Cook for Love Videos

I just shot a series of three decorating videos for Cook for Love, a culinary non-for-profit dedicated to the PKU community. Brenda, the co-founder, has taken numerous of my decorating classes and always went above and beyond, often bringing in her own cakes and cookies, just so she could learn how to decorate them.
This series highlights cookie decorating, cupcake decorating, and cake decorating for the holidays. Whether you are on a low protein diet, or not, these videos take you step-by-step through some of my basic decorating techniques, including the chocolate method. There are plenty of ideas to work with.
The site http://www.cookforlove.org requires registration, but is worth visiting. You can see that Brenda put her heart into it.
The videos are linked to the pages below or can be accessed through What's New on her homepage:
http://www.cookforlove.org/recipe/royal-icing
http://www.cookforlove.org/recipe/buttercream-frosting

Michele's Mermaid Treasure Cake

I love all of the details on Michele's cake; the raised sandy island, the multitude of mermaids swimming and dancing, seashells, palm tree, pirate, and treasure chest.

NOTE: For a template and step-by-step directions on how to make the treasure chest visit the Step-by-Step link on the Decorate page of whimsicalbakehouse.com.

Sugar Crystals in Kaye's Buttercream?

Colleen's Q: Each time I've made a batch of Kaye’s Buttercream, (using a Kitchenaid 6 quart Professional mixer), the boiled sugar crystallizes on the side of the mixing bowl near the rim as I slowly pour it down the side of the bowl into the whipped egg whites. Inevitably, some of those crystals get into the icing, clogging the pastry bag tip. I've resorted to stopping the whipping process after all of the sugar is incorporated and transferred the contents to another bowl. I then wash out the crystallized sugar in the mixer bowl, re-add the contents and then whip in the butter. I have fewer crystals - but the butter doesn't fully incorporate or the end result is not sweetened enough. What am I doing wrong? Here are some additional questions:
· What should the exact temperature of the sugar be when it is ready for use? (After the 7 minute boil).
· What temperature should the egg whites be at? I've been going with room temperature.
· Do you separate your egg whites from fresh eggs or do you think I can purchase the liquid egg whites found in the grocer's dairy section?

A: First, to avoid sugar crystals in your buttercream make sure, while the sugar is cooking, to wash the crystals off the side of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in water. Also when pouring the sugar into the bowl of the electric mixer, pour it in a continuous stream that hits just the egg whites, avoiding the side of the bowl and the whip. If it easier to pour the sugar into a Pyrex first, than do so.
As far approximate temperatures, you can start whipping your egg whites when the sugar reaches 242° F and pour the sugar into the egg whites when it reaches 255° F.
Since we make our buttercream in a 60-quart mixer, we use pre-separated pasteurized egg whites (I assume that is similar to what you find in the grocery store) but we separated fresh eggs for the recipe in our book. Although it easier to separate the egg white from the yolk when eggs are cold, you can make the buttercream with the eggs at room temperature.

NYBG Gingerbread Adventures Exhibit

For this year's NYBG Gingerbread Adventure exhibit I made a street scene from the story The Pied Piper of Hamelin. To learn more about how I created see, http://www.whimsicalbakehouse.com/img/The%20Pied%20Piper%20of%20Hamelin.pdf.

It is on view until January 2010.

Baby Feet Cookies?

A customer placed an order for 40 baby feet cookies for a baby shower, but then cancelled the order last minute. What were we going to do with all of those feet? My mom asked me to think of something, and here is what I came up with...

Samson the Cat

I made this cake (way back in August) for a friend of my son. The cat and mice are based on one of her favorite books, Samson and the Church Mice. I still smile when I look at the photo, so I thought I'd post it.
The mice, cat ears, and cat tail are made of marzipan. The cat was sculpted from cake and is iced with tinted buttercream that I texturized using a skewer.

October Inspirations

Check out our two new Step-by Step directions: Autumn Bounty and Eyeballs.

Trick or Treat Cupcakes

Here are some new cupcakes I designed for Halloween.

