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Friday, March 29, 2013

Feature Fridays: March 2013 Favorites

 

 

Spring is here and another month has come and gone. I have a lot of cool favorites for this month to share with you and I hope that you find inspiration in them.

 

 

1. Jeep Liberty Limited 2010

My first favorite is one of my most loved favorites of the month. LaPaul and I got a new vehicle early in the month and I love it. This will be my vehicle to drive. I used to drive a 2006 Jeep Liberty before I got married , but that is a long story that I won't bore you with. This Jeep has everything that I wanted on my checklist in a vehicle with some of the things including leather seats and Bluetooth. I am enjoying this Jeep and am glad to get back to that Jeep feeling. LaPaul and I will be taking it on our first road trip next week.

 

 

2. Personalized Bakers Charm

I blogged about this charm earlier this month and I have worn it everyday. It's a charm that is unique and I love how it can be tailored to your interests. To learn more about it read my blog post.

 

 

3. Eye-Fi Camera Card

This camera card has made blogging and editing pictures a whole lot easier. By placing this card in your camera you can wirelessly transmit photos to any device such as an iPad, iPhone, or to your computer. Since I purchased this card I have been loving it. This card was a pain to configure, but it was all worth it in the end. For more information on this camera card go here.

 

 

4. Sweet Revolution Caramels

Anyone that knows me knows that I love caramel. If a dessert has caramel in it then I am sold. These Sweet Revolution Caramels are the most pure and organic caramels that you will ever eat. I tried the maple honey caramels and you can taste the pure maple with every bite. These caramels will not disappoint.

 

 

5. I Love Cake PocketBac

I love carrying hand sanitizer with me and when they smell yummy that makes it even better. The PocketBacs from Bath & Body Works are perfect for putting on your keychain or slipping in the side pocket of your purse. They are always 5 for $5 so you can't beat the price. My favorite PocketBac is I Love Cake which smells like a slice of cake right out of the oven.

 

 

I hope that you all have a great weekend and have enjoyed my March 2013 favorites. What were some of your favorites for the month?

 

Savor The Baking,

Chineka

 

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Cake Design Inspiration: Ron Ben-Israel

Photo by Ron Ben-Israel Cakes

 

You may know Ron Ben-Israel from the TV Show, Sweet Genius, or his realistic sugar flowers. The cake design inspiration for this week comes from Ron Ben-Israel Cakes.

 

This cake shows the sugar flower artistry that Ron Ben-Israel is so well known for. From the beautiful roses to the peonies each flower is hand crafted and shows how much detail is put into each flower. As you can see the cake also has clean lines and a simplistic quality to it.

 

Every cake done by Ron Ben-Israel Cakes is perfection. More of their cakes can be seen on their facebook page.

 

 

Savor The Baking,

Chineka

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Top 5 Spring Gel Colors

 

 

Spring is here and that means cake artists get to play with more color in their designs. I have compiled my top 5 gel colors for Spring. These Americolor gel colors are very bright and pigmented. Only a few drops are needed to achieve your desired color.

 

 

1. Americolor-Mint Green

Mint green has been a popular color for Spring in the last few years. Now cake artists can play around with this color. It would be a great color to use for grass on an Easter cake or as a main piping color.

 

 

2. Americolor-Peach

This color is great for those girly girls like me that love pretty colors. Peach makes me think of sherbet on a nice Spring day.

 

 

3. Americolor-Super Red

Super-Red is a great color to use when you want a vibrant and true red. In fact, I used the color on these Red Long Stemmed Sugar Roses. Months later, the color has not faded.

 

 

4. Americolor-Burgundy

Burgundy is a great color to use for a sugar anenome. That flower is on my list to make for 2013. This would also be a pretty color for a dress on a figure model.

 

 

5. Americolor-Sky Blue

With the sun shining and the clear skies of Spring this sky blue would look great against buttercream flowers or on a baby shower cake.

 

What are some of your favorite Spring gel colors? I hope that you are all having a great week. After all there are only 2 more days until the weekend.

