Vacation...

Sorry it has been so long since I posted. I went on a cruise with the hubby to Mexico. We had never taken a cruise much less left the country. It makes you so thankful once you see how little the people on these countries have. Just the simplest thing such as drinkable tap water. Most of the country is in such a state of poverty the are lucky to even have food and water on a daily basis. The places you see when you get off the boat are just like any other tourist trap. We decided to take a cab and see the whole island. After you get a mile or so from town you see the real island that you don't see on all of the pretty brochures. Most of the house look more like shacks, and the people lives in conditions as bad as some of our homeless citizens. So be thankful for the things you do have. This economy has hit us all hard, but if you are warm at night and you know where your next meal is coming from you have so many things to be thankful for.

My next post will be some neat ideas for Easter treats and desserts that you can make to delight your guest at Easter dinner. I will also be starting a youtube video series for the beginner cake artist.
Let your dreams be your limit. Never stop dreaming!!

To bake (from scratch) Or not to bake....

Scratch recipes take a lot of work, all of the measuring, special ingredients, much less the extra baking time. I have notice it you are just baking a basic white or yellow most customer seem to associate scratch cake with pound cake. Most people have eaten box cake mix so much that they automatically assume that is how cake is suppose to taste.
There are endless ways that you can tweak a box cake mix, such as pudding, extract, sour cream, and the list go on. Next time you take an order for a cake or just have some friends around, do a taste test of scratch versus box and see what reaction you get. I can almost bet they will pick the box cake mix if you put frosting or icing on the cake samples.
The human is a creature of habit, so unless they have a very versatile pallette they will go box.

If you ever have a question please feel free to comment and I will get back to you asap.

Basic Buttercream Recipe

I have tried so manyyyyyy buttercream recipes. Some very complicated as well. The best I have found is the most simple. You can flavor this buttercream any way you like with extract or fruit, zest, etc. Just remember if you add a liquid flavor you must reduce the milk content to sub for your flavor. This utter cream is an awesome crusting buttercream and work super under fondant. If you have a paddle attachment be sure to use it anytime you are trying not to incorporate air in your recipes. The ingredients needed Are;
1 stick unsalted butter (land o lakes)is what I prefer
1 stick salted butter(lol)
1 stick of crisco ( prepackaged sticks)
2 lbs (approximate 8 cups) powder sugar (Domino)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract ( you can sub for any extract you like)
3-6tablespoon milk the less you use the firmer your frosting

Remember that you can always add milk later to the BC according to you purpose

***You can also double this recipe with no issues, just start slow with milk.

FIRST STEP: Set ingredients earlier to bring to room temperature.
You can microwave butter for a few second but DO NOT MELT just soften
Cream the butter and crisco well in mixer with blade attachment until very creamy
Add your extract while mixer is on low
( pre-sift your sugar)
Slowly add sugar sifting into mixer, after 3-4 cups add a little bit of milk
Continue to add sugar alternating with milk(1/2 tablespoon@ time)
Mixture should be thick, you can continue to add milk until you reach the thickness you
Want.

Cake Shows

We have all watched one of the many cake show reality series that are on now. The new found interest in this side of cake artistry is finally getting the attention it deserves, but I think it is making it very hard on the average bakery and cake artist. People see these shows and watch as a spectacular masterpiece of cake art become to be in the sum total of an hour. The missing link is that the audience is not seeing the other 30employees that are working behind the scenes to make this happen, without a hitch. Nor do most realize that this has taken a week of filming to make happen and that it has been edited to fit in a one hour time slot. I have to give a nod to "fabulous Cakes", they are showing a more realistic side to this as well as hang g the price tag upon the art. As a cake decorator you always seem to get the call wanting a cake that will take days to complete and the customer wants to pay little more than they can get a basic sheet cake at the local grocery store. Once the 2sides of the story meet it will make it so much easy for all decorators and artist alike. HAPPY CAKING!!

For the LoVe of cake!

It is a complete under statement to say I love cake. The baking and decorating of cakes is so much more than just a hobby for me. This whole thing started for me as "I wonder if I could do that?". After my first fondant cake I was 110% hooked. Nobody in my house is complaining about leftovers or finishing off the batter bowl either. My favorite cakes are the girly ones with ribbons and bows, animal print, 3-D purses and shoes, oh my I could just go on forever. It is just amazing what you can do with cake, your imagination is the only limit. If you dream it, I will build it! Some of the things I have learned have made my life so much easier when I am doing a cake whether it be a small cake for home or a large wedding cake. I will share these tips with all of you. Some people do not want to share these tips without making $$, so I'm doing the taboo thing of sharing for free. So happy caking and we shall now begin our journey.........

Welcome

Welcome to the newest, hottest, blog on the net. We are going to discuss everything cake. If you gotta question, I will do my best to answer. We will discuss baking, decorating, cake shows, pricing, tips and tricks, and EVERYTHING cake. So welcome abroad for a wonderful journey in caking!