The SugarHippie

Birthday Cake with Woodland Critters

2021-03-01T21:02:00.002-05:00

This is Peter's first birthday cake! It's a simple vanilla cake with a light blue vanilla buttercream but the real attraction of this cake are the woodland critter cake toppers. A bear, a fox, a raccoon, an owl, a couple of birds, and the birthday celebrant represented by a rabbit wearing a crown. The fondant critters were prepared a week ahead to make sure they set firm and solid.

Gourmet Donuts You Can Make at Home!

2021-02-19T13:51:00.013-05:00

Donuts are probably one of the easiest things to make at home and you can make it as fancy as those you find in donut shops! By this time, a year over this pandemic, a lot of us have learned DIY projects and lots of baking. And baking, in particular, has been one of those interesting things most of us have done. So DONUT fear to grab the whisk, get your hands in those sticky doughs because it's time to make donuts - knead, punch, roll and fry these scrumptious donuts! I will share a recipe below of the basic donut dough and you can be creative and inventive with the fillings, toppings and glazes of your choice.

First of, mise en place! gather the ingredients, bowls, measuring spoons, stand mixer (if you have one), clear up a work bench and everything else you will need for this rewarding adventure.

Ingredients for the Donuts:

2 Cups All Purpose Flour, extra 3-4 Tbsps flour for kneading

3 Tbsps Granulated Sugar

2 tsps Instant Yeast

1/2 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp Nutmeg

1 Egg

1/2 Cup Whole Milk, lukewarm temperature

1/3 of a Stick Unsalted Butter, at room temperature

4 Cups Vegetable Oil for frying

Ingredients for the Basic Glaze:

2 Cups Powdered Sugar, shifted to break up any lumps

1/3 Stick Butter, melted

3-5 Tbsps Whole Milk

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Procedure:

In a medium bowl, or in the bowl of the stand mixer, place the 2 cups of flour, sugar, salt and nutmeg. Whisk to combine. Pour the milk in a small bowl, add the yeast and mix well until it's dissolved, then add the melted butter and egg. Mix to combine.

Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture and knead to make the dough. The dough will become elastic and quite tacky. If kneading the dough by hand, use the 1/4 cup of flour to dust the surface of the work bench. Knead for about 10-15 minutes.

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise to 1.5 hours.

After the rising time, punch the dough to deflate. Transfer the dough from the bowl to the work bench that is lightly dusted with flour. Use a rolling pin to spread the dough at about an inch thick. Lightly dust the surface of the dough with flour. Using the rim of a glass or with a 3-4 inch round cutter, punch donut rounds and place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet, at least 3 inches apart per dough. Re-roll the dough scraps to make more.

Cover the dough with plastic wrap and allow to proof for 30 minutes. when the dough has risen and doubled in size, it's time to fry.

Pour the oil in a pan enough for the oil to come at about 2-3 inches to its side. Heat the pan to about 320'F or when you stick a bamboo skewer or wooden stick, it will start to sizzle.

Cut out the parchment with the risen dough on it and carefully place 2-3 donuts in hot oil. Take the parchment paper off once the dough is released in the oil. Do this one donut at a time to ensure that the temperature of the oil doesn't drop otherwise the dough will absorb quite a bit of oil and it will become greasy. Adjust the heat when necessary so the donuts don't turn brown too quickly, either. Flip the donut once you see them turn light golden brown. Fry the other side of the donut. Take the donuts out of the pan and place them on a paper towel to absorb the excess oil. Repeat the process until all the donuts are fried.

For the Glaze:

Place the powdered sugar in a bowl, add the melted butter and a little bit of the milk and vanilla extract. Whisk it until smooth. Add the extra milk to adjust to your desired consistency.

You can actually play around with the glaze recipe for the desired thickness and effect. Add more powdered sugar if necessary. You can switch to puréed fruits like strawberries, raspberry, blueberry or blackberries in lieu of butter and milk to make the glaze. But always mix the liquid a little at a time and mix well to adjust the glaze mixture's viscosity.

