Fondant!

I forgot about this cake!! This was actually the first tiered cake that I ever did, I think. On the right, my practice cake, on the left, the actual cake I made for a cousin of Heidi. Also, this was the first time I used fondant, which I don't suggest unless you are only using it for decoration, like this cake. Fondant does not taste good! So why would you want to wrap a whole cake with it! But if you're using it for decoration, it works great. Michael's sells it, and then you can dye it any color you would like; black is pretty tough to do, I don't suggest it :)

My Valentine's Day Cake!

This is one of my favorite cakes to make for sure. The chocolate dipped cake :) I used a box of any old chocolate cake mix, prepare it as directed. (For this size cake I used smaller pans then the usual 8 inch, but you can make this cake as an 8 inch for sure). Whenever I plan on layering and frosting a cake, I freeze the cake, still in the cake pans; just to provide a little more stability while frosting and decorating. I used two cake pans, and cut both of those layers in half. So I layered, strawberry filling (my mom's homemade jam), layer of my chocolate buttercream, and then another layer of strawberry filling. After frosting the entire cake with the buttercream, the cake goes in the freezer, just for an hour or so. The melted chocolate over the top, you can find at any grocery store, I'm not sure of the brand, but it's usually by the chocolate chips and it comes in a little bowl almost, and it's meant for dipping fruit. I follow the melting directions and then add a few tablespoons of butter. Pour the melted chocolate over the top of the cake, using a spatula to spread evenly, and the chocolate drips over the edges; gorgeous, I know! You can dip the strawberries before hand and have them dry, but you may have to use toothpicks to keep them in place, or just arrange the strawberries on the cake as you dip them in chocolate.

Vanilla or Chocolate Buttercream Recipe

Makes about 10 cups
2 1/4 cups sugar
9 large egg whites
2 cups of butter (at room temperature)
2 cups of shortening
3 t. pure vanilla extract
1 bag semisweet chocolate chips (optional)

Over a pot of simmering water, in a heatproof bowl, whisk together sugar and egg whites until sugar is dissolved and mixture is very warm to the touch, about 5 minutes. Remove From heat. Beat on medium until completely cooled and stiff peaks have formed, about 10 minutes.

With mixer on medium, add butter a few tablespoons at a time until completely combined, then shortening, same process. Add vanilla, beat on low speed until smooth, about 5 minutes.

If you want the chocolate buttercream, add the semisweet chocolate chips, after being melted completely, and slightly cooled. Frosting is much easier once cooled, so refrigerate about an hour or two before use.

p.s. this recipe is mostly a martha stewart recipe, I made a few changes ;)

Kara's Cupcakes

My boyfriend and I just took a short day trip out to San Francisco, and went to Kara's Cupcakes! Which, by the way, I have been dying to try. I went to Sprinkles (a well known specialty cupcake shop) in Palo Alto a few months ago, and to be honest, I was disappointed. Their basic white cake was no good at all, and they put more frosting on than there was cake, and the edible toppings were horrible. Anyways, for all they hype they were getting, it just did not impress me. I was recently looking through Martha Stewart's website and she recommends Kara's!! And after looking at the actual website of Kara's, I saw they have multiple locations around the bay area. They use all organic and natural ingredients, and really are fabulous.




http://www.karascupcakes.com/

my cakes

Some of My Cakes!!
Jen's 18th birthday cake was so much fun! This is the first cake I tried the "angle in" style. Difficult, but still fun! Jack's birthday cake was really pretty basic; just a german chocolate on the bottome tiered with chocolate on the top, and a pirates of the carribean ship, which my lovely sister jana found. Michael's is my main source for buying cake decorating equipment by the way (all the cake rounds and support for a tiered cake).





The football shaped cake was done for a wedding rehearsal for Ryan and Nina. And although it looks quite simple, it was a 13x18 inch cake and served over 60 people, definitely a challenge. The cake felt like it weighed 100 pounds! I used a chocolate buttercream, with a chocolate ganache filling, and I also used a similar chocolate ganache to melt over the top. Looked pretty cool when done.AND, a good tip for birthdays or any occasion that deserves a cake; when making sure you're going to have enough to serve all your guests, instead of making 2 cakes, make cupcakes!!!





Last but not least, my two favorites!! On the left is a vanilla buttercream with lemon filling (I made this one for my mama's birthday). A made easy tip, I use a lemon pudding mix!! It's delicious! On the right is a chocolate cake with a vanilla buttercream, and chocolate covered strawberries. The strawberries really hold up themselves, here and there I use a few toothpicks.

Todd's Toy Story Birthday

A recent trip to Disneyland, inspired my toy story themed birthday cake for todd. With an affordable set of toy story action figures from the disney store, and some star sprinkles, my buttercream cake came to life. I have an 11x15 inch wilton cake pan, that I use to do most cakes of this size. Trim off the edges, used the last few inches for the blocks on top, and I was good to go. This specific cake has apricot filling (apricot jam made by my mom over the summer, which we have more than enough of on hand), and buttercream frosting (this buttercream, because last minute, was made from a box, bought at michael's, and it was oh so easy).