Holidays Archives - Page 6 of 9 - Sugared Productions Blog

Turkey Cupcake Cake

November 13, 2012 by Sharon Zambito 22 Comments

It’s almost turkey day!

Are you guys ready? Ready for the holidays?

It’s that time of year when we have to come up with oodles of cute ideas for cakes and confections for our families, friends, and businesses. I personally spend so much time trying to think of new and interesting things to do, it makes my brain hurt. (Although, it doesn’t take much to do that. ) Every now and then I like to go back to some good old school decorating. The basics we build our skills on.

At the end of every one of my DVDs I tell you guys to practice, not be too hard on yourselves, and to always have fun. That is what this project and this post is all about. This quick cupcake cake is a great way to practice some basic techniques, but not to take it so seriously that we stress ourselves out. There are times we need to be really precise and worry about all the little details of a cake. But sometimes it is fun and liberating to not have to do that, and just have some good ole fun.

So let’s make this cute Turkey Tom cake. Do you guys recall the cupcake pull apart cake that was all the rage a few years back? It has kind of died out in popularity, but I think we need to bring it back! It’s a great item to send to school for all the kids’ holiday parties. It’s easy to make and easy for them to serve.

And it’s a great vehicle to practice on. It goes together quickly, and if you mess up, who cares? It’s just cupcakes!

Let’s do this!

Find a clip art or coloring book page that you like. Enlarge it to the size you need and print it out. Note that in my Print Shop program, I had to print it out on 4 pages to make it big enough. Tape the pieces together in alignment and cut it out. (Note: you really should transfer the pattern onto a food safe paper like parchment. But I was too ~~lazy~~ short on time to do that for this blog post.)

Use the paper template to arrange your cupcakes in the desired shape on the cake board. Secure each one down to the board with a smear of buttercream under the liner.

I had some spaces after I arranged the cupcakes. I stuck some rice crispy treat pieces into those holes to take up some room and support the buttercream I was going to put on top. I wanted to prevent sink holes in the top of the icing. Each cupcake also got a little crumb coat of icing on top just to seal it for freshness.

Ice the whole top of the cupcakes and use your favorite smoothing method. I used the viva paper towel and fondant smoother. This is good practice for smoothing, but don’t stress over it! If it’s not perfect, IT IS OK. I promise! It’s just cupcakes!

Now we are going to use the pin prick method. Put the template over some Styrofoam (food safe dummy here) and use a toothpick to prick thru the paper along the entire outline of the image and all the details. That will create raised bumps on the back of the paper that will serve as an impression mat on the icing.

Put the template in place and gently smooth over the entire surface with your hands. Be sure to press along the outer edges so that you get an outer outline of the graphic in the icing. I took a photo after I did this, but the camera could not pick up the impression marks on the white icing, so please trust me when I tell you that it leaves you a nice outline to follow for your piping. You guys know I won’t lie to you! I promise you will be able to see it.

I also used the same method to imprint the message I wanted to pipe on the sign.

Now let’s talk about piping the outline. For this, I highly suggest you make some glace icing. For two reasons: 1) it’s easier to pipe a nice outline because of the glace’s elasticity, and 2) it is going to secure itself to the icing and not blow away when you airbrush the sections of the image. A regular buttercream piped outline is going to blow off the cake when you airbrush. (Been there, done that. ) If you do not want to bother with making glace icing, you can surely airbrush the entire image first, and then pipe the outline on top of that last. I have done it both ways.

To make a little bit of glace icing, just throw a couple of cups of powdered sugar into a bowl. Mix in equal parts of water and corn syrup into it, about a Tbs of each at a time, blending with a whisk, until you get a smooth but very stiff icing. I used super black gel to tint it, and piped the outlines with a PME tip 2. Note: PME tips are some of the best tips for piping. You get a nice smooth string with no curling. PME’s tip 2 has a bit smaller hole than Wilton tip 2, and I like that size better for outlines. That’s just my personal preference; you can use an even bigger tip if you like a fatter outline.

Remember when you are piping outlines to not drag the tip across the cake. Hold the tip above the surface of the cake, and let the icing drop onto the cake as you apply pressure to the bag, guiding it by moving the piping bag along as you go. This will give you a very smooth and fluent outline.