The donuts I made below were:

Coconut Glaze (using unsweetened coconut milk) topped with sweetened coconut flakes and coconut pastry cream

Donut with cinnamon sugar

Raspberry jelly filled donut with a raspberry glaze (using raspberry purée)

Raspberry and Rosewater Glaze with rosewater pastry cream, and some dried edible rose petals

The Sans Rival Revival

2021-02-18T12:51:00.013-05:00

(The Sans Rival Wedding Cake - February 20, 2020 @ The Brooklyn Historical Society)

The word "Sans Rival" translates to "unrivaled" in French. It's a cake made of meringue disks with chopped cashew nuts folded in it. It is then layered with Swiss meringue buttercream (traditionally). The base cake is similar to a Dacquoise. A Dacqouise is a nut meringue typically made with ground almonds and hazelnuts. A Dacqouise cake is also layered with whipped cream or buttercream.

The Sans Rival, a quintessential filipino dessert with a European origin and influence, is having its grand revival! It's becoming popular now and I believe it rivals the indulgent desserts we associate with European classic treats. It is one of the cakes that one must really add to their repertoire of favorites. It's a very simple cake and yet it is so good.

I had a client who wanted to have their wedding cake made of entirely Sans Rival layers. I have to say it's one of the best wedding cake choices and the cake was a great success. Taking notes from its origin and influence, I was able to create a design that combined Asian and European aesthetics.

The Sans Rival cake tiers were covered with strips of edible rice paper, and with the bride's decoration of choice of dried flowers, I thought it really added a European country accent to it. The visual texture is so classic and it gave that vintage painting look which was amazing!

Check out the photos below! leave a comment. what do you think about the cake?

Custom Birthday Cake

2021-02-17T12:01:00.005-05:00

Custom cakes are always fun to make. Here's one I made last summer. The vanilla cake is filled and frosted in light blue colored buttercream. The birthday boy loves apples. He's fascinated with anything that has wheels and plugs! yes, plugs!

Taking reference from those information I made gum paste figures of a little boy surrounded by a crate of apples, a teddy bear, a large wheel and a plug.

It's always a good idea to make the figures days before you decorate the cake to allow the gum paste to set and dry.

What's more important also is to make sure that the cake tastes great so you have a happy customer and fun celebration!

Check out the photos below for creative ideas. Drop a comment for your questions and share some ideas.

Happy Baking!

Chiffon and Strawberries

2021-01-31T00:08:00.000-05:00

If you're thinking of having a perfectly light cake, a strawberry shortcake made with chiffon cake layers, whipped cream and fresh strawberries is the way to go!

Chiffon cake's light crumb complements the silky mouth-feel of whipped cream and add to that slices of strawberries gives the burst of sweetness.

We mostly associate strawberry shortcakes with warm summer brunches and soirees .. think again. You can always enjoy this cake all year round.

Yule logs with Fondant Mushrooms

2021-01-24T18:11:00.011-05:00

In one of the 2016 Holiday Parties, I created a 4-foot Yule log for a huge holiday event and the design concept was similar to this. Taking inspiration from the Yule log 4 years ago, the 2020 version is filled with more flavorful stuff. It has layers of dark chocolate cake, fresh berries, dark chocolate ganache and vanilla buttercream. The decors were fondant mushrooms, melted chocolate and gold highlighted berries. The fondant mushrooms were particularly fun to make. Each mushroom was made to look different and all were hand-painted.

I made 3 sizes of the cakes to accommodate the requests. stacks of three logs to logs that serve 6 people. Check out the photos below and see the cake in every angle :)

Edible Wafer Paper Flowers Has Its Charm

2021-01-23T19:01:00.001-05:00

I've worked with edible wafer paper before for my cakes and pastry decorations. They are made of finely ground rice. They come in blank sheets and they can be cut into shapes or shaped into this amazing free-form flowers that looks so gorgeous on cakes.

