Cake Decorating Archives - Page 9 of 18 - Sugared Productions Blog

Lazy Halloween Cheesecake

October 17, 2012 by Sharon Zambito 18 Comments

Hello Sugar Friends!

Those of you who have followed my blog for a while know that I am a very ~~lazy~~ busy woman. I am all for making things easier on ourselves when possible. I think everything has its place: scratch, doctored, handmade, pre made. Whatever works works for me!

Since I am especially ~~lazy~~ busy right now, I was brainstorming a really easy dessert I could bring to a Halloween function. I wasn’t in the mood for cake, or cupcakes, or cake balls, or pie, or donuts…… but cheesecake, yes!

However, I am way too ~~lazy~~ busy right now to make cheesecake from scratch. So I decided to experiment with my idea using boxed no bake cheesecake. Yep, I went there. 🙂

I used 3 mixes for the cheesecake I made.

I used an 8 inch spring form pan. I used almost two of the three packs of the crust mix because I like a really thick crust on my cheesecake. After I packed in the crust, I went over the outer edges with the back of a spoon to pack it all down evenly. I wanted the crust to look very uniform and even when the cake was unmolded. (Just cuz I am ~~being lazy~~ using shortcuts doesn’t mean I don’t want it to look good!)

Next I mixed up 2 packs of cheesecake and colored it orange with gel colors. You could also add some orange flavoring to jazz it up if you like.

In went the orange cheesecake, estimating one third up the pan.

I used a paper towel to wipe the inside edges clean of any smears. I was trying to keep the layers of the cake as clean as level as possible so it would be pretty when unmolded.

Third pack of cheesecake mix was colored black. Yep, I went there! It’s Halloween; what’s more fun than a black mouth! You could start with chocolate mix if you desire, and then you would have chocolate and orange flavored cheesecake. That would be yummy.

In went a layer of black cheesecake mix.

Third layer is orange again. Bang the pan well and clean up the top edges again. Into the freezer overnight. We need it to be rock solid to unmold it.

The next day (or week, or whenever you get around to it like me), unlatch the spring and take off the outer ring of the pan. It will release easily and cleanly from the cake. Immediately put a piece of parchment and cake cardboard on top and flip it over. Then remove the bottom of the pan. It also came off super easily.

Then quickly put your cake plate on top and flip it back over.

Now guys, this cake is going to sweat profusely if you leave it out at room temp. It’s going to sweat buckets. It’s going to pool and drip black streaks down the sides. And yes, I do know this from first hand experience. 😯 So you need to let this thaw in the fridge, preferably inside a box. That way the condensation will collect outside the box and not on the surface of the cake.

If you are ~~lazy~~ a minimalist like me, a simple presentation on a cake platter is all it needs. It’s pretty enough to stand alone.

Yummy cheesecakey deliciousness. And it really did taste pretty good for coming from a box.

BUT, if you really want to get your Halloween on, you can pipe some super easy buttercream ghosts around the side this :

Wooooooooo…………. (not really sure how you type scary ghost sounds)

Since it’s too hard to explain how I piped these ghosts, I have a teeny tiny little video to show how I did it. Disclaimer: My son filmed this using my phone;don’t expect too much:

Piped Ghost Video

Wasn’t that fun?

And ~~lazy~~ easy!

Just in case you can’t bring yourself to use a box, here is an easy no bake cheesecake recipe:

Crust:

1 1/4 c. graham cracker crumbs
3 tbsp. sugar
1/3 c. butter, melted

Mix crust ingredients and press into bottom and sides of 9-inch pie plate.

Filling:

1 (8 oz.) pkg. softened cream cheese
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 c. lemon juice
1/2 c. sour cream

In medium size bowl beat cream cheese until fluffy. Add condensed milk, stir in lemon juice and sour cream; blend ingredients well. Chill 20 minutes then fill pie crust. Chill 2 hours.

Hope you guys try it! Send me pics of the black mouths!

Happy Halloweening,

Sharon

Ghostly Cake Push Ups

October 11, 2012 by Sharon Zambito 21 Comments

Hello everyone!

No, your eyes are not playing tricks on you. I have actually posted another tutorial to the blog! You are not dreaming LOL! Things continue to be very time consuming behind the scenes around here as we build our new website and prepare for our membership area to open soon. We are putting together a really wonderful community with loads of features that I think you all will really love. I am also preparing for some new DVD filming days coming up in the next few months. So stay tuned for some new and exciting things to come!

