Amber: Master Chef/Baker Extraordinaire!

Please excuse the different photo sizes. My blogger is having issues with adding photos. Also, these crappy pictures were taken with my phone so they aren't the best!

I haven't posted much this summer because I've been trying to keep at my resolutions and GET OFF MY BUTT. I've been cleaning like a nesting mother, baking, practicing cake decorating, painting, drawing, working out, losing weight, etc. First things first, if you have any serious notions about becoming a professional cake decorator, DO NOT take the Wilton cake decorating classes. The beginner class will cost you about $80 bucks, more if you don't have supplies, and you only get 4 sessions. In those sessions they teach you how to do some things (if the teacher can find the time to stop by your seat in the cramped little classroom), give you bad tasting recipes, and ask you to buy more Wilton products.

If you've ever baked and decorated a cupcake or a cake, this class is not for you. Instead of spending all of that money on a class, try a few books and YouTube videos. Resources on the web for cake decorating are endless, and if there's something you can't find just ask me and I'll help. I'll leave some links to my recommendations at the bottom of the blog post.

If you have taste buds, don't use the Wilton recipe for buttercream. My 14 year old nephew tasted it and spat it out. Do everyone a favor, and back away from the Crisco. So far I've learned that Crisco is excellent for having smooth glossy icing, but it tastes bad and leaves a greasy feeling in your mouth. Butter is my choice, because anything I make better taste good and buttercream does. I threw the Crisco & Meringue powder "buttercream" away. Also, Wilton would have you buy a ~$6 can of meringue powder to make their buttercream. It's nasty. It's supposed to help so you can make icing similar to Swiss Meringue icing without using egg whites, and apparently can last for up to 4 months just sitting on the counter.

And you wonder why it tastes bad...

Fresh is best!! I have yet to make Swiss Meringue; I plan on trying it on my next practice cake. But for now, I recommend this very yummy and smooth buttercream icing recipe. When I start something new, I usually jump in head first. Which means at one point in the beginning I say, "Holy cow. What am I doing??!" Surprise, Surprise, the same thing happened with my first cake.

What's that? You'd like to see a picture? SURE! Let's all giggle at my fabulous mistake!



So this is how it started out. It was beautiful, I was happy and excited. I mean, It looks so pretty just sitting there!





This is what it turned out to look like. Nephew said, "It's like dead Pacman, cause it's pinkish purple colored." I rolled my eyes and told him it was Ombre, fading from purple to ivory. He looked at me as if I was speaking a different language. To make it an official Pacman, he used chocolate syrup for an eye.



Turns out, if your filling isn't thick like a jelly or curd, you're totally screwed. It doesn't matter how much icing you put on that cake as a dam, it's gonna go *squish* and get all runny on your masterpiece. My first round of homemade blueberry filling went in the trash because of this. My second round I used cornstarch and Sure Jell. It's much better!! A lot of people like to use jelly and pudding. Whatever floats your boat. Personally jelly is too sweet for me, and pudding too bland. If you do use jelly, heat the jar up a little bit so the jelly will spread easier.

My next goal was to practice iced flowers and borders, so I got to it. I really liked that part!! It speaks to my artsy side! Just to note, whenever you color your icing or fondant use toothpicks, BUT use a different toothpick for every color. Also use food color GEL. (Wilton is actually a pretty good brand for that, but you can find many good brands on amazon.com.) If you mix the colors in the jar, the gel colors will get contaminated and must be thrown away. Or else mold will form and you'll get sued for giving someone moldy icing. Time for some more pictures!!

I was supposed to make little rosettes... I made pretty blue flower things instead.

Personally I think they're prettier than rosettes. I would tell you which tip I used.. but I honestly have no idea. *Note to self: write that stuff down!

My nephew is an apprentice cake decorator now...

And now the border, which took me an hour just to get this far. Apparently I was doing it wrong, following Wilton's directions. Thanks, YouTube!!

Now it's time for the last practice cake I made. I did MUCH better with this one. The filling was jellied and the cake baked and torted. To torte a cake is to cut off the rounded top and cut through the middle. Basically it creates a nice level surface for fillings and icings. I made my delicious buttercream icing and started icing the cake!

Look at that!!!! Isn't it just the most wondrous thing you've ever seen??

I took it slow and steady, and eventually, out came a success! Just look at this beautiful smooth cake.



