Claudine, Oui c'est Francais

Obama cupcakes

How do I get ready for the first debate of this election season?  Make special Obama cupcakes of course, don't you.

I found these cute little Obama signs especially made for cupcakes from NatalieCakes and saved them for just the perfect occasion. So debate night is a perfect time to use them. First I cut them out and then found some night bamboo sticks that would be perfect for appetizers. I wanted something that would have enough of a surface to glue the picture to.

Using Aleene Original Tacky Glue, I ran some glue on the top and then stuck it to the back of the picture. I used mostly the poster type logo but also did a few of the round logo. For the round one, I did double side it.

 

I used the Martha cupcake papers from the Summer Macy's collection and the stars are also from Martha as well. The cupcakes are Red Velvet and then I filled with a little surprise of chocolate Bavarian cream.....

 

These cupcakes are only for a single party, no republican cupcakes in this house. I guess I can leave one out for a few weeks to shrivel up like a prune and then it can be a ...... well you know who cupcake....

And one more amazing cake

 This cake is gorgeous! The pretty pink ruffle cake wouldbe perfect for a little girls Ballet theme birthday party, or just for mine.

And the best part is that anybody can do it, all you need is a flat edged pastry tip, or the using the flat side of a basket weave tip and then back and forth. I love this cake, I need to make this one soon. Just imagine this as a three tier wedding cake in pink.... Oh it has me thinking!

No bake birthday cake

I saw this No Bake birthday cake on the main page of Martha Stewart.com and thought it was just too cute to pass up.

Made from everybody's favorite rice crispy treats it has a secret surprise in the center, chocolate marshmallow icing. They used other cereal for the decorative touches. I am not sure what cereal is green and blue but it sure looks great.

In the October issue of Everyday Food there is a great recipe for chocolate rice crispy treats with a drizzle of melted chocolate on top. I made them the other night and they were a hit

Martha's new season special lunch

  Today should be a national holiday, Martha's show premiered for the 4th season today. Oh how far we have come from the "dark days" and having Martha on tv is something to be happy for every day. So how do we usher in the new season, well with a cake of course and my favorite little Martha fan over for lunch! I had been thinking about using Martha's show logo for a cake for awhile and today was the perfect time to do it.

 

I used a printed out version of the logo as my template and laid it above the frosting part so that I didn't get to the end and realize I didn't have room for the A. I am really happy how it turned out. When the show started my niece screamed out that the tv was like the cake. She's a smart kid....

So for lunch we had Goat Cheese and Onion tarts served with baby greens with a homemade French vinaigrette. What 4 year old doesn't get to have that for lunch. I even had a helper as she helped roll out her first Pate Brisee pie crust. I told her how soft and beautiful the dough was and later she pointed out the same thing. I may be creating a monster, but Martha would be proud!

Hope you got to see the new show today, in case you missed it you can catch it tomorrow night on the Fine Living Network....

Golf cupcakes

Tuesday is our company golf tourney that I am in charge of putting all together. It involves hours and hours of tiny details to get ready for the big day. But I decided to do one more little thing. Nothing would be better then a golf themed cupcake....

The golf balls are made of chocolate and I used a golf ball candy mold, that is the easiest thing ever to make. A little butter-cream tinted green and my favorite grass cake decorating tip and waaaalaaaa here you go. Aren't they cute!

I didn't make enough for everybody, so I may need to secretly hand them out. That is, if John doesn't eat them all before I leave the house in the morning.

Starbucks Birthday Cake

Today was my sister's birthday and I had a plan for weeks what her cake would be. She loves coffee, especially Starbucks so I wanted to make her a Starbucks birthday cake that would look like the to-go cups. It wasn't too hard since it was all made of round cakes, but took a bit of time..

 Here is the cake stacked up and ready for it's first coat. I carved the top out of 10x3 inch cake so it would have a lip on the cup. It then created a huge crumbly mess. I normally never need to do a crumb coat, but since it was just a huge crumb it needed a little "glue"

Step number two: Crumb coat, lots and lots of crumbs.... heading to the fridge for a few hours and then will be ready for it's second coat of paint

Step three: second coat of paint and now it is looking like a cup... very exciting

 

And the almost finished result. I still had few things to do like finish the top and then smooth out the sides but it came together really well. I was nervous about the mermaid logo, but I just freehanded it and it turned out just like the label. I wish I would have used a smaller tip on the words, but it was a big hit and my sister loved it!

Happy Birthday Jen!

Happy Birthday Martha

August 3rd is Martha's birthday and of course I needed to make her a cake... But not just any cake, a self portrait. I have a cake decorating book by Kate Sullivan that has some great, very creative cakes in it. One is a Elvis portrait cake, but in the back of the book there is a Martha cake that she had made for the New York Times some years back. I have been wanting to do it since I got the book and what would be more perfect then the divine Miss Martha's birthday....

It started with a picture of Martha covered with Wax paper and then outlined with Royal Icing

I then made more royal icing and filled in the picture. I did dots as Kate Sullivan suggested for everything but Martha's hair which I piped so it looked more like hair

It was a little scary as I went along until it was finished. The skin color was a little too pinkish, but it worked. I was not happy with the nose and kept messing around with it, which I should have stopped. But I was suprised how much it does look like her

I did the easier method with leaving it on the wax paper and then setting it on the cake, instead of risking the move from the paper to the cake. When it is time to slice it we will just have to pick Martha up. I then did a Martha green basket weave around the edges of the cake and then finished it with pink flowers and leaves.