At times like this, when it seems there are not enough hours in the day, it can be a real challenge to come up with some cute and creative confection ideas for our families, friends and customers. I am sure you experience this a lot too. So my next few blog posts will feature some designs that are high on impact but easy in the labor department.

I am sure most of you are familiar with the cake push up craze by now. It has been around a couple of years now. It’s a really fun clever way to present cake and icing in a whimsical manner; a nice change of pace from the beloved cupcake. So let me please share with you these easy ghost push ups that took no time at all.

Let’s make them really spooooooky…….

What you will need:

cake
push up tubes (can be found all over the place including Ebay and Amazon)
colored icing
sugars, jimmies, sprinkles
mini chocolate chips
icing decorations (the little ghosts shown below are from Wilton)
large round piping tip and bag

Color your cake batter with gel colors if desired, then bake and level your layers to the height you want your pieces in your push ups to be. Use the end of the push up tube to cut out the circles of cake.

With the plunger of the tube pushed all the way down, push the first layer of cake all the way in. Now how do we get the icing down deep into the tube in a clean and level manner? I wanted my parfait layers to look as clean and straight as possible from the outside of the tube. So I made my own contraption to get the icing down in there.

I put a portion of a bubble tea straw into the opening of the coupler and taped it in place well. You have to tape it really really good or it will pop off under the pressure of piping. (Ask me how I know that! lol)

Use your straw tuby piping thing to pipe a nice level ring of icing on top of the cake layer.

Repeat with another color if desired. It works beautifully! It keeps the icing level and also keeps the side of the tube clean of smears. Maybe I should patent my straw tuby piping thing? What do you think? I could get it on QVC and make a fortune! I could become the queen of the straw piping thingy! …… Sorry, I digress.

Back to the push ups….

I added a top layer of cake and put a very thin layer of icing on top to keep the cake fresh.

I pressed that into some colored sanding sugar.

Now you have a pretty top, but the cake will stay sealed in and not dry out.

With a huge round tip (Ateco 808), I piped a dollop of icing on the top to make my ghost.

Added some mini chocolate chips for eyes and mouth. (This is a really bad photo but you get the idea.)

You can add some jimmies around your ghost if you like, or use some premade decorations on top like my little ghost holding candy corn shown above.

Vary up the color combos, add sprinkles into your layers, let your imagination go!

Have fun with it!

For my presentation here I used Styrofoam in a metal bucket, stuck the pop handles into that, and covered the top with Halloween grass. Very cute presentation I think, don’t you?

And it’s just that easy! If you give it a try, please send me photos. I would love to see your take on it.

Happy Halloween Caking!

Sharon
www.sugaredproductions.com

Bunny Butt Cupcakes

April 3, 2012 by Sharon Zambito 15 Comments

The Easter Bunny Is Coming!

But before he can make his rounds, he has all his helpers searching for his missing carrots. And that leaves us to view the cutest little bunny butts ever.

And if you would like to make some of these adorable cupcakes; here is the how to:

Give your cupcake a crumb coat of green buttercream and then cover the entire surface with short grass using a tip 233.

Use a round scoop to form half balls with white fondant, and place them down into the grass.

Cut a circle of fondant and then cut two ear shapes off the sides of the circle with the same cutter. Stick them into the grass and bend them forward at the tips just a bit.

Attach a small ball of white fondant with water to make the tail. Poke it a bunch of times with a veining tool or pointy end of a small paintbrush to give it the bushy texture.

That is all there is to it! Now all you have to do is watch your guests squeal in delight when they see these cuties.

You can make these quickly with things you probably already have on hand at home. So if you procrastinate (like I do), and need a cute treat to whip up fast, these are a great option.

SugarEd wishes our readers who celebrate Easter a most blessed and joyous day. And for those that do not, we wish you a happy and healthy Spring.

Sweet Regards,

Sharon

Blossom Bunny Cake

March 29, 2012 by Sharon Zambito 59 Comments

Happy Spring Everyone!

Things are starting to turn green and warm up. Easter is right around the corner. In the spirit of the season I would like to share with you how I made this cute blossom bunny cake.

First, let me share with you my inspiration. I was shopping for groceries and as soon as I walked into the store, before me stood the floral department. And right smack in the middle was this paper craft bunny covered with blossoms. It was very striking and pretty, and my immediate thought was “CAKE!”. I did not have my phone with me, so I drove back home, got it, and clicked this photo of it to use as a reference. (Ah, the things we do for the love of cake.)