There's a lot of resource materials you can find online now on how to make them so do check them out. For this special birthday cake I made 6 to 8 petals each with coated floral wire for each flower. I used a little bit of gel paste food color and vodka to mold and paint each petal ( because it dries out fairly quickly, or any clear spirits will do if you don't have any vodka on hand). I also used a little bit of piping gel to glue the rice paper on the floral wires.

The result is stunning. You can lightly paint it with iridescent highlights to create a sparkling effect as well. Creativity is key so explore the possibilities of using wafer paper flowers for your next cakes.

The cake shown in this photo is a dark chocolate ganache covered chocolate cake with a vanilla buttercream on the top and some white sugar pearls. It's a simple cake but very elegant... and charming to say the least! 😉

cakes and The City ( and the year 2020)

2021-01-23T18:07:00.002-05:00

And just like that.... after so many months of not posting anything on my blog, I'm at my happiest to show you what went on those missing months that felt like years. I promise to update my blog more often so I can keep everyone visiting my blog post updated. Please leave a comment or say Hi and if you have any questions I would gladly give my reply.

The year 2020 was a tough year and yet I'm glad I have made so much progress in all the important aspects in my life. Sounds cliché but it is true! Things happen for all the right reasons.

For this post I just wanted to highlight the cakes I made from January til December of 2020. Each cakes meant so much to me personally because they were made for special people who I got to know better in the process of creating them. I also appreciate their support during those tough times. For that I'm ever so grateful.

Please indulge in a collage of photos of some the cakes I was truly inspired to create. Cheers!

Sugar Cookie Winter Village: A Festive Holiday Center Piece

2020-05-25T13:49:00.003-04:00

I always dreamed of having a winter holiday in a festive Christmas village. I like to be surrounded by snow capped mountains, cottages and pine trees. I like to see houses and pine trees decorated with colorful lights and ornaments. This is the inspiration of this edible center piece. It consists of lemon pound cake shaped like trees and I dusted it with edible glitter and powdered sugar. The village houses are sugar cookies decorated with royal icing. Inside are 3 tiers of dark chocolate cake covered with Italian buttercream. This help the sugar cookies stick to the cake.

Any baking enthusiast can take their spin on this idea for your next holiday or any celebration.. but making this for the holidays? That would be perfect!

Vanilla Mille Crepe Cake

2020-05-23T15:55:00.001-04:00

Crepes is one of the easiest pastries you can ever make. It only requires simple ingredients you would all have in your pantry, plus its really no-fuzz to assemble. For this cake I made 24 very thin sheets of crepes and layered them with a simple vanilla whipped cream. Once you layered them, you need to wrap it in plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge for a good 2-3 hours before serving. You can serve The Mille Crepe Cake with fresh berries or your favorite dessert sauces. Pair it with tea, coffee, champagne or even a dessert wine for a more sophisticated tasting experience.

Style is Personal

2019-05-13T12:09:00.000-04:00

Wedding Cake at Warehouse Studios in Brooklyn. The design of the cake pretty much reflected the interior of the event space. Sections of exposed bricks complimented the semi-naked look of the wedding cake. I wanted to show every little aspects and POV how the cake was set up.

Have special events coming up? drop me a line and maybe we can create a custom cake for you!

Leave a comment and or/subscribe 😊

Trendy Wedding Cakes of 2018 and 2019

2019-05-05T19:19:00.003-04:00

We're just starting wedding season and it's exciting to see beautiful cakes taking center stage. Wedding themes, budget and location sometimes dictate the wedding cake designs. Here are some of the few examples:

Glitz and Glamour - Cakes decorated with bling-bling. If your wedding reception is held in historic venues and have that golden age vibe then gold and sparkly themed cake is appropriate. Here's that cake with golden bands of rhinestones and gold sprayed white roses.

