Kathleens Bridal Shower Cake

This past Sunday was Kathleens bridal shower, and I was asked to do her Bridal cake. She said she wanted a fairy tale theme and I couldn't wait to start making it. I strategized for a few dayas to what her cake could possibly look like..I wanted to make it funky but not childlike. I know she liked the color purple, I knew it would be covered in fondant, chocolate edible butterflies, and pulled sugar roses.

A few days before the bridal shower, I went up to Michaels Arts and Crafts and came across EDIBLE GLITTER!!! I was so excited, this was definitely something I could use for Kathleen's Cake. So I went and bought Purple and Gold Glitter.

I made the cakes 2 days before the bridal shower, I wrapped them in plastic wrap and put them in the fridge to get chill.

TIP: IF YOU ARE GOING TO TORT CAKES IT IS MUCH EASIER TO MAKE SURE THEY ARE CHILLED BEFORE TORTING...LESS MESSY :)


I torted the cakes and filled them with strawberry puree mixed with almond extract, and made a simple buttercream.

TIP:When you want to put a filling in the center of a torted cake you must put an buttercream or icing around the edge with a pastry tip and bag. This Helps keep the cake from sliding and keeps everything in place!!

The next day(day before the shower) I put the fondant on the cake, I colored the fondant with Wilton Violet Gel (only a few drops). I will honestly admit I never put fondant on a cake before, so I was really nervous. I received some advice from my chef, I would say that it helped a bit but it sure didn't ease my butterflies in my stomach. All I could think about was I could absolutely ruine these cakes if I mess up putting on the fondant. I took a deep breath and just covered the cake with fondant, It turned out awesome but I was still uneasy about continuing with the rest of the cakes. By the 3rd tiere I was definitely more relaxed!

TIP:WHEN PUTTING FONDANT ON A CAKE MAKE SURE THE CAKE IS COVERED IN EITHER BUTTERCREAM OR ICING. MAKE SURE IT IS SMOOTH, AND PUT CAKES IN FRIDGE WHILE GETTING THE FONDANT READYY, YOU DON'T WANT THE BUTTERCREAM OR ICING TO BE REALLY SOFT!!!

You always want to smooth out the fondant with you hands or a fondant smoother, always start from the top of the cake then the sides.

I glued the butterflies on the cake with tempered chocolate, I heated the ends of the pulled sugar roses so it would stick to the fondant.I put the edible glitter all over the cakes, but I put a heavier amount of glitter on the bottom of the cakes and lighter as I went up the sides. Where there was butterflies I put gold glitter around them to give it a different look.

When I was assembling the cake I stacked the cakes on top of eachother, but when I looked at it it looked to formal, and that was not the look I was going for. So I thought why don't I angle the cakes so that they were not stacked perfectly on top of each other.


So here it is!!!!.....(more pictures will be added very soon! I wanted to get this up)


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Thoughts???


Keep Posted!

Hey Everyone

Hey everyone,
Blogspot is giving me such a difficult time uploading photos. Tonight's blog was going to be about my Friend Kathleens Bridal Shower Cake that I made her.

I am going to try to upload the photos at school tomorrow so we can have some photos that go along with my blogpost. So hopefully it works.

My add videos button works but not my add photos...weird.


Sorry about the delay! Hopefully everything will be better tomorrow!

Hang tight!

Personal Update and Good News

It has been a long while since I have update my blog. Things have been terribly chaotic. I personally have had a really hard time getting over the death of my grandfather and dog last month that I basically started pulling away from everyone.

I felt fine then all of a sudden, I wasn't myself at all. I hardly talked to any of my friends, when I was in school I wanted to be home and when I was at home I wanted to be in school. The only baking I was doing was in the kitchens at school. I basically sat around and was miserable half of the time, and really distant with everyone. I was exhausted, and tired of everything that kept going wrong.Everything fought me hookline and sinker. To be honest I had no desire to update my blog at all. I lost my dog, grandfather, and job all within 2 weeks of eachother. When I went to Dc that was a great escape, I was really happy there. But then reality hits you in the face when you come home.

