Cakes by Kelsie

The Airbrushing Class

2011-12-15T09:29:00.000-05:00

I don't think I ever uploaded my blog post about the airbrushing class I took a couple months ago. It. Was. Awesome! :D The class was in Ocala, though, so that was kind of a bummer. It was a two hour drive from and we got super lost.

But once we finally made it to the class, it was so worth it. I learned about the different brands of airbrushes (and decided I loved my Duff version. Sure it's not the best out there, but it definitely works for my little projects. When I open up my own place, then I can look into getting one of those fancy brands).

We played with different colors, and learned how to do different techniques and textures, like covering an entire cake in one color, or using a stencil to do a pattern.

And I got to make a really big mess and my mom wasn't around to yell at me. ;-)

Since taking the class, I haven't really done any big airbrushing projects, aside from putting shimmer on some little details of cakes (I'll have to put pictures of those up later). But I definitely feel more confident using my airbrush than I did before the class!

The class was taught by the lovely ladies at Simi Cakes at Icing on the Cake in Ocala, FL. :)

Nutella Cake Balls Recipe

2011-11-30T00:04:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, I finally got around to trying nutella flavored cake balls. They were pretty amazing, and I'm also pretty sure that's my new favorite flavor (sorry, red velvet!)

And all of you lucky readers can have my recipe...

All you need is a chocolate cake (already baked and cooled and crumbled up into little pieces, of course), a jar of nutella, and chocolate coating/almond bark/tempered chocolate (your choice; I was lazy so I went with the almond bark but I'm pretty sure tempered dark chocolate would've been amazingggg).

You make these cake balls as you would any other, except you use nutella instead of frosting, and the secret is to microwave the nutella for a bit first so that it gets a little runnier. That way it's easier to mix in with the cake crumbs.

And once you've smushed your ingredients together, rolled them up into little balls, and dipped them in chocolate, you're good to go! Now all you've got to do is hide them from everyone, or else there won't be any left by the time you get home from school the next day :P

The Dummy Cake

2011-11-29T00:08:00.000-05:00

For my entrepreneurship class, I'm doing a presentation of my business plan next week (and my business plan is obviously a bakery). I decided to make a fake cake for part of my presentation, and I've been working on that for the past week.

It's a 6 tier square cake covered in marshmallow fondant with royal icing decorations...

And let me tell you, this has been the most painful cake I've ever made.

I don't know if it's because I've had to roll out all that fondant by hand (in addition to actually making the fondant; there's a lot of kneading involved) or because I piped 6 tiers worth of decorations in one sitting, but my muscles are so sore! (I guess it could be because I'm trying to go the gym everyday too...)

Anyway, I'll keep you updated with my progress, but I decided to wait a few days so the muscles in my right arm have time to heal and stop cramping up on me. It seriously felt like I got a Charlie horse in my forearm. Yuck.

But, no pain, no gain. And this cake is going to be totally gorgeous and worth all the trouble :)

The 90th Birthday Cake

2011-11-08T09:33:00.000-05:00

Here we have a lovely two-tier square cake that I made for a 90th birthday party. It's a red velvet cake with cream cheese filling, Italian meringue buttercream, and fondant accents. Oh, the bow on top is gumpaste. Wilton gumpaste, not Bakels, because I learned my lesson with that one (Bakels never dries hard enough. It's quite tragic, considering how much cheaper it is.)

And I got a chance to try out my airbrush machine again! You can't tell in the picture, but the gold is very shiny and metallic.

The idea came from a larger, four tier cake I found on Google Images when I was looking for inspiration. The only thing I really had to go on was a suggestion for gold & black accents, and white frosting. So that's what I did! I wanted this cake to be really special because turning 90 is really special too!

I'm so honored to be able to help celebrate such a momentous occasion, and for such an incredible, kind-hearted person. And shout out to my roommate, Joy, for setting me up to make the cake and assisting me along the way! :D

FL ICES Day of Sharing

2011-10-25T15:21:00.001-04:00

Over the weekend, I had an opportunity to attend an ICES event, something I've wanted to do ever since I found out what ICES was. By the way, it's the International Cake Exploration Societe, and it's this awesome group of people who get together for classes and competitions and conventions to share the love and passion of cake decorating.

