Plans for Summer and Testing my New Stuff!

I HAVE A JOB! I'm going to be working in the Hannaford Bakery in Maine and staying with my Gram in her summer trailer. The accommodations are cramped but the weather is beautiful, the people are happy, and life will be swell. My only reservations about the job are baking-related; my favorite part of the game is making the cake and buttercream, and grocery stores can't afford to play that game.

So, IF I get the cake decorating shift, I'll have to clock a 7-minute cake. That's bare cake to completion, maybe a little time extra for personalization. It seems I'll have to collect my creative spare change in a jar for my spare time. I'm thinking of using it for honing my painting skills and painting scenes of the town in Maine I'll be in. Seems like a fun summer project.

But, anyways, onto the fun stuff! I got home and found my beautiful second mixer bowl (which is still in the box because I really have no used for it right now... oops) and the 11 WIRE WHIP! (Yep, that's the name, it seems to me it should be called the "wire whisk") Here is the 'whip' compared to my old one:

I was going to whip up some cupcakes so I could test out the new whisk but decided not to, instead we picked up heavy cream and made some whipped cream. It didn't take any time at all.

Oh! I made a sale on etsy, here is the finished product:

I'm Making a WEDDING CAKE!!!

It was luck that I found this opportunity and she found me. This week I worked on developing a cake and buttercream recipe with her unique flavors. I made a small 6-inch tester cake and met with the couple. The wedding is in August, a long ways from now, but I am still excited.

I am also taking this as an opportunity to buy two things I've been desiring for a long time: a second bowl for my KitchenAid and the 11 Wire Whip.

"This stainless steel whip's 11-wire design ensures that you'll get maximum volume in less time, for lighter, fluffier whipped cream, egg whites and cake batters." (Whip description)

 The second bowl will come in handy with nearly all my cake batter recipes. They work on a two part system where the egg yolks are combined with the butter/sugar mixture and the egg whites are whipped separately. Before having the second bowl, I would have to scoop out the batter into another bowl and clean the bowl thoroughly to whip the egg whites. Then I would fold the egg whites into the batter that was set aside. Now I can leave the batter in the bowl and mix the whites in another bowl, which saves time and lets me mix up the batter once more before I incorporate the egg whites.

I would have really loved to invest in a second 6qt KitchenAid, but that's really not necessary.

I dream of the floor bolted Hobart mixers...

...drool...

Await fun cake to come! 

Baby Shower Cake and Cupcakes

This happened a while ago and it's taken me a few months to remember to put it up! The cake was half chocolate and half vanilla with vanilla meringue buttercream. The cupcakes were the same, and they were decorated in green, lavender, and purple with baby booties.  This cake was delivered March 11, 2012.

Dad's Birthday

I've been neglecting to write this up for a while, but here it is! Over thanksgiving, Dad was here and Papa planned a surprise cake for him. It was all worked out that I was making a cake for someone else the day after thanksgiving (completed with Nan's grumbling about me using the kitchen) and he completely missed it. I finished the cake late the night before and left it on the counter and he still didn't see it. It was nice to actually surprise my father.

Cake, Cake, Cake...This one is a 9 inch, four layer white cake with mocha buttercream between each layer, frosted also, and topped with a delicate layer of chocolate ganache. It's my favorite style of cake.

It's been a long time since I've baked, and it was fun. Here are the pictures:

Cheers to more cake!

A Baby Shower & a Birthday

This weekend I finally got to bake!

Ordered: Two dozen Red Velvet cupcakes (Vanilla Buttercream, chocolate ganache) for a baby shower with a whale theme.

Family: Cousin's 5th birthday.

The Red Velvet Cupcake has been quite a hit lately, I might as well make it a signature piece! It's a delicious combination :D

And for the pictures:

Baby Shower Cupcakes!

It's been almost a year since I did anything cake! Inconceivable!  Gram called me up a few weeks ago and asked me to do some cupcakes for a Boy's Baby Shower.  Of course I said yes, how could I not?