 

 

Savor The Baking,

Chineka

 

Monday, March 25, 2013

Birthday Bear Cake Topper

 

 

Last week I sculpted a cake topper for a friend whose son was turning one. I was given a picture of a bear on a napkin to go by. This is the cake topper that I was able to come up with.

 

 

 

 

After sculpting the body and legs of the bear out of gumpaste and allowing them to fully dry then I started to add the details. I used a small ball tool to make the belly button of the bear. This adds a cute touch. For the paws of the bears legs I used a tip 7 to make the circles.

 

 

 

 

Here is a closeup of the paws. This added another dimension to the bear and gave it more of a stuffed animal look.

 

 

 

 

I added some non-toxic chalk to the inside of the belly button. This adds some extra color to the overall body. You can also see the star that I embossed into the inside of the shirt. A balloon was the final touch to the cake topper. I sculpted a balloon and inserted a floral wire in order to attach it to the bear.

 

The cake topper went on a smash cake and it looked so cute. I was unable to take a picture of it at the birthday party because I was recording the event so the parents will have it to look back on.

 

Have a great week everyone.

 

Savor The Baking,

Chineka

Friday, March 22, 2013

Feature Fridays: My Top 5 Cake Decorating Brushes




I use paint brushes a lot for cake decorating. Each one has a different purpose for a specific project. My favorite paint brushes to use for cake decorating are from Princeton Select. They last a long time if cared for properly and they don't leave bristles on your fondant.




Princeton Liner - 0

This is my favorite brush to use for writing words and creating little swirls on fondant. The fine brush makes it easier to control what you are trying to hand paint and makes for clean work. Also for fondant figures this brush is great for hand painting eyes.




Princeton Angular Shader -0



This brush is great for getting in those little spaces when hand painting fondant. The angle helps it to fit perfectly in corners or creases. I once used this brush to paint a pearl border and it worked great.




Princeton Neptune 1/4 inch

This flat brush is great for adding dimension to royal icing before it dries or even adding dimension to figures. For sharp lines this is the brush to use.





Princeton Select Oval Mop -3/4 inch


When hand painting a fondant cake one color this is a great brush. Changing the direction of the brush strokes will change the look of the fondant. A lot of effort isn't needed to achieve the look of brush strokes with this brush.





Cotman 19mm - 3/4 inches


This is the one brush in my collection that isn't from the princeton line. This is my second line of brushes when I can't find princeton. When I need to dust a sugar flower one color I will use this brush. The bristles are so soft so I know that my sugar flowers won't break. This brush seems to glide across petals effortlessly.


What brushes do you use in cake decorating? If so what is your favorite brand to use? Have a great weekend.

Savor The Baking,
Chineka

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Cake Design Inspiration: Krazy Kool Cakes

Photo by Krazy Kool Cakes


This weeks cake design inspiration comes from Krazy Kool Cakes, which I orginally found two years ago through their YouTube channel. Laura and her husband Arnie can do some amazing things with cakes and can sculpt any cake topper imaginable. I have featured them many times on this blog because I truly love their work so much and they are such an inspiration to me.


The winnie the pooh themed cake that I am featuring today showcases a variety of their skills all in one. From the sculpted cake toppers to the hand painted bottom and top tiers this cake is Krazy Kool Cakes all the way. The cake board is even custom made. My favorite part of the cake are the hand sculpted winnie the pooh and piglet. They make the cake come a live.


Check out Krazy Kool Cakes website and youtube channel, which are linked above. You can also find all of their cakes on their facebook page.


Savor The Baking,
Chineka

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

In Memory of Rylan: A Cake Decorating Talent and Gentle Spirit

Pictures by Cake Central

 

Yesterday I learned the news of my cake central friend, Rylan (Jene Rylan Ty Nato), passing away Monday night. I took the news very hard. He was a cake decorating talent that delivered clean and sophisticated cakes like I had never seen before. His cakes have graced the pages of Cake Central magazine many times and his cake even made the cover page of issue one of volume three, which can now be downloaded for free here. The story of how Rylan got into cake decorating can also be found here.

