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How to Level a Cake: Baking Quick Tip Video

May 21, 2012 by Jenn

When first learning how to bake a cake, I totally overestimated the importance of levelling a cake!  Yes, it was a rookie mistake . . . which I have made MANY of. . . but any way 😛 .  

Levelling a cake properly will save the cake baker tons of time whether you are just baking a cake for the family, or creating a huge 3D cake structure!  

Fighting with the icing to get the levelling done properly can be avoided if you have the right tools!  Does that sound like I have experience in that fight . . . why yes I do . . .LOTS!  Grrr . . . 

[Read more…]

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Filed Under: Cakes, Tutorials, Videos Tagged With: cakes cranbrook, cranbrook cakes, jj's custom cakery, level cake, Leveling cake

How to Make Red Velvet Cake – Video

May 15, 2012 by Jenn

Mmmm . . . red velvet!  So popular and simple to make.  Who would have thought?  Like I said in my previous post about Red Velvet Cupcakes, you will find yourself enjoying this delicious cake after barely breaking into a sweat!  

Unless your air conditioning has broken in your kitchen.  And then no matter how easy something is, you will be sweating.  Especially with the oven on.  And the dishwasher on.  

Oh lord, get out of the kitchen and just give up!  Bake at night.  It’s the only solution.  

Or wear the trendy 80’s sweatband on your forehead if you’re like that.  

Red Velvet Cake Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups table sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons red food coloring
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cocoa powder

In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt and cocoa powder. Set aside. In a bowl of a stand mixer, combine the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, vanilla and red food colouring and combine until mixed. Scrape the sides of the bowl and the paddle as needed to ensure that all of the ingredients are incorporated. Add half of the flour mixture into the butter mixture, mix briefly, add half of the buttermilk, mix. Repeat with remaining flour mixture and buttermilk. In a small bowl, combine baking soda and vinegar, and quickly add it to the cake batter while it is still bubbling. Mix it for about 10-20 seconds. This helps the cake to be light and fluffy.
Grease two 9″ round cake pans, or one 9″x13″ cake pan and bake at 350F for 30-35 or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, remove from pan, and cool completely on a wire wrack. Frost as desired.

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Filed Under: Cakes, Tutorials, Videos Tagged With: Make Red Velvet Cake, Red Velvet Cake

How to Make Red Velvet Cupcakes – Video

May 14, 2012 by Jenn

Way back in the day, before I started baking my own cupcakes seriously, I used to travel around trying other people’s cupcakes.  My go to test was always Red Velvet.  I’ve had Sprinkles in Phoenix, Big City Cupcakes in Vancouver, Cupcakes in Vancouver, an Italian bakery’s cupcake in Boston . . . and, and, and . . . some were good, some were great and some were amazing!  

Red Velvet requires a few extra steps more that your standard chocolate or vanilla recipe, but it is worth it in the end.  You will find yourself with a light, fluffy, delicious cupcake.

This recipe is a good one that I found (it’s not the one I use day to day for JJ’s, but it is a great runner up!)  

Everything you need for the recipe is posted below the video, and have a look at the tutorial to see how everything goes together! 

 

Red Velvet Cupcakes Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups table sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons red food coloring
1 teaspoon vinegar
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Red Velvet Cupcakes

 

 

 

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Chocolate Dream Bars: Baking with My Mom

May 13, 2012 by Jenn

Happy Mother’s Day!  

This was a very special mother’s day video that my mom and I filmed together and it was such a special activity!  I was working on about four hours of sleep, so I was a bit delirious, but working in the kitchen with my mom, who taught me how to bake, brought me back to life that day!

When we first discussed our idea to bake with my mom for our Mother’s Day video, I approached my mom with the concept, and we brainstormed different recipes that we could do.  I really wanted to have something that would be special to both of us, and that would be something that we could reminisce over.  

 Thanks for baking with me Mom, and Happy Mother’s Day!  

Chocolate Dream Bar Ingredients:
1/3 cup butter
3 tablespoons white sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup nuts
1/2 cup coconut
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar

Top with chocolate buttercream and you have an amazing treat to enjoy with your loved ones. 

