tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39268077750242559002024-03-19T20:57:21.621-07:00Cat's CakesA weekly blog about being a Cake Designer and what goes into making custom cakes.Cat Harperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08688024934053668353noreply@blogger.comBlogger176125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3926807775024255900.post-31721360877455978522014-08-17T12:53:00.001-07:002014-08-17T12:53:13.226-07:00Jilly's FROZEN 5th Birthday Party<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This week we celebrated our granddaughters 5th birthday. The FROZEN theme is SO popular this year and our little one is nuts over it so, of course, it had to be the theme of her party. And when your Nana is your own person cake lady you have an edge when it comes to having a custom cake for your party!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Her favorite flavor is plain old fashioned yellow cake with vanilla buttercream filling. The covering is all marshmallow fondant. I started out by "paneling" the blue onto the cake tiers. This is because the fondant can become overwhelming if you cover the cake then cover it again with the white topper. I made the panels actually taller than the cake so I could fold it over and make a "berm" for the snow and give the edges a bit more of a rolly snow hills feel to them. Then I rolled out the white into circles that were about one and a half inches bigger than the top of the tier. Then I used a rolling cutter to make the edges more scalloped edged. Once I applied the circle to the top of the tier I gently pulled on the edges so they would be wavy but uneven. I added the trim to the bottom of the cake and then let it set up for about an hour while I worked on the "trees" and snowflakes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The trees are just sugar cones that have been covered with royal icing. I used a large tip and semi loose royal icing. I placed the cones upside down on some parchment paper and then, starting at the bottom, I piped up and down in a zig zag manner all way around the bottom of the cone, about one inch at a time. This made the overlapping layers of "snow" for the trees. I let those dry for about an hour until I was ready to stack the cakes. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I punched out the letters using letter cookie cutters and then dusted them with silver and blue mixed luster dust. Finally I piped a bit of royal icing on the tip of each one and sprinkled that with light blue and white sanding sugar. While they were drying I luster dusted the white toppers with silver luster dust to give them a bit of shimmer against the flat blue.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The snowflakes were even easier. I found a new punch set that I'm simply in LOVE with! For $10 I got three sizes of punches. I stacked the cakes and then added the royal icing trees to the sides of the cake where my panels met and the punched out letters. Then I was able to just punch out the snowflake, pick up the punch where the snowflake was still sitting, brush on a bit of water and then gently press it to the cake while depressing the plunger...VOILA! Snowflakes on cake! This was happy innovation for me since placing snowflakes is really hard. They want to stretch out of shape when you pick them up. The punches made my life SOOOO much easier! I dusted those with some luster dust so they could shimmer too!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Once They were on the cake I was ready to place the trees and characters. The Birthday Girl already had the figures so they were washed well and dried before using royal icing to add them to the cake. I piped a bunch of royal icing onto the bottom of each one so when I pressed them down the "snow" squished out around the bottom of the figure. I piped a mound of royal icing in front of the cake and gently pressed the "5" down into it like it was a snow hill and then cut a snowflake in half to stick on each side.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The final touches were adding the large grain white sugar to the edges and the blue snowflakes to the cake. The blue snowflakes had added tylose to make them harden up faster and pure blue luster dust on them so they would stand out against the trees. </span><br />
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<span style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Birthday Girl was amazed! But that wasn't all I did for the dessert table! I also used blue and white Candy Melts to make dessert treats like these "ice shards" which were made from the left over blue and white melted pieces and layered in a brownie pan, sprinkled with sanding sugar, set up in the freezer and then broken up into "shards" before being packaged.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is the entire dessert table including the chocolate covered marshmallows (snow balls) and chocolate covered pretzels (iced wands) for the guests. It was all a huge hit with the attendees, most of who are FROZEN crazy! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Such a fun day and a wonderful way to make my granddaughter very happy and her day a bit more special!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cat</span>Cat Harperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08688024934053668353noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3926807775024255900.post-37153948343702959262014-07-20T09:46:00.001-07:002014-07-20T09:46:21.946-07:00Hot Wheels Cake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This past week, while on a trip for <a href="http://shutterbugtraveler.blogspot.com/">Shutterbug Traveler</a> in Monterey, I got a special email from one of my favorite organizations... <a href="http://www.icingsmiles.org/">Icing Smiles</a>. Icing Smiles works with families who have children that are dealing with serious illness such as cancer, leukemia, etc. Those children, as well as their siblings, are eligible to recieve a custom cake from a local baker for a special occasion such as a birthday or end of treatment day or release from the hospital day. This time it was for the baby brother of a young man going through treatment. A very nice family celebration at home.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We tend to take those celebrations for granted. But when your oldest has spent more time in the hospital the past year than he has at home, suddenly an "at home" celebration sounds simply wonderful. To have such a special cake, and not the expense for one, for one of your kids just makes the day that much more special. I was pleased and honored to be able to make this cake and deliver it to their home early Saturday afternoon. I'd love to share with you that photo...the one of the little guy next to his cake, but I will have to wait until Icing Smiles publishes it on their <a href="https://www.facebook.com/icingsmiles">Facebook Page</a> so you can see it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So now about how it was made and how you can make one too! Everything except the cars on this cake is fully edible....including the track. First of all, the cake is a vanilla bean cake with a caramel toffee buttercream filling. It is four layers of yumminess! I wanted to stay within the Hot Wheels colors while staying within "background cake" boundaries so I started with the blue fondant and covered the cake, leaving the half moon shape for the front of the cake open. Then, using a graph matt, I cut out the 1x1 inch black and white squares and placed those onto the cake to make the "checkered flag" part of the cake. Next I rolled out the long pieces (two of them) to trim the cake and create the "road" surface.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Finishing details can make a world of difference. For this cake it was the white dashes as well as the black rolled fondant that separates the blue from the checkered areas. I had left over 1x1 white squares so I just used those to make the dashes. I handrolled the "snake" for the black fondant divider and then used water to attach it to the cake before adding the dashes to the cake.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now the track. My own husband and son are crazy about Hot Wheels so we have track right here for me to use as reference. Making the loop was taking a leap of faith. I would have normally made this a week ahead of time but I only had two days to make this cake so no real drying time! Enter my great friend Tylose. I used a LOT of it to make the orange fondant dry out quickly. Then, like most cake decorators, I sort of MacGyver'd it. I cut out 2-1/2 inch pieces and gently folded up the edges. I used a straight edge cutter to help me smooth out the edges. Then I let that set up for about a half hour before I used a rolling pin (for the loop) that had been set up on supportive stands, and a can (for the side curve) and let them dry while saying a prayer that they actually would dry overnight.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">You see that track on the right side of the cake? Yeah, that was insurance. If the curve and loop didn't dry hard enough then that long track was going to be cut in half and I was going to make a cake topper out of it and the number. And, when it came down to it, I didn't need it. But, hey, I had some cool looking track so why not use it?! Somehow the two cars I had planned on in my original sketch were now 5 and I thought, correctly, that having more cars wasn't a bad thing! I used orange royal icing to attach the side curve and loop together right where the truck now sits. I also used the same orange royal icing to attach the track to the cake and the board...and to attach the cars to everything. It makes some great edible glue that held the cars rock solid during the delivery.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A note about using non-edible pieces on your cake. Make sure it doesn't actually touch the cake. In this case, even though the cars were new and had been washed, I made sure they only touched the track, not the cake, since the track would be discarded when it came time to cut the cake. If you have a non-edible that sticks down into the cake make sure to wrap it in cling wrap or stick it into a straw or coffee stirrer. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And it was SO worth it. Little man Nathaniel was overwhelmed by all of the cars, his older brother was amazed, already talking about his own John Cena cake for next year (and you have no idea how much that did my heart good to hear him planning his next birthday!!) and his parents very grateful and kidding around with us about making the cars edible! LOL! But the best was leaving their home and hearing the excited squeals and calls about what a cool cake it was, and let's go see the cake, and isn't that just an incredible cake?!?, coming from behind their front door. Worth the cake's weight in gold.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cat</span>Cat Harperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08688024934053668353noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3926807775024255900.post-54491860840996300012014-05-25T10:19:00.000-07:002014-05-25T10:19:01.356-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Happy Sunday! I know I've been away for awhile...last October I broke two fingers on my right hand. Now, because I'm ambidextrous it wasn't a big thing in my personal life but a HUGE deal in my caking life. So I didn't book any cakes for a long time. The other reason is that, when you are a blogger, you have to keep blogging or you get out of the habit of it. So I'm BACK! Today I bring you the cake I presented yesterday and then I'll work backwards over the next few weeks to get you caught up on those you missed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is actually my son's 13th birthday cake. He and the guys went paintballing before the party so that became the theme this year. In our family the "big" birthdays are 1, 5, 10, 13 (for boys) 16 (for girls) and 18. So knowing that this would be his last "big birthday" for awhile we wanted to make it a good one for him. Since it wasn't a huge party (22 people is, sadly, a small party for our family) I knew I couldn't make a huge cake so I used a 10x10 and just cut it in half to make the camo wall cake. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The cake itself is lemon chiffon with vanilla buttercream filling. But I did something new to the fondant this time. I added lemon extract rather than my normal vanilla extract and it was SO yummy with the lemon cake. I think this just became a new thing for me! LOL! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now, about the fondant. You have to be SO careful adding dye to fondant because food dye tastes sort of metallic and if you add too much it can taste really bad. So what I did was divided the white fondant into two pieces, then divided one piece into thirds. I added a bit of brown to one third to start out the "browns" and lighter green to make the base color for the greens. I used these two colors as my main base on the camo and then added little bits of the darker color over it, like a puzzle, so that those pieces that had more dye in them were in lower quantities on the cake. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The splats were easier to do since I was using the white fondant as base and since I was using the super color dyes it didn't need much to make them vibrant. The cutting out of the splats wasn't so easy. To make the "logo" splats I added a bunch of tylose to the color which stiffens up the fondant rather quickly. This made cutting out the splats with an exacto knife easy. Then I just left them out to dry for a week so they would get rock hard before I "glued" them all together with water and let them bond for another day. But the splats that went on the cake were hard to make. Made of soft fondant they wanted to tear as I cut them out or when I lifted them up to place them on the cake. The main reason there were not more of them on the cake! But I couldn't add tylose to those splats because I needed them to drape over the cake. So just understand going in that those will take more time and effort.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The 13 candles were added at the venue and slicing the cake was like slicing a loaf of bread. I cut down the slice and then laid it down on the cake board to cut the rectangle slices out of it. This was especially a good idea yesterday because the day was VERY hot and the venue wasn't properly air conditioned so the buttercream under the fondant had begun to melt and the fondant to soften up so being able to lay down the big slice and then slice it up into four slices was a BIG help!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Next week I'll share another birthday cake with you all... a Daniel Tiger cake!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cat</span>Cat Harperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08688024934053668353noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3926807775024255900.post-86124522505417037902014-05-01T22:22:00.000-07:002014-05-01T22:22:42.203-07:00Wedding Cakes!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Tis the season for the Wedding Cake! Each year I do a few weddings and, for me, it's an honor to be included in the wedding day. The "average" wedding is $23,000 and the wedding cake is 1-10% of that budget. On average. That means that you could spend anywhere from $230 to $2,300 on a wedding cake. A CAKE. Yes, it seems crazy. But when you see what goes into making a wedding cake it suddenly becomes clear that you are not just paying for food but your very own piece of edible Art.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The average wedding has 100 guests but that doesn't mean that if you have much less than that number of guests that you should just have a "grocery store" wedding cake. A cake, like the one above, is $4 per slice and feeds 50. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Your wedding cake should reflect who you are as a couple as well as the theme of the day. This buttercream covered cake, decorated with paper pinwheels (matching the decor) is only $3 per slice and feeds 48.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitGWzlfc5fbkLBmnQoOfQLCspLye1DlxmTBAo3l83eYx-7zqOHMYRh8uM2NttdnwvJT4kfjL-Kv5mq7v9jPNuNNeGUK-8aC0PmoqV5ipztPLNrg2dg4n50f-JKaGJ8AvbMNIKWePSwQJFY/s1600/cake246a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitGWzlfc5fbkLBmnQoOfQLCspLye1DlxmTBAo3l83eYx-7zqOHMYRh8uM2NttdnwvJT4kfjL-Kv5mq7v9jPNuNNeGUK-8aC0PmoqV5ipztPLNrg2dg4n50f-JKaGJ8AvbMNIKWePSwQJFY/s1600/cake246a.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Your wedding cake doesn't need to be the boring white cake with pearls or rhinestone trim that you seem to see at every other wedding. This is your wedding and it should match who you are. This one was for a beach wedding and the shells were hand moulded and colored fondant. ($3.50 per slice and feeds 48)</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1XKZKiwtz2GlhLKXdibYuv8KyN3ymDkdlxjYnhO_g1xnntNNwQPnSLkB3taOIkIJnTA4RMhC_m-Wmbwi6vc02xmsv4oeNXJ3fLFLD_F7rfLecgnaPo6ItMlEIVpH4sqK4bdAhLcSVmTJ1/s1600/cake223a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1XKZKiwtz2GlhLKXdibYuv8KyN3ymDkdlxjYnhO_g1xnntNNwQPnSLkB3taOIkIJnTA4RMhC_m-Wmbwi6vc02xmsv4oeNXJ3fLFLD_F7rfLecgnaPo6ItMlEIVpH4sqK4bdAhLcSVmTJ1/s1600/cake223a.jpg" height="320" width="256" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> You can do "cute" in an elegant way that will even have Aunt Marge (the Miss Manners of your family) smiling. This fondant covered cake with the custom topper is $6 per slice and feeds 75.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNhi6yJ-V6pYp_HKDB8TYK6Oo9kFmr25pAT2dtJMJXFtosDJ45NEKy6wZuqDBcZgsfFjjiLiBqHECREXgqFUvh7euWbD15Kc7YKiA4QPFNzvns7ipMQdSo7RCAyMT8wfeZaEtPZhMufrts/s1600/cake221a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNhi6yJ-V6pYp_HKDB8TYK6Oo9kFmr25pAT2dtJMJXFtosDJ45NEKy6wZuqDBcZgsfFjjiLiBqHECREXgqFUvh7euWbD15Kc7YKiA4QPFNzvns7ipMQdSo7RCAyMT8wfeZaEtPZhMufrts/s1600/cake221a.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Are you more "modern" that the fru-fru brides you see in magazines? Maybe your fiance is the cake expert and he wants something a little less feminine? The custom cake artist can match your invitations, as I did with this one, so that your cake carries your theme all the way to dessert. This fondant covered cake is $4.50 per slice and feeds 85.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0C0hYkxo-gBwvvRVIiYaNZ-w2oxRvI1OK0XU9HOjDwmVRb0pV-TcsYSo-5gCoSZ19cSYF1SaaXjR9egTfXikQCA8uCRKgYbohquAhmO21AYzIW88onRL719uqFqYhItReoHWGcIC-O3hz/s1600/cake212a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0C0hYkxo-gBwvvRVIiYaNZ-w2oxRvI1OK0XU9HOjDwmVRb0pV-TcsYSo-5gCoSZ19cSYF1SaaXjR9egTfXikQCA8uCRKgYbohquAhmO21AYzIW88onRL719uqFqYhItReoHWGcIC-O3hz/s1600/cake212a.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> But even a small wedding can have a "big cake" punch. This one only feeds 25 but it makes a big statement. Perfect for an intimate "family" wedding. ($5 per slice)</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVUU8iaakt7U7p7doZte59ZxoAxr2jd5MqKVDfYM81peKs_2T1pvGPSMJrGq9zrBT1exBJdnPB02zWWzJBVuV8dZy4L3xK8Em11wj4bVb0lgin0KUzGNFxvsxS1hqg6Izme1jxp7mWU8iJ/s1600/cake211b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVUU8iaakt7U7p7doZte59ZxoAxr2jd5MqKVDfYM81peKs_2T1pvGPSMJrGq9zrBT1exBJdnPB02zWWzJBVuV8dZy4L3xK8Em11wj4bVb0lgin0KUzGNFxvsxS1hqg6Izme1jxp7mWU8iJ/s1600/cake211b.