Baking               Cake Decorating               Tutorials              

Friday, September 28, 2012

Feature Fridays: September Favorites

It's almost the end of September. Fall is here and a slight breeze in the air with leaves changing colors. I have found a lot of useful things that I love, which can help me with cake decorating. One item reminded me of my love for baking and I love that I can look at it everyday. The following items are my September favorites.

This first item is what reminded me of my love for baking. It's a scentportable from Bath and Body Works in the shape of a cupcake with a cherry on top. Of course I put a cupcake fragrance inside of it. This will go great anywhere that you want to be reminded of your love for baking, from the visor in your vehicle to a space in your kitchen. It will look cute anywhere and I couldn't pass this up.

The next item is something that I have been using the whole month of September. It is the Dahle Vantage Self Healing Cutting Mat. It is a craft mat that heals itself so there are not cut marks after use. This mat is made for longevity since it has five layers of PVC plastic in it. I use it to form my gumpaste figures on and cut out designs with my exacto knife. Whenever I am working it is near me. These mats come in different sizes and can be purchased on Amazon.com or pastrychef.com.

This mini sewing kit goes in my tool kit for gumpaste. It has many uses and does not cost a lot of money. The straight needles can be used for any air bubbles that are in gumpaste or fondant when you roll it out. The tweezers can be used to place stamens in flowers. If you want to make buttons out of gumpaste or fondant you can take the buttons in this kit to emboss it and cut a button shape out. In cake decorating you can never have enough scissors. The tiny scissors in this kit can be used to cut thin floral wire or anything that doesn't require too much strength.

The last item on my September favorites list is my clay extruder set. This set is made by Walnut Hollow and comes with 20 different disks. You can get a great deal on it by using coupons at your local craft store. I use this the most for hair on figures and little details that I may need to add. Some of the disks are also good for borders on cakes. Different swags can also be made with a few of the disks. This is another one of my tools that has a lot of uses.

I hope that you have enjoyed my September favorites and have a blessed weekend. What were some of your favorite things this month ?

Savor the Baking,

Chineka

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Fondant Cake with Sugar Flowers

I hope that you all are having a great week so far. I wanted to share with you all my latest cake. It is a 10 inch cake that is covered in fondant and sugar flowers. The cake base is also covered in fondant.This is how I wanted the cake to look in my mind and I'm proud of how it turned out.



The bow and border are handmade out of fondant. I shaped the bow a week before I was going to use it so it would dry and I would know that it was not going to move when I placed it on the cake. I think it looks nice with the scalloped border, which is a nice change from the traditional ribbon border.

The flowers on top of the cake are also handmade. They are pale pink, peach roses, and plum colored carnations that are made of gumpaste. I dusted the pale pink roses, like the one above, with a little color dust to give them a more realistic look.

One of my favorite things to do cake decorating wise is to make sugar flowers. They are time consuming, but the end product is so beautiful they are worth every minute of construction.

I really enjoyed making this cake. I hope that you all have enjoyed this blog post and that you all have a blessed week.

Savor the Baking,

Chineka

 

Friday, September 21, 2012

Feature Fridays: How To Make Color Dust

In order to finish any project in cake decorating or sugar art one thing is always needed, color. This can be in the form of air brushing, painting, or color dusts. Today I am going to teach you to make your own variety of color dusts, which will be a lot more cost effective than buying the little jars of color dusts that are readily available on the market.

One essential thing that you will need to make these color dusts are non-toxic chalk pastels like the ones pictured above. Make sure that the chalk has non toxic somewhere on the front or back of the box. These pastels come in variety packs of 48 and can be purchased at A.C. Moore or Michaels with a 50 percent coupon for a little over 5 dollars. That's a color pallet that you can't beat with bold colors!!




Items Needed

Non-toxic chalk pastels

Small glass bowl

Ice cream scooper or large spoon (something to grind the chalk up with)

Plastic jewelry organizer

 

Directions

1. Choose a little of the chalk color of your choice and place it in a little glass bowl.


2. Take a metal object such as a spoon or ice cream scooper, which I used, and grind the chalk into fine pieces. It should look like the below picture when you are finished.

3. Place the color in an individual compartment In a jewelry container.

4. The finished product.


 

Color Dust Tips

  1. To lighten the color dust mix it with a little corn starch.
  2. To custom make a color dust color take a little of two color dusts and mix them together with some corn starch.
  3. A little goes a long way. Start with a light application and you can always go back and build the color.
  4. To make the color dust into a paint mix it with a little clear vanilla extract.
 

I hope that this tutorial has been helpful to you and that you have a lot of fun making color dust and making custom colors.

 

Here is a gumpaste rose that I dusted with some orange and black color dust. Do you see how vibrant the colors are? I hope that you all have a blessed weekend.

Savor the Baking,

Chineka

 

Monday, September 17, 2012

How To Make Gumpaste

 

The gumpaste recipe below is Nicholas Lodge's Tylose Gumpaste Recipe. This is a great recipe that can be used in making beautiful and realistic flowers as well as figures. It holds color great and is a product that I know is reliable. I have found it to be more cost effective to make my own Gumpaste versus picking up a ready made package at the local craft store. I also like that this recipe makes a lot of gumpaste (2 pounds) so it will last you a while.

The Tylose used in this recipe is an alternative product to use in making gumpaste instead of gum tragacanth or gum tec. The advantage of the tylose is that the paste is less expensive,easier to make, holds up better in humidity, and is whiter in color.

Ingredients

Stand Mixer (a hand mixer's motor isn't strong enough for the recipe)

4 - Large Egg Whites

1 - 2 lb. bag 10x powdered sugar (8 cups)

12 - Level teaspoons Tylose (Available at Amazon.com) I use the CIA Tylose.

