Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Winners of Icing Smiles Cake Contest/Fund Raiser

We would like to Congratulate the two winners:

  Sumita Basu

A CASCADE OF LOVE & SUGAR ROSES

Those of us fortunate enough to have experienced Grandma's love will know what I am about to pen down here.

It's one of the most amazing experiences in a lifetime that carries through. The story-times, the special gifts, the warm hugs, the aroma of Grandma's delicious food and the countless blessings are always some of the warmest and most comforting memories...
A New Perspective
As a mother, I now see that time spent with grandma translates to a whole new set of rules, little or no self control over sweet treats and mild discipline at best. Very different perspective for my mother who is now a grandmother herself!

My childhood was spent in another country. I often reminisce about the days spent in my grandmother's home...waking up to the aroma of comforting food, going out with her to the garden to pick fresh flowers for the house and snuggling with her for story time. More than 3 decades have passed but I still remember everything so vividly. Perhaps because she touched my heart in more ways than one.
Grandma's 80th Birthday Cake
My grandmother celebrated her 80th birthday a few years back. Time has taken a toll on her health. She can no longer cook or garden. Nor can she remember all the memories of the past. But despite the age and failing health, she has not lost the love in her voice or the concern for her grandkids.

This cake was a first for me with fondant decorations and was handcrafted to honor her on her 80th birthday. The cake flavor was a mellow lemon with apricot-pineapple preserve as the filling.

Edible roses were hand-made with fondant one by one to honor the love and patience that she and all grandmothers symbolize all over the world.

They say, anything in excess is never good.

I BELIEVE THERE IS ONE EXCEPTION.

Abundant doses of a grandmothers love teaches kids freedom from structure, how to laugh at imperfections and how to take the time to stop and smell the roses. No one has more patience than a grandmother. She is here on earth to serve a special purpose: to cascade love all the way!

And Cosette Neely

CAKE ART

So, I married an artist. My husband has been involved in studio arts since he was a child. He even attended college to obtain an art degree.

Unfortunately, college isn’t cheap and he decided to enlist in the military. His time in the Marines and now the Army hasn’t afforded much opportunity to complete his art degree, however, he has used his free time to maintain his skills.

CREATING A UNIQUE NICHE

Since taking on cake baking during his last deployment, I have continued to hone my abilities in cake decorating. My husband and I wanted to showcase a style of decorating not many can duplicate; free-hand painting. We were aware that there were ways of making prints and learning techniques from Craftsy, but my husband’s skills are those that are developed over a lifetime of practice- not a 60 minute video. This was a way we could create a niche for ourselves.

FANS OF TATTOO ART

He and I are also fans of certain styles of tattoo art. Obviously, there were already cakes made in the fashion of tattoos- more specifically Japanese and koi tattoos. Some of them were done beautifully, too. Conveniently, the style that my husband and I like had not been commonly made yet; that is, black and grey tattoos. We are particularly fond of tattoos with three dimensional and natural effects. This was to be the muse for our first free-hand painted creation.

MY HUSBAND THE CAKE PAINTER

I was preparing for a wedding expo and a little nervous for it, as it was my first. My husband volunteered to paint a cake, styled after Japanese tattoo art. A big portion of the time, my husband is the idea factory. He thought it would cap the artwork of the cake off if we added gumpaste cherry blossoms and fondant branches- the cherry blossoms were the only color added to the cake. Being a black and grey cake, the colors of the blossoms popped quite a bit. The branches really added an awesome natural look with a little three dimensional styling.


We were pleased with the way this cake turned out, but we had no idea of the reception it would get. Out of all my cakes, this one probably nabbed the most attention and led to many call backs and inquiries.

Knowing my husband, he never would have imagined being a cake painter. Since his first hand-painted cake, though, he is always excited to be trying something new and original.
Thank you to all who partcipated.
If you would like to see more cakes and stories click here.
 

