Archive for Food

Hello everyone! I know, it’s been a while since my last post. I’ve had families from around the globe visiting us and I’ve been swamped with so many projects. To start it off, I want to share some cakes I’ve done for a couple of magazines.

A few months ago, I worked with Jackie Shaffer of Cake Central Magazine to create a cake for their August issue. The magazine has monthly trends, where they feature different cakes of the same theme. This time, they wanted something Chandelier inspired. Here is what I came up with.

I went with something simple yet clean. Simple isn’t always easy because there is very little room for mistakes. A huge chunk of my time was actually spent on getting the fondant smooth and clean. I barely cover a cake at night because there is very little light to spot the flaws. The sun is definitely my best friend when it comes to cakes. The black accents in the other hand were done using molds found here. I then enhanced them by brushing a couple layers of confectioners glaze.

This cake was featured in the summer section of the magazine. It was actually my first topsy turvy cake and also my first experience with giant roses. Thanks to my good friend, Jacqueline Butler for her guidance. Comparing my roses to hers, I wish I could have done a better job. She is a flower empress!

Oh, and I used this mold to create the floating effect on the bottom tier, while the other elements were done using  custom molds.

For this next cake, I worked with Victoria Smith and Suzanne Shade for the Minted Ad they were working on. This beautiful ad is featured in Town and Country Weddings Magazine Fall/Winter. Also, check out the Minted website for beautiful invitations.

Victoria wanted a cake similar to my signature “birds and buds” cake. With very little time on creating this cake, I was glad I kept the extra buds I made from my last project. This is one actually turned out to be my favorite version. Check out Victoria’s beautiful blog to see the behind the scenes.

You know, I really missed blogging. To celebrate my come back, I will be posting a book giveaway next week! So stay tuned!

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Many people ask me how I get sharp edges on my fondant cakes. Other than sharing my smoothing techniques, I also tell them that I use ganache under fondant (check tutorial below). Although you can perfectly achieve sharp edges using buttercream under fondant, I find that it is easier to use ganache to achieve that perfect sharp look. Note: The picture of the cake above has nothing to do with ganache. I just felt like putting it there–but all my cakes in my gallery has ganache under fondant.

Ingredients:

Heavy whipping cream

Semi sweet or dark chocolate

Nope, I did not forget the measurements. It depends on how much you will need. You should always follow the 2:1 ratio of chocolate to heavy whipping cream when making this type of ganache. That means, if you use 2 pounds of chocolate, you will have to use 1 pound of  cream. So, if you have 5 pounds of chocolate, you will use 2 1/2 pounds of cream–you get the drill. It is important to only measure by weight. If you are planning on using white or milk chocolate, you will HAVE to follow a 3:1 ratio of chocolate to cream. Milk and white chocolate tends to be softer.

Directions:

Let your cream simmer below medium heat for a minute or so. When that is done, turn the heat off and throw in the chocolate.  Let it sit for a minute (to soften the chocolate). When ready, stir and keep mixing until incorporated and smooth. You should not have any chunks of chocolate. You may have tiny bubbles but that is okay. Check below for the microwave version.

Your ganache at this point will be runny and thin. You will have to let it set overnight until it thickens to a slightly thicker peanut butter consistency. Since I don’t have the patience to wait, I just let it cool to room temperature and then pop it in the fridge (don’t cover because you might get condensation). It would  usually set in the fridge for about an hour or two. If it sets too hard, just microwave it in 10 second intervals (keep mixing it whenever you take it out).

I would like to thank my friend, Michelle Rea of Inspired by Michelle Cake Designs for making the video tutorials below. I do it exactly as she does it, except for the microwave part (which I think is so clever). Oh, and check out here lovely blog: Michelle’s blog

How to make ganache using a microwave:

How to cover cake with ganache:

How to finish a cake: