Tuesday, January 29, 2013

My Favorite Store

Hello All!

I thought I would take a minute and share my favorite store with you. It is Lynn's Cake and Candy Supplies in Fridley, MN.   check her out here  Without them, I would not be baking!  I can't count how many times I have had to stop what I was doing and run up there.  Or, called the store in a frenzy and they have had all the right answers.   So, here is to Lynn and all her wonderful employees!!


What color cupcake liners would you like today?

I think this is where I developed my sprinkles addiction.  There are just way too many to choose from, I must get them all!  This isn't the whole shelf either, this is only half the shelf :)

The wall of cookie cutters!!  My new found love :) 

I love walking in the back of the store where the candy supplies are.  If you are having a bad day, go back there and inhale the wonderful smell!  It is heavenly.  I love her chocolate for it melts so smoothly in a double boiler.

I bought just a few things tonight for this weekend.  I have a baby shower cake due and am hoping to make some cookies for the Super Bowl.  (Yes, those are more sprinkles!)

Please remember to support your local small business!  They are the backbone of America! 
Thanks for looking and have a great week!




Monday, January 28, 2013

Decorating Cookies

Hello All!

When you work with royal icing everything has to be grease free.  You have to clean all your tips, spatulas, bowls etc.  I use vinegar to de-grease everything.  You cannot do that to anything plastic like tupperware or cloth bags.  I used to use a separate plastic bag each time.  Gets to be a little expensive.  I have learned a new trick for piping royal icing.  Karen has a great short video on how to do it: karens cookies

I was in love with it the first time I tried it!  Will never go back.

Lay a sheet of saran wrap on your counter.  Drop some icing in the middle. 

Fold the corners together the triangle way.  Roll it up.

Then do a hard roll, like a wet towel.  Just don't try to smack anyone in the butt with this  :)

Put the icing in your plastic bag that is fitted with a coupler.  Secure the open end with a rubber band.  Snip off the other end and put your desired tip on.  You are ready to pipe!

These were my Christmas cookies.  I made the outline first, then flooded the cookie right away.

 
Hope you have a great day!
Thanks for looking!

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Testing, Testing, 1,2,3

Hello All!
I know it has been a while.  I have been busy planning a wedding :)  We are to be wed July 20th 2013.  Lots to do in the next 5 1/2 months! 
I will be making my own cake and cupcakes.  The cake will be a dummy cake, so I can have that done in June.  Paul wants the traditional tiered cake sitting there for looks.  I didn't think it would be so hard for me to pick a design.  I looked for about a week straight for ideas.  I think I finally came up with something. 
The one I found has some stencil work on it.  I have never stenciled on a cake before, so I thought I better start practicing!  I haven't baked since Christmas so I thought I would make my favorite chocolate cake.  It has chocolate chips mixed into the buttercream in the middle.

I had some royal icing left over from Christmas.  I mixed it a little to make sure there were no lumps.

I put the stencil on the top of the cake and used my straight edge spatula to smooth on the icing.

Peel off the stencil and I was done!  Not too shabby for the first time :)

I tried the side of the cake.  That was a little trickier.  The stencil was smaller which made it harder to handle and stay in place.

I then made some cake pops from the leftovers.  I thought I would show you the difference between dipping once vs twice in chocolate.
 
I hope you all have a great weekend!
 
Thanks for looking!