Tips for Cake Decorating

Hey Hey,

So who doesn't admire those amazing, intricate cakes that looks like they have been planned to the very last detail.... Well they are!

I design all my cakes before I make them!
This means sitting down with a brief whether it be from a friend who has asked me to bake a cake for an event or just for a friends birthday or ever just for fun.
I will admit sometimes I make a cake and just throw the icing on cause I'm hungry and don't care how it looks. But even just throwing the icing on can make a cake look beautiful by making patterns or swirling the icing until you get the desired effect.

Here is what I usually do
here is my plan:
sorry its sideways it didn't work when I flipped it apparently
I did a few quick sketches and when I found exactly what I wanted I drew up my final design. As you can see I annotated it with all my different ideas.

 And here was the final result:
You can tell it slightly differs but is mainly the same.

To see how to make this cake look at  my earlier post:
Beach Cake

Pavlova My Favorite Dessert

Okay so who doesn't love Pavlova!?

For those of you who don't know what it is. It is an Aussie dessert which everyone loves. It is meringue and is crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside, generally you top it with cream (generally whipped but not sweetened) and fruit.

Like this one I made for Christmas 2 years ago: This was also made to be gluten free for my coeliac grandmother 

So this one has kiwi fruit, strawberries and mango on top. (also if you want the gluten free recipe ask me i can send it to you :) ) 

There are so many different types of pavlova out there: different fruits, chocolate, m&m's, basically whatever you want on it 

You can layer them, make them bigger, smaller what ever you want really!

Have a look at this website there are heaps of ideas for what to do with a pavlova

 http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/collections/pavlova+recipes

Personally I like the classic pavlova with fruit and cream as for me to balances out the amount of sugar. But tell me what you like and any others I should try! I will try your suggestions and get back to you :)

So here is a basic pavlova recipe 

Ingredients:

4 egg whites

1 cup caster sugar 

1 teaspoon lemon or vinegar 

2 teaspoons cornflour

Method

1. Preheat oven to 150°C (300°F).2. Place the eggwhite in the bowl of an electric mixer and whisk until stiff peaks form. 3.Gradually add the sugar, whisking well, until the mixture is stiff and glossy.4. Add the cornflour and vinegar and whisk until just combined. 5.Shape the mixture into an 18cm round on a baking tray lined with non-stick baking paper. 6. Reduce oven to 120°C (250°F) and bake for 1 hour 20 minutes. 7. Turn the oven off and allow the pavlova to cool completely in the oven. 8. Whisk the cream until soft peaks form. 9. Spread over the pavlova, and top with anything you want

IMPORTANT NOTE!

- try and make it the night before and leave the pavlova in the oven over night to cool as the oven cools this way it wont crack or fall or break (make sure you turn the oven off though)

SO what do you like!?
Also are there any suggestions for posts I should make? WHat are you interested in?

Summer Tips

So Summer is starting in Australia and we have had the hottest Spring in years, it is going to be a hot Summer. This is exciting but a bad thing for baking, so here are some tips for baking in the Summer.

1. Butter will soften much quicker than normal - this means that it may not be processed the way it should be and will completely change the outcome of the recipe.

2. Use the oven in the evening - houses keep the heat very well, the last thing you want to have on a 35 degree day is the oven on! Also baking in the evening means that your baked goods will also have time to cook down as the heat of the day isn't as bad.

3. Cookie dough has to go into the oven asap - the butter will start to melt very quickly and can start to separate in the cookie. This will change the texture of the cookies as well as them being a flatter cookie. You can even refrigerate the dough before putting it into the oven to help keep it firm. 

4. Yeast dough will rise A LOT quicker! 

For a typical Australian Summer bickie recipe that everyone love try these: Anzac Biscuits named after the ANZACS and their fighting in WWI <3

INGREDIENTS

125g butter, chopped coarsely
2 tablespoons golden syrup
¾ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 tablespoon water
1 cup (90g) rolled oats
1 cup (90g) desiccated coconut
1 cup (150g) plain flour
¾ cup (165g) brown sugar

METHOD

Preheat oven to 160°C or 140°C fan-forced.

Combine butter and syrup in a small saucepan. Heat gently until butter and syrup melt.

Combine bicarbonate of soda and water in a small bowl and stir into butter mixture.

Combine remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Pour over warm butter mixture and stir well to combine.

Roll rounded teaspoons of mixture into balls. Place about 4 cm apart on baking paper lined baking trays and flatten slightly.

