Ruffle Flowers

Ruffle Flowers

I've been asked to do a demonstration at my cake club's next monthly meeting.  Specifically, I was asked to figure out how to do the fondant billows, but I like to demo several techniques when I get the chance.  The demo will be called "Trendy Fondant Accents" and will cover 3 decorations: billows, pom poms, and ruffle flowers.  These are items I'm seeing all over Pinterest, facebook, and in cake deco magazines.  After some internet-scouring research, I came up with my own way of doing things.

First up are the ruffle flowers.  These are fab because they don't require many fancy tools, they don't take long to make, and they don't need any dry time if you're in a hurry.  I don't know who invented or made these very popular, but here are a couple sites that helped me.  

References/Inspiration/Tutorials

• Melissa Barbakoff (http://thebakedequation.com/vintage-ruffle-flowers/)
• Christi (http://pisforparty.blogspot.com/2011/06/tutorials-ruffle-fondant-flowers.html)

Tools

• fondant or gumpaste
• circular cutters in various sizes
• tool for ruffling/curling edges (gumpaste stick tool, ball tool, skewer, toothpick, or even the end of a thin paintbrush)
• edible glue (royal icing, piping gel, tylose glue, etc.)
• foam pad (optional)
• something to go in the middle of the flower (fondant button, dragees, candy, etc.)

Instructions

1.  Roll out your fondant (or gumpaste) very thin on a non-stick surface.  Here I am using a cutting board dusted with powdered sugar.

2.  Cut out several sizes of the same shape. Here I am using my Progressive Biscuit/Cookie Cutter Set with the scalloped side.

3.  Place your shape on top of a foam pad.  This is optional if you don't have one, but it does make ruffling a bit easier.

4.  Using your favorite tool for curling edges, thin out the edges of your shape by applying pressure.  Once the edges are thinned out, apply more pressure to really start curling.

Here I am using the thin stick tool from Wilton's gumpaste tool set.  To thin out the edge of my fondant, I rock the tool back and forth within a single petal.  Once thin, I press down firmly with the tool and rock back and forth again, still within a single petal.

Notice that I'm placing the stick tool so that the edge of my fondant meets with where the tool begins to taper.  I found that this is the best way to get a tight curl.  I don't roll the tool along the entire edge; I pick up the tool and start again on the next petal section.  Make sure the end of the tool is always pointing to the center of the cut out.

5.  Curl all your shapes until they are nice and curly and frilly.

If you are using the ball tool for ruffling ...

• Thin the edges out by sliding the tool around your shape with medium pressure.  I move the ball in one direction along the edge of the cut out (like drawing large O's several times).  At this stage, I have the ball completely within the cut out.
• Once thin, move the ball so it is halfway on the fondant edge and halfway touching the foam pad.  Now you can go to town on it by applying firm pressure and sliding the tool around the edge several times.  Sometimes I rock back and forth along a section too, but always keeping the ball halfway off the fondant.

6.  Dab some edible glue in the middle of your largest cut out.  Here I am using tylose glue.

7.  Place the next size cut out on top.  Apply pressure to the middle of the cut out so it can adhere to the bottom piece.

You can use your ball tool or just your finger tip to gently apply pressure.

8.  Repeat with remaining cut outs.

Gently fluff up and re-shape any smooshed sections with your stick tool.

9.  Now for something to go in the middle!  Here I dabbed some edible glue on the top-most piece and dropped in some dragees.  Use the stick tool to help place them nicely.

I made sure the middle dragee I chose was large and the rest were smaller.

10.  You can allow your flower to dry if you like.  Clean up any residual powdered sugar by brushing clear alcohol gently on the flower.

Done!

Try cut outs of different colors!

 Here is a round cut out curled with a ball tool.

The center is a mini m&m!

 Large with small cut out.  Edges painted with gold luster dust mixed with Everclear.

 Easy peasy!  Have fun!

Scratch It: Cold-Oven Pound Cake

"Cold-Oven Pound Cake"

by Cook's Country

Color me happy!  I'm pretty sure I knocked this recipe out of the park.  In all fairness, it was pretty simple, but still!  I followed all the directions correctly (except using 2% instead of whole milk) and didn't over-bake it.  This cake is probably the best scratch pound cake I've had so far.

This recipe uses cake flour and was baked in my Chicago Metallic Angel Food cake pan.  The trick to this recipe is not to pre-heat the oven.  While I was getting my ingredients together, I actually made the mistake of turning on the oven right away.  Felt pretty weird to have to turn it back off.

Finally, a pound cake recipe that didn't yield some weird puffy, crusty top.  

It's been over 24 hours since this cake was made and the house still smells amazing.  Nice, tight but tender crumb.  And the taste?  Pretty darn good.  Yup, this one is going in "the binder" (my collection of printed-out internet recipes that I've made successfully).

