Happy Father's Day Cake

Happy Father's Day to all the men in our lives who are a daddy!!!  And a special Happy Father's Day to my own dad.  

And to my husband, Jérôme.  Thanks for being such a wonderful husband and father. 

I made a cake for Jérôme to celebrate the occasion.  

 

It had to be something relatively quick, as we were away last weekend, I had a million and one appointments last week and Logan woke up sick yesterday.  Good thing with fondant is that you can start making many of the decorations far in advance.

I used an altered cake mix recipe for this cake that I got from my cake decorating teacher.  To my recollection, I have never, EVER made a cake from a box before.  But someone in my cake class told me how good this recipe was, so I figured I had to give it a try.  And this was the perfect chance to do so, as I was pressed for time.  She told me that the vanilla version was better than the chocolate, so that's what I chose.  And it turned out to be pretty good.  I still prefer more dense cakes, but if you want to make a boxed cake, I'd recommend this.

1 box cake mix (no pudding in the mix)
1 small box instant pudding in coordinating flavour
1 C sour cream
1 whole large egg
3 large egg whites
1/2 C water
1/3 C oil (add one more tbsp. with chocolate)

Optional:
1 tsp. vanilla flavouring
1 tsp. almond flavouring
1 tsp. butter flavouring

I used a tsp. of pina colada flavouring, which I purchased from my teacher. 

1.  Mix all ingredients in mixer at speed one or two, scraping down sides, until just incorporated.  Batter will be very thick.  Fill pans just a little over half full.

2.  Bake at 325 degrees Fareneheit until centre bounces back and toothpick is clean.  Be careful not to underbake.  This will take longer to bake than an undoctored mix due to the added ingredients.

Note: cheesecake flavoured pudding will keep the batter more white in colour and vanilla will make it more yellow.

Due to my current freezer challenge, I am trying to not only empty the freezer, but also, to not stock it with anything new.  So this was a bit of a cake of leftovers (sorry honey...).  A cake of leftovers right down to using the remaining green buttercream icing from Logan's birthday cake (which I will post shortly).  I used this to crumb coat the cake.  I figured that it was only for us, so it didn't matter and it was better than throwing all of the green stuff in the garbage.

As you can tell from the picture, I found it more difficult to crumb coat this cake than the ones I made for Maddy and Logan's birthday (to come shortly).  Probably partly because this cake wasn't as dense.  And partly because I was in a huge rush.

I used leftover cream cheese icing (from my lemon curd filled lemon cupcakes with lemon icing) as filling.  Not on purpose, as Jérôme doesn't like lemon.  I didn't notice it was lemon until I had it defrosted.  And then I just hoped that he wouldn't notice... And he didn't ;P  

Now you'd think this would not taste good at all with the pina colada flavouring I had put into the cake.  But I just wanted to get rid of everything, so I charged ahead even after I realized the cream cheese icing was lemon.  And you couldn't even tell.  In fact, the whole thing tasted pretty darned good.

the green buttercream makes it look a bit odd, but it was delicious!

 

 

I used a bit of shimmer on the white fondant

Gift Box Cakes

I need to apologize for the lack of recipes on here these days.  I was perhaps a bit overly inspired with this session's calendar at the Women's Centre.  Between my 3 classes there, mom and baby aqua-fit and weekly appointments for both myself and the kids, I am very rarely at home.  Plus, Chloé has finally learned to fall asleep on her own (post three weeks of crying it out for about an hour each night... ugh!).  So I am no longer obliged to sit still with her in my arms each night, which was a perfect reason to blog constantly.

All that to say that I am aware that I have been lacking a bit lately on the actual recipe posting.  But the Women's Centre classes are now done until fall, so this should free up a bit of time to begin making (and blogging) delicious food once again.

As we rush to get ready to leave for my little niece's first birthday party bonanza, I wanted to share the cakes everyone made this week in cake class.  

Remember this post here, when you got a sneak peek at the beginnings of the bows we were making?  Well, check out what they have all turned into.  Not everyone got their cakes completely done, but they all look bee-oo-ti-ful!!!!  I'm impressed with how much we've learned from our teacher in so little time.

I had to catch some close-ups of the decorations. LOVE :)

So gonna reproduce this one day!

And last by not least, here's a peek at my cake.  Well, mine's not actually a cake.  More of a styrofoam square covered with fondant.  Given my recent fridge/freezer debacle, plus the fact that we leave today to visit my family, I decided it wasn't worth the stress of rushing to bake a cake that no one would eat.  So I bought a dummy cake instead.  I have more shots of my cake, not because I think it's better than anyone else's, but because I was able to take it outside, get it in proper lighting and snap a bunch of shots of it, whereas at the Women's Centre, I was rushing to take pictures and get my cake done.

