Daily Loaf

I get paid to decorate cakes. Or, rather, I get paid to teach other people how to decorate cakes.

A sweet deal, no pun intended. Helping others do what I love is a real hoot, and this summer’s class really churned out some nice ones.

Cake decorating is simple:

You need desire. You need drive. You must be able to focus. And your short term memory must be somewhat intact.

If you have all of the above, you’re good to go. Find yourself a book, a teacher, the necessary equipment, and get started. What you don’t already know, you’ll learn along the way.

You can start with this, the basic white cake recipe for the cakes we decorate in my class. Read the rest of this entry »

Who says old-fashioned cake decorating with the most wildly decorated concoctions of today?

Not I. Buttercream basics, provided you have a ten dollar cake decorating kit, can go a long way toward producing an awesomely decorated cake. Read the rest of this entry »

Fondant, or rolled icing, is largely responsible for the “can-do” in the wild world of cake decorating. No longer limited to a whipped, or fluffy buttercream frosting, cake decorators now use a rolled icing similar to regular flour dough, which can be kneaded, colored, formed, and pressed onto a cake which has had a light layer of buttercream frosting added to it for flavor and adhesion.

While fondant’s silky smooth surface looks great, the taste gets mixed reviews. Keep in mind that while loaded with sugar, this gum-stabilized product will stay “edible” when properly sealed at room temperature for years. If fresher is better, fondant will not be winning any taste competitions soon. But it looks fabulous and has created endless possibilities for cake afficionados. What follows are some fondant tips for the just-getting-started cake decorator.  Read the rest of this entry »

Sooooo, I thought I’d get in the Christmas spirit and make Fancy Decorated Sugar Cookies.

With all of my baking adventures, I have never made decorated or worked with cut out cookies. Hmm, wonder why?I saw this post and this post over at Our Best Bites, and I was inspired. She gives a wonderful tutorial on both the cookie making and the glazing. And her cookies are adorable. Check them out.

Enough being nice, as I am still a little bitter. Making the dough was a cinch. Threw everything in my KitchenAid mixer and in 2 minutes it was done and chilling in the fridge. Easy peasy. Holiday cheer and joy flowing!

Then the pain in the assness began. The dough was too hard to roll, so I let it sit out for a bit to warm up. Ditzo me left it out for too long and it got too soft to roll. Back in the fridge. The my daughter proceeds to blow across the floured counter top, making it snow flour in my kitchen. Oh, happy day! Read the rest of this entry »