Piping Tips (aka Decorating Tubes)

Each type of tip (round, star, petal, etc.) has a number range. For example round tips start in the 0’s and go up to 12 and larger. Find one that suits your piping application.
With the exception of the Rose all of the following tips are meant to be fit with a coupler, ring, and pastry bag. Different brands of tips, like Ateco and Wilton, use the same numbering system for their tips and are interchangeable.
See the following links for a full selection of tips: (WILTON brand) http://search.wilton.com/?q=tips and (ATECO brand) http://www.cakedeco.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/st_main.html?p_catid=242&page=1

BASIC PIPING APPLICATIONS
Lines and Inscriptions
Round tip (# 0-12) or pastry cone
Rosettes
Star tip (# 16-18, 27…)
Shell Border
Start tip (# 16-18, 27…)
Dots
Round tip (# 1-12)
Bead Border
Round tip (# 1-12)

MISCELLANEOUS PIPING APPLICATIONS
Crazy Curls or Cornelli Lace
Round tip (# 1-5) or pastry cone
Rickrack Border
Petal tip (# 102-104) or Flat tip (# 44 or 45)
Crazy Border
Any Petal, Round, or Star tip
Cloud Border
Round tip (# 6-12)
Ruffled Ribbon Border and Ruffled Swags
Petal tip (# 102-104)
Flat Ribbon
Petal tip (# 102-104) or Flat tip (#44 or 45)
Thread Swags
Round tip (# 1-5)
Fabric Swags
Chrysanthemum tip (#79 or 81)
Spiral Swags
Star tip (# 16-18, 27…)
Lattice
Flat tip (# 45)
Plaid
Assortment of Flat and Round tips (# 42 or 89 multi-openings, 44 or 45 flat, 1-8 round)
Bows
Petal tip (# 102-104)
Basket weave
Basket weave tip (#46-48 range)

FLOWERS and LEAVES
Some of the following flowers, in addition to the piping tips, may need a pastry cone or small round tip filled with tinted buttercream or chocolate to pipe details like flower centers, dots, seeds, etc.
Roses
Large Petal tip (# 125)
Miniature or Tea Roses
Petal tip (#103-104)
Buds
Petal tip (#103 or 104)
Poppies
Petal tip (#103-104)
Blossoms, Daffodils, Violets, and Pansies
Petal tip (#104)
Daisies, Coneflowers, and Black Eyed Susan’s (Full and Perspective)
Petal tip (#103-104) or Round Tip (#5-8)
Chrysanthemums
Mum tip (#79 or #81)
Lilies
Leaf tip (#352)
Sunflower
Leaf tip (# 352) or can substitute Leaf tip (# 67)
Hydrangea
Petal tip (# 102 or # 103)
Grapes
Round Tip (#5-12)
Grass
Multi opening tip (#233) or Round tip (#3-8)
Leaves
Leaf tip (# 352 or # 65-68)

Whimsical Bakehouse Decorating Classes

Click on the following link to take a peek at the upcoming Whimsical Bakehouse Fall Class Schedule.
http://whimsicalbakehouse.com/img/fall2009schedule.pdf

Betty Crocker Videos - Part II

The new Betty Crocker videos I appear in are now posted on howdini.com, bettycrocker.com, and you can find links to them on the Decorate page of my website.
They include: Crumb Coating a Cake, Safari Cupcakes, Barnyard Cake and Cupcakes, Fire Truck Cake, Panda Cake, Mermaid Cake, Guitar Cake, Turtle Cupcakes, Football Cupcakes, Robot Cake, Pony Cake, and more...

4th of July

The 4th of July is fast approaching and I am, after weeks and weeks of rain and unseasonably cool temperatures, am starting to think summer. So, I decided to post step-by-step directions to a simple an sweet design I have made every summer for years. Summery watermelon...

http://whimsicalbakehouse.com/decorate/stepbystep.html

Hudson River Museum Marzipan Workshop

I just hosted more workshops at the Hudson River Museum- this time around it was all about Marzipan. During my demonstration I made a few quick sculptures as examples: bear, bee, ladybug, pig, rabbit, and rose - ones I thought kids (and adults) could do in a few minutes. Everyone who came seemed to have a great time. There was one man, who reluctantly tagged along with his family, only to leave very happy with his miniature Venus de Milo. Another father found his calling as he whipped out pigs, turtles, frogs, and more - all within 30 minutes. And the kids, they never cease to amaze me with their abilities and creativity.