Right up my alley!

The DOS (or Day of Sharing) was in Jacksonville, FL, which is just a hop, skip, and a jump away from Tampa. Just kidding, it's a 3 hour drive, through lots of back country roads, and when you have to wake up before 5am to get to get to the conference center on time, it's pretty much the worst drive in the world.

Anyway, once we finally got to Jacksonville, it was totally worth it. The day was filled with awesome demonstrations, gorgeous display cakes, the chance to talk with other decorators who are also passionate about cake (and two people even asked me if I owned my own shop! I was flattered!), and a raffle. I won a signed cookbook by Geraldine Randlesome, who is wonderful by the way. She and her husband did one of the demonstrations and I learned so much from them. They have a very obvious love for cake decorating and the pastry arts (and each other). It was sweet. :)

I also learned about a new cake decorating competition coming up in February, so I'll need to plan my entry for that. And I want to sign up for the mini classes they're offering in January. Thankfully, the classes are in Orlando, which is a little closer than Jacksonville! They are more expensive though, so it's a good thing I'm working two jobs right now.

And today I finally got my airbrush colors in the mail (except the mailroom hasn't processed all their packages yet; so I don't technically have it in my posession yet, although it's on campus!) so I'm sure next I'll be posted about all the weird colorful things I've created with the airbrush. Oh! And there's an airbrushing class in Ocala which I'm taking in 2 weeks. Another awesome opportunity I'm looking forward to! I'll keep y'all posted! :)

Experimenting with Royal Icing

2011-10-20T23:19:00.000-04:00

So my goal today was to work on my business plan for entrepreneurship class and write my elevator pitch which is due Monday. But when I started looking up prices for bakeries (which is totally confusing and a lot of work), I got distracted by pretty cake pictures.

After looking at like a billion wedding cakes on Martha Stewart's website, I had to stop looking, and starting doing...something. Anything! I needed to be creative. I considered baking something, but there wasn't enough instant gratification in that, so I whipped up a small batch of royal icing and decided to tackle the Lambeth technique, Oriental string work, and bridgework, and whatever else I could do with royal icing.

Guess what? It was surprisingly a lot easier than I though it would be, but still a) time consuming and b) I wasn't really shooting for perfection anyway, I just wanted to grasp the basic concepts. If I was trying to be perfect, then I would've been super frustrated. First of all, I can't get my loops to all be consistent sizes. So that's the first thing I'm going to work on. Also, when I make scrolls, it's so hard to go over the lines exactly. And then I kept breaking everything with my clumsy hands. Oh, and I think my icing consistency wasn't stiff enough, since my bridgework was droopy. :(

Anyway, here's some visual evidence of what I did tonight instead of homework:

This is some form of Oriental Stringwork. Thank you to Mel for your tutorial to get me started! (And random C-scrolls!)

Droopy bridgework :(

More stringwork! I love this effect. Gravity defying!

Just fooling around with some icing. Some kind of attempt at Lambeth, I think. I wish I had his book! My inspiration here.

...And yes, I realize that I need to dig up my camera and charge the battery because these webcam & camera phone pics just aren't cutting it!

New Toys!

2011-10-17T23:37:00.000-04:00

So like I said yesterday, I bought an airbrush machine. And today I went back to Michael's and bought the new Wilton gumpaste flower kit (I have the old one already). While it's not as awesome as some of the gumpaste cutters I've used in the past (you know, like the awesome--and expensive--metal cutters) I'm still pleasantly surprised with what I got. Plus, I used a 40% off coupon, so it was a deal, and that makes me happy. I also bought the impression mat (and some cupcake boxes that were on clearance; no comment on my spending habits, please).

Anyway, I used the rose cutters first, just because I've had the most practice with roses and I've already done that whole learning curve thing. I need to learn how to make lilies (preferably before this weekend) but they don't look too difficult, so I'll save that for tomorrow or Wednesday.

But the real reason I played around with gumpaste flowers tonight (other than practicing for a wedding cakes this weekend) was so that I could finally try out my airbrush machine!