This cell phone photo does not do it justice.

So next I went on the hunt for the right cake pan. This is the one I decided to use, as I liked its shape the most. It is the Wilton 3D bunny pan:

Unfortunately this pan is no longer made, but I saw several for sale on Ebay and Amazon, and a few other sites. So you should be able to get one if you like.

I baked up my cake in the pan, and it came out really nice. The crust was brown but not overly thick. The center cooked well and the cake was moist. I was very pleased with the performance of the pan. (Sometimes you never know how those 3D pans are going to work.)

Now, I really had my heart set on my bunny having his ears coming straight off the top of his head. I chose this pan because it looked like it should be pretty easy to re-arrange them. (You guys know me; I can’t leave well enough alone.)

In this photo you can see I just cut off his ears in one large piece following the line of his back.

Next I cut the ears into two pieces right down the middle.

They were then too big to sit side by side on the top of his head, so I had to trim them down. I just followed the curve along the sides of the ears made by the pan.

Cut a little bevel off the bottom edge and cut them a little shorter too.

I also trimmed along the curve on the other side of the ear as well. I did the same with both ears.

A skewer put deep into both the ear and the cake will hold them firmly in place.

If you noticed, we gave our poor bunny a lobotomy, so we have to restore the posterior occipital region of his cerebrum and cranium. *I like to use my medical terms once in a while so I don’t get rusty 🙂

A cupcake made with extra batter is the perfect remedy for what ails our bunny.

Just smoosh up the cupcake really tightly (similar to cake ball mixture) and stick it to the back of his head with some buttercream. You will notice I also softened up the curve of his back just a bit where I had lopped off his ears.

A nice little crumb coat smoothed with some Viva and our plastic surgery is done.

Now it’s time to stick his ears back in. He was very happy to be able to hear again.

I also beveled the sharp corners of his ears as well to give them a more rounded and natural shape.

Here is a profile pic. See how nice his shape is? I have to admit I was pretty tickled with how it came out. I really had no idea what I was doing, and just winging it as I went along. (I do that a lot, LOL)

So the rest is really easy but very time consuming. Use your favorite blossom cutter and make 80 bamillion blossoms. Lay them on a soft sponge and press the middle with a fat tip of a paintbrush to make them curl up. (*Please don’t look at my funky cel pad. It is weary from wear.)

Thin your buttercream with water and paint on the bunny in small sections, applying the blossoms while still wet. After you place a bunch of blossoms on, push in the middles again with your paintbrush handle to make them bunch up a bit.

Get your coffee pot brewing, turn on the TV to your favorite show, and plan to spend the next large portion of your life making and applying blossoms. Please don’t curse me while you are doing this. But I promise the end result will be well worth it!

Use balls of fondant to make his eyes and nose.

You may not be able to tell in the photo, but I sprayed the whole cake with pearl shimmer after it was done. (Cover the eyes while you do this.) It really just made the cake come to life and added that soft finishing touch it needed.

And don’t forget the bow.

I hope you give this a try. You are sure to get some serious oohs and aahs when you present this beauty. Please send me photos if you do!

Happy Caking!

Sharon

DIY Cupcake Wrappers

March 29, 2012 by Sharon Zambito Leave a Comment

It’s The NFL Playoffs!

Like any good native New Orleanean right now, my mind is obsessed with the Saints’ road to Superbowl 2012. Two more games! Will we do it? Nerves and excitement and anticipation…..

So the other day I am driving back from the dentist , about a 50 minute ride in the car. Of course I am thinking abut my beloved Who Dat Boyz. But I also realize that it is time for me to post another item on the blog. What shall I do? Then I go back to thinking about the playoff game this coming Saturday, and the fact that I need to bring a dessert to my sister’s house for the viewing party. What shall I bring? Hmmmm…. the kids love cupcakes and they are easy to make. But I have to make them cute and football themed. What shall I do, what shall I do?

As I am driving along consumed with thoughts of cupcakes and football (and probably not paying nearly enough attention to driving)…. it hit me! It just came to me, and with it that adrenalin rush of excitement you get when a creative idea pops into your head. The more I think about it, the more excited I am getting. As I continue to hash out and develop the idea in my mind, I find my heart starting to race a bit and my tummy having a few butterflies. Oh I am SO excited! This is going to be great! You guys know that feeling….. you get the light bulb moment and then you just can’t wait to get started and see if it will turn out like you hope.