 

Lessons learned this week from cake class?  Don't let your decorations dry in your living room, on the table where light from outside pours in all day long.  My decorations ended up faded in some areas.  Streaked, if you will.  Ah well... twas only styrofoam ;)

I so desperately hope that Laurie will offer her buttercream class again in the fall so that I can expand my cake horizons.  Véro, you were completely right. I am soooooooooo addicted to this cake decorating biz! 

Fondant Bows

I'm feeling much more zen today than I was when I wrote my last post.

We've had a good couple of days.  

Logan has been relatively calm - a Logan state of calm ;)  But really, that's all I'm ever hoping for.  He's a kid, a boy, and he's two.  Our days have certainly not been tantrum or defiance free, but that would clearly be too much for anyone to hope for for any child.  But he has been happier more often than miserable the last few days and has had many fewer meltdowns than usual.  

It's been a good couple of days.

Chloé is also starting to be happy again here and there, which was also much needed.  

finally, a happy monkey

And my improved state of mind is most certainly also related to the fact that Chloé has *finally* started going to sleep with only a few minutes of crying, following almost 3 straight weeks of crying for almost an hour.  Which completely drained me. 

And wonder of all wonders, she started sleeping through the night two nights ago.  With only an 11 p.m. dream feed, she has slept until 6:45 a.m. two days in a row.  And Logan even teamed up with her this morning and also got up at 6:45.  Plus, Chloé napped in her car seat for an hour and a half today (she usually wakes the instant the car stops).  Which gave me a full hour of time to myself.  Utter bliss. 

It's a simple equation: sleeping kids + much less screaming = incredibly more zen mommy

I wanted to share a few of my projects from the past week or so.  

We've been learning different types of fondant bows in my cake class.  I'll perhaps put up a tutorial at some point, but just don't have the time right now.  It's too nice to be inside blogging.  But here are a few pics of my newly acquired skill:

And here's a sneak preview of the bow pieces that we will learn to assemble next week for our gift box cake.  More on that next week.

I've also been busy learning how to finish up the afghan that we've been making in my knitting class.  Gotta admit I'm kinda proud I managed to do this.  I have yet to completely finish it off, but wanted to share it just the same.  I still have to work in the ends and crochet a border around the entire thing.  But I want to double the size it is so that it's nice and big to snuggle in with the kids.  So it will be awhile before I am ready to completely finish it off.  But here's a preview:

Gosh this year long mat leave and the classes at the Women's Centre are a great way to learn some skills that I likely would never have had the time to learn otherwise.

And there ya have it folks.  This is all why there hasn't been much cooking or baking around here of late.

May Cake Club: Flower Pots and Cookie Flowers

I wanted to quickly share this month's take home project from cake club.  We made these adorable little flower pots with cookie flowers, a perfect project for spring.  

Chloé started waking up just as we started the project at last night's meeting.  Lucky for me, one of the members, Stephanie, offered to hold Chloé for me while I made this.  Sweeeet!!  There's no saying no to an offer from someone else to hold your baby...

I didn't finish decorating my flower pot with cute little fondant cut-outs.  I didn't have time last night and, quite frankly, just couldn't be bothered getting everything back out again once I got home.  

Annnnd... the whole thing toppled over when I was setting it up, requiring me to re-decorate the cookie... which is part of why it looks so messy (the other part is just me being a beginner and all).  And that's also why the bottom is all smushed in.  

Pluuuuuus, the spearmint candy leaves fell off on the way home without me noticing - guess I didn't heed my own advice about being careful when transporting cakes.  

But here's a peek at what they should sort of look like:

The flower pots were a little cupcake made in a flower pot baking mold.  However, they mentioned that if you don't have such a mold (and I'm sure not many people do) that you can either trim cupcakes to a pot shape or can buy clay flower pots at the dollar store to cook them in (once they're washed and sprayed).

Supplies:

flower pot shaped cupcakes, made using your favourite cupcake recipe
cupcake boards
flower-shaped sugar cookies (see recipe below)
sticks to attach to back of cookies
coloured icing to decorate cookies, plus white buttercream
cut straws
white and coloured fondant and small cutters
chocolate cookie crumbs (such as Oreo crumbs) 
spearmint leaf candies

To make flower pots:

Cover sides of cake pot with buttercream. Measure pot from bottom to pot rim.  Roll out a long strip of fondant.  Trim to proper height and measure enough width to wrap around pot.  Cut off excess.  Seal and smooth back seam.  Using knife or angled spatula, tuck fondant in at bottom of pot to give a smooth finish.

