Chocolate and Strawberries...Mmmmm!

So, to add to my busyness last weekend, I also had to make a cake for my sister's co worker's birthday. I made her birthday cake last year too, and she decided she wanted the same thing this year. I gladly obliged! She had a vanilla cake with sliced strawberries and glaze filling, buttercream icing, strawberry glaze on top, then fresh whole strawberries, all drizzled with ganache. It's hard making these cakes sometimes, you know, like when all I want to do is grab a fork and dive in!

Here's the yumminess...





Hope you had a great birthday Susan!

I've been a busy bee...

I've actually been doing some caking! YAY! I know it's a little late, but I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day! I was a little busy seeing that my daughter's birthday is the day before V-day. We had a fun fiesta for her this year, which she has been asking for one for a while now. The whole family made it as well as some of her friends. And on friday we sent her a special treat to share with her classmates for her birthday/Valentine's Day. I figured I didn't want to send in anything too big, knowing that the kids would already have their fill of sweets! So, I decided to go the route of cake pops! I've never tried them before but have wanted to for a while. Heard they were quite easy and yummy! Here's the actual cake balls...



And here's mid process, some with sprinkles, some without, but all pretty! (Just don't pay attention to how un-circular some of them look. Heehee.)



And here they are...all wrapped up and ready to go!



You can google cake balls or cake pops and find a bunch of sites, but I think Bakerella's is best! She has a ton of different ideas that are oh-so-cute! If you would like to try them, here's how I made them...

1. Depending on how many you want to make and what size you make them you can either bake a cake using your favorite cake mix or just use cake scraps from another cake. I only used 2/3 of my cake and ended up with about 50 balls, using a 9x13 pan.

2. Let the cake cool, then crumble it all up in a big bowl.

3. Mix in a store bought frosting, such as Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines. The recipe calls for a whole can if you use a whole cake, but I only used 1/3 of the can with 2/3 of cake (from a 9x13 pan). So even if I had used a whole cake, I wouldn't have used all the frosting.

4. Time to get your hands dirty! Roll some balls (you can make them as big or little as you want, but the norm seems to be 1" to 1 1/2"). Place them on a wax/parchment paper lined baking sheet. Then add some lollipop sticks, about half way in.

5. Pop those babies in the fridge for about a couple hours, or in the freezer for 15-30 minutes.

6. Melt some chocolate, almond bark, or candy melts as the package describes.

7. Take the cake pops out of the fridge and dip them in your coating. You may also have to spoon some of your chocolate/candy over the pop to thoroughly coat. Tap the pop over the bowl to reduce drippage. Then I stood them up in a styrofoam block and poured some sprinkles over the top, then let them stand to dry. From here they are good to go! For a little added decoration, I just wrapped them in lollipop bags and tied with a little bow. Cute and delicious!

Now watch for more caking experiences to come....

They say it's your birthday!

Well, maybe not your's. But it was mine yesterday! I had a blast with the girls to celebrate last night! And of course I made myself a cake. Now, it wasn't what I had planned, but it worked out okay. I wanted a two tiered cake (one being a dummy, just to practice with one!), with the top matching the ribbon I had picked out for my cake plate. But I ran out of time, so I ended up with only my one tier. :(

Plus I didn't have time to practice my perfect buttercream skills I learned via Sharon Zambito from SugarEd Productions, whose videos are just ingenius! And hopefully one day I will actually have the time to watch the WHOLE video and take LOTS of notes, and then practice, practice, practice!

Here's what my little cake looked like, with the help of my "assistant" (my sis-in-law...heehee!) who decided a "J" would make the top! I think she was right...great job, Heather!



The cake was a chocolate fudge cake, with Nutella filling (had to try it out since I've heard it tastes amazing), and buttercream icing. I wasn't the biggest fan of the Nutella, but most nutty things aren't for me, so don't take my word for it! I also got to try out my diamond impression mat for the first time, and boy do I need more practice with that! For the intersecting diamonds, I used Wilton sugar pearls. And I used my new tweezer thingy (technical term) from Nicholas Lodge!

Dummies!

No, not that kind. I mean cake dummies. Just got my first sets! Can you tell I'm excited?! I ordered them from Shape Formation and got a great deal on them, cheaper than every other site I looked at (after the shipping). I got a set of rounds and a set of squares. They're both 6", 8", 10", 12", and 14". Here's what they look like...



And just some variations of stacking...




I can't wait to use them! Central Florida Fair, here I come!

