Jungle Animal Cake for Meleia

This is just a quick post on the cake I made for possibly the cutest baby on the face of the planet, who turned 1 last week.  She is the youngest daughter of two of my favorite people: Jasmine and Ken.  

Watching this video helped me plan out how I wanted to make each animal.  My favorite was the baby giraffe, but Meleia's older sister preferred the monkey.

Also, I think I solved my issue with the Wilton letter cutters by stylizing them a bit.  They look much better on this cake.

pic via Abe

2009 Christmas Treats

Normally, I make time to bake a few different treats to give out to my favorite people for the holidays.  My life has just been too hectic baking-wise lately and I just can't find the energy.  [Every person I know sheds a single tear.]  Sorry guys!

So, the only treats I will make this year were for Elisha's mom, Toni, who threw a Christmas party this weekend.  What I made for her were: Vanilla Christmas Tree Cupcakes (yes, I know they look like green dookie swirls), Red Velvet Cupcakes, Sugar Cookie Mittens, and Gingerbread Santa Hat Cookies.  Elisha suggested that I do hats and mittens because each guest was asked to bring a pair of mittens or a cozy hat to give to the homeless this winter.  I want to also mention that their family is the closest thing I know to the Huxtables and I love them for it.  Such a warm and fun family to be around!

Martha Stewart has yet to let me down.  Both cupcakes came from her books.  The vanilla cupcakes were adapted from the White Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream recipe in the Baking Handbook and the red velvet cupcakes came from Cupcakes.  I have been able to find both recipes on marthastewart.com.  The only thing I changed for the vanilla cupcakes was that I used a vanilla swiss meringue buttercream instead of a strawberry buttercream.  I really love the cupcakes fresh out of the oven.  So moist and fluffy.  When they are day old, they get slightly dryer and a bit more dense so make sure you eat these straight away!  The red velvet recipe was quite different than the one I have used before.  Martha's uses oil instead of butter and cake flour instead of all purpose.  I found that I like Martha's recipe better because I get a stronger cocoa flavor and they are very moist. 

Gingerbread Santa Hat Cookies

Sugar Cookie Mittens

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Minnie Mouse Cake

This particularly cute cake is for my friend Aura's sister, Victoria.  I can't take credit for the design because it was modeled after a picture that Aura had texted me.  I like this cake for its details.  The mini Minnie Mouse silhouettes with the tiny bows are my favorite part.

The ears concerned me because I thought they wouldn't dry in time and would droop and fall off.  All the decorations were done in fondant except for the ears, which were made from gum paste because it dries and hardens faster.   I made sure to make the ears a couple hours in advance to allow drying time (over night would have probably been best).  I used very stiff black royal icing to attach them onto the cake and they seemed to hang on pretty well.  I was also concerned about the ears during transportation but I think they made it to its final destination in tact.  Just in case of the worst, I gave Aura an extra pair of ears and the rest of my black royal icing to take with her.

For this cake, I used my 40% off Michael's coupon to purchase Wilton's 37 Piece Alphabet and Number Cutters.  I'm not really a fan of how the letters came out mainly because they were uneven.  Some letters were chunkier than others.  I will most likely be on the market for better alphabet cutters.  I really like these and these.

I love the mini bow!

It makes me smile that she matches the cake.  Happy birthday, Tori!

Budweiser Can Cake

This cake is for my buddy Greg's 27th birthday, whose drink of choice is Budweiser or "Bud heavy" as he calls it.  This is definitely the hardest cake I've had to make so far.  There were a few moments where I seriously thought that I would be submitting my cake to cakewrecks.com but I actually love how it turned out.  I also love that the cake is homemade funfetti with vanilla buttercream.  Adult cake on the outside, kid cake on the inside.

I used a classic white cake recipe and added 2 to 3 tablespoons of rainbow jimmies to the batter before dividing it into pans.  The cake is made of nine 6-inch rounds.

I made a base for the cake so that it would appear to taper in by hot gluing together 3 cardboard rounds that I had cut about .25 an inch off all around.  I cut a hole through the center and glued a disposable chopstick sticking straight up.  I had also made sure I cut a hole through the center of the cake board that the bottom 6-inch cake round was sitting on so that I would be able to insert the chopstick up the center of the cake, giving it stability.  I also inserted a second chopstick going down into the center from the top too.  

The hardest part was actually getting the cake covered in fondant.  I tried about 5 different times.  I rolled out a big circle of fondant to drape over and tried to smooth out the folds but it didn't work out because there were was too many folds to smooth down.  The only way I was successful in getting it covered was to roll out a long piece of fondant on a piece of parchment paper and wrap it around the sides.  I could have really used a second pair of hands for this.  Then I rolled another smaller circle to put on top and join the seams as best as I could.