Location: Brooklyn Historical Society

Art Deco Style. Feeling that Gatsby vibe for a wedding theme is so fabulous. Bold colors, pearls, old rose colors are IN. Fondant wedding cakes with a feel of velvet, bold colors and luster dust makes all the difference in a creative interpretation of the era.

Location: The Box House at Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

Gilded and Marble. These cake designs are reminiscent to the hellenic era. Fondant cakes look like marble stones sometimes rough and/or smooth in texture. The cake looks soft and smooth and yet the marble effect on the fondant surface makes it look solid and sturdy. The illusion of marble is a beautiful effect. 24K gold is painted on the creases of the fondant.

Location: 501 Union, Brooklyn

Wedding at the Library. Taking on the look of the venue, an all white semi-naked cake takes form. The rough white walls and the patches of colors are incorporated in the design of the cake. It has that homey look and feel. But don't be deceived by it's simple appearance. the cake is packed with amazing flavors which the couple was really after.

Location: Brooklyn Art Library, Williamsburg, Brooklyn

The Foundry Wedding Cakes. This location is one of my favorite wedding venues, ever! It's an old armory with exposed brick walls, big windows and arches. The courtyard is spacious. The main reception hall becomes very cozy from dusk til the wedding celebration ends.

Location: The Foundry, Long Island City

Looking forward to more wedding cakes this year.

An Art Library Wedding Cake

2018-11-19T18:36:00.001-05:00

This is the last wedding cake for the season. The wedding venue was at Brooklyn Art Library.

The sky-high wedding cake has 3 flavors -

The top tier is a tea flavored cake signature to Harney and Sons. The tea is called Citron Green. It is a blend of green tea and citron infusion.

The middle tier is another tea flavored cake signature to Harney and Sons. The tea is called Paris. The floral black tea is just divine. This tea I highly recommend.

The base tier is a rich Valrhona chocolate cake with dark chocolate ganache.

The tiers have been lightly frosted with Italian buttercream.

It's been a great year for wedding cakes and I'm surely looking forward to making more next year!

Wedding Blooms

2018-10-08T17:59:00.000-04:00

I'm sharing these photos from a recent wedding. I think they are a great source of inspiration, especially for cake designers like me.

Enjoy the photos! They could be great desktop wall papers or screen savers!

Happy Ever After .. Just Like In The Movies

2018-10-02T19:12:00.001-04:00

This was my latest wedding cake and It was one of the dreamiest wedding cakes so far. What seemed royal blue in natural light turned blueish purple when the lights were dimmed. The edges of the cake is painted with mother of pearl highlight and a dusting of iridescent pixie dust all over the cake. Fresh flowers were provided by the best florist in Long Island City, Floresta!

I just loved this wedding cake! Inside, chocolate cake is layered with a chocolate hazelnut cream and frosted with my buttercream of choice - Italian Buttercream. As I have mentioned over and over, this Italian buttercream I have been using has the lightest and smooth texture but also holds pretty well.

Retro Chic Wedding Cake

2018-09-05T19:13:00.002-04:00

I made a wedding cake recently made of layered cheesecake and rose scented genoise sponge cake as it's top tier and the rest of the cake was rose scented sponge cake layered with light mascarpone cream and fresh berries! These are cakes perfect for summer because it's light and the abundance of sweet berries are just fitting for summer desserts and wedding cake for that matter!

The look was a simple satiny buttercream almost like an ecru and shimmery silk color and the fresh flowers and greens just gave it an elegant touch of color.

It was a minimalist design but nothing short of spectacular! Less is more!

The look was a simple satiny buttercream almost like an ecru and shimmery silk color and the fresh flowers and greens just gave it an elegant touch of color.

It was a minimalist design but nothing short of spectacular! Less is more!

Strawberry, Basil & Elderflower Bonbon

2018-07-19T20:42:00.000-04:00

Food for the gods! That's what chocolate was dubbed before. But now, chocolate can be enjoyed by regular folks like us!