On top of everything else, I did not have an externship for the months of August to November. I need an externship in order to get my degree. Every company that I was signing up to do interviews with would cancel. So at the time with only 10 weeks till I am supposed to leave I had nothing. Now, when my grandfather died when my family and I were down in West Virginia, I received and email from my school stating that two more potiental companies were coming to my school to interview for externs. One was Oglebay in Wheeling WV, and the other was Pinehurst in NC. I signed up for both interviews. Oglebay canceled interviews the day before my interview because only 4 people signed up(myself included) so it was senseless to travel an hour away to conduct 4 interviews. They sent in my resume there because they were going to do phone interviews, but I never received a call. So Oglebay was out.

After when I returned to Dc, my interview for Pinehurst was only 3 days away. I had a portfolio together and everything. Thankfully they did not cancel. They interveiew I thought went really well, I remember one question they asked me was "How do you keep up on current trends in baking?" I personally read a lot, especially on the internet. I mentioned CAKE POPS! He did not know what a Cake Pop was, so I told him about them, about Bakerella's Blog, her book. He thought they were quite awesome!! Another question I got was "what was my most recent book I've read?" I said Dantes Inferno. which is true...and I'm still trying to read this book. They said that there were taking a bunch of culinary students from different schools, and only 2 pastry students all together. After that, I was worried, because I'm closer to my leaving date, and they are only taking 2 pastry students. What are the chances.

About a couple weeks later, I received an email from the pastry chef, he wanted to have interview over the phone(actually a week ago from today, this entire process was about a month. We spoke over the phone for about 20 minutes, even then I was still skeptical about everything, there was no way I was going to get my hopes up. They had to perform backround checks and everything (that was the easy part).He said I would know about 2 weeks if I have the position or not.

Yesterday I slept in, my mom drove into town. Normally I get into town around 845 and don't have class until 11am. So I just read on the internet or tutor students. My mom asked me if I received a letter from Pinehurst if I wanted her to open it. I said "yes," because I was unbelievably eager to know if I had the position or not. She dropped me off at school and all I could think about was Pinehurst, it was driving me insane! My phone started to viberate and I thought it was going to be a text but it a wrong number. After class I received an email from Pinehurst.

I GOT IT!!!!!

I basically sat at my computer and just staired at the email. I was in complete shock. I was so excited my hands started to shake!!!!! So I ofically have an externship!!! That made me so happy! I believe my Bella and Grandad was working some magic up there!! ;)

And it looks like you my readers and I are moving down to Pinehurst, North Carolina in August!!!

Keep posted!!! tons and tons of updates coming along the way!!!!

DC Cupcake Wars

Good Evening Everyone!!!
For the past few days I have been eating my way through Washington, Dc. When I was down in September I did more 'touristy' things like see the monuments and the White House. This time I went to the National Zoo, ate, and explored Georgetown!

As I said before in my previous blogs, when I was going to go down to DC, I was going to compare two well known Cupcake places. The two that I chose were Baked and Wired and GeorgeTown Cupcakes. Which was the better cupcake?



Baked and Wired was a more modern looking Bakery and Coffee Shop. When John and I first arrived there we ordered something to drink. I got the Vanilla Organic Tea. That was very good. It had a nice 'earthiness' to it. Much different than the tea I drink back home. As with most things I eat, I always add a little "sum em sum em," to it to give it that kick. So to my tea I added some cream and Simple Syrup. Speaking of Simple Syrup...I was quite surprised to find out that they offer Simple Syrup to their customers vs. regular sugar. As many of you know simple syrup is 50/50 sugar and water...boiled and brought down to cool. Many Pastry chefs coat fruits in Simple Syrup to give it that glossy look. But I was definitely surprised that Baked & Wired offered it to their customers. It did not occur to me that you could use it in tea or coffee....I guess you learn something new everyday! ;) John ordered a Costado, a little but really strong espresso drink. It was adorable but too bitter for me!

Then we went to order our cupcakes as part of my DC challenge.
We ordered their Red Velvet and Tessita Cupcakes



Here are the two Cupcakes that we ordered. The one on the left is the Tessita and the one on the right is the Red Velvet.