Twilight: New Moon Cake

The flower on the cover of Stephanie Meyer's book is gorgeous and is what inspired the theme for this cake.  It was for Briana, who had a Twilight: New Moon themed party for her birthday.  The inside is red velvet cake with a cream cheese frosting.

The flower is actually a flaming parrot tulip.  The petals have ruffled, feathery edges.  To achieve this effect I pressed each petal in a tulip veiner and thinned the edges with a ball tool and let it pull away some of the gum paste.

Close up of the flower.  I like how there is too much red food coloring on the petal and it looks like blood.

The birthday girls and their cake!

Slyce

Awhile back ago, Mary, Elisha and I brainstormed a name for my future cake business. There were tons of suggestions (some too ridiculous to repeat) and nothing stood out to me until "Slyce" popped out of Mary's mouth. So among endless other reasons, I owe Mary my love, life and loyalty. Upon the decision of a name, I have created a few (more) ways for my friends to keep track of my progress and creations. Here they are:

Twitter: SlyceCakes
Email: slycecakes@gmail.com

I've been really blessed with a group of incredibly supportive friends, whom I also consider to be family. As my humble one man operation grows, my weekends get increasingly full. So to help all these people in my life whom I would love to bake for, I have made my calendar public so that they may see if I am available during the weekend of their event.

Since I am only one person (who loves sleep and having down time), I can only really handle one major cake per weekend. If you would like to request a cake from me, please make sure that I have at least one full day before your event to prepare. And because I have a full time job, which I am required to be at Mondays through Thursdays, this means that I can really only prepare a cake for an event that is either on a Saturday or Sunday. Of course, I am flexible and would love to work with you, so enquire with me if you need something that is outside of these parameters.

For questions email me at slycecakes@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you!

Abi's 4th Birthday

Abi is Phil's niece and this weekend we celebrated her 4th birthday.  I have several friends with kids, a few older than Abi, and it's still a little crazy to see them grow up right before my eyes.  This was my second opportunity to be a part of their day and create something special for them.

About a month ago, Abi specifically requested "a princess cake with white cake, pink frosting, flowers and butterflies".  Being an obedient servant, I heeded her commands.  As I was thinking of ideas for the layout, I couldn't decide if I just wanted to stick to her requirements or tweak things a bit.  I felt that if I just had the elements from her request it wouldn't be "princessy" enough but ultimately I didn't want to disappoint a 4 year old on her birthday and ruin her party in front of all of her friends (albeit they are also 4) and family.  So I decided to add only one more element and took inspiration from the image of a castle on her online invitation.  It was a simple cookie cutter image and was therefore easy to mimic with fondant.

This cake was definitely the most time intensive one I have had done so far.  It was my first time making any type of human figure so it took me awhile to figure out how to work with gum paste; how to make the skirt sit just right; how to place her top and sleeves; how to make her hair just so; and how to make a teensy, itsy bitsy tiara.  As you can see, my "arm and hand" technique needs a little work.

Elisha's It's-It Cheesecake

Two posts in a row regarding Elisha?  I must love her or something. 

Plain and simple:  I thought Elisha's cheesecake was genius.  If you're not from the Bay Area, the inspiration was the It's-It Ice Cream Treat, an oatmeal cookie ice cream sandwich all dipped in chocolate.  They come in a variety of flavors, my favorite being mint.

Elisha's cheesecake follows this theme by having an oatmeal cookie crust and what would have been a hard chocolate shell (it was a very hot day and being brainiacs, we neglected to have the tasting in the shade).  The cheesecake itself is espresso flavored.

There was little wrong with the cheesecake.  Espresso cheesecake: Mmm....  Chocolate coating: Mmm....  Oatmeal cookie crust: MMM....

Elisha's Birthday Cake

So far, my cakes have been on the fun and whimsical side. I really wanted to show that I could do something that is classy and sophisticated.

This cake accomplished two things for me: I got to work more with flowers and also the chance to do a damask style cake, which I have been wanting to do for awhile.

I wanted the flower to look like a chrysanthemum, which I guess I sort of accomplished. I would have liked it more if it was more cupped than flat. I followed the steps on this guide that I found. I probably didn't get the result that I wanted because I didn't have the right tools. Or maybe I just wasn't doing it right.

Jasmine's Maple Chocolate Cheesecake with Graham Cracker Bacon Crust

Sorry for the delay in posting this. I've been busy but I can't really think or what I have been busy with.

