We have talked about about decorating on this blog, but I’d like to talk about food safety for a second. Many of us, whether we are baking cookies or cakes, are using eggs. Need a refresher on how to safely handle the staple of many recipes? Check it out below:

Egg Basics

 
Thorough cooking is an important step in making sure eggs are safe.

•  Scrambled eggs: Cook until firm, not runny.
• Fried, poached, boiled, or baked: Cook until both the white and the yolk are firm.
• Egg mixtures, such as casseroles: Cook until the center of the mixture reaches 160 °F when measured with a food thermometer.

Egg Recipes: Playing It Safe

• Homemade ice cream and eggnog are safe if you do one of the following:
  ? Use a cooked egg-milk mixture. Heat it gently and use a food thermometer to ensure    that it reaches 160 °F.
  ? Use pasteurized eggs or egg products.

• Dry meringue shells, divinity candy, and 7-minute frosting are safe — these are made by combining hot sugar syrup with beaten egg whites. However, avoid icing recipes using uncooked eggs or egg whites.
• Meringue-topped pies should be safe if baked at 350 °F for about 15 minutes. But avoid chiffon pies and fruit whips made with raw, beaten egg whites — instead, substitute pasteurized dried egg whites, whipped cream, or a whipped topping.
• Adapting Recipes: If your recipe calls for uncooked eggs, make it safe by doing one of the following:
  ? Heating the eggs in one of the recipe’s other liquid ingredients over low heat, stirring      constantly, until the mixture reaches 160 °F. Then, combine it with the other ingredients and complete the recipe. Or use pasteurized eggs or egg products.
  ? Using pasteurized eggs or egg products.

Note: Egg products, such as liquid or frozen egg substitute, are pasteurized, so it’s safe to use them in recipes that will be not be cooked. However, it’s best to use egg products in a recipe that will be cooked, especially if you are serving pregnant women, babies, young children, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems.

The post Egg Safety Basics appeared first on Sugared Productions Blog.

4 Vegan Cake Recipes No One Should Miss Out On!

Eating vegan isn’t the grass and water diet that most people envision. In fact, it offers a varied and colorful array of delicious recipes. While we have a ton of meal ideas we could focus on, with spring dawning, we decided to compile the 5 best vegan cake recipes that we’ve tried. We promise you’ll love them as much as we have! And FYI – not all of them involve baking!

1. Lemon Blueberry

This amazing recipe is just, well, amazing. Its sweet and tangy taste and moist, delicate texture are sure to please! It also has an amazing lemon glaze to top it off, which really puts it over the top!. The recipe makes 8 slices, and as a healthy dose of fresh blueberries and lemon juice! There are also helpful replacements suggested, such as using vegan butter rather than coconut butter for a less “coconutty” flavor!

(pic comes from https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2014/02/09/lemon-blueberry-layer-cake/)

2. Vanilla & Berries Naked Cake

Delicious and with a warm, moist texture, this recipe is a must for really any occasion. You can get a healthy helping of fresh berries – as it calls for 2 whole cups! It also utilizes warm and delicious oat milk. Something that we personally feel just doesn’t get enough love. It’s perfect for baking! This is also a great recipe to share with any skeptics that you may know!

(pic comes from http://dearkitchen.net/vanilla-berries-naked-cake-vanilijeva-torta-z-jagodami/)

3. Chia Spice Frosted Vanilla

If you want a more sophisticated twist to your basic vanilla affair, try this. It’s made with much more beginner-friendly ingredients (AKA much easier to find than more specialized ingredients some recipes call for) and is as moist as any ‘standard’ baked treat. With a great base and an absolutely mind-blowing frosting, you’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone who doesn’t absolutely love this! The frosting bares special mention, as we all agreed that it was the most unique and sinfully delicious frosting we’d ever had!

(pic comes from https://thealmondeater.com/2016/11/vegan-vanilla-cake-with-chai-spice-icing/)

4. Raw German Chocolate

You may not have ever had treat quite like this before! Eating raw foods prepared as desserts and even vegan-friendly sushi can be a different experience. The creamy, crunchy texture isn’t quite what you may be used to, but it’s more than pleasant. The delicious flavors will transport you to a whole different universe. Proponents of the raw movement also say that you get quite a bit more out of your food when you eat it in its natural state, meaning that you won’t have to feel guilty over this chocolate treat!