I bought some pearlized stuff (these are all technical terms, obviously) since I couldn't pick one color and all that (note to self: buy Americolor airbrush color 12 pack) but the pearl looks so gorgeous when I sprayed in on the flowers.

See what I mean?

Gorgeous! Not the best picture, I know, but can you see what I'm getting at? Anyway, it's way better than the time I tried to paint luster dust on flowers. And just think about how cool my snitch cake balls would've looked with gold airbrushed all over them?

Airbrush Machine!

2011-10-16T23:01:00.000-04:00

So today I finally got the Duff airbrush machine that I've been talking about since July. Finally!!

I can't believe the darn thing has been out of stock for so long, and I'm sure the employees at Michaels who answer the phone are tired of me asking all the time if they have it in yet. Over the weekend, though, I called 3 different stores and they all had it!!

(Insert obnoxious fangirl screaming here)

And the best part (other than actually owning an airbrush machine now)? They still took my coupon! I had a 50% coupon stapled to a raincheck I got from the Michael's back home with a note from the manager saying "please take this coupon" because, well obviously, I wanted to use it on something they claimed was in stock but really wasn't. (If that run-on sentence made any sense.) And 3 months later, the super nice employees at the Michaels in Florida hooked me up!

I also bought a pearl luster spray to use. I wasn't sure which colors to get, and at $5 each, they're a little pricey. I wonder if I can get the Americolor airbrush colors at a cheaper price and bundled together? (And if there's any place in Pasco county, FL that sells cake decorating supplies. The closest store I found was in the south Tampa area.) Also, can you use gel paste that's been watered down, with water or vodka or anything like that? I'm pretty sure that you can use luster dust/vodka mixed. Honestly, I don't know much about airbrushing but I'm so excited to learn. If you have any tips or suggestions or products I can use, let me know! I already found some really cool stencils in the paint aisle at Michaels that I want to get. There was a zebra pattern that would look wicked cool on the side of a cake.

Oh, the possibilities!!

More Fall Cakes

2011-09-30T22:00:00.000-04:00

Here's another faux cake I made at Betty Cakes. Anyone in the eastern part of Pasco County who's looking for some tasty cakes, check this little bakery out. They have amazing desserts and hire talented employees like me ;)

In other news, I found a recipe for Nutella flavored cake balls, which I really want to try, and 2 new cupcake recipes: cinnamon toast crunch and margarita, both of which I'm going to have to try out on my friends/coworkers/roommates. Not sure when I'll have time, but I'll try!

Can't believe midterms are already coming up in the next couple of weeks. My senior year of college is 1/4 of the way done! =O And who knows what kind of crazy confectionary adventures I'll get into after graduation?

Betty Cakes

2011-09-26T21:33:00.002-04:00

I love decorating cakes. I could do it all day long, and in fact, some days, I do decorate them all day long. Or at least as soon as I get out of class until the bakery I work at (it's called Betty Cakes, if the post title didn't clue you in ;)) closes. Mostly I make "counter cakes" which are the standard cakes that are sold to the general public, and occasionally birthday cakes. I did make a 2-tier wedding cake a couple weeks into starting the job, but nothing too crazy.

That's where the faux cakes come in. Decorators pretty much have creative freedom to do whatever they want with the styrofoam cake dummies (as long as it's awesome, of course), and since the shop is decorated for autumn, I made an autumn-themed wedding cake, complete with gold basket weave, roses, and fondant acorns. It's so pretty... :)

I love my job!

Harry Potter Cake & Cupcakes

2011-09-15T19:05:00.000-04:00

Well, I am still alive. But (surprise!) I've been super busy at school and haven't really been blogging like I should. Before I left for school, though, I made these adorable cupcakes and a matching Harry Potter cookie cake. Sorry the pictures suck, I took them with my phone, and the REAL pictures are still on my Dad's camera.

(So Katie, whenever you can email those to me, I'd really appreciate it!)

I got a job here in Florida, actually. It's a lot of fun and it's keeping me out of trouble, so I'll have to share some of the fun stories I've got from working in a bakery! :D

Bread Pudding

2011-08-28T00:39:00.001-04:00

Easiest recipe ever right here: bread pudding. And apparently, it's super versatile too. I never actually ate bread pudding before today, and I was clearly missing out. It's really good.