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> If you are not the "average" couple with the "average" flowers and pearl theme to your wedding then a "carved" cake may be just the ticket. This is actually the cake I did for our own 25th wedding anniversary. A carved cake costs more because a lot more work goes into the creation of the cake but it definitely will wow your guests. This one would be $8 per slice and feeds 75.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMVtfWP-7552w_37NNeSbSp9asFh9lnI_5OV-Kwqindb9KvDSwY2dlgUCdlg3EwZFwcIpWcF6Xp6G3cln7HwRJ-5EDts15MqLtur7XD-fznHuAZA6djmb5hddqyzLfFoqqQ1SHub0SydOV/s1600/cake207a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMVtfWP-7552w_37NNeSbSp9asFh9lnI_5OV-Kwqindb9KvDSwY2dlgUCdlg3EwZFwcIpWcF6Xp6G3cln7HwRJ-5EDts15MqLtur7XD-fznHuAZA6djmb5hddqyzLfFoqqQ1SHub0SydOV/s1600/cake207a.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> This past year I worked two very small family events. With just 12-15 guests the happy couples had decided to just pick up a store bought cake or cupcakes. Then they found out that they didn't need to give up the fancy wedding cake just because they were having a small event. This cake feeds 15 at $4 per slice.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3vrm_OC214YF09hrsSK5tzUK7djgQfo9lMrNeXV5bNuHr3wYnezq9qdHs0bRrWE9Tn9K6XYG4xntGajfHzMuznogO0E0232EJj5nQkZKRip8m03b0YVW6s3tBK-nZNm5Cb5AiEEyQYrlP/s1600/cake195c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3vrm_OC214YF09hrsSK5tzUK7djgQfo9lMrNeXV5bNuHr3wYnezq9qdHs0bRrWE9Tn9K6XYG4xntGajfHzMuznogO0E0232EJj5nQkZKRip8m03b0YVW6s3tBK-nZNm5Cb5AiEEyQYrlP/s1600/cake195c.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> But sometimes the big romantic delicate cake is what fits the bill. If you are a girly girl then the big wedding cake as the centerpiece to your day is just the ticket. This one feeds 100 and is $6 per slice.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Qj8e-g_ymrq-mWlWNLhgjec2R6Gs_SgkN48gJtW5PFvwdN5xRW93Wjf3Oy5B8SRTjpT_yRA1wX0E_Mfv-dSsjxfP06ijaaBy0AcskOw9P_Hy8o15z202waERVIr2iuZ6KkzxSw5bIEW9/s1600/cake182a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5Qj8e-g_ymrq-mWlWNLhgjec2R6Gs_SgkN48gJtW5PFvwdN5xRW93Wjf3Oy5B8SRTjpT_yRA1wX0E_Mfv-dSsjxfP06ijaaBy0AcskOw9P_Hy8o15z202waERVIr2iuZ6KkzxSw5bIEW9/s1600/cake182a.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> This cake was for a very dramatic Black & White event. The "typical" wedding cake would not have fit the decor. This fondant cake feeds 75 and costs $5 per slice.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_szWG6pU93_YBytqILWy6KgVDEDHk-rkpHifi5ZIqirDvC9Hkv6cF4uTcaM1pncIIa501ARdAeg5rC99lFlohtYQE7GZXrlKuTZ1P4qEQXm4ArYtjEvCFnYOxzeW8_kV9Fat87Fue8E4m/s1600/cake139a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_szWG6pU93_YBytqILWy6KgVDEDHk-rkpHifi5ZIqirDvC9Hkv6cF4uTcaM1pncIIa501ARdAeg5rC99lFlohtYQE7GZXrlKuTZ1P4qEQXm4ArYtjEvCFnYOxzeW8_kV9Fat87Fue8E4m/s1600/cake139a.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Topsy Turvy is a fun way to take a traditional cake. This one plays on the "Tiffany Box" theme but adds in the Brides yellow roses. This cake feeds 75 and costs $6 per slice with an extra fee of $5 per sugar rose.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFOggJEYMq4r-R1u9rs0rIJkiyTxx4XVO4KxLf5LQtIetgr_kFOSSDqhVyspRqFNvJLAfgFVkBFvwaQzFpQ7vadZFHvZbd7yKWgP84x-GkXpzLAkoxtKlJ_f4IZicTTDkJJ5qnpVSMHnP2/s1600/cake134a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFOggJEYMq4r-R1u9rs0rIJkiyTxx4XVO4KxLf5LQtIetgr_kFOSSDqhVyspRqFNvJLAfgFVkBFvwaQzFpQ7vadZFHvZbd7yKWgP84x-GkXpzLAkoxtKlJ_f4IZicTTDkJJ5qnpVSMHnP2/s1600/cake134a.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Fun and feminine is the easiest theme for a wedding. Everyone has a mental picture of what they think a "Wedding Cake" is supposed to look like. But that doesn't mean you can't throw in your own personality into the design. For Mom, the bride kept this buttercream covered cake light and feminine but added the black filigree to the cake as a nod to her own love of hot pink and black! (This cake feeds 85 at $4 per slice)</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSfFcG3m2UthGKPOMgFsvoVVC3mEsXcut1wsFrV0g9KwHYuPSX-6tY5PzsuB-f2yOvu0_Bfr_vDS-OhXdMXlAGAnUQHb9gUTgXxiU7b6D4j5GnHzi1NBQ2D7SFpqu3XWEvuyP9ceVotwVz/s1600/cake15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSfFcG3m2UthGKPOMgFsvoVVC3mEsXcut1wsFrV0g9KwHYuPSX-6tY5PzsuB-f2yOvu0_Bfr_vDS-OhXdMXlAGAnUQHb9gUTgXxiU7b6D4j5GnHzi1NBQ2D7SFpqu3XWEvuyP9ceVotwVz/s1600/cake15.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">With each client I meet with them three times. Once at a tasting so we can talk about what they want in their cake and get a chance to actually taste my baked goods. After all, a cake should taste at least as good as it looks, right? Then we meet again so I can share with them the sketches that I have come up with based on our first meeting. Finally we meet with the final sketch of what their cake is going to look like on their wedding day. I don't ever "copy" a design. I will work with you to make sure that this is your unique design for your wedding day. You deserve your own piece of edible Art! (this one feeds 60 and costs $4.50 per slice)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A word about finances. Because life can be unpredictable and because I begin working on your cake the moment we first talk about meeting up, I require a 50% deposit to book your date. The other half of your payment is due one month before the event. This is for three reasons. That is the timing I would begin on any sugar flowers or other edible decor that may need to be made and have enough time to dry solidly for your wedding cake. This is also the time I would be ordering and purchasing the ingredients and other items I need to make your wedding cake. Lastly, I won't see you on the day of your wedding to collect the final fee since you will be in the process of saying your vows while I'm in the process of setting up your wedding cake at your reception venue. It is rare that I get to see the Bride and Groom on the wedding day but it's always wonderful if I get the treat of seeing their reaction when they first see their cake.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So here we are on May 1st. The official opening of "Wedding Season". The majority of weddings occur between May 1st and October 1st. So, while I'll be busy, know that you can always ask me any question you may have about your wedding cake ideas on our <a href="http://www.facebook.com/thecherryontopevents">Facebook Page!</a> We are always happy to help with any of your wedding questions!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cat</span>Cat Harperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08688024934053668353noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3926807775024255900.post-60913427612877820702014-02-05T08:47:00.001-08:002014-02-05T08:47:48.155-08:00Little Man & Little Lady<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhElaae6H6gXdwbAq4LSQx7dVl7I_sEpuPUpO2SsDuUuO1sh1r5rT5zS4VXDVUWw8gzE6K4KMWMZcSnn6bv682BnuPXtZAJt-9mkfBwOCrvvxM-UcydZgiYKKNxQlbFdqTCyIpZ9XrYQk9f/s1600/1554486_10152026296312961_1407200709_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhElaae6H6gXdwbAq4LSQx7dVl7I_sEpuPUpO2SsDuUuO1sh1r5rT5zS4VXDVUWw8gzE6K4KMWMZcSnn6bv682BnuPXtZAJt-9mkfBwOCrvvxM-UcydZgiYKKNxQlbFdqTCyIpZ9XrYQk9f/s1600/1554486_10152026296312961_1407200709_n.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Happy Wednesday! Hope your week is going well. If you "follow" me you may have noticed I have been gone for awhile now. Well...I broke a finger and damaged two fingers on my right hand. I am ambidextrous so it wasn't all that hard living without a hand but so much of caking is done with two hands that I basically took 2 months off so the hand could heal. But I'm back now! Ramping up slowly with only two orders this month but by April I will be posting every week again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now this week we had a wonderful little party for two children in one family. As they are still very small, turning 1 and 3, the parents thought this was the perfect year to throw the big bash for both kids together. And being the littlest one's first birthday they wanted to make it a "to-do". So we had a Little Man and Little Lady party.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoogQ_yxOtybjMuWWDi8U7o7g2noRf5Zl3_AE64RA09ihanMZAOJ6PlZXIyTZY1kNNqK18DyDcyL-AUup1pXi-u0mfgYceknM4Qj_lR2wOkK8JFLkq6b0nWTnbkH9tQ5Q_BtVNoATumUyC/s1600/DSCN7835.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoogQ_yxOtybjMuWWDi8U7o7g2noRf5Zl3_AE64RA09ihanMZAOJ6PlZXIyTZY1kNNqK18DyDcyL-AUup1pXi-u0mfgYceknM4Qj_lR2wOkK8JFLkq6b0nWTnbkH9tQ5Q_BtVNoATumUyC/s1600/DSCN7835.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The theme's decor included mustaches, bow ties, pink bows and pearls. But Little Man was wearing an outfit that featured a regular tie and suspenders so we made his "smash" cake look the same. Little Lady got a personal cupcake as well featuring the heart confetti and pink bows of the other cupcakes but hers was larger and had pink pearls on it as well.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4rMiQQiAh5vImy5jZZtRr_IuFjj1gOIO0K1W_YD5RD_JeMawJsjwikxUWX0bPLiQNbmO59TWUhm6An2apZzYNOKLEoBoP6B9roHltv1ZMS9HKjLQKch40RR6naPk7KGG_7zEIOShBAV8x/s1600/DSCN7837.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4rMiQQiAh5vImy5jZZtRr_IuFjj1gOIO0K1W_YD5RD_JeMawJsjwikxUWX0bPLiQNbmO59TWUhm6An2apZzYNOKLEoBoP6B9roHltv1ZMS9HKjLQKch40RR6naPk7KGG_7zEIOShBAV8x/s1600/DSCN7837.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">All of the cupcakes had either pink or blue chevron cupcake liners. The blue liners held dark chocolate cake and the pink liners held strawberry cake. There were a few vanilla cupcakes for those who don't like chocolate or strawberry. I also used two different tips for the "boys" cupcakes and the "girls" cupcakes to give them just a little different look. The mustache picks I bought already assembled but the bow picks I had to make myself. Just glue two bows back to back onto a toothpick using stick glue and then let them dry overnight.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The "smash" cake was chocolate with chocolate brownie buttercream filling. I crumbcoated the cake in chocolate frosting to give it another layer of flavor and then, using a flat zigzag tip, I iced the entire cake in lines. I did a chevron trim using the same tip and then added the tie and suspenders. The mustache pick was the last thing to go into it and after the first photo it was the first thing to come out. Right before he totally demolished the cake! Our Little Lady was more refined and delicately ate her cupcake one level at a time. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Valentine's Day is coming up and I already have some fancy plans for cupcakes! Check back here on Valentine's morning to see that sweetness! In the meantime don't forget to check out the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thecherryontopevents">Facebook Fan Site</a> for daily tips and tricks for your parties!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cat</span>Cat Harperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08688024934053668353noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3926807775024255900.post-2615773922482824942013-11-11T11:18:00.003-08:002013-11-11T11:18:43.161-08:00Anniversary Cake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Happy Monday and for those of us in America, Happy Veteran's Day! This past week brought our own wedding anniversary so I got to decide upon what cake we would like to have for the day. But there are only 3 of us in our home right now...2 adults and 1 twelve year old boy. So a huge cake wouldn't work for just the three of us! So a mini cake would be perfect!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I hardly ever get to work with "perishable" icings and fillings so I decided that this cake would be eaten almost as quickly as it the moment it was done (and I barely had time to take photos before the boys were all over me to cut it!) so I knew the filling and icing wouldn't be around long enough to spoil! My husband and I both love chocolate and adore ganache. So that part was a no brainer. The filling, however, left me going "hmmmm" trying to figure it out. I finally decided upon a dark chocolate mousse filling and a semi-sweet ganache for the frosting. The cake was a 4 inch sweet vanilla cake. I really like Martha Stewart's recipe but you can you a box mix if you like but remember to cut the recipe in half for a mini cake.</span><br />
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<ul class="body-b checklist component-list" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.375rem; list-style: none; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px;">
<li class="component checklist-item" style="clear: left; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 1.78571em; position: relative;"><span class="component-data checklist-item-data" itemprop="ingredients" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-left: 2rem;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pans</span></span></li>
<li class="component checklist-item" style="clear: left; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 1.78571em; position: relative;"><span class="component-data checklist-item-data" itemprop="ingredients" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-left: 2rem;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pans</span></span></li>
<li class="component checklist-item" style="clear: left; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 1.78571em; position: relative;"><span class="component-data checklist-item-data" itemprop="ingredients" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-left: 2rem;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">1/2 teaspoon baking powder</span></span></li>
<li class="component checklist-item" style="clear: left; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 1.78571em; position: relative;"><span class="component-data checklist-item-data" itemprop="ingredients" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-left: 2rem;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">1/2 teaspoon baking soda</span></span></li>
<li class="component checklist-item" style="clear: left; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 1.78571em; position: relative;"><span class="component-data checklist-item-data" itemprop="ingredients" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-left: 2rem;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">1 teaspoon salt</span></span></li>
<li class="component checklist-item" style="clear: left; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 1.78571em; position: relative;"><span class="component-data checklist-item-data" itemprop="ingredients" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-left: 2rem;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">1 1/2 cups sugar</span></span></li>
<li class="component checklist-item" style="clear: left; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 1.78571em; position: relative;"><span class="component-data checklist-item-data" itemprop="ingredients" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-left: 2rem;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">2 large <span class="mandelbrot_refrag"><a class="mandelbrot_refrag" data-ls-seen="1" href="http://www.marthastewart.com/dap/term/1002?lc=int_mb_1001" style="text-decoration: none;">eggs</a></span></span></span></li>
<li class="component checklist-item" style="clear: left; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 1.78571em; position: relative;"><span class="component-data checklist-item-data" itemprop="ingredients" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-left: 2rem;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">3 large egg yolks</span></span></li>
<li class="component checklist-item" style="clear: left; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 1.78571em; position: relative;"><span class="component-data checklist-item-data" itemprop="ingredients" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-left: 2rem;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">2 teaspoons pure <span class="mandelbrot_refrag"><a class="mandelbrot_refrag" data-ls-seen="1" href="http://www.marthastewart.com/dap/term/1310?lc=int_mb_1001" style="text-decoration: none;">vanilla</a></span> extract</span></span></li>
<li class="component checklist-item" style="clear: left; list-style: none; margin-bottom: 8px; padding-right: 1.78571em; position: relative;"><span class="component-data checklist-item-data" itemprop="ingredients" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.625rem; margin-left: 2rem;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">1 cup low-fat buttermilk</span></span></li>
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<span style="line-height: 26px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Mix till there is no lumps and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes or till a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 26px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I leveled them, cooled them and wrapped them into plastic wrap and set them aside while I made the chocolate mousse.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;">1 cup semisweet chocolate chips</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;">1 1/2 cups cold, heavy cream, plus an additional 1/2 cup heavy cream</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;">1/2 cup confectioners' sugar</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;">1/4 cup granulated white sugar</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;">2 teaspoons vanilla extract</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;">In a medium saucepan, combine the confectioners' sugar and </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;"><i>1/2 cup</i></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;"> heavy cream. Stir over low heat. </span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;">Add the semisweet chocolate chips, stirring frequently as they melt and the mixture becomes well blended.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;">Remove from heat, stir in the vanilla and set this mixture aside.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;">In a separate, large bowl, beat the remaining 1 1/2 cup heavy cream on medium speed and gradually add the granulated sugar. When all the sugar has been incorporated, beat the mixture on high speed until stiff peaks form.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; line-height: 16px;">Fold the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture, taking care not to overmix. Refrigerate for at least one hour before using on your cake.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And then, while that was setting up I started the ganache. I use Alton Brown's recipe:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="yui_3_13_0_1_1384189273446_10448" style="line-height: 15px;">Ingredients</span><br style="line-height: 15px; outline: 0px;" /><span id="yui_3_13_0_1_1384189273446_10449" style="line-height: 15px;">16 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine</span><br style="line-height: 15px; outline: 0px;" /><span id="yui_3_13_0_1_1384189273446_10450" style="line-height: 15px;">16 ounces (2 cups) heavy cream</span><br style="line-height: 15px; outline: 0px;" /><span style="line-height: 15px;">Directions</span><br style="line-height: 15px; outline: 0px;" /><span id="yui_3_13_0_1_1384189273446_10451" style="line-height: 15px;">Place the chopped chocolate into a glass bowl.</span><br style="line-height: 15px; outline: 0px;" /><br style="line-height: 15px; outline: 0px;" /><span id="yui_3_13_0_1_1384189273446_10452" style="line-height: 15px;">Heat the heavy cream in a small sauce pan for five minutes or until it just begins to simmer; be careful not to allow cream to boil over. Pour the cream over the chocolate and let stand for 2 minutes. Stir until chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Let cool, stirring occasionally until it is the consistency that you would like to use. For glazing let it cool for 30 minutes and then pour over a cake that has been placed on a wire rack with a pan underneath to catch the dripping ganache. If you wish to make a lighter frosting, allow it to come to room temperature, approximately 2 hours. Once at room temperature, place in the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk on high for 2 to 3 minutes.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I allowed it to cool for about an hour, stirring every 15 minutes or so, till it was thick enough to swirl on like frosting but still soft enough to use for the piping. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I pulled out the mousse and let it come up to room temperature for a few moments while I unwrapped the cake. Then I just filled it with a thick layer of the mousse and topped it with the ganache. The final touches were added with a fine round tip and some of the ganache in a piping bag.</span></div>
