Playing Catch-up

I am a little behind on posting, because my cable modem stopped working just after I started the blog. The repair man came today to give me a new modem. It was so frustrating having to wait that long....especially since my husband knew what the problem was, last week. Today was just the soonest that I could get on the cable companies service list. Boy I wish I could get Grande in my neighborhood!

Back to playing catch-up!

Grande Cakes

I work for Grande Communications - Network Services department. For the past two-three years I've been making cakes for my Departments' birthdays, for a very small fee, and most recently, I started making cakes for a few of the other departments. The Operations Department ordered two cakes for their September birthday's; a German Chocolate and a Strawberry Cheesecake.

This was the first time I wasn't completly horrified by the look of my German Chocolate Cake....specifically, the icing. I realized that I wasn't letting my icing cool long enough before I started applying it to the cake. I normally end up with icing dripping down the sides because it hasn't hardened. The funny thing is, it didn't matter with this particular cake. Since I'd seen a lot of people use buttercream icing around the entire cake and only apply the German Chocolate glase to the top....I did it this time. Oh, well....maybe I'll try icing the entire cake next time. BTW: I'm told my cake and icing are very good. I never eat it...I hate coconut and nuts!

As far as the Cheesecake goes, I used my old reliable recipe, but made a thicker graham cracker crust. Totally loved how it looked. I think I need to try out a new pan though. Can you see the ridge mine is leaving?

Fondant Fear!

Wow! I was so afraid of using fondant that I've been having mini anxiety attacks, all week. While watching the VP debate, last night, I finally started coloring and rolling my fondant to cover the tiers of Amy's cake. What was I so afraid of? My sisiter told me it was like playing with PlayDoh, and she was right. It kinda taste like it too! =)

I bought the ready made Wilton fondant on the recommendation of a Wilton.com chat room entry. The writer suggested doing a trial run with the pre-made stuff so I could get use to the texture and practice rolling and cutting it. I am making a Hallowwen cake for one of my friends sisters'. I've already asked her if she minds being my giunea pig on Mashmellow Fondant. I hear that is actually edible.

From now on, I will not Fear Fondant! Maybe Gum Paste....but not Fondant!

To be or Not to be "Topsy Turvy"

For any female that just recently got married, is getting married, or has been to a wedding, sweet sixteen party, etc...., you may have seen the latest craze in cakes....the Whimsical or "Topsy Turvy" cake. I absolutly love these cakes, and am scheduled to make one, at the end of the month, for a sweet sixteen, so I thought I'd practice on one this week.

Saturday, we are celebrating Amys' (one of my best friends) birthday. This is a perfect opportunity for me to make this cake, right? I thought so too. So last night I baked the cakes - a two tier triple chocoalte cake.

Well, I am glad I went thru this trial run. I already screwed up. I didn't realize until after I crumb coated the cake with buttercream icing that I was supposed to shape the cake BEFORE I crumb coated it! I guess I am not making a Topsy Turvy cake this weekend afterall....haha! Oh well, I can still use it as a trial run on all the fondant decorations.

FYI: This is what happens when you start watching a scary, borderline "B" movie with your husband while baking at 11:00 at night...on a work night. I rarely sleep!

UFC Cake: Not my best work but edible!

So the Saturday after my husbands birthday, September 6th, we gathered at a friends house, like we always do for all UFC events. Since I'd just learned about a technique, I really wanted to try it out. I read that you can use rice paper to create a stencil, and since it is a natural fiber, it is edible. So, since it was a UFC night, and since we were meeting at James' house and he is UFC obsessed, I decide to make a UFC cake.

Now, I know what you are thinking....You could have done this free hand. True, but I didn't have time to get "all creative", so I picked a simple design. First off, I didn't take the time to trim and level my cake, so the cake is a little off shape. Second, I did not do a great job icing the cake, so the edges are not smooth and sharp. Finally, the rice paper didn't desolve into the cake.....like it was supposed to. When I re-read the site that I learned this from, I figured out that it takes like a day for it to disolve...haha....I only gave it like two hours!

Oh well, the chocolate cake and chocolate buttercream icing tasted great. I remember, though, when we were "digging" into it, my husband asking why I wasn't eating any......I was too busy shoveling down chips, queso, and salsa!

Stephen's Birthday 2008

I am a month behind on this post, since my husbands birthday was on September 1st. Oh well, Better late then never. We had a back yard BBQ on Saturday August 30th, for his birthday with all our friends, so I wanted to make his favorite cakes. Yes....two....he's spoiled. Stephen loves cheesecake and whenever we go out to eat, he generally orders rich chocolate cake...if they don't have cheesecake. Anyway, I digress....

So, for his birthday I made both. I made a New York Style Cheesecake with a graham cracker crust and fresh strawberries pureed of top. I make it often, because this is my fathers favorite too. I tried a new recipe for the chocolate cake, with some modifications. I think this is my favorite chocolate cake yet. It is very decadent but not overly sweet. I icing and filled the cake with chocolate buttercream and then glased the top with semi-sweet chocolate. Finally, I topped the cake with some chocolate covered strawberries.

I laughed hysterically when I found out that several of my friends thought the cakes were fake. Apparently, cheesecake is all my friends favorite too, because almost all of that was eaten. I did have a few takers on the chocolate cake...even Tori, my neighbor, who apparently doesn't usually like chocolate cake.