Have You Thanked a Teacher Today?

First, I would just like to say that I love, love, love my kids' school!  They have both been going to the same school since pre-school and I can't imagine it any other way.  They are now in 5th and 2nd grade and are absolutely flourishing in every way.

The teachers at our school, along with all of the staff (plus some really special volunteers), have been an absolutely blessing for my kids... especially this past year as my kids have adjusted to my divorce from their father.  That being said, I wanted to do something special for the teachers this year.... as so often happens, time almost got the best of me, but somehow I managed to get it done.

Here are the fruits of my labor... to thank the teachers for the fruits of their labor...

Love, Blessings, and THANK YOU to the teachers!

The cupcake - red velvet with cream cheese frosting... coated in red sugar and embellished with an apple stem and leaves... isn't the cupcake paper just too cute!  Couldn't believe my luck when I happened upon them in the store.... today!

The cup... simple, plastic cocktail cup.  I found the image via free clip-art
and printed it on the circle labels... so cute :)

Put the cupcakes in the cups! (saw this idea on pinterest....
so many fun ideas there, but you know that already)

Bag it!  Wrapped in a treat bag and tied with a ribbon,
now it's a cupcake to go!

Aren't they just so adorable...

 So I've made it clear that I love our school and all the teachers and staff.  I would also like offer my sincerest admiration and gratitude to all teachers out there... Having had some teachers that have been pretty spectacular for my kids in so many ways, I appreciate the sacrifices you all make and what you do for our kids....

HAPPY TEACHER APPRECIATION DAY!

Baby Boy - Sweet Baby Shower Cookies

Typically, I do most of my sugar cookie decorating with fondant and sometimes accent with some piping.  Because it's quick and easy, but mostly because it's a medium I am very comfortable with (maybe that's why it's quick & easy?).  From time to time, an opportunity comes along for me to "break out of my comfort zone" and try something a little different.

My son's teacher recently had a baby and the class threw her a surprise baby shower.  I offered to bring some decorated cookies.... I decided this was the perfect opportunity to make some royal icing decorated cookies, something I don't have a lot of experience at.... AND I tried my hand and some different piping techniques (including writing the baby's name in teeny, tiny lettering!)... Writing/piping with icing is not my "best" thing so I was a little intimidated.

I am so pleased with how they turned out.  Aren't they cute?  They feel kind of like a vintage "throw back" design for a traditional baby shower to me...

Baby Bottles, Umbrellas & Rattles, Oh My!

Umbrellas!   I just love the rain drops & polka dots
on these guys

These were fun because I got to try several different patterns and designs... 

They were so much fun to make and the class enjoyed them as well.  His teacher gave birth to a beautiful baby boy (and I do mean beautiful... man is that baby ever cute!).

Congratulations Ms. Kirkwood!

The Cake That Started it All

So how did I get into cake decorating?  I didn't start decorating cakes until after my son was born.  Never even thought it was something I wanted to do, or would be good at.  So for me, there was definitely a defining moment for when I "started" decorating cakes.

While I've always enjoyed baking and been pretty good at it, cake decorating was nowhere on my radar.  Not until I offered to make my mother-in-law's birthday cake for her 60th birthday.  We were having a surprise party for her... I really wanted to make the cake special, but wasn't sure exactly how.  I had ordered cakes from the grocery store with edible images before for my kids' birthdays.  That gave me the idea to put a "family tree" on top of the cake to high light her life and the people in it who loved her.  I thought it would be cool to have photos of the family on the family tree and one larger photo of Sue on the cake.

But how on earth was I going to execute this idea?   I had no skills whatsoever at icing a cake smooth.  So then I had this brilliant (albeit somewhat naive) idea of making fondant.  I really didn't know that much about it and wasn't even sure if I had the name right.   But I thought, if I had a perfectly smooth cake to decorate, that would be a great foundation for the family tree.