According to Baked & Wired website the Tessita is: "Vanilla caked with dulce de leche filling and Chocolate Hazelnut satin icing." This Cupcake was very good. The cake was absolutely moist, just what everyone would want in a cupcake, but the Vanilla cupcake lacked that Vanilla taste. You had to search for the vanilla taste a bit, but if you waited a bit you would realize it is there. The Chocolate Hazelnut icing was really good. The icing had great texture with the right amount of fluff and firmness at the same time. The only problem I had with it was, the initial taste of the icing the chocolate was a bit overwhelming that took over the Hazelnut taste. But the aftertaste was definitely Hazelnut.

The size of this cupcake is enough to share between two people, so if you are looking to share a cupcake with someone Baked & Wired is definitely the spot to go!!!!

The Red Velvet was the one that I chose, (I absolutely love Red Velvet Cake), I figured since it was one of my favorites I would get this.
According to Baked & Wired website the Red Velvet is: "A little Chocolate, A little Vanilla, and lots of deep red color." mmmmm :)
This cake was good, but not as flavorful as other red velvet cakes I've had. The color was very nice. Surprisingly the icing was not a Cream Cheese Icing, instead it had a very vanilla taste to it. Like the Chocolate Hazlenut icing, it was very rich and thick. The icing was one of my favorite parts. they classified the icing as a buttercream, but in my buttercream experiences it was way too thick. Buttercream has more of a airy and fluffiness to it. Not thick. But even so, the icing was awesome!






If you wanted to share a cupcake with someone Baked & Wired is the perfect place to go..they are bigger than the average cupcake. Just remember to eat it with a fork ;)





DC CUPCAKES!!

This place was in the heart of Georgetown on the main street. It was absolutely adorable. There was a line that went from inside Georgetown Cupcakes to the outside and up the road. UNBELIEVABLE!!! John and I waited inline for about a half hour. It was just so thrilling! (At least for me!)

While waiting in line we received their menu. It had their everyday cupcakes and their special featured flavors. John and I decided that we wanted their Vanilla2(squared...because there is one that is called Vanilla Cubed)and their special Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge.

When we (finally) walked it, I never saw so many cupcakes before in my life. Some were on really cute cupcake stands... and there had to have been 5 cooling racks filled from top to bottom of all sorts of different cupcakes. The amount of pick-up orders was just out of this world, there were tons of pink bags everywhere!



CUPCAKES!



MORE CUPCAKES!!




OVERLOAD OF CUPCAKES!!!

When John and I ordered these cupcakes we actually didn't eat them till around 9:30, we were on such a cupcake sugar rush...we needed time to cool down from the sweets a bit.



These were the cupcakes that we ordered. The cupcake on the left is the Peanut Butter Fudge and the one on the right is the Vanilla2. Both are so cute!

The Peanut Butter and Fudge had a Peanut Butter Icing with Chocolate cake with a small fudge center. This was absolutely my favorite cupcake. Almost anything Peanut Butter and Chocolate is right up my alley. Everything just complements each other with this cupcake. John seemed to think that the Peanut Butter in the icing was a little overwhelming, but I felt differently. The icing was light and fluffy, definitely different from the Baked & Wired's thick, heavy icing. The only downfall I have with this is the cake was not as moist as Baked & Wired. I enjoy cupcakes that have a moist texture. The taste was great, and it was not missing any flavoring at all, but had just the right amount. Unlike Baked & Wired which had a strong icing and weak cake, Georgetown Cupcake's cake was so flavorful that it could stand alone without any icing. This cupcake size was the normal size cupcake as if you were making them right from home.


The other cupcake that we got was the Vanilla2. This cupcake was really good as well. This icing was probably one of the best vanilla icings I have ever had, and it had sort of a Cream Cheese or Sour Cream taste to it. I didn't mind that at all! The vanilla cake had nice flavoring as well, again the only let down was is that it was not as moist as Baked & Wired. Both cupcakes had a drier taste to it as if it was sitting out for a bit, but if you would eat both the icing and the cake together it didn't matter that much. But nonetheless, cupcakes should be moist no matter what.