Valerie's Fondant Farm Animals

Valerie's animals are so cute! I am inspired to continue making more 3-d sculptures.

Lisa's Graduation Cupcakes

Speaking of prolific.... more of Lisa's creations. Great and simple use of the chocolate method.

Prolific Cake Makers Part 2: AMY

Prolific Cake Makers Part 1: KIM

Cheryl's Crayon cake

Cheryl constructed the base of the crayon box with cake, then appliqued "chocolate method" sides and top. Great way to add dimension!

Graduation Cake by Sarah

More Betty Crocker

I just finished rapping another series of Betty Crocker/Howdini.com videos. This time around we shot 17 in total (18 last time around). My favorites include a barn with farm animals, and cupcake jungle animals.
Some of the previous videos (in addition to being in their how-to section and on howdini.com) are now included in a new more interactive part of Betty's site : The Mixer - http://www.bettycrocker.com/themixer/recipes/default.aspx
I will post links on my Decorate page as soon as the videos are up.

Amanda's Hollywood cake

Amanda's use of piped buttercream, her choice of color palette, and the precision of her Chocolate Method appliques yielded an amazing cake.

Just some of Edith's creations

Felice's 3-D cakes

Bunny Cupcakes

I've been working on an idea for bunny cupcakes - instead of just making a face or a freestanding rabbit placed on top, both of which I've done before and are cute, I wanted to make the cupcake the body. I made a chocolate head and tail but couldn't figure out how to make the feet work on this round form so I decided to pipe some buttercream grass around the bottom edge - it looks like the bunny is sitting in a field. I plan on reworking the proportions and redesigning the face but I went ahead and posted the directions on the Step-by-Step section of our Decorate page.

Icing Round Cakes with ACETATE

Hello, I saw you on the Early Show this morning and saw how you decorated the round cake and saw that you used a piece of transparent plastic sheet. What was that sheet and where can I get one? I have lots of cake decorating tools and do a little cake decorating myself but I have never seen something so cool to smooth the top of a round cake. Please tell me where I can get such a sheet?

The plastic sheets you mentioned are referred to as acetate cake collars, acetate rolls, or acetate cake wraps. Pastry professionals use them to wrap around mousse cakes and pastries to keep them fresh. You can find them at baking supply stores or on the web from various sites. I've linked to a couple of sites below. As I mentioned on air, you can also use cellophane sheets cut to approximately 2" by 10" or strips of standard white printer paper. In a pinch I've even used wrapping - any thing that is flexible and will conform to the sides of a curved cake.

http://www.cakedeco.com/cgi-bin/webc.cgi/st_main.html?p_catid=173

http://www.bakedeco.com/dept.asp?id=117

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=acetate+strips&tag=googhydr-20&index=garden&hvadid=3212109777&ref=pd_sl_7z8bi65lzh_b

STARTER KIT

I want to start making my kids birthday cakes, but I'm not sure what I need. Can you give me some ideas on what the basic things are that I need to buy to get started?

