Thursday, April 21, 2011

Cake-Tastic!

I had an order for the ice cream cone cake pops that are the background pic on here.  A lady at work wanted them for Easter.  I made 24 yellow cake ones.  I thought since I get asked all the time to make them, I would just post it.  I took pics throughout the process for you to see.  Have fun making them!  You will see how easy they really are to make, just a little time consuming.

First bake and cool completely 9x13 cake.  I use Duncan Hines.  I normally let cool over night.  Then crumble cake in large bowl.  I just cut in 4ths and break apart in bowl with hands.  Then add frosting.  I found the cake is pretty moist, especially the top so I only use about 1/2 can of frosting.  Do not use whipped frosting for this.  I was trying to think of a way to describe how it should be, I came up with resembles cookie dough a little bit.  You don't want it too moist with frosting, or it will fall off your stick.
I put saran on top and throw in the fridge for about 20 minutes to firm a bit.   While that is cooling, I will cut my cones.  I buy the generic ones, works the same and costs half the price.  Use a serrated knife to cut off about an inch or so from the top.

Then roll the cake into balls.  I use a tablespoon to dish out. Helps keep around the same size.  For these, I normally do about 1 1/2 inch balls or so.  Always test the first one against your cut cone to see if it is the right size.  Wouldn't want too small a ball so it doesn't sit on top :)  Just roll in hands and set on cookie sheet.  For the bigger balls, you will get around 25 out of 1 cake.  Once all rolled, put saran on top and put in freezer for 20 minutes. Then take out and set in fridge.

Get all your other supplies ready for you will need it all portioned and ready to go.  Here is everything that I used.  Candy melts, you can buy at Michaels, JoAnns or even Walmart.  1 bag will do a batch of cones.  I used chocolate that I bought at Lynn's Cake and Candy store.  You can use brown candy melts, chocolate almond bark etc for the topping.  I have red gumballs and sprinkles.  You will also need something to hold the cones upright.  I have Styrofoam with the holes already made.  You also need a couple sticks for dipping.

Melt the candy melts first time at 50% power for a minute. Stir and melt in 30 second intervals at 50% power till fully melted.  I like to let it cool for a minute or two before dipping.  Take 4 balls out at a time.  Put ball on stick and dip straight down in melts.  Do not swirl around, that will cause crumbs.  If you need a little more coverage, use a spoon at that point, pull straight up.  Hold in one hand and tap your wrist with the other hand to get excess melts off.  Place on cone, and add sprinkles. Put in Styrofoam to dry.  Repeat till all balls are on cones. 



Melt the chocolate and drizzle on top with a spoon.  Put gumball on top.  Let them dry completely. That is it!
I cover mine with a baggie and twist tie for transport. 
Hope you have fun making them! 

Have a great Easter everyone :)

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Beginings

This week I had a baby shower cake to do for a girl at my work.  It is for a baby boy.  I did a stary night theme.  It was buttercream frosting with fondant accents.  I made my first baby, turned out very well.  Hope you enjoy!
I have decided to start selling lia sophia jewelry.  My goal with doing this is to make extra money to put away for a down payment for a house in a year.  I am really excited and nervous all at once.  I am really hoping it goes well for me.  Let me know if you want to book a show :)  It does mean that I will have to scale down on cakes a little.  I will have to start using the word "No" to people if I already have a show to do.  I am hoping to have 5 parties done by the time we go on vacation in June.  Let's see if I can do it!!!

I have ice cream cones to do this week for someone's Easter and a wedding this Saturday which will keep me busy.  Hope you all have a great and wonderful Easter!!

Sunday, April 10, 2011

The Young and Old

Well, this week was a little busy for cakes.  First, I had a Over the Hill cake for a girl at work. Her husband turned 50.  I made the guy out of fondant.  It was a simple cake but I think it turned out well.  The pan that I rented, Wonder mold pan, did very well.  I was glad that it didn't cause any last minute problems. 


The second cake of the week was for Paul's sister and husband.  It was their birthday so I decided to bake them cupcakes.  I really like these as they are very springy and not gender oriented.  I made the bumble bees out of fondant.  The grass was made from a tip.  I made 12 in all.  They seemed to like them.  A girl at work gave me a great idea!  I want to try and make those bees out of cake pops sometime.  I think they would go over very well that way also.


Lastly was a Baptism cake.  My good friend Lindsey got her little girl baptised today.  She wanted a chocolate cake with white frosting.  This is the new frosting that I made.  I think it turned out better this time.  I am going to keep using it.  The cross was made from candy melts.  The flowers are from fondant.  This is the first time I did ribbon on a cake and it turned out pretty well.  I am glad I was able to try the ribbon as the wedding cake I am doing in July has ribbon also.  I like how this cake turned out.  I was a little nervous with the chocolate cake, I normally would have a lot more crumbs in the frosting.  But the new frosting is proving to be very well with spreading so I have barely any crumbs.  If you were to see some of my other older cakes you would see a lot more crumbs.  I think it is a keeper.

This coming week I have a baby shower cake due for a girl at work.  It is for a baby boy.  Should be fun.  On a side note, I am thinking of selling Lia Sophia jewelry to help save for a house.  I am weighing the pros and cons at this point.  If you have any input please let me know. If I do decide to do it, I will scale back on the cakes.  I don't make that much money off them and they are very time consuming as they take multiple days to do.  I will be praying the next couple weeks to see if it would be a good thing or not.  I will keep you posted on the decision.
Thanks for looking and hope everyone has a great week!

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Trial and Error

So this week I have a cake due of a Over the Hill cake.  I rented a Wonder Mold pan.  It is a real deep pan so I wanted to see how it would cook.  I baked a cake in it and it went well so I made a Spaghetti and Meatball cake out of it.  I decided to made icing from scratch again.  I tried a new recipe this time.  It was the smoothest icing I have ever used!  But, I am not sure if I like the taste/texture of it yet.  I tried some generic sugar and I think I can taste the difference.  My brother and sisters all thought it was good :)  Hopefully it is an easy fix and that will become my new icing.  As much as I LOVE buying it I really should start making it again.  As for the cake, it turned out okay.  I piped the noodles, and the meatballs are cake balls.  I was not impressed with the strawberry topping that I chose at all!  It was way too runny.  But for a practice cake it worked.  Here is the finished product.  Thank you to my mom, dad and siblings for taking one for the team and eating it for me :)



This wednesday I have the Over the Hill cake due for a girl at work and Sunday I have a Baptism cake due for a good friend.  I did all the fondant work today for it so they should go fairly quickly.  Until then have a great and fabulous week!!