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Saturday, September 8, 2012

Off to Winnipeg we go!

A great friend and colleague is leaving for Winnipeg to continue his post-secondary studies. I was asked to make a cake for him for his going away party. I thought of all the Winnipeg stereotypes (mainly weather-related) in order to find a theme for this cake. Making a snowy/winter cake would've been too depressing for him, especially since winter doesn't start for another few months and he definitely wasn't a fan of cold weather!

I have wanted to try doing a suitcase cake for some time now but the chance never really came up. I started off by making a butter cake..a recipe passed around the family. I didn't want to cover the cake completely in fondant since a lot of people dont like the taste. Instead, I tinted the buttercream icing with a bit of Wilton brown gel coloring and spread it evently. After a few minutes in the fridge to harden, I took a Bounty paper towel (the kind with the quilted pockets) and laid it on top of the cake. Then I took an angled spatula and gently pressed the towel onto the icing, allowing the pattern to form on top of the icing. If you look closely in the pictures below, you can see the quilted pattern. I repeated this throughout the cake, including the sides.

I cut out white fondant letters to spell out our best wishes, rolled out and cut strips of black fondant to create the luggage straps, and molded a handle. I also cut out black fondant to create the sides and edges of the luggage and used silver luster dust to create the "screws" of the luggage.


"Up All Night" with 1D!

No, don't worry I wasn't up all night again baking! This post was a long time coming. Back in June, I was asked to do One Direction themed cupcakes!! This was for a 13-year-old One Direction fan who loves purple and specifically Niall Horan. Her aunt asked for a dozen Oreo cupcakes, with purple frosting and trusted me to come through with a 1D theme.

The first step of making the Oreo cupcakes was simple..as usual, I added half an Oreo cookie (logo side down) into the cupcake wrapper and then topped it with cake batter. I then chopped up some cookies and put chunks on top. While in the oven, these chunks will move to the middle of the cupcake. When the cupcakes are finished you can see the Oreo logo on the bottom. I then topped each with a swirl of purple buttercream icing.




The second step is decorating! To keep with the One Direction theme, I first thought to create 2" round labels on lollypop sticks that could be pushed into the top of each cupcake. But this was my opportunity to try something new and different..something I haven't done before. So I thought to try edible cake toppers! I edited and cropped the bandmate's faces onto a Word document until I was satisfied, then went to a local grocery store and had the document printed on edible paper. I had no idea if the colors would bleed, or if the images would rip before I got them on the cupcake! 

I cut out 2" round fondant circles using a scalloped cookie cutter. While these were off to a side drying, I carefully peeled away the edible paper from its backing and used kitchen scissors to cut out each image. Then with a small dab of gumpaste glue, I attached each edible image to the fondant circles and let them dry. Too much gumpaste glue would have made teh colors bleed together so I was careful to use just a dab.


I let these dry for about an hour before trying to move them. The last thing I wanted were for these to flop down around each cupcake, distorting the image. After carefully placing them on top of the cakes and seeing the final product, I thought the decision to go this route was the right one!




The birthday girl and her aunt loved these, so that makes me happy! The Oreo cucpakes are always a hit! 
I had still made labels as cupcake toppers and took a few pictures to show you what the cupcakes would've looked like had I stuck to the original plan. You be the judge..which one do you like better? I might use this kind of topper in the future..the possibilities are endless!