Mermaid

My cousin Jaiden turned 4 and wanted a Little Mermaid/under the sea themed party.

I used this under the sea mold for fondant using this idea and then this idea. Dusting the mold with cornstarch/powdered sugar mix, pressing the fondant into the mold, cutting off the extra fondant, repressing it, then flipping it out. I laid each piece on wax paper dusted with more cornstarch and powdered sugar, and let dry for 2 days to harden.

I had extra fondant and Jaiden told me that the cake needed a trident for the king when we were discussing her cake a few days before. I made a trident by rolling yellow fondant into a thin short rope. Then using a rolling pin, I rolled a small amount flat and used a sharp knife cut out the shape of the speared end. Laid the shape over the rope and used the rolling pin to roll everything flat and fuse the 2 pieces together. Then I cut out the king's crown shape and laid it on a curved bottle dusted with corn starch so it would have a rounded shape as it hardened. I dusted everything with pearl dust. White on the yellow, pink, and ivory fondant, green on the teal fondant, purple on the purple, and red on the coral fondant.

See that Flounder? I rolled out another thin sheet of fondant and using food writers, drew out the shape of Flounder by hand. Then I used a small paint brush and dipped it into a small amount of food gel into my palette, added a drop of color and used it to "paint" his light and dark blue stripes on. I could have (should have) used vodka instead of water, since the alcohol evaporates faster; it took a long time to dry. I also made a Sebastian and then Dory and Nemo. Under the sea right?

Detail. The king's trident and crown. Purple shells and a little piping makes Ariel's top. Sebastian and Flounder.

Top tier is chocolate cake. I used the wonder mold pan. I frosted it with a large piping bag and the frosting tip. After it crusted I used a viva paper towel and my hand to smooth out any bumps.

Bottom tier is yellow cake dyed sea green. Its a 12x3 inch round with the heating core.

I used a new frosting recipe that I learned in the Wilton class I'm taking, its too good to share!

Make sure to cut dowels to fit under your top tier. It supports your cake from collapsing and keeps it level. 

I piped on the dark blue water border instead of using the mold just because I was becoming impatient with the process. Used a dot of frosting to adhere the fondant to the cake after it has crusted.

A problem I ran into with using this Ariel doll I found for cheap at walmart, was that from her hips to the bottom of her feet was about 6 inches. The wonder mold pan yields cake that is only 5 inches tall. I had to cut a 2" hole in the bottom of the 8" cake board and thread her feet through the bottom. No biggie. After she was in, I piped her tail using tip 104, let down her hair and positioned her arms.

Disney/Pixar movies always have "Easter Eggs" in them so I thought it would be cute to sneak in Nemo and Dory on the back of the cake.

My sea creatures came out great! The cake was a hit at the party and Jaiden couldn't get over her Mermaid cake!

Hard to believe something that started this sketch came into reality.

Rockin' 1st Birthday: Drums and Guitar

My nephew is turning 1! I'm more than thrilled to make his two birthday cakes, a chocolate electric guitar cake and a vanilla drum cake (8" round). These cakes are covered with buttercream.

Chocolate Cake 

1 1/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup butter, room temp

1 tsp vanilla

3 eggs

2 cups cake flour, sifted

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup milk

6 oz semi sweet chocolate baking bars, melted and cooled

In mixing bowl combine sugar, butter and vanilla. Add eggs and beat for 1 minute. Add melted chocolate. Add flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually add milk. Prep guitar pan with Wilton cake release. Bake for 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees. I rotate my pan after 20 minutes to ensure even baking. Cool to room temp on wire rack then move to fridge to chill before frosting.

Buttercream Frosting
6 cups powdered sugar
4 sticks (2 cups) room temperature butter
2 tsp clear vanilla extract
2-4 tbsp heavy whipping cream
food coloring as needed

Mix together butter and sugar in stand mixer for 3 minutes on medium. Add vanilla and cream and beat for another minute.