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

These cookies are easier to make than you might think. The directions follow the picture.
Snowflake Cookie, Supplies Needed:
  1. Bake cookie and let cool completely.
  2. Make royal icing mix according to package directions.
  3. Take some icing and set it aside and cover it with a damp paper towel so the icing does not dry out.
  4. Add delphinium blue color to the rest of the icing. The more color you add the deeper it will become.
  5. Add water to the blue icing and stir gently. Add enough water so the icing pours off a spoon.
  6. Use the pastry brush and brush the blue icing on the cookie.
  7. With tip # 4 attached to a disposable bag, fill with the white icing that was set aside.
  8. Start at one tip of the snowflake and squeeze a line of icing icing to the other side of the snowflake.
  9. Continue this for the entire snowflake.
  10. Then add smaller lines to form a flake.
  11. Put on icing snowman face. Wile icing is still wet. If icing dries too fast, use a little more icing on the back of the snowman to attach it.
  12. Sprinkle center with course sugar. Let dry completely.
Snow Globe Cookie, Supplies Needed:
  1. Bake cookies and let cool completely.
  2. Roll out white fondant and cut out snowmen. let set.
  3. Color some rolled fondant leaf green and mold trees with 4 seasons flexible mold. let set.
  4. Make royal icing according to package directions.
  5. Color a small amount with red food color, cover with damp paper towel so icing does not dry out. Set aside.
  6. Color some icing delphinium blue. Add extra water and stir slowly so icing pours off spoon. Cover with damp paper towel so icing does not dry out. Set aside.
  7. Take some white icing and thin it down like the blue. Cover with damp paper towel. Set aside.
  8. The rest of the white icing, cover with a damp paper towel. Set aside.
  9. Use 1" pastry brush and paint blue icing on round part of cookie. Let dry completely. If you do not use too much icing cookies should be dry enough to finish in a couple of hours.
  10. Use black food writers and color hat, eyes and mouth.
  11. With tip # 3 attached to decorator bag and thick white icing attach orange candy coated morsel for eye and blue for buttons. (You may use what ever color you like for the buttons)
  12. When cookie is dry, use thinned white icing and start to brush white icing from the bottom of the globe and work your way up making it thinner as you go up.
  13. Use tip # 8 attached to a decorator bag, filled with red icing, and squeeze icing at the base of snow globe. Start at the outside and work your way in. After about 5 to 10 minutes, use your finger and flatten out the red icing.
  14. Use tip # 3 and thick white icing and attach snowman and trees to cookie. and add extra dots all over to make snow.
  15. Let dry completely.

These can also be used as a place setting at your Holiday table. Just write the persons name on the red base with white stiff icing and tip # 3.

Enjoy making them and of course, eating them!

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Santa's Winter Wonderland

These are all separate pieces. You can make only one type or combine them on a cake, rice krispy treat or use them as a centerpiece.
Large Christmas Trees, Supplies needed:
  1. Melt chocolate, pour into star candy mold, tap on table to remove air bubbles. Place mold in freezer for approx. 5 minutes. Remove from freezer, turn mold upside down and tap out.
  2. Make royal icing mix and color most of it green. Leave a little white for snow.
  3. Fill sugar cone with icing. Insert 8" stick. (This is what you are going to hold on to while piping the rest.)
  4. Attach # 18 tip to bag and fill with green icing.
  5. Hold onto stick and start at the bottom of ice cream cone, approx 1/2" from bottom and squeeze and pull down and away to form branch.
  6. Continue same motion working around and up on the cone. Leave a small amount of cone on top uncovered.
  7. Hold cone where it is not covered and remove it from the stick. place on parchment paper.
  8. Finish the top of tree.
  9. While icing is still wet, attach yellow star and sprinkle with jumbo nonpareils.
  10. Attach tip # 6 to decorator bag and fill with white icing.
  11. Squeeze white icing where you want the snow. Let dry completely.
Tree Cupcakes, Supplies Needed:
  1. Bake standard cupcakes, mini cupcakes or both.
  2. Let cool completely.
  3. Make a small mound of icing on top of cupcake.
  4. Attach tip # 80 to decorating bag and fill with green icing.
  5. Start at bottom of cupcake, squeeze and pull to form branches. Continue around and up to complete tree.
  6. Sprinkle a little white edible glitter on top for glistening snow.
Santa & His Sleigh, Supplies Needed:
  1. Melt red chocolate and make dessert shell, "Santa's sleigh". Directions are included with the mold.
  2. When Santa's sleigh is done, daub melted red chocolate and around out side edge.
  3. Dunk Top into coarse white sugar.
  4. Use melted red chocolate and attach candy canes to bottom of sleigh. 
  5. For Santa, melt down, peach, yellow, black, white, green and red. With a paint brush, daub the colors where you want them to be. Example it's like painting by # but your painting by shape and you want the colors to be on the thicker side. Then let it dry. Then fill the rest of the mold with red chocolate.
  6. Repeat with the gifts.
  7. For the teddy bear we filled it with butterscotch chocolate and when it came out we used a tooth pick and melted black chocolate and added the details.
  8. Place Santa, gifts and teddy bear in sleigh.
That's it, simple, pretty and tasty!!

