Happy Birthday Yolande!

                                   
Lovely Yolande with a glass of almond champagne and her birthday cake: White Cake with Italian Meringue Buttercream icing. 

Buttercream layers

Crumb coat










Second icing.  I am still struggling to get that professional sleek, smooth finish.  I tried again and again and realized I'd just mess it up if I kept trying.










As for the buttercream decorations, I had some problems as it was quite warm and the buttercream softened quickly.  I refrigerated it before creating roses and shells, but my roses kept flattening. They didn't hold their shape as well as my practice ones the night before using store-bought shortening-based icing (yuck).  So I settled for one rose in the center with leaves and then piped shells around the rim and bottom.  I'm learning--and it still looked pretty.










Tasted good the next morning too!

Not Back to School for Me, But Back to Baking and Blogging, Yes!

It's been one full year since I retired from teaching.  The official retirement date may be June 30, but it's the opening of a new school year that really marks it for any teacher, and thus the real retirement date.  We're used to those weeks off in summer: sleeping in, taking trips, reading books we want to read.  It's that first week back that is a killer: getting up with the birds, rushing to school, standing on our feet most of the day, preparing lesson plans and grading papers night after night. For some, that week doesn't begin until after Labor Day; for many it begins the third or fourth week of August.  But this year my colleagues at LAUSD, bless their souls, had to start back this past Monday, August 16th!  So though it's still summer to many people out there, to me and my fellow teachers, it's back to school time already.  And yet, I don't have to go back to school....

But I do have to get back to baking!  My trips are behind me: my niece's wedding in NY and my trip with my husband to Lake Louise, Canada which was glorious. And since my friends and colleagues are talking about the new school year, I feel like it's time for me to get back to my two serious ventures: writing and baking. So this week I worked on some short fiction, I'm returning to my blog right now, and I'm in the midst of baking a cake for my mother-in-law, Yolande.

So first things first. Lake Louise, Canada: Two Stunning Sights

Taken from in front of our hotel--Lake Louise in Alberta, Canada

Taken at Moraine Lake Lodge--Chocolate Banana Spring Roll--delicious.  Just right: not too much chocolate or banana, a touch of custard, and a nice crisp crunch of the spring roll pastry.

Second things second:  Great Birthday Gifts: Two New Cake Plates

This cute little cupcake plate is just the right size for serving a few cookies or cupcakes.  I found it at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena.  They have the nicest selection of uniques gifts in addition to being a fabulous bookstore.  I bought it, along with a couple of books, using my gift money from my dad--Thanks Dad!

And from my good friend Margaret, a lovely hand-painted Italian cake plate to add to my now growing collection of three plates: small, medium, and large. Perfect.  I love it.  Thanks, Margaret!  And it is appropriately displayed beside a bottle of Sopranos Chianti given to me by the charming and always entertaining sisters: Rosine and Yolande. The wine was thoroughly enjoyed and the plate is now a centerpiece on my table and will be used for years to come.

And last but certainly not least.  Yolande's Birthday Cake: A Buttercream Work in Progress and Practice!

For my mother-in-law Yolande's birthday, I wanted to make a special cake--fancy-schmancy fondant and gumpaste flowers and all that jazz--but she preferred a white cake with white buttercream icing because, like many people, she doesn't like fondant.  Fairly simple, though I plan on making Italian Meringue Buttercream which is bit complicated, cooking the sugar and all; however, I am not that experienced with piping buttercream decorations. Aha!  A challenge!

So today I baked the cake, wrapped the layers, and put them in the fridge.  (Tomorrow I will make the buttercream, then assemble, ice, and decorate the cake.)  But--today--using store bought Wilton's shortening-based Decorator's Icing which tasted terrible--I practiced on parchment paper which I then threw away--along with the Wilton's Decorator's Icing!  I practiced piping shells, ruffles, stars, rosettes, leaves, and finally a rose on a nail. 

Now I have to give credit where credit is due.  I learned how to do the buttercream rose a month or so ago at an afternoon class in West Hollywood's Cake and Art cake shop. They do all their cakes--often for big-name celebrities--using buttercream--no fondant.  My instructor was the cutest and sweetest young man named Kody.  We had so much fun listening to Etta James and decorating our cakes. 

 

Kody was quite a character.  He showed me a video where he dressed up as Brittany Spears and delivered a cake to Mario Lopez on Extra!  We had fun that afternoon--and I learned how to make a buttercream rose using a nail tool--which I practiced over and over today.  So we'll see how it comes out tomorrow! Stay tuned!!

I plan now to continue my baking daze journey. Further classes will have to wait, however, as my finances have dwindled a bit, but I plan to use what I've learned and move forward--hopefully improving as I go!