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Filed Under: Other Baked Goodies, Tutorials, Videos Tagged With: chocolate brownies, Chocolate Dream Bars, mother's day

How to Make Royal Icing – Video

May 13, 2012 by Jenn

I LOVE working with Royal Icing.  LOVE it!  It is my preferred decorating technique for flowers, because a) it cleans up EASILY, and b) you can do a huge variety of flowers with all sorts of tips, but, you can also do a lot with just a few basic tips!  Royal icing is easy to control, can be easily applied to cakes, cupcakes and cookies, and creates a polished finish on any/all of your products.  

Here is a video on how to make your own!  All you need is icing/confectioners sugar, merginue powder and water.  Oh, ya, you probably need a mixer . . . or you might go crazy mixing by hand.

 Simple, easy and clean! 

Royal Icing Ingredients:
4 cups icing sugar (400g)
3 level tablespoons meringue powder
5-6 tablespoons water

Procedure:

To the bowl of a stand mixer add all meringue powder, and icing sugar.  Slowly add half the water and turn on the mixer to medium.  Add the rest of the water and turn the mixer up to full speed and allow it to mix for around 8-10 minutes, or until the icing is soft and fluffy.

If you are looking for a meringue powder substitute, you can also make Royal Icing by using egg whites. 

2 large egg whites (60g)

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

3 cups icing sugar (300g)

 Mix it together and continue as above.

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Filed Under: Tutorials, Videos Tagged With: Make Royal Icing, royal icing

KitchenAid Flex Edge Beater: Baking Quick Tip Video

May 12, 2012 by Jenn

Ok . . . you know all about my love for my KitchenAid (times 3), but the one thing that causes me frustration when using them is the fact that I have to scrape the bowl 3449 times per batch of cupcakes.  Let me tell you, that’s a lot of scraping!  

I’ve been dying to try the solves-all-scraping-problems” fix it tool KitchenAid’s “Flex Edge Beater” for a long time, but it has always gotten pushed to the side in my list of priorities as not important.  Well, for Christmas, I bought my mom her first KA Mixer and it came WITH the beater!  Whoop!  It was the perfect gift for both of us!  LOL does that sound selfish?  Uh, ya, a tiny bit.  My mom loves her KA and now that she has had it for a number of months, I decided now was the time to ask her to borrow the beater . . . and here’s my review of it. 

 So, the beater does decrease the number of scrapes you will need to make, but it is not a solves-all solution.  But, seriously, could there be?  Maybe the double flex edge . . . now I just have to find another person to buy a KA for this Christmas. 

You can buy the KitchenAid Flex Edge Beater Here

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Filed Under: Tutorials, Videos Tagged With: Flex Edge, KitchenAid, KitchenAid Flex Edge Beater

How to Marble Fondant for Fall Leaves – Video

May 8, 2012 by Jenn

This video is an older one (cue laughing at me) but it’s still a great technique to learn if you’re wanting to create multi-coloured objects.  For this video, I show you how to use what is called a “marbling” effect for making fall/autumn coloured leaves.  Learning this is perfect for any of the upcoming cake or cupcake projects you might have on the go for fall themes.  

[Read more…]

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Filed Under: Tutorials, Videos Tagged With: cake decorating, Fall Leaves, fondant, Marble Fondant

Mother’s Day Cupcakes

April 23, 2012 by Jenn

JJ's Custom Cakery, Cranbrook Cakes, Cakes Cranbrook

Coming right around the corner is the day to celebrate the most important person in the world . . . our MOM’S!!  My mom is a pretty amazing lady, and I have big things planned for her 🙂  Since she got her new iPad (so jealous) I think she might actually keep tabs on me, and read my blog, so I better not let anything out!  She has Facebook now too.  So with the times my mom is!!

[Read more…]

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Filed Under: Cakes, Cupcakes, Tutorials, Videos Tagged With: cakes cranbrook, Cranbrook, cranbrook b.c., cranbrook cupcakes, cranbroook cakes, jj's custom cakery, mother's day, mother's day cakes, mother's day cupcakes
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