Like, really really really really good.

Plus, I added chocolate chips and a banana to it. Ugh. I'm drooling just thinking about it.

Apparently, you can also make bread pudding with cake. You can pretty much make it with any bread: challah, crunchy french bread, potato bread, wheat bread, wonderbread, etc etc.

I would like to try every single one of those versions that I just listed. Plus, you can make savory bread pudding dishes too.

Anyway. I'm glad that I've expanded my culinary skills again. :)

Back to Baking: Red Velvet

2011-08-20T08:48:00.000-04:00

Gotta love those camera phone pictures!

It's been a long two weeks, guys. Right before I moved back down to school, I made a cookie cake, a dozen cupcakes, and a 50th birthday cake. (The pictures of which are all back in Georgia on my dad's camera. So hopefully he can e-mail them to me at some point, and I can share those mouth-watering photos with you!) And then... nothing.

I'd been so busy preparing for school and working with the campus ministry program that the oven stayed empty and the mixer silent.

But no longer!

I'm not sure if it was because everyone I saw on campus kept asking me when I was going make them a cake, or just because I was going through withdrawals after spending the entire summer eating, sleeping, and breathing cake, but I was going crazy. So yesterday I went grocery shopping and made my favorite red velvet recipe.

(Insert sigh of contentment.)

So I think the world is right again. I might not be up to my elbows in cupcakes and fondant and gumpaste 40 hours a week anymore (sad day!) but as long as I've got time to make some goodies for my friends and coworkers (and hellooooo, bake sales, anyone?!) I think I can survive the semester.

And on a side note, I freaking love these cupcake liners. They are too stinkin' cute!!

Marching Band Cookies & Cake

2011-08-02T20:03:00.003-04:00

One of the band directors at my sister's school is leaving, and I was volunteered to make the going-away cake. It's a yellow cake with Italian buttercream frosting (seriously one of the best things ever), decorated with rosebuds (which I learned in my Wilton class!) swags and shells. There's also some cornelli lace going on, which makes the cake a little more interesting

It's not the Chris Brown you're thinking of...

And I also made 108 cookies for all of the band members, which took a lot of work, but they look nice. I designed them after the band's uniforms. Thankfully it was only 3 colors and I got them all done in one night.

Sometimes, I think I work too hard.

Pretty Royal Flowers

2011-07-22T22:36:00.003-04:00

In this week's Wilton class, we made flowers! The apple blossoms and the the primroses were really pretty, but it was the rosebud that really got my attention. I couldn't figure out how to make those darn things for the longest time, but it turns out they're really easy! I just needed to see someone do it in person and then have them watch me to it. Such a pretty effect, too!

Next week we're making daffodils and roses, I think, which I am also excited about. This class is turning out to be a lot more fun than the fondant one. :)

Oh, and, shout out to my instructor, Mary! :-D

The Golden Snitch

2011-07-14T19:08:00.000-04:00

In honor of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (part 2) premiering tonight, my best friend Hillary and I made some Potterlicious cake balls. And obviously we chose the snitch because it plays such a vital role in the movies plot, and has nothing to do with the fact that snitches are round and therefore the perfect cake ball shape.

I found out that making cake pops is a lot easier than it was last time, because I found out you gotta put chocolate on the stick before you stick it in the cake. Like so:

The wings were a pain in my backside, though. I had a huge problem painting them silver. Originally, they were going to be spray painted silver, with Duff's cake graffiti...

But for some reason, the spray can stopped working after I did 2 pairs of wings. I'm really disappointed. I'm also sad that I still haven't gotten my airbrush machine, then I could've sprayed the wings silver and the cake part gold (Michael's doesn't sell gold cake graffiti). I ended up painting the wings with a silver glaze, which I personally think doesn't look as neat.

Plus, the painting took forever, and it was super messy.

The final cake balls looked really awesome, though. I used yellow candy melts, and gold dust mixed with lemon juice to make it sparkly and snitch like. Pretty fabulous, if I do say so myself. :)

When I ran out of wings, I covered the pops in gold sprinkles. Totally messy and not as pretty but they tasted good!

We also make cockroach clusters!