Both cupcake places were good but had their letdowns. Though Baked & Wired had a superior moistness and richness of texture(in fact, the leftover cupcake was still most almost twelve hours later!), Georgetown Cupcakes had the superior cupcake overall. The icing and cake worked together more, and the flavors were stronger. I also preferred the smaller Georgetown Cupcake size, which leaves you wanting a bit more! If you could just combine all of the good together it would be one heck of a cupcake. My recommendation? If you're going to Georgetown, try both!!! But if you can't, Georgetown Cupcakes is the way to go. One secret tip, if you don't want to wait in line, you can call in and order ahead of time!

Also, a few months ago John brought me some Cake Love cupcakes when he came back from school... but both Baked & Wired and Georgetown Cupcakes are way better!!

I can't wait to come back and try new flavors!!!


I hope you enjoyed by blog, I had a lot of fun eating and evaluating them!!!


Keep posted! Next little post will be how to make parchment piping bags!

YogiBerry-Frozen Yogurt

This past Wednesday I took the Megabus down to Washington Dc to visit John. After a really rough week or so, this mini trip was in perfect timing.

On our first day went visited the National Zoo, this was awesome. They had many unique animals than what the Pittsburgh Zoo has, but none-the-less both Zoo's are very fun to go to.

After hours in the zoo we were starved so we went to this really cute Irish Pub and I tried my first Shepards Pie....it was so good! The entire dinner was really good.


Later in the evening I was in the mood for ice cream, but John suggested a place called Yogi Berry. First I was like what the hell is Yogi Berry....but the he said it is frozen Yogurt..and you get to create your own, but picking out your toppings that you would like to put on it....YOU do it all yourself...then they weigh it to figure out how much it will cost.

I had a field day...I absolutely loaded mine up! I had everything under the sun on it! It was just so much fun...I felt like a little kid at Christmas! Definitely a neat experience!

If you are interested here is the website so you can see what I am talking about!
http://www.yogiberry.com/froyo.html

Too Bad Pittsburgh doesn't have one, it would definitely bring a lot of customers! **wink** **wink**!!

I think the closest one we have to a Yogiberry is near Grove City College, but I'm not a hundred percent sure about that!

Tomorrow John and I are heading into Georgetown for some more sight seeing plus.....GEORGETOWN CUPCAKES!!! WOOT WOOT!!!!


There will definitely be a blog post about that!!! And some awesome pictures of those awesome cupcakes!!!


Stay Posted!!! :)

Bella...Updates...DC Adventure

Once again, I am writing another blog without any sort of cute sweets, like I promised I would last Sunday.

This is another sad post. My dog of almost 14 years we are putting her down tomorrow. She has congestive heart failure, and everyday she is getting worse and worse. And it is now her time to go one, even though I want her here forever, but I can't let her suffer because I want her here. That's not fair to her at all.
She was the best dog anyone could ever ask for, she was one of the best things that has ever happened to me, and has helped me all throughout many stages of my life, and for that I am grateful. Now it is her time to go on and join my turtle Buddah...my old dog Bimbo (don't laugh at his name ;))my two birds.

With my grandfather passing away last weekend, I spent 2 days in West Virginia, that helped me out a lot with his passing. And now Bella, it has just been a real emotional roller coaster for the past week.

This Wednesday, I am leaving for Washington Dc, to visit John and do some more sightseeing. I am excited for but there is so much going on right now I'm having a hard time getting really excited.


I was thinking about doing a post about the different kinds of well known cupcake shops in the DC area...like Georgetown Cupcakes etc....buying some cupcakes and comparing them on taste..likes...dislikes...I will critique them! So there will be a blog up later this week about my DC Food adventure!


Sorry that this blog jumped from one subject to another. I'm very tired and functioning on like 2 hours of sleep.



Here is a picture of my Bella, Christmas about two years ago. Isn't sure beautiful???? I think so!



Please stay posted...everything will so get back on track!


I love you Bella with all my heart!

Please Read

Hi everyone,
This is going to be a short blog. I usually update my blog on sunday or during the week.

My grandpa passed away tonight, I will not be updating anything tonight. But next weekend I will have something cute for everyone to enjoy.

Thank you for being understanding
Sarah