The best way to ice a cake is to have it on a turntable like the cheap one mine is on. Grab an offset spatula and turn and ice. Again, YouTube is the place to go for good video. Just search, "how to ice a cake". You can also Google for good results. Once it's been iced, or "crumb coated" let it sit out for 10-20 minutes until the icing is dry to the touch. Cut some parchment paper that will fit over the top, another piece that will be wide enough for the sides, and a fondant smoother. Now, take the top parchment piece, lay it on the top of the cake, and use the fondant smoother on top to smooth the icing underneath. Do the same for the sides. Sorry I don't have a picture of that! Just keep smoothing until you get the results you want. Be careful not to push too hard, you could make a dent.

That's all I've got for right now!! I'll go ahead and list some recommendations for beginner cake decorating!

1. YouTube
2. My pinterest, I have a board called I <3 Wedding Cakes. http://pinterest.com/chickzyj/
3. Books (can be found on Amazon): The Complete Photo Guide to Cake Decorating by Autumn Carpenter
   The Contemporary Cake Decorating Bible by Lindy Smith
   Almost any books by Christie Matheson, She owns a cool bakery called Confetti Cakes, she knows what she's doing.
4. BLOGS!!! There are a million amazing blogs out there with equally amazing people (like me) that are willing to help a brotha' out.

If any of you ever need help, just comment or send me a message!

Hiatus

Hello!! It's been a while huh?
Well, I've been super busy enjoying my summer! I haven't really baked anything in a while. My dad is living at home now and he's diabetic, so baking things around him is a special kind of torture.

However! I am dieting again.
About 2 years ago I started a calorie diet, maximum of 1200 calories a day. It only lasted about 3 months but within those three months I lost 35lbs! Now, Randy and I are watching our calories and working our butts off to get in shape! We're taking a trip to Las Vegas for New Years and we want to look like rock stars. Not that we don't already!

Before, I was almost starving myself at 1200 calories a day. Now I'm doing a 1400 calorie diet and I'm doing much better. In fact, I've lost 5lbs so far. :) Randy has lost A LOT more than me! But that's how it goes, isn't it? Men. -_-

There are a lot of things I suggest for those of you looking to lose weight and still be happy with what you're eating. First of all, Cooking Light Magazine is an excellent source of nutritional recipes with a wide variety of recipes to fit almost any diet. I prefer the website over the magazine because, 1. It's free and 2. They put the recipes from the magazines on the website, and IT'S FREE. Pretty much everything I've made so far from their website I have enjoyed, and so has my dad. I recommend the Shrimp Alfredo that was featured on the site!

Two applications I recommend: My Fitness Pal, and Nike Training Club; both are free! My Fitness Pal is an excellent way to track food and exercise and is the highest rated. It has a huge food database and a large network of people to become friends with and a good community for support. If you join and you'd like to become friends, just send me a request! My user name is Chickzyj.

Nike Training Club is free, but as of right now it's only available on Apple devices and YouTube. It has a lot of amazing exercises and work outs that can be done at home. I definitely suggest it for any kind of work out at home. It's better than any work out DVDs I've used and it's completely free.

I'll post recipes on here later on when I have more time, but as of right now I need to get off my butt and get going!

Created by MyFitnessPal - Nutrition Facts For Foods

Special Occasion: Bananas Foster Cupcakes!

I haven't made cupcakes in a few months. I've been baking all kinds of other things, especially cheesecakes, because I want to open a bakery in a few years. When I do, I'm going to have a lot more than cupcakes there. Cupcakes are one of my favorite things to create, though! I like pretty much anything miniature, and I love sweets, so cupcakes are perfect for me!

However, living in the Deep South for most of my life has opened me up to a lot of Southern influences, especially Cajun influences. I live right outside of Mobile, AL, which means I'm about 4 hours away from New Orleans, LA. It's one of my favorite places to go in the U.S!

On one of the last trips I made to NOLA, I had an opportunity to eat at Chef Emeril Legasse's Delmonico restaraunt. It's that kind of restaraunt you see in movies or read about, where there's no price on the menu and the waiters attend your every need (they also have a little table shovel for crumbs!) For a party of three, we paid about $100 dollars each. The most memorable thing that we ate there was dessert:

BANANAS. FOSTER.

Oh my goodness, I've never forgotten the Bananas Foster that I ate at Delmonico's! That being said, I've created Bananas Foster cupcakes on behalf of my friend Tara's birthday!

These are by far, one of the fanciest and best-tasting batch of cupcakes I've ever made. If you ate about six of them, you would probably begin to feel a buzz from all of the rum! It's a spiced coconut cupcake with rum in the batter, spiced cream cheese icing with rum, and the bananas foster spooned on top. The whole package has hints of spicy cinnamon and nutmeg, and a smooth taste of coconut and rum. The Bananas Foster topping finishes it off!

Caution: These cupcakes are messy, delicious, and highly addictive! Click on the Recipes tab to view the recipe!