I found myself driving faster and faster to get home so I could get started. Passing folks who are going too slow for me. Blowing the horn at that little old lady who who sat at the red light one fraction of a second too long once it turned green. ( And I am usually a very patient and considerate driver.)

A little faster still. Heck on the passing lane! I am passing folks on the shoulder! At 80 miles an hour! Kicking up a trail of dust and gravel. Running red lights and stop signs. I have to get home!

Then it happened. Yep, the copper. Got pulled over for my so called “erratic driving”. Officer Bully came up to my window and peered over his out of style metal rimmed sunglasses. He did not look pleased as he pulled his fat ticket book out of his back pocket and flipped the top over, starting to write. As he scribbled all my essential information, I excitedly explained about my idea, and that I needed to hurry up and get home to get started before I lost my inspiration. (Or forgot my idea, which is a problem at my age.) He listened intently and when I finished he said, “You are making Saints themed cupcakes for the game this weekend? WHO DAT!” And not only did I not get a ticket, he gave me a lights and sirens escort all the way to my house. We sped down Highway 59 topping speeds of 95 MPH. We got so air born going over speed bumps that I felt like that orange car in the Dukes Of Hazzard. As I peeled into my driveway on two wheels, I waved off Officer Friendly , screeched the car to a halt, and ran inside to my desk to start my project.

OK, none of that really happened. But wasn’t that more exciting to read than “I drove home from the dentist and started to work on my cupcakes.” ?? (grin)

——————————————————————–

So my idea was to try to make my own custom cupcake wrappers. There are not any cute football or Saints ones out there, so I figured I could do it on my computer.

I started with buying this piece of clip art, which only cost a few dollars:

I use my favorite graphics arts program, Print Shop, but you can use any printing program you like. I imported the clip art into the program, and printed it out on photo paper. I used photo paper because I wanted the gloss, but you could also use card stock paper.

Here it is printed out with two strips, for two cupcakes.

For this one I just created a large square of gold color in the program and placed the words layered on top and printed that out.

The last one I used a fun font and fleur de lis clip art to create this pattern. I took an extra cupcake wrapper I had on hand and traced that pattern onto the paper and cut it out. Then I attached the two ends of the wrapper with one single staple in the back.

I decided to use clip art on edible icing sheets to make one of the cupcake toppers. I printed the fleur de lis out using my edible ink printer. I added some powdered tylose to white fondant and rolled it to number 4 on my pasta roller. I dampened the fondant with a moist paper towel, and laid the cut out fleur de lis on top. I used a clean exacto knife to cut out the fondant using the fleur de lis as the guide. This sat overnight to get nice and firm.

I wanted to dress it up a little, so I piped a black royal icing outline around the fleur de lis and sprinkled edible glitter dust on. I wasn’t really thrilled with the look of that, so on another one I outlined and then also brushed the entire surface of the fleur de lis with piping gel before sprinkling the dust on. That made a really cool sparkly silhouette. I like that one much better. Those have to dry fully as well before going in the icing.

A fun Who Dat cupcake!

I used push molds to make more fleur de lis from fondant with tylose added. Let those dry overnight and then painted with gold luster dust paint. The mold on the far left was homemade, but the white one can be found here, and the multi one is right here.

I love the big gold one on top.

I know we don’t usually use black icing for obvious reasons, but I had to try one to see how it looked. If you have anyone at your party pulling for the other team, they get that one. 🙂

I did both scalloped and straight cut papers.

I like this elegant one a lot.

And I also discovered the special effects in my photo editing program!

Focal color:

Soft focus:

Black and white with a hit of color:

Sepia:

Warmified:

Soft focus again. Ok, I got a little carried away…..

Regular!

Notes:

1) These papers are not food safe, so make sure the icing and cake do not touch them.

2) Let the ink dry a while before you cut them to avoid smearing with your fingers 3) Be sure not to use copyrighted logos on items for sale.

$) If your dumb cupcakes do not bake up high enough, bump them up by placing an Oreo cookie under them inside the wrapper. 🙂

These were really fun to make, and easy! And fast! The possibilities are infinite when you make your own wrappers. I really hope you try it.

Now, I must go iron my Saints jersey for the big game Saturday!

GO SAINTS!