My recent quest to introduce something new in my dessert repertoire has lead me to this heavenly confection.

This heart-shaped bonbon is made of a 58% cocoa fat dark chocolate and is filled with a fluid gel of strawberry puree, elderflower syrup and basil. I like the 58% cocoa fat content because it is not so sweet and the fruity flavor nuance is very evident. The tartness of the strawberries and elderflower perfectly complimented with the scent of fresh basil.

If you ever get the chance contact me and I can arrange a chocolate tasting for you!

HANDMADE CHOCOLATES

2018-07-12T19:53:00.000-04:00

Making chocolate bonbons has always fascinated me that I constantly think about how I can do it better specially being a pastry chef. Chocolate tempering is one of those things that I wanted to learn more about. It's complex and yet so simple but doing it right is the challenge and as to improving one's work, I think it should be true to all of us who are in this field. We need to constantly learn how to create, learn new things, new skills, and higher understanding of the rigors of our profession. To excel is to do things right, the right way.

So after a lot of reading and watching learning videos and getting my hands dirty with chocolate I believe I have stepped up my skill set and proud to show off what I have created.

I came up with three confections for an upcoming wedding that will feature mini pastries and confections.

Rose Almond Blush - a white chocolate bonbon filled with a rose almond ganache and accented with a pink blush on top of the chocolate;

Paris - a personal favorite of mine is Harney & Son's Tea called Paris and I infused the milk chocolate ganache with this beautiful floral, light and smoky. It is encased in dark chocolate with silver accent.

St. Germain - the inside is a blend of almond and pistachio marzipan flavored with St. Germain liqueur and Kirsch... and this is hand-dipped and dusted with gold highlight.

Absolutely divine confessions I am so proud of to share.

Mr. Rabbit!

2018-05-28T21:09:00.000-04:00

I bake and I also love to create needle-felted figures! This rabbit reminds of the march hare in Alice in Wonderland and Peter rabbit. Actually, I was watching the film adaptation of Peter Rabbit by Beatrice Potter while I was needle-felting this guy.

I created Mr. Rabbit using 2 methods - wet and dry needle-felting. The base was first shaped and made sure that is was packed so well and then soaked in very hot water to make the fibers expand and weave itself tighter. Thus you get a firm base and will not fray as much. The second part is layering the fibers to bring the character to life.

Needle-felting takes time and process and imagination. Finished characters represent your style and skill level, and everything made is unique.

Needle-felting is very therapeutic and for me is a great creative outlet.

Back To Needle-Felting and Painted Birdhouses

2018-05-27T11:34:00.001-04:00

The past days are juggling between work and artwork. Although work is always the top priority it is always better to balance the schedule doing something creative. Now these are the critters I have made so far and re-opened my Etsy shop. Please check it out on the link below:

TheSugarHippie Etsy Shop

Gotta share art! I'm currently working on more felted artwork as well so stay tuned!

Checkout my Etsy shop and hit the like button, if you like them!

Keep Creating!

Gluten-Free!

2018-04-25T09:13:00.000-04:00

These are very easy dessert composition - an almond dacqouise, a sponge cake made of almond flour with some berries, and a chocolate mousse in it the almond dacqouise and red berry compote (just a mix of red berries cooked together) and a small helping of soft chocolate ganache to seal the deal!

Garnish and presentation also plays a role so always make your dessert look beautiful!

Vanilla and Berry Swirl Mini Cupcakes

2018-03-25T20:30:00.000-04:00

The quintessential cupcake. Bakers now a days get super creative making every cupcake flavor imaginable. For me I want something that has a straight forward good flavor, not so sweet and a soft cake base. I don't go crazy or fuzz over the popular flavor combos I just want a good cupcake with a luscious cream frosting.