With real cockroaches! Just kidding. They're made with potato sticks and they are delicious. And also messy, but that's because it's hot and the chocolate melted.

So that's our adventure making Harry Potter sweets for the last movie! The candy trolly lady would be proud.

My Little Model

2011-07-14T06:53:00.000-04:00

So I've been working on my modeling skills ever since I attempted to make this pregnant lady who looked like she was having triplets. I just couldn't get her proportions right. I'm not gonna say she was fat, but.... yeah, ok, my first gumpaste model was fat. And the second one I did was just a head and a torso. She didn't even have arms or anything, since she was chillin in a bath tub (more about that cake later!!!), so this little lady (she needs a name! Anyone?) is figure attempt #3, and I'm getting better!!!

It helps that I found a mold at Michaels for $5 (with coupon). I do need to practice some more. Somehow her boobs turned out tiny (and when I attempted to make them more proportionate, they ended up huge instead. Oh, well...) and she's got these ginormous man hands and arms. Plus her feet were 2 different sizes. So that's what I've got to work on for my next piece.

Oh, and I've read from multiple sources now that figures are best modeled out of fondant (one website said Satin Ice was the best. I've only ever used Wilton & Fondarific so I couldn't tell you if that's true or not!) which would explain a lot, since my gumpaste always starts to wrinkle and crack before I'm done with it.

So for the next figure I make, I'm going to use fondant (probably mixed with a little gumpaste or some tylose powder), and I'm going to try to make her look like me, crazy pink/blue/purple hair and all! :)

Flowers & Cake Design (Part 1)

2011-07-12T23:57:00.003-04:00

Well, I started my final Wilton class this past Monday. I'm a quarter of the way done with flowers & cake design and I'm actually really excited for this class. There's a lot of flowers that we'll be doing out of buttercream (or royal icing), and I never really got the hang of the piped flowers when I tried to teach myself. Hopefully I'll be a faster learner with an instructor who's going over the step by step instructions with me.

This is the pansy that we made. I think this is actually upside down, but I don't really know. I like pansies a lot in real life (my grandma always plants tons of them) but I'm kind of iffy about this gumpaste one. First of all, the gumpaste started to harden and crack before I finished ruffling the petals, so that was a total buzzkill. I also feel like the sizing of the flower is off.

My biggest complaint about this class is that there is a lot of redundancy when you take the Flowers class and the Fondant class (weren't they supposed to fix that?). You even get a lot of the same tools. I'm quite miffed about that; I'd rather get some new tools that Wilton suggests you buy, but they don't actually put in your kit, like the 9" rolling pin or the tapered spatula.

You also have to re-learn a lot of the same skills: how to tint gumpaste, how to make gum-glue, etc. So totally boring if you've taken the gumpaste class already.

And the button flower? I've got mixed feelings about this guy. First of all: SUPER CUTE. I can't wait to use it with this mold for a cake I've been wanting to make for Katie for a couple of years now. But the way the flower cutter is set up is SUCH A PAIN. Also, I don't understand why you don't make this flower in the fondant/gumpaste class either. If anyone can figure that out for met, let me know!

Anyone else taken this class? Did you like it? Was it hard to make the "Wilton rose?" (I really hope I can finally master that elusive flower!)

Mums & Dasies

2011-07-05T07:03:00.017-04:00

Kind of a weird picture of my hand at a weird angle, but here is some photographic evidence of the gumpaste flowers I made in the Wilton class.

Let me give you my personal opinion on these flowers, which you may or may not agree on...

The mum? It looks weird. I had no ideas what real mums looked like until my own mom showed me some in our front yard. They are weird looking (although tiny) flowers. I'm still convinced my mum looks like a pink artichoke.

Has anyone ever had a cake with mums on it, or made someone else a mum cake? Can anyone please give me some helpful hints to make this flower look better? Or maybe I should just write it off as one of those things I'll never be able to create.

The daisy was cute. I like how it has yellow sprinkles on it for the center, but I'm not a big fan of the Wilton daisy cutter. It doesn't give very clean lines. (I do like this other one, though.) The flower formers were nice, though!