(pic comes from http://12tomatoes.com/german-chocolate-cake/)

We hope this gives you some inspiration to try baking vegan. It can be just as yummy!

Happy Baking
Sharon

The post Guest Post : 4 Vegan Cake Recipes No One Should Miss Out On! appeared first on Sugared Productions Blog.

Easter Nest Cake

Cute Easter Cupcakes

Chocolate Eggs

Spring Flower Cake Pops

Easter Cookies

Spring Bonnets

Little Lamb Easter Cake

Hopefully these inspire you! Happy Baking!!!

Sharon

The post Spring Tutorial Roundup appeared first on Sugared Productions Blog.

Recently someone asked me what are the key things you need to succeed in business. My reply was that one of those was resilience. To me business resilience is the ability to hang onto the dream even when things are going badly, to stand up every time you fall down, and keeping a perspective and faith that “this too shall pass.” Basically, you’ve got to have the ability to ride the highs and survive the lows. In thinking about my answer, I was really only focussing on the business stuff which is obvious – we run out of money, we burn out, we lack sleep, we get screwed over by a customer. Now that I’ve thought about it a little more, I also think resilience applies to dealing with PEOPLE. Not just the customers or the suppliers but the partners, friends, family members and colleagues who are just full of negative energy. You know the ones – they make snide remarks about “your little business,” or ask in a snarky voice, “have you made your millions yet?” Or you share some happy piece of news – “I got my kitchen registration approved!” and instead of saying, “That’s awesome!” they reply with stuff like, “What did THAT cost you?!” Or possibly they are the partners who resent your time and money going towards something which has nothing to do with them. In short, I’m talking about the people who are not supportive. In this earlier article I talked about the dangers of asking their opinions. What about when it’s not an opinion per se, it’s more a … cloud of negative energy and it’s really bringing you down?

As I see it, you’ve got a few options here.

1. Engage in a conversation with them and get them to respect you and your business. Stand up for yourself in a firm and kind way. Explain why you are doing what you’re doing, and try to get them to see your vision too. This might take more than one conversation, especially with partners who might feel threatened by your business. LOTS of people I meet say their partners are jealous of their business, because they feel the attention is being taken away from them or the family in favour of the business. This is truly my preferred way of dealing with things, to try to get the people who love me to understand that I can be both loving and attentive and still pursue my dreams and interests. In most case the people who bring the negative energy into my life are usually expressing their OWN issues, I’m just the nearest target for them. The majority of people will never be brave enough to follow their dreams, pursue their passions, or take the risks of quitting a job to start a business or even start a business at all. And yet, there you are, doing exactly that..and it irks them. They don’t want to honestly admit to themselves that it sucks to see someone doing what they wish they could do, they try to cut you down instead. The key to these kinds of conversations is to acknowledge their feelings, and keep yours out of it.  One woman I know actually did a short PowerPoint presentation to show her partner what the benefits to her business would be.

2. Ignore them entirely, and continue to do your own thing! This is easier said than done, and in my experience it depends on who it is. Some random acquaintance you don’t see very often is easy to ignore, your mother is not. I will say that even if you choose to have the “you ned to respect me” conversation with them, there will still be times when you need to ignore things because people are people and even with the best intentions they still say stupid stuff. This one is a HARD lesson for me personally to learn. My instinct is to respond to everything, all the time – I’ve got a big mouth and a sharp tongue and I’m not afraid to use it. It’s taken me a long time to become that duck who lets the water slide right off her back and to learn that sometimes my sharp responses make a situation worse, not better. These days I take a split second after they’ve finished speaking to decide if it’s worth my time and energy to respond. If it’s not, I mentally shrug and think, “Whatever, screw them,” and then I either walk away or change the subject. The lesson here is: not every idiotic remark requires a response. 

