Oldie but Goodie! Hello Kitty Cake!

I just started getting into cake decorating about a year and a half ago, I started out doing simple things.  But when it came time for my good friend to celebrate her birthday last spring, I decided to try fondant sculpting.  Jenn and I have known each other since college, we both consider ourselves to be Twinkies (we are Asians who are white washed) and we both love Hello Kitty.  We even went to the Hello Kitty anniversary showcase in Los Angeles last Fall.  So of course, I had to make her a Hello Kitty cake.  Jenn also likes to surf and loves the color green (another thing we share in common), so I decided that I would make it a beach scene.  Hope you enjoy!

HK in her cute bathing suit sitting on a sandy beach

This is the plastic doll I modeled my HK after

Jenn cutting into her cake

And just to prove it to you, we really did go to the HK Anniversary and it was awesome!

Jenn and I <3 Twinkies!

Hope you enjoyed this oldie!
~Danielle

Sweet 16 Heart Cakes

Our kitchen designer's daughter was celebrating her 16th birthday and when it came down to getting her a cake, he asked if I would like the opportunity to do that cake.  Our kitchen designer, Bruce at Le Gourmet Kitchen in Orange, California is a fantastic guy and he has done so many things for us... he let us use his showroom for our engagement pictures...

When Tyler put his knee through our under cabinet floor, we knew it was time for a kitchen redo... Bruce and the team he assembled did a fantastic job on our kitchen...

 

So, I didn't hesitate when he asked about a birthday cake for his daughter and her friend.  The two girls wanted to mimic their invitation design which was two hearts.  The most important factor of the cake, making sure it fed 80 people.  My plan was to have each heart feed 40 people.  I baked the cakes in a 10" square cake pan and hand carved the cakes into a heart.  

Overall, I believe the longest measurement is 11.5" and I was scared about covering the cake in fondant.  As some people may know, working with fondant isn't the easiest thing.  Fondant is susceptible to drying out (aka crack lines or worse tears in your fondant) and temperature (anything but cold makes it sweat which can sometimes lead to running colors).  So, in order to cover the cake I had to roll out a large piece of fondant.  The first heart took me two tries but it got covered!  And the second one only took me one try.  My arms and back hurt the next day and I had no idea why until Tyler reminded me that I rolled out fondant.  Oh, fondant and our love hate relationship.

 

The heart was to be covered in black fondant, with a white heart overlay and then the birthday message was to be piped in red. 

 
I tend to under estimate my cakes... so I thought the cakes would error on the small side and I was worried it wouldn't feed the 80 people it needed to feed.  So, with the help of Talya (my Sous), we made cupcakes to match!  Yea... Each cake was about 4" tall and weighed about 20 lbs total.  They were beasts and the cupcakes probably were not needed, but they looked cute!

And an overhead shot of the cake!  I was pretty proud of my first carved/sculpted cake.  I definitely liked that the shape of the cake was a bit different than what I was used to. 

The cake was balanced on my lap in the car... it was a long car ride.

Happy 16th birthday Julianna and Morgann!  I hope you two had a wonderful time at your party!


Until next time, happy baking and decorating!
~Danielle

Wedding Cake for Veronique and Jared

So, I had the honor of creating a wedding cake for Veronique and Jared.  Jared just happens to be the little brother to our "go to" aka the couple that happens to be our best friend unit.  I couldn't have been more excited when Veronique asked if I could do their wedding cake.  If I could snap my fingers and make things magically happen, I would totally be in the event and wedding planning/cake baking and decorating business.  I love it all!  And not just my wedding stuff, I just love all the details and the personal touches that go into each couple's special event.  


Veronique and Jared wanted something simplistic and modern.  Their catering was going to serve dessert, so they didn't need a large cake.  So I decided on a two-tiered 8" and 6" wedding cake.  I have to say I was a little lost on what to create, until I saw the picture of her dress.  You will not be able to see it on the pictures that follow, but at her empire waist line and the hemming line where the mermaid tail flares, there is a layered ribbon technique used.  I decided to pull this detail from her dress and use it on their wedding cake.  Veronique had purple orchids dyed blue and I decided to use that blue in the ribbon detail.  Here are images of the cake

I am pretty happy with how it turned out!  We were asked to stay for dinner and I was really excited to see the bride and groom cut into and enjoy my creation.  Here are few pictures of the bride and groom

Taking the famous pre-cake cutting pose

They were very nice to each other, no smearing cake onto each others faces

VJ being a good wife and feeding cake to Jared

 

 

 

 

 

Veronique liked the cake so much that she went back immediately for another slice!  That made my night!  Here I am with the bride

And lastly, a picture of inside the cake.  Chocolate, vanilla, chocolate layers oh my!