Bake in preheated oven 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool 5 minutes on baking trays; transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

A Way to Cheat in Baking

Okay so have you ever wanted brownies and can't find an amazing recipe or don't have time to go buy that box mix?
Well if you have a chocolate cake mix like this...

I have a cheat for you!
You can turn this box of chocolate cake into brownies!!!! And here is how:

1 chocolate cake mix
1/4 cup cooking oil
1/3 cup water 
1 egg 

Try it and let me know what you think!
oh and brownies with icing taste sooo much better

Beach Cake

I designed this beach cake for a farewell party for a friend. They said that they would miss the beach most about Australia so I took the things that stood out to me as the beach. A marbled like blue effect for the icing representing the ocean, crushed up wafers to represent the sand, a fondant beach ball and towel and a little umbrella just cause it was cute. It was made of three layers the bottom dark blue, the middle light blue and the top white with white icing defining the different layers.
The recipe was a basic white cake which was delicious (my go to cake recipe, when i have no clue) and a basic butter cream (I have learnt actually following the measurement makes SO much difference in the taste!)

Here is my White Cake recipe 

Ingredients

·         2 1/4 cups cake flour

·         1 cup milk at room temperature

·         6 large egg whites at room temperature

·         2 teaspoons almond extract

·         1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·         1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

·         4 teaspoons baking powder

·         1 teaspoon table salt

·         1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened but still cool

Instructions

1.       Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare two 8-inch cake pans.

2.       Make sure milk and eggs are room temperature.

3.       Pour milk (I used skim) , egg whites, and extracts into medium bowl and mix with fork until blended.

4.       Mix cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of electric mixer at slow speed. Add butter, cut into cubes and continue beating on low for about 1-2 minutes.

5.       Add all but 1/2 cup of milk mixture to flour mixture and beat at medium speed for 1 1/2 minutes. Add remaining 1/2 cup of milk mixture and beat for about 1 minute.

6.       Pour batter evenly between two prepared cake pans.

7.       Bake until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 27 to 30 minutes.

8.       Allow cake to cool to room temperature.

9.       Frost cakes with favorite frosting.

You can you any icing you want even pre-made ones and just colour them with food dye to get the icing the colour you want. If you want the marbled effect don't mix it fully mix it in a tiny bit and as you apply the colour it will blend even more. 

To get the crumbs I crushed up wafers in a ziplock bag and had fun rolling a rolling pin over and over again (lots of fun)
To make the ball I rolled a ball out of fondant in my hand and then hand painted food dye onto it (with a tiny paint brush) I then pressed a little silver sugar ball on top 
To make the beach towel I took a section of fondant and then added a few drops of pink colouring and massaged it through till I got a solid colour then rolling it out and cutting a rectangle. I then did the same with the yellow but into tiny strips to have a stripped towel securing it on with a little water. To make it look 3D as it was setting i put a tool for shaping fondant underneath to support it creating that wave shape.

* apply a crumb coating for best results for icing cakes - this is a thin layer on the raw edges of the cake to prevent the curmbs of the cake getting into the final layer of icing

** you can freeze a cake for 30 mins before you ice to prevent lots of crumbs in the icing it however i have found that the icing goes funny when the cake starts to come to room temp but thats just me try it out or if you know what works for you stick to that :) and comment your successes or failures below (we have all had them) 

any questions? just comment :)

My Top Tips for Baking

1. ALWAYS start with a clean kitchen, and I mean always. The cleaner it is the easier it is for you to get around and quickly do things. 

2. Prepare all your ingredients before you start. I know it sucks but it makes it so much easier and quicker.

3. If it says at room temp. Actually make sure it is a room temp. (I hate this one)

4.  Never leave the house while anything is in the oven. (I know it seems silly but the amount of times a neighbor has come to see me and I've forgotten about my cake)

5.  Timing is EVERYTHING! and don't always trust what a recipe says, every oven is different so know your oven well. 

6. Use the freezer and beat the horrors of shortbread! Use to chill dough so it doesn't melt everywhere or freeze it and use it another time!

7. Your oven changes over time. Hot spots or an off temp oven can make or break your baked good. Test your ovens accuracy: Place a 1/2 cup of 70°F tap water in an oven-proof measuring cup on the middle rack of a 350°F oven and allow it to bake for 15 minutes. If the oven is accurate, the water will be 150°F after 15 minutes.

8. Weigh everything! Weighing things is a bakers best friend.

9. Experiment once you understand the recipe . Make it your own.