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Penguins Of Madagascar Cake

November 19, 2014 by Jenn

 My obsession with penguins started way back, long ago.  Think 2005, Morgan Freeman, Antarctica, and you have the seed that planted and grew.  March of the Penguins was the first time I had ever paid much attention to these birds-that-can’t-fly, but ever since, I have spent a month or so teaching and exploring about them in my kindergarten class.  They are so fascinating!  

When deciding which videos to make, I always try to make ones that have a level of interest to me as well as to the viewer.  When I was looking at the up coming movie releases, and saw Penguins of Madagascar, I knew I had to do a cake for their solo movie debut! 

They are the cutest penguins around, but surprisingly difficult to find in mini figurine form.  I’ve linked to the ones I purchased on Amazon below in the list of ingredients, though I’m sure you could find them elsewhere if you look hard enough. Now, these penguins are obviously fictional, but you could easily replace them with a more realistic looking figurine if you wanted to just do a cake that focused on penguins, or even an iceberg.  

Rock sugar

The blue rock candy represents the ocean below the iceberg, while the penguins sit safely up on the glistening white iceberg.  If you don’t have the blue rock candy available, or you want to make one giant iceberg, do away with the blue area, and cover the entire lower level in white/clear candies as well.  I think that would look beautiful too. 

The key to this cake is getting the glistening icy look by using the rock candies.  You can make your own, or you can buy them in bulk like I did.  They give the cake the shininess that most people associate with icebergs.  Rock candy is also sold off the stick in chunks, so that is another option as well.  And if all else fails, crush some suckers up!!  

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Filed Under: Cakes Tagged With: blue cake, cake, candy cake, Frozen, Frozen cake, iceberg, iceberg cake, layered cake, ocean cake, penguin, penguin cake, penguins of madagascar, rock candy cake, white cake, winter cake

How to Make a T-Shirt Shaped Rainbow Tie-Dye Cake

November 15, 2014 by Jenn
I used to run a home based bakery business (until my love of YouTube took over!) and during that time, my t-shirt shaped cake pan was one of my most used pans out of all of my shaped cake pans.  I had so many of them that they were the first thing that I sold when I closed the business.  I was SO happy to get rid of them.  
 
I have a love/hate relationship with shaped cake pans- they are great as you don’t need to carve or structure the cake, but, they take up so much room!  When I decided which ones to keep and which to sell, I kept the ones that I used for multiple projects, knowing that I would be able to use them in future videos, in multiple ways.  This t-shirt pan can also be used for other cakes, which I’m sure I’ll be showing you at a later date. 
 
Unfortunately as with all good things, they come to an end.  Wilton has “discontinued” this cake pan, but I was able to find another similar cake pan on Amazon, and it you can get it here.  It is basically the exact same cake pan, just with sharper, deeper sides.  If you’re not up for purchasing a cake pan, you can always freehand carve a t-shirt out of a rectangle cake.  That would save you a little bit of money, and a t-shirt is a pretty simple shape to make.  Besides, we’ve all seen one so we should have a pretty good picture in our heads as to what one looks like! 
 
I have wanted to make a cake into a tie-dye design for a while now, and when thinking up a reason, and a cake design, a t-shirt seemed like the natural way to go.  When I think of tie-dye, I think t-shirts, peace, love and the 60’s!  You can do this design on any cake- round, rectangle etc.  To recreate it, start the piping gel spirals at the center of the cake, and work your way out, alternating colours as you want to.  
 
Keeping your brush clean is the most onerous activity throughout the whole process.  I would imagine having 100 brushes would make it a lot easier, but who has that many brushes?  Washing the brush is important, as it helps to prevent the spreading of the colours where you don’t want them to be.  You don’t HAVE to wash it, but your cake may end up being a lovely shade of brown if you don’t.  
 
I hope you enjoy this project! Peace.  