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<span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">Now...what to do with all of the extra mousse and ganache??? I mixed them together and put them back into the refrigerator. The next night I whipped up the rest of the heavy whipping cream I had in the fridge with powdered sugar, granular sugar and vanilla (I don't have a recipe for this..it's all a few tablespoons of this and a few tablespoons of that and a cap full of vanilla so you can cheat and buy the canned type or tub type if you want) and then layered the mousse-ganache with the whipped cream for a second desserts!</span></div>
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<span style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">YUMMY!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As you can see, it looked totally yummy too! I have to admit that these glasses (from a previous anniversary celebration) ended up being way too much dessert for all of us so you may want to make smaller servings!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">November is the month of the Pumpkin in our house so I'll be using this space the rest of the month to share with you my several baking projects and recipes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">See you next week!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cat</span>Cat Harperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08688024934053668353noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3926807775024255900.post-39614813542318489072013-11-03T11:02:00.000-08:002013-11-03T11:02:40.759-08:00Popcorn Balls and Pumpkin Seeds!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Happy Sunday and Happy November. Normally each Halloween I bake cupcakes for friends and family to hand out that I decorate to match the holiday but this year, with the broken finger, the idea of all that piping just didn't sound all that great to me. So this year I thought Popcorn Balls would be fun since I have some corn syrup left over from another baking project. Something that is quick and easy and just about a one handed job. After the incredible reception these little cuties got I decided to share the recipe with all of you too!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have an "in" with a popcorn supplier so I was able to get my popcorn already popped and in a bag for easy use. But if you need to pop your own corn you can either do it on the stove top or microwave it yourself. I went looking for a recipe and found that the popcorn ball has changed since the last time I made them. Instead of corn syrup most of the recipes I found used marshmallows! If you have made Rice Krispies Treats then you have basically made this recipe already! Here is what you need:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">12 cups pop corn with unpopped kernals carefully removed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">10 oz bag of marshmallows</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">1/2 stick of butter (you can use margarine but butter is the taste you want)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">dash of salt (if you have salted butter don't add more salt)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">3/4 cup candy/nuts/seeds</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In a big pot melt the marshmallows, butter and salt together. Stir till smooth with absolutely no lumps. Turn off the heat and stir in the popcorn. When completely covered dump the mix out onto a cookie sheet or parchment covered counter. Spread out and then sprinkle your candy. (and/or nuts and/or seeds) and press that into the popcorn mix. At this point you can either spray your hands with cooking spray and grab small handfuls to make into balls or just cut the mix into squares. I rolled the popcorn and then placed the balls into Halloween themed cupcake liners. This gives the guest something to hold onto while eating the ball so their hands don't get sticky. At this point you can hand them out or package them in cello bags to take with you. For the best freshness you want to make sure to make these no sooner than 36 hours before eating. The beauty of them is that they take about 15 minutes to make so you could actually make these right before a party to take with you. Super easy. Super yummy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I also make pumpkin seeds each year to share with family and friends. This year I'll be doing this several times over the month of November since I actually roast our painted pumpkins from Halloween (after the paint has been scrubbed off, of course) and puree them for pies, cakes, muffins (and yes, I'll share all of the recipes with you too!) and this means I will have lots and lots of seeds for roasting! Here is my easy recipe!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What you will need:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Fresh pumpkin seeds that have been washed and all pumpkin pulp removed</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Yup that's all you "need". Now what you may want is extra spices like chili pepper and garlic for savory seeds or ginger and cinnamon sugar for sweet seeds. But this is the basic recipe.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBBy-K360btrnJwQcoXGETElBCsPlG-KPnUwbpMErQ-QjB_DN16I7ztdqC66yqame3UbWfv2dyIpbVNB2kjQK12eQ4P65AM3cxXWeGbVJype9imy5iceuUfEYY6CMSi_yBVyU_Xq16T9ge/s1600/seeds1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBBy-K360btrnJwQcoXGETElBCsPlG-KPnUwbpMErQ-QjB_DN16I7ztdqC66yqame3UbWfv2dyIpbVNB2kjQK12eQ4P65AM3cxXWeGbVJype9imy5iceuUfEYY6CMSi_yBVyU_Xq16T9ge/s320/seeds1.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> In a small pot you will want to boil your seeds for about 10 minutes. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFK9xS-mRFMXdOb9GOUEbCRh96SaCsJhgCBpwX8tnXZewd20bbqyxA2_08VjahXzALcwDC-naT6S-sqQ2pljONIEDSRKKPJIXN8XlowCCs5I9v-Jpnk-xUmBErfldiaK_eEAo1PouXUJaI/s1600/seeds3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFK9xS-mRFMXdOb9GOUEbCRh96SaCsJhgCBpwX8tnXZewd20bbqyxA2_08VjahXzALcwDC-naT6S-sqQ2pljONIEDSRKKPJIXN8XlowCCs5I9v-Jpnk-xUmBErfldiaK_eEAo1PouXUJaI/s320/seeds3.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I drain my seeds in a wire mesh colander. I then take a cap full of the oil and drizzle it over the seeds in the colander. Mix the oil up with your fingers so the seeds get covered. Then spread them out onto a cookie sheet so they are mostly in a single layer. This is the time to salt but not season. Bake at 325 for 10 minutes and then stir the seeds. Bake for 8-10 minutes longer making sure they don't get too dark. You want a light golden color and not brown.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWhIFYK5Qr6J9ed0zvhqTBkKmCuwlFC7-zlQP-SIIhQjcJ4kPcZth9sv8B1ooXAaA7HckR2ThB-KAxhfBA_QCEaVb20nOercOoY2Ftfde4aR_MrD3v7AW12QkSa5JOsp41kzf9kDzcSmvk/s1600/seeds2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWhIFYK5Qr6J9ed0zvhqTBkKmCuwlFC7-zlQP-SIIhQjcJ4kPcZth9sv8B1ooXAaA7HckR2ThB-KAxhfBA_QCEaVb20nOercOoY2Ftfde4aR_MrD3v7AW12QkSa5JOsp41kzf9kDzcSmvk/s320/seeds2.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">When your seeds are done you can pile them into a bowl or onto a dish and this is the time to add your savory or sweet seasonings! I love them just with salt but I will be making the sweet variation for our Christmas gifts this year. Really yummy! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now just a final word on pumpkin seeds. Your seeds should be very crisp with just a bit of chewy seed center. If they are all chewy then they were not boiled long enough or baked long enough. They should SNAP when you bite into them. I know a lot of people who say they don't like roasted pumpkin seeds because they are too chewy. This shouldn't be the case if they are done up right. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Next week I'll have a cake to share but I hope you enjoyed today's easy recipes and will give them a try!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cat</span>Cat Harperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08688024934053668353noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3926807775024255900.post-21092033889436094092013-10-28T11:40:00.001-07:002013-10-28T11:40:03.848-07:00Luau Baby Shower<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9zIttOtxFl84rawBs6Akfoj4P-o6XyMLKgFf7CnnBsgsKclXq8sUb7uxtlsY-Fqpzq6q9gxIWBKIkr01GQUsyMkGhfn28chV2-HpNOP2TN5qD9yQy78OdotvRnBQTDhgV-5SEXOmLpiyA/s1600/cake265e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9zIttOtxFl84rawBs6Akfoj4P-o6XyMLKgFf7CnnBsgsKclXq8sUb7uxtlsY-Fqpzq6q9gxIWBKIkr01GQUsyMkGhfn28chV2-HpNOP2TN5qD9yQy78OdotvRnBQTDhgV-5SEXOmLpiyA/s320/cake265e.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Happy Monday! This past weekend brought a cute little baby shower for a great couple! Congrats again Leslie, Chris and big brother Ben! The theme was "little girl luau" and the need to add in elements from the invitation was a must!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Mom-to-be loves my Lemon Chiffon cake with lemon curd buttercream but I changed it up a bit by coloring the buttercream pink first and then filling the cake so when we cut into it you get a punch of bright yellow and pink too! </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFLCEj7JsPIQCXfTbpM9KCliGteCF1tA5_qVhp0v10mR4dtX9Guf2TDHDGZH_eBfzHmYIsG8Mc1xYyaGeQYSYaZBaP9rnMdBAsY9fqICKPwqiOX0nFwBOYKy6g6CSQNusXrt0SmGbw2Bon/s1600/blog6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFLCEj7JsPIQCXfTbpM9KCliGteCF1tA5_qVhp0v10mR4dtX9Guf2TDHDGZH_eBfzHmYIsG8Mc1xYyaGeQYSYaZBaP9rnMdBAsY9fqICKPwqiOX0nFwBOYKy6g6CSQNusXrt0SmGbw2Bon/s320/blog6.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The full set up on the cake table included flower leis around the cake plate, colorful plates, cute napkins, flower confetti and the little "message in a bottle" favors on a bright purple tablecloth. If you'd like to see the full party set up just check out the <a href="http://thecherryontopevents.blogspot.com/">Cherry Party Blog!</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">To decorate the cake I started with the pink buttercream. I wanted the surface to look like a rough stucco of a California beach building. Now I have no idea if other states have these buildings where you have restrooms, showers and usually a covered patio with picnic tables to hang out at but here in California we do. Ok, they don't always have the covered patio, but the buildings are there. I wanted to mimic that surface so what I did was frost the cake with the pink frosting and then before it could crust up I used the tip of the offset spatula to "swipe" horizontally along the side from top to bottom. About 3 swipes to do a side. This created a wonderful "stucco" texture!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJHztdJr8qozt1efREQ-H7EiAqECBwzvG0y3zo4OfP9yJtcl9wJXrfG71i-39l88CSFJ7l6jlc39mu1LYY5_SD5aCklvIxi1XCdbyBXjVBS8-ztY5HEwrftHRcDAYZMDLi2MmxwK4QU-c9/s1600/blog7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJHztdJr8qozt1efREQ-H7EiAqECBwzvG0y3zo4OfP9yJtcl9wJXrfG71i-39l88CSFJ7l6jlc39mu1LYY5_SD5aCklvIxi1XCdbyBXjVBS8-ztY5HEwrftHRcDAYZMDLi2MmxwK4QU-c9/s320/blog7.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I then added the brown "sand" frosting and sprinkled on the gold and white "sand" sugar crystals. The trunks on the palm trees are just fondant snakes that I used a pointed fondant tool to make the texture. Those went onto the cake first and then I piped the clothesline from tree to tree. I layered on the leaves and topped those with little balls of brown fondant that I had punched 3 holes for the coconut look. The bib, onesie and socks were all cut out with an exacto knife used just for caking and then I used pink fondant to trim those. The new baby's name begins with an A so I used the onesie to personalize the cake. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Next came the baby. I didn't make the baby. I know another caker who has the baby mold so I bought an undecorated fondant baby from her. I hand painted blonde hair onto the baby and added a fondant diaper and grass skirt. I used a mini flower punch to make the hibiscus and attached that with a dab of water. The mat is just tan fondant rolled out and scored with a fondant tool and trimmed in darker fondant. I used a bit of frosting to attach the mat to the cake and then brushed the underside of the baby with a bit of water to attach it to the mat.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The leaves on the palm trees had quite a bit of tylose in them to allow them to stand up 3D on the cake so, along with the sea turtle and baby, the trees were removed from the cake before cutting. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf6VHvZcwjfsG6Vy7x56AE-RzbdKkYrQhyphenhyphenh6VZTc2uODMjDHzJ7q9c3EIy6_QFriJgJUwbT74CZDOEIlvaAcZXyyX1zKbt8IXO3J94C17DNFmkLpyBnnsUv4og0d6YXSJ-ws3CDscvRehP/s1600/cake265d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf6VHvZcwjfsG6Vy7x56AE-RzbdKkYrQhyphenhyphenh6VZTc2uODMjDHzJ7q9c3EIy6_QFriJgJUwbT74CZDOEIlvaAcZXyyX1zKbt8IXO3J94C17DNFmkLpyBnnsUv4og0d6YXSJ-ws3CDscvRehP/s320/cake265d.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The sea turtle relaxing on the sugar sand beach was hand molded out of fondant with tylose. I kneaded in some extra green into the fondant and then divided in into 8 pieces. One each for the body, head, front flippers, back flippers, tail and shell. I used water to glue it all together and then handpainted the shell with some golden yellow gel food coloring. This went into the shell "cracks" and then I diluted that color with a bit of clear alcohol. This left the cracks defined but then added a more yellow/green look to the entire shell.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This was my last major cake for the Fall. Good thing since I need to let this finger actually heal up. So for the next few weeks I'll share a few smaller items I have coming up as well as feature some really awesome cake artists that I know online. See you next week!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cat</span>Cat Harperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08688024934053668353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3926807775024255900.post-41690157998574172272013-10-20T10:14:00.001-07:002013-10-20T10:14:46.828-07:00My Indian Themed Pre-Birthday Cake Birthday Cake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN-Rw4MKydAMu3UhOk13ZukvPnNwCV4jDRXtpRc_1JUhTS5AyWyUh4HJ7LIQmDBj_KCuafgSyuHX5E1KgueNyqrAMwz_9wrW5P__fAnzzy3vb3E1kodhliTXlA_102C10anhMBBq2kR6Hh/s1600/cake264a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN-Rw4MKydAMu3UhOk13ZukvPnNwCV4jDRXtpRc_1JUhTS5AyWyUh4HJ7LIQmDBj_KCuafgSyuHX5E1KgueNyqrAMwz_9wrW5P__fAnzzy3vb3E1kodhliTXlA_102C10anhMBBq2kR6Hh/s320/cake264a.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Happy Sunday! Friday was my birthday. Normally I'm over at our grown younger daughter's house and either we are going out to dinner or they are making me dinner there. My birthday cake is usually made by her and is always lovely. Yes, she is a "Caker" too! Being that it's in the middle of October we usually have baseball on the tv in the background and it is always lots of fun. But this year kinda messed up the schedule a bit. I had an order last weekend (the poker table cake) and I have an order next weekend (a baby shower cake) over in their area so we didn't go for my birthday weekend in between. We held off on the family celebration until next weekend. But that didn't mean I wasn't going to celebrate with my husband and 12 year old son. And that meant I got to make my own cake!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now before you think "oh poor woman has to make her own birthday cake" let me be very clear. It is a total treat to be able to make my own cake. I can only think of 3 years since my daughter turned 15 that I have had a chance to make my own cake so it doesn't happen often. And, yes, she is making me one for next weekend too so this is, indeed, a chance to make my own cake, eat it and still have someone make me a cake too! So this is my pre-birthday-cake birthday cake. If you follow me. Ok, it's a good excuse for me to make a cake, play with the piping and eat cake and still get a "real" Birthday Cake next weekend.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It was a very exciting possibility until I broke my finger. As I mentioned last week, I am ambidextrous so breaking the middle finger of my right hand wasn't as big of an issue for last week's cake as I thought it would have been...until it came to the piping. The piping was murder. And my birthday cake design was <i>all</i> piping. Lots and lots of piping. So I baked the cake, a six inch hex shaped pink lemonade cake, on Tuesday and then kept procrastinating actually decorating it because, well, I knew it would hurt and I knew I didn't "have" to make the cake because it wasn't my "real" cake. It's just for us. Did I mention I knew it would hurt?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But, finally, on Friday morning, I pulled the wrapped frozen cake out of the freezer and filled and crumbcoated it. And let it sit for 5 hours while I procrastinated some more. I went and did some chores, played a bit on the computer, worked at my other job...putting off actually decorating this cake sitting on my table. Finally I filled the piping bags with the colors, assembled the paisley shaped cutters and frosted the cake in a flat white. And then, you guessed it, procrastinated for another half hour or so. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This was when I decided I needed to figure out a way around my hand issue. I have a client cake next week and, yes, it has piping on it. Not a lot but it does have piping on it. So I used the cutters to gently press into the side of the white frosted cake all the way around. Then I used the dark wine colored frosting to outline where I had pressed. I quickly learned that the only way to pipe without hurting my hand was to hold the bag in such a way it, basically, looked like I was flipping everyone off! I had to hold the bag with my middle finger sticking straight out and the other fingers wrapped around the bag. I was very happy that there was no one around to offend! LOL!