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

Lydia's Princess

After viewing my Betty Crocker (Howdini) videos, Lydia was inspired to make a Princess cake for her granddaughter's 2nd birthday. Definitely pretty in pink!

Lara's Cupcakes

All of Lara's clever cupcakes were inspired by our Chocolate Method techniques. Create your own chocolate templates to match the theme of your party.

Ladybug and Spider Pans

The ladybugs and spiders from our "Little Cakes" book are fun ones to do with the kids - my 4-year old has made his version of the ladybug.

But it seems the pan is difficult to find. We used a Wilton "mini ball pan" (see the link below), but if you want to make them a bit larger you can use 6-inch (diameter) stainless steel or Pyrex bowls.

Also please note there was a typo on the template page - do not increase the size of the template 4 times. I'm not quite sure what happened, but the images are all just slightly smaller than they should be. You can increase the image maybe 115% or using the size in the book, unaltered, should be fine. http://www.wilton.com/store/site/product.cfm?id=3E30ABC4-475A-BAC0-5E435F6A2968955C&fid=0D0BED4E-475A-BAC0-5A68AF3A1910E9AD

Have Fun!

Ice Storm

Everything looked white as my son and I looked out the window in the morning. SNOWMAN! YAY! but when we got outside the snow crunched beneath our feet- there was a 1/4-inch of ice on top. Our plans were foiled until I had an idea. My son stacked shards of ice. I filled squeeze tubes with water and a couple of drops of food coloring and let my son go crazy. The colorful results....

Log Cabin

I recently made a cake in the shape of a log cabin. The customer gave me a small ornament (which is actually a model of their real log cabin) to work from. I experimented with some new techniques, which ended up working quite well. To make the logs I spread a thin layer of white chocolate onto a parchment paper lined sheet pan. Once it was set I spread dark chocolate on top. I then proceeded to mix a variety of chocolate earth tones and drizzled these across the chocolate. Using a paring knife I traced irregular lines across the chocolate, not only to blend the earth tones, but to add a bit of texture to the chocolate as it began to set. Before it fully set, I cut the chocolate into 3/4-inch slats. The rocks were made from a variety of tinted chocolates. Once the rock forms were set I painted contrasting chocolates on top to give them a worn and weathered look. They were set into a tinted buttercream "morter".

Hayley's Creations

cookie guitars

Hayley's masterful version of the W.Bakehouse's Safari Cake.

What a great idea: display the cake with the cupcakes!

Gia's Cakes

Adding "chocolate method" appliques to a simple shaped cake is a great way to add detail without having to do intricately carve the cake.