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Filed Under: Cakes, Tutorials, Videos Tagged With: cake, hippie, hippie cake, how to make, peace, peace cake, rainbow, Rainbow cake, rainbow tie dye, rainbow tie dye cake, shirt cake, smiley face, smiley face cake, smiley face fondant, t-shirt, t-shirt cake, tee shirt, tee shirt cake, tie dye, tie dye cake

Turkey Shaped Buckeye Peanut Butter Balls

November 12, 2014 by Jenn

Chocolate and peanut butter is one of my most favourite combinations!  Whose isn’t it?  All those people who yell at me in capital letters that they are allergic to peanut butter.  I feel for you, I really do as I couldn’t imagine being without my addiction, but finding a substitution is probably something easier for you to do, than me.  There is also this amazing thing called Google. 

This recipe is a special one to me, as my girlfriend Melissa made it for us during a Christmas Cookie Exchange one year.  Unfortunately, a number of years ago, she passed away.  I felt so lucky being able to continue on using her Dad’s recipe for this creation.  I know she would have loved it, and I appreciate my time that I got to spend with her, albeit too short. 

You can make these traditionally by rolling the peanut butter mixture into balls, and dipping them into melted chocolate.  But if you’re looking for an adorable Thanksgiving treat, you have to try these.  They’re super simple, and the only thing that takes time is the setting of the chocolate.  I address this in the video, but I chose to use melting wafers/almond bark as they set faster than regular chocolate.

 

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Filed Under: Cake Pops, Cookies, Holiday Baking, No Bake Desserts, Tutorials, Videos Tagged With: american thanksgiving, buckeye balls, chocolate, chocolate turkeys, peanut butter, peanut butter balls, peanut butter chocolate, peanut butter chocolate balls, peanut butter turkey, thanksgiving, thanksgiving cake pop, thanksgiving dessert, turkey

Surprise Inside Mustache Cake for Movember

November 8, 2014 by Jenn

 The time for mustaches to come out of closets and unite is upon us.  That well groomed neighbour down the hall now has a caterpillar growing on his upper lip.  That nice stay at home, father of 3 around the block now has a speckling of hairs above his mouth.  And that lawyer who works in the offices downtown?  He too has a sprouting of hairs on his lip.  Why are all of these previously clean cut men growing awkward, splotchy mustaches for the month of November?  It’s all in the name of charity.  

Each November men from all over North America (and probably further) grow mustaches that their wives and girlfriends object to fiercely, to raise money and awareness for men’s health issues.  The slogan from the Canadian Movember movement is “changing the face of men’s health.” To find out more information head over to Movember.

Since this is an event that haunts your eyes (I’m talking about my Dad’s attempt at a mustache) I decided that I had to make another video in support- MY way.  I’m not about to grow a mustache- nor would I try to.  

Making a surprise inside cake takes a bit longer than a regular cake, and involves a lot of preparation.  It is not technically difficult, but it looks like it is!  That’s my favourite part of these types of cakes.  They SHOCK the people that are eating them!  For this cake, you will need to buy mustache cookie cutters, prepare two different coloured cakes, and prepare an additional cake batter for the re-baking portion.  With all of the prep work done ahead of time- which you can do the day before with the baked cakes- the day of assembly can go quite quickly.  Re-baking the cake takes around an hour.  The mustaches inside do not dry out as they are wrapped in raw batter and it keeps the cake moist throughout the time in the oven. 

Whether you are sprouting some hairs on your upper lip, donating to the Movember cause, or just joining in the fun with this cake, I hope you like the baking and decorating process! 

 

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Filed Under: Cakes, Tutorials, Videos Tagged With: Moustache, moustache cake, Movember, movember cake, Mustache, mustache cake, surprise inside, surprise inside cake, surprise inside moustache cake, surprise inside mustache cake

Giant Cookie Cake with Leftover Halloween Candy

November 5, 2014 by Jenn
 If you have a bunch of leftover candy from Halloween, this is the recipe for you!  If you ate it all your Halloween candy, good news- it’s all on clearance at the local stores, so go and grab some more before it’s all gone!  If you do not live where you participate in Halloween festivities, you can use any candy you want to!  I’m solving all of the world’s problems this morning- finding solutions to a lack of candy.  You’re welcome.  
 
