Cake decorating chat Thursday September 18th, 1997: "A lively discussion this week about the sweet stuff. New receipes and hints to make your cake decorating easier."

Welcome sweet sugar chatters - this is the cake decorating chat hour our topic tonight is tips, hints and a few recipes.

Don't forget to turn on your log to record our chat: to do : in your menu, click on file, then on log manager, click on open log.......save as any name wherever you want. After you exit AOL you can use any word processor to read it. I keep a folder titled cake chats just for this.

Dolores is still on vacation and hopefully catching lots of fish this week Shavkin has agreed to help me host this week. So a big thank you to Diane. She is a regular chatter here and is great about sharing her knowledge and recipes. Diane is going to go first and then I'll finish up our hour. 

DIANE'S PART:

Here's something that I do when I don't want to frost and decorate a cake, but want a quick frosting that isn't the cake decorating frosting. It's a quick and easy recipe that doesn't need exact measurements.

Diane's chocolate frosting glaze:

Another quick frosting type of trick is to pour some semi-sweet chocolate morsels over a warm cake that has been baked in a 9 x 13" pan. When morsels begin to melt, spread with a spatula. A quick-trick idea when no frosting is desired, but something needs to be on that cake, is to place a chocolate compound wafer in each place that will become a slice of cake. Do this while cake is warm. The wafer will melt slightly and will adhere to the cake. Then, when the slices are cut, there will be a wafer on each slice.

Layer cake with a quick and easy filling: mix any type of jam preserves with buttercream frosting and spread on the bottom layer of a layer cake. Do the same for the top layer or spread some type of pie filling on the top layer. Use a large-numbered star tip and make a zip-zag, quickie design up and down the sides of the layer cake. Make a shell border.

How about those mornings when your child informs you that you need to have cupcakes ready for that day's party? Quickie, interesting cupcakes: bake cupcakes. Let cool. Make lemon pudding. Cut a circle into each of the cupcakes by cutting at an angle so that you end up with a cone. (the top part of the cone will be the top of the cupcake). Remove the cone. Fill the cupcake with pudding. Replace the cone (do not have a real long point. A short, fat one is best). Sprinkle with confectioners sugar. Vanilla, chocolate puddings are also good to use. How about a neat, special-type of treat or shall I say "bowl to put the treat into".

Chocolate dessert bowls: melt some semi-sweet morsels or chocolate compound in a double boiler. Place some melted chocolate in a soup bowl or similar-type of dish. Take a dessert dish and place it upside down so that the rim touches the melted chocolate. Turn the dessert dish clockwise until the rim is completely covered with melted chocolate. Turn the dessert dish upright and fill with ice cream, pudding, mousse or other appropriate dessert. Are you a cake decorator who is going to a cake decorating event and need a quick dessert that does not have frosting? Bake a cake in a 9 x 13" pan. After it cools slightly remove from pan. Let cool. Slice in half to obtain two layers. Spread lemon pudding over the bottom layer. Place the top layer on top. Spread the top of the cake with a cherry pie filling and leave a border around the top edge of the cake. Add dabs of cool whip to that cake border by using a spoon.

Note: the top layer is really the bottom layer that was touching the inside of the baking pan. This will enable the top layer that ends up with the cherry pie filling to be level. The "hump" will be the part that touches the serving dish. (you can level the "hump" if it is too high by slicing it off with a serrated knife).

Need some colored granulated sugar? "tinting granulated sugar": place granulated sugar in a plastic bag. Using a tooth pick, take a dab of paste food coloring and place it in the bag. Secure the bag shut with a paper-covered, wire tie or use a zip-lock baggie so that a wire tie is not necessary. Rub the outside of the bag as you work the sugar by touching the outside of the bag until it is all blended. This method can also be used for tinting shredded coconut. This method works well for tinting sugar for panoramic, sugar eggs.