Thank you Veronique and Jared for letting me do your wedding cake!  And thank you for letting Tyler and I be apart of your special day!  You two make the most darling couple and I know there are only good things to come for you two... one in July! 


Until next time, happy baking!
~Danielle

S'more Cupcakes

This month's Martha Stewart Cupcake Recipe, S'more Cupcakes was chosen by Mary Ann from Meet Me in the Kitchen.  I love S'more marshmallow goodiness!  But I was torn on whether or not to bake the recipe in the Martha Stewart book.  1. I didn't want to buy graham flour for a one time use and 2. in the beginning of January, Bakerella posted this yummy looking recipe for S'more or Less

Photo Credit: Bakerella

I mean look at this picture... can you see why I was torn?  In the end, I decided to go with Bakerella (sorry Martha!).  


One thing I loved about this recipe is that I already had all the ingredients in my pantry.  I gathered all the ingredients I needed to make for two, yes two, cake batters (yes, I mais en plas with my new Parker bowl set that I got at my bridal shower - love these bowls!).

This recipe is fairly clever in that you essentially start with a base batter and then add cocoa powder to one and graham cracker crumbs to another.  

  
The graham cracker crumb batter smelled so good!  I had a hard time not sampling the product :)

  
Next, I made a graham cracker crumble, so once again I laid out my ingredients.  Love the bowls! 

Now I was ready to start layering the different flavors!  First you put a spoonful of graham cracker crumb batter in the cupcake liner and you follow with a sprinkling of graham cracker crumbles

Then you cut large marshmallows in half and place a half into each cupcake liner

Next you pour chocolate cupcake batter into the liner and then add another sprinkling of graham cracker crumbles

These cupcakes smell really good baking in the oven!  My entire house smelled like chocolate cake and pie crust.  After the cupcakes came out of the oven, I let them cool a bit.  Then I stuck a marshmallow on top and put the cupcakes under the broiler.  Roasted marshmallows, my fav!

Look at all the layers!  When you eat this cupcake, you definitely have to eat all the layers in one bite or you just won't get the full effect of this recipe.  The texture is really interesting, moist but crumbly.  The cupcakes were so good that I had one for breakfast the next morning!

Working for Sizzix has it's perks!  We have this really cute cupcake wrapper die, so I had to cut some wrappers out.  And I am so glad I did, because the cupcakes look extra cute! 

A big thank you to Bakerella for an amazing recipe for the collection.  If you haven't already, visit Bakerella's website for more amazing treats and fun ideas! And an even bigger thank you to Kelly and Shannon for my new Sur La Table cupcake tin and Linda, Jana and Ashley for my Parker bowls :) 

Stayed tuned, this month is turning out to be a very busy month with a wedding cake and a sweet 16 birthday cake!


Until next time, happy baking!
~Danielle

The Perfect Sugar Cookie Recipe & Wedding Dress Cookies

Finding the perfect recipe can be challenging and expensive.  I tried 5 different sugar cookie recipes before I decided to open my personal cookbook to try my Great Auntie Alice's sugar cookie recipe.  I should have stuck with family recipes because this one did exactly what I wanted.  As you can see in the pictures, the cookies did not expand too much and the cookies were able to hold their shape!  Plus the recipe is delicious!  Not too sweet and not too buttery, it is perfect!

For my bridal shower, I wanted to give something to all the ladies that attended. I decided to go with wedding dress cookies and I also did little bouquets with the dresses.  Tyler helped fill the cookies white royal icing and I conquered the minimal decorations.  You can kind of see the finished product in the picture below.  The cookies are in a clear plastic bag. 

Wizard of Oz Cake

Have you ever been to a tupperware party? Doesn't that sound kind of boring? I mean, it's a piece of plastic designed to hold your leftovers and get lost. That's it, it has two functions. I can think of so many other "parties" I would rather go to. A wine tasting party, kitchen gadget party, pajama party. They all sound interesting right? Bring a "consultant" into your house to show you and your friends the latest and greatest products? That is how our story begins as well as what brings us to today's cake. It's a little overdue on posting but it's worth it. Plus! Ty and I got a new camera! Nikon 5000D. We are still playing around trying to figure out all of the features.