 

 

 

As you can see from the collage above, Rylan's cakes were amazing. He was quick to learn all things cake and implement them into his artistry. He was also not afraid to try new things and take risks. This has got to be my favorite cakes of his. It was the first time that he had decorated a square cake and as they say, he knocked the ball out of the park. The classic black and white, coupled with the clean and crisp monogram, made this cake timeless.

 

 

Rylan's memory will live on in the cake decorating world with his gentle spirit and undeniable talent. More of his work and most importantly his words will forever be on his blog, Art and Appetite, where he documented a lot of his thoughts and even things non related to cake decorating, like gardening. There is also a facebook page for his blog.

 

 

Rylan you will be missed and your memory will carry on through the lives that you impacted through cake decorating around the world.

 

Savor The Baking,

Chineka

Monday, March 18, 2013

What's In My Cake Decorating Bag?


My cake decorating bag usually contains most of these cake decorating tools if I am working on a cake topper or decorations for a cake. On days that I need a tote bag for everyday use these are the items that I typically carry in it.



This tote bag can be purchased at Barnes and Nobles. I love that my iPad can fit in the front exterior pocket. To personalize it I put an adhesive embellishment on the front. Of course it had to be a cupcake. As you can see this tote can hold a lot more than what I usually carry.





My planner, iPad and iPad keyboard are always with me. These are the things that I need to stay organized everyday.
  • Planner - I keep my daily tasks and schedule my blog posts.
  • iPad - All of my daily tasks, articles, blog posts, photo editing, and written communication are done through my iPad.
  • iPad Keyboard - makes it a lot easier for me to write long emails and my assigned articles.



I keep two separate notebooks for different things. I also keep my eyeglasses, pens, and earphones.

  • Cupcake Notebook - research for writing articles, blog post ideas
  • Hello Kitty Notebook - outline for articles
  • Eyeglasses - to see when reading
  • Pens - color coordinate notes
  • Earphones - listen to music or podcasts while working or cake decorating




Here is what the other side of my cake decorating bag looks like. Do you have a cake decorating bag? What cake decorating items or non cake decorating items do you put in it? I hope that you are all having a great week.

Savor The Baking,
Chineka

Friday, March 15, 2013

Feature Fridays: Personalized Bakers Charm

 

 

Etsy is full of handmade and customized charms for bakers, from whisks and measuring cups, to aprons there is a charm for all who love sweet confections. The bakers charm above was purchased from Charm Accents, who has a variety of charms to choose from.

 

 

The charm above is a little bigger than a quarter and I opted to get the disk in gold. I thought the kitchenaid stand mixer was so cute and I love the personalization that is on the charm. The charm was sent to me a few days after I ordered it in a cute leopard print box.

 

 

I have enjoyed wearing the charm so far. It is light and it looks great with a lof of outfits. I switched the chain that the charm came with to a 14kt gold chain that I had. I think the charm looks much richer with the chain switch.

 

 

I hope that you check out the Charmed Accents etsy shop and website. I will be ordering more charms from this seller very soon.

 

 

Savor The Baking,

Chineka

 

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Cake Design Inspiration: McGreevy Cakes

Photo by McGreevy Cakes

This weeks cake design inspiration comes from McGreevy Cakes, which I originally found on YouTube. Shawna puts a lot of detail in her cakes and the cake featured this week is no exception. Minnie looks ready to go to a ball in her fancy dress, whose skirt is made all of cake and decorated in fondant and modelling chocolate.

The sculpting of Minnies face looks really accurate and I love the checkered patterned cake board that the cake rests on. Minnies crown looks so regal and elegant. McGreevy cakes has been featured in cake central magazine and gives back to sick kids, through what is called McGreevy Cakes of Love.

Savor The Baking,
Chineka

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Cake Fu and Anne Heap

Photo by Pink Cake Box

Yesterday I took another CakeFu training with Anne Heap, who is the owner of Pink Cake Box . She is known for her exquisite cakes in the cake decorating world and has appeared on the food network challenge and ultimate cake off. Her work has also been featured in magazines such as The Knot and Cake Central.