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The rest of the pattern I got from the plates and napkins and I just used small bits and pieces of that design to fill in the sides of the cake. A lot of people ask me how I get my ideas of what goes where and, honestly, I think it's the photographer in me that makes this easy for me to do. If I were going to tell someone how to do it themselves though, I would say to find something like the napkins and just copy the whole design. Use cutters for the hard shapes and then just follow the design on the napkins (or pillow, or invite) to fill in the spaces.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The last piece was the fantasy flower topper. I just used white fondant with a lot of tylose mixed in so it would dry up quickly. I rolled it out to the thickness of a dime and then used a circle cutter to cut out rounds. I then just folded the rounds so that there were two points, one point for the center, one to the outside of the flower. I just stuck them together with a mist of water and let them set up for about an hour. After that I painted them with gold luster dust paint. The center of the flower is just a round that I pinched two points onto and then pinched two more points making it into a square. Once the paint had dried I placed the whole flower onto the top of the cake, filled the center box with orange frosting and added a dab of the wine colored frosting.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf95Dn5GRINof4CxJk_wXhaHMcv800gYPMvg9RuECQ7mYTL3Y7u-WCc4XxX4Xq6LnY1xOpHvrvfgNDpKIi2LkQNrA_ZTvf-0n1EM6jowmC3qBWm2GuHSArxcLVNELoPM_Uy7W1FQ0Mt_vX/s1600/cake264b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf95Dn5GRINof4CxJk_wXhaHMcv800gYPMvg9RuECQ7mYTL3Y7u-WCc4XxX4Xq6LnY1xOpHvrvfgNDpKIi2LkQNrA_ZTvf-0n1EM6jowmC3qBWm2GuHSArxcLVNELoPM_Uy7W1FQ0Mt_vX/s320/cake264b.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Once served on the decorative plates you could see the pink inside and the colorful outside along with the bright plates and napkins and get the feel of the whole presentation. Totally yummy and totally pretty. Perfect for my birthday.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As mentioned, next week is a baby shower cake! I'll share next Monday! See you then!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cat</span>Cat Harperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08688024934053668353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3926807775024255900.post-47082464390451290332013-10-13T19:11:00.001-07:002013-10-13T19:11:46.583-07:00Poker Table Birthday Cake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGP6Do-8w12XCqHh5t4h-ajiq_P_-99HDhMwBmSOhAnWDPCJfLpKv6xuFqvuz7z-_LlcP90mjx8bpGgZSmwjT-V7O0zeU72FvQdsTbxrTI1dqOfJH42SM3lRRIhmCQUoHX1Qm21qk0us5t/s1600/cake263b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGP6Do-8w12XCqHh5t4h-ajiq_P_-99HDhMwBmSOhAnWDPCJfLpKv6xuFqvuz7z-_LlcP90mjx8bpGgZSmwjT-V7O0zeU72FvQdsTbxrTI1dqOfJH42SM3lRRIhmCQUoHX1Qm21qk0us5t/s320/cake263b.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Happy Sunday! This week brings Vic's Poker Table Cake. It comes with a story behind it, as all cakes do, and a big "hitch in my giddy-up" to get it made.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ok, so the first part of the story is that I've made Vic's birthday cakes for the past few years and each on is based on what he likes to do. This cake also followed that theme with the Poker idea. Along with the idea comes a bit of pressure to make each years cake better than last years. Even coming up with the idea is a hard one for his wife and is planned out months in advance.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The cake is strawberry cake with buttercream filling...strawberries and cream! The outside is fresh fondant...all of it. The cards are sugar as are the chips. I started with the covering of the cake with more buttercream and then topping it with the dyed green fondant. After that came the panels along the sides followed by the table "legs". These are just fondant snakes that have been textured with the scalloping tool and then applied along the seams on the sides with a light misting of water. I followed that with the table padding, dying the fondant black. Then I let it rest for a couple of hours so the fondant could set up and not dent so easily when I applied the decorations.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEtVhlgzj7J_3VO9tbl5zJ8vSdc65VgaRl1pIcRiEpLwEXR6Ah8iawA3qm3McvvbkY3tQpAqNaDV-kLPG4MNf9J5lFitg8v2Hr-nmlOsbrvDbWMgyUL-xTxwMKM8SJcV5LQpXnAG6_DBUY/s1600/cake263a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEtVhlgzj7J_3VO9tbl5zJ8vSdc65VgaRl1pIcRiEpLwEXR6Ah8iawA3qm3McvvbkY3tQpAqNaDV-kLPG4MNf9J5lFitg8v2Hr-nmlOsbrvDbWMgyUL-xTxwMKM8SJcV5LQpXnAG6_DBUY/s320/cake263a.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The cards are from real playing cards. I had a sugar transfer sheet made up, the cards just a little smaller than real cards, that I then cut out and adhered to sheets of fondant and let dry till they were solid. I made more than just the Royal Flush so that I could decorate the cake a bit more. All of it is stuck to the cake with a bit of water. The chips took a bit more work. I had to cut out the circles with fondant that had added tylose. The tylose helps the fondant dry out and get solid more quickly. I used a piping tip to make the indent in the center and then used an xacto knife to make the ridges on the top and sides of each chip. At that time I decided how I wanted each chip to be on the board and glued them down and together with water.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The last step, of course is piping the wording on the cake board. Now all of this should have been fairly easy work. A lot of detail, of course, but nothing I was worried about. Until I slammed my hand into a door and broke a finger tip. I did this on the same day I was to make the fondant and fill and crumbcoat the cake. The day before the actual decorating. I have never even considered cancelling a cake on a client before and I certainly didn't want to do that to a regular client! Fortunately, for most of the work, the fact that I am ambidextrous was a huge blessing. I do use my right to write so the piping was the only part that was really painful. The rest I did one handed. Since I'm "ambi" I am use to switching back and forth between hands to work. But for a good deal of this work I couldn't use my right hand at all. It certainly added a level of difficulty to the cake but I didn't have to cancel on my client! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'm happy to say the client was very happy with the cake and I'm hoping her husband thinks it is as great as last years cake. Check out last October's posts to see the Mah Jong cake that was his birthday surprise last year!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This week I only have my own cake to make so I can lay off the hand for a few days. I'll share it with you next weekend! (And, yes, I do actually want to make my own cake!). See you then!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cat</span>Cat Harperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08688024934053668353noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3926807775024255900.post-27396431684277081672013-10-06T09:35:00.000-07:002013-10-06T09:35:15.204-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicyPyeo5szv2l2_dsQSWOXot9mw6oIfgtGLHLS9wgv3nfLDtY_LjlPD5flrj6yt0Zyyr2k-TYdsYQkNVhmY-tE3AveNLnC2EH1igkJpMubUvo7W8fXBrMV0UbgljaSEOQDVIIcL02nHsbq/s1600/truffletwo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicyPyeo5szv2l2_dsQSWOXot9mw6oIfgtGLHLS9wgv3nfLDtY_LjlPD5flrj6yt0Zyyr2k-TYdsYQkNVhmY-tE3AveNLnC2EH1igkJpMubUvo7W8fXBrMV0UbgljaSEOQDVIIcL02nHsbq/s320/truffletwo.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Happy Sunday! No cakes today but another yummy confection to share with you all. With the beginning of the holidays I tend to make little favors to give out or favors for clients to give out to their clients for meetings, mixers or just end of the year gifts. These can be anything from chocolate covered marshmallows to brownies to truffles. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I had a client come to me and ask me if I could find her a recipe for wine truffles. I'd never heard of them before but went to look up a recipe and found several. When you come upon lots of different recipes for the same titled item then what you want to do is compare those and see what is the most consistent of the group. Which variation pops up more than others. This is the one that is going to be the most reliable. So I emailed her the recipe and a few weeks later she offered me the job of making them and packaging them up for her.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">First of all, here is the recipe:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1381076478780_4290" style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px;">1/2 cup heavy cream</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px; outline: 0px;" /><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1381076478780_4291" style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px;">8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, baking bar (Ghirardelli 60%)</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px; outline: 0px;" /><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1381076478780_4292" style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px;">6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px; outline: 0px;" /><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1381076478780_4293" style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px;">1/2 cup red wine, cabernet sauvignon</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px; outline: 0px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px;">cocoa powder</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px; outline: 0px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px;">Directions:</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px; outline: 0px;" /><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px; outline: 0px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px;">1. </span><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1381076478780_4294" style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px;">Coarsley chop chocolate and place into a medium sized bowl.</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px; outline: 0px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px;">2. </span><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1381076478780_4295" style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px;">Bring cream to a simmer, add butter and stir until melted.</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px; outline: 0px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px;">3. </span><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1381076478780_4296" style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px;">Pour the cream over the chocolate. Stir with a spatula until the chocolate is melted.</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px; outline: 0px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px;">4. </span><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1381076478780_4297" style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px;">Add the red wine and stir until wine is incorporated.</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px; outline: 0px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px;">5. </span><span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1381076478780_4168" style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px;">Pour into an 8x8 baking dish and refridgerate for at least 4 hours</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px; outline: 0px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px;">6. </span><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px;">Use a metal cookie scoop to scoop out a truffle. Coat your hands in cocoa powder and gently roll the chocolate until it forms a ball. Roll in cocoa to coat.</span><br style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px; outline: 0px;" /><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px;">7.</span><span style="color: #333333; line-height: 22px;">Keep refridgerated.</span> </span><div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ok, so now here is where the learning curve came into play. I thought, why roll them in cocoa when I can dip them into milk chocolate instead? You see the result of my first effort in the photo above. Looks pretty good, right? Yeah, that's what I thought too. Then I dipped the second truffle, then the third, and realized they were MELTING into my coating chocolate. Apparently the wine lowers the melting point of the truffles quite a bit. Fortunately this recipe makes about 30 truffles and I only needed 24 so I quickly changed tactics and started following the recipe where it clearly says "roll in cocoa to coat". Sometimes fiddling with a recipe is really not a good idea. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But here is the upside...because the melting point is much lower for these truffles than the regular type they melt in the mouth almost instantly. The "mouth feel" is incredible! And the wine flavor is just a hint in the background of the chocolate and not overpowering in any way. Because of the lower melting point though, these DO have to be refrigerated. So keep them in the fridge till presentation and then pass them around. I boxed up two per favor but, really, one is so rich that it is really enough. All of that butter and chocolate and cream is truly decadent!</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This upcoming week will bring a fun Poker Cake to share! See you then!</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cat</span></span></div>
Cat Harperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08688024934053668353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3926807775024255900.post-55804220318447374462013-09-29T10:17:00.001-07:002013-09-29T10:17:14.518-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjCw7tMJoV72d8HhmWYL7PRnjrMJ79GhUldc7Su_6l7Wtd4LBiiTXpyoOODl3Scd-cZfU_11U6yMNd2HaLmusJQd2sw_MjCQ39GfHjditzjRhmt_VObPJnaeUk2QFzWTMz2zWjfQOf8_PJ/s1600/cake260b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjCw7tMJoV72d8HhmWYL7PRnjrMJ79GhUldc7Su_6l7Wtd4LBiiTXpyoOODl3Scd-cZfU_11U6yMNd2HaLmusJQd2sw_MjCQ39GfHjditzjRhmt_VObPJnaeUk2QFzWTMz2zWjfQOf8_PJ/s320/cake260b.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Happy Sunday! This week we continue our series on Mini Cakes! Last week I mentioned that you can make mini cakes in two ways. One is to purchase a mini cake pan (which you may want to do after you make your first mini cake and get hooked on them!) or you can bake your cake in a sheet pan or other shallow baking dish and cut out the rounds or squares with metal cutters. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil1sCPPQwo1pJ4gcAUS9GL2TUmgFe3reTnXQcHurF34qYrIB7FDSM278LC9Lw_Lknd_yWOmKJuc7M404QEywBw_QBpu5NnIychRxn3ajPuttlMvj7AiZye2RSeVAksMp3zL4LtO_iRpP5C/s1600/roundset.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil1sCPPQwo1pJ4gcAUS9GL2TUmgFe3reTnXQcHurF34qYrIB7FDSM278LC9Lw_Lknd_yWOmKJuc7M404QEywBw_QBpu5NnIychRxn3ajPuttlMvj7AiZye2RSeVAksMp3zL4LtO_iRpP5C/s320/roundset.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Today I present a cake made with the latter method. I have this set of cutters made by Ateco that cost me about $15. I use them for everything from cutting out fondant to cutting out cookies to cutting out cake rounds. For today's cake I used the largest of these rounds which is almost 5 inches. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmfbntWjsI1sRuneh2GW8gm19HT9F56afIcfr65_FKSUthV5yuW28Yfu12ZjEczCVnLcyQupUEq_JzRFIl6MK7V7sJIsBRyZkhLxhphwXr68iultYQLKp-cUvcmekhCkXL1zUFy_CxDMW1/s1600/barpan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmfbntWjsI1sRuneh2GW8gm19HT9F56afIcfr65_FKSUthV5yuW28Yfu12ZjEczCVnLcyQupUEq_JzRFIl6MK7V7sJIsBRyZkhLxhphwXr68iultYQLKp-cUvcmekhCkXL1zUFy_CxDMW1/s1600/barpan.jpg" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The cake is lemon chiffon cake that was baked about an hour before I was going to serve my "shortcakes". I used my regular recipe and then sprayed my baking pan (I have the Pampered Chef Stonewar Bar Pan pictured above) and poured my batter into it, spreading it as evenly as possible. If I were using a baking sheet I would line it with parchment paper after spraying it for easy removal. You can just use a rectangular cake pan and just not fill it up as much as you normally would. You don't want your layers to be too thick. Remember that, since it is a thinner cake layer, you won't have to bake it very long so keep a watch on it!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Once the cake is baked just use your cutter to cut out rounds from your rectangular pan. You can save the left over cake for a trifle for later in the week so no need to waste the extra cake! Lift your rounds out with a spatula and set on a wire rack to cool for a few moments. While they are cooling you will have time to prepare the whipped cream and the strawberries!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you have never made whipped cream from scratch you are in for a yummy surprise. Yes, canned whipped cream can be used...even Cool Whip can be used...make it as "semi-homemade" as you want it to be...but whipped cream from scratch is a real treat. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Take 2 cups of whipping cream and place it in the mixer on medium speed. Add in 2 teaspoons vanilla flavoring and let it whip until it starts to firm up. Now add in 3 tablespoons of white sugar. Once that is incorporated add 3 tablespoons powdered sugar. The powdered sugar will help sweeten your whipped cream but, more importantly, will help stabilize the whipped cream so it holds it's shape and doesn't melt on you after piping it. Now a tip on whipped cream. Sweeten it to YOUR taste. If this recipe doesn't have enough sugar for you then add more of the white sugar. If it is too sweet then add more cream. But once you see how easy it is to make you may never use the canned or tub version of it again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now the strawberries. This is the easiest part of this whole process. Wash and then slice up a whole carton of strawberries. Leave out a few to just cut in half for the toppers. Place those cut up slices into a bowl and sprinkle with 3 tablespoons of white sugar. Mix and then leave that to set up for 15 minutes. The sugar mixes with the juice of the strawberries to make a wonderful sauce!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">While your strawberries are setting up take your whipped cream and place it in a piping bag fitted with a large tip. The tip I'm talking about is one of the big ones you just drop into the bag, you don't use a coupler with these tips. I used the large open star tip (Wilton tip 2110) for my cakes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now it's time to put it all together. Just set the cake on your pretty plate, layer with a few spoons of strawberries with the juice and then top with the whipped cream and half of a whole strawberry! SO easy, SO pretty and SOOOOO good!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Last tip. You can cut out your cake with smaller cutters and make LAYERS of strawberries and whipped cream! How pretty of a dessert would <i>that </i>be for your guests? Or, layer up the strawberries and whipped cream and then "frost" all of it with more whipped cream and top with a whole strawberry fan. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There is SO much you can do with a mini cake and over the next two weeks we'll show you a bit more that you can do with these small treats! In the meantime you can get daily tips and tricks over at our <a href="http://www.facebook.com/thecherryontopevents">Facebook Fan Site</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">See you there!