After hearing that there was BACON in Jasmine's crust, it was a no brainer that she would win for "Most Original". From what I remember, it wasn't terribly obvious that bacon was an ingredient in the crust. In my opinion, the bacon added nuttiness and smokiness.

This is Jasmine's first time competing with us and if this is just a glimpse of what she has to offer, then I am really excited to see what else she has up her sleeve for future competitions.

Recipe after the jump.

Old Fashioned Summer Strawberry Peach Cake

As I do for almost everything I make on whim, I try to use up what I've got in the kitchen or fridge. I had a pint of unopened heavy whipping cream on hand so it was perfect for the filling in this cake. It is based off of Martha's Old Fashioned Berry Layer Cake from her Baking Handbook. It is the one featured on the cover. I decided to make a mini version and halved her recipe, which seemed to work out perfectly. I used 6 inch rounds. Her cake is four layers, but mine is just two. Instead of berries I used a combination of peaches and strawberries.

2009 Cheesecake Challenge Results

I am still amazed at how creative my friends are. This year's cheesecakes were truly spectacular and in combination with the great people and perfect weather, the day was absolutely fantastic. So much fun.

Cupcake Pops

After carving the two birthday cakes (see previous posts), I had plenty of scraps left over. I scooped them into a bowl and refrigerated what was left after my parents picked at them. I knew before I started baking that the scraps would be perfect for making these cupcake pops.

My first encounter with these guys was at my goddaughter's birthday party earlier this year. Her mom, Jasmine, presented us with something probably a hundred times cuter than what you see here. They were almost too cute to eat. Almost. You can find the instructions on how to make them here.

After that day, I wanted to find a reason to make them and found the perfect opportunity when a friend asked me what ideas I had for party favors at a baby shower. I didn't get a chance to take photos when we made them then, but gladly got them this time.

Blue & Orange Whimsical Cake

Here is cake numero dos that I made for this past Saturday. This one went to my friend Jeff and his buddies who were also having a joint birthday party. I was quite afraid that no one would eat it and just throw at it each other instead. But alas, my hard work was not in vain. I'm pretty sure Jeff is still running around in circles from his sugar high since he did not want any of the cake to go to waste. [Cut to Jeff in fetal position on the floor getting cake sweats.]

I forgot to mention in the previous post that the cakes were Martha's One Bowl Chocolate Cake as well as her Caramel Buttercream. The one suggestion I have is to mix the cake batter well. It tends to be lumpy and they don't cook out. The buttercream recipes yields 8 cups which I found to fill and crumb coat two 8-inch rounds and one 10-inch round. I had enough to fill the 6-inch but not give it its crumb coat. This cake is a carved 6-inch on top of a carved 8-inch round. I used the same cake recipe and icing to save myself some time for both cakes.

Something I learned in cake decorating class was to use a template for the diamond shaped pieces on the bottom tier. I didn't make a template and don't think I would have preferred to. I wanted all the points to hit at the same spot and because of the geometry of the cake, using a template wouldn't have provided that anyway. So, I basically eyeballed it and divided the cake into even sections and made a slight marking on the top. Then, I just cut each piece by hand making sure each piece fit as I went.

Pink & Lime Green Polka Dot Cake

Since I took the cake decorating class, I've been eager to test my new skills. In fact, I was a little too eager and promised 2 cakes to 2 different people for the same day. You'll read about the 2nd cake in the next post.

My god daughter, Makayla, and her two sisters had a joint birthday party so I offered to bake the cake as a gift. Makayla wanted a pink cake with lime green polka dots, so I used that as a starting point. It was also mentioned that the cake should be "whimsical and girly". In my mind, I felt the things I learned in decorating class would be perfect for this cake. In the course of looking for ideas, I decided to add the bow topper and the ribbon roses, both which looked easy enough to tackle for creating my first cake alone.

2009 Cheesecake Challenge

It's nearly time for the Cheesecake Challenge again! This year, our competition will be held at Parkside Aquatic Park in San Mateo on Saturday, August 8th and our theme ingredient is chocolate.

Last year, we had a great time with an amazing group of tasters and judges. This year, we are hoping that we will have the honor of having the same crowd plus more. For the results from last year, go here.

Our bakers, so far, are: Elisha, Cynthia, Marvin, Jasmine, Jeff and myself. All creative and talented people, so the competition is going to be tough! Since the theme ingredient is chocolate, it is a good thing we are having the competition at a park to be able to run off the instant pounds we are surely going to gain.

In the last two competitions, we've had 4 judging categories: taste, appearance, texture and originality. We've decided to add one more category: crust. It's such a huge part of the cheesecake experience, it is a surprise that we did not have this category to begin with.