Scratch It: RLB Yellow Cakes

"Buttermilk Country Cake"

and

"She Loves Me Cake"

by Rose Levy Beranbaum

I'm still working on scratch baking with the help of some experts.  I've recently purchased Heavenly Cakes by Rose Levy Beranbaum as suggested by fellow CakeCentral.com members.  Several people said it is worth it to own both her Cake Bible and Heavenly Cakes.  My most recent scratch cakes are her "Buttermilk Country Cake" and "She Loves Me Cake" (featured in photos), both of which are variations of her "All-Occasion Downy Yellow Cake".

On the books' suggestion, I spun some sugar in my blender to make "super fine" sugar.  I don't recall seeing super fine sugar at the grocery store, but next shopping trip I'll take a closer look.  I can't really tell the difference in the final product, but I'm hoping experience will help me with that later.

Scratch baking is not easy.  I have yet to really follow a recipe 100% correctly.  With the "She Loves Me Cake" I poured all the milk into the liquids bowl, not reading that only 1/4 cup should have gone in.  The rest was to go with the butter into the dry ingredients.  I also over-baked it :(  That's probably why my cake came out dry.

With the "Buttermilk" cake, I didn't follow the directions on my powdered cultured buttermilk container.  If you mix the powder directly with water, it clumps up.  You're supposed to add the powder to the dry ingredients and add the water to the wet.  I tried to split this recipe into 2 6" round pans and that was wayyyy too much batter.  It overflowed in the oven and made a big, burnt, smelly mess.  The cake that I salvaged was moist but very delicate.  It crumbled when sliced.

Please don't judge these cake recipes on my failures because I'm sure I messed them up!  Instead, give me a virtual hug and know that, if you're also one who can't seem to read ahead, I'm right there with ya!

A Feast of Ice & Fire

A Feast of Ice & Fire

If you haven't read any of George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice & Fire book series, drop what you're doing and go buy A Game of Thrones (the first book in the series).  Then sit back for several days for a good read.

Back already?

If you haven't visited the Inn at the Crossroads food blog inspired by the Song of Ice & Fire series, drop what you're doing and click on that link!

See?  Aren't you glad I told you?

 I have recently purchased their new official cookbook for the series.  It's pretty enjoyable to read their research on their blog or in these pages for medieval recipes.  Hits me up on many geeky levels.  I hope to make a few of these savory and sweet foods inspired by my all-time favorite book series.

Crusty White Bread

This recipe was ridiculously easy.  I was pretty skeptical on the outcome because the ingredients were so basic, and I'm such a beginner at bread making ... but hubby and I were pleasantly surprised.  We devoured all of one of the small loaves right out of the oven.

The exterior is pleasantly crisp and thick ... much like my favorite pizza crust.  The inside was soft but hearty and yeasty.

How fun!  I'm looking forward to trying the desserts listed in the book.  They often offer both a recipe for a dish old-world style and also a modern spin version.  Not much cake decorating going on here, but still an adventure!

Happy Birthday, Zoey!

Happy Birthday, Zoey!

My little girl's birthday isn't until Friday, but we've already celebrated her birthday 3 times with various family members on different days.  Still not sure if I'll make yet another cake later this week!  The first cake is when we doubled her birthday with my nephew and celebrated with my side of the family.  The second is when we celebrated with my hubby's family.

Stats:

• 8" square yellow cake
• filled and frosted with chocolate icing
• frozen buttercream transfer of Spongebob and Patrick
• sides coated with "sand" (crushed graham crackers and brown sugar)
• 8" round chocolate buttermilk cake
• filled and frosted with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream
• topped wiith "dirt" (cake crumbs)
• piped almond bark dinosaur bones
• piped shell borders

It's been a while since I've done a frozen buttercream transfer.  Last time I did one, the parchment paper I had piped on to seemed to crinkle while freezing.  This time I used some nice acetate, but it still managed to warp slightly as the buttercream contracted.  Maybe next time I'll tape the acetate down firmly to my small cutting board.

Instead of piping all the colors, I used a paint brush for some of the smaller areas.  I dabbed the colored icing into the proper spots instead of wasting icing bags and time for less than a square inch of coloring.  It turned out well, especially for having done it in the middle of the night.  The next day I plopped on the frozen slab and threw crumbs on the side of the cake right as our guests were walking in.

My daughter's one request for her birthday was dinosaurs.  For this cake, I put the leveled cake tops into the food processor to make crumbs.  After filling and icing the cake, I sprinkled the crumbs to cover the top to look like soil.  With melted almond bark in a squeeze bottle, I piped some dinosaur bones.  She thoroughly enjoyed picking out the bones and eating them.

Happy Birthday, kid!