Sharon

www.sugaredproductions.com

Ruffled Christmas Tree cake

December 17, 2011 by Sharon Zambito 53 Comments

Oh Christmas Tree!
Oh, I used that intro last time.
My bad.
Wanna see how to make this ridiculously raucous ruffled rarity?

Let me show you my inspiration. I saw this photo of a shirt on Pinterest and it screamed cake to me. (Sorry I do not know the owner of this photo.)

“MAKE ME INTO A CAKE!”

Ok, stop yelling at me. I will!

I wanted to make it a little bit more fun by coloring the batter. How did I do it you ask? Just make two batches of batter and color them with your gel or paste colors. Then just plop blobs of the batter into the pan alternately and randomly. Do not spread it out with a spatula, nor stir or swirl it. That will make the colors mix and give you black cake. Ask me how I know. 🙂 …. Bake as usual.

Then I carved a basic triangular tree shape from the cake and used a leftover piece for the trunk. I decided after the first cuts that the tree was too thin, so I added small strips on each side to make it fatter. You can see the icing seems where I glued those pieces together.

Crumb coated.

Covered in fondant. You can surely use buttercream if you like.

Now it is time to make the ruffles. Cut a long strip of fondant.

Use white fondant to cut circles for your polka dots.

Attach the fondant to the cake. Just pinch and press the top edge of the fondant ruffle as you go along the width of the cake. Use shortening as your glue and you will love me forever. Trust me on this. No mess. No drippies. No smears. No cuss words. 🙂
I put the polka dots on after the green ruffle was on the cake. It was much easier to do it that way, rather than trying to do it before. Trust me again. I tried it both ways. First way involved some cuss words. 🙂

Red strip of fondant with thinner white strips.

Attach the stripes before you put the ruffle on the cake. Trust me on this too. I tried to add them after the ruffle was applied, and it involved some cuss words. 🙂

Pinch and ruffle as you go along. Use paper towel scraps to prop up your ruffles or they will just droop down flat.

This green ruffle used the PME smocking roller. Don’t even think about doing the impression after the ruffle is on the cake! 🙂

In place.

Another white ruffle with bigger red polka dots.

Diagonal white stripes on green ruffle.

Keep it on going all the way up the tree.

I finished mine with a bow on the top. Prop it up with paper towels until fully dry and firm.When everything is fully dry, take all the paper towels out. If you have dryness, cornstarch residue, or just want to refresh the look of the cake, we then do what? I know you know! 🙂

Fondant clay gun squiggles and polka dots to dress up the board.

Cute, yes?

Let’s see how the inside looks:

Fun, yes?

Kewl.

I love my little ruffly tree cake. I think the Tshirt would be proud.

What other color combinations do you think would be cute for this cake?
I hope you like it and try it!
Happy Caking!
Sharon
www.sugaredproductions.com

NOLA Photography http://bentzphotography.com/

Christmas Tree Mini Cakes

December 14, 2011 by Sharon Zambito 22 Comments

Oh Christmas Tree!

Oh Christmas Tree!

I have a serious weakness for mini and individual confection cuteness. I saw a mini cake on the Family Fun website that spurred the idea for these. Come along with me and I will show you how to make ‘em!

I used frozen pound cake in this case because I was ~~too lazy~~ too pressed for time to bake. You can certainly use your own recipe and cut these from sheet cakes. Just be sure to use a very sturdy cake or they will not hold up under the weight of the icing.

I used my Ateco nesting blossom cutters for these trees, but you could also use squares and stagger the shapes, or even hexagons might be cute. (Ignore the marshmallows in this photo. I ended up not using them but forget to retake this photo. Oopsie.)

Level the cake and create a layer the height you want each tier of your tree to be. My layers were right at one inch high each. Use your three sizes of cutters and cut out the shapes.

This next thing I am going to tell you is very important, so lean closer to the monitor so you can hear me. Closer. Still a little closer. I do not want you to miss this, because the success of your entire project may depend upon this!

Are you close? Ok, good. Notice how I am cutting the cake with the crust side up. Please be sure NOT to do this. Cut it with the crust side down. And then push the cake up through the top of the cutter to get it out. You will see why in just a little bit.

Pull the rest of the cake away and then remove the cake from the cutters. It is much easier to work with firm cold cake.

Now you have the three tiers of your tree and the extra cake can be used to make cake balls, or do what I do and just throw them in a Ziplock for the hubby and kids to snack on.