Another Birthday--Already?

Amazing how quickly a year goes by and another birthday rolls around.  I celebrated with my kids yesterday and my daughter brought the cake--all chocolate of course and delicious--from Sweet Lady Jane's.

The only baking I did this week was my Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Walnut cookies that I put in doggie bags for the kids to take home with them. You can see a few left on the plate on the counter and the the bags to the far left.  For recipe see http://bakingdazeinla.blogspot.com/2010/03/most-requested-cookies.html  

A busy week ahead, but when all settles down I plan to begin baking and blogging about everything that I learned in my Pro Baking class and to move forward with classes in more advanced cake decorating. So stay tuned!

...I may be a year older, but I'm also a year smarter--when it comes to baking, that is!

Kristina and Jay's Wedding. The Groom's Cake: A Taste of Roger

                                                            

Last week I flew back east to New York for my niece's wedding.  It was a magnificent event held at the Glen Island Harbor Club in New Rochelle.  While I could go on and on about every detail from the flowers, to the food, to the fabulous band Full House, I have to admit the highlight for me was Roger.  You see the groom Jay hopes one day to get an English bulldog and name him Roger, and while his bride Kristina is not quite ready for that yet, she does love her man enough to give him, shall we say, a taste of Roger.  And so for his groom's cake presented at the rehearsal dinner, she had cake artist Susan Gambelli, create an English bulldog cake.

I didn't get to see the entire cake as pictured above with Roger atop a cake.  I met him the next day sitting in a torn box, but still retaining all the charm and dignity of a bulldog in a top hat.  Beside him was a bowl of dog food that he hadn't yet eaten; perhaps he was watching his weight for the occasion.

 

Isn't he amazing?  Or should I say isn't Susan Gambelli amazing?  The attention to detail is the mark of a true artist.  Look at the folds, the coloring, the shades and shadows, his tongue--I think everyone touched it at some point to see if it was wet!--his ears, eyes, paws, nub of a tail, and even the dog food.  Incredible!  Of course, I had to email her to send my praise and admiration and ask a few questions.  Here's her response:

"Thank you so much for your kind words Debbie. I had a blast making the bulldog for Kristina and Jay. To answer your questions, yes he was made from rice crispy treats and then iced and then covered in sculpted fondant, airbrushed etc. The dog food was raisins that were mixed into dog food colored butter cream and then airbrushed to make it look realistic. I am planning on putting him on my website soon. So when I do I will let you know so you can put a link on yours. I would really love that!!! Cake decorating is my passion and anything involving sculptures is my kind of work. Anyways enjoy your baking journey and decorating and thanks again!!!"

Sweet Regards,

-Susan
Susan Gambelli Custom Cakes
914-831-2001
www.susangambellicakes.com

(For those of you not familiar with cake talk, when she says "iced" before the fondant is applied, she means iced with buttercream--not ice cubes--so the fondant will adhere.)


The wedding cake itself was provided by the venue, I believe.  Lovely, but didn't hold a candle to Roger!

Yes, I will always treasure my memory of Roger, that and watching my dad dance...with the bride of course,

and with me!

Cake Art--for Reading not Eating!

The only baking I did this week was Blueberry Streusel Muffins already posted in April. http://bakingdazeinla.blogspot.com/2010/04/blueberry-streusel-muffins.html
I am off soon to my niece's wedding in New York, so my cake decorating is on hold for a bit.  However, I have been doing some reading about baking! 


First I discovered the CIA'S (Culinary Institute of America) Cake Art book published in 2008. It covers every aspect of cake decorating: baking, filling, icing, piping, modeling, embossing, and painting.  I can't wait to try my hand at some of the more complex aspects of cake art. 






 And then for fun, I've been flipping through Duff Goldman's Ace of Cakes, which is about the beginnings of Charm City Cakes and the eclectic group of artists who work with him.  Lots of photos and quirky information.  Not exactly airplane reading--too heavy literally. 







But then I planned on bringing my good friend and mentor Gayle Brandeis's newest novel Delta Girls.  I just started the first few chapters and am hooked.  (No wonder she won Barbara Kingsolver's Bellwether Prize for Fiction).  Now this has nothing to do with baking cakes--but it does involve pears, so there is a connection of sorts!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July to everyone!  Don't eat too much.  Save room for cake;)

What a pleasure it was rolling out fondant on my new countertop!

My First Creative Specialty Cake Rediscovered!

While I just became interested in cake decorating this past year, it dawned on me that this interest isn't exactly new.  When  my son Dean turned one in October 1981, the Dodgers and Yankees were in the World Series--thus the theme for his party!  (Dodgers won!)  And my first creative cake!!