3. Remove that person from your life. Either literally (divorce, let the friendship fade, change positions etc) or situationally remove them so you do not allow conversations with them about your business.  Sometimes you simply can’t get rid of people, so in those cases I declare a “no go” zone with them. “Shannon, every time we talk about my business we end up arguing, so let’s just put that topic on the “no go” list,” and then every time they bring it up (or you want to), divert the conversation elsewhere. I use this tactic for talking politics with my family. As soon as it becomes clear we are not going to see eye-to-eye, that open discussion isn’t respectful and the conversation is going to deteriorate into something I’m going to regret, I say, “Let’s just agree to disagree on this and move on,” and then sometimes, you then have to be the stronger person to keep that line in the sand clearly marked.

There are enough things about small business which are hard enough. You really don’t need people with negative energy in your sphere but sometimes it’s unavoidable. These people or conversations sometimes crop up when you least expect them. A few weeks ago I ran into an old acquaintance – a sister-in-law of a friend I’m not in contact with anymore.  Bear in mind, I ran into her at a co-working space for female entrepreneurs. She opened the conversation with, “Michelle! Wow! What are you doing here? I thought you run some little cookie business or something?” O. M. G. I wanted to punch her right then – especially because she said it in such a condescending tone. I really, REALLY wanted to come back at her with a whole shouty-and-indignant list of the stuff I’ve achieved… but then I had that moment when I remembered she was not worth my time or energy. Instead I smiled and said, “I sold that business a few years ago and now run a business teaching others how to be successful business owners. Nice seeing you but I’ve got work to do, bye!” and walked away.

Some people are worth trying to turn around and others are not..and then there are the special snowflakes who are born grumpy and will stay that way no matter how hard you try. The key for you is to remember that you get to control how that negative energy affects you – they don’t get to thieve your happiness, joy, ambition or excitement no matter how hard they try. It’s not theirs to take in the first place.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Hello! I’m Michelle and I’m a chef, cake decorator, writer, mentor and Mom…and like you, I often wish there were more hours in the day.
My blog was created for people who want to make a living doing what they love – and what they love to do is bake, decorate and create sweet art. On this blog you’ll find education and inspiration to help you live a better life and run a better business.

Original post: http://thebizofbaking.com/dealing-negative-people/

The post Guest Post: Dealing With Negative People appeared first on Sugared Productions Blog.

Strawberry Cupcakes

Perfectly Pink Popcorn

Vintage Valentines Cookies

Valentines Day Cupcakes

Valentine’s Day Cake

Valentines Cupcake Cake

Chocolate Dessert Cups

Happy Valentines!

Sharon

The post Valentines Day Round up! appeared first on Sugared Productions Blog.

As the title states, this recipe needs no introduction! This recipe is world famous. Probably the most common doctored recipe out there.

This makes a super moist cake with good density. Not quite as dense as pound cake but a tight crumb. This cake can be a bit soft and “wet” and might form a crystallized sugar “shell” on the top when baking; that is normal. This will also extend the volume vs a regular box recipe. Good for dessert cakes, cupcakes, carving, buttercream or fondant cakes. Makes great cake balls with no binder needed. Seriously a wonderful recipe. (The carrot cake version is to die for.)

Recipe:

Ingredients

•     1 box cake mix 15.25 ounces
•     1 cup all purpose flour
•     1 cup granulated sugar
•     1-1/8 cup water
•     1 cup sour cream
•     1 tsp. clear vanilla flavoring
•     1 tsp. clear almond flavoring
•     2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
•     4 large egg whites or 3 whole eggs

Directions

1. Combine dry ingredients in mixer bowl and mix well with whip attachment. Add remaining ingredients and mix with beater attachment on speed 1 – 2 until smooth and incorporated. Do not overmix.

2. Pour into prepared pans and bake at 325 until done. Baking times will vary, but a 10 inch round cake will take approx. 60 to 65 minutes.

3. You can make this into any flavor by starting with a flavored cake mix, and adjust the flavorings as desired. May be doubled.

— NOTE: The water is reduced to 1 1/8 cup per mix for the now smaller 15 oz cake mixes. — I do not recommend Pillsbury for this recipe.

— NOTE: You can create almost any flavor cake with this recipe by starting with that flavored cake mix and changing the additional flavorings.

Let me know if you use this recipe!

Happy Baking!!

Sharon

The post Recipe Spotlight: World Famous WASC by Rebecca Sutterby appeared first on Sugared Productions Blog.

