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Friday, August 31, 2012

Feature Fridays: Favorite August Finds

I hope that everyone's Labor Day Weekend is off to a great start and that you have a safe and relaxing holiday. I have been sick the last couple of days so I have not posted a lot this week. With this being the last day of August I have decided to do a post on some of my favorite items that I have bought in the month of August. They all relate to baking in some way.

My first two items are not baking items, but they do smell like items that would come out of a bakery so I am including them in my favorites list. These are the candles that you can find in the Fall 2012 collection at Bath and Body Works. I have always loved the pocket bac in Pumpkin Caramel Latte so I was so excited when I found a candle in this same scent. This candle smells just like a latte that you get from Starbucks, which only comes once a year. It has a light scent that will keep you awake on those long nights.

Pumpkin Cupcake has that fresh out of the bakery smell. You can smell the buttercream and moist cupcake in the candle. This candle also has the smell of ginger in it so if you like the slight smell of fresh gingerbread this is the candle for you also.

Be sure to pick up these candles when they are 2 for $20 at Bath and Body Works. These candles last a long time for the price that you pay. Some other candles that I purchased in December 2011 are a little below half full and still have a while until they fully burn.

I picked up this handy cookbook in my local Books-A-Million. This Kitchen Aid 3 cookbooks in 1 (pies and tarts, cakes and cupcakes, breads) should be in any bakers kitchen library. It has recipes for any occasion in several categories of desserts. I love the spiral binding for longevity of the pages staying in tact longer.

The Peach Pecan Upside Down Pancake is one of the most unique recipes in the book. You will satisfy the pancake lover, peach lover, and pecan lover all in one with this dessert. It's a spin on the upside down pineapple cake for breakfast lovers. This would be good to take to a breakfast or even a brunch. I'm sure that guests will love it.

A more traditional dessert in the book are the warm chocolate cakes. These cakes are double chocolate cakes with warm chocolate ganache inside. These would go good with caramel drizzled over them or a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.

My last two items are items that I can really use in baking and they are cute also. The first item I found is a really sturdy spatula that has the phrase, keep calm eat a cupcake, on it. I couldn't resist when I first saw this spatula and I had to have it. The second item that I found in a set of 6 mini cake pans. These mini cake pans are in the shape of a flip flop, ice cream cone, and sunglasses. These mini cakes are a great way to celebrate the end of Summer and they can be customized in whatever color you choose.

I hope that you liked my Favorite August Finds. What are some of your favorite August finds?

Savor the Baking,

Chineka

 

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Cute Elephant Cake Topper

I hope that you all are having a great weekend. I felt like playing around with Gumpaste today so I made this girly elephant cake topper. This cake topper would be great on a baby shower cake or a safari themed cake.

I made a mini Gumpaste bow for a cute touch and drew some eyelashes on her with a food safe marker. I am happy with how she turned out, especially since I only had a picture to model her by when I was making her.

I had some leftover fondant that I wanted to use so I turned it into Gumpaste easily by adding 2 teaspoons of Wilton Gum-Tex. For those of you who don't know Wilton Gum-Tex is a powder that allows Gumpaste to be easier to work with. It also makes fondant more stiffer for molding figures. Gum-Tex can be found in the cake decorating section of Michaels and AC Moore.

Have a blessed week.

Savor the Baking,

Chineka

Friday, August 24, 2012

Feature Fridays: Gumpaste Carnation Tutorial

For this feature Friday I thought that I would do something that I've never done before on this blog, a tutorial. A carnation can be a difficult flower to mold and create with Gumpaste, but I have a fairly easy way to create them. I learned how to do these carnations through a Gumpaste carnation tutorial at http://www.sugarteachers.blogspot.com. Let's get started on the tutorial.

1) Form a dime sized ball out of Gumpaste and stick half of a # 5 noodle through it. Let the Gumpaste dry until it is hard. This will serve as the base for the carnation.

2) Roll out Gumpaste until it is almost paper thin (you should be able to slightly see through it) and using a small to medium scalloped circle cutter to cut 5 circles out.

3) Cut slits every 3 scallops until you have completely went around all 5 circles.

4) Using a toothpick and your index finger go around each petal of the 5 circles. They should be slightly curled.

5) With 1 circle put a little water or gum glue adhesive in the middle and thread the spaghetti noodle through it. Place the petals around the base until it can no longer be seen.

6) Take the remaining petals and thread them one by one around the base allowing the petals to look as if they are getting further and further from the base each time.

7) When the finished carnation starts to get hard I put them upside down in a flower former. This allows them to keep their shape better.

This should be what your finished product looks like. Adding leaves and stems to the carnation is optional. I hope that you have enjoyed this tutorial and that you learned a lot from it. Have a blessed weekend.