If you would like to join us, please reply "Yes" on the official evite here. Everyone is welcome to come! There will be plenty of cheesecake to taste.

Whose name will be added next to the coveted Golden Whisk Award?

Topsy Turvy Cake

I've been doing research on baking and cake decorating classes in the Bay Area for a little while now, and I think I've found a gem. Combined with what people had to say on Yelp and his website, signing up for a class with Baking Arts in SOMA was a no brainer. Your teacher, Richard, works out of his beautiful loft and keeps class sizes small. He provides everything you need and gives each student plenty of attention. Along with this Topsy Turvy Cake, some of his other classes are Whimsical Cupcakes, Gumpaste flowers, Choux Pastry, etc. So, there is plenty to choose from.

This cake was lots of fun to make. Richard had baked and chilled the cakes for us already. He assembled the top tier for us but showed us how to carve the bottom tier and cover it in fondant. The most time intensive portion of the class was rolling out the fondant and making the decorations. Richard walks you through the whole way but towards the end lets you have free creative reign over your cake. He even gave us a brilliant idea to make the daisies. To give the centers a bit of texture, roll out the fondant and put a piece of tulle down over it. Then, take a round cutter and press down over the tulle into the fondant. Gently peel away the tulle and you'll have the center of the daisy. Simply just dab a little water onto the back and attach to the flower.

Taking this class has definitely encouraged me to try making more cakes with fondant. It's very time intensive (and the fondant doesn't taste like much more than sugary clay), but the product is beautiful.

Strawberry Puff Pastries

I've been on a bit of an unintentional hiatus, mainly because I've discovered that baking as a hobby is quite the pocket drainer.

Anyhow, I had some left over puff pastry in the freezer and the idea of these Strawberry Puff Pastries sprang to mind. As a child, my mom would treat me to a strawberry pastry at Grain D' Or (now Anderson's Bakery) every once in a while. To this day, those pastries bring back pleasant memories so I wanted to create something similar. After doing a little research, I used a recipe for Sunny Side Up Apricot Pastries, from Baking with Julia, as a starting point.

Vanilla Pound Cake

I've been trying to break in my Bundt cake pan for some time now. I guess I just never got around to finding a recipe but I got Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan for my birthday and I found the recipe for Vanilla Pound Cake.

The only real experience I've had with eating pound cake is Sara Lee's and I loved it. You know, the frozen stuff that you get in the aluminum foil pan. That stuff that you're supposed to let thaw, or even microwave. Well, I never did. I'd eat it straight out of the freezer. I liked it better that way and I couldn't just stop at one 1-inch slice. I'd have to have 2 of those. Probably more like 3.

I can't tell you what this poundcake tastes like frozen [yet]. I just sliced it up and put half of it in the freezer this morning. [The other half of it goes to Mom, if it makes it there.] However, I can say that at room temperature this cake is dense but moist and full of buttery flavor. I ate it alone as well as with a scoop of Peanut Butter Cup Ice cream [post follows]. Both good. The cake keeps for a few days at room temperature, or if you like it frozen, like me, it keeps wrapped for a month.

Vanilla Pound Cake
Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature (I only had one stick of unsalted and one salted)
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs, at room temperature, whisked to blend
1 cup milk, at room temperature
2 teaspoons, pure vanilla extract

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour (I used a cake release grease. See WD-40 for cakes) a 10-inch tube pan or other 12-cup decorative pan with a center tube.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together onto a sheet of waxed or parchment paper; reserve.

Put the butter into the bowl of a mixer fitter with the paddle attachment (or work with a hand-held) mixer and beat at medium speed until smooth. With the machine running, add the sugar in a steady stream. Stop the machine and scrape down the paddle and the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Continue to beat at medium speed until the mixture is very light and flufy, about 4 to 5 minutes.

With the mixer still at medium speed, begin to add the eggs in small additions, about a tablespoon at a time. If the mixture become watery or shiny, stop adding the eggs and beat at an increased speed just until it smooths out. When the batter has come together again, decrease the speed to medium and continue adding the eggs, scraping down the paddle and sides of the bowl from time to time; it will take 3 to 4 minutes to incorporate the eggs. The mixture is properly combined when it appears white, fluffy and increased in volume.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture and the milke alternately--4 additions of flour, 3 of milk--scraping the paddle and bowl frequently and mixing until the batter is smooth after each addition. Add the vanilla and mix just to blend.

Baking the Cake: Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, or until wooden toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the cake to a cooling rack, remove the pan, and cool to room temperature. The cake is best served in very thin slices (I did not do this. Mostly because I am greedy).