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cat</span>Cat Harperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08688024934053668353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3926807775024255900.post-79587913832317491622013-09-23T09:12:00.001-07:002013-09-23T09:12:12.692-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhatXHlh5GT54RzpWwxtWItOXCbK2-MlYZdTo1obv9E_sJv45k0jWYc8LHbyPpshbm5ekobjKm9s6IeCKvzCRUDnOb-eX8mvHBGCp60IfNNChnssNX7WJ6QBz_fcqntGSC0V5oQoCSs0Zwl/s1600/cake261a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhatXHlh5GT54RzpWwxtWItOXCbK2-MlYZdTo1obv9E_sJv45k0jWYc8LHbyPpshbm5ekobjKm9s6IeCKvzCRUDnOb-eX8mvHBGCp60IfNNChnssNX7WJ6QBz_fcqntGSC0V5oQoCSs0Zwl/s320/cake261a.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Happy Monday! This week starts a new series about Mini Cakes. These adorable little cakes are great for small family occasions and we are happy to give you some easy tips and tricks so you can make them too!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The question I hear the most is "You have to buy special cake pans, right?" and the answer is no, you don't. Sure, I have an adorable little mini set of cake pans that are sizes 1", 3" and 5". But you can, and I have, made a mini cake using just a round cutter and cake baked in shallow baking pan like a cookie sheet. Just bake the cake in the shallow pan and then use your round cutter to cut out the size of layer you want for your cake. Then stack them just like you would in a bigger pan. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Mini cakes are great for small family birthday's, celebrating the new job or promotion, but I think the most common use for a mini cake is for a Baby's 1st Birthday "Smash" Cake. But they can be used for other kids birthdays as well. Make the mini cake for the Mom, Dad, kids and then serve cupcakes to your guests! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The cake today is a white cake with vanilla buttercream filling. This happens to be my son's favorite combination so he was really happy that I started this series with HIS favorite cake! Once the cake was cooled and leveled (the dome trimmed off of it so that each layer was even and flat) I wrapped each layer well in Press & Seal wrap and popped it into the freezer overnight. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A quick word about that. I have found that freezing cakes seals the moisture into the layers. Once I'm ready to fill them I unwrap them and, while still frozen, I fill the cake and ice it with a thin layer of frosting called a "crumbcoat". I then let the cake thaw out and "settle" over at least 3 hours to over night. As gravity starts to work, the cake will settle and will push the filling out to the sides of the cake. If you end up with a "roll" of filling sticking out you can smooth your crumbcoat again before the final coat of frosting. But this is why allowing time for settling is so important. Once you apply the crumbcoat onto the cake it will help seal in the freshness and moisture into the cake. After this step do NOT put the cake into the refrigerator. The reason is that refrigerators draw out the moisture and your icing will suck up all of the smells of the other food. It is a much better idea to put your cake out on the counter instead. After your final coating of frosting or fondant you still do not want to put your cake in the fridge because it will effect the look of the surface of your cake. It can cause "weeping" in buttercream or "blooming" on fondant. Weeping is when the butter oil separates from the sugar and cream and blooming is when moisture (condensation) forms on the surface of fondant making it shiny in some spots and dull in others. So keep your cakes and cupcakes out of the refrigerator except to put a chill on them before filling/crumbcoating and only if they are well wrapped.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now onto the decorating. I just used a flat tip (Wilton #45) that has smooth sides on both sides. Like a basketweave tip only with smooth edges. You could do straight lines down the sides of the cake but I decided to go wavy. Once I finished piping all the way around the cake with the wavy lines I just used the same tip to make ruffled type circles, starting from the outside and working in, on the top. I finally trimmed the cake in that same manner, making the trim a bit ruffled.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I used small candy pearls for the snowflake design on the top and sides but you could use white frosting and a fine tip to do the same. But since I was making this cake for my son and he loves the candy I used the candy pearls instead. To do this I used one of the best tools I have added to my tool box in the past few years....my tweezers. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUpilYEitgylfUOcGZxL83odOHDip-eTmR-c_qibZ2fp5uc5t1-P7mQ-epc5Z_2F2Rxsbp9NswJvShBjqt5qCR1Zxxig76y1OS5DiE8oAatDPBP9JulbH_Sqs0vSnNmJ1w7x_Tr3sd0Cs4/s1600/tweezer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUpilYEitgylfUOcGZxL83odOHDip-eTmR-c_qibZ2fp5uc5t1-P7mQ-epc5Z_2F2Rxsbp9NswJvShBjqt5qCR1Zxxig76y1OS5DiE8oAatDPBP9JulbH_Sqs0vSnNmJ1w7x_Tr3sd0Cs4/s200/tweezer.jpg" width="200" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">You can see that they resemble the ones that might be used to pluck out an eyebrow hair or splinter but they are angled which makes it much easier for the placement of candy onto the cake. Now here is the great thing...they only cost a few dollars. A wonderful mini-investment for your cake tool box.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Once the pearls were in place the cake was done! This little 5 inch cake serves 5. It is about 4-1/2 inches tall so when you cut this into five pieces you will get a 1x4.5 inch piece of cake. This is what makes mini-cakes so perfect for a family event. Just enough for after dinner.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Next week I'll bring a new mini-cake with new techniques that you can easily do at home too! In the meantime you can join us over at our <a href="http://www.facebook.com/thecherryontopevents">Facebook Fan Site</a> for daily tips and tricks!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cat</span></div>
<br />Cat Harperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08688024934053668353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3926807775024255900.post-2610991854863762382013-09-08T12:31:00.001-07:002013-09-08T12:31:25.799-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This week begins my Fall Break. There are a few cakes in the next two months but it's a nice slow down after a very busy summer. So this week I'm going to share with you photos, and a few tips, of some of my favorite Wedding Cakes from the past two years.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHWTbDti-AREkfvDrKVztMrvhYY1WZ0bJkkQC7vFoykDxHFwH2A2UgWnjbfYC7qEi_SCOHlUrR9pO72kYqLG0bmvCHnxjeWXZhs5runsf61w6vcWF0gNuzr2Us9AYGbiLXjhR04289KM8m/s1600/cake134a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHWTbDti-AREkfvDrKVztMrvhYY1WZ0bJkkQC7vFoykDxHFwH2A2UgWnjbfYC7qEi_SCOHlUrR9pO72kYqLG0bmvCHnxjeWXZhs5runsf61w6vcWF0gNuzr2Us9AYGbiLXjhR04289KM8m/s320/cake134a.jpg" width="213" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> This cake was the first time I had ever paired hot pink and black. It was also the very first time I had ever really worked with piped royal icing figures. That is when you take royal icing, pipe it out onto parchment or wax paper, allow it to dry for a LONG time and then peel it off and use it on the cake. You break as many as you save so, if you try it, make sure to make at least double of what you think you will need!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiKu2WTowGEAQGVLIcnZcq7Vc1S7ZLhlrIPGdN1cFW-7xbHVOh65cIrO_29NNILBsk4JAlhSilqaTecXJrfLZXfL7eHDCDpSqUeurWkYOMp_khQ7YocJXv5IClW4moMMLCnr3WkntuTld7/s1600/cake139a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiKu2WTowGEAQGVLIcnZcq7Vc1S7ZLhlrIPGdN1cFW-7xbHVOh65cIrO_29NNILBsk4JAlhSilqaTecXJrfLZXfL7eHDCDpSqUeurWkYOMp_khQ7YocJXv5IClW4moMMLCnr3WkntuTld7/s320/cake139a.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> My one and only "topsy-turvy" cake and still one of my very favorites. I have to say that making this one was more than a bit nerve-wracking. The tiers were stacked on dowels and held in place with royal icing and the bond of the sugars where the fondant edges met. When it was all done, even though I knew it was stable, it still gave me a heart attack to move it. I love this one but won't be doing another any time soon.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkGHZEqTKRoueKKP4NELAEt16EqEeEf6kV27EgHi132dm3J3U870j2mBj1DEQgfm9InICZ3RhAg8TZ5IkKdt_EV-VrnGiIYKt2dfPxNo_c6-ivSvM6ty3WiEbu0-nNbZAprmVKCHDz-Ho3/s1600/cake195a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkGHZEqTKRoueKKP4NELAEt16EqEeEf6kV27EgHi132dm3J3U870j2mBj1DEQgfm9InICZ3RhAg8TZ5IkKdt_EV-VrnGiIYKt2dfPxNo_c6-ivSvM6ty3WiEbu0-nNbZAprmVKCHDz-Ho3/s320/cake195a.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> One of my brides saw the cake above and decided that "feel" was how she wanted to go with her own cake. We took 3 different styles from cakes I had made before and created a one of a kind for her wedding. And I think that is very important to point out. If you are planning your own wedding and are thinking of cake you may want to consider taking a few photos of cakes you like to your cake designer so she can create your one of a kind work of edible art for your wedding. You deserve to have a cake that is beautiful and unique for your day, not a copy of what some other bride had on hers.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2_w5BdBjfLV4AyoPWWH5wcmj353SKhbBVDum0CcE4NcDi2fQcPY-PuTrRXCwxAe2YjBMEUwdjeOLWnQBXZfiU0NLHL2V0gZA6W4kCePzKN_VOqBm3K_Fh9F2myhdx0k-8Q7Zz8f3wCI1V/s1600/cake207a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2_w5BdBjfLV4AyoPWWH5wcmj353SKhbBVDum0CcE4NcDi2fQcPY-PuTrRXCwxAe2YjBMEUwdjeOLWnQBXZfiU0NLHL2V0gZA6W4kCePzKN_VOqBm3K_Fh9F2myhdx0k-8Q7Zz8f3wCI1V/s320/cake207a.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I do a lot of "little weddings". But this one was my favorite. The design is based on their wedding invitations and it was the first time I had ever used paper on a cake. Occasionally a local bride will rent a cake stand from me and I had just the right one in stock that complimented her cake perfectly. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidn_1Dx10cpKFNva5Qv2gBKZDgdI5dhYl4jmI2ldj1_rHOEgtvgPLnRVYBcNFpmmbhF7yyXye4BpPEJQFpmNQNMM5c8c3WycvDViqe7I0GFI4Z50dl9gP865_2M_6tXjttYEHExqjFT490/s1600/cake211a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidn_1Dx10cpKFNva5Qv2gBKZDgdI5dhYl4jmI2ldj1_rHOEgtvgPLnRVYBcNFpmmbhF7yyXye4BpPEJQFpmNQNMM5c8c3WycvDViqe7I0GFI4Z50dl9gP865_2M_6tXjttYEHExqjFT490/s320/cake211a.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I have to put this one into the mix since it is my own! My husband and I celebrated our 25th Wedding Anniversary last year and the theme was World Travelers. Separately and together we have traveled the world so the banner, which says "No matter where I travel, the best part is coming home to you", was the perfect touch for this cake which features a man's valise and a ladies overnight case. Just a reminder that your wedding cake doesn't have to be the traditional 3 tier round or square cake. It can be anything you want it to be!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh92kf8fYzN6001i_NNqodrEz9LV1wTyAsifb2SwzXqdeYZz-B8iBiXI4vpe_UA3OGBdU8AukD9j1X4j1JrUuMTHgrwR9H4gU6_6qJzmVqEK8YoE7UGglLApaKMy2rN3z-dVFpD-7YGieRx/s1600/cake212a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh92kf8fYzN6001i_NNqodrEz9LV1wTyAsifb2SwzXqdeYZz-B8iBiXI4vpe_UA3OGBdU8AukD9j1X4j1JrUuMTHgrwR9H4gU6_6qJzmVqEK8YoE7UGglLApaKMy2rN3z-dVFpD-7YGieRx/s320/cake212a.jpg" width="213" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I adore Art Deco and I love Disney so this cake was the perfect mix of the two! The man's tuxedo was easier than I thought it would be and a perfect example how we can talk ourselves out of trying something new because we think it will be too hard or out of our skill range. Try it anyways! This cake was one of those where I began it with a "what was I thinking" and ended with a "oh, that's JUST what I wanted". So don't be afraid to push yourself. You may just find that you are up to the challenge!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP9qgjthNUNi0fimgje3my4Znfaa9gVvJ2-UobeBn__d0cA88gZGGpGcT_H0Ls6EoG6ZTf8Bivq0-iJOplXyETDkN5TJDzEDir0t5jgefOs7ujysDTVfp5GzH45kV4IA-A-x0iRdt3vQl6/s1600/cake245a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP9qgjthNUNi0fimgje3my4Znfaa9gVvJ2-UobeBn__d0cA88gZGGpGcT_H0Ls6EoG6ZTf8Bivq0-iJOplXyETDkN5TJDzEDir0t5jgefOs7ujysDTVfp5GzH45kV4IA-A-x0iRdt3vQl6/s320/cake245a.jpg" width="213" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The directions for this cake was "yellow and grey on white buttercream with pinwheels". Well, I had just been browsing Martha Stewart's cake section when I saw a cake they had decorated with paper banners! So I thought, why not! The cake is frosted and trimmed with buttercream and then decorated with paper pinwheels. It was perfect for this outdoor wedding!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuY-xYxLrt7pf7bV3623O_o56XXPYQBqImhyphenhyphenYIYZWzLMlqorMtSyPGbY0DLj1pAz6c57RcJZIxTDMCR1qzyfz1SEi81vdLfDa-Jc7oPfifj9GmUzk94dY2MvGBkqgfwjPEA8ryTc37ci2v/s1600/cake254a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuY-xYxLrt7pf7bV3623O_o56XXPYQBqImhyphenhyphenYIYZWzLMlqorMtSyPGbY0DLj1pAz6c57RcJZIxTDMCR1qzyfz1SEi81vdLfDa-Jc7oPfifj9GmUzk94dY2MvGBkqgfwjPEA8ryTc37ci2v/s320/cake254a.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Finally a word about making cakes I am really not sure will look all that great. When I met with the bride and she said her colors were pink and grey I flashed back on Steel Magnolias "Grey Icing? I'm not even sure how to <i>make </i>grey icing!". So I talked the bride into silver instead of grey hoping against hope it would help make the cake as beautiful as I wanted it to be for their wedding. Low and behold I was totally wrong about the color combination! She used this combo in her entire wedding and it was simply stunning! The blush pink of the pearls, fondant stripes and roses along with the silver lines and ribbon against the white fondant made for a very elegant cake for their very elegant wedding. Sometimes you just have to have faith that it will all work out perfectly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Next week I have one of the few cakes for this Fall Season to share with you and, yes, it's a wedding cake!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">See you then!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cat</span><br />
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Cat Harperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08688024934053668353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3926807775024255900.post-22623898997347113522013-09-03T09:16:00.001-07:002013-09-03T09:16:29.487-07:00Jilly's Barbie Birthday Cake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzQWVow_OmkZRwcHgNwH5FUwn8HaNXFgAzequ9aMGLWDsQWh4T5BqRPt587_CEp5rXfb8RrzrK4FTvNIuepfSIn4Tz6QROhMDDp8craCdOMusbtGnF9DKlGLFnac9jLdACZ2e1PLOthu-Y/s1600/Cake259a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzQWVow_OmkZRwcHgNwH5FUwn8HaNXFgAzequ9aMGLWDsQWh4T5BqRPt587_CEp5rXfb8RrzrK4FTvNIuepfSIn4Tz6QROhMDDp8craCdOMusbtGnF9DKlGLFnac9jLdACZ2e1PLOthu-Y/s320/Cake259a.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Happy Tuesday? I know this is a few days late but here in the US we had "Labor Day" weekend and that always pushes everything by a few days. My last cake of the summer was actually for our Grand daughters 4th Birthday Party! As you can see, by the cake above, the theme was pink and zebra print Barbie. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Barbie is a real doll, not just the top of a doll with a pick that sticks into the cake. She was cleaned up at the party and then redressed in her clothing and given to the birthday girl to play with after the cake cutting. What I used to bake this cake was a Pampered Chef Batter Bowl. To bake in a deep container like this you need to turn the temperature down to 300 and let it bake until it is completely done...so it takes a bit longer as well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The inside of the cake was Zebra Striped too! It's really fairly easy to do but I wasn't sure it would work in this particular baking dish...I was SO happy that it did! Now what you do is make up your two batters of cake batter and set aside in separate bowls. Then use a measuring cup or ladle (it just needs to be the same size for both bowls) and, starting with the lighter colored batter, ladle in a scoop or two. Then into the center of the lighter color ladle in the same amount of dark batter. Alternate this until the container is full. Then don't touch it. Just bake it. And this is how it looks when it comes out! Zebra Striped!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After it was the cake was cooled I sliced it for filling and then wrapped it and put it into the freezer overnight. The next day I filled it and crumb coated it as well as, using a long bread knife, cut a hole into the center so I could slip in my Barbie doll when the time came.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After the cake was settled (I let it sit for 6 hours) I wrapped the legs of the Barbie in plastic wrap so that she wouldn't actually touch the food, and put her down into the cake. This is where I got into a bit of trouble. I have made Barbie cakes before but always with regular Barbie dolls. This doll is actually Ballerina Barbie and is about 2 inches taller! So when I slid her into the cake I realized that the cake didn't come to her waist, it only came up to her hip! So all of a sudden my dress became a dropped waist design! What I ended up having to do was to spread buttercream up to the actual waist of the doll and smooth it down so it would look like part of the cake.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Then I started on the actual decorating. There is no easy way to do this. You have to eyeball everything. I added a bit of tylose to my white fondant and then rolled it out and cut that into strips and "ruffled" those up and placed them on the bottom right front of the cake so that she would have peek-a-boo ruffles in front. Then I cut out a heart shape piece for the front of the bodice and pressed it onto the doll, covering up the blue painted on "dress" she actually wears as a ballerina. Next I cut out the large triangle for the front of the dress and added it to the front of the cake, being careful to position it up and over the ruffles. I let that set up a bit before rolling out the black fondant rectangle. I have done zebra stripe before so I had learned that the best way is just to cut out the shapes from a big rectangle in a diagonal direction. Some of them are just slightly jagged strips and some of them are forked strips. Then I just used a tiny bit of water to position them onto the white dress front. You have to be SO careful here. Wherever you place the black is instantly died black. So there is no re-positioning or second chances. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The light pink pieces are really just large "tear drop" shaped pieces that I cut out and placed, starting at the true waist of the doll and over lapped, first from the front to the back on one side and then from the front to the back on the other side, topping with one last tear dropped piece in the very back. Then I rolled out a bit of white fondant for the back of the bodice and pressed it to the doll. Then it was time to add the dark pink fondant side/back pieces of the bodice. As with the front I just eye-balled it but they are basically large triangles.Once those were on I used a circle cutter to cut out the dark pink upper dress panels. For these I cut a straight edge onto the circle so it would fit easily to the waist. I just wrapped one from the front to the back on one side and then on from the front to the back on the other having them overlap in the center of the back.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The finishing touches were to add the piped on corset lacings (royal icing) and the black fondant bow. Then I just piped little white dots for trim on the light pink skirt and rolled dark pink ropes for trim on the dark pink skirt. Here is a tip...something I didn't think about till it was too late and ended up having to do it the hard way...trim the dark pink skirt BEFORE adding the bow. I ended up having to piece the trim in the back and it was much more difficult than if I'd just remembered to do that before adding the bow and ribbon tails. One last detail was adding the little black candy pearls to the bodice front to zebra stripe it too. I piped thin lines of royal icing on the bodice and then, using candy tweezers, added the pearls to the bodice. But the very last detail was the little present Barbie is holding. Since she is a Ballerina she has arms that are folded in such a way as to curve over Barbie's head like a ballerinas do when she is on pointe. So it looked awkward to me. That was when I decided she should be holding something. I didn't have time to let a purse dry so I took a bit of dark fondant, squared it off, cut strips of black fondant for the stripping and then made up a little bow. All of this I slid onto her thumb to hold it into place.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here is Barbie at the party! Surrounded by the other decorations she really fits in and the Birthday Girl was over-joyed! I will be posting the party photos soon on the <a href="http://thecherryontopevents.blogspot.com/">Cherry Party Blog</a> so you can see all of the party details!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This week begins the time of year when I take some time off. I have a few cakes over the next few months so on my "off" weeks I'll share some of my other favorite cakes or spotlight friends wonderful cakes for you all to see. In the meantime you can always get daily tips and tricks on our <a href="http://www.facebook.com/thecherryontopevents">Facebook Fan Site</a>!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">See you next there!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cat</span></div>