This a very sturdy cake, dense but not quite a pound cake, tight crumb, and super moist. Not as soft and wet as the WASC. Good for dessert cakes, cupcakes, carving, buttercream or fondant cakes. Makes great cake balls with no binder needed. A great multi purpose recipe.

Ingredients

•     1 box cake mix (Sharon uses Betty Crocker)
•     1 small box instant pudding in a coordinating flavor
•     1 cup sour cream
•     1 whole large egg
•     3 large egg whites
•     1/2 cup water
•     1/3 cup plus 1 Tbsp. oil
•     1 tsp. vanilla flavoring (optional)
•     1 tsp. almond flavoring (optional)
•     1 tsp. butter flavoring (optional)
•     other flavorings as desired

Directions

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

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

Here are a few helpful notes about this recipe:

•  You can create almost any flavor cake with this recipe by starting with that flavored cake mix, a coordinating pudding flavor, and changing the additional flavorings.
• White chocolate flavored pudding will keep the batter more white in color, and vanilla will make it more yellow.
• Recipe may be doubled.

If you try this recipe, or have tried it let us know in the comments how it worked out for you. Happy Baking!!!

XX Sharon

The post Recipe Highlight: Sharon’s Sturdy Cake Recipe appeared first on Sugared Productions Blog.

We are back in the swing of things here, and thought we’d start the new year off with some valuable tips! These tips come from members of our  online school community. This is just a sample of the wealth of knowledge our members have, so if you are looking for place to learn and grow in your cake life..this is it!!

Lets get to it:

“Isomalt also works great as a glue! Throw on your gloves to protect your fingers from the heat and glue your heavy fondant, gumpaste, or isomalt pieces to your fondant cakes with just a dip into liquid isomalt! It’s clear, dries almost instantly, and melts into the surface of your pieces for optimum strength! It also works great for gluing ribbon onto your boards!”

– Sidney Galpern of Simi Cakes

“For fine royal icing piping, without fear of clogs, cut a small square of clean nylon stocking and stretch over the end of a coupler before placing on the tip. Place on tip and tighten coupler ring. Works like a charm and keeps you from having to squeeze a large amount of royal icing through a clean nylon knee-high to strain it before using.”

– Claudia Butler

“I love the look of veined wafer paper petals/leaves. My tip to achieving this is to dip your leaf or petal into vodka and lay on the veiner chosen. Let dry completely before removing and you will have a beautiful veined petal. I prefer to use veg shortening mixed with colour dusts to colour the petals.”

– Nancy Travis

“Crystal Colors has some really good pearl dusts that are FDA approved. For silver paint, you can mix a touch of black gel color in with their Super Pearl & vodka- works super well! Mixtures of yellow and brown/ivory would give a good gold as well.”

– Renee Conner of Renee Conner Cake Design

Caulk” the seams between your tiered layers with a bit of buttercream to get a seamless, finished look. Just pipe a small line of buttercream onto the space between tiers and wipe off excess with your finger. It fills the line between tiers and gives you a seamless look! Works best on a chilled cake!

– Shannon Bond of Shannon Bond Cake Design

“To prevent luster dust paint from flaking or transferring when touched, mix it with confectioner’s glaze rather than alcohol. The glaze will seal the dust, making the painted item easier to handle with no dust mess.”

– Diane McCann of Cake Diane Custom Cake Studio

“You can put pieces of fondant in the freezer to keep them soft until time to place on cake. I found this hugely helpful when I did my lace covered cake. I was able to make the lace a week in advance (it took a whole week to make over 150 pieces). I stored them in a flat tupperware container with waxed paper between the layers. When it was time to decorate, I took them out a layer at a time. Perfectly soft like I had just made them!”

– Peggy Lee of Peggy Does Cake

“Rather than wasting unwanted colored buttercream left over from previous cakes, you can combine them to create chocolate frosting! When you have approximately three cups of an all shortening American type buttercream, simply combine, add ½ cup softened sweet butter, and mix in mixer. Add 9 Tablespoons sifted unsweetened cocoa powder, (or) 3 oz. melted bittersweet chocolate (or more, if a stronger chocolate flavor is wanted) and mix to a smooth consistency. From scraps to chocolate buttercream!”