Now take the layers of cake, and stack them up, but alternate the alignment of the petals as shown above. Run a skewer through all three layers for stability. This is the only cake you may ever make where one tiny skewer is the only dowel you will need for the whole cake!

Sit the cake on top of one of the cookie cutters, and place this on a cookie sheet lined with plastic wrap or wax paper.

Cut the skewer off right below the top surface of the cake.

Now time to make the icing to pour. In this case I used glace icing because it gives more coverage than poured fondant, is not as translucent, dries with more of a gloss, and ~~I was too lazy~~ is easier to make and use.

Glace icing:

one pound powdered sugar

6 TBS milk

6 TBS light corn syrup

flavorings as desired (I use 1tsp each of vanilla and almond)

Whisk all of the above together vigorously by hand with gel or paste food coloring until totally smooth. Cover the surface with plastic wrap and let it settle a while until the air bubbles rise to the surface. Then you can take the plastic off and pop the bubbles on the surface with the back of a spoon or spatula. Do not re-stir. (Keep icing covered in plastic when not in use.)

Now you are ready to pour:

You need to pour a large amount over the cake. Way more than what will end up staying on the cake. This will insure that every little nook and cranny of the cake will be covered. I took this picture right after I poured the icing and put the bowl down. It should run down the cake very fast, about the consistency a chocolate fountain would be.

Within just a minute or two , most of it will run off the cake. You can see how it is getting thinner on the sides now.

When the dripping slows down to just a few drops (this will be just a few minutes), pick up the cookie cutter with cake still on top and move it to another surface to dry fully. You need to do this right away so you can scrape up all the excess poured icing, put it back in your bowl and use it again. The glace has to be scraped up quickly before it starts to crystallize and firm up.

You may want to let this layer of icing firm for about an hour, and then give the whole cake another pour. I did two coats on mine, because it made the finished cake look a lot smoother and more polished than just one coat.

Ok, remember that I told you about cutting the cake crust side down ? The reason for this is because you want the flow of the icing to be going in the same direction as the grain of the cut of the cookie cutter. You want the icing to flow down the cut sides of the layers in the same direction that the cookie cutter cut them.

And this is why:

Can you say ugly? This cake was poured with the layers stacked in the opposite direction of how they were cut. So the weight of the icing flowing down pulled down the cut sides of the cake (against the grain), and made the cake sides separate and stick out, not stay flush and tight. So I got this really ugly surface on the cake. Blech.

Pretty:

Pretty ugly:

—————————————————–

So, now you have to let the icing dry for 18-24 hours until the surface is nice and firm in order to be able to decorate it.

To decorate: strings from the clay gun for the garland, little rolled balls of fondant for the ornaments, and a fondant star for the top. I used sanding sugar in the white icing snow and threw some white disco dust over everything, because disco dust makes everything look better! Note: not all dusts are considered edible, so choose wisely.

Ta dah!! I also made some little fondant packages and a cute teeny weeny snowman.

Say it with me: awwwwww

And a picture just for size reference.

So, do remember this hideous nightmare disaster of ugliness the likes the Earth has never seen before?

I hated the thought of throwing it away, so I tried to disguise its mutant repulsiveness by painting some white buttercream snow on the branches of the cake, and adding some colored balls and edible sparkle dust:

What do you think? I think it’s not too bad now! And the plus side is that this one takes way less time to decorate than the first one.

——————————————————

Back to that ~~purchased frozen~~ fresh baked cake you made:

You will have a layer of cake left over from leveling that will not be tall enough to use for tiers of the tree. You can use other holiday shaped cookie cutters.

They are the perfect height for little petit fours. Just pour icing over them them and let dry. Easy.

Then treat yourself to them on nice china with a hot cup of your favorite holiday flavored coffee. You worked hard; you deserve it.

Oh Christmas Tree!

Sing along with me everyone:

Oh Christmas Tree! Oh Christmas Tree!

They leaves are so unchanging.

Not only green with icing here.

But also sweet and cuteness near.

Oh Christmas Tree! Oh Christmas Tree!

Thy leaves are so……(Fill in the blank)

Happy Holidays!

Sharon

Perfect Pumpkin Roll

November 20, 2011 by Sharon Zambito 31 Comments

Thanksgiving Blog Blitz Post #5

Welcome to the 5th and final installment of my Thanksgiving Blog Blitz. I gotta tell ya I am plum wore out. Been burning the candle at both ends over here, as I am sure many of you are too. I am just flat busted exhausted. So this post is going to be a little bare bones. I don’t have any ideas for witty commentary or fancy photos. But I still want to give you the information for this project as promised:

How to make a perfect pumpkin roll:

Make the recipe and bake it.