Today's cake was commissioned by a friend who actually runs one of these parties. Yes, he is a "consultant."  We first met him over a year ago at our first party and we've kept in touch ever since, attending various parties over that time. He makes it so much fun. How can you go wrong with drinks, food, and friends right? His birthday was coming up and he told me that his favorite movie of all time is "The Wizard of Oz." I got excited right away, because that is one of my favorite movies too! So of course I had to do some research to get some ideas formulating. I sat down with the movie and sketched out some thoughts. Wicked Witch and Striped Socks? No, cliche. Tornado Cake! Not possible I don't do extreme cakes (But call me Food Network!). Flying Monkey? Haven't mastered the art of making things float mid-air yet...hmmm...iconic, enduring, classic, Yellow Brick Road, Emerald City, Cowardly Lion. Perfect. End Scene.

Here are a few pictures that we took with the new Nikon 5000D.

Laying out all the tools I will be using: gumpaste flower tool, mini cookie cutters, paint brushes, gumpaste rolling pin and I got to use one of Sizzix's new impression folders.  The impression folder used is brick texture, perfect!

Forming the Cowardly Lion.  If you are not that familiar with the movie, the scene I chose to recreate is the one where Dorothy, the Tinman, Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion are walking through the field of poppies on the way to the Emerald City.  The Wicked Witch of the West poisoned the poppies so that the characters would fall into a deep sleep.  The Cowardly Lion happens to fall asleep on his back with his legs and arms up in the air. 

Poppies in their first stage

Here is the side view of the cake.  I originally wanted the Emerald Castle to be on top of the cake, but fondant can be a little heavy sometimes and it refused to stand up... that will be my next challenge 

Here is a view from the top

A close up of the lion. Check out the brick impression! 

Close up of the lion

And just for kicks, the cake was a 6" round cake, 4" tall.  There were 3 layers of cake, two red velvet and one vanilla buttermilk with Swiss Meringue Buttercream.

MSCC Cupcake Recipe up next!

Until next time, happy baking!

~Danielle 

MSCC | Coconut Cupcakes

When I was in elementary school, I think it might have been 3rd grade, my teacher made us crack open a coconut and drink fresh coconut milk. That experience turned me away from coconut for a good fifteen plus years. The only time I had coconut was when I had Thai food... you can't have good Thai food without coconut milk. But I never had coconut in it's pure form not even on desserts. Then one day, I think my sister, Jennifer convinced me to eat a bite of Chocolate Haupia Pie (a local favorite to those that live in Hawai'i). It was soo delicious and I learned to try other food items with coconut. I can honestly say that coconut desserts and coconut shrimp are high up on my list of favorite foods.


Needless to say, I was pretty excited when I learned that our recipe for the month would be the Coconut Cupcake recipe on page 28 of the Martha Stewart cupcake book. The recipe was fairly complex for just 20 cupcakes (we had to grind sweetened coconut flakes down to a flour like consistency)... but the result was fantastic! They were fantastic for one main reason, the different textures. The texture of the cake was different than most of my cakes, dense and some what grainy from the grounded coconut flakes. I used my Swiss Meringue Buttercream recipe and then I topped the cupcakes with both toasted and non-toasted unsweetened coconut shavings. They were especially good in mini cupcake form where you can get all the different textures in one bite.
Ty and I were a little disappointed with the cake itself. We thought it lacked coconut flavor and a lot of coconut goes into the batter. Grounded coconut flakes and coconut milk, but yet the taste was subtle. I may try making my vanilla buttermilk recipe and adding some coconut extract next time... less work and less ingredients.



The recipe in the book calls for unsweetened coconut shavings, but I like toasted coconut shavings. So, I decided to toast some. I tried both versions and I think the toasted one was much better. Ty and my coworkers agreed that the toasted version was better (again, more textures and a slight crunch!). I prefer sweetened coconut flakes, so I may try that next time as well. On a side note: I have been bad these past couple months... my goal was to post something every week and I barely manage to post twice a month. I promise to be better! In fact, you'll see a new posting within a couple days, a Wizard of Oz cake.

Until next time, happy baking!

~Danielle