Sharon Zambito, Author at Sugared Productions Blog

What could they be working on?

September 25, 2008 by Sharon Zambito 57 Comments

GUESS THE PROJECT CONTEST!

Yesterday I spent the day at the office studio of my video production company, Video Specialties. We are working on our next release, to be ready within about 2 months we hope. This is not one of the two instructional DVDs we have in progress. This is a “lagniappe” (or bonus) release. Can anybody guess what it might be? I will take all the correct guesses and put them into a hat for a drawing. The winner will get a free copy of this project. Put your thinking caps on and email or submit your guesses right here in the comment section at the bottom of this post!

Working hard, trusty Diet Coke at hand.

My hero, Todd. The best video guy out there!

I do not let many people see me with no makeup,
so don’t show these pictures to anyone ok?

Tomorrow I am off to New York to teach ICES mini classes. Have a great weekend and I will check in with you guys next week!

Happy Caking,

Sharon

http://www.sugaredproductions.com/

I have fallen and I can’t get out.

September 23, 2008 by Sharon Zambito 9 Comments

It sure did not take long for me to be sucked into the powerful vortex of blogging. I am rapidly learning that there is an exciting new world, a whole blogging culture out there, that I had no idea existed. My dear friend Jacque is a cake buddy of mine from way back. She has a gorgeous baking blog that has opened the floodgates for me. I am now addicted to reading baking and food blogs. One blog links to another, and before you know it, you have spent hours looking at beautiful food pics, saving recipes and reading the wonderful stories that accompany them.

I am also learning that the food photography is just as important as the recipes themselves. The photos on many of these sites rival those seen in magazines. I have wanted to improve my cake photography skills for years now. I have a nice camera my hubby bought me that I have no idea how to use. Well, I have been inspired. I have committed myself to learning how to use my camera properly, and I strive to take quality photos like I see out there on these beautiful blogs. So I have ordered a few books, a couple of DVDs, and am taking an online course now. My main interest is macro (close up) food and cake photography. But I hope to improve my picture taking skills overall.

So the other night I dug up a few cookies in my pantry and clicked a few photos, using the new skills I have learned so far. ( Which is not even the tip of the iceberg.) This a huge learning curve.

One of my favorite cookies, Fig Newtons. Best eaten cold. YUM!

Here is the exact same photo but lightened.

Which do you like better?

And a chocolate biscotti close up. I love the crumbs!

So what do you guys think of my cookie pictures?

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I got an award !!

It is also a common practice in the blogosphere for people to pass different awards along to blogs that they like. Jacque was so sweet as to bestow the I Love You This Much award upon me. Thank you Jacque, you are the best! I would like to pass it along to the following blogs that I love:

Cakes, Kids, and a Lens: This is the blog of my BFF Heather. She blogs about the 3 big loves of her life: her kids, her cakes, and her photography.

Mata Mania: One of my very best friends on the planet, Carla, writes about her beautiful family. I only wish they didn’t live so far away.

Amber’s Delectable Delights: Amber shares easy and yummy food recipes that every busy family can enjoy, as well as showcasing her gorgeous photos.

GiGi Cakes: Stunning photos and recipes of delicious baked treats. Also the home of The Cake Slice Baking Club.

So that is it! Another obsession. Or two. Like I needed another one right? Thanks a lot, Jacque. (wink)

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Tomorrow I am off to see my video production guys to work on our next release. It is not one of the 2 instructional DVDs we are working on. It is a lagniappe project. Hope to have it ready within the next 2 months. Hmmm…. wonder what it could be? Anybody wanna guess?

Happy caking everyone!

Sharon
http://www.sugaredproductions.com/

Cute Chocolate Cut Out Thingies

September 19, 2008 by Sharon Zambito 6 Comments

Yay for homework!

Two of our readers have sent in their chocolate favor projects, and I am excited to share them with you all.

Christie H. writes: While I haven’t made individual favors, I’ve used a similar technique to cut out plaques for a few cakes. I’ve added photos of two of them. In the first one, I melted white chocolate, then swirled black candy coloring to get a marbled effect. I love the layered look of yours and will definitely be trying that in the future!

Very clever technique, don’t you think?

Kim B. whipped out these beauties one evening after work for an office party. (Told ya no way she is a newbie.) Aren’t they gorgeous? She used the Funky Tappit cutters for her monogram.

Now as for the rest of you, get going on your homework projects and send them in! You don’t want to end up in confection detention!

Have a great weekend!

Sharon
http://www.sugaredproductions.com/

Back in the Saddle

September 14, 2008 by Sharon Zambito 24 Comments

The cake saddle that is.

It sure seems like it has been a while since I did any caking. I purposefully took most of the summer off to spend time with my kids, since D was going off to college. (sniff, sniff). We hung out a lot and went on a family vacation. I also needed to finish some long overdue house projects and yard work. But mysteriously, none of that got done. Hmm…wonder how that happened. Oh well, I’ll get to it eventually.

Since I was refreshed and rejuvenated, I decided to upgrade my customer’s simple small cake so I could make a design I had in my head. Well, the cake had other ideas. This cake made my hurricanoids flair. (In other words, it was a pain in my rear.)

First of all, it is not a good idea to have big ole honkin’ chunks of cherries in a cake you know you are going to carve. I knew this was not a good idea going into it. But in my arrogance, I forged ahead. I was so cocky I even added more cherries than the recipe called for. I ain’t a skeered of no cherries.

Then came time to carve. And it showed me who was boss. Even with my super sharp knife; it was a mess. Cherries came out in chunks, bringing precious cake along with it. Calling myself a few choice names, I proceeded on. I finally got the 2 tiers carved and patched up.

Then I scorched my first batch of cream while making the ganache to ice the cake with. After the do-over, I got them iced and let them set overnight to firm up.

The next day I got the bottom tier covered beautifully; but within 15 -30 minutes the fondant just started acting wonky. It was bulgy and kind of baggy and getting a lot of elephant skin along the bottom edges. It was morphing before my eyes! I have had this happen before on rare occasion, so I chalked it up to an “off” bucket of fondant. If I tried to take it off, I would have destroyed the cake. So I did what any good decorator would do in this case: uttered a few more choice words, and then I changed the design. The harlequin diamond pattern in fondant is a wonderful way to cover up boo boos or naughty acting fondant. So diamonds it was.

The original design was going to be somewhat musical. I was dying to use my new sheet music stencil I got at ICES. I got the upper tier covered and greased it down to get the corn starch off. (Cuz we all know I love my cornstarch, LOL). I was under an impending deadline and getting worried about finishing in time. For one nanosecond, my brain said, “Sharon, do not stencil on that freshly Crisco’d tier. It will not work.” Obviously not having learned my lesson from the cherry fiasco, I blew myself off and proceeded to stencil. Folks, you cannot stencil with royal icing onto greasy fondant. You have to wait until it absorbs in. It was a smeary mess. Of course the black royal would not clean all the way off. It left a nice black stain. So I did what any self respecting decorator would do: after calling myself a new variety of very choice words, I changed the design. Hence the birth of the wacky black band around the top tier.

From there I just added the swags and the flowers I had made the night before. The cake no longer had a musical theme, but a gal has to do what a gal has to do. The customer loved it, so all is well that ends well.