In the training Anne taught how to make a basic gumpaste lion cake topper, which is in the screenshot above. A lesson that I took from the training is an easy way to make the lions mane. She also talked about her new Craftsy class, Cake Topper Techniques with Anne Heap. In this class she teaches basic figure modelling as well as the internal structure for support. This is a great class to take for those who are beginners in figure modelling.

What cake decorating classes have you taken and what lessons did you take from them?

Savor The Baking,
Chineka


Monday, March 11, 2013

My Top 5 Cake Decorating Apps

Being the technology savvy person that I am, I use a lot of cake decorating apps. They come in handy to simplify most things and I like how they are portable. Most of these apps can be accessed via iPad and iPhone.

 

 

iHandy Level


For those of you who use a leveler in cake decorating to make sure that your cake is not crooked the iHandy Level app comes in handy. This app is only on the iPhone. When using it for cake decorating I put a piece of plastic wrap to cover the cake. Calibrating the leveler is easy and quick.

 

 

Tiered Caker

 

I use the TieredCaker app for a lot of things. This app calculates the tier servings you need based on the number of servings that your client needs. It also provides cutting guides that you can email or print. If you want to price your cakes based on servings this app is capable of that too. A servings chart for different cake shapes makes it easy to tell clients possible combinations that they can choose from. This app is available on the iPad and iPhone.

 

 

Sheet Caker


If you have to decorate a sheet cake the SheetCaker app is another app to use. This app does most of the things that the Tiered Caker app does. Both apps are owned by the same company, Calculated Cakes. This app is available on the iPad and iPhone.

 

 

Cost A Cake


Cost A Cake allows you to figure out how much you should charge for a cake, based on things like ingredients and costs. How to guides are also on the app for making modelling chocolate, covering a cake with fondant, and using tylose powder. This app is available on the iPad and iPhone.

 

 

Cake Central

Cake Central is not an app, but I have put the website as an app on the homescreen of my iPad and iPhone. This website is the number one cake decorating site and forum. If you have any issues or questions about cake decorating this is the website to go to.

 

 

Bonus App: Craftsy

 

The Craftsy app is convenient for accessing all of the cake decorating classes that I am taking. I can access them through this app that I have on my iPad and iPhone. This is nice when I am traveling and don't have access to my computer.

 

What cake decorating apps do you use? I hope that you all are having a great week.

 

Savor The Baking,

 

Chineka

 

Friday, March 8, 2013

Feature Fridays: Cake Central Magazine-March 2013

All photos are screenshots from Cake Central Magazine

 

This morning I woke up to another digital issue of Cake Central Magazine. It's like Christmas when these are delivered to my iPad on a monthly basis. This issue is packed with a lot of useful tips and very informative articles. I am going to show you what caught my eye while reading this magazine this morning. I have taken pictures of iPad screenshots.

 

The cover cake, which was created by Jennifer Bratko of Beyond Buttercream, caught eye for many reasons. One, its a beautiful cake, and two, the gems and gold really stand out. The stringwork is also stunning on this cake. It's the simplest of stringwork that can be the hardest to achieve. Jennifer's work has been featured in cake central magazine many times and each time I am amazed.

 

 

 

There is a feature article about Roland Winblecker. Roland is known in the cake decorating world for his life sized sculptures in cake. If you didn't know any better you would think that his cakes are real people and figures. The detail that he puts in his work comes from years of experience and a keen eye.

 

 

 

 

Stringwork is an area of cake decorating that I am still trying to get better at so I was happy when I saw this tutorial on stringwork that is very intricate. I've only seen one person do stringwork this good and that was Nicholas Lodge. This tutorial is shown by Fiona McKenzie and she goes over each step. I am excited to try this technique for stringwork out.

 

 

 

 

For those who are thinking of starting a baking business this article, which was written by Erin Gardner, is for you. This article gives an overview of things to consider before starting your baking business and how to figure out if it is the right move for you. I learned a lot while reading this article and I know that you will also.