If you are a novice baker or cake decorator and don’t know where to begin, here is a list of basic tools, beyond the modern basics like an electric mixer, rubber spatulas, and bowls, that I recommend purchasing. A great place to look for decorating supplies is www.wilton.com - they have almost all you will need to start making cakes at home.
· Assorted baking pans including a 9x13” rectangular pan, a 9-inch or 10-inch round pan, and a standard 12-mold muffin/cupcake pan. With these three sizes you can do so almost any style cake or cupcake.
· I recommend purchasing a starter tip set. Ones like the deluxe set from Wilton (http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E30DB12-475A-BAC0-56CD4756E12FB6B7&killnav=1) have all you need and more. If you want to spend less money I would recommend buying the following individual tips: #104 petal tip, #8 round tip, #16 or 27 star tip, and a # 352 leaf tip. With these 4 tips you can do almost everything in my books. In addition to these tips purchase a few reusable or disposable 12-inch pastry bags, couplers and rings.
· I would be lost without my 12-inch offset blade spatula and a small 4 ½ offset spatula. You could always use a rubber spatula or even a butter knife to apply icing, but you won’t get the smooth finish that you can achieve with an offset spatula
· Assorted icing colors: liquid gel, liquid, or paste all work fine. Start with a basic set of Red, Yellow, and Blue. If you enjoy decorating branch out and get premixed colors for a more varied palette (http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E30C97E-475A-BAC0-5A609FE5C5506685&killnav=1 )
· If you want to try your hand at the “Chocolate Method” purchase a basic set of Candy Color (http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E30B819-475A-BAC0-5F5189466A40B391&killnav=1 ), and a few bags of dark and white confectioner’s chocolate (http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E310A5F-475A-BAC0-513EBB4AAC195A7E&killnav=1 ). To make pastry cones have parchment paper and/or cellophane on hand.

Cakes as seen on CBS Early Show

I'll get around to fixing the baseball and ladybug image orientation, but just wanted to get the pictures posted. For the step-by-step directions go to the Events page at http://www.whimsicalbakehouse.com/ and click on the CBS Early Show link or click on Get the Buzz on our home page.

CBS EARLY SHOW

Some last minute plans. My mom and I will be appearing on the CBS Early Show (the 8:30am time slot) on Monday March, 30th to talk about baking cakes on a budget. We will have some colorful cake examples on hand, share fun decorating ideas, and demonstrate how to decorate a simple and playful cake.

Lisa's take on our Popcorn Cupcakes

http://smileyssweetsandcreations.blogspot.com/

Zebra Stripes? Breaking Chocolate?

I recently tried to make the Zebra Stripe cake from Little Cakes and I was having trouble scoring the chocolate into stripes. The stripes were not coming out right and when I would score the chocolate it would break EXTREMELY easily not leaving me with much chocolate to work with. What could I do to make it easier to score and to make the chocolate harder so it would not break into a million pieces?

After you pipe out the zebra stripes to the approximate size you want there are a few of things to consider. First, perhaps the chocolate stripes are too thin. The chocolate should be between 1/8-inch and 1/4-inch thick. If it is too thin it will break easily when handled. Second, when you score the chocolate, lightly score with a small serrated paring knife (a steak knife will suffice). Do not cut through the entire piece of chocolate as this will cause it to fracture; instead saw into the chocolate 1/3 of the way through. Then gently lift the stripe off of the parchment/cellophane, and with both hands, hold your fingers on opposite sides of the score line, and break in half. Lastly, if you are still having difficulty, consider cutting the stripes before the chocolate has completely set. In this state, the chocolate is not yet "shiny" and if you push your finger into the top it won't make an imprint but it will feel like it has some give.

Shandi's Clever Cake

Shandi made this one for her niece's science fair. Great idea! www.distinctivecakes.com

Leslie's Amazing Tea Party Cake

New Whimsical Bakehouse Book

We just finished shooting the photographs for our latest book (number 4 – wow!) and I’m putting the final touches on the manuscript. This time around the Whimsical Bakehouse takes a sugarcoated look at kids’ parties (and kid-at-heart parties). I’ve created new cake and cookie designs, and my mom has added over 40 new recipes from cakes to pies, and candies to cookies. I think it will be one of our most fun creations yet.
The release date isn’t until early 2010, but I hope to give you a sneak peek in a few months…

Beth's inspired website

Beth Bennett, a former student of mine, recently launched her own website. I wanted to share it with everyone - www.bebebakes.com – it’s worth a visit! Check out her playful and colorful cakes and see her creative uses of the “chocolate method”.