Roll out strip of coloured fondant about 1/2 inch wide and long enough to wrap around top of pot.  It should stick up about 1/4 inch above the white fondant.  Attach with water and match seams in the back.  Decorate pot with patterns, dots, cutouts, etc.
Attach pot to board with a little icing.  Put a thin layer or icing on the rounded top part of the cake.  Gently sprinkle a layer of chocolate crumbs to cover (not too thick - they will sit in the top fondant wall of the pot).

Sugar cookie recipe:

2 eggs
3/4 C sugar
1/2 C oil
1/4 C orange juice or water
2 tsp. baking powder
3 C flour

In food processor, process eggs with sugar, oil and juice until blended.  Add baking powder and flour and process until just mixed.

Divide dough into 4 pieces.  Roll out on a floured board 1/8 inch thick.  Cut out flowers.  Place stick into cookie and press down gently.  Bake at 375 degrees Farenheit for 8-10 minutes until golden brown. 

Decorate sugar cookie with icing in desired pattern.  Cut spearmint leaf in half.  Cut piece of straw the same height as the cupcake.  Place stick into straw and place cookie into pot.  Position leaf halves on stick near the bottom to balance it.

 

Note:  If your flower seems to tumble over as mine did, you can use royal icing to solidify the base of the cake to the cake board and/or trim the height of the stick.


Happy Spring everyone!!  Do you have any favourite spring recipes you'd like to share?

Difficulty level: difficult

April Cake Club: Fondant Purse Mini-Cakes

No, that is not a typo.  I just came home from the May meeting of the West Island Cake Club, but I want to share today's project with you in detail and don't want to get to bed too late tonight.  

However, I wanted to show you the project that they did at last month's meeting.  The one that I missed while we were in Paris.  Probably a good thing too, since there's not much chance that a beginner like me would have been able to come up with anything like this:

love the zipper detail!

They were throwing these in the garbage (gasp!) as I headed out the door and asked me if I wanted to take any of them.  And when they said I could share them on my blog... well, how could I say no???

now does this look real, or what?

bee-oo-ti-ful!

You can see more photos of the members' creations here, from their recent cake show.

Can't wait until I'm good enough to be doing things like this!! 

The Word Obsession Takes on a Whole New Meaning: Intro to the World of Cake Decorating

I have literally just stepped in the door from my first meeting at the West Island Cake Club.  And I am in love.  Pure and utter love.  I loved this evening so much that I felt a compulsion to blog about it.  Immediately.  

I can already sense that I am going to become completely obsessed with cake decorating.  So much so that I really wish we could re-schedule our upcoming trip to France so that I wouldn't miss next month's meeting...

Just to figure out what to do with the cakes...???  Any takers??

The women in the club are all super friendly and everyone was more than welcoming.  There are members from beginners (like myself), right up to professionals, who run their own businesses and shops.  My aspiration??  To be able to make my kids super beautiful birthday cakes over the years.  While at the same time, spending some time with a group of lovely ladies one evening a month - although I really wish it was twice a week instead!!

Each meeting has a little hands-on practice of a technique that they introduce.  This week we used a cookie cutter or embosser to put a design onto fondant and then used royal icing to ice it.  I also learned to roll and cut fondant, as I've never worked with it at all before.  

I've only managed to get the outline of the project done so far.  But here's a sneak peak of what it looks like:

So... I apparently need to work on keeping my hand a bit more steady.  But I figure that this isn't too bad for a first shot, especially since it was done while breastfeeding Chloé, who was kicking in the direction of the icing (though she slept right up until we started the hands-on).

I'll get a pic up once I've got a finished version.  Though it may well be a few days before I find the time to finish this off. 

Can't wait for my fondant decorating class to start at the West Island Women's Centre!!!!  And to learn all sorts of other techniques at these meetings.  One woman was telling me about all sorts of tricks like rolling out gummy candies or marshmallows and using cookie cutters on them to make decorations for cakes.  Or using a cookie cutter on fondant and letting it dry inside a paper towel roll, to make it a bit rounded to sit on a cake. Can't wait until I can make beautiful cakes like the pictures I saw tonight!!! Stay tuned!!!!!!!!!!!!! (can you tell I'm excited???).