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ARTAAAAX!! posted:What's the final texture like on this one? I like really dense, creamy icing and meringue makes me think fluffy. Plus I'm pregnant and not sure on the whole raw egg white thing (normally I wouldn't give a gently caress). The final texture is pretty creamy, I would say almost like mayonnaise unless that turns you off completely. Maybe PezMaster can give a better description as to the texture because I don't really care for it. Also, Rose Levy Beranbaum has a recipe for a white chocolate cream cheese icing that isn't too sweet. I can post it if you're interested, it just has melted white chocolate, cream cheese, a bit of sour cream or creme fraiche, and some vanilla extract.
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Aug 30, 2010 03:24
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Eggplant Wizard posted:I'm pretty sure the simmering thing mentioned in the SK link is to cook the egg whites sufficiently. When I've made meringue frosting before, it was by pouring a hot sugar syrup directly into the egg whites in a stream while beating them. Again, the heat from the syrup was supposed to sufficiently cook them. Anyone know if I'm right? Oh, I seem to have completely skipped over that link. I'll see if she can try it out. I like that they include a small batch recipe for testing.  Namechange happened months ago, January maybe? Get with the program!  frankdiabetes posted:The final texture is pretty creamy, I would say almost like mayonnaise unless that turns you off completely. Maybe PezMaster can give a better description as to the texture because I don't really care for it. I'm gonna pretend you didn't make that comparison (mayonnaise, ugh).  We're gonna try it out, I didn't realize that it gets 'cooked,' I just imagined making plain ole meringue and then adding the other stuff as is, which probably wouldn't turn out too well! Thanks a bunch for the suggestion, I'll let ya know how it goes. Some other links I'm reading say that you can get it up to the salmonella-killing temp of 160 without curdling the eggs because the sugar keeps that from happening. We'll just test it and see how it goes.
Randomity fucked around with this message at 03:42 on Aug 30, 2010 |
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Aug 30, 2010 03:35
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Eggplant Wizard posted:I'm pretty sure the simmering thing mentioned in the SK link is to cook the egg whites sufficiently. When I've made meringue frosting before, it was by pouring a hot sugar syrup directly into the egg whites in a stream while beating them. Again, the heat from the syrup was supposed to sufficiently cook them. Anyone know if I'm right? Yep but that's actually an Italian meringue buttercream, where you cook the syrup and add it to the egg whites. A Swiss meringue buttercream starts with cooking the eggs and sugar over the stove to a temperature of 140 degrees Fahrenheit, then beating it and adding butter.
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Aug 30, 2010 03:45
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frankdiabetes posted:The final texture is pretty creamy, I would say almost like mayonnaise unless that turns you off completely. Maybe PezMaster can give a better description as to the texture because I don't really care for it. Ha, my first thought was mayonnaise, but instead I'm going to go with "slightly lighter than a icing sugar based frosting, slightly heavier than a whipped cream". I like it a lot because it's not overpoweringly sweet, so I can actually stand eating a whole cupcake with it on top. You've just got to watch it - if you store it in the fridge, make sure you take it out for a bit before you eat it. If it's still cold, it will be like biting into sweetened vanilla butter. Which, I guess, wouldn't be so bad for some goons. Also, that smitten kitchen link is the best recipe for this stuff that I've seen. Even better than Martha's 
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Aug 30, 2010 05:34
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PoliSciGirl posted:I would LOVE to take cake decorating classes to try to whip up cakes as well as you all. Do you know any particular place in the Philly area? Is there a chain offering them? Hey, noticed this getting buried. I actually just took all the Wilton classes that were offered at my local Michaels, but they should also have them at places like Joann Fabrics, Hobby Lobby (if you guys have those) or sometimes cake supply stores offer their own non-Wilton classes. You can tell if your hobby store will have the ones by Wilton since usually they have a whole Wilton aisle and many times they have stickers or flyers saying "COME CHECK OUT OUR CLASS! PLEASE?" They're great to get basics down, like smoothing your butter cream, making the roses, shells, piping, etc. Their buttercream recipe and their boxed fondant aren't my favorites to say the least, but it gives you a starting point.
