A Sweet 16 Birthday Cake for a Sweet Girl

For a sweet girl.  This cake actually wasn't exactly suppose to come out like this.  It was suppose to have one more tier on top.  BUT!  after putting the crumb coat on this cake, my right hand literally gave out. I didn't know what in the world happened...... this has never happened to me before!  But all I could say, the next morning I couldn't even hold my coffee cup....it was that painful!  My husband, whom lives with Tendinitis, says you are using  your hand too much! 

I wrapped it up put on the brace that my son once had when he broke his hand and let it rest the full day.  I sat there and wondered "WOW, What would I do if I had no use of my right hand?!?!"  I live to do artistic things; whether it be cakes, photography, digital art..... and to live in pain the way I was that day was really an eye opener in so many different ways.  And WORK!  By trade I'm an Esthetician and that would just put a HUGE damper on making a living.

The cake ended up being decorated on top of the crumb coat.  Thank goodness I had all the elements done days prior.  The ribbon wrapped around the bottom was suppose to be fondant.  All in all the cake came out beautiful.  The crumb coat could have been smoother but I had to work with the abilities my right hand had left me.

Danielle loved her cake and it was plenty to feed everyone, with some leftover.  Cake flavor was Oreo Cookie with Oreo Cookie Vanilla filling.

DO YOU PIN? What is it and why do it?

Planning parties, weddings, photo-shoots, a trip,?  Create a board for your favorite recipes, crafts, bucket list, favorite websites.  <---------- These are all reasons you should pin.

• Remember that bedding set you loved and saved within your favorites folder?  You go and look for it and you have to go through a bunch of different bookmarks spending wasted time figuring out which one it was.  With Pinterest, you don’t have that problem.  You just go to the board you put it under, find the image you pinned.  Easy Peasy!
• Are you remodeling a room in your home?  Pin different ideas and when you need to refer to it, it’s all on that board.  Not to mention the links also with it….. Loving it
• I read my favorite blogs everyday and when I find something of interest, I pin it.
• Follow people located on Pinterest that have the same interest as you.  You just follow the board they have and every time they add something it appears on the front page of your Pinterest as a new pin and you have a choice to repin it to one of your boards.  Now you have the pin and the website where that pin is located.
• Put the Pin on your browsers toolbar so you can easily pin different sites on the web. 
• When I see something I want to share on my Facebook or I want to Tweet it, I can easily do that while pinning, just check the box and it automatically embeds to your social network of choice.

I’m addicted.  I have over 3,400 pins and it just grows and grows and grows.    If you aren’t pinning yet, then get started.  I promise you, you will be addicted and it will be your main reference to things you find interest in.  HAVE FUN! 

13th Cake - Bella’s 8th Birthday

     Miss Bella was celebrating her 8th birthday and she asked me to make her cake.  I sat down with her and asked her what her favorite colors,  hobbies & elements were.  First thing she said was her favorite color was “black” I gave her a look of but then was able to get her to give me some other colors.  So Black, blue & purple she chose (sounds like a bruise to me….. to go along with the theme perhaps?) and she was having a roller skating party and her favorite elements of choice are stars and butterflies.  Oh how my head of creation was turning. 

I started by making the cake topper earlier in the week.  I wanted to create something that she would be able to keep afterwards.  I came up with the cutest creation!   Butterflies & stars incorporated.  Note the glitter must be a non-toxic glitter when messing with any food-product.
Top layer of the cake is a dummy cake.  I wanted her cake to be big and extravagant but without the abundance of leftover cake. Covered the Styrofoam dummy cake with fondant.  I created the sugar transfer sheet in Photoshop and had my local Nob Hill Store Bakery print it out for me, which was placed around the fondant.  Two sheets were used and it didn’t quite fit the circumference of the cake.  I had a gap on each side which didn’t please me.  I must conquer that issue……a future task of mine to defeat!

 
The circles on the first layer are a mixture of 50/50 fondant/gumpaste and the purple is sprinkled with luster dust and the blue is airbrushed blue then sprinkled with iridescent edible glitter.  Did this a couple of days ahead of time and placed in an airtight container until ready for use. 
Bottom layer is four layers of Oreo Cookie Cake with Oreo Cookie Frosting.  Didn’t put fondant along the bottom layer because I wanted to perfect my buttercream application.  Came out pretty darn cute and it was soooooooooo good!  Probably one of my favorite cake recipes to date.
Recipe for cake: Oreo Cookie Cake & Frosting Recipe.