Cat Harperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08688024934053668353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3926807775024255900.post-55210161575875533362013-08-25T12:13:00.001-07:002013-08-25T12:13:18.633-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Happy Sunday! Another summer birthday came our way this week. This little beach bag cake is filled with everything Jayne can wish to take with her to the beach. There's sunscreen, her travel journal, her sunglasses and her towel all sticking out of the top.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I learned a great many things making this cake. It is a standard 8x2 inch cake that has been cut into thirds and then trimmed down to 5-1/2 inches across by 6 inches high and 2-1/2 inches wide with the trimmings adding height to the cake. Yellow cake filled with chocolate brownie buttercream is Jayne's favorite combo so that is what is inside the vanilla fondant "bag". It is staked twice down into the cake board with wooden skewers, one on each side of the cake from top to bottom. Then it was crumbcoated with vanilla buttercream and allowed to set up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I then started on the stripes. What I found out is that they don't "glue" together easily. I finally took the strips and laid them out onto a parchment covered rack and brushed water in between so they would glue together in pairs of two. Then I was able to put them on the cake, trim them down to fit the cake two at a time. One of the reasons I give myself plenty of time to decorate a cake is due to set backs like this one. It added 6 hours of wait time to this cake. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Once I had the front strips on and the back strips on and trimmed down I added the white side panels. I mainly let the front semi-hard strips help hold the soft white fondant to the sides since it, like the hard strips, had to stand up, like a bag, but couldn't be stiff because I needed them to look like fluid fabric billowing on the sides. So I brushed water, not just on the cake but also the fondant edges of the hard front and back strips and then smoothed the side fondant on pressing it gently to the front and back wet edges. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After they were dry and allowed to set up for a bit it was time to do the cording. I have an extruder that I simply love. It has many different screens with different size and shaped holes so I can just change out whatever I need to whenever I need to do it. The screen for today is the one with three small holes in it that allows me to make long thin "snakes" of fondant. I made white and blue snakes and then just twisted them together. Then I brushed on a thin line of water to act as glue and ran it along the edges of the front and back panels. I used just one strand of white to edge the top and bottom edges of the side panels.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I used this same screen to make the snakes I needed for the braided handles for the front and back. You have to work really, really carefully or the snake will break and you will have to start all over again. Once the braids were done I set them aside, the U shape of a handle, to firm up. While they were drying, I made the "grommets" for the bag. Just cut out with a piping tip and then punched with a smaller tip, I just painted these silver and let them dry.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">While everything was drying I began working on the items to go into the bag. Keep in mind that they are supposed to be peeking out of the bag so you do not need full sized items. The panels stick about an inch or so over the actual cake so you only need a few inches of the item to stick out. The towel is only 4 inches long, the sunscreen is only about 2-1/2, as is the book. The sunglasses are fronts only with one partial earpiece folded under. For the book I took a block of white fondant and then rolled out a marbled piece of blue-green fondant really thin to cover it. Lastly I used my xacto knife to score the "pages". The towel is a thick piece of pink and white marbled fondant that was rolled and then texturized using scrunched up plastic wrap. Both the sunglasses and the sunscreen are just hand molded until I thought they looked right.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The last touches were painting the SPF 30 on the sunscreen and Jayne's initials on the journal in silver paint and then adding the grommets and braided handles to the bag. The grommets went on quickly but I did have to use toothpicks to hold the braided fondant onto the cake. I put them through the folded over braiding and then pushed them into the cake gently, making sure to hide the tip of the toothpick. The sand is just gold sanding sugar that I sprinkled onto the board using a small spoon.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Smaller cakes are sometimes the most challenging but being a "Beach Baby" myself I was very happy to do this cake! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Next week is time to Party with Barbie! See you then!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cat</span><br />
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<br />Cat Harperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08688024934053668353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3926807775024255900.post-32785673011425334952013-08-18T09:58:00.001-07:002013-08-18T09:58:32.165-07:00Nate's Propane Tank Birthday Cake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Happy Sunday! It is always fun when I get to do a family members cake! Today is Nate's birthday. Nate is my son-in-law and one of the best guys you would want to know. Nate also owns a propane franchise. Thus the propane tank cake! LOL!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Making this cake wasn't the easiest but I did find out some pitfalls along the way. Making a carved cake can be challenging but the first issue I had was making the collar and the nozzle for this tank. Since it had to dry for several days I made it before I had actually baked the cake. Well, when I baked the cake I found out that the collar and nozzle were too small! So I ended up making it again. I was very happy that they were dry enough when it came time to top the cake with them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The cake is 3 four inch layers. This feeds 10 people which was perfect for our guest list. I leveled off two of the layers and left the dome on the top one, just trimming off enough to give me a flat surface for the nozzle. Lastly I carved into the bottom tier so it would allow room for the bottom collar. In retrospect I didn't carve in enough so the collar doesn't look as recessed as it should. It is vanilla cake filled with chocolate brownie buttercream...and yes, it was very yummy! I stacked the cakes and then took a wooden skewer and nailed it through the top of the cake, slightly to the side, into the cake drum below. Then I covered it all with a crumbcoating of buttercream and let it set up overnight. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now it was time to cover the whole thing with fondant. It is a strange shape for a cake so I had to go very slowly and carefully with the fondant, smoothing it out one small section at a time until it was completely adhering to the cake. When this was totally smooth I nailed in another skewer into the top of the cake (also to one side) and down into the cake drum below. We had to travel 200 miles with this cake and with it being much taller than it is wide, it meant it could topple easily and I didn't want that going anywhere!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is when I added the bottom collar and the middle roll of fondant. I use an extruder to make the long snake of fondant but it's still a real challenge to get it so it looks even around the middle of the cake so I brushed the roll with a mist of water and then put it on the cake and then adjusted as I needed before it set up on the cake. You only have seconds before the sugar bond occurs so you have to work fast!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I then set the collar up on the top of the cake where I wanted it to sit and marked the cake in three places. I removed the collar and piped in a layer of royal icing. This not only sets the collar up above the cake like a real tank but also sticks the collar to the cake securely. I went back a few times and piped more lines on top of the first lines to build it up, letting it dry between layers. Finally I set the color up on top of the last wet layer and then used the royal icing to smooth it out so it looked like the welds on a real tank. Next the nozzle was put into place with a toothpick and some water to hold it into place.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The last part on the cake was the hand painting. Now the logo of his company is something close to this one but you can't put a trademarked logo on a cake so I just changed it a bit. I cut the arrows out of blue fondant using two sizes of circle cutters. The I cut the circles in half and then carved the arrows with an exacto knife I have just for cakes. Then it was time for the hand painting. There really is no easy way to hand paint. You just dive in and hope for the best. Over time and with practice you do get better at it...I'm not quite there yet but I'm working on it! LOL!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Finally there was the writing on the drum. It's royal icing because I wanted to be able to paint on it and you can't do that with frosting. So I piped out the letters in white and then let them totally dry. After I made sure they were totally dry I started coloring them in. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The birthday guy was very surprised by the cake so it was great! We all enjoyed eating it too! And there was the last challenge. How do you cut a cake that's not shaped like cake? I'd love to say that there was a tried and true method but there just isn't. With this one I removed the toppers, grabbed an extra paper plate, then just cut the cake right down the middle. I carefully took one half of the cake and put it on the extra paper plate and laid down the other side on the drum. Then I just cut the appropriate sized pieces which worked out perfectly to give cake and a bit of filling to everyone. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This upcoming week brings another carved mini-birthday cake! I'll share with you on Sunday!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cat</span><br />
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<br />Cat Harperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08688024934053668353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3926807775024255900.post-34926122116242819812013-08-11T12:02:00.001-07:002013-08-11T12:02:45.130-07:00Broach Wedding Cake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhowlzKgJoLd6DiJpVXaSthtI0hx-NWMwst_-4Slh_IOHFDxC4V5eYaAW5LBuahSQN3dHWX3lfXMA3cmH4AGgMKooLoT_NptuYDM7LlTfXlUpFJUTa_JfLaKtuKTcqqSYiyJCbiru9G4A0Z/s1600/cake256a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhowlzKgJoLd6DiJpVXaSthtI0hx-NWMwst_-4Slh_IOHFDxC4V5eYaAW5LBuahSQN3dHWX3lfXMA3cmH4AGgMKooLoT_NptuYDM7LlTfXlUpFJUTa_JfLaKtuKTcqqSYiyJCbiru9G4A0Z/s320/cake256a.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Happy Sunday! This week brings another wedding! My last of the year...and a very simple but lovely wedding cake that is decorated by a replica of the Bride's Great Grandmother's broach. But there is a very special story attached to this broach and to the small wedding cake for this Bride and Groom.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">You see, the Groom is being deployed in a few weeks. While he's going to be on the "back lines" and they don't fear for his safe return, they did want to be married before he left. So, while planning the big "To-Do" for next Fall after he returns next Summer, they decided to have this small wedding, including wedding cake right now. The broach is a symbol of how love can endure the separation of War. The Bride's Great Grandmother wore a beautiful crystal studded broach on her wedding day in her hair at a small ceremony before her husband was deployed. He returned home safely and now they have been married since 1942. Yup...do the math..that's 71 years happily married! I'd say that was one good omen for this new Bride who is about to send her new husband off to War as well. So the Bride found a replica of the broach for her own Wedding Day! We can only wish such a long marriage for the two of them as well!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The cake is just a 10x4 square Lemon Chiffon with Raspberry filling cake covered with vanilla fondant and then decorated with piped royal icing. The icing actually mimics the pattern on the wedding invitations for the ceremony next year so I can't share them with you yet. I piped royal all around the cake as trim and then added the little fondant flowers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">To make the fondant flowers I just rolled the fondant thin as a dime and then used a plunger punch to make the flowers similar to one of these. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXfi7dsI1G5yWdWENxgerP7nHc8gTf_RYVRifIGFkxpWETVefbSEFigfZEuIQAMTsxCYB-e-ZnGpABbm9al2vtrKB-yGjZI_jQ9DWySviZekCGZ2XXgYIJBrzN4qxXmq1cnTQJSOxDYEN7/s1600/flowerpunch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXfi7dsI1G5yWdWENxgerP7nHc8gTf_RYVRifIGFkxpWETVefbSEFigfZEuIQAMTsxCYB-e-ZnGpABbm9al2vtrKB-yGjZI_jQ9DWySviZekCGZ2XXgYIJBrzN4qxXmq1cnTQJSOxDYEN7/s320/flowerpunch.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">When you press the punch onto the fondant and push the plunger down you not only cut out the flower but emboss it at the same time. I cut out about a hundred flowers and then, using a flower sponge and a mini ball tool, I made the flowers into little cups. I let those dry for a bit before brushing them with ivory luster dust. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Finally I attached those to the cake with royal icing and then added the little candy pearls. The broach was the last thing to go on the cake. It was attached with royal as well and will easily be removed from the cake and easily cleaned up afterward for use in her bouquet or on her cake next year. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Best wishes to the new Bride and Groom and our hopes that he will return quickly and safely to his family at the end of his tour.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Next week is a "carved" birthday cake! See you then! Of course you can check in for our daily tips and tricks on our <a href="http://www.facebook.com/thecherryontopevents">Facebook Fan Site</a> where we still have a "Sharing" contest going on! Just head over once a day and "share" the tip, trick or photo of the day and you can win!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cat</span></div>