I did a google search and found a recipe for marshmallow fondant.  I figured if it didn't work out, I wasn't out that much money or time so I thought I'd give it a shot.  So I followed the recipe (which called for incorporating the sugar into the melted marshmallows by hand).  I had the biggest mess on my counters and swear I was up to my elbows in confectioners sugar and melted marshmallow. I'm sure the amount I washed off my hands was nearly equivalent to the amount of fondant I ended up working with.

All the stars must have aligned just right because somehow.... somehow!.... that fondant rolled out so perfectly.... it went onto the cake perfectly!  It felt like a miracle, and I was sooooo pleased.  I had this beautifully covered, perfectly smooth, white sheet cake upon which to decorate.

I was scared to death to decorate this cake... I mean... it was beautifully flawless (in my mind anyhow)... I was so afraid I would muck it up when I started adding decorations.  So I made my decorations out of fondant... hand rolled and cut chocolate fondant for tree trunk and limbs... green fondant cutout leaves... red fondant cut out flowers.... I was mesmerized by this lovely concoction that was so wonderfully pliable... I became addicted and obsessed with the product and the limitless possibilities it represented.

The flowers and leaves were all looking pretty spectacular in my mind, but I was so afraid to actually put them on the cake.  Finally, I mustered up the courage to start adding the decorations to the cake... little by little, step by step, my confidence grew.  I made green buttercream and piped some additional leaves.  I made red buttercream for additional piping to frame the family photos.  I was on fire!  Or at least that is how I felt.

As is plainly evident, piping/writing was my downfall.  I was sorely disappointed in the "Your Family Is Proud" script that certainly looked like a four year old wrote it.

But overall, I was thrilled... I was proud of my creation.. I wanted to do it again... and again... and again....

It started there and never stopped.  That was December of 2006 and I never looked back.  I went to culinary school in 2008 and completed a Pastry Arts program.  This single cake was a catalyst to a hobby, which has blossomed into a successful cake business that keeps me pretty busy... and I wouldn't have it any other way.

The Cake That Started My Obsession

I am proud to say that my piping skills have improved tremendously over the years and no longer look like the work of a pre-schooler!

Fast Forward to October of 2008.... This was my next "Family Tree" cake.... Makes me think of that Virginia Slims (?) ad... "You've Come a Long Way Baby!"

It was nice to recreate the same "idea" for a cake and see just how far I had come... Absolutely LOVE both cakes, but for completely different reasons.

I love what I do and grow more confident and comfortable every day in my role as a cake artist.  Thank you to everyone who supports what I do and lifts me up when I need it.  I am thankful that I get to do what I love.... 

If You Give an ADHD Cake Decorator an Order for a Barbie Cake

This is a true story inspired by the "If You Give a Pig a Pancake" series of books.... I am quite certain that Laura Numeroff has used me as her muse....

If you give an ADHD cake decorator an order for a barbie cake,

she will search the kitchen for the necessary ingredients.

When looking in the freezer, she sees some multi-colored cake balls.

She decides adding these to the cake will make it even more exciting.

She'll go to the store to get the items she doesn't already have at home.

When she's at the store, she sees some really fancy cupcake papers.

She remembers that the birthday girl wanted both chocolate and vanilla cake.

She decides some vanilla cupcakes in these fancy papers will look really nice around the barbie cake, which is chocolate (except for the multi-colored cake balls, which are vanilla).

The barbie going into the cake has wings... she decides butterflies on top of the vanilla cupcakes will be perfect with the winged barbie cake.

She gets a call from the birthday girl's mother and learns that there may be a lot of guests.

Worried the cake and cupcakes won't be enough, she decides to make some cookies.

Since the cupcakes will have butterflies on them, she decides to make cut out sugar cookies in the shape of a butterfly.

She decides to try a new technique on the butterfly cookies that she's been wanting to try.  After decorating the cookies with the new technique, she decides adding some hand painting to the cookies will be a nice touch.