Savor The Baking,

Chineka

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Red Velvet Cupcakes

I made red velvet cupcakes about a week ago and I am just now having time to post about them. These cupcakes are moist and rich in flavor. To add a cute touch to them I put a small pink fondant flower on each. I am also experimenting with my decorating tips and both the rose and swirl on top of the cupcake were done with a Wilton 1M decorating tip. There is a lot of variety in how cupcakes can be frosted.

I used a new buttercream recipe from Serious Cakes on YouTube. I have learned a lot from Serious Cakes on YouTube and I'm sure that you will also. This is a great buttercream recipe that I am going to use specifically with red velvet cupcakes. It can be passed for a cream cheese frosting as well because it is so rich and you have to eat is slow. Here is her video on how to make buttercream. If you make this I promise that you will not be dissappointed.


I hope that you are all having a blessed week. Let me know if you make this buttercream recipe and how you like it.

Savor the Baking,

Chineka

Friday, August 17, 2012

Feature Fridays: Purple Ombré Petal Cake

 

Today I wanted to decorate a cake that was feminine and pretty. Purple is one my favorite colors so I decided to make an ombré petal cake with different shades of purple incorporated. Since I was making this cake for just me and my husband a 2 tier 6 inch cake would be enough for us.

The top layer of the cake was chocolate pecan, while the bottom layer was red velvet cake. I like the contrast of both of the colors. These two flavors taste great paired together. After all red velvet cake is nothing but a light chocolate cake that is red.

Using American buttercream I piped an ombré pattern from the bottom and moved my way to the top. A dark purple starts the pattern with lavender in the middle and white at the top. The idea is for the purple to fade into the white. I think that this looks so pretty and classic.

To go along with the petal theme I decided to pipe the petals on top of the cake in the shape of a flower continuing with the ombré effect. I even put a little fondant purple flower in the middle.

I really enjoyed making this cake. Although all of the petals can be time consuming to pipe the work was well worth it when it comes to the end result.

I hope that everyone has a blessed weekend. What are you planning to bake this weekend?

Savor The Baking,

Chineka

 

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Pretty Flowers

As a girly girl I really love flowers. I enjoy everything about them from the smell to the texture of the petals. Aside from sunflowers, roses are also my favorite flower. I wanted to write a quick blog post to share with you the flowers that I handmade out of a gumpaste and fondant mix. Pictured above are roses and a carnation.

The roses took the longest to make because they are so detailed. I really love the way that these turned out. I might add some luster dust to them later to make some of the petals stand out in a subtle way. I also love the soft pink color of the roses. The carnations have a delicacy to them that I love. I think the color combination of white and soft pink is so pretty. Here is a close up of one of the roses.

I hope that you all have enjoyed this post. What is your favorite flower?

Savor the Baking,

Chineka

 

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Chocolate Mixed With Fashion

 

Chocolate cake is known to be really rich and moist if made properly. I am not a big fan of chocolate cake, but I really love this recipe because it's easy to make and it's the first recipe I've made that doesn't contain any eggs or butter. Yesterday I tried a new chocolate cake recipe and it turned out great. I added some pecans to the recipe for a little crunch.

These chocolate pecan cupcakes are very moist and fluffy, which is always a good thing in baking. They also have a light texture to them and are flavorful without being overpowering.

Since I am a fan of project runway I decided to make fondant dress cupcake toppers each with little details of their own from roses to draping. These were really fun to make. It was like I was a fashion designer with the use of fondant versus fabric. I could hear Tim Gunn saying "Make it work!" while I was creating them. My three favorite dresses are the rose, drape, and lace dress.

Here is the finished product with the cupcakes iced with buttercream icing and the cupcake toppers in place to make their dayview on the confectioners runway.

I hope that you have enjoyed this blog post. Which dress is your favorite? Comment below or send me an email at savorthebaking@hotmail.com . Have a blessed week.

Savor The Baking,

Chineka

 

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Elmo and Lessons Learned: fur and black fondant

Today I made an Elmo out of a mixture of Gumpaste and fondant. I wanted to make him today since it stormed outside all day and my plans of going to the beach were ruined. I figured that I would take the time to sculpt Elmo. This would be great for a cake topper. Elmo is after all holding a 1.

Elmo wasn't as hard to sculpt as I thought he would be. You have to get the shape of this head just right. It's the shape of a football with soft edges. I learned a new technique for creating fur on figures. I used a Wilton 233 grass tip to create Elmo's fur. It is a much easier technique than using to the pointer tool in the Wilton gumpaste tool kit.

I also learned how to make black fondant thanks to my husband. I had to use it for Elmo's eyes and mouth. After being unsuccessful on my own he mixed some Wilton gel colors together and came up with the perfect mix for black fondant. This mixture can also be used on Gumpaste.

