Fluffy butter icing for 24 cupcakes is not something I make often -- but when needed its invaluable. We love cake, whether layered, sheet, or cupcakes but they don't fly on our radar very often. The usual cake lasts way too long when the family is eating only 3 smallish pieces once a day. So when my niece put in a request for a couple dozen cupcakes as part of her agency's celebration of National Adoption Day, I was happy to oblige. I used a good cake mix but the frosting needed to be something special. Seven year old Short Stuff was here for the weekend and promptly volunteered to be the decorator. Keep in mind, my own experience with cake decorating was last "experienced" with this final decorating class and this frosting class from the same series of lessons. I knew I ... [Read More]
Cake decorating
Buttercream Cake Icing and writing Joy
Buttercream Icing was the basis for a cake decorating lesson. Actually, it was my final exam in the cake decorating class I’ve been taking. We were to bake two layers, stack and frost them before class. We could make flowers ahead of time and let them dry. In class we had to write a word on the cake and do the border, then complete the cake. I knew right away I wanted Tiffany blue as the base with white decorations. We hadn’t had instructions on how to make the flowers I wanted to use, but I read the book and watched a couple of videos. And created them anyway! The meringue powder in the recipe helps the frosting form a firm crust that allows decorations to hold their shape. Still the larger flowers, the teacher said, would need about three days to dry enough to completely hold ... [Read More]
Cake Decorating Tip – just one
I'm taking a cake decorating class. If you've been to a Wilton class you'll recognize this as lesson 2 in the beginner's series. You can tell I need a little practice with smooth starts and stops. Maybe some practice with making smooth, even movements in making the edging. And my dots look more like pink chocolate chips -- just can't quite get that "stop squeezing the frosting bag and move to the side smoothly" step. See those freckles over there on the right? Teacher told us not to bring a chocolate cake - but guess what flavor of low sugar cake mix I had on hand at midnight? Not that low sugar matters with all that frosting, but it was also the only one I had. I did pretty well with the make this "one layer a torte" step as we started. Teacher handed me a coping ... [Read More]