She spends so much time on the butterfly cookies that she doesn't have enough time to make the butterflies for the top of the cupcakes.

After completing the cake, she realizes that Barbie's "skirt"  is protruding too much and Barbie's wings cannot be worn with the cake.

After she's finished with the cake, cupcakes and cookies... she delivers her cake to the party where someone asks if they can order a Barbie Cake...

And you know.... if you order a Barbie cake from an ADHD cake decorator.... you might just get a whole lot of other stuff to go with it.

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Cherry Pie or Not Cherry Pie?

Cherry Pie... or is it?

Cherry Pie... :)

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Okay... so I got this cherry pie recipe from a friend who swears it is THE best cherry pie... EVER!  Here's my dilemma... I don't really care for cherry pie that much... So I thought, what the heck... maybe I don't care for it because I've never had a really good cherry pie?  He made this pie sound so perfect and delicious that I just had to try it.... so off to the grocery I go...

While shopping for the ingredients I was not able to get the right kind of cherries per the recipe, so I improvised.  Instead of "tart pitted cherries in water"... I could only get "dark cherries in heavy syrup"... I thought, okay... it's still cherries, but in heavy syrup.  I'll just reduce the sugar, which I did.  With a plan in mind, I baked this cherry pie...

Oh man, I thought this pie was the "bees knees"... practically licked my plate I did!  It was absolutely the most I had ever enjoyed a slice of cherry pie in my life!

So fast forward to my friend Emily coming over to try the pie.... She LOVES cherry pie, so her opinion was pretty relevant.  Now... she too practically licked her plate clean, but her comment?  "It's not really like a cherry pie... anyone expecting cherry pie is going to miss that tartness of the cherries."  So apparently, I made a really good pie, but not a really good "cherry" pie?  Go figure...

On the upside... while talking with her on the phone... before coming to my house for pie.... she was at the grocery store... she checked her store and they did, indeed, have the correct cherries for the cherry pie filling.  She got two cans for me....

So.... now for chapter two of Cherry Pie....


TO BE CONTINUED....

Making Authentic Strudel - Including Step by Step Photos

I have heard of strudel... but to be honest, I have never really been sure exactly what it was?  I imagined some kind of pastry.. in my mind it was a German or Dutch thing... not really certain of any more details beyond that.  Even having gone to pastry school.... it wasn't something we learned about so I still had no idea what it was and never thought much about it.

While visiting with my friends David and Hanna recently, the topic of strudel came up (as I'm sure it does often for you, right?).  It is something David grew up with.  His dad used to make it all the time and, in turn, he learned to make it.  I was so intrigued by it. When he described what it was... and, oh my, how you make it... I found it all so fascinating.   

Upon discovering that friends of mine often made authentic strudel, I managed to persuade them to come on over to my house and show me how it's done..  

Ingredients for the dough per David... as you can see, it's not terribly "exact".... 

1. "a big bowl full" of good hard wheat white flour (bread or all purpose) - this works out to be about six cups that are just scooped out of the flour bin, no sifting or other fancy stuff
2. "a tiny bit of salt" - something between 1/4 and 1/2 of a teaspoon of NaCl
3. "a tiny bit of oil" - I tend to use about 1 tablespoon full, although dad assures me that 1 teaspoon should do
4. almost to hot to touch water

:

Ingredients for the Dough... Flower, egg, salt, water & oil

Knead water and flour together to make a stiff dough.

Add salt after about 10 minutes of kneading.

Add oil after another 10 minutes of kneading

Keep kneading for another 10 minutes - you should have a nice stiff lump of dough about the size of a small cantaloupe or a large grapefruit.  Wrap in plastic wrap and let sit on your counter for a couple of hours or over night



THE FILLING....

APPLES!  LOTS AND LOTS OF APPLES!