Some people (not naming names- ME) went out of town after purchasing Costco candy for all the trick-or-treators in the neighbourhood and have a ginormous bag of candy (that I don’t like) leftover- NEVER opened!  Oops.  If you’re like me, there is serious strategy to buying Halloween candy.  I buy what you don’t like, and then you won’t eat it.  Usually, that is a fail safe way ensure there is no snacking, BUT since I recieved so many requests for a new recipe on how to use up leftover candy, I had to go out and buy some. Had to.  HAD to!  Then I HAD to go out and buy more when we snacked our way through the chocolate candies.  HAD TO PEOPLE!! YOU MADE ME!!  I thank you for that.  My pants don’t, but I do.
 
 Making a giant cookie cake definitely saves time, rather than dishing out individual amount of dough to make smaller cookies.  You can do this with this recipe, but the fun is in serving a slice to your family or friends.  Triangular pieces are a change from the standard round cookie, as are chunks of candy!  If you choose to roll these cookies into rounds, bake them for 15-18 minutes, or until golden brown at 350F.  
 
Whether you choose to make this the traditional way, or in it’s giant cookie form as seen in our tutorial, it’s a delicious, and fast way to use up any candy/chocolate you might have hanging around! 
 

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Filed Under: Cakes, Cookies, Tutorials, Videos Tagged With: cake, candy cake, cookie, cookie cake, giant candy cookie cake, giant cookie, Giant Cookie Cake, Halloween, halloween candy, leftover candy, leftover halloween candy

Cherpumple: Triple Layer Pie in a Cake

November 1, 2014 by Jenn

What to call a pie in a cake??  A “pake”?  A “cie”?  Or what about “Cherappkin”?  Appcherrkin?  Pumpcherple?  CHERPUMPLE! 

I think I’m going to stick with “Pie in a cake”.  It much easier to figure out what in the world I’m talking about!  

This cake is admittedly time consuming since you have to bake three pies ahead of time, as well as prepare two types of cake batter.  It’s definitely an investment in your life, but it is bound to impress anyone that looks at it.  And most likely they’ll have to look at it twice to figure out what in the world they are looking at!  

Triple Layer Pie in a Cake

 To make the investment of time shorter, using premade pies from a grocery store bakery work excellently, as does using box mixes for the cake batter.  In the recipe below I have provided the link to all of our homemade versions of the pies, and cakes, if you are so inclinded for this big project.  

Since the cake was such a big project, I went with an easy, light covering.  Instead of using a heavy buttercream, I thought whipping cream would be best paired with the cakes/pies.  After all, there is a lot going on in this cake, so the last thing it needed was another element to confuse the taste buds. 

You can choose to go with any flavour of cake batter, as well as any type of pie when you’re making your own version of this.  The hardest part of that will be trying to name it!  

When you’re baking your pies, make sure that they are at least an inch (2 centimeters) smaller than your cake pan.  This will ensure that there is just enough room for the cake batter to completely envelop the pie.  You want to make sure that you spread the cake batter on the bottom, sides and top so that the batter prevents any of the pie from escaping while baking- especially in the fruit pies!  Roughly, I wanted an inch (2cm) of cake batter underneath and on top of the pie to help prevent that from happening. 

This “PAKE”, “CIE”, whatever you want to call it is super fun to make.  I hope you have a blast ! 