Cat Harperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08688024934053668353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3926807775024255900.post-39261590780208545292013-08-04T09:30:00.002-07:002013-08-04T09:30:33.505-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinSBvQuiB78S1ujvpFw89iQ-XNUeULdy8VPuSN9p_kIqpcaNq03K-MzOwx2hkmtEXMiHOidnUJ2sq-LWNEZZ_LE0hXas_mOb67dEtrSFUFxHEb1ZNf3F6NsdWKxolBFSf1acQeDcCpegrD/s1600/cake255a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinSBvQuiB78S1ujvpFw89iQ-XNUeULdy8VPuSN9p_kIqpcaNq03K-MzOwx2hkmtEXMiHOidnUJ2sq-LWNEZZ_LE0hXas_mOb67dEtrSFUFxHEb1ZNf3F6NsdWKxolBFSf1acQeDcCpegrD/s320/cake255a.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Happy Sunday! This past week brought us a wedding with two Brides! Together for over a decade this couple decided to tie the knot right after the Supreme Court ruling and we were delighted to be involved!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLhO6s5_kjB2_VIQMZACSjQA-PbBKQCidHgy_RF8XE_az-eVL-COvbb-ec1k4BXDvpp40xKryNBcUoXf-4XpmrF1zf0wv2PYTZoHwrqmq3PVhpvzXNi0febXgbYgEQ9tgv9vxdtIiiohMi/s1600/Cake255b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLhO6s5_kjB2_VIQMZACSjQA-PbBKQCidHgy_RF8XE_az-eVL-COvbb-ec1k4BXDvpp40xKryNBcUoXf-4XpmrF1zf0wv2PYTZoHwrqmq3PVhpvzXNi0febXgbYgEQ9tgv9vxdtIiiohMi/s320/Cake255b.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The custom cake topper was simply perfect for this fun loving couple. A great sense of humor, sense of playfulness and colorful joy was clearly represented by these funny flamingos!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The cake was an 8x4 inch square tier with a 6x3 inch round tier. Vanilla chiffon cake with strawberry filling was one of the Brides favorites so that became the flavor of both tiers. The outside is just vanilla buttercream. I then piped what are known as "Swiss" dots in their wedding colors of light green and aqua blue.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Swiss dots look complicated but they are actually very simple. Just start your dots going straight down the side of the cake. Space them an even amount apart as you go from top to bottom. Now, start your second row at the top but put the first dot even with the space between the first row dots. For this design I ended up with 4 dots of green and then 3 of blue, then 4 of green and 3 of blue for the top tier. Then I just put a candy pearl into the center of each dot to give it the Bridal look. The final detail was the trim and then writing their names on the cake plate.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As far as cakes go, it wasn't terribly difficult to do but it was wonderfully perfect for the couple celebrating their new marriage! The top tier feeds 8 and the bottom tier 32 so just enough for a small wedding such as this one.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi69W9aqBfHC0VNbjq46ANMgcXFaGhWPcJDRmpWWWKT64WAXhSIy8DckbpPJcmgVfzNa5klZRjDaePgoiRrcDPsyPheXeCb77EsnhzVvRgA55qH5429Yu5_pO_AjsZnqvqw3wdErDS0N2ZU/s1600/caketable.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi69W9aqBfHC0VNbjq46ANMgcXFaGhWPcJDRmpWWWKT64WAXhSIy8DckbpPJcmgVfzNa5klZRjDaePgoiRrcDPsyPheXeCb77EsnhzVvRgA55qH5429Yu5_pO_AjsZnqvqw3wdErDS0N2ZU/s320/caketable.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For this small "at home" wedding reception the cake fit into the decorating plan perfectly! And speaking of that....I'll be featuring the details of this reception tomorrow on our <a href="http://www.thecherryontopevents.blogspot.com/">Cherry Party Blog!</a> So check back tomorrow there to see how this cake table fit into the entire reception plan!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We were very happy to be able to be a part of this small, last minute wedding plan and are very happy for the newlyweds! Thank you both for letting us be a part of your special day!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Lastly, there is a <b><i>CONTEST</i></b> going on over on our <a href="http://www.facebook.com/thecherryontopevents">Facebook Fan Site!</a> So stop on by, share one of our tips or photos that we post between August 2nd and September 2nd and you are entered into the contest! The person who shares the most tips and/or photos for the entire month wins their choice of one of 3 gift cards! So stop by every day, share that days tip or photo and you can win!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><i>Cat</i></span>Cat Harperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08688024934053668353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3926807775024255900.post-47469478442136242202013-07-28T09:37:00.001-07:002013-07-29T09:45:32.761-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Happy Sunday and Congrats to the Happy Wedding Couple who got married Friday night! This cake has a few surprises so I'm really happy to share this one with all of you.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">First of all, the colors are "blush" and "dove grey". When I heard the combination I thought "Grey? On a <i>cake</i>!?" and was suddenly reminded of the movie Steel Magnolias where one of the characters says "Grey icing? I wouldn't even know how to make grey icing!". So immediately my mind went to try to find a way to make grey look appetizing. <i style="font-weight: bold;">Silver!! </i>It gets the grey idea across with adding a bit of "bling" and glamour to the cake at the same time. So I pitched an idea to the Bride where we use silver instead of flat grey and the blush would go on the top tier as well as in blush pearl candies. Thus steering away from the grey icing and steering towards the simple glamour she was looking to achieve in her cake.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here is the other secret. The bottom two tiers are not cake. Only the top tier is triple chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream filling. You see her venue, while completely affordable and gorgeous, has an outside vendor rule. If you bring in a cake from another vendor then you need to pay a $3 per slice cutting fee. Yup...$3 PER SLICE! Now do the math really quickly. If you have 100 guests you will end up paying an extra $300 <i>just to cut the cake</i>. Now they know no one will do this. They know that the couple would have to, basically, pay double to have a cake brought in and will choose the venue's dessert over bringing in a cake. So after a whole lot of searching for a solution that allowed the venue not to have to charge the fee and yet allowed the couple their custom cake they figured out this was the best way to go. So the guests get a dessert like a "kitchen cake" which is a sheet cake baked in a pan that only has the top frosted and then is cut into 2x2 inch squares and served, or another confection from the venue, and the couple gets to cut the top tier for their ceremony and has the left overs for a "Honeymoon Cake" to take with them. They still wanted the look of their custom cake but not all the cake of a 3 tier wedding cake. So we went with the bottom two tiers made from food grade Styrofoam that are decorated just like they would be if they were real cake. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Quickly a word about price. Yes, this version helps save a lot of wasted cake but it doesn't save a LOT of money. Other than the cost for the making of the actual cake there is still the cost of the form as well as all the work that goes into decorating it just like it was real cake. So while the cost of supplies is cut down, the labor is the same. If your goal is to have a bigger cake in order to make a more stunning centerpiece to your wedding but don't actually need that much cake then this is the way to go. If your goal is to get a bigger cake look while not spending the money for a bigger cake then this isn't going to save you much. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Bride had seen a similar cake which had similar patterns but wasn't in her colors so I grabbed my sketch pad and set out to create her own unique cake. In order for the silver to stand out on the bottom tier I knew that the "quilting" would have to be raised. So those are tiny "snakes" of rolled fondant that are applied individually, then hand painted with the silver edible "paint" and then topped with a candy pearl at each junction. Another, larger, rope of fondant surrounds the cake and then another row of candy pearls trim that as well. This way we were able to have the grey and pink really be featured in the cake. In answer to the inevitable question...yes, each pearl was placed by hand onto the cake using cake tweezers. By the time I finished all three tiers I knew I'd been crazy to suggest the pink pearls but they look <i>SO</i> pretty!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A wedding cake is constructed over a few days. I start from the bottom up and just stack the tiers as I go. So this bottom tier was finished on Tuesday, the middle tier on Wednesday and the final tier on Thursday for a Friday delivery. A lot of people wonder how the cake stays fresh. They know when they get one from the store that it's barely fresh when they bring it home and once it has a few slices cut from it you might have one day before it hits the trash. But here's a few tips for you. A grocery store cake has been stored in refrigeration for at least one day. That sucks part of the moisture out right there. After baking you can freeze the unfrosted tiers or just chill them before covering with icing but once it's been covered it is only recommended that you keep it in a refrigerator if the filling is perishable. Since most fillings are what we call "shelf stable" or can sit out on the counter without going bad, this is rarely actually needed. Then, once you cut into a cake, you are breaking the seal the icing has created on the cake and are letting in lots of air which will steal what moisture is left inside. With one of my wedding cakes I do freeze it for 12 hours after baking and cooling and then fill it and "crumb coat" it with icing to seal in the moisture as it thaws. I let that settle for 3-12 hours and then I cover it with the final coat of either frosting or fondant. Once the crumb coat goes on, the cake will be fresh for 5 days without cutting into the cake. In my own personal experience it is actually 6 or 7 days but I say 5 to be safe. So a wedding cake that is made 3-4 days ahead will still be completely fresh and yummy on the wedding day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Of course, in this case, the cake was only 2 days old when it was cut at the wedding. A very very fresh cake! The second tier was the hardest when it came to the pearls because of the band. Now the band is just fondant that was adhered to the cake with a bit of water and then hand painted silver. The pearls attached to the top of the band where just attached to the still wet silver paint creating a sugar to sugar bond that held them in place. Also, the band was thick enough to act like a shelf for the pearls while that bond took place. But there was no shelf for the pearls that are fighting gravity on the bottom of the band. Those went on with some royal icing acting like glue. Royal icing dries hard really, really fast so I was able to pipe a thin line, attach a few pearls and they would stick perfectly. It just takes more time since you have to pipe and then place and pipe and place all the way around the band. Then all I had to do was the trim. I know, I know, but they are so <i>Pretty!</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The top tier was the smallest and easiest. I covered the cake with the fondant and then rolled out the fondant for the trim and measured it around the cake. I didn't attach it to the cake at this point. I then colored the pink fondant to match the pearls and cut out 3.25 inch by .5 inch strips of that to put onto the cake. Now, when you are adding stripes to a cake you want them to be very even. So what you do is place one strip on and then figure out what looks like to be the exact opposite side of the cake from the strip. This is where you place the next strip. Then turn the cake so that each strip is now on each side of the cake with blank fondant in the center. Pick the spot that looks like it is center of that blank area and that is where your next strip goes. Now turn the cake around and find center of the other blank side. You should now have four strips that are almost perfectly spaced from each other on your cake. Now your empty spaces should be small enough to eyeball center of each one. You just keep doing this until you have the number and spacing of strips that you want on the cake. I used the rolled fondant trim as a guide so that the strips would be placed right at the roll and not under it where they would make the roll wavy when it was adhered. But it had to be loose while placing the strips so if I needed to move it out of the way I still could before stacking this tier onto the rest of the cake. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After stacking I did adhere the roll and painted it. Then it was time for the pearls. The four on the top and bottom of each strip were added with royal icing as were the ones I used for the trim. I spent more time doing this step in the process than the covering, the strips and the painting combined. I know, I know, but it's so <i>Pretty!</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The final step had to wait until we delivered the cake...the placing of the real roses on top! Now here is a very important tip. Real flowers can <b>not</b> go directly into a cake. I don't care if they are grown organically with no pesticides, they can <b>not</b> be placed right into the cake. When you cut the stem of a flower there is a liquid that will leak out...into your cake. Not only does this make your cake taste weird but not all flowers are safe for humans so you could actually be poisoning your cake! The best way to add fresh flowers to your cake is to either use a cake form, which holds the flowers and thus they don't ever touch your cake, or flower "spikes" which hold your flowers individually. The problem with the spikes is that they are quite large and make a big hole in the cake. There is a third option which is the one I pick over the spikes. Cling wrap. Actually I use Press and Seal which sticks to itself better and is a bit thicker so I know the stem won't break the wrap when I stick it into the cake. Before arrival I contact the florist and set up a meeting time so I can get flowers from her to place in the cake. So all I had to do when we arrived was get the roses, snip them, wrap them and place them into the top of the cake. Beautiful!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Groom was in the building when we delivered the cake and he loved it! We don't get to see the Bride or Groom usually unless we are also attending the wedding so it was great to get the response to the cake as well as be able to tell him Congratulations in person. So mission accomplished! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Tomorrow I will feature the actual event site so you can see how a Pink and Grey color palette can make a very beautiful wedding day on our <a href="http://thecherryontopevents.blogspot.com/">Cherry Party Blog</a>! And, as always, you can get daily tips and tricks on our <a href="http://www.facebook.com/thecherryontopevents">Facebook Fan Site</a>. Hope to see you there!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Next week brings another wedding I get to share with you all! See you then!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Cat</span>Cat Harperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08688024934053668353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3926807775024255900.post-17422750801413755442013-07-21T20:02:00.001-07:002013-07-21T20:02:18.500-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Happy Sunday! This week brings a little Indian themed Birthday Cake. While not complicated to decorate it was anything but easy to do. A lot of people think that this type of cake requires a huge event and budget in order to warrant the effort. For me this is a bit of the "save the China for special occasions" type thinking. I don't do that either! LOL! I believe that if someone you love is having a special occasion then they deserve a really special cake. Even if the person having the special occasion is you!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This little 6 inch marble cake with chocolate brownie buttercream filling was easy to bake, easy to fill and easy to cover with the first layer of red fondant. That is where the easy stopped. I added the little trim triangles all the way around the top and bottom edges of the cake using a cutter for accuracy and a little water as glue. And this is where I caught the first hitch. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cakes tend to have a definite front and back. The front is the part of the cake that looks the most perfect and the back is where you hide the imperfections! The hitch in trimming this cake is that there was about a half triangle left of empty space left over...in other words, not enough space to fit in another triangle. So automatically THAT became the back part of the cake! I trimmed off the upper corners of a triangle and inserted it into the space. I did the same with the other trim line so that the imperfect spot would be lined up in the back. Finally I cut out and placed the flower shapes onto the cake.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Then came the hard part. I made the Royal Icing for this cake in a big batch (it saves nicely in mason jars for a couple of weeks) and then took about a cup of that and tinted it orange. Then I started the piping onto the cake. Piping like this is very hard on your hands. I got about a third of the way around when I had to rest, stretch my hands, and then begin again. If you have ever piped a lot of stars on a cake then you know the feeling I'm talking about. You can take a lot of breaks with this style of cake so bank enough time. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I started with long lines along the triangles almost meeting at the tip of each triangle. When I finished all of the lines I then started again with the loops. When those were finished I piped the details on to the flowers. And then let it all dry for about 30 minutes. It needed to be very hard for the hand painting step to come.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Once all of the royal icing was dry I was able to mix up the gold edible paint. I mix the luster dust with vodka but you can use clear vanilla if you wanted to do so. The alcohol evaporates off of the paint so it doesn't really matter which one you use. I add in just enough to get a thin paint consistency. Then, using a fine tip brush, I began painting all of the royal icing. With most metallic's it takes more than one coat of paint to get solid coverage. It took me three coats to get everything gold. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The last touch was the little gold balls. I just used a dab of the royal as glue and hit each point and the centers of each flower. Once those were in place the cake was finally done.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">One of the most often asked questions I get about cake decorating is how long it takes. It varies from cake to cake and how much preparation there needs to be done before the actual decorating begins but a small cake like this one would normally take about an hour, maybe two. But due to the piping and then the painting this cake took me 4 hours and I charged $90 or $6 per slice. My starting cake per slice is $4 but due to the extra labor and time this one cost a bit more. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So whether it's your birthday, your sister's graduation, celebrating a new job or promotion, I hope you will consider celebrating it up big with a beautiful but little cake!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This week brings an unusual wedding cake! See you next Sunday! In the meantime stop by our <a href="http://www.facebook.com/thecherryontopevents">Facebook Fan Site</a> for daily tips and tricks!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Cat</span><br />