Oh, and some other ingredients for the filling as well... :)

brown sugar, walnuts, cinnamon, nutmeg, butter (salted), dried cranberries and dried apricots

A LOT of apples were peeled for this event... and cut into tiny, tiny, tiny pieces

You need a very large work surface (at least 3' x 5') to work on. Cover the surface with a clean sheet and lightly dust with flour.  This gets VERY interesting later on...

And now you begin working the dough... you have to gently stretch the dough very thin... so thin you could just about read through it!  This is David... beginning to stretch the dough.

More stretching...

And more stretching...

And now stretching to the point of needing two people!

It is important to work slowly and gently with the dough so it stretches very thin but doesn't break. A skill David has obviously mastered...

And now the yummy goodness of the filling... Apparently, you can fill a strudel with all kinds of filling... they can even be savory (mushrooms, cheese, etc.)... We went the apples, fruit and nuts route... very traditional and really, really tasty

See how tiny the apples are chopped?

Here the strudel is with all the filling in place and ready to roll. After adding the fruit and nuts, we sprinkled some brown sugar (we didn't measure but were fairly conservative with the sugar... much less than you would include in a cinnamon roll)... and then several pats of butter throughout.  Other strudel recipes call for brushing the dough with melted butter... David's family uses the pats of butter and they melt into the filling just like a rustic apple pie:)

Close up of the filling....

And now he begins to roll the strudel.. first, he gently tucks the edge of the dough
over the filling and begins the roll...

After securing the beginning of the roll, David picks up the sheet and gently allows the strudel to roll itself!  I really wish I had gotten video of this part... it was truly fascinating.. and very quick!

More rolling...

And more rolling...

Until you get to this point...

Pull the end up and pinch,tuck securely to the strudel. Cut down the middle to separate the two strudels and secure all of the ends.  Some people trim the excess dough off of the ends before pinching it closed, but David and his family rather prefer the doughy end as it's own unique snack once it's baked.. I must agree, those baked doughy ends were tasty...

This part was kind of amazing as well.. It's hard to tell just how large these rolls were, but there were pretty big... and filled to capacity with the yummy filling.  so how to get them on the pan???  Place the baking sheets behind/under the edges of the rolls (note that the baking sheets are covered with parchment paper)... pick up the sheet on the other end and.....

Flip those puppies onto the baking sheets!  Simple, right?  (I never would have
thought of that on my own...

A very dramatic moment as the strudel gets flipped onto the baking sheets.

Aren't they gloriously grand?  I was told that trimming the excess dough from the ends is traditional, but David prefers to leave  them on and "gnaw" on them after baking as an added treat... to me, it was a bonus worth waiting for :)

So here is strudel number one fresh out of the oven...
smells amazing!

The second one had a bit of a mis-hap, but was still super tasty none-the-less...
I kind of liked that is was imperfect in such an amazing way...

The inside of the freshly cut strudel..
doesn't that look amazing?

Plated and served with vanilla ice cream... it was A M A Z I N G!

A Big THANKS to David and Hanna for sharing this experience with me... it was so much fun and the end result was definitely worth the effort!

Random Things From My Dad - #10

Okay... I am woefully behind on blogging... and there are several "Random Things From My Dad" posts yet to be written... but the latest random thing from my dad is pretty interesting...

I have a lot of issues with joint pain and chronic fatigue... my dad is always on the prowl for homeopathic remedies for all kinds of ailments and his latest contribution to my arsenal was this... The "BioEnergiser D-Tox Spa".



                 BioEnergiser

You line the tub with a plastic liner, put these special salt tablets in the water, immerse the ionic "whatever" thingy into the water, turn it on and soak your feet for about 30 minutes.  The water turns this remarkably disgusting orange/brown color.  It is supposedly removing toxins from your body and providing you relief from all kinds of ailments from migraines to chronic fatigue.

It is really this gross looking!

It would be awesome if this actually works... I am using it under the assumption that it will at least do no harm...  Gave myself my first treatment this evening... we shall see how this particularly odd "random gift" from my dad plays out...

Stay Tuned!