Now you just got some great practice on outlining, which can be used both for images on cakes and also for decorated cookies. Yay for practice! But are we going to get upset if our outline is not perfect? No way! Are we going to scrape it all off and redo it? No way! IT IS OK! It’s just cupcakes!

————————————

So now on to airbrushing. I get lots of emails asking for help with this, but it is pretty difficult to make a photo tutorial on airbrushing. But have no fear, because I have already filmed several videos for the new online membership area that are going to cover airbrushing. From the basics of the different types of brushes, basic skills and practice drills, cleaning the gun, to full cake projects that use airbrushing in them. So be sure to stay tuned for that coming in a few months!

If you have an airbrush, this is a great cake to practice coloring on, because you basically are just going to fill in each section of the image with airbrush color. (Like a coloring book.) It gives you practice on fine control of outlines, following lines, and varying the width of the spray. And if we mess up a bit, will we freak out? No way! Are we going to cry if we get some over spray? No way! Are we going to call the airbrush police if we get some blotches or spurts? No way Jose! IT IS OK! It’s just cupcakes!

So here you see the first sections of blue color airbrushed in.

And now some more sections.

Here is the whole thing airbrushed. Note that I did not outline the sign with black before I airbrushed. I thought it would be better to do that afterwards on such a large rectangle, but really I do not think it matters much either way. You could pipe that outline before or after airbrushing.

If you look closely you can see the imprint of the Happy Thanksgiving message on the sign, which I later piped over with black buttercream and a tip 3. Again, here we have the opportunity for some great practice on piping words directly on a cake. I used the Tinker Toy font, which is a nice easy one to follow. It is just a series of straight lines and dots. If we mess up a little are we going to have a nervous breakdown? No way! Are we going to point out to everyone who sees the cake that our writing could have been better? No way! Are we going to scrape it off and re-pipe it? OK, yes we might. (Gotcha on that one!) If we really screw a letter up, we may have to. I in fact scraped two letters off and re-piped them. Can you tell which two in the next photo? BUT beware that if you do that you are going to scrape off your airbrushing and reveal white icing again. So you will need to touch up that spot with a little more airbrush color. The patch will never match exactly, which works fine for a design like this that is not precise and is variegated by nature. But keep in mind for other cakes that anytime you patch airbrush color it will not match, and that might not work for every cake you do.

So here he is all done. Go back and look at the first photo I posted and note that I had originally forgotten to pipe the rest of the details on the sign. Oopsie! Here you can see I added the extra lines and cracks to make it look even more better.

And here is a super close up. Do you see that little bit of over spray on the outer portion of the black outline? Do you see a few impression holes peaking out from behind the black lines? See a few spots where the icing is not super duper smooth? Do we care? No way! Are we freaked out? No way! IT IS OK! It’s just cupcakes!

Let’s step back to normal viewing distance and have a look:

Is it cute? Yes way! Do we love it? Yes way! Will the kids love it? Yes way! Did we get some great low stress practice on some basic skills? Yes way! It’s just cupcakes and we are very happy with it!

Here are just a few more things I want to note:

1) The airbrush colors I used for this were:

turquoise
sky blue
orange
egg and lemon yellow
black
dusty rose
brown (face and body)
warm brown (arms)
purple made by mixing pink with sky blue
ivory (sign)

2) To make the eyes I piped fat dots of black and then white icing, let it crust, and patted it down with the tip of my finger.

3) If you do not have an airbrush, or do not want to do it that way, you can use any other easy fill in technique for this cake, such as run sugar, star tip fill in, or piped buttercream fill in. Run sugar uses the same glace icing in a flood consistency to create the image. Here are two cakes where the image was done with run sugar:

(If you are interested in learning more, our online school teaches in great detail all these techniques: pin prick method, outlining, run sugar, frozen buttercream transfers, chocolate transfers, royal icing transfers, some basic airbrushing, piped borders and more.)

I hope this post inspires you to get out your tools and go back to some old school decorating. Be sure to share a photo of your cakes on our Facebook page if you do. In fact, let’s start a grass roots movement to bring back the cupcake cake! Who is with me??