I decided on doing Red Velvet cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream, and then dipped in Ghiradelli Chocolate Ganache.  I decorated them with pastel blue buttercream baby booties (woah, alliteration!) and added some white buttercream frill and bows.  I then added some words, so that across the four rows, the cupcakes read "It's a Baby Boy".

Here, the leftover batch of my grossly overestimated amount of buttercream.  It's in the freezer, hopefully I can find a reason to use it within a month.

The cupcakes sitting on their cake board, sitting on top of the cake box.  I covered the cardboard base and box with baby wrapping paper that I found at Walmart, which ended up matching about half of the baby shower gifts.  Apparently this is a popular wrapping paper!

I like covering the box with a themed paper, it adds more sense of occasion to the cupcakes.  Some cupcakes hardly resemble an occasion, but if you have wedding paper over a box of white cupcakes, the hint gets across.

Cupcakes = Happiness. Especially delicious ones :)

For My Lovely Hairstylist...

14" White Cake with Strawberry Buttercream and Lemon Curd Filling (spaced strawberry, lemon curd, strawberry), and frosted with Vanilla Buttercream.  All these pictures are from my cell phone, and show progress.  I had a small technical failure and lost the nice pictures... 

This was for my wonderful hairstylist's sister!  Again, I apologize for the pic resolution. Enjoy!

Also, some of the pictures near the end are blurry because my kitchen aid exploded with half-way-done buttercream, basically a outrageously hot soupy marshmallow fluff.  It coated my phone generously, and thus, despite cleaning it, the camera was a little hurt. 

Fourth & Final of Graduation Cakes!

Summer has taken its toll on me, allowing me to have been BLISSFULLY unaware that I let an entire month fly by before posting pictures of the last two graduation cakes! I feel awful, but hey, its getting done. All in due time. 

These cakes represent what is my most productive weekend, cake-wise. The Strawberry three tier was made in a day and a half, started Friday morning at 8am and ended Saturday afternoon at around 2pm.  Getting home from that party, (I was invited to stay but did not, because of my embarrassment which will be explained) I started the next cake at around 5pm, and got everything made for it by midnight, then put it all together the next day (Sunday).  Busy weekend. 

Emma Cake: Congratulations Emma! (June 19th)

Emma's Cake is a three tier Gold cake, frosted and filled with fresh Strawberry Meringue Buttercream.  The tiers measure 6, 9, and 12 inches.  The embarrasement was because of the WEATHER! During transit, the heat started melting everything, and the cake started sliding around on the base. I hit a few bumps (many, actually) and it was just awful. Such a pretty cake and it was destroyed because of the hot sun. 

I heard later that the buttercream started sliding off the cake (the house was not air conditioned).  I was so crushed! But its over, and I have pictures of it in its glory. 

Amanda's Cake: Congrats Amanda! (June 20th)

This cake was a challenge from the beginning because I had never (ever) made marbled cake before.  The concept sounds simple, and in fact it is, but I was terrified from the start. As you can see from the pictures below, everything turned out completely great. 

(By the way, this was a 14-inch round cake, exactly 5 inches tall, Vanilla and Spiced Chocolate Marbled Cake with Chocolate Meringue Buttercream...and strawberries to garnish. I had a bunch left over.) 

The second challenge was the Chocolate Buttercream. It just would not set.  The house I live in is supposed to have Central Air, but apparently it doesn't half the time, only AC.  This was the explanation given to me when I exclaimed a week earlier, THANK GOODNESS I BAKE WITH CENTRAL AIR! So I believe that although the house was cool, (not extremely), it was the humidity that did the chocolate buttercream in and thus the quasi-disaster was born. 

Having the buttercream in such a state, I grabbed some leftover strawberries and went a little organic on the design, as the Emma Cake was also very organic. 

A note on cake style: Mostly I prefer cakes that have contrast to them, not made with colored fondant but details with buttercream, and subtle sparkle. With these two cakes, I experimented with the natural form, incorporating real strawberries and not sifting out the pulp, and chocolate buttercream that swirled and created an airy look. 

You can see them now: