Basketball Cake Tutorial

Wow... 2 months. Has it really been that long since my last post?! Ay Caramba! Lots going on lately.

Check out my other blog for details --->

I actually have a ton of stuff to catch up on so I am going to just do really short posts. 

Let me know if you have any questions and I'll answer those and add them back into the posts.

These cakes turned out so cute! They were for my little brother's basketball championship game for his team. It was super simple. 

I made 8 inch round cakes and stacked them 2 high with frosting in between. I cut the cakes so they rounded off as much as I could on both the top and bottom (to try to make them look as round as possible without falling apart). This would also be really cute if you used a dome cake pan to truly make it round. I colored some buttercream orange (using water-based food gel) and covered the whole cake. Looking back I wish I had done the orange a little bit darker but I think I actually ran out of orange color and that's why. :)

Once you do that, take plain twizzler black licorice for the stripes and lay one across the middle of the cake. You will have to use more than 1 rope for each line. Try to connect them away from the bends because they tried to stick up on me and wouldn't stay bent how I wanted them to. 

Lay a rope perpendicular to the one you just laid (see pictures) and you can just start them right on each side of the first one (make sense?). 

 

Then take about 3 orange m&ms- you can get plain orange m&ms at certain party stores. I went to Zurchers- and lay them down (with the m&m brand facing down) starting at the corner of the licorice on each side (again see picture). Do about 2 rows. You want them to be as close as possible. It looks better. Laying the 3 m&ms down helps you measure where your outer licorice lines should go. Now lay down your last outside licorice lines. To get a bit of a rounder effect, curve the licorice at the bottom back towards your main middle line just a little bit (see picture- right licorice is curved in a little).

Voila! And there you have it. These are not difficult to make but do take a little bit of time and dexterity since you have to place each m&m.

I want to say I used about 12-16 oz of m&ms by weight to cover these 2 cakes and 1 package of black licorice (I think! I forgot to write it down so if it just doesn't seem right when you are buying the m&ms, go with your gut. Extra m&ms never hurt anyone. That was my philosophy). I bought way too many m&ms so now  extras are sitting in a dish on my desk waiting for on-lookers to come and eat them. They are sitting right next to the new Sherbert Oreos I had to get for my work people because they looked weird... yeah, they're pretty sweet (as in sugary... not awesome). Not my favorite. Other people liked them though..... tangent.

If you really want to know how many I used... you could count the m&ms on the cake. =D

Anyway, they were a big hit! So fun. Try them out for your next sports party!

Cake Ball Ornament Party Favors

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Everywhere you go.

Take a look in the warm oven.

Preheating once again.

With cuppy cakes and macarons a glow!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Cookies are in store.

But the prettiest sight to see

are the cake balls you will bring

to your friend's front door!

Eh? Eh? Like my song? Yeah, I made it up all by myself.

I could go on (because I just do this kind of stuff) but then thought better. 

You're welcome. ;)

Anyvays, my little song wasn't just for cutesake. It was prepping you for this next post on cake balls. So, are ya ready?! 

{ =D  I smile big every time I use the interrobang only because it is named such. haha}

I've given you the low down on how to make some pretty dang tasty and good looking cake balls. 

{If you missed it, check out Making Cake Balls and Dipping Cake Balls}

I am going to give you a few more tips here and show you how to make cake ball ornaments... not real ornaments... more like real cake balls. :)

Like these.

Awww. Aren't they cute? {Rhetorical question}
Well you're in luck.... they're as easy as they look.
These make fabulous Christmas gifts or you could even make these for a cookie exchange and impress the ugly sweaters off of everyone (...overachiever). These happen to be gorgeous party favors for a Ladies Christmas Luncheon.



I also did red ornaments but didn't get a chance to take nice pictures of them. You'll see them later. These pictures don't really show you what they really look like, unfortunately. I gave the outside of the ornaments a metallic sheen to it.

Here are the supplies you'll need.
Undipped cake balls
Candy melts/ chocolate in your preferred colors
Reese's minis (NOT wrapped miniatures- see pic below)
Edible Gold Spray
Luster/Pearl Dust to match your melt colors
A soft brush
2 x 3" clear boxes
Shredded paper (I used Ivory colored)
Baker's twine in your preferred color
Candy cups



First, I want to chat with you about packaging.
THE best place to get your packaging online is from Paper Mart. They have the cheapest prices I have seen even compared to local stores around me. Their orders ship the same day and the whole company is just impressive. This is the only place I buy my packaging from. They have a HUGE selection too.

I bought these clear boxes and didn't realize they opened on the small end and not along the long edge {if that makes sense}. That made things a little more difficult to package so just keep that in mind when buying your boxes! The shredded paper comes in a huge box and will last you forever! {So you may want to buy a color that can be used in lots of different ways} I'm excited to use it!

The baker's twine is a good deal too. $10 for 240 yards, Cheaper than anywhere else I have seen it.

Ok! So. Step 1
Get your mini Reese's and edible gold spray out.
I used Chefmaster edible gold spray but I'm not sure I will use this product again. It did not really cover a lot of area and I ran out before I got the effect I wanted. Plus this can was $9. Not worth it in my opinion so I think I will try something different next time.
{If you know of any awesome options, let me know!}




I lined a baking sheet with parchment but I probably didn't need it at all. I wouldn't waste it next time.
Cram as many of the mini Reese's as you can onto the baking sheet allowing some space in between so the spray can get to it. Put the big side down.



I then took it outside so the overspray wouldn't get on anything, spray back and forth staying about 6 inches away from the mini. Spray all the sides so you get fairly even coverage and you get the desired affect.



Don't get too close. It will use too much and it doesn't look the best in my opinion.
See here below, on the left I sprayed too close and it didn't really look gold anymore, it was more yellow weird looking. Just lightly spray over and over until you get your desired shade of gold. 



Below: heavy spray. It kind of took away the shiny gold look.
It looks ok but not what I was going for.



Let them dry and set them aside for when it is time for dipping.
{When you wash your pans (and your clothes), the spray will come right off. It is water soluble.}

Ok. It's time for dipping.
Dip away. It's a normal cake ball.
A piece of trouble shooting advice though...
Have you ever gotten that sad rhino skin look on your cake balls?
Like thus.





Or thus.

It's annoying.
It's because of the chocolate melt. The melt that is touching the cake ball (that has been refrigerated) cools and hardens faster than the melt on the surface. This causes the melt to harden unevenly and part to start sliding off the cake ball causing ugliness. Boo.

Solution!
"Bounce" off the excess melt faster than you are probably doing it. Don't just let it drain off on it's own. I bounce the dipping tool against the edge of the bowl.
This does not allow the melt a chance to harden before the excess drips off.
The result?
Voila.




... and Voila (respectively).

 

See how pretty! These are the same 2 cake balls in the previous ugly pictures. Yes! You can save them. Yes! It's a technique thing. Just redip them and shake the excess off faster. That's it. Yep, nothing to fret about.
... just make sure your melt is not too hot and your cake ball is not too cold as well. This will exacerbate the rhino skin complication. :) Also, thicker candy melts seem more apt to having this problem. ie: Wiltons.

I use a double pronged dipping tool. It's me favorite. This is how I do it. Not too shabby.



SO! Once you dip the cake balls, allow them to harden ever so slightly before topping it with a gold reese's mini. If you put it on right away, it may slide off the side or smoosh down in the melt too much and look weird.

After much love you should get thus.





Yay! Now for the fun part. Don't allow them to loose their tackiness before doing this next step. It works best if they are slightly tacky....like sticky... not like shoddy. That reminds me of a funny story.
So get out your luster dust and brush now.



I am sending you to a link to unravel the mystery behind all the different types of food dusts out there. I found it highly educational and useful. Take a quick look before buying your dust please.
To get a metallic shiny sheen like quality to your candy melts or fondant, you can dust it with luster dust or pearl dust, same type of product. You can dust your cake ball with the powder as I did or you can mix your powder with a high alcohol liquid like vodka or lemon extract to make it more like a paint and get a richer more substantial metallic look.
So just dip your soft brush in the powder and go to town brushing it on the cake balls right on the pan they are sitting on. It goes a long way so be liberal with it and put on as much as you can. You can even go over it a second time if you want.
I used ruby red, yellow and leaf green luster dusts. You can even slightly change the end result on the color of your cake ball by using a different color of luster dust.... ie: brush red dust onto the yellow cake ball and you'll get an orangey sheen to your ball. :) Fun! Get out your color wheel and have fun!


You can sort of see the sheen of the cake ball in the picture below, more with the yellow. These pictures really don't do it justice. I'm really sorry. I didn't have time to play around with my camera to see if I could get better shots. Next time. :)



Allow the cake balls to completely harden. During this whole process you will want to handle the cake ball and reeses the least amount as possible so you don't rub off the powder and sheen. There's really no need to pick them up until you are ready to package them.

So now place all the cake balls in little candy cups. These are not cupcake liners. They are smaller. They are made for candy. They fit better for smaller cake balls like mine. I make my cake balls rather small because I find they have a more pleasing chocolate to cake ratio. I would say mine are about a tablespoons worth.

Finish your party favors or Christmas gifts by putting some shredded paper in the bottom of a box, delicately place in your ornaments and tie it off with some baker's twine. You'll see I tripled the amount of twine I use. I like to either double or triple it because it adds more character I think. :)

And there you have it. Christmas ornaments fit for your favorite peeps.
 TTFN.
{ That's "Ta Ta For Now" for all of you hermits that have never seen Winnie the Pooh}

Boy Birthday Parties!

I got a request from a friend for some 2 year old boy birthday party ideas and thought that would make a great post because boys can be kind of hard to plan a party for... but not anymore!

So here I have collected a bunch of ideas for Boy's Birthday Parties!

{Change any of the colors to your preference for sure!}

Click on the links to go to the website for more details.

Milk and Cookies Party

Soccer Party

Super Hero Party

Ice Cream Party

Transportation Party

Rio Jungle Party

Carnival Party {LOVE this one!}

Coney Island Vintage Carnival Party

{Loved that one too!!}

Candy Party

Surfin' Beach Party

Mickey Mouse Party

Play-Doh Party

Race Car Party

These are only a few of the many ideas for hosting a Boy's Birthday Party. I hope you get some great inspiration from these!
You also really need to check out Hostess with the Mostess website for all sorts of amazing ideas relating to parties. This site has the most complete party hosting website I have seen yet.
{I put the link above and in my favorite sites to the right of my blog}
Happy Partying!

Cute as a Button First Birthday Party! {Fondant Cake}

This party idea was cute as a button! 

No. Really... it was a cute as a button party.

This theme was really fun and the buttons were way fun to make!

It was for a first birthday party. Very fitting.

I did a big fondant cake, button cookies, and cupcakes.

To make the button cookies, simply make round rolled sugar cookies (recipe found HERE). The button is made of a fondant circle so just use the same cookie cutter to cut out the fondant and then poke button holes using the end of a decorating tip. Wet the back of the fondant slightly so it becomes slippery and then put it on the cookie and tap down lightly. Allow to dry and it will stick very well.

The cupcakes and cake were made of yellow cake (the BEST ever yellow cake recipe found HERE) and yellow vanilla buttercream frosting with little decorative fondant buttons. Awwww,,,,, fer cute.

To get the ruffles, use a petal tip with the small end facing out. Spin the cupcake while applying even pressure to your pastry bag and move the tip up and down. When coming back around to where you have already piped the icing just continue on top of that layer and continue the ruffles until you come to the middle. Take a few tries doing a ruffle before going to your cupcake. 

To get the plain swirl use a large round tip (I think this one was a half inch) and starting in the middle of the cupcake cover the whole bottom in a swirl and then continue on top of that swirl and then again once more. Top it with a few cute buttons and done. Magnifique!

 Now for the big boy. The cake.

So I am no master of fondant but I got 'er done and you definitely can to if you choose to go this route. Here are a few tidbits for you to make sure it goes as smoothly as possible. I have seen many different methods of applying fondant so here is how I did it.

First off, bake your cake. This one was a 4 layer 8 inch cake. I actually did 2 purple layers and 2 white layers alternated so you got a pretty surprise when you cut into it. Then layer it up with frosting in between the layers. Cover the whole cake in a crumb coat and stick it in the freezer if possible or else just the fridge will do. Get it really cold so the buttercream doesn't smear easily. You are now ready to put fondant on your cake.

 I used Satin Ice white fondant that comes in tubs of different sizes. It's kind of pricey so you can also make your own but it's messy. I'll have to try it again sometime to see if it's worth it. I only did it once and it was back before I really got into baking seriously. Anyway...

When tinting your fondant use water-based concentrated food gel (also called icing food coloring). You can always add more but you can't make it lighter unless you have enough to add more white fondant, so keep that in mind. You can get gel coloring at craft or baking supply stores. Walmart actually has some too in their specialty baking section by the wedding stuff. These (see below) are the colors I used (Violet, Soft Pink, Electric Yellow). Poke a small hole or indent into the fondant ball and then fold it over on itself so the color doesn't get all over. You might want to use gloves if you don't want your hands to get dyed. Knead the fondant until the color is evenly dispersed. Try to do it fairly quickly and don't let the fondant sit out because it dries out VERY quickly. This is the bane of my existence with regards to fondant. I think it is the toughest part of using fondant. So just try to work quickly. When you aren't using it, put it in an airtight bag or container.

 

 I bought this fondant mat to help me measure how big I needed to roll my fondant and it was definitely a good purchase. When using these it is recommended to rub the top with a very small amount of shortening to "season" it and make it more non-stick.



This was a big cake (I know...this is no wedding cake but for someone with next to zero fondant experience, this definitely made things trickier than it would have been had it been a smaller cake.) You want to measure the top and sides of the cake to see how large the diameter of your fondant circle needs to be. Add about an inch on each side to give yourself some wiggle room and find that number on the mat. You don't need to roll the fondant in a perfect circle but you need to cover that line around the whole mat. Make sure you have plenty of fondant to work with. That will also make your life easier. You can use the extra that you cut off for something else... like the buttons. Fancy that.