Comment with feedback and questions :)

Chocolate & Coconut Lovers Duo

I got a request for anniversary cupcakes for a friend's parents. She told me one likes coconut, the other likes chocolate. I really REALLY wanted to do a coconut chocolate mix but I decided I better stick with safe instead of risking sorry!

I wanted an elegant, romantic look for these little cakes. I wanted to express an emotion with them. In my imagination, I saw an elegant happy couple, eating dinner in candlelight on the terrace of a castle.

Basically, I imagined Beauty and the Beast (in his Prince form) NOMing on some of my decadent cupcakes.

With that in mind, I created these little Beauty's.. tee hee :)

Check my Recipes tab for recipes on these cupcakes and other decadent delights!

Blueberry Swirl Cheesecake

I finally found a recipe that I didn't feel too inclined to improve! It's sweet, creamy, fruity, and absolutely delicious!

I strive to make cheesecake's that compare to The Cheesecake Factory or better. I've been baking cheesecakes now since February (when I made Randy a Lemon Cheesecake for Valentine's) working to perfect my technique.

I think I finally did it!! Just make sure you have enough butter melted in with the graham cracker crumbs for the crust.

Fresh or frozen blueberries can be used, but fresh is best in my opinion.

The best part of this recipe (besides eating it) is swirling the blueberry sauce in the cheesecake before baking! I felt like I was creating a work of art, and I've been inspired to try it with paint.

To swirl, drop spoonfulls of blueberry filling onto cheesecake. Take a butter knife and, pointing straight down, swirl the blueberry filling around in the cheesecake, until you're satisfied with the design.

The recipe for this delicious cheesecake can be found here, or on the recipes tab!

Chicken Bacon Spinach Pasta Bake!

I am addicted to Pinterest; I find all kinds of recipes, art, DIY, etc. I found a recipe on there a few weeks ago that I've been thinking about making. Chicken & Spinach Pasta Bake.... Mmmmmmmmmmmm!
I decided to take this good looking pasta and make it a lil' more zesty. ;)

I added some spices, cooked everything in bacon grease ('cause that's healthy), and put extra cheese on it! In my personal opinion, the original recipe would have been too bland for me. I need FLAVOR! This recipe was a great start so kudos to the creator, I just had to add some zing.

Introducing... Chicken BACON Spinach Pasta Bake! Randy and I danced around in the kitchen listening to a Led Zeppelin Pandora station while making this scrumptious meal.

The simple things in life can often be the most precious moments

To view the recipe and instructions, click here or the Recipes tab at the top of the page.


This recipe was adapted from http://www.savingmoneylivinglife.com/2010/06/chicken-spinach-pasta-bake.html

Blueberry Peach Crumbles (BPC)

I was given a FULL gallon sized bag of fresh blueberries today; I can tell you now they will not be wasted!

Last week I bought 3lbs worth of peaches for 99 cents per pound at the grocery store. When I recieved my bountiful gift of blueberries this afternoon, my thoughts automatically went to Blueberry Peach Cobbler (I now dub the, BPC!). However, I was running low on milk and eggs so I decided to make individual crumbles instead of the cobbler. There aren't any great benefits to having the crumble in little ramekins; they are just really adorable that way and I can take them to friends as individual servings.

Here's the recipe:

First, go to Pandora and make a Black Keys Station.
Second, JAM OUT to Black Keys while baking.

Ingredients:

For the fruit filling:

2 pounds firm, ripe peaches (6 to 8 peaches)

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup fresh blueberries (1/2 pint)

1/2 tbsp vanilla extract

For the crumble topping:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 pound (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Filling: Rinse the fruit clean, then peel the peaches and section (or to make it super easy, just cut it up in chunks.) Place peaches, sugar, and lemon juice in a non-stick pot on medium heat. Stir it up. When the sugar begins to melt and the juice begins to bubble, stir the blueberries in. Let the blueberry/peach mixture cook for about 3 more minutes, then remove from heat. Stir in vanilla extract and flour and spoon into ramekins

Crumble: combine the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until the butter is the size of peas. Rub the mixture with your fingertips until it's in big crumbles, then sprinkle evenly over the fruit. Place the ramekins on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the tops are browned and crisp and the juices are bubbly. Serve warm or at room temperature.
If you want to make these early, store the unbaked crumbles in the refrigerator and bake before dinner.
Here's some pictures for reference

Cook and stir in sugar mixture

This is what it will look like when it is ready to go in the ramekins

Spoon into ramekins after adding flour

Add crumble topping (I made the mistake of not using parchment paper on the cookie sheet -_-)

All done!

This recipe was adapted from http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/peach-and-blueberry-crumbles-recipe/index.html

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