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Aug 30, 2010 05:53
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I have enjoyed looking at all of the amazing cakes in this thread and figured it's about time to share one of my latest cake endeavors, which also happens to be my first commissioned cake. A lady contacted me with an idea for her birthday cake and I happily took on the challenge even though I had never done anything like this before. She wanted her cake to spell out "DIVA" and wanted each letter carved out and decorated differently. So, here it is!    Each letter was cut out of a 1/4 sheet cake. I also decorated some cupcakes for her.  This was a great experience for me since I got to challenge myself and try my hand at some simple cake carving. There was some bulging with the cakes in places and next time I will definitely do something different with the cake boards, but overall I was really happy with how it turned out and my client loved it!
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Aug 30, 2010 14:59
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artichokeyou posted:These all look really great! Do you use a lacquer or steam your fondant to get it so shiny?
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Aug 30, 2010 23:25
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frankdiabetes posted:Do you use a lacquer or steam your fondant to get it so shiny? I actually tried something new and used pam to lightly spray them. Then I used a paintbrush to get rid of any droplets that formed. Other things I've used in the past to get a shiny effect are shortening spread on with your finger or brush and apricot jam diluted with water. Each of these has always given me nice results. The pam and shortening don't seem to affect the flavor of the fondant either, which is what I was afraid of when trying it. The apricot jam with water produces a result that has a shine to it, but it's more subtle than the pictures above.
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Aug 30, 2010 23:53
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I think I love piping daffodils the most. I can never make my buttercream look as smooth, so I tend to specialize in fondant cakes. Click here for the full 604x453 image. Wedding cake I made for a friend.  Click here for the full 1064x706 image. In the spirit of upcoming Halloween. I made a matching cake with pumpkins.  Click here for the full 760x504 image. Royal icing flowers that I had originally made for my wedding cake and then decided not to use them.  Click here for the full 760x504 image.
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Aug 31, 2010 03:32
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Man I forgot about this thread and I had made a cake last week (my birthday) and didn't take a picture... It's a pretty classic scandinavian cake though and I haven't seen any cakes like these in this thread yet. The basic design is about three layers of sponge cake with berries and jam (strawberry, raspberry and blueberries are popular) and whipped cream inbetween the layers, then decorated with more whipped cream outside instead of buttercream which is rarely used here in home cooking. The layers are also sometimes wetted slightly with say homemade black and red currant lemonade or just about anything, this makes the cake more moist and the tastes blends better. The one I made looked a lot like this, except raspberries ontop instead of strawberries: 
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Aug 31, 2010 13:47
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This thread is seriously inspiring. Have been lurking for quite a while and will post this because it was fun to make. The boyfriend and I share a birthday, so last year we made this together. Our D&D friends seemed to appreciate it. I'd love to try recreating it with fondant, which I haven't tried working with yet but I'm looking forward to experimenting with. 
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Sep 1, 2010 06:47
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His Divine Shadow posted:Man I forgot about this thread and I had made a cake last week (my birthday) and didn't take a picture... It's a pretty classic scandinavian cake though and I haven't seen any cakes like these in this thread yet. I've never really thought about that these cakes are typically Scandinavian cakes(me being a Swede). Looks lovely though, pretty much exactly like the ones my sister used to make, I need to steal her recipe when she gets back from holiday.
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Sep 1, 2010 15:34
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Ionic posted:I have always wanted to do a Beholder cake. You are awesome. (The red licorice eye stems are zee pièce de résistance) PezMaster fucked around with this message at 03:29 on Sep 2, 2010 |
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Sep 2, 2010 03:26
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Ionic posted:This thread is seriously inspiring. Are those cookies or cupcake eyes?
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Sep 2, 2010 03:30
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Wandering Knitter posted:Are those cookies or cupcake eyes? Cupcakes, I see the cupcake paper on one of the top ones.
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Sep 2, 2010 03:53
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Thanks! And yes, the eyes are cupcakes. The round part was only one layer. I believe there were cupcakes left over for eating during decorating, which is a must as far as I'm concerned.
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Sep 2, 2010 16:48
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How do you all make the cakes into different shapes i.e. the guitar a few posts above.
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Sep 2, 2010 22:04
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PoliSciGirl posted:How do you all make the cakes into different shapes i.e. the guitar a few posts above. I cut out a diagram to lay over the cake and then carve it while it's on there. Sometimes multiple cakes have to be used or can you take pieces of the cake that you've cut off and arrange them to create the shape you need. Freezing or chilling the cake before you carve it makes it easier to work with.
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Sep 2, 2010 22:49
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Here's a cake I did yesterday for someone. It was for a going away party for a woman who apparently thinks she is the Queen of everything. I made the crown out of royal icing, which was a total pain in the rear end! 
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Sep 5, 2010 03:56
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This is the top tier of my wedding cake, and the whole reason I started learning how to do cake decorating. We were broke and basically trying to have a nice wedding under 500 bucks. When I saw how much grocery stores were charging for wedding cakes, I decided I was going to go the cheap route and just make one myself.  And here's my grandparent's 50th anniversary cake. 
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Sep 5, 2010 19:46
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I made some cakes for my daughters "Welcome to the world"-party this weekend.      I had made a few more cakes, a hundred pink minimuffins, and more muffins. And my mother and I made most of the food. We had 70-80 guests O_O Next time i get a kid, I'm not gonna cook everything myself. But it was fun, really fun. (The deercake is after a Threadless desing, but I didn't make it in time to enter Threadcakes competition)
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Sep 5, 2010 21:23
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Lots of beautiful cakes to look at when I checked the thread today! Here is my contribution, I like my husband so I made him this thing to eat on his birthday:  bday-7327 by AIIAZNSK8ER, on Flickr  bday-7367 by AIIAZNSK8ER, on Flickr It is a banana split ice cream cake, featuring all the flavors and fixin's you would expect on a banana split. There is a graham cracker crust, a layer of dulce de leche, bananas, vanilla ice cream, strawberries in balsamic vinegar, strawberry ice cream, chocolate ganache with hazelnuts, chocolate ice cream, whipped cream, and a robocop riding a unicorn. Look at the happy~
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Sep 7, 2010 02:14
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Charmmi posted:Lots of beautiful cakes to look at when I checked the thread today!  That looks absolutely amazing and i want some.
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Sep 7, 2010 05:41
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Charmmi posted:
Is that top printed out on edible paper? If so, do you have your own printer or did you go out to get it done somewhere?
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Sep 7, 2010 06:04
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I ordered it from http://www.icingimages.com.
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Sep 7, 2010 14:09
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What's the best way to get black icing? I want to make my husband a Rock Band drum set cake. Any helpers on making the cake? It's my first time making a shaped cake.
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Sep 7, 2010 22:24
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PoliSciGirl posted:What's the best way to get black icing? I want to make my husband a Rock Band drum set cake. Any helpers on making the cake? It's my first time making a shaped cake. I'd use something like Americolor for bright colors like black and red. Wilton gel colors (not the same as food color drops) work well for lots of other icing and cake colors, but the Americolor really gets that bright pop without having to use a whole jar.
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Sep 7, 2010 22:28
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paisleyfox posted:I'd use something like Americolor for bright colors like black and red. Wilton gel colors (not the same as food color drops) work well for lots of other icing and cake colors, but the Americolor really gets that bright pop without having to use a whole jar. Seconding the Americolors. Getting a true black or red is really a bitch with the Wilton gels but can easily be done with Americolors. Also, colors tend to deepen with time so if you are able, tint the icing 24 hours or so beforehand to give the color time to develop.
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Sep 7, 2010 23:27
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PoliSciGirl posted:What's the best way to get black icing? I want to make my husband a Rock Band drum set cake. Any helpers on making the cake? It's my first time making a shaped cake. I think starting with chocolate icing helps me get to black faster, without having to use insane amounts of food coloring.
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Sep 8, 2010 01:54
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frankdiabetes posted:Seconding the Americolors. Getting a true black or red is really a bitch with the Wilton gels but can easily be done with Americolors. Speaking of Americolor Red, here's a (poor quality) picture of a Dexter-inspired birthday cake for a coworker. Not the smoothest icing job, but it was well received.  That was the night I made it. I need to get a picture from said coworker of the cake the next day- the reds really developed overnight.
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Sep 8, 2010 06:03
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Where would I buy Americolors?
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Sep 8, 2010 19:15
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frankdiabetes posted:Seconding the Americolors. Getting a true black or red is really a bitch with the Wilton gels but can easily be done with Americolors. Also, colors tend to deepen with time so if you are able, tint the icing 24 hours or so beforehand to give the color time to develop. waiiit..I can STILL never get a true black buttercream with americolor. It always looks grey. Could I be retarded? maybe. Is there a trick other than adding cocoa powder? edit: oops didnt see the other posts. Looks like I am not alone.