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Sharon

www.sugaredproductions.com

Witch Hat Brownie Bites

October 26, 2012 by Sharon Zambito 15 Comments

Hello sugar friends!

Those of you that follow me on facebook know that I have a new love in my life. My new schnoodle puppy, Lucy. We have never had a dog before, only cats, so this is quite a different experience. All I can say is that we are head over heels, over the moon, crazy in love with our sweet little girl.

She has the best personality and temperament, is smart and trains quickly, and is simply off the charts cute. Some of my Facebook friends think I might be a little obsessed with her, but that’s just nuts. Just because I post pictures of her every day, have bought her an entire wardrobe of doggy clothes, and hand feed her food with a platinum spoon does not make one obsessed.

So look at my cute baby in her Halloween costume! Lucy the candy corn witch:

Are you dying of cuteness ?

Since my other obsession is cakes and confections, as soon as I put her in the costume I had an inspiration for a cute idea: candy corn witch hat cake bites. But I did not have any cake baked. I had brownies baked. So I used them instead. (See my last post about being lazy busy.)

Let me show you how I made them:

You will need candy coating (any brand) in the colors you like, or start with white and color it with oil based candy colors.

I wanted a former to make the hats, because I knew hand forming them would not give me the precise and uniform look I wanted. I was going to use those pointy paper cups that you see at the water cooler, but could not find any. So I thought I would try using ice cream cones themselves to form the hat tops, but when I opened the box I saw the styro protector they were in, and that looked perfect to try. So I cut off a piece from the top to the size I needed.

Shown here are the two halves of the protector, separated. I took a wad of brownie and mushed it up really well. It was very sticky so I rolled it in powdered sugar, and laid it in the former. (I know it looks kind of gross, but it is Halloween after all!)

Then I closed the former, so that it encased the brownie mixture, and packed it down in the center with my finger.

Next I inserted a long toothpick down into the brownie.

When you open the former you have a perfect cone shape. Also note I made a mark on the inside of the former so I would fill all of them to the same height.

Use the toothpick to dip the brownie into white candy coating and let all the excess drip off.

I put the candy coating into paper cups (bathroom size) to make the dipping easy.

Stick the coated cone into some styro to dry fully.

When the white coat is dry, take the cone off of the toothpick and hold it at the point.

Dip into the orange chocolate to make that layer. Allow the excess to drip off.

Stick it back on the toothpick to fully dry. Then repeat with the yellow coat.

I made the hat brims with yellow candy coating poured into the bottom of muffin pans. Pop into freezer for 5-7 minutes and they come right out the pan. (I promise this pan is clean, just well used and stained.)

I used black fondant to cut strips with a strip cutter to form the hat band and tiny bow.

I was not sure if my idea translated the way I wanted it to, so I asked my son if he knew what these were, giving him no clues. He said they looked like hazard cones. That is now burned into my mind, and when I look at them I can see nothing else. Dang kid; no Halloween candy for him!

Caution: construction ahead! Oh wait, that’s not right.

Cute Halloween brownie bites!

Sweet Lucy the candy corn witch.

Cute candy corn hazard cones witch hats.

They were easy and fun. If you are not into the hazard cone theme, these would be great in traditional colors of black, or a combo of black, green and purple, or black and orange…..

I also see some Christmas trees done this way in our future.

Let me know if you try them!

–

And in the interest of full disclosure, here is what Lucy really thought of her Halloween costume:

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!

Sharon

www.sugaredproductions.com

Thank you to Katharine Bentz Photography for the beautiful photos. (Yes, the craptastic ones are mine.)

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

New Year’s Chocolate Party Favors

January 4, 2012 by Sharon Zambito Leave a Comment

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Can you believe another year has gone by? Boy it goes so fast. I hope all of you had a wonderful and magical holiday season.

I have one last tutorial for you for this year. I realize I am probably posting too late for you to get the supplies and make these this year, but hopefully you will tuck this idea away in your files for next year.

Let’s make these adorable chocolate party favors. They stand about 5.5 inches tall.

Gently melt the super white candy melts and tint it gray with oil based candy colors. Then fill both halves of the ice bucket mold. Pop them in the freezer for about 10-12 minutes until they easily release from the mold.