4 - Teaspoons shortening (Crisco)

 

Directions (makes 2 pounds of Gumpaste)

1. Place the egg whites in a Kitchen Aid mixer bowl fitted with the flat paddle.

2. Turn the mixer on high speed for 10 seconds to break up the egg whites.

3. Reserve 1 cup of the powdered sugar and set aside.

4. Turn the mixer to the lowest speed and slowly add the remaining sugar. This will make a soft consistency royal icing.

5. Turn up the speed to setting 3 or 4 for about 2 minutes. During this time measure off the tylose into a small container.

6. Make sure the mixture is at the soft peak stage. It should look shiny, like meringue and the peaks fall over. (If coloring the entire batch, add the paste color at this stage, making it a shade darker than the desired color.)

7. Turn the mixer to the slow setting and sprinkle the tylose in over a five second time period. Next, turn the speed up to the high setting for a few seconds. (This will thicken the mixture.)

8. Scrape the mixture out of the bowl onto a work surface that has been sprinkled with some of the reserved 1 cup of powdered sugar. Place the shortening on your hands and knead the paste, adding enough of the reserved powdered sugar to form a soft but not sticky dough. You can check by pinching with your fingers and they should come away clean. Place the finished paste in a zip-top bag, then place the bagged paste in a second bag and seal well.

9. Place in the refrigerator for 24 hours if possible before using to mature the paste.

10. Before use, remove from refrigerator and allow the paste to come to room temperature. Take a small amount of shortening on the end of your finger and knead this into the paste. If you are coloring the paste, add the paste color at this stage.

11. Always store the paste in the zip-loc bags and return to the refrigerator when you are not using the paste. Will keep under refrigeration for approximately 6 months. You can keep the paste longer by freezing. Be sure to use zip-top freezer bags. If you will be freezing a batch of paste, allow it to mature for 24 hours in the refrigerator first before placing into the freezer.

I hope that this recipe and the pictures help you to make flexible and firm Gumpaste for all of your cake decorating needs. I hope that everyone has a blessed week. What do you love to make the most with Gumpaste?

Savor the Baking,

Chineka

 

Friday, September 14, 2012

Feature Fridays: Hummingbird Cupcakes for Dad

Nothing says fall to me like hummingbird cupcakes that are full of spices and give you that warm feeling inside. Although these cupcakes represent fall there is another reason that I made them. As you all know in my previous blog post, September 10, 2012 marked the one year anniversary of my Dad passing away. I wanted to bake something really special in his memory. These were my way of honoring his life in a way that only I could do.

These cupcakes are symbolic to my Dad in many ways. The hummingbird cake was one of his favorite cakes. I decided to decorate them with handmade purple and yellow gumpaste roses to represent the fraternity that he was a member of since his college days at Johnson C. Smith University, Que Psi Phi. He never missed a homecoming football game after he graduated and he loved being with his "brothers" and wearing the fraternity colors. The white roses in the icing represent that he is an Angel in Heaven looking down on me. I will continue to make him proud.

Here are two close ups of the cupcakes that I made with the roses on top of each.

 

 

I hope that you have enjoyed this post. What are your favorite things to bake during the fall ?

Savor the Baking,

Chineka

 

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Bride and Groom Bears and the 1 Year Anniversary of my Dad

These are the bears that I made out of gumpaste that are a Bride and Groom. They stand at about 3 1/2 inches tall and are 2 3/4 inches wide. These took me all day to do and are very detailed. These will look great in a glass or plastic case when kept in a cool and dry place. I am very proud of these creations and I did them all by hand.

The bride bear is wearing her white ball gown shaped wedding dress that has a v-neck and has pleats in the skirt. I brushed it with a little bit of pearl luster dust to give it a little of dimension and shine. She is holding her bouquet of roses and has a rose in her hair to finish off the outfit. She is blushing and has on bright red lipstick. Her eyelashes are layered with a lot of mascara to make her eyes pop.

The groom is wearing a classic bow tie with his boutonnière and is giving the bride a sly look. He is slightly blushing while looking over at his beautiful bride. This bear is slightly larger than the bride. I think that this set is so cute. It is available for purchase on my Etsy store, with the link to the right.

September 10, 2012 marked the one year anniversary of my Dad passing away. I miss him daily and wish that he was still here on this earth to see me now. I will always love him and will continue to make him proud. I will be baking something in his honor within the next few days.

Savor the Baking,

Chineka

 

 

 

Friday, September 7, 2012

Feature Fridays: Recent Gumpaste Creation and New Etsy shop

I wanted to share with you my most recent Gumpaste creation in this blog post. I am proud of how far I have come in creating Gumpaste figures, since I am self taught. YouTube, blogs, and pinterest have taught me a lot about creating Gumpaste figures in the past few months. I enjoy the creative and artistic side to it along with making Gumpaste flowers.

The above picture is of my first full person figure in the form of a baby that I handmade today. Ready for bed time the baby is in its onesie with hoodie and is holding a soft teddy bear. All of the little details in this figure took a lot of time, but it was well worth the work. I am happy with how the baby turned out.

This is a close up of the babies face. It has a jolly smile and its tongue is sticking out. It's ears are keeping warm with a hoodie.

Who doesn't love a cuddly teddy bear that they can snuggle up to and love? This baby is no different and has a tight grip on their favorite bear, while keeping it close. This was one of the most challenging and detailed Gumpaste figures that I have done.

I have recently opened an etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/savorthebaking which will sell some of my Gumpaste creations that can be cake toppers and keepsakes for the celebrant as well. I am still adding my handmade creations to the shop daily. Please stop by and view my creations. Purchase if interested in having one of a kind creations that can be kept forever if you choose. Have a blessed weekend.

Savor the Baking,

Chineka

 
UA-56305807-1