Cherry Shortbread Cookies

New recipe!

First time seeing this recipe and just had to give it a go. The recipe can be found at Sweetopia along with a "how to" in making and decorating these yummy cookies. I followed Marian's recipe with one minor change - I added almost a full tablespoon of pure almond extract to bump up the cherry flavor. Next time I make these cookies I will be even more generous with the almond extract. These cookies are light pink with little specks of cherries throughout and are delicate and melt-in-your-mouth-delicious!

Check out Marian's blog and recipe here.

Two Tier Cake - My First Time

This is my first two tier cake - both the bottom tier and top tier are 2 flavors, dark chocolate and strawberry with strawberry buttercream and strawberry marshmallow fondant. It was also my first time making fondant! This was made for my daughter's 19th birthday in May.
The fondant was easy to make, simple instructions etc, but it doesn't roll out nearly as smooth as Wilton fondant. The cake looked like it had acne scars - it was very pitted which explains the over abundance of whimsical flowers everywhere! The fondant sure tasted a lot better but it did not give the smooth texture and results that I was hoping for.
I used the good old interwebs to learn about making a 2 tiered, stack on stack cake as we had not done the "tall cakes" class at Michaels yet. The top tier is a 6 inch round so I needed a 6 inch round thin cake circle. I also needed dowels of some kind. Since it was going to be only 2 tiers and the top was small, I went with plastic "straw" type dowels that I picked up at Flour Confections. They look like a bubble tea straw. They are easy to cut to size with a snip of the scissors. I also needed a 1/2" thick cake board to support the weight of the tiered cake. I purchased this at Flour Confections as well, I should have gotten a 12" but I got a 10" which served anyway. The bottom tier is 8".
I'd love to hear from you how you have made out with making your own marshmallow fondant and 2 tiered cakes.

French Vanilla Cupcakes With a Twist

French Vanilla Cupcake with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

These cupcakes were made for Friday night "games night" with my sisters and friends. I tried something different and "painted" the inside of the piping bag with 3 colors of food coloring before filling the bag with icing. You cannot believe how brilliant they thought I was! I used a Wilton 1M tip and made a "rose" by starting at the center and working my way out just using a clockwise circular motion. I added a tiny fondant blossom which had a sugar pearl in the center. You really have to try this method because I got so many comments on this simple cupcake - everyone with think you are incredible, which you might be - I am just average on a good day so I was pleasantly surprised at the reaction :) Could you imagine a "rose" cake done this way? That would be pretty!

I also filled some of the cupcakes that I made with raspberry jam - I used Smucker's seedless raspberry jam that comes in the squirt bottle. I painted the piping bag with just one color, fuschia, so that it would be easy to tell which ones had filling and which did not. 

It was my first time filling cupcakes and my first time using LorAnn Butter Vanilla Bakery Emulsion in the frosting. I also used Nielsen Massey Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla extract in the frosting and the cupcake.

French Vanilla Cupcake with Raspberry filling and Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

**** Wilton 1M - I have a situation - why do my two Wilton 1M tips look completely different?

I realized that it is actually the 2D tip that is supposed to give you the rose but I used the 1M tip on the left in the pictures.

Spring Has Sprung!

Well, I thought "spring had sprung" but it was cold and snowing (almost invisible but still) on Tuesday when I brought these springy cookies to Ladies' group - it was the only thing spring like about Tuesday morning! The cookies came to mind when I decided to bring Strawberry Cake for my contribution to the food table. I just had to make strawberry minis to go with the cake - more as decoration than anything - they are just cute!

The cookies are an adaptation of my favorite sugar cookie recipe by Sugarbelle. I made them with Nielson Massey Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla and Nielson Massey Orange Extract and 1 tsp. of grated orange zest. They were  very deceptive - they looked like strawberries but tasted like orange - what trickery!

I made some little blossoms for some of the "strawberries" with white fondant and added a dot of yellow royal icing for the center of the fondant blossom. 

Of course - in my tradition of "over doing" almost everything - I just had to add a few chocolate dipped "strawberries" to the plate of springiness :) I also brought some actual chocolate dipped strawberries to completely take it over the top, because that's just how I roll ;) Looking at my "daisy" cookies in this pic - they look like fried eggs ;( oops

Wilton Course 3 Final Cake

Wilton Course 3 Final Cake

Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Buttercream Filling and Vanilla Frosting - Topped with Wilton Fondant 

Strawberry Cake
2 cups white sugar
1 package of strawberry Jell-O
1 cup unsalted butter (room temp)
4 eggs (room temp)
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup strawberry puree - can be made from frozen sweetened or fresh with 1 tbsp sugar ( I have only ever used fresh because I have never bought frozen sweetened berries

For this course cake, I only needed a 6" round so I made two 8" rounds for a layer cake to take to our Tuesday morning ladies' group. Normally, you could make this with two 9" pans - I've made it into cupcakes before as well. So for whatever you would like - prepare your pans. I use Wilton Cake Release and just to be safe, I also used parchment rounds.

Cream butter and sugar and Jell-O powder, beating until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and mixing well after each addition. Mix the vanilla and milk together.
Combine the dry ingredients together and add them alternating with the milk mixture until all are incorporated and stir in the puree. Pour into prepared pans and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire rack for about 10 minutes, remove from pans and finish cooling. Top with your favorite frosting.
This strawberry cake is the same one I have used in the 5 layer Neapolitan cake shown here.

This is the strawberry cake that I made in the two 8" pans to take to my ladies' group on Tuesday.

French Vanilla Cake - Cake Decorating Isn't for Sissies!

This is my first fondant covered cake. The flowers are fondant and gum paste/fondant.

Michaels Course 3 - Gum Paste and Fondant - week 3 we covered a square cake and learned how to make daisies and mums. 

The cake and buttercream icing are made with Nielson Massey Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla. The fondant and gum paste are Wilton. We used the 20" wide glide rolling pin and the roll-n-cut mat to roll out the fondant for the cake.

Rolling fondant takes some serious muscles! I swear, my arms were aching the next day - I couldn't believe it. Cake decorating is not for sissies! 

Easter Cupcakes

Chocolate Fudge Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream 

These cupcakes were decorated to look like birds nests in the grass. I made nests using left over royal icing which I tinted brown and I put mini gourmet jelly beans which I got from the bulk store. My daughter and I had been shopping and saw something similar for sale as decorations and she said - "Mom, you could make these" - so I did. The nests for sale were by Wilton and were about $8 in Michaels (CAD) (if I recall correctly). 

I also did some cupcakes in "Eastery" colors.