Here are the two sides.

You can see by looking at the half on the left that the mold has the chocolate coming up above the surface of the bucket. We have to carve some of that out with an exacto knife so that the bottle and ice can sit down in the bucket. You can see this was done on the half on the right.

Here are the two sides standing up for another angle showing how the halves need to be carved out.

Glue the two sides together with melted chocolate and smooth all the seems and imperfections with a knife and super clean (or gloved) fingers.

Now we break out the magic stuff. Silver luster dust dry dusted on top of gray chocolate (or fondant or gumpaste) will have a very realistic silver metallic look. (Make sure you buy an edible luster dust.)

Then melt and color more chocolate green. Mold and chill the bottle halves.

Pop them out when ready.

Again join the two halves and smooth them out.

Cut the bottle at the height you want it to stick out of the bucket, with a little slant on the bottom.

Spray the bottle with about 3 coats (drying in between) of edible lacquer to give it some subtle shine.

Edible icing sheets are used to make the labels, and candy foil to cover the stopper.

Glue the bottle in the bucket with more chocolate, and add rock candy for ice.

A photo for size reference.

These would make great table decorations. They would also be fabulous party favors if boxed in clear plastic boxes.

HERE IS TO 2012!

All of us here at SugarEd Productions wish you a prosperous and healthy year; filled with love and laughter and success. We sincerely thank you for your patronage, and look forward to serving you in 2012.

Happy caking!

Sharon

www.sugaredproductions.com

Edible Holiday Place Cards

December 19, 2011 by Sharon Zambito 21 Comments

It’s The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

Don’t you just love the holiday season? I sure do. I especially love all the festivities and get togethers with loved ones. I am planning an intimate dinner party this weekend with just my closest of friends. I hate those big ole stuffy parties where it is so crowded and loud you can’t even talk to anyone, don’t you? I prefer a much more intimate setting. That is why I am doing a sit down holiday dinner. I have invited 6 of my closet friends. I cannot wait!

I have made these beautiful edible placards to put on the table. I just hate it when everyone fights over who is going to sit next to me. So awkward. These should solve that problem!

Let me show you how to make them, they are easy!
(You can click on the photos to make them larger.)

Print the names in the size and font you want on edible icing sheets. I like Kopykake brand. (You have to use an edible ink printer to make these food safe.)

Cut them out and lay them face down into the place card chocolate mold.

Pour melted white chocolate into the card molds and the little stands too.

About 8-10 minutes in the freezer and then they will fall right out of the mold. Now the edible image is embedded into the chocolate and it looks seamless and like all one piece! Love that.

To decorate these, I piped royal icing bead borders with a tip7. Let that dry a good bit and then paint them with gold luster dust mixed with vodka. Let that fully dry. Then add a red

clay gun string ( the smallest round disc) as a decorative border inside the gold piping.

Attach the stand to the back with chocolate.

I also used these premade royal icing decorations that I purchased here.

Isn’t that just beautiful? I think Martha will be a little jealous of my mad crafty skillz.

Your guests will be awed by the fact that these are edible, and even more so by the fact that you made them.

I also made another design for my New Orleans pals. Many of you know that I am a devoted native of New Orleans, and just adore our culture and history. I wanted to make something special for my local buds.

For these, I used my strip cutters to frame the cards with red and green fondant.

I used my fleur de lis push mold and white fondant to make the decorations. I painted them gold after they were dry, then attached them to the cards.

Lovely. I think Drew will be impressed. Yes, Drew and I are close personal friends. (He just doesn’t know it yet.)

Darren (Sproles) and Harry (Connick) will shower me with compliments.

What? You don’t believe that I know Harry?
Let me prove it to you then:

Right after this photo was taken he proposed. But I had to say no because I am already married.

Back to the place cards:

I think the fleur de lis is especially fitting for Drew.

Darren also, since they both play for the Saints. Who Dat!

Harry loves his coffee and dessert.

I cannot wait for my party!

I hope Oprah does not drink too much and hit on Donald like last year.

I hope you guys give these a try; they are really fun and easy to make.

And be sure to join us on Facebook for our related Give-away!

Happy Holidays Everyone!

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:

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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.

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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.