Keeping it Classy

Hello readers, it has been a while... again. I have been working at a local bakery downtown and have been making plenty of cakes for the business but haven't had much time for myself. But, my uncle's birthday seemed like the oportune time to make a cake! His two favorites are German Chocolate and Red Velvet; and being the chocoholic I am, I selfishly chose the German Chocolate cake! I didn't want to do anything too fancy here; just a simple and classic look that makes the German Chocolate Cake so recognizable. I made a chocoalte cake infused with PLENTY of melted organic chocolate, a coconut & pecan filling, and chocolate frositng also infused with melted organic chocoalte (My goal was to make this as chocolate packed as possible!).

Decorations were simple, lettering, borders, roses, the end. Kept it classy and clean. :)

Itsa me, MARIO!

Hello again viewers, long time I know. As a twenty year old girl finishing college and moving between various jobs to finally land in a bakery full-time, I have been pretty busy. But guess what! I was asked to make a cake for someone I don't even know! This may seem very trivial, but for a girl just starting out in cake decorating, this is a big step.

I was sent a picture via text of mushroom found in the classic video game Super Mario. This specific mushroom has special powers when eaten by Mario, allows him to grow! The idea of this being a cake sounded simply adorable, therefore I agreed :)

The flavor chosen was a vanilla cake with sliced strawberries.

The construction was rather difficult. Obviously, by simply looking one can see that the bottom is smaller than the top. The top is quite hefty in size and weight therefore the bottom needed to be strong. I definitely considered making the bottom just a solid rice krispie treat. It would add structure and stability. However, as a novice I just made it out of cake. The bottom started to bow after a few hours but i stablized both level with 4 small wooden dowels and a large dowel through the middle to attach the two.

I am not a fondant lover. It tastes fake and unappetizing. So instead of fondant, I covered the cake with modeling chocolate. The upside to modeling chocolate is that is is more forgiving than fondant :) However, it is just as hateful of the refridgerator as fondant is. Luckily I knew this beforehand and covered the cake last second to ensure it would not melt off or become sticky.

I am rather excited about how it turned out and hope the person enjoyed it aswell :)

I also hope you enjoy!

Megan



Gingerbread Madness!

Surely gingerbread is more associated with Christmas than with Thanksgiving, but hey; I already had a traditional pumpkin pie, why would I want to make ANOTHER pumpkin dessert?! That is simply outrageous. So instead I decided upon a gingerbread cake with a lovely cream cheese icing filling & covered in vanilla buttercream which was dusted with cinnamon!

Happy Gingy

Gangs all here!

that was my father's piece :)

Early November Cake Practice

Hello followers! :)
Sorry I have been so busy working at a retail store; and well, I am sure you are aware of how OUTRAGEOUS people can get the closer it is to Christmas. Anywho, after Halloween I had a mass amount of candy left over to I decided to incorporate it into a cake I decided to make for my coworkers.

So I baked a white vanilla cake with crushed up: Kit Kats, Whoppers, and Hershey Bars. I also whipped up a vanilla french buttercream to coat the outside of the cake to help the fondant stay in place. To make buttercream you boil sugar and water to 145 degrees (brushing off sugar crystals from the side of the pan with a brush dipped in water, then pouring the hot sugar into your egg yolks while beating quickly [which is why you cannot see the whisk]Then after it cools you add butter & shortening until it becomes the right consistency)

For the Icing I had a delicous cream cheese icing that I had added REAL vanilla bean to. So to decorate this four layer beauty, I draped chocolate fondant on it and decorated with chocolate royal icing.

What I will work on for next time: I need to buy dowels to hold my cake in place so it doesn't shift and of course my fondant work. See you soon with my Thankgiving contributions!!

Megan (:

Finished Blog Profile

Finally, I have made my blog look the way I want it to look. I drew everything that is found on my blog's background (Including the Logo) Hope you like it :)

-Megan

Its that Time again: Gingerbread Houses!

Fall Quarter 2009:

So at the beginning of my course in the Baking and Pastry Program our first BIG project was to create a gingerbread house. Easy right? No, not when you do something larger than a house AND you bake your own gingerbread. I made a lighthouse and covered it in royal icing and "antiqued" it with some gold edible dust. candy rocks emphesize my prsentation :)

Side Note: CUPCAKES!

Cupcakes are also very important when it comes to cake decorating. The fad nowadays is to have cupcakes at your wedding along with a small "cutting cake". So here are only  a couple of cupcakes I did while in the Program. :)

"French Toast Cupcakes"

"Lemon Meringue Cupcakes W/ Marshmallow Frotsing, Lemon Curd Center, & Candied Lemon Garnish"