Happy Birthday Martha!

Wedding Cake for my friend Eva

When I took cake decorating classes last year my friend Eva was the happy Guinea pig. Since I would normally see her the day after my classes I would bring her leftover cake. She started requesting the flavor she wanted....white she always would say. I have a issue with the White and Yellow cakes. Exactly what flavor is a color? What does Yellow taste like? So she would always get my favorite French Vanilla, do you think I would make regular American Vanilla?

So Eva's daughter was getting married and she asked me to make the cake. Her colors were a raspberry pink and a tangerine orange. She found a picture of a cake she wanted and I went from there. It turned out pretty good, that is until I got there. Upon arrival I opened the back of my car to find the filling on the two middle levels trying to escape. It was a good thing I brought my emergency kit with all the frosting and tools, I was able to fix it up when I got there. It wasn't perfect but since it was all on one side, we just spun it around.

 

It took a long time to pipe all of the swirls on there, they went on a little rough but I was able to clean them up once they dried a little

Congratulations Tanis and Gary!

the Jack Cake

When my friend Jan asked me to make a cake for her husband Jack's 60th birthday and then gave me a doll that was dressed as a construction guy. Now when you make a doll cake, the skirt is the cake. So I was up to a challenge figuring out how to incorporate the doll into the cake. But I had some ideas up my sleeve....

To start with I made some gum paste 2x4's, complete with a faux bois affect

 

making the 2x4's and cutting them out. I did these 3 days out so they had plenty of time to dry. I made a ton of them but my motto is better to be safe then sorry.

Because the party was for 250 people we wanted to make sure we would have plenty of cake. I made two cakes, a sheet cake and a five-tier cake. The sheet cake theme was Jack's favorite thing, golf. I covered the entire top of the cake with the “grass” it took forever, but I loved it. The green disk was waiting for the 3-D golf ball.

 

Here is one of the little tricks. Wilton has a large icing tip that they sell. You just fill up a pastry bag with the tip and then run it around the sides and top of the cake. Make sure that the icing is thin enough to spread easily, that will also help keeping it from pulling up the crumbs into the cake. You no longer need a crumb coat with this little trick. 

 

For the five tier cake, I made it out of a 14”, 12”, 10”, 8” and 6” I think I went through 5 batches of buttcream to cover the cake in all.

 

I decided to stack the 14” and the 12” at home, there are a lot of dowels in that baby holding them up and together. It was very heavy with just the two tiers. The 10”, 8” & 6” were each boxed up individually and then I would put them together when I got to the location

 

I took everything out of my car and then loaded all the cakes, supplies chocolates and extra tools. It was loaded in like a puzzle so that nothing can slide around. I pulled out of the driveway and noticed the sun shining in the window onto the golf cake and decided to pull back into the house and I used some cake boards taped to the window to block the sun. Not such a good idea for driving but the cake didn’t melt

 

And here is the Jack cake as my niece called it. The “sawdust” was ground up cinnamon graham crackers, chocolate tools made from some great chocolate molds. Somebody asked me if they were fisher price toys. I placed Jack on top of the cake with the red chocolate tool box and 2x4’s scattered all over. I was very happy how it turned out. It was a big hit and it also tasted great….

 

And the golf cake, the golf ball did not come out at all like I wanted. Next time I will cover it in fondant. They were both a lot of work, but they were so fun and was more then happy to make them for my friend Jack's birthday.

Beachside wedding cake

A few weeks back John asked me if I would make a cake for his coworker/carpool buddy for the work pot luck to celebrate his upcoming wedding. He said "nothing big, just a cake" well in my mind that means "make a miniature wedding cake with a beach theme" Since I always go over the top, why stop now..... so here is some step by step pictures for my Martha friends out there....

Step one, made the chocolate shells in the candy molds. This was so easy, I can't wait to do it again

They are so pretty and shiny, I love how they turned out

the baking bands soaking in water. These are the best invention in the world. They soak in water and then you lightly press some of the water out and then wrap your cake pans. I always use the 3" deep pans, I think they are the secret to a moist cake.

Oh yes, the other secret. The Wilton cake leveler... for the perfectly cut and even layers. This is another must have!

After I cut it in half, you tort the layer with the blue butter cream. I used the small tip that was already on the bag, but normally I would use a larger tip but it still works the same. It acts as a dam to hold the filling in. The filling is my signature Bavarian Creme that I always use.

For each layer they need some dowels for support. For the bottom layer I used 4 dowels and then for this layer just three. These hold the layers up so they don't sink into the lower cake

it's a little fuzzy, but this is the dowel after I sharpen it to a point. It will go through all three layers into the base to hold it all together.

The dowel as it is plunging itself into all three layers. I use the Wilton drum bases for the base on bigger cakes. It is also cardboard so you bang this all the way down and then cut it off just below the frosting. It would be a mess to transport it without this little guy.

 

And here it is all put together. The "sand" is actually ground up graham crackers. I am really happy how it turned out. I plan things out in my head and they sometimes don't turn out how I want, but I am really happy with it.