 

 

There were two color schemes featured in this issue. The cobalt and onyx cake was created by Wendy McGowan of Wendy Woo Cakes. I love the gradient that is on this cake and the sugar flower that stands out against the gems. Teal is one of my favorite colors so I was glad to see it used so much in cake. The teal and gold cake was created by Marina Danovska. I love the lace detailing at the corners and the frills. This is the perfect shade of teal. I wonder what gel colors she used to achieve it or she could have bought the fondant pre - colored.

 

I hope that you all have enjoyed this recap of the March 2013 issue of Cake Central Magazine. If you would like to get the magazine delivered to your iPad monthly go here. Have a great weekend.

 

Savor The Baking,

Chineka

 

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Cake Design Inspiration: Sylvia Weinstock

Photo by: Sylvia Weinstock Cakes

This weeks cake design inspiration comes from SYLVIA WEINSTOCK, whose cake artistry has spanned 30 years. This cake shows Sylvia's expertise in several areas. She is known for her beautiful sugar flowers and her clean and sophisticated cakes. She also prefers buttercream over fondant when decorating cakes.

At 82 years old, Sylvia is one of the most celebrated cake decorators by celebrities and in the wedding industry. She has designed cakes for events such as the inaugural ball and many celebrity weddings. Sylvia Weinstock Cakes is located in New York City. You can learn more about Sylvia in this interview .

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Favorite Cake Decorating Tips



Cake decorating tips are the paint brushes of the cake artist. Each one has a different purpose and can add different effects to a cake. There are many different brands of cake decorating tips on the market, but today I will be showing you tips by Wilton . These are some of my favorite cake decorating tips and the ones that I use the most.




Tip 1A

Tip 1A is great for building dams for fillings to go in between layers of cake. A dam is a circle of icing inside the edge of a cake.




Tip 2A


Tip 2A is great for making simple frosting swirls. Think of the signature swirl on a Georgetown Cupcake when you want to use this tip. This tip is a great way to dress up a cupcake.



Tip 352


Tip 352 is a great tip to make leaves. This tip is great to accent buttercream roses or to make a rose vine.





Tip 32


Tip 32 is a great star tip to use for borders. It can also make a nice shell border.




Tip 47


This tip is the best basketweave tip. If you want the buttercream to be smooth the flat side goes up and if you want the buttercream to be ribbed the ribbed side goes up.




Tip 104

For the best buttercream roses tip 104 is what I use. It makes the perfect medium rose.




Tip 1M

Making a rose swirl on top of a cupcake or when making a rose cake can be done with tip 1M.


I hope that this post gave you some new ideas on how to decorate cakes by using different cake decorating tips.


Savor The Baking,
Chineka

Monday, March 4, 2013

How To Use Tappits For Cake Decorating

 

 

Have you ever wondered how the pretty font is made on cake boards and cake plaques? The answer is Tappits , which are cutters that can be used with fondant and gumpaste. I use the Funky Alphabet and Numbers Set by FMM. The tappits are simple to use and take a lot of the guess work out of lettering for cake decorating.

 

 

Tools Needed

Small Rolling Pin

Pizza Cutter

Small Paint Brush

Fondant or Gumpaste

Nonstick Surface

 

 

 

I will be using fondant for this tutorial. It helps to put the fondant in the freezer for a few minutes so that it will firm up and will be less stretchy.

  • Roll out fondant to 1/8 of an inch. (1/16 of an inch is good also)
  • Cut however many squares you need for the word that you are trying to make.
  • I will be making the word bake, so only four squares are needed. They don't have to be perfect.

 

 

 

 

  • Find the letter that you are going to need on your tappit.
  • Press it firmly into the fondant and wiggle it around until the edges start to detach.
  • Carefully pull the edges from the letter.

 

 

This is what the lettering should look like when you are done with the steps above.

 

 

 

 

  • Bend the tappit back slightly and tap it against your nonstick surface.
  • This should release the lettering from the tappit.

 

 

There are two options for releasing the insides of the letters. You could:

  • Poke the end of a small paintbrush through the inside of the letter while it is in the tappit.

or


  • Lift the letter up once it is on the nonstick surface and poke the insides out.



Here is what the final product looks like. I hope that you have enjoyed this tutorial and learned something new. Have a great week.


Savor The Baking,

Chineka


 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
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