Add some filling, roll it up, and it should look like this:

Enjoy! Hope you try it!

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

JUST KIDDING!

You guys know I would never do that to you!

I was just messin’ with ya! Tee hee hee.

Here we go:

How to make this most gorgeous and beautiful pumpkin roll:

Make the recipe as directed (given below). Line a 10×15 jelly roll pan with wax paper or parchment paper, spray with pan spray, pour in the batter and bake as directed. Do not over bake. Take it out as soon as the top springs back when touched.

While the cake is baking, take a clean kitchen towel that does not have a very loopy surface and dust it liberally with powdered sugar.

As soon as the cake is done, flip it out onto the towel and peel off the wax paper. Do this right out of the oven. Do not cool it. Do not go get a sip of diet coke and then forget about it. (Just sayin’; that does not work.)

Immediately roll up the cake and towel together, then place on a cooling rack for about one hour. Now you can go get something to drink.

Once the cake is almost completely cool, but just barely warm, unroll it and spread an even thickness of the cream cheese filling across the cake. (Recipe below.)

Roll it up, somewhat tight. If the cake was not over baked or over cooled, it should not crack. If it cracks, do not freak out. No freaking out over pumpkin rolls allowed. You can cover it with powdered sugar or icing later.

Wrap this in plastic and keep in fridge at least a couple of hours or until a short time before serving. It is easier to cut while cold. The slices come out cleaner and prettier, but you do not have to serve it cold. (Please ignore the fact that there is more diet coke in my fridge than milk.)

Take it out the fridge and cut off the two rough ends of the roll, as the ends are not too pretty. Those are your quality control portions. You have to test it before serving it to others, of course!

Sprinkle with more sifted powdered sugar once on your serving platter. Is that not gorgeous?

Incredibly yummy too.

Please do not be afraid to try this. I was afraid the first time I did one that it would be a disaster. It is actually a very easy process, and you should get perfect results each time. The recipe is quick to do and tastes great. This is a perfect last minute holiday dessert that you can whip up in no time. And of course, you will impress everyone with this stunner.

Cake:

1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup LIBBY’S® 100% Pure Pumpkin
1 cup walnuts, chopped (optional)

Filling:

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Powdered sugar (optional for decoration)

FOR CAKE:

PREHEAT oven to 375° F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle a thin, cotton kitchen towel with powdered sugar.

COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts.

BAKE for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. (If using a dark-colored pan, begin checking for doneness at 11 minutes.) Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.

FOR FILLING:

BEAT cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

COOKING TIP:

Be sure to put enough powdered sugar on the towel when rolling up the cake so it will not stick.

And here is a video of the process that might help:

Video

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I’d like to tell you all how thankful I am to have the honor and privilege to interact with you here on my blog and in my videos. As a token of thanks, I’ve got 3 free baking and cake serving charts that I have put together in a PDF file. Just click on the button below to request it.

Send My Free PDF

Happy baking and Happy Thanksgiving,

Sharon

NOLA Photography http://bentzphotography.com/

Pilgrim Pumpkin

November 16, 2011 by Sharon Zambito 14 Comments

Thanksgiving Blog Blitz Post #3!

I hope you are having a nice Fall so far, and are enjoying the anticipation and preparations leading up to the holidays. Thanksgiving is my very favorite holiday, and I love making fun treats for the occasion. And I have to tell you that this little dude has got to be my all time favorite! I have been busting at the seams since I made him; I am so excited to share him with you!

Meet my Pilgrim Pumpkin mini cake!

Don’t you just want to squeeze him?

Let me show you how I made him:

For his body I used two mini bundt cakes and a circle of cake I cut from a round layer with a cookie cutter. The height of the cut circle of cake was about 1/2 inch.

You need that extra height the circle of cake gives. Otherwise, he will be too squatty and you won’t have enough room for his belt and his face. If you want to spackle the seem with some stiffened buttercream to hide it more, you can do so.

Crumb coat the cake with a very thin layer of icing. Then cover the top half with orange fondant. Use a wooden dowel to impress in the grooves of the bundt pan to make them show up well. You will need a pretty thick layer of fondant or all the lumpy bumps will show through. Or you can use two thinner layers of fondant, which is what I did. Once you get the top half covered, let it sit for a while to let the fondant set up some.