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<br />Cat Harperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08688024934053668353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3926807775024255900.post-6884130736320529232013-07-14T11:38:00.001-07:002013-07-14T11:38:39.603-07:00Rosie's Retirement Party Cake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU7SyPnsv42EshdakDXHt-gBqhnhCmLoHMLNJenqn-OCkfOi3XdOwqdICccvwBy2enxaZlatHzBgL_xiLz878Xx9oimMB2EJd8PpMppc1UepKioCrVuUbTwqd3kOckkt5IInB0PUfpv1Lo/s1600/cake252a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU7SyPnsv42EshdakDXHt-gBqhnhCmLoHMLNJenqn-OCkfOi3XdOwqdICccvwBy2enxaZlatHzBgL_xiLz878Xx9oimMB2EJd8PpMppc1UepKioCrVuUbTwqd3kOckkt5IInB0PUfpv1Lo/s320/cake252a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Happy Sunday! This week brought us a party that we not only had the pleasure of working but also the honor of doing the cake. Working a party for a family member or a friend is definitely an honor but it's also a whole lot of fun too. Rosie just retired and two of her friends wanted to celebrate it up right. That is where I come in since one of those friends is also my friend. I, myself, have known Rosie in a "stop and chat for a moment" level for several years and have come to know her as a truly wonderful woman so I was SO happy to have the opportunity to help plan and execute this party with her friends.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">They decided upon a Hawaii themed party so, as they were talking about it this cake design came into my head. I sketched it out with a palm tree for them (more on the palm tree later) and they loved the idea of the chair on the sand at the edge of the water. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> The chair ended up being the hardest part of this whole cake. The rest of it went together in 2 hours...the chair took four days. In Northern California we are experiencing a heatwave. That isn't too unexpected in this area but the extremely high levels of humidity is totally unusual! Humidity is a killer for fondant. It makes it very soft...makes it very hard to dry to a solid state and makes it very hard to glue together...well, without using a hot glue gun. Believe me, I was very tempted by the 4th day to do just that! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For the chair I just looked at a photo of a Adirondack beach chair and cut out pieces I thought would work. Yup, totally winging it. Then I let them dry...and dry....and dry. Finally, after 3 days (what would normally be 3 hours) they were dry enough to try to glue together. After several hours I got it to the point where I could prop the pieces all together and pray they were dry by day 5. And, yes, I was tempted to go to the toy store and buy a plastic one! By the way...this is what happened to the planned palm tree. After days of waiting for leaves to dry, fighting with them to stand up on the cookie tree base because they were not fully dry even after 5 days, even resorting to hot gluing them into place...the umbrella just looked better. So I went with the umbrella.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8IkobBw6nQW4UXEu1V9hBVd-2ETUq0IKYW0DeUOCtF9BZePasVzxfriYfGwjs9_YzGE4Uh_DVV9KdnOBzkko0AX2YOgqwpp4yvMXBihyphenhyphenN-KfCicDthS0_mAt4ib5vMAY9eWScRP_bfWcQ/s1600/cake252e.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8IkobBw6nQW4UXEu1V9hBVd-2ETUq0IKYW0DeUOCtF9BZePasVzxfriYfGwjs9_YzGE4Uh_DVV9KdnOBzkko0AX2YOgqwpp4yvMXBihyphenhyphenN-KfCicDthS0_mAt4ib5vMAY9eWScRP_bfWcQ/s320/cake252e.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So here is how the cake actually came together. It was a vanilla chiffon cake filled with lemon curd butter cream and then frosted with more butter cream. It was just a very light layer of butter cream since I knew more was going on top and fondant was going on the sides. I ground up cookies for the sand (I prefer vanilla wafers even if you have to grind them up more than you do graham crackers) and sprinkled them on one half of the cake. Then I mixed up some blue butter cream for the water and then piped it onto the cake using a large star tip. I smoothed it out into an uneven pattern for the choppy water. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">To make the grass skirt I rolled out the teal colored fondant into an 8x4 inch rectangle. I scored a half inch line horizontally across the fondant and then cut down from the line vertically in thin strips all along the rectangle. After cutting the strips it is pretty hard to pick up the whole piece so I cut each rectangle into three sections and adhered them onto the cake. As a caker we are use to fighting with pieces to go on straight...the grass skirts needed to NOT go on straight to give an illusion of movement and the three section idea worked really well for this. Finally 8x1 inch strips of yellow fondant, cut out with the wavy side of the cutting tool, were put on as the top of the skirt. I placed it a teeny bit higher than the top edge of the cake so it stood up a bit. Little orange "hibiscus" flowers were added to hide those seams. As a finishing touch I went back to the top of the cake, used a small spoon to help me get the cookies all the way to the edge of the trim and then smoothed out the "water" to the edges as well. This sealed the top of the cake for a cleaner presentation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> At this point I placed the chair onto the sand and the umbrella behind it. The umbrella is actually an umbrella straw that I cut the top off of and taped the umbrella into an open state. I made the little shells that go next to the chair and the umbrella stand and then decided it just wasn't enough. Rosie needed fun little creatures who were happy she was retiring too! So I made the little crab and octopus to go with it. The crab is all one piece but the octopus is actually 9 different pieces placed into the butter cream.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKZ4bKQvVDc3XyeJbIH6f3GT21oMXGFJRRfEFCRtTD_sffyqpXldIF6r4RVv-zPCt8pXJVhy5myJwXzZWc-ToFFwyARNwfWwsbYS9ULZ8ulpJQBKuBlJ4CSNFuF9o9f899H5EIpPSKpzP2/s1600/cake252d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKZ4bKQvVDc3XyeJbIH6f3GT21oMXGFJRRfEFCRtTD_sffyqpXldIF6r4RVv-zPCt8pXJVhy5myJwXzZWc-ToFFwyARNwfWwsbYS9ULZ8ulpJQBKuBlJ4CSNFuF9o9f899H5EIpPSKpzP2/s320/cake252d.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Whenever I make this type of themed cake I try to put in a few details made just for that person. Rosie is a deeply religious person so on one arm of the chair I put a Bible. But she's a fun person too so I put a fru-fru drink, including pineapple slice and straw, on the other arm! Everything she needed to relax on the beach. It was these details that brought her to tears when she saw it. It's always nice to get the paycheck but it's reactions like hers that are the real payday. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After allowing her friends and family to get photos of the cake Rosie then removed the chair, shells and crab so she could keep them. Fondant will just keep on drying out till it is rock hard as long as you keep it away from humidity. My mom has a tea set I made for one of her birthday cakes about 5 years ago! You can store it in a protective case but make sure that it's not air tight. It needs to be able to breathe or the humidity will build up as it dries out.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I will post all of the party photos tomorrow morning on the <a href="http://thecherryontopevents.blogspot.com/">Cherry Party Blog</a>! Check out this entire theme and how it came together! As always you can get daily tips and tricks on our <a href="http://www.facebook.com/thecherryontopevents">Facebook Fan Page</a>! See you there!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cat</span><br />
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Cat Harperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08688024934053668353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3926807775024255900.post-3739685495526449872013-07-07T20:18:00.000-07:002013-07-07T20:18:12.481-07:00Chinese Themed 15th Anniversary Cake<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Happy Sunday! This past week I was lucky enough to create a big occasion cake for a regular client and her husband. They were celebrating 15 years of happy married life!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The past two cakes I have done for this family have had Chinese characters on them. Now, while I'm not going to even pretend that I am learning the language, I am learning how to write it a bit easier on cakes! But I'm getting ahead of myself.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The cake is a rich vanilla cake with passionfruit filling. The cake is the easy part, the filling takes time...lots of time. First you have to get the passionfruit puree (I get mine at BevMo) and then you boil it down until starts to look like a thick syrup. The great part of this is that it makes the entire kitchen smell amazing! Once it reaches the syrup stage you need to turn off the burner and let it completely cool down. And I do mean "completely"! This needs to be totally cold when you mix it with the buttercream or it will cause the buttercream to separate. Sadly, I know this from experience. I boil down a half cup of puree and what is left over is about 1/4 cup of syrup. I use half of this in the 1 cup of buttercream and the rest I brush onto the cake layers before smoothing the buttercream mix for the filling.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">After crumbcoating the cake I let it settle and thaw out overnight. This is usually where the decorating begins. However there was a small hitch. I work in a very cold kitchen. Heat and humidity are awful for fondant. It makes it very stretchy and hard to work with so I keep the A/C on and keep it down to about 68 degrees. This works for me as well as the fondant because kneading and rolling the fondant is hard and hot work. However, in this case, the A/C went out the morning of the decorating....during a heatwave! Fortunately I start work early in the morning before it got terribly hot and there was a huge fan that helped as well. Unfortunately it meant that it was harder to cover with the white fondant and it didn't go on quite smoothly. But...fortunately there were these cute little cherry blossoms that hid almost all of the not-so-perfect areas! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">As soon as I had the cake covered I started on the tree branches right away. Now here is where the fun begins! The tree is actually chocolate fondant. It is SO yummy! The heat didn't have any effect on it at all so it was easy to work with and apply to the cake. As I made the branches I textured them by using a scalloped fondant tool to make the "bark" look more real. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The next step was to make the character. I have piped Chinese characters, painted them and now I have sculpted them out of fondant! One little piece of chocolate fondant at a time until I had the whole character on the mat. Then I adhered them to the cake and made gold "paint" by mixing gold luster dust and vodka. Painting it onto the character bits on the cake takes time and a very very fine tip brush and several coats until it gleamed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Last step was the cherry blossom flowers! To make these I tinted some of the white a light pink and then rolled it out thinly before cutting out about 100 flower shapes. Those I then used a ball tool to flare out the edges. Then I mixed up some pink "paint" and, with a spiky brush, painted from the centers out. What is funny about these flowers is that, as you are making them, they don't look much like flowers...until you place the little pearl in the center! Then, all of a sudden, WHAM, they are flowers! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">That is part of the fun of cake decorating. With each cake there comes a moment when it comes together. If you are lucky, those moments are more than one per cake. This one had three! The first one was when the flowers became flowers, the second was when they went onto the cake and made the tree come alive and the last one was when I placed the little kissing figures on top. At that moment, even with all of the flaws I knew were there, the cake was perfect. Fortunately the client and her whole family agreed!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">It is wonderful, as a cake artist, to have all of my creations be part of happy events. Birthdays, showers, weddings and anniversaries. You get to do something that makes a happy day even happier. And, as always, I deeply appreciate the honor of being able to have the chance to celebrate, in my own small way, with them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Next week bring a fun retirement cake to share! See you then!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">In the meantime head on over to our <a href="http://www.facebook.com/thecherryontopevents">Facebook Fan Site</a> and tomorrow we will be presenting a beautiful wedding party plan on the <a href="http://www.thecherryontopevents.blogspot.com/">Party Blog</a>!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><i>Cat</i></span>Cat Harperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08688024934053668353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3926807775024255900.post-79755213471826315782013-06-30T17:00:00.000-07:002013-06-30T17:00:13.260-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdMhU6GMlpQo3x-rmWTEnjt4RIz_sCZmRtmSwowhCVjYP3jU6_Kaso-I6EQsQGpMUSNbmA5XmWkizwRss73F9zIdryZsrQF6lsjBBj_M9dZTpYp8zojYZ8XzEnqEBZMsEQzElHK5UrgNQu/s1600/cake250a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdMhU6GMlpQo3x-rmWTEnjt4RIz_sCZmRtmSwowhCVjYP3jU6_Kaso-I6EQsQGpMUSNbmA5XmWkizwRss73F9zIdryZsrQF6lsjBBj_M9dZTpYp8zojYZ8XzEnqEBZMsEQzElHK5UrgNQu/s320/cake250a.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Happy Sunday! This past week brought an animal themed, specifically Giraffe themed, baby shower cake! This 8 inch by 5 inch high and 6 inch by 3 inch high cake was vanilla cake on top and red velvet on the bottom. YUM!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The challenge in this cake was the bow. It was made from chocolate fondant which is a very soft fondant so I actually ended up making the bow 3 times before I got one I really liked. The other challenge was the figures. I couldn't find a cookie cutter that I liked so I ended up just rolling out the fondant and then cutting the shapes out with an exacto knife. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">To do this easier I mixed the fondant with a little bit of tylose so it would dry up firmer faster. After just a couple of hours the shapes were fairly firm and by the next morning they were very hard. This was very important for placing them onto the cake because I didn't want them to bend at all.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A really tall cake like this one takes a bit of time and effort to cover smoothly with fondant. The weight of the fondant wants to drag it down and then rip, tear or "elephant" skin. None of the effects you want in a nicely covered cake! So you have to cover it very carefully and smooth it down as quickly as you can. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The zebra stripes were hand cut out of squares of rolled out fondant. I just sort of let the knife swoosh down the square and then applied it with a bit of water on a cake brush to stick that to the cake. The giraffe shapes were a bit different. I actually used a small square cookie cutter and cut a whole bunch of squares out of rolled fondant and then cut off the odd edge or three and then smoothed the sharper edges before placing them onto the cake.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I added the trim and draping ribbons to the cake and then the bow. The last items were the plaque and the giraffe figures. I used butter cream to apply them to the cake and then piped the design on them while they were on the cake. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A word about structure. The bottom cake is set upon a cake round and then dowels are placed into the center of the cake. For an 8 inch cake and smaller I use 4 dowels. I then pipe a bit of buttercream into the center of the dowels. The top tier is also on a cake round and that is what touches the dowels. It doesn't really touch the cake. It rests on the dowels and is held in place by the buttercream. The last step before placing the bow on top was the insertion of a center dowel that goes all the way from the top of the cake to the bottom cake board. This holds the cake steady so that the top tier can not slide off of the bottom tier. This stability isn't so important if you are not going to travel anywhere with the cake but if you are driving anywhere you will want that security measure in place. The rule of thumb is place a cake round and dowels for every four inches of cake. However, I have to say that even if you are stacking a 3 inch cake on top of a two inch round I would still use dowels to make it more stable.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The cake was a hit in both looks and taste and that is always my goal. Make the cake taste at least as good as it looks! I have seen many gorgeous cakes that didn't taste like much of anything or actually tasted bad and it really doesn't make a great impression for the guest. I'm happy when I see empty plates coming back to the cake table asking for another slice. Then I know I've done my job well!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Next week I'm going to be featuring cupcakes! These make for easy outdoor summer treats that are not only easy to make but to take to the park and to eat. In the meantime check out our <a href="http://thecherryontopevents.blogspot.com/">Cherry Party Blog</a> tomorrow to see a gorgeous baby shower and, as always, get lots of ideas each day on our <a href="http://www.facebook.com/thecherryontopevents">Facebook Fan Page</a>! See you then!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Cat</span>Cat Harperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08688024934053668353noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3926807775024255900.post-49446991652104118672013-06-23T10:32:00.000-07:002013-06-23T10:32:43.125-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil1Sgv7OppJpqzjuWEFbLACD4lzpjvAS1uAG81ZmUPjXaJYT7s6366jKjerZtjrA7E6BL85zdyQ-3gLBoYc9pyJphRR-rtjiY1FN4bxZy0nOovR2HkSqsiAsFA8z466FNJQ3TrIOr_KwGA/s1600/cake248a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil1Sgv7OppJpqzjuWEFbLACD4lzpjvAS1uAG81ZmUPjXaJYT7s6366jKjerZtjrA7E6BL85zdyQ-3gLBoYc9pyJphRR-rtjiY1FN4bxZy0nOovR2HkSqsiAsFA8z466FNJQ3TrIOr_KwGA/s320/cake248a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Happy Sunday! One of the fun cakes this month was this "background" cake for a Justin Bieber Birthday Party for a very special 7 year old. A background cake is one that will be decorated with licensed merchandise at the party. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Mom saw a cake similar to this one and decided to have me put my own touches on it. The fondant is just tinted purple and then the keyboard is actually a very long strip of white that has been divided evenly with little line imprints. The black keys were cut out of black fondant and just glued with water on top of the white. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Cookie cutters were used to make the stars and the notes and they were added to the cake making sure to leave room for the decorations to come after delivery. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The one cool discovery this time was the cupcake cups! They are new from Wilton and they are called Color Cups. The inside of the cup is lined with foil so that, during baking, the outside of the cup keeps it's color and design which is usually washed out by the moisture of the baking cupcake. So the purple swirls on the cups retained their vibrant color and you could really use them as a decor item! Awesome product!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I got lucky and the client emailed me this photo of the final display with JB on top and the cupcake display made for a really wonderful presentation at Hailey's party!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKl60xb4ajDvaQYYHdFIW5tS0u2MulS0h7kaneqazn9SetAbOfxkAWWK6ghxe4ektBf4SCR7CmEZzCb-T1btsiZS2DTfUenf8hQzS9k2N2THTXjVyPWJdGSEk513IknBibPDPInQCKAsRZ/s1600/cake248c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKl60xb4ajDvaQYYHdFIW5tS0u2MulS0h7kaneqazn9SetAbOfxkAWWK6ghxe4ektBf4SCR7CmEZzCb-T1btsiZS2DTfUenf8hQzS9k2N2THTXjVyPWJdGSEk513IknBibPDPInQCKAsRZ/s320/cake248c.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Next week I'll share with you the baby shower cake I did this weekend! Tomorrow make sure to check out our <a href="http://thecherryontopevents.blogspot.com/">Cherry Party Blog</a> when we will share a wonderful Construction Party Plan!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Cat</span>Cat Harperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08688024934053668353noreply@blogger.com0