipe-detail.aspx?recipeId=474
I found the recipe on the website, but the website says 3/4 a cup of brown sugar and the recipe I used says one cup.  If you want to avoid cane sugar use 1 1/4 cup of palm sugar instead of the white and brown sugar.  Palm sugar is great for diabetics because it has a lower glycemic index and it is healthier and not addicting!  Make sure you use real butter because margarine will not taste as good and has a lot of unhealthy oils in it.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 6 tablespoons butter, softened
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
3 cups Quaker® Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked)
1 cup raisins
I added one cup of walnuts
. .Preparation :

Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, beat butter and sugars on medium speed of electric mixer until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt; mix well. Add oats and raisins; mix well.

Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

For cookie bars which I think are better:  Bake 30 - 35 minutes in an ungreased 13x9-inch metal baking pan.

My husband took these cookies to work and they were a hit!
Happy Baking!
Missy

Pink Castle on a Mountain Cake

I was up until 4:30 on Friday morning decorating a cake for my friend Renee.  It was quite an experience for me, I learned a lot of new things.  The cake was from a Debbie Brown book (don't you love her books?).  Renee did not want the entire cake covered in fondant, so I used buttercream instead.  First  I made the flowers using the Wilton cut and punch, and cut them out of fondant.  For the rest of the accents I added a little bit of fondant to modelling chocolate.  For the caves I took some black and made a cave shape and pushed it into the mountain and had the thick buttercream overlap the cave some to add texture.   For the grass I took a lump of the chocolate mixture and using the biggest tip texturized the grass.  I used toothpicks to push the grass onto the mountain side and add a few more textures with the toothpick.  I made rocks leading up to the caves to look like steps and put rocks everywhere.  I took green dusting powder and added it to the grass and surrounding areas with a paintbrush.  I overlaid some of the areas and the rocks with yellow dusting powder.  I then added the flowers which had already been sprinkled with pink dusting powder.  I formed the castle with a rice krispie treat in the middle.  I took the modelling chocolate and formed the turrets out of dusty pink (pink with a little brown).  I added dark purple to make the tops of the turrets and then sprinkled it with more pink dusting powder.  I loved making this cake!  See the girls cakes section for more pictures of this cake.

Renee also wanted another one of Debbie Brown's cakes.  This one was a fun "marshmallow" castle.  Since she had already ordered the chocolate cake, this one we made entirely out of rice krispie treats.  I used the recipe for rice krispie treats and then shaped it together and smooshed it together, then chilled it in the fridge for a day or two.  Next time I will cut the top to make it more even.  I then took the pure modelling chocolate and covered the rice krispies with it.  Next time Lauren Kitchens said to roll out the white chocolate and chill it in the fridge for 10 minutes before putting it on the turrets to make it perfectly smooth.  I then used melted candy melts to attach the marshmallows and silver dragees and cut up pink marshmallows to make the door, windows and walkway.  I made very cute grass with yellow cotton candy and put marshmallow bunnies all over the front yard, but the humidity disentregated the cotton candy and made it look like moss.  I then attached mini-marshmallows around the board for a fence.  Yum!

Happy Birthday Brianna and Cassia!

Modelling Chocolate

I made my first modelling chocolate last night!  I pray it turns out!  I can't wait to start playing with it.
I am making a "marshmallow" castle made out of rice krispies treats and covered in modelling chocolate, then decorated with marshmallows, silver dragees, and cotton candy.  I am also making an elaborate mountain topped with a castle made out of modelling chocolate.  I am very excited about these cakes!
Here comes the clincher though, I fell yesterday and banged up my right hand!  I hope I can do everything with my fingers to make these cakes! 
Today I need to make two batches of rice krispies treats.
Happy Baking!
Missy

Coconut Cake

This is the beginning of my blog all about my cake decorating experiences, aprons I like, and all to the glory of God.  One of my favorite verses is Ps 34:8 "O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him."  There are lots of ways to "taste" His goodness.  I always thought that taste is a sensory experience.  How do you feel when you bite into a piece of coconut cake with coconut frosting?  I made one last night using a white cake recipe I got from the Whimsical Bakehouse.  I added 2/3 a cup of coconut to the batter and I wanted a fluffy icing and found that recipe from the same book and covered the cake with coconut.  I took a bite and the sweetness combined with coconut was pure heaven!  Isn't the Lord good to give us the knowledge to combine these wonderful ingredients that He provided for us?  Next time I make the cake though I think I will replace some of the milk in the cake with coconut milk.  I think that will give it a bit more coconut taste.
Please be patient with me as I start adding more pages with pictures of my cakes and different aprons I find.  If you have a favorite apron picture or story that you would like to add please feel free to email it to me!  I am also looking for some great recipes for all things cake related!
Thank you for joining me in my experiences in cakes!
Missy