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Easy Winter Treats

Marshmallows and Oreo cookies!
Melted marshmallow snowman & Oreo cookie penguins
Marshmallow Snowman, Supplies Needed:
  1. Flatten a gum drop and cut a small circle out.
  2. Melt black chocolate and dip flattened circle in chocolate. let dry.
  3. Dip a regular gumdrop in melted black chocolate and put in center of flattened circle to form hat, and while chocolate is still wet attach single icing holly to hat and let dry. (Approx. 5 min.)
  4. Melt super white chocolate and add micro mini marshmallows. Enough so you can make little mounds.
  5. Spoon little mounds onto a sheet of parchment paper.
  6. While chocolate is still wet, sprinkle edible glitter on top of mound. Break green part of carrot off and place where you want the nose. Let dry.
  7. Melt black chocolate in the tube, and add eyes and mouth. Use a little of the melted black chocolate to adhere gumdrop hat on melted snowman. You want to add the hat last. Some times the weight of the gumdrops may push the marshmallows down and then you'll have a really melted snowman.
 Store covered at room temperature.

Oreo Cookie penguins, Supplies Needed:
  1. Melt super white chocolate.
  2. Place Oreo cookie into chocolate, dunk completely and remove with dipping fork. Let some chocolate drip off before placing on parchment paper. Let dry completely.
  3. Melt black chocolate, hold Oreo and dip leaving a triangle of white chocolate and place on parchment. Try do do this part quickly so your fingers do not melt the white chocolate.
  4. While black chocolate is still wet put on candy eyes and one orange heart confetti for his nose.
  5. Melt Brite white candy writer and attach two red heart confetti's sideways to form bow tie, and two orange heart confetti's up side down to form feet.
  6. Melt red candy writer and place a small dot in between red hearts to complete red bow tie.

Store covered at room temperature. You may want to make extras, they are REALLY TASTY!!

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

North Pole Gingerbread Village


Gingerbread, chocolate, pretzels, gumdrops and crushed peppermint all on a rice krispy treat! MMM
Mini Christmas Village

Close up of left side.

Close up of middle.

Close up of left side.

Supplies Needed:
Here are some other things needed:
  • 5 recipes of rice krispy treats
  • pretzel rods
  • Gumdrops
  • Starlight mints and any other candies you might like to use.
  1. Assemble mini gingerbread houses. Assembly and decorating instructions included with kit.
  2. Make rice krispy treats and push into a greased 12 x 18 sheet pan. We suggest using a spray oil. Flip out onto gold cardboard.
  3. Make chocolate tree pretzel pops. We painted yellow, red and blue dots of chocolate in the tree first. let it dry, then filled with dark green chocolate. Place pretzel rod into space and roll pretzel in it's spot so chocolate covers the pretzel. Then put in freezer for approx 10 min.
  4. Make royal icing and cover rice krispy treat with icing.
  5. Arrange houses, trees, and icing decorations on top.
  6. Last, melt isamalt in glass container and add a very small amount of blue color and pour on top to make ice skating pond.
  7. After isamalt hardened we smeared a little icing on top to give it that icy look. 
Use your imagination and use different types of candies to give it a different look and Enjoy Eating It!!!