So this is a mini vanilla cupcake with a small dollop of raspberry preserve in the middle, topped with a swirl of Italian buttercream one flavored with vanilla (white) and red berry (pink). I used a closed star icing tip from Ateco to pipe the rosette and topped with green sugar pearls. Looks dainty, simple and yet classy. This is a 2-3 bite cupcake you won't feel guilty having.

Wedding Cake Tasting

2018-03-10T19:41:00.003-05:00

Today I met a lovely couple about to be married and privileged to prepare cakes for the wedding happening soon. A chocolate baileys espresso bean, ganache red currant jam and fresh raspberry, a chocolate banana custard with chocolate espresso bean - the couple loves chocolate.

These are the photos of the cakes and the tasting set up. The view is stunning with the Manhattan skyline and Brooklyn as our backdrop.

Let The Bread Rolls Roll!!!

2018-03-07T17:15:00.001-05:00

As Promised this is the recipe for the bread roll that's really soft and easy to make. You can flavor it with fresh or dried herbs, dried fruits and nuts, make it into cinnamon rolls, pizza dough, stuff it with bean pastes or cooked meat mixtures.. the possibilities are endless. Personally I just like it as it is.

So you will need -

1 cup of Lukewarm water

2 Tablespoons of room temperature butter

1 large egg, slightly beaten

3 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour

1/4 cup of sugar

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp of instant yeast (rapid-rise yeast)

If you're using regular granulated yeast, you will need to hydrate it in the 1 cup of water used in the recipe.

If you're using rapid-rise yeast granules, just mix it directly to the flour mixture.

Directions:

Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl - flour, sugar, salt, yeast, dried herbs, and mix well.

Make a well in the center and add the wet ingredients.

With your finger tips dipped in the liquid center, gently swirl your fingers so that the liquid will slowly pick up the flour mixture. Swirl until all the flour has been moistened and mixture starts to get come together and will be a very tacky or sticky.

Empty out the mixture on a lightly floured board and start kneading until you've made a soft and smooth dough. A good 10-12 minutes of hand kneading usually does it.

If you're using a stand mixer, put all the ingredients in the mixing bowl and just keep the machine kneading (hook attachment) until you get a soft and smooth dough.

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover it tight with a plastic wrap, and let the dough rise for 1 hour.

After 1 hour, dough has risen, it's time to knock the air bubbles out. DO NOT KNEAD it anymore. Just fold the dough onto itself. It should be very soft and stretchy.

Now divide the dough to whatever you like to do with it. Shape it. When shaping, work fast and cover the rest of the dough with a damp towel. Place the shaped dough on greased baking sheet. Cover with a damp towel ( you can also use plastic wrap and cover loosely) and let it rise again for another 30-40 minutes.

10 minutes before second rising is done, preheat the oven to 375'F.

Dough is ready after 30-40 minutes, brush tops of dough with egg wash or milk. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden.

Let the baked bread rest for a few minutes before serving, or, let if cool completely and then tightly wrapped. Consume within 3 days or keep in the fridge, wrapped air-tight.

Questions or feedback?

Let me know!

Happy Baking!

Mini Buns

2018-03-05T21:04:00.002-05:00

I found a very simple bread recipe that yields soft and spongy structure and tastes really really good!

This bread is made of AP Flour, eggs, butter, water, sugar, salt and instant yeast to cut the proofing time.

I portioned 10 grams of dough to make mini burgers or sliders thats good for 2 bites. They baked to a size of a pingpong ball. Some were rolled and baked in a baking sheet and some I baked in a silicon mold to ensure that oven spring rise of the bread is controlled to a specific diameter.

If you happen to have a Kitchenaid mixer you can make the bread with little effort. During mixing/kneading you do have to check from time to time to see if the dough has developed the gluten structure or stretch that you need to ensure that it is properly kneaded.

Making bread requires planning because you do need to let the dough rise, shape, proof and then the baking. It will take a good 3 hours at least from mixing to baking.

Bread baking is whole new discipline and it's really worth it to make yourself.

I will share the recipe in another post so do check it out!