Step by step homemade baking recipes
I am not one to run around wielding knives. I don’t particularly have an attachment to knives. I like them to slice bread, but that’s where my devotion to knives basically stops. Why am I tell you this? Because a viewer of our YouTube videos requested that I show them how to make a fondant knife . . . I’m assuming for Halloween . . . because if it’s not . . . then that’s just weird.
It’s pretty simple actually, so grab your fondant, follow along, and run around wielding knives.
My newest cupcake that I have been baking is perfectly fitting for the cool evenings and mornings that fall has brought to us . . . pumpkin! I had high hopes of growing my own, but after planting, fertilizing and watering my beloved pumpkin seeds, the season proved to be too short. I have been left buying my pumpkins from the store. Fail.
Oh well, there is always next year! Except our brand new house (yes, we bought a house!) doesn’t have room for much of a garden. BUT, I would love to get a little strip of dirt where I could grow some carrots, beets and peas. I’m good at growing those 🙂 obviously it would have to have a GIANT deer fence.
Since my growing pumpkin test this year was such a failure (they did bloom . . . just not until September!), I have had to create my own pumpkins out of fondant!
They are super quick, easy and most importantly CUTE! Check out the video tutorial on how to do these on our YouTube channel. Hope you like it!
Here is our video for the Wilton Cake Pan unboxing!
Since the filming of this video, I have definitely enjoyed working with the pans, especially the large cookie sheet (apparently I have only been using medium size my whole life! Lord was I ever missing out).
I also enjoy the 8″ round cake pans, as I’m able to offer a slightly smaller cake for customers.
The rectangle pan (9″x13″) has come in super handy for bars . . . especially my fave . . . peanut butter marshmallow! It’s nice to have an extra pan of this size, as I save my Stoneware one for savoury dishes only now.
Have a look and let me know what you think if you have some of these pans!
This video is for anyone who is interested in purchasing an edible ink printer! In it, I review the icing sheets, the printer and the ink that we use on a regular basis to create some amazing cakes. Watch and enjoy 🙂
Here are some of the recent edible images that we have done with the printer.
Working with an edible printer is a little bit more difficult than working with a regular ink printer. The type of liquid that runs through the print head, makes the print head prone to clogging. My advice to you is to make sure that you run the ink through the printer at least once a week, and this will help with clogging.
If you are so unlucky and have the print head clog on you, there are a couple of things that you can do to get that (*#(@ head cleaned out. One is to take all of the ink catridges out (carefully) of the print head and let the print head soak on a wet piece of paper towel. If this doesn’t work, then what we do is use a steamer (like one that you use for steam cleaning) to blow out the clogged heads. If you don’t have a steamer, you can try it the old fashioned way, and use the steam from a kettle. This tends to loosen up the liquid that is clogged, just enough for you to get it out.
One more detail that you need to be aware of when working with edible images and edible sheets . . . which we didn’t know until summer hit . . . is that they are VERY prone to bubbling/wrinkling in humidity! If your fridge is high in humidity, your cake will not come back out as smooth as it was when you put it in. I discovered, after many failed attempts, that using parchment paper, and the warmth of your hand helps smooth out an image that has wrinkled. I lay the parchment paper down on the image, and rub with the flat palm of my hand until it is smooth.
Overall, despite the clogging, the edible ink printer that we have is a great tool. Like many tools, it takes maintenance, and work to keep it running as it should. The paper and ink has been relatively easy to find, and we purchased ours from Icing Images. We have had a positive experience with this company . . . someone even emailed me back when I had a question!
I found these scrumptious looking bars on the blog Sugar Plum and knew that they would be absolutely delicious and what I thought would be an easy way to ease into puff pastry!
Fresh blueberries make these pastries . . . and making them into a blueberry puree is very therapeutic. SMASH! SMASH! SMASH! Popping each blueberry is lovely . . . I think I’ve been standing in front of the oven too long and I have gone BERRY nuts!
I found the hardest part of this recipe to be laying out the puff pastry and fighting with it to stay in a rectangle shape! But, once you get it layed out, on the parchment paper, brush with melted butter, and spoon some blueberry puree on top the top of the bottom piece.
Next up is the messy part! You have to somehow get the top of the pastry bar in place, without the puree leaking out, and then pinch the edges together! Jeepers it was tough. I was also convinced that I didnt have enough blueberry inside, so while I was laying, squeezing, pinching, I was also pouring another spoonful of puree inside! Clearly, it made a mess.
The mess is slightly disguised once the bars are baked and in their puff pastry glory! But what helps the most to disguise is the lemon cheesecake spread that goes on top! Yum! I had leftover fresh blueberries, so onto the top they went! Despite the mess, they came out really well. They got the seal of approval from my critics and I knew I was onto something tasty.
Heat oven to 450 degrees F. Coat 2 large cookie sheets with cooking spray.
In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, stir together blueberries, cornstarch and granulated sugar until well combined; bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until blueberries are cooked down and thickened. Process blueberries in a food processor until smooth.
Unfold one pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Roll the pastry sheet into a 14 x 12-inch rectangle. Cut into 16 squares. Place squares onto cookie sheets; brush with the egg. Place 2 teaspoons of blueberry mixture into the center of each dough square.
Unfold additional pastry sheet on floured surface. Roll the pastry sheet into a 14 x 12-inch rectangle. Cut into 16 squares. Place the squares on top of blueberry-topped squares. Crimp and seal edges with a fork. Brush tops of pastry squares with remaining egg. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer pastries to wire racks to cool.
To make the glaze, in a medium bowl, whisk together cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla until well combined. Spoon glaze over the tops of pastries.
Makes 16 pastries
We had a fabulous time at the Cranbrook Farmers Market and JJ’s Custom Cakery will be there throughout the Saturday’s until September 2011. We are very proud to be a part of such a community spirit invoking event! Come out and say hi!
As a house warming/recovering from surgery present, my mom bought me the KitchenAid Professional 5 Series! I have been dying for something bigger than my KitchenAid Classic. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my Classic, but the size of the orders that we have been getting lately require more and more product to be pumped through my little Classic. With the wedding season and Farmer’s Markets coming up, I am going to need to be able to double recipes, if not triple, and the Professional will allow me to do this.
Here is the next instalment of our You Tube channel, and it’s a Caking Tutorial How To Video on frozen buttercream transfers.
A frozen buttercream transfer (FBCT . . . is how some people refer to it) is a way to do specific pictures or images, logos by hand with your piping bag.
This is a technique that I love to use because it is actually pretty easy! You don’t have to be a skilled artist to trace with your piping bag . . . you just need to be able to follow the lines! It’s kind of like a paint by number for a caked. How great is that?
To make your buttercream for the FBCT, use your favourite recipe for buttercream, or try mine here. You will need a baking sheet, icing in piping bags fitted with the necessary tips, a template for your image, and a piece of wax paper large enough to cover your template. When you’ve got that, you’re ready to watch the video, follow the steps and voila, you will have a perfect hand piped image. I guarantee* (* I don’t really), you might not be able to follow the lines . . . or colour within them 😉
Let me know what you think!
Do you have any go-to techniques that you always use when you’re caking or cookie decorating?