So, when you are rolling it out, do so very quickly or else you will get what is called elephant skin on your fondant. This is where the top of the fondant dries out and as you try to handle it it streches and looks like elephant skin like so.

Picture located HERE

 Roll it pretty thin but not so thin that it will tear when handling (decide based on your own comfort level). I rolled it too thin the first time and it tore so I kept it a little thicker the second time. I would recommend watching a few youtube videos before you try so you don't destroy your fondant. Some people use shortening on the fondant to keep it from sticking. I did not do that but maybe it would have made it easier. I'll try it next time.

Fondant is actually really fun to work with aside from the frustration that can occur so it would be really fun to be really good at fondant because it so pretty and I really like the look of it.

So form your fondant ball into a smooth ball and flatten it slightly and start rolling it out. You don't want any creases on top so make sure there aren't any before starting to roll. Roll it out quickly until it is as thin as you want. Now you can roll it up on your rolling pin or just stick your arms underneath it (I did this) and transfer it to your cake. Make sure you set it down right where you want it to stay. Get the middle of your fondant onto the middle of the cake. You can't slide it around on the cake.... it will likely destroy your cake (Having it frozen helps). You have to lift it off completely and then reset it if necessary. If you get buttercream all over your fondant and then have to completely start over... that's not good. You need to scrape off as much of the buttercream as possible, especially if the color of the buttercream will change the color of your fondant. What I am trying to say is do it right the first time.... and do it quickly. :) Easier said than done. It takes practice to do a good job.

So now quickly smooth the top of the fondant on the cake so it is level. Sometimes the buttercream will get distorted and smooshed so just make it level now that the fondant is in place. You can use your hand/fingers or a fondant trowel but just make sure to keep it light so you don't get dents and divots. Those will be there forever. :) now quickly smooth over the sides. You can make the corner sharp or smooth. It's up to you. I kept this one smooth and I like it a lot. Now on the sides lift the bottom of the fondant very slightly away from the cake and take your other hand and smooth the fondant onto the side of the cake. Go around the cake continually smoothing the fondant lower on the cake until you reach the bottom. This is the hard part. I always get wrinkles. You can smooth them out after they are there. Again, they are there forever. I need to practice more and then I can give you tips but until then I will have to refer you to youtube. Luckily....many fondant cakes have thick ribbons on the bottom because they just look beautiful so that hides most of the wrinkles. 

Lucky me. :)

So now place your ribbon on your cake. I like to use long pins. Just take them out before you cut into the cake and eat. :) You should be taking off the ribbon too... unless you made an edible one.

Now you are ready for the fun part! The buttons!

The buttons on the cake were the funnest and easiest part of the whole process. I separated my fondant into 3 balls and dyed them different colors. I used a mini fondant roller with a spacer (the little rubber band like thing that keeps the thickness even when rolling) to roll out a sheet of fondant. I then actually just used my icing decorating tips to get the different sizes of holes and designs (using both the small and large ends). I even used the "hair/grass" tip for a fun decorative button. That's it! I left them on a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper for them to firm up a bit before I man-handled them onto the cake.

 

They will not harden. That's where gum paste comes in...

 

If you want to make a decoration that hardens and can "stand up" on a cake like this number 1, then you need to involve gum paste. Gum paste hardens when left out. Fondant just gets chewy and becomes less elastic but will not harden enough to stand up on its own. You can use all gum paste or do a 50:50 mix of fondant and gum paste. Ether should work fine (depending on the humidity in your local area so make it ahead of time just in case. This is usually not eaten so it will last until you destroy it or the elements do.) I mixed the fondant and gum paste together and then tinted it to the color I wanted, rolled it out to a thickness where I wasn't worried it would accidentally break and then cut it. I drew a number 1 on a piece of paper the way I wanted it and then cut it out, placed it on top of the rolled out fondant and used a knife to cut it out. Be careful cutting on the fondant mat. It is not meant to be cut on. Once it was cut out I just let it harden overnight. Voila!

One thing you actually don't see in the picture above is that when I was cutting out the number 1, I left a piece on the bottom that would let me stick it into the fondant so it would stand straight up. Kind of like so.... :)

I love paint. :)
 Use a knife to cut a small slit into the cake and then insert the number 1. When you are ready to place your buttons, slightly wet the back side and apply it to the fondant. Smooth it out.You can place them however you want to. Cake is done!
With regards to refrigeration. I personally do not have experience because I have not refrigerated my fondant cakes. However, I have heard that Wilton fondant does not refrigerate well while Satin Ice does. It depends on the humidity of your fridge as well. Refrigeration right after you put on the fondant can prevent bulges and allow the cake to keep its shape but may also produce sweating. Bulging can definitely be an issue in fondant cakes. So if it is a really important cake then you may want to give it a trial run in your own elements and conditions first.
So there you have it.
Awww....

The perfect party theme for your cute little button.