So, out of all the flowers we made in the gumpaste class, the roses were my favorite, followed by the calla lily. The next flower I'd like to tackle is the tulip, which I have no idea how to do, so if you happen to stumble upon a tulip tutorial on youtube or something, send it to me!! They're my favorite flower, and I'd love to put them on a cake! :)

Also, Wilton is phasing out their old flower set for this new (and more expensive) one. I've got the old one, which I've really only used once, and I'm wondering if the new one is worth the extra tools. It's got dogwood and hydrangea and tiger lily cutters, all of which seems different and fun (but no daffodil or tulip cutters...not that I could figure out how to use then anyway, but still...). Then again, maybe I should just save up to get the higher quality (and also more expensive) metal cutters. Thoughts?

I wish they sold some (or all) of those cutters individually. For example, the large rose cutter. I'd like to get that one, because the cutter I got in my class kit only makes small roses. Then again, I could always buy the larger rose cutter at work. I'll probably end up doing that, and since I've worked with that one before, I know what I'm getting myself into!

My Review of NINJABREAD MEN COOKIE CUTTERS

2011-07-04T20:02:00.001-04:00

Originally submitted at Perpetual Kid

They're cut out for action! These stealthy shinobi warriors are set to sneak into your kitchen and stage a cookie coup! Cut, bake, decorate and then watch them disappear! Add swords, nunchaku, and shuriken stars with icing and toothpicks for more ambiance

Awesome Ninja Cookies!

By Kelsie from Atlanta, GA on 7/4/2011

Pros: Tasty, Stealthy, fun, Easy

Best Uses: Cookies

These are seriously the most fun cookie cutters I've ever used. I wouldn't recommend icing them in black icing (turns your teeth funny colors!) but the ninja cookies I made were fun and a huge hit with everyone. You just can't go wrong with them! :D

Tags: Made with Product

(legalese)

Ninja Turtle

2011-07-03T11:46:00.000-04:00

Short post today! Remember those ninja cookies I made a few weeks ago? Well I made a ninja turtle, too, just to be cute and witty. There was another cookie that looked like Raphael, but my sister ate him before I could take a picture.

Fondant Finale

2011-07-01T07:52:00.007-04:00

So I don't know how this cake turned out so fabulous, but somehow, it did. This is the cake I made for my Wilton gumpaste/fondant class. I honestly don't know how it came together. The colors I chose based on the gumpaste and fondant I already had. I just mixed in a little extra color to make them brighter, and some how arrived at this pink/yellow/green scheme.

I've decided that the ruffle border we did in class that night is my new favorite. It looks really cute, and gives the cake a fabric-y look. And the daisies along the border? Ah! Not only did they hide the seams, but they just look like they belong there.

And the flower arrangement on the top was literally a last minute decision. My Wilton instructor and I were just playing around with the cake until it looked good, and this is what we got!

I'm so proud of this cake. Even though I stayed up too late to bake it, and got up too early to crumb coat it (and cut my finger in the process of leveling the cake-- ugh!), this cake is totally worth all the hard work! (Although if I had to do it again, I would be more careful with the knife! Kelsie, don't try to cut cakes before you've had breakfast!!)

Peanut Butter Cake Balls

2011-06-29T23:45:00.000-04:00

Don't those look amazing?!

My cake ball craving has been satisfied. I made some peanut butter cake balls the other day! After consulting with my favorite picky eater (my sister Katie) to choose a flavor, we settled on peanut butter. The other contenders were strawberry limeade, chocolate/orange, pina colada, and raspberry. I still haven't ruled out those flavors, though, and I'll probably make them when I get back to school (lots of taste testers on a college campus!)

But let's get back to the peanut butter! It's a yellow cake with vanilla icing and peanut butter (and a little milk)-- super easy. I dunked them in semi-sweet chocolate, which was tempered of course. (I hate tempering chocolate. But I also hate confectionary coating, so I went with the lesser of two evils. The thing is, tempering chocolate is a Pain. In. The. Butt. I use the "Cooking for Engineers" method, but if you can think of an easier one, let me know!)

A picture of a basketball for reference. (Just in case somebody needed it.)