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Filed Under: Cakes, Tutorials, Videos Tagged With: apple, Apple pie, cake, cake pie, cherpumple, cherry, cherry pie, chocolate, chocolate cake, pake, pie, pie cake, pie in a cake, pumpkin, pumpkin pie, turducken, vanilla, Vanilla Cake

Monster High Doll Cake – How to Make

October 30, 2014 by Jenn

A Monster High doll cake has been something that has been high on the request list for a while now, so when the opportunity came to work with Monster High AND Chef Dominique Ansel, we jumped at the chance!  Why wouldn’t we?  

Monster High dolls embracing differences and celebrating what makes everyone unique.  Each “ghoul” as the dolls are called, has a different monster lineage and live by the slogan “be yourself, be unique, be a monster.”  For example, Draculaura, is the daughter of Dracula, and Frankie Stein, Frankenstein.  I know the kids in my Kindergarten class LOVE these dolls. 

Chef Dominique is the genius behind the Cronut (a croissant, donut combination) and the Milk and Cookie Shot!  We have done our own takes of both of those recipes on our YouTube channel already, and loved making them!  His newest creation is the Shocklette Monster for the Monster High brand.  The Shocklette Monster treat is chocolate mousse, dipped in chocolate, encased in marshmallow!  It sounds freaky fab! 

 

 

You can follow Chef Dominque Ansel as he documents his progress on his Shocklette Monster treat over on his Instagram.

Since we were asked to join in and get in on the Monster High celebration as well, I decided to turn Draculaura, well her dress, into a cake!  What’s great about this cake is that you don’t need anything special, besides a Monster High doll.  A cake doll pan helps, but as you can see in my Barbie Cake video, you can also just use a tapered bowl to shape the dress. 

 

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Filed Under: Cakes, Tutorials, Videos Tagged With: black cake, cake, chef ansel, chef dominique ansel, cronut, doll, doll cake, dominique ansel, dominique ansel bakery, draculaura, draculaura cake, monster, monster cake, monster high, monster high cake, monster high doll, monster high doll cake, pink black cake, pink cake, shocklette, shocklette monster, shockolatte, shockolatte monster

3D Baseball Cake

October 25, 2014 by Jenn
Plaaaaaaaay ball!  
 
It’s World Series time in North America, and if you don’t know what that means, its Major League Baseball’s final show down of the top two teams of the season.   I’ve never been much of a baseball fan, but around this time of year, something makes me what to watch the World Series.  It must be the hype and excitement!  
 
I never played baseball growing up as a kid- I was a soccer player- but I did have one exciting incident back in grade four or five where I learned to “watch the ball” the hard way.  The last thing I remember is hearing “Jenn, watch the ball!” being yelled at me by my dad (he was my Gym teacher), and then WHACK.  Ball right in the back of the head.  Ouch.
 
This cake is made easy because there is no carving involved.  I was shopping at the Bulk Barn (as I do pretty much everyday) and I saw this 3D ball mold.  At the time, I didn’t have a specific cake in mind, but I bought it anyway.  When I finally realized the baseball season was coming to an end, to celebrate the World Series, I decided to use the pan to make a 3D baseball!  There are so many other sports balls that it can be used for as well.  I’m looking forward to making basketball, golf balls, soccer balls and more baseballs with this pan.  I also used one of the domes to make the spider body in the 3D spider web cake I made a couple of videos ago (shocker!!!).  
 
When decorating a cake with the star tip method, it does take a lot of time . . . and pain if you have tendinitis like I do (too much cake decorating!).  I love the final look of this type of cake though . . . it’s worth the pain!  
 
For this cake, I wanted to add a second element beyond the ball for a more complete cake.  That is where the idea for the field came in.  The ball can stand alone if you don’t want to have the additional element (or work), but I think that it “completes” the cake.  
 
Good luck to the final teams in the World Series this year!  And to those of you who are ending your baseball seasons as well.  
 

 
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Filed Under: Cakes, Tutorials, Videos Tagged With: 3d baseball, 3d baseball cake, 3D cake, baseball, baseball cake, baseball field, baseball field cake, cake, major league baseball, MLB, world series, world series baseball
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