Lisa's cakes

You can take Lisa's sweetheart idea and create cakes for St. Patrick's Day (outlines of shamrocks with green luster dust) or flowers for spring (outlines of five-petal blossoms brushed with pink luster dust and a golden center).

Luster Dust

Stephanie asked,"Since I prefer buttercream cakes to fondant covered ones, I have studied your cakes closely and have noticed that that while the buttercream in Summer Daze has a pearl sheen to it, the White on White looks matte. Do you add something to the buttercream for the shine or is it just the photographs?"

To create the sheen on some of the cakes in our first book (like Summer Daze and New York, New York) I used Luster Dust (http://www.kitchenkrafts.com/search.asp?t=ss&ss=luster+dust&sid=GOOGLE&TID=GL00308060008&gclid=CIXk2Pv9wpgCFQEoGgodNU_Z1g&bhcd2=1233754505). This is basically a metallic powder. It comes in a variety of colors and metallics. I used gold and silver on the stars (page 51-55) and pearl on the Summer Daze cake (page 124). Do not mix the dust into the buttercream, instead to achieve the all over glow, load a medium sized paintbrush with dust, place the brush approximately 6-inches from the cake, take a deep breath, and exhale with one short burst of air. Repeat in different spots until the cake is covered. Be forewarned- dust gets everyone so I recommend doing this outside, if possible.

And here is one of Stephanie's creations - A cream cheese fondant hippo.

Whipped Cream "Mousse"

It goes against conventional baking standards but the whipped cream we use for our "mousse" is whipped to VERY stiff peaks - don't let the cream turn into butter, but whip until it is no longer smooth, has an air bubbly consistency, and sticks to an inverted spoon or the whip without oozing.
To maintain the stiff peaks, fold in the added flavor (Bailey's Irish Cream, Raspberry Puree, Espresso, Oreo's, Nutella, etc.) gently - do not over mix as this may deflate the mousse. Fill the cake right away - do not let the mousse sit for long or it may collapse or further aerate (then when you spread it with a spatula, it reverts to a near liquid state).

If you "ring" the cake with buttercream, even if the mousse is slightly soft (but not at all runny ), it will hold it in place. Just handle the cake with care and do not jostle it unnecessarily.
Any cake sealed with buttercream, and filled with one of our mousses or custards, will last for at least one week (refrigerated)- with the exception of fresh fruit fillings which will stay fresh for one or two days. If you use a jarred raspberry puree, it will last at least a week but if you use a fresh raspberry puree, test before serving (in all likely hood it will still be fine after a couple of days but to be on the safe side...). Also note: my mom, Kaye, will eat a cake that is 2 weeks old and claims it is still good.
We recommend refrigerating our cakes if they are not being served the same day. For fullest flavor we also recommend serving our cakes at room temperature, so remove the cakes from refrigeration a few hours before serving. As for the chocolate decorations, ideally you don't want them chilled because they may sweat when brought to room temperature again- but at the bakery it is unavoidable. To counteract the sweat you can wrap the cake in a box and the box in plastic wrap - let the cake come to room temperature in the box.

Measurement Conversions

At the bakery we weigh out all of our ingredients, but we broke down all of our recipes into cups for the book and the home cook. For those of you that like to weigh your ingredients, here are some basic conversions from cups to ounces (sorry - not in grams).

All-purpose Flour: 5 ounces = 1 cup
Cake Flour: 3.5 ounces = 1 cup
Granulated Sugar: 7 ounces = 1 cup
Brown Sugar: 8 ounces = 1 cup
Confectioner's sugar: 4 ounces = 1 cup

more to follow...

Muffin Scoop

In Little Cakes you recommended using a cupcake/muffin scoop to fill cupcake liners. I've been searching on the Internet and have not found any websites that sell them. Do you know where I could find one?

The scoop you mentioned has a few names - a trigger ice cream scoop, a cookie dough scoop...but apparently no one on the web (could it just be our bakery?) calls it a muffin scoop. This item can be found at most baking supply stores or on the web. See the Amazon link, below.
http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=muffin+scoop&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=2387804981&ref=pd_sl_1ar60ugdu4_b