The electric guitar pattern calls for 1 1/2 cup white (thin 1 cup with 1 tbsp light corn syrup), 1 3/4 blue, 3/4 cup light blue, and 3/4 cup black.



Follow the directions and must frost in order. For the areas that are iced smooth, it is harder to smooth them over since you don't want to take a long pass and run the colors together, smooth it as best you can, let it lightly crust over (after a few minutes) then take a non textured/colored paper towel (Viva brand) and lightly press to smooth any stray frosting. 

Vanilla Cake
1 cup butter, softened
2-1/2 cups all purpose flour, sifted
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1-1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
2 tsp clear vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk

Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and yolks one at a time. Add vanilla. Alternatively beat in flour mixture and buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture until just combined. Divide batter between two 8x2" pans prepped with cake release and parchment cut to size. Baked at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. 


Buttercream Frosting
3 cups powdered sugar
2 sticks (1 cup) room temperature butter
1 tsp clear vanilla extract
2tbsp heavy whipping cream
food coloring as needed

Mix together butter and sugar in stand mixer for 3 minutes on medium. Add vanilla and cream and beat for another minute. I leveled and frosted the cakes with the buttercream then used Wilton food mist* in blue to spray the sides, while covering the top with a paper towel. *Be sure to cover your work surface with newspaper! Then used the leftover black from the guitar to add the details.

The drum was displayed on a cake stand with drumsticks sitting on the table. 

Happy Halloween

I saw on Pinterest a pumpkin shaped cake made using bundt pans. I used one box of Betty Crocker Devil's Food and one box of French Vanilla. Make sure to spray and flour the pan well so it doesn't stick. I made the frosting from scratch in two batches, one dyed green and one dyed orange. The stem is a ice cream cone sprayed with Wilton's Color Mist Spray. The jack o'lantern face is Wilton Sugar Sheet in black.

Buttercream Frosting
3 cups powdered sugar
2 sticks (1 cup) room temperature butter
2 tsp clear vanilla extract
2 tbsp heavy whipping cream
food coloring as needed.

I made one batch of green and then one batch of orange. I used the green to frost inside the round of the bundt, and to make the vines and the leaves.

Joaquin's 3rd Superhero Birthday

POW! We're talking superheroes now! I recently met a cousin of mine who just turned 3 and my aunt asked me to make his birthday cake for his party.

Happy Birthday Joaquin!

Half sheet pan 11x15x2" takes 11 cups batter, most cake recipes or mixes yield between 4-6 cups batter, so you can either double a recipe to get roughly 8-12 cups or triple the recipe and measure out the 11 cups and use the remaining to make taste tester cupcakes. I just doubled the recipe for each layer and baked 2 layers. The strawberry glaze is torted between the layers. The entire cake is frosted with the whipped cream frosting. Borders and designs are all buttercream. 12 hours of work total, phew!

Vanilla Cake (doubled)
2 cups butter, room temp
3 cups sugar
5 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
4 large eggs
6 egg yolks
4 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups low-fat buttermilk

In mixer, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Sift together with a fork. In mixer add eggs and egg yolks, one at a time. Add flour and buttermilk, alternating, beginning and ending with flour. Mix until just combined. Spray half sheet pan with misting oil, coat with flour and line with parchment. Make sure to get corners well. Pour batter into pan and bake in oven preheated to 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Move onto wire cooling rack and allow to  cool for 20 minutes before releasing from pan. Run the edge of a plastic offset spatula around edge of pan to release sides then invert onto rack. Continue to cool to room temperature and move into fridge to chill. I did 2 layers so each layer consisted of the double recipe above.

Delicious strawberry glaze.

Strawberry Glaze
32 oz fresh strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup water
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tbsp cornstarch

In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and water. In a medium saucepan, add strawberries, sugar and lemon juice, bring to boil for 10 minutes. Stir in cornstarch mixture and lower heat, simmer for 3-5 minutes. I added 1/4 tsp of no-taste red food gel to make sure this came out a true red and not a pink. Strain if desired, but continual stirring will break down any remaining chunks and leave a pulpy glaze, which I like. Refrigerate.

