Chocolate Cake/Strawberry Pie

Chocolate cake shell, whipped cream/meringue, and fresh strawberries.  Sweets for my sweethearts.

Click on the photo to see it enlarged.  :)

Hamentaschen!!!!!!

Hamentaschen Recipe

These are the Hamentaschen I made today in celebration of Purim. :)
The fillings were fig and black cherry. Follow the link for the recipe I used to make these little lovely things. Yummmmmmm.

Lemon Cake with Vanilla Whipped Cream/Meringue Frosting.

Native Drum Cake

8 " round. 3 layers (chocolate/vanilla/chocolate), Marshmallow fondant "leather" and drumstick made of modeling chocolate and marshmallow fondant.

I was finally able to correct the problems I was having with making mmf. Less shortening, more kneading, constant moving while rolling. :)

~ HAPPY VALENTINES ~

Chocolate cupcakes with yummy buttercream frosting, white Non Pareils, and purple sugar. Sweet things for the sweet ones in my life. :)

Skull and Bones Practice / Gumpaste

These skull and bone gumpaste details were made as practice for a future cake.

Native Drum Cake

Currently working out the details for a Native drum cake my Scouter son has requested.   The cake is for this upcoming monday so I'll be adding pictures in the next few days. Should be fun. :)

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about my Alice Cakes. I might do the second one for Sunday evening. Not sure yet.

Frozen Buttercream Transfer

Interesting technique idea I just found on YouTube...

Frozen Buttercream Transfer Video

I'm going to have to find a reason to try it out. :)

Alice Cakes

I'm so thrilled about the upcoming Alice in Wonderland movie! Can't wait to see it. I was looking through some of the stills for the movie when I spied 3 of the loveliest cakes on the Mad Hatter's table. I think I just have to make them. It's madness but I can't help it. :)

I'll add photos of the cakes as I make them throughout the next couple of weeks. Even I can't wait to see them. The first one is baking up in the oven as we speak......

These three cakes will use a number of different techniques. On the first we have a four layer construction, iced and decorated. For the second cake we have a miniature tiered cake with colored icing and piping. On the last cake we have fondant covering, fondant leaves and fresh fruit topping. Each one comes with it's own techniques and challenges. Check back to see the three cakes inspired by the stills as I create them for my mad and wonderful family. I will be adding the pictures as edits to this post.

Alice Cake #1 Chocolate cake with vanilla chocolate chip icing. The first is this little cube cake with marshmallow details inspired by one of the stills. It's really cute. I baked a 10" chocolate cake and cut it into fourths to create a 5"x5" tower. I then stacked it using frosting between each layer. I added a wooden dowel in the center for stability before icing the outside. Had lots of fun shaping and smoothing it into a stylized (slightly mad) cube. Then I cut marshmallows and pressed them into the icing. Lots of mad yummy fun. :)
Note: I think this cake should be made of a sturdier cake if I'm going to cut and stack four layers. It was a little more difficult to make it do what I needed it to do with very soft textured cake. I might re-make this cake in the future with a different/sturdier recipe for the cake.
Alice Cake #2 Vanilla cake with Vanilla Butter Cream Fondant, raspberries, and LOVE. :) This cake is a 9" round one layer cake.

South Lake Flag Retirement Ceremony / Scout Cakes

The First Annual Flag Retirement Ceremony in Clermont, Florida on Friday, February 5th, 2010. The Flag Retirement Pit was built this year as an Eagle Project by Michael Sulsenti from Troop 551.

This year  marks the 100th anniversary of Scouting in United States.  In addition to that we will also be celebrating the Cub Scout Pack 551 Blue and Gold (Birthday of Cub Scouting) at this event.

Special thanks goes out to Sweetbay for donating all the materials necessary for making the cakes I made for this special Scout event. Thank you for supporting our Scouts and serving our community!  Pack and Troop 551 Clermont, Florida is honored to have you take part in this event.

Making Royal Icing Details

Step 1: To make my pre-made royal icing details I start by making the royal icing from the Wilton websiteWilton Royal Icing

Step 2: I choose the colors and and tint my icing.  Keep the icing covered as it dries quickly and will become difficult to work with.

Step 3: I draw out what I want to create on standard 8 1/2 by 11 paper.

Step 4: I slip the drawing in a plastic page protector.

Step 5: I choose tips and fill my decorator bags with the different colored icing. To keep the icing from drying out, use a rubber band to keep the contents in and place the filled decorator bags in a glass that has a moistened paper towel at the bottom. This keeps your icing from hardening at the tip.

Step 6: Pipe your decoration directly on the protector sheet.  Note:Trace the image first and then pipe decoratively.

Step 7: Let your creation dry at least 3 hours or overnight. (Overnight is best) Resist the urge to fiddle with it as it dries.

Step 8: You can transfer the decoration to your iced cake using a cake spatula. Transfer it carefully. If your decoration cracks, do not fret. Just place it carefully on the icing and gently slide it back together. These are quite fragile. Reserve some royal icing in case of "fatal" breakage so that you can replace the item if needed.

Scout symbol/flag

These are the royal icing center elements for the Scout cakes I'm making for our Flag Retirement ceremony/Blue and Gold this Friday. I think they turned out really well. Now to let them dry out so that they can be transfered to the cakes. :)