So next I'd like to make some kind of cute cake pops, but I haven't really settled on a design I like yet. However, I plan to flip through Bakerella's book tomorrow and get some good ideas. Right now all I can think of is basketballs (because they're round [unlike those awful easter eggs] and they're all one color [mostly]. I think I'm just being lazy, though).

Scones!

2011-06-20T08:42:00.001-04:00

I made scones a few months ago, and they were so delicious, I'm still thinking about them. The best part? They're made with Bisquick, so the recipe is super easy. In fact, I'm thinking about making them again (my mom keeps asking me, too), but first, let me share the recipe with you!

Chocolate Chip Scones:

Ingredients:

2 cups Original Bisquick® mix
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup whipping (heavy) cream
3 tablespoons sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
Additional whipping (heavy) cream
Additional sugar

Directions:

Heat oven to 425°F. Spray cookie sheet with cooking spray or grease with shortening. Stir Bisquick mix, chocolate chips, 1/3 cup whipping cream, 3 tablespoons sugar, the egg and vanilla in medium bowl until soft dough forms.
Pat into 8-inch circle on cookie sheet (if dough is sticky, dip fingers in Bisquick mix). Brush circle with additional whipping cream; sprinkle with additional sugar. Cut into 8 wedges, but do not separate.
Bake about 12 minutes or until golden brown; carefully separate. Serve warm.

Recipe from Betty Crocker. I also added raspberries in my scones. I don't remember exactly how much, but I think it was 1/2 cup of fresh raspberries, chopped up in kinda-sorta big chunks. I think I also added more chocolate chips than the recipe called for. I don't really remember. but I'll update you when I made this again.

They taste best warm, so feel free to microwave them for a few seconds to heat them back up if your scones are cold!

Porsche Cake

2011-06-19T23:32:00.001-04:00

Just the logo for today's cake. Maybe I'll make a replica of Dad's car next year? We'll see!

20 years ago, for his very first Father's Day, as a gift to himself, my dad bought a Porsche. I'm not really sure why, or what that has to do with being a new dad, but he really wanted one, so he got it, and it's still sitting in our garage right this very second.

Bam! Do you see how smooth that buttercream is?

But let's get back to the exciting stuff: the cake. For Father's Day '11, I went with a chocolate cake. Surprised? Yeah, me too. I thought for sure that Dad would want a plain yellow cake, or maybe lemon, but he went for something totally different and asked for chocolate. Go figure.

So chocolate he got: chocolate cake, chocolate buttercream, chocolate chips, chocolate syrup, chocolate fondant.

The baking and the buttercream-ing of the cake was the easy part. It was when the fodant came in that I started having trouble. First of all, I used Fondarific, which is a terrific, tasty, and rather expensive fondant that we use (and sell) at work. The chocolate flavor tastes a little like tootsie rolls, so that's awesome. The problem, though, is that I'm used to using a dough sheeter to roll out the fondant, and today I had to do it by hand, with a wooden rolling pin, and a lot of elbow grease.

Smooth fondant! (mostly)

Anyway, after some sweat and tears (no literal tears, but I did feel like crying at one point when I still couldn't get the fondant thin enough and I was worried I'd have to start all over again), I got the cake covered. Is it as smooth and professional as you see on the TV shows? No. But was my Dad happy? You bet. It's all about pleasing the customer, right?

The logo was a lot of fun to make (though not necessarily easy). I printed the logo from Google Images, used it to trace onto the fondant, and did the same for the center part and the red and black stripes. I don't have an X-acto knife but I realized today that it's going to be my next decorating investment. The lovely gold sheen was achieved with lemon extract and "old gold" luster dust (usually I use vodka, but we didn't have any of that and it's Sunday, plus I doubt my parents were going to buy me vodka anyway, even if it was only to paint a cake). I free-handed the horse and the writing, which turned out quite spiffy, if I do say so myself. (I can never draw horses, but it turns out I can paint a tiny silhouette of one!)

Oh, and Adam helped me put the ribbon around the cake. If you look at the back side of it, you can see his little thumb prints. Which is why it's on the back.

It's not exactly the neatest cake in the world, but I'm hoping that everyone else doesn't notice all my flaws, so I'll try not to point them all out. I'll keep my perfectionist comments to myself!

Happy Father's Day!