– Kathleen Lange of Confectionery Chalet

 “My top tip is for placing pearls and dragees on cakes. I used to do it the traditional way of piping a dot or two of icing where I wanted my pearl and then struggling to attach it before the icing dried out. Unfortunately, it was either dried out, or too much so the icing mushed out around the pearl, or it raised it off the cake more in one spot than in another… and I never liked the look of it!

“”If you want royal icing to dry shiny – it needs a moving air source while it’s drying. Try putting the cookies in front of a fan or dehydrator for the first 15 minutes of drying time.”

– Georganne Bell of LilaLoa Blog

“Did you know you can color cake balls AFTER they’re baked? Here’s how: crumble the cake crumbs in the food processor. Add a bit of buttercream and combine. You should have dense crumbs that will stick together, sufficient for making cake pops or cake balls. Using a toothpick, add a bit of gel food color to the crumbs, and pulse in the food processor. Repeat / adjust the color until you’ve achieved the intensity you’re aiming for. Roll into balls and proceed with your project!”

– Angie Ivey of Sweet E’s Cakeshop

“Using a small piping tip? Cut out a 2″ square from a new nylon and put it over your piping bag before screwing the tip on. It will keep your tips from clogging with any crusty bits of frosting.”

– Georganne Bell of LilaLoa Blog

To make an easy pound cake perfect for carving, combine one box of Betty Crocker pound cake mix and one box of Duncan Hines cake mix in the flavor of your choice. Prepare both per directions on the boxes and combine. To create a chocolate pound cake, use one box of DH dark fudge with one box BC pound cake.”

– Wayne Steinkopf of Swank Cake Design

When using a paper template as a guide for cutting out fondant or gumpaste, reverse the image and attach the template to the gumpaste with a little shortening. This will prevent the template from shifting while you cut around it. The image is reversed so the shortening is on the back of the cut-out and won’t interfere with the coloring on the front.”

– Diane McCann of Cake Diane Custom Cake Studio

“Plastic molds are perfect for achieving a beautiful shine on your chocolates, but scrubbing them with soap can take away that nice smooth surface!  Make sure to only soak your plastic chocolate molds in warm water, only using a damp paper towel to wipe them out if needed.”

– Sidney Galpern of Simi Cakes

“When making chocolate cake, use hot water for the liquid to activate the cocoa and enhance the flavor.”

– Barb Evans of Wedding Cake Connection

“Spray paper templates with non-stick oil to keep them from sticking to the dough or fondant when hand cutting. As a bonus… you can now flip it over to see the opposite design.”

– Georganne Bell of LilaLoa Blog

“Need extra flower formers? Use your existing flower former as a mold for heavy duty foil. You can make as many extra formers as you need out of foil. If your gumpaste pieces are heavy, just double or triple the foil.”

– Diane McCann of Cake Diane Custom Cake Studio

Whew! That’s a lot of tips! I hope they were helpful.

Happy caking!

Sharon

The post Member Tips and Tricks! appeared first on Sugared Productions Blog.

Mini Pumpkin Pies

Pumpkin Pie Cookies

Pumpkin Cupcakes

Cheesecake Leaves

Hiding Thanksgiving Turkey

Roasted Turkey Cake

Caramel Apple Turkey 

Turkey Topper 

Thanksgiving Owl Cupcakes

Happy Baking and Happy Thanksgiving!

The post Thanksgiving Tutorial Roundup appeared first on Sugared Productions Blog.

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 1/2 cup shortening (hi ratio is best)
• 16 oz. cream cheese
• 3 lbs powdered sugar
• 1 TBSP. vanilla
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:

Mix on low speed for a couple of minutes. This makes a fairly stiff icing if you use 3-1/2 lb powdered sugar, a softer one you if use 3 lbs of powdered sugar. Freezes well.

Sharon’s Note:
** This is a crusting icing, but please note that all cream cheese icings are softer and less durable than American buttercream. I do not recommend using it under fondant, or for any other purposes where a sturdy icing is needed.

Let me know if you try it!

Sharon

The post Kathy Finholt’s Cream Cheese Icing appeared first on Sugared Productions Blog.