Then flip the cake over and do the exact same thing on the other half. Cut a clean seem between both layers of fondant where they overlap in the middle, so that you get the result you see above.

Looking pumpkiny!

I airbrushed him just a little to help his colors pop, but that it optional. Cover the seem with a strip of black fondant to make his belt. Make his face with pieces of black fondant.

Cuteness emerging.

His hair is thin strips of a golden yellow fondant. Prop them away from his head with paper towels until they firm up. Make his adorable little pilgrim shoes from triangles of black fondant with an oval piece of white fondant on top.At this point, just go ahead and squeal with delight. You will want you. You will need to. You have my blessing.

Cut a circle of black fondant for the brim of his hat, and fashion another piece in the tapered shape of a pilgrim hat. Let those both firm up well. Attach the hat pieces together with chocolate.

Once all is in place, add the buckles to the belt and hat. I presented him on a little bit of fondant grass with some acorns. At this point I called in all my family, my neighbors, the postman, and a stray cat to share my excitement with them.

Isn’t he just the cutest thing?

I heart him.

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I often get asked where I get my ideas from, which can be all kinds of things. This project was inspired by this piece of clip art I stumbled upon while searching on the internet for something:

My little guy came out pretty much how I envisioned in my head; which rarely happens. So I was very pleased.

Hope you give him a try, he was a lot of fun to do!

Stray tuned for the next installment of my Thanksgiving Blog Blitz coming Friday!

Happy caking!
Sharon
www.sugaredproductions.com

Have Your Pie and Eat It Too

November 7, 2011 by Sharon Zambito 8 Comments

Thanksgiving means one thing to everyone I am sure:

Pumpkin Pie!

I love all things pumpkin flavored: muffins, breads, shakes, martinis (oops, did I admit that?)…. except for one thing….. pie. I just do not care for it for some reason. But I cannot imagine having a Thanksgiving spread without that iconic pie on the table. So I thought I would try to have the best of both worlds this year, and maybe even play a little trickery on my unsuspecting family at the same time. (devilish grin)

Oh that beautiful symbol of fall, gratitude, good food, and precious time with family and friends…..

Let’s make ours!

Start with a pie tin and line the edge with a strip of ivory fondant. Use some shortening to glue it on or it will not stay in place.

Flute the edges with your fingers just as you would do a regular pie crust.

Airbrush color gives this “pie” its magic. A little yellow base coat, then followed by ivory (which comes out light brown for some reason). If you do not have an airbrush you can use the color mists in the can as well.

After the crust is dry, then add a layer of pumpkin cake. You can split and fill the cake if you want, but it is a pretty short layer, so I find the icing on the top to be enough for me.

Ice the top of the cake with colored icing. I used orange, brown and a little red to get this color. Some pumpkin pies are more brown, and others more orange, so go for the look you like. Sprinkle some cinnamon on top of the icing. If you get big clumps like you see in this photo, just spread it out with your spatula, let the icing crust, and then smooth it out with your Viva paper towel.

A little bit more airbrushing on the top. I used a combo of yellow and ivory to give it that yummy custard-y baked look.

How about some mini meringue “pies” on the side ? (wink wink)

Follow the same process using mini pie shells. Pile on white icing with a spatula and hit it with a light coat of ivory airbrush color.

They have that beautiful just baked meringue look.

Mmmmm.

Watch your guests’ faces as they cut into this pie and find out your secret surprise! (You might want to bring along a real pumpkin pie as back up, just in case. You don’t want an angry crowd caused by being deprived of pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving.)

This cake was SO easy and fast to do. You can make several and trick all of your neighbors we well. And your coworkers and boss. And the kids’ teachers. The fun could go one for weeks!

Here is an easy pumpkin cake recipe I used. It is super moist and yummy:

Ingredients

1 (18.25 ounce) package spice cake mix
3 eggs
1/3 vegetable oil
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
1 TBS pumpkin pie spice
1/3 cup white sugar

Directions

Combine everything in mixer at speed two until combined. Pour into prepared pan and bake at 325 until done.
Cool completely. Level off the top, put the scraps in a ziplock bag, and hide them in your office so no one else can get to them.
Split layer into the height needed to fill your pie pan.

I really hope you guys give this fun cake a try and send me photos so I can post them!

Happy caking!
Sharon
www.sugaredproductions.com