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Sep 8, 2010 19:54
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The one time I tried to make red frosting I had to add so much wilton gel that it tasted like the gel, and that is not a good flavor. Not to mention that despite the fact that the icing was still not really red, the tiniest bit of it would stain your hands or mouth a bright crimson.
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Sep 8, 2010 19:56
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PoliSciGirl posted:Where would I buy Americolors? Specialty cake stores in your area (I'm in Dallas and we have a place called Cake Carousel) or online from places like Amazon.
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Sep 8, 2010 20:38
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Pooptron2003 posted:waiiit..I can STILL never get a true black buttercream with americolor. It always looks grey. Hmm...are you letting the color develop? I find that with buttercream especially, the color deepens significantly over time. Are you using an American buttercream or a Swiss or Italian meringue buttercream? Because if it's the latter, you'll never get the dark colors, those icings just don't take color too well in my experience. Or, if you do a lot of decorating, you could just mix all your leftover colors together as a base for black...it'll look really poopy to begin with but it gives a richer base and will yield a truer black. Actually, if I'm doing a really dark colored cake, say black or navy, I always try to use fondant as I don't really like the way buttercream looks. Edit: I don't like the cocoa powder trick either, I hate chocolate so I can detect even a couple tablespoons immediately. I've heard good things about Chefmaster brand colors too, so if Americolor isn't doing it for you, perhaps you could try that.
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Sep 10, 2010 01:37
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frankdiabetes posted:Hmm...are you letting the color develop? I find that with buttercream especially, the color deepens significantly over time. Are you using an American buttercream or a Swiss or Italian meringue buttercream? Because if it's the latter, you'll never get the dark colors, those icings just don't take color too well in my experience. Or, if you do a lot of decorating, you could just mix all your leftover colors together as a base for black...it'll look really poopy to begin with but it gives a richer base and will yield a truer black. What does letting the color develop mean? This is a thing people do? I usually just make the icing then use it right away to ice the cake. I use regular old butter and sugar, and occasionally fun still like cream cheese and sour cream, buttercream. Hmmm, I think maybe I’ll have an adventure in cake decorating soon and document my black icing foibles for science.
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Sep 10, 2010 13:27
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frankdiabetes posted:What about a swiss meringue buttercream with cream cheese added? Hello we are working on this today, and I just want to confirm something. Is this 2.5 oz vanilla accurate? Because that's an assload of vanilla! Edit: We went ahead and made it with 2 tablespoons of vanilla, cause that's what similar online recipes seemed to recommend. It's very buttery and not too sweet. Almost too buttery, you can feel the butter sliding around in your mouth as you eat it, but I think that won't be so much of a problem once it's on top of cake. The sweetness level is good, I do wish it was a little thicker but I've come to terms with the fact that I probably can't get an icing with the thickness I want without it being overly sweet. So far I think this is what we're gonna use for the main event in a couple weeks, right now the test cake it's going to go on is still being made but I think it's going to go with it well. Thanks a bunch folks! Edit 2: Would it hold more cream cheese? Randomity fucked around with this message at 20:54 on Sep 10, 2010 |
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Sep 10, 2010 19:43
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Pooptron2003 posted:What does letting the color develop mean? This is a thing people do? I usually just make the icing then use it right away to ice the cake. I use regular old butter and sugar, and occasionally fun still like cream cheese and sour cream, buttercream. Hmmm, I think maybe I’ll have an adventure in cake decorating soon and document my black icing foibles for science. Yeah, sometimes it's suggested to make and tint the icing 24 hours in advance. The color will deepen in buttercream especially.
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Sep 11, 2010 22:07
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ARTAAAAX!! posted:Edit 2: Would it hold more cream cheese? Hmm...I have no idea. Buttercream is such a delicate balance of ingredients that I don't think you could be sure unless you tried it, but if it doesn't work, then that's a lot of wasted ingredients. It is a LOT of vanilla, the recipe I use is almost 1/4 cup of vanilla, but since the icing is so buttery, I think it requires a lot of flavor.
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Sep 12, 2010 01:40
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As a side note, I was just offered the cake decorator position at the local Walmart here in town. They just had someone put in their notice, and I have had to fill in for call-in decorators a couple time. Prepare for more cake photos from me soon!
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Sep 13, 2010 02:15
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