Happy Birthday Trianna :) Candy Flowers and my Soon-To-Be Apprentice

The 3rd of May was my niece Trianna's birthday - and I was asked to do her cake as usual :) It's the first time doing a fondant figure- and probably the first time I had ever done a horse, so it took a little practice- trial and error if you want to call it... but this is what we came up with :) (and no, I cannot draw or sculpt a realistic horse to save my life ;) so floppy and cartoony is what she got ;)) Hey... it's a tired little pony after walking up that steep hill right? Right ;)

I was pretty excited about how it turned out :) As always, it is 100% edible.  And who says a horse can't have hot pink glittery horseshoes??? ;) If I ever have a horse, it sure will ;) (probably not going to happen... I am a city girl... I am so sensitive to smells it's almost like I have beagle genes :)) 

I was also really proud of my daughter- she made the cow spots, and also helped me paint the horse (we painted a white horse instead of dying the fondant first... I definitely recommend dying the fondant... that is too much of a pain in the patootie to get all the tiny little crevices- (especially when you put it on a cake that isn't straight on the top like this one, and it starts to pull slightly- showing every little white area we missed ;) and its a little too shiny for my tastes) My daughter is really showing a lot of promise- especially when it comes to fondant. About 4 years ago, when she was 10, we did some Starburst roses.  What is a Starburst rose you ask? Well, you take a Starburst, or a Laffy Taffy, or an Airhead, or Tootsie Roll (basically any soft stretchy candy) and warm it slightly in the microwave- then use it like fondant- or playdough! And to top it all off, it's delicious :) She made a pretty mean rose after me showing her only once- she actually made it better than mine!!!  If I had a sensitive ego- well... that would have bothered me, but I was really proud of her! She is even considering cake decorating as a career path :) I'm all for that!

Mothers Day is coming up people :) so if you want some candy or a cake to make your mom's day special - feel free to let me know!!! :) (click on the let me know... it goes straight to my email ;))

Have a most fantabulous week- and Sweet Dreamz!!! :)

Renee :D

To Glitter or Not to Glitter... that is the question ;)

I thought I might pull in a few from the "archives" so to speak :) 

Personally, I am of the mindset that glitter makes absolutely everything more fun.  I totally LOVE glitter- it's just plain awesome. And ever since I first saw glitter gel and disco dust, I just knew I had to try it. OK... as far as the disco dust is concerned, before all you naysayers chime in ;) I do know that it is non-toxic, however, I also know that it is not officially ruled by the FDA as edible.  Which means to me that you shouldn't down huge amounts of it or use inordinate amounts of it everywhere.  For a little touch of bling here and there though... you just can't go wrong.  For example... here is a cake that I did for an adorable little 1 year old's birthday :) (and I am so sorry for the water marked table in the background...(hence all the pretty swirls and butterflies :))  it's a beautiful pedastal table that resembles the one my mom has- that we had planned to sand and refinish... someday...)

 Understated, yes, and unfortunately, thanks to my camera phone, you can't see the little bits of white rainbow disco dust that are on the "flowers" or the glitter gel that was painted on the butterflies.  All I did was take a paintbrush with the disco dust (dry) and shake it on so it was more random (and cleaner) than sprinkling with my hands.

This cake is 100% edible by the way :) Which is  how I do my cakes... I don't like to make anything little fingers can't reach up and grab and eat- safely anyway. The butterflies are rice paper- so while they are fully edible, they just aren't super tasty but the glitter gel helps the paper get pliable and stay so lifelike! So this cake is my example of what normal glitter usage would be. 

Now this one on the other hand...

I have to say, I did go a little glitter crazy here... It is definitely a little more than I would typically use, but still ok in the realm of decoration in my book.  This cake was made for my daughters friend's 13th Birthday- and it was close to Christmas- so how could I resist?  :) This was also the 2nd time making and using marshmallow fondant- and I have decided that I just love it.  Not only is it cheap, (I will tell you right now... I am cheap... frugal is the nice word) but it's fun to use and play with :) And I think it came out pretty darn cute. The inside -wish I would have taken a picture.. so sorry- was a white chocolate peppermint cake with candy cane buttercream.  YUM.

That said, I thought this would be a good time to share (and keep) my recipe for the white chocolate peppermint cake.  They make great cupcakes of course as well :)

White Chocolate Peppermint Cake
1 white cake mix (please feel free to just add the add ins to your regular homemade cake recipe!) with eggs etc as directed on box
1/2 c melted white chocolate
1 3 oz pkg white chocolate pudding mix (dry)
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
1 c chopped Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses (optional :))

Mix all together as directed  and put into a greased and floured 9*13 pan,  bake at 350 for 25-30 min (9*13 pan)

Candy Cane Buttercream
1/2 c butter or margarine
1/2 c Crisco Shortening (I like butter flavor, but you can use plain)
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp peppermint extract
1 lb Powdered Sugar- sifted
2-3 TB milk as needed
14 mini candy canes, crushed to fine powder

Cream butter and Shortening together until smooth and fluffy.  Add vanilla and mix in thoroughly.  Add powdered sugar a cup at a time, until smooth and creamy.  Add milk until desired consistency, beating well until smooth and creamy after adding each TB.  Stir in candy cane dust- alternatively, you can sprinkle the candy cane dust over the frosting instead of mixing it in.It does add crunch so if you're a texture freak like me, you might just want to up the peppermint extract. Totally up to you :)

So my question to you is... do you use disco dust? Do you use it sparingly or go all out? Let me know! I would love to hear what you think!

For now though, have a stupendously fantabulous Tuesday! :D

Sweet Dreamz!!!

Renee :D

Happy 4th BDay Destiny :)

Just made a cake today- and haven't had a chance to make one in a while so it was definitely a fun one!!! My neice, Destiny just turned 4 and apparently loves the Disney Show "Little Einsteins".  When my sister called me I admittedly had no idea what that show was... my youngest is 11 (that and we don't have the Disney Channel- so sue me ;)) so I had to look it up on the internet. I have to say the show looks pretty cute!

Here is the very happy little birthday girl with her cake :)

And that little blurb under the Happy 4th is supposed to say Birthday... however she comes up and says "I just want a taste..." (it's her cake after all!) So she went around saying "It says Happy 4th" Hey- we all knew we were there for her Birthday right? ;) And we call her Desi - and since I didn't have a whole lot of room on the tray cuz I always write too big;) I put Desi on the cloud just in case you were wondering what that blob was!

She is so funny... I had originally planned on printing out a color picture of the characters to put in the window- of course my printer decided to flip out (Murphy's Law anyone?) so sweet little Destiny decided to color some little black and white printouts to put on the window just so it would be perfect. So here is the final result :)  

Not too bad if I must say so myself. I had fun- and she loved it- and most of all she recognized it (phew ;)) so that's all that really matters to me!!! 

I will try to post pictures of creations I have made, and recipes very soon here... but for now :) Sweet Dreamz everyone and have a wonderful night!

Renee :D