Whipped Cream Frosting
4 cups  heavy whipping cream
8 tbsp powdered sugar
16 tbsp clear piping gel
2 tsp clear vanilla extract

In mixing bowl with whisk attachment, add heavy whipping cream and powdered sugar, beat on medium high speed until stiff peaks form. Add piping gel and vanilla. Mix until just combined. Use immediately and refrigerate cake after frosted.

 Frozen Buttercream Transfers

Colors!

1-1/2 cup butter, softened
1-1/2 cup shortening
1 tbsp clear vanilla extract
12 cups powdered sugar
6 tbsp milk

Cream together shortening and butter. Beat in vanilla. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time. Add milk. Divided into parts to make red (use red-red, no-taste red gel colors and mix in a little bit of the glaze), blue, green, yellow, white, and black. Print out or draw a mirror image of the design you would like to use onto paper. Tape this onto a flat sheet like a cookie sheet. I used a cake board cut to fit into the freezer. Tape a piece of waxed paper over the image. Draw outlines, then fill in with colors. Move to freezer and allow to chill for 20 minutes to an hour. Press onto cake and lift away waxed paper. 

WHAM

BOOM @?*!

ZONK

BANG POW

Jaiden's 3rd Princess Birthday

Princess castle themed cake!

Chocolate Cake
3-3/4 cup sugar
2-1/4 cup butter, room temp
1 tbsp vanilla
9 eggs
6 cups cake flour, sifted
1 tbsp baking soda
1-1/2 tsp salt
3 cups milk
18 oz semi sweet chocolate baking bars, melted and cooled

18 oz of chocolate. mmm. chocolate.

In mixing bowl combine sugar, butter and vanilla. Add eggs and beat for 1 minute. Add melted chocolate. Add flour, baking soda and salt. Gradually add milk. In 6x3" round and two 10x2" round baking pans,  spray with oil, coat sides with cocoa powder and line with parchment paper. Divide batter between pans and bake for 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees. I rotate my pans after 20 minutes to ensure even baking. Cool to room temp on wire rack then move to fridge to chill before frosting. Cakes are leveled and torted with buttercream.

Black Cherry Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
1-1/2 cups solid vegetable shortening
1-1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp clear vanilla extract
1 tsp cherry Kool-aid powder
12 cups powdered sugar, sifted
6 tbsp milk

Cream together shortening and butter. Add vanilla. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time. Add milk. This makes a pretty pink frosting. I divided it in thirds, added kool-aid to make 1/3 pink, added blue and violet food coloring and more kool-aid to make the purple frosting, the remaining 1/3 was only vanilla, to make green, brown and blue detail work.

The castle turrets are a regular ice cream cone sprayed with color mist, with a waffle cone inverted set into it and attached with buttercream. The waffle cones were painted with melted white chocolate and rolled in pink  and purple sprinkles. The flags are pink fondant cut into flag shapes, rolled onto a toothpick. Allow to air dry overnight with toothpicks threaded in to give them shape.

"Turtle"

"Turtle" was made for my friend Cleo's sis-in-law's 17th birthday, since they say she looks like a turtle and they call her that sometimes we thought it would be fun to surprise her. The cake is Dark Chocolate Fudge and Devil's Food with Milk Chocolate Frosting by Duncan Hines. There is a Smuckers caramel filling with crushed pecans between the layers. Sand is made from brown sugar and crushed pecans. The turtle hump is formed with hand-molded Rice Crispies Treats and covered with Wilton precolored fondant. The sugar flowers and leaves were Wilton. This was a really cute and fun cake to make. It tasted great and if I were to make another turtle flavored cake, I would mix the pecans into the batter before baking and instead of using the caramel as a filling I would inject it into the baked cake.