The mixture is as follows:

  • Start by making red fondant. I recommend using no-taste red Wilton gel color.
  • Add a lot of violet Wilton gel color to it
  • Add a quarter sized amount of brown Wilton gel color to it. You will get a dark maroon color at this point.
  • Add a lot of teal Wilton gel color to it and a little more violet Wilton gel color if needed.
I hope that this blog posts has helped you to find an easier technique for fur and a way to make black fondant. I know it is sometimes not easily accessible in craft stores, since it is one of the first colors to be bought.

 

I will be making a cookie monster next. He is my favorite sesame street character. Me want cookies...lol.

 

I hope that you all are having a blessed weekend. What are some of your favorite (DIY) techniques to use when it comes to making figures?




Savor the Baking,

Chineka

Friday, August 10, 2012

Feature Fridays: ScrapPad/ Baking Portfolio

 

ScrapPad is a great scrapbook app for the iPad that allows you to make a digital scrapbook without all of the glue, paper, and manual work. From stickers to backgrounds and borders this app has it all. This app can be found on the app store for $4.99.

While this app can be used for many reasons, one of the reasons that I use this app is to make a baking portfolio. I love how this app gives you creative freedom to create a nice portfolio that is digital so that clients can be shown your work without you having to carry a heavy photobook or 3 ring binder around.

I have already created a few pages with the this app and I am loving it is far. You can be as simple or elaborate as you want with your oage design.Here are two of the pages I am currently working on and near completion. Both of these pages have a simplicity to them in different ways. I love the butterfly stickers to go along with the butterfly garden cake.

 

This app has many possibilities and I hope that you give it a try. What do you use for your baking portfolio so that clients can see your work? Comment below or email me at savorthebaking@hotmail.com Have a good weekend.

Savor the Baking,

Chineka


Friday, August 3, 2012

Feature Fridays: Digital Cake Design Inspiration Board

Cake design inspiration boards are a good way to show the design of a cake through pictures and quotes. They are a good way to organize your thoughts for a cake design. Above I have shown you my current cake design inspiration board and it is all digital.

The iPad app that I used to create this inspiration board is called Corkulous Pro. It is app that lets you organize your thoughts. You can use things such a sticky notes, pictures and colored tabs. There is also a way for you to change the color of tabs and sticky notes to reflect different projects. This app is only $1.99 in the app store, which is a great deal for all that this app is capable of.

The three cake designs on the board are a petal cake, a damask stencil cake, and a garden cake. I have paired the petal cake and garden cake with color inspirations. You can get digital color swatches from the sherwin williams website.

Corkulous Pro is also a great way to study for tests in college or to build a business presentation. You can also make to do lists where you can check off things that need to be done.

My most favorite thing to is to make photo collages. Corkulous Pro saves all of the boards that you make. They can be emailed or exported to iTunes. You can even save them to your photo gallery.

What are some apps that you use to organize your thoughts and ideas? Comment below or send me an email at savorthebaking@hotmail.com. Have a blessed weekend.

Savor the Baking,

Chineka

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Flower Themed (Re-Enlistment) Cake Journey

This is a cake that I did for a client this week. She wanted a cake to celebrate her Re-Enlistment into the Air Force and the only instruction that I was given was for it to be girly. I immediately thought of a flower theme with the main colors being pink, purple, and teal. I also wanted a variety of textures on this cake so I used a variety of decorating mediums such as fondant, buttercream, and sugar beads.

To start of first I did a rough sketch of what I wanted some of the cake to look like, then I planned out what I was going to do each day until the cake was completed. Organization and details are the key to successful cake decorating. If you want to know about the sketch software that I used refer to my last blog post.

I piped buttercream flowers ahead of time and put them in a freezer safe container. I then took them out the morning that I needed to decorate the top of the cake. I wanted a variety of colors and height with the flowers on the top of the cake to get different textures.

For the side of the cake I really wanted to try embroidered flowers and I really liked the way that these turned out and how the colors fade as you get closer to the center. I also love that they have an artsy quality to them.

For the cherry blossoms I hand made the branches and used a Wilton gumpaste tool to give them some texture. I love the combination of pink and purple flowers that look like they are delicately placed among the branches. I hope to do a full cake with just these cherry blossom branches in the future. I think they are so pretty.

I found a way to use some sugar beads that I recently bought and placed them in the shape of a leaf on the cake to tie in with the flower theme. I like how the sugar beads are different sizes so each leaf has something a little different about them.

I hope that you have enjoyed seeing the pictures of this cake and going on a journey with me in the production of this cake. My client loved this cake and I am so glad that she did. I love hearing how much my cakes are enjoyed and the joy that they bring.

Savor the Baking,

Chineka

 

 
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