It's unbelievable that I have not posted for nearly two months. It sure doesn't feel like that much time has passed. The summer is already winding down, yet there is still so much to do before winter sets in (and when it sets in here, you want to hibernate).
Even though my posts have been few and far between, I have been stretching the limits of my air conditioner by baking several cakes for coworkers (and just for the fun of it). Here are some of the recent things I've made (at least the ones where I remembered to take a photo!). The main photo is of "killer bee" cupcakes (killer because it took me 2 1/2 hours to decorate 27 cupcakes). Inspiration for these cuties came about after making a graduation cake for a coworker's daughter. The collegiate colors were yellow and black, and the team mascot was a bee, but she didn't want a bee to be the main feature. So I made a yellow cake with white daisies, and placed a few little bees here and there on the flowers. They were so cute that I had to make a bunch more of them. Then, of course, I had to make some cupcakes on which to place the bees. The flowers on the cupcakes are supposed to be sunflowers, and if you look very closely at the centers, you will see I attempted to make individual "seeds" in the middle. This is a technique that still needs work.
Next up is a birthday cake and a new icing color. The color is Delphinium Blue, but the lighting made it look more purple. This cake was great because it had a lemon curd filling. MMMmmmmm...lemon.
I tried to make diamonds on the sides of the cake. They are deceptively difficult. I really need to invest in one of the cake dividing mats that Wilton makes. It has radial lines extending from the center so you can place the cake on it and use the lines to divide the cake into fourths, sixths, or eighths. It helps when forming swags, or in this case, diamonds. Of course, I would still have to make the lines straight. Maybe I could get a tilting cake stand so I'm not decorating at a straight 90 degree angle. But can't you just see the Wile E. Coyote moment that is sure to arise with a tilting cake stand? I can imaging placing the cake on it, using a grippy mat to make sure it wouldn't slide, and jumping up and down beside it to make sure it isn't going to slip. I would decorate 99% of it, and then, just as I am about to place the last detail on the cake, VOOM! It slides right off and onto the floor. Perhaps I can find another way...
The next photo features chocolate overload. I got a little carried away with the decorations because I made a double batch of frosting. Also, the more decorations you have the less anyone notices how crooked the cake is and how poorly you applied the frosting base coat. I used my favorite chocolate frosting from Cook's Illustrated that is silky and luscious. I usually eat about half a cup of frosting with a spoon after I'm done icing the cake. That is one reason I don't make it very often, or I would have to widen the doorway into the kitchen.
Finally, we have an ill-conceived and poorly executed example. I'm calling it a "tribal" cake, but really, it was just a practice cake. You see, a few of my co-workers and I get together one evening every other week and practice decorating cakes. Each week we try a new type of flower, a new icing, new colors, or a new technique. Sometimes my cakes end up looking odd (well, like this one) because I've used a bunch of different colors or several different (and not necessarily complementary) techniques on one cake. No one else in the office, however, cares about the oddities - they are just happy to eat the cakes the next day. It's been a blast and my co-workers, who hadn't done any decorating before, have caught on fast and are now trying things I've never even done.
I've done many more cakes but alas can't find any of the photos. Going forward, I hope to A) post much more frequently, and B) remember to take photos of all of my baking (and maybe even my cooking, if I get really fired up). Until next time, I bid you adieu.
Comments