OREO COOKIE CAKE POPS – DaBOMB!

How many times after carving up a cake you have a ton leftover?  I do all the time and with that leftover cake I make CAKE POPS! 

Ingredients:

• Leftover Oreo Cookie Cake
• Leftover Frosting from cake
  Here is the recipe I worked from http://cosimasbakingblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/oreo-cookie-cake-frosting.html
• Ground up Oreo Cookies
• White Chocolate

1. Put the leftover cake within a mixer.  I added another cup of crushed-up Oreo Cookies and mixed it with the cake until it was well combined.
2. Then pour in the frosting.  I start with 1/2 cup and add until I get a doughy consistency.  Pour into a bowl and put into the fridge to set for a bit about 15-30 minutes.
3. I have a Non-stick Silicon Round Mold I will pack the cake mixture firmly into each circle.  I then take a knife and scrape along the top so I have a flat center.  You do not have to have the mold, I do only because I want my pops to be a uniform shape and when I freehand it, they are either bigger or smaller then the rest.  I just found this to be effective, however, more time consuming.
4. Put back into the fridge to set (5-10 minutes)
5. Flip mold over and release the pops. 
6. Take a dab of frosting or Royal Icing and glue two halves together and WAALAH a perfect cake pop round.
7. FOLLOW “Decorate This Cake Pops - A Tutorial” for the rest of the instructions.  Best instructions I’ve found to date.
8. For my toppings, I used more of the crushed Oreo Cookies. 

These are incredibly delicious and you will receive a ton of compliments on them!  Enjoy & Happy Baking!

Oreo Cookie Cake & Frosting

• Any cake mix you like
• 1C of crushed up Oreo Cookies

Directions:  Follow cake directions, adding crushed up Oreo Cookies to mix.  Bake as directed

FROSTING:

• Frosting of your choice
• Crushed Oreo Cookies – Amount to your preference

Directions:  I use a Marshmallow or Vanilla Buttercream frosting for this so it tastes close to an Oreo Cookie.  When filling the cake I sprinkle a good amount of the crushed Oreo Cookies on top of the frosting.  Recommendation:  This is best if done closest to the serving time as possible, no more then 24 hours, so the cookies DO NOT get soggy.  You still want to have the cookie crunch texture. 

CAKE-PAN RELEASE

No more grease & flour, Pam etc.  This is all I ever use anymore!

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup Shortening
• 1/4 cup Vegetable Oil
• 1/4 cup All Purpose Flour

Instructions:

1. Combine all ingredients and store in an airtight container. Can be kept for three months and does not need refrigeration.
2. Tip: Use a silicone bristle pastry brush for easy clean up. Cover all nooks and crannies to ensure that your cake pops out nicely.

Some comments on this recipe that I found useful:

• Mix on slow to med speed of your mixer until it is light and fluffy like whipped cream. This can take up to 10 minutes. Don’t be in a hurry for best results. Stores best in a sealed glass jar. I liked to keep mine in the frig to prevent seperation of the oil.  If you live in a very high humidity area also add a 1/4 cup of cornstrach
• I use all ingredients in 1 cup amounts. I store in a jar with a lid. When whipped, it occasionally separates. Just stir the oil back into the mixture. Keeps indefinitely (well, I have never had it spoil before it was gone). Great stuff.

http://cakecentral.com/recipes/pan-grease-cake-release-recipe/

12th Cake - Our 22nd Anniversary Cake

Spending time up Lake Tulloch with amazing friends celebrating our 22nd year Anniversary.  Couldn’t be any better!  Well one most important person missing is our son who was stuck at work :(

Chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling and Bavarian Cream with fresh Strawberries.  MMF covers the cake.  Roses are gumpaste flowers and lil flowers mixed with 50/50 fondant & gumpaste.  Fun cake to make.  Now the chocolate numbers was made for me by Raffine Chocolates located in San Ramon California.  The smoothest chocolate/caramels you’ve ever tasted.