Mini Classes...Part II

Saturday morning I headed to the world famous Nicholas Lodge Gum paste Bridal & Wedding Flowers class! To say the least, I was excited! And he proved to be just what we were all hoping for and looking forward to. He was very friendly, informative, amusing...all the things a great teacher could be! And everyone's flowers turned out so beautiful! I know, I am just an exclamation whore right now, but I can't help it! Here are my flowers...not the best in the class, but I wasn't disappointed either!

Dendrobium Orchid and buds


Stephanotis and bud


Calla Lily


Rose, rose bud and leaves


Close-up of Rose


And obviously this is me with Mr. "everything-my-hands-touch-turns-beautiful" Lodge!




It really was an amazing class! If you ever have the opportunity to take one of his classes, I would definitely recommend doing so! If I ever get a chance to take another one of his classes, you'll see me jumping through hoops to get to it!

ICES Mini Classes

I had a wonderful weekend! Hope everyone else did too! I packed my bags and headed for Orlando on Thursday. Our first stop was the hospital to see my sis. Then we went to my parents house...and had some freshly made brownies. YUM!

The next morning I was on my way to the ICES Mini Classes. My first was with Susan Carberry. Here we are...

She was a fun, entertaining teacher. It was my first time trying fondant on cookies. It was so easy and fun...but I just can't imagine eating it. Here's the cookies I made:






Next up was Kathy Scott's Mini Wedding Cakes and Petit Fours class. She (along with her husband) was a lot of fun as well. I started off with the petit fours. So simple and beautiful!

After the petit fours, we were supposed to make a mini wedding cake, but by that time I had a migraine too painful to continue. So I had to stop. But I brought the mini resin cake form and the molds used in class home so I will have to try it out later on. After class, hubby and I enjoyed a pizza and a few drinks at the hotel's bar...which got rid of that headache. And then we headed over to the "Flea Market". The First Impressions table (which sold molds) was like a riotous frenzy, but I managed to get a couple molds I was after. And not to mention at WONDERFUL prices! What a day! And the following day was amazing too...but you'll have to wait for that story tomorrow!

3...Not always the best

Three is by far my favorite number (literally have obsessive-compulsive disorder with this particular number). But they say bad things come in threes, and yesterday we had a bad dose of that reality. My husband woke me up to say goodbye as he was leaving for work. He came back about 2 minutes later to tell me our cat passed away. We've had her for almost 9 years, since she was a itty bitty kitty. He buried her in our back yard and left for work. About 20 minutes later my mom called to tell me my sister was in a car accident and in the hospital. She was conscious, but in pain with two broken feet (one which needed reconstructive surgery), a shattered knee cap, and bruising. Less than two hours later, my hubby called to see if I was okay and I told him about my sister. He said, "We're not having a good day are we?" My response, "No". Then he said he had to call me back , he had another call coming in. He calls me back to tell me it was his father. His cousin had accidentally shot himself while trying to clean his new gun. He died from the shot. His story was in the news: www.pnj.com/article/20100113/NEWS01/1130332

What a morning. But I felt even worse for my sister and for the parents of his cousin. Their day must be so much worse than ours. Makes you thankful for the people in your life. Give someone you know a little extra loving today...just because!

Today's post is dedicated to Geoffrey Wayne Merritt. I only knew him for a couple of years and only met him once, but it only took that one time to see what a wonderful young man he was. He was so driven and excited about the path that he saw himself on,from ROTC to an F-18 pilot in the Navy. He had a bright future ahead of him and will be deeply missed by many people. Deepest condolences to his family and friends.

Making new friends...

So, some of my New Year resolutions were to have more "me" time, make more cakes, and get some friends (since I normally only speak to 3 people a day, my hubby and two kiddos). Well, I've found a way to do all three...at once! I am planning on joining the local cake club SAGNFL. That's the Sugar Arts Guild of North Florida, I think. Heehee! I've been looking at the club for a while, but have always been a little hesitant (ie. my anxiety attacks start setting in) when I think about meeting new people. But I'm finally going to take the step and join to knock out those 3 birds with one stone! Nervous and excited at the same time. We'll see how it goes!

Christmas Presents!

I got so many wonderful presents for Christmas! I hope everyone knows how much I appreciate them! Here are a couple things I've taken pics of:






Notice how they are all kitchen/food related. Heehee! Who ever thought I'd loved working in the kitchen? Certainly not me, until recently. Isn't the apron adorable?! A little wrinkled from the package, but still adorable. Well, I wouldn't have been able to post these pics if it weren't for my new camera!!! And since I can't take a picture of it, here's one from the website:


Now I know it's not a top-of-the-food-chain type of camera, but it's a big step in the right direction from the one we had. Plus it's the prettiest blue-gray color (which is my favorite, too bad you can't tell by looking at the pic)!

And for next time, we'll look at what my crafty hubby (you know, the manly crafty kind) made for our girls!