Here's a quickie cake decoration to do with the kids: frost a cake with green frosting. Tint the coconut green. Sprinkle the coconut on the cake. Make pumpkins by using the following recipe: butter-fondant for fruits & vegetables - 1/3 c. Soft butter or margarine; 1/3 c light corn syrup; 1/2 tsp salt; 1 lb sifted confectioners sugar (about 4 cups); 1 tsp. Flavoring. Blend butter, corn syrup, salt and flavoring in a large bowl. Add sifted sugar all at once. Mix first with a spoon and then with hands. Blend until smooth. Store molded fruit at room temperature in covered container until needed. To make the pumpkins: 1) make a ball of orange fondant. 2) take a toothpick and place the toothpick upright so that the lower-most tip of the toothpick touches the side of the ball. 3) make an impression into the side of the ball from the base of the ball to the top side of the ball to form the shape of the pumpkin. 4) take a ball tool or something similar and make an indentation in the top of the pumpkin. 5) add a clove with stem for the stem of the pumpkin. Place pumpkins on the cake by adhering the pumpkins in place with some frosting piped from a tip on a decorating bag. For school parties: just place the tinted coconut on the green, frosted cupcakes. Adhere a pumpkins to each cupcake.

Hope these hints are beneficial and that you enjoyed this presentation. 

EARLENE'S PART:

Here are a few tips that I use regularly or that I heard about from others. When I ordered the last 20 cases of cake mixes the young man who helped me asked me how I stored them. He said he had a customer several years ago in another town who brought her large storage containers to the store. She opened cases and the boxes and put the plastic bags with the cake mixes into the storage containers and gave them back all of the empty boxes to throw away. She didn't even take the boxes home with her. She said the boxes take up to much storage space. Well, I went out to my cabinet to see just how much difference that would make. I can stack cake mix boxes six high (laying down) on one shelf. I left just enough room for a stack of the bags beside them. I got 8 cake mixes in the plastic bags only in the same amount of space.

If you use those towel strips around the sides of your cakes. Use a very large safety pin to hold them together. Leave them open. This makes a good handle for removing them when the cake is removed from the oven.

Here is a neat trick that Carolyn Wanke showed me to half a cake mix. Lay your mix flat on the cabinet. Take the back side of a knife or a long spatula and press this in the center of the bag of mix. Put your hand under the bag and flip it over the spatula. Your bag of mix should now be in two halves. One half hanging on each side of the spatula. Take a pair of scissors and clip one side open and let the mix pour out. Now you will have 1/2 of the mix left in the bag to use another time.

Duncan Hines has changed their cake mix formula and for the last few weeks we have changed this recipe every week trying to get it back to what it was before. I think this is the final revised recipe for the Kaluaha fudge cake. But it may not be. My next couple of months are much lighter in baking so it may be awhile before I know for sure. I just know that if you have the other recipe it just doesn't bake right with the new formula

Duncan Hines devils food cake mixes.

Place in a large mixing bowl 3 devils food cake mixes

Bakerbear1: about how many whole eggs are in 2 cups? Pwd Sugar: Depending on the size of the eggs 8 to 10 eggs in 2 cups - that's why I measure

Gigimama: I've noticed everyone seems to use Duncan Hines. Any particular reason? I've always used Be Betty Crocker BIliff6092: I like DH because it bakes up better here at 9000 feet above sea level! It was recommended by my Wilton instructor Dunkccc: Yes, I'd like to know about these Duncan Hines fans as well--I use Pillsbury moist supreme-- YOYOQLT: I like DH because it is not salty tasting, and has great texture. Gigimama: Have you actually compared DH to Betty or Pillsbury, or have you just always used it? Pwd Sugar: I compared them and DH has the best taste and texture for me. Gigimama: I've never compared, just always used Betty (expect Pills white) and like it, so never tried Dunkccc: I used Pillsbury because my cake club members do--but now some are using dh. Kakeladi: i prefer betty too, gigimama Bakerbear1: i just have to find one that has enough boxes of the same flavor for the size cake i;m doing Gigimama: Maybe I'll try DH; it is cheaper. Is it as moist? Doesn't have "pudding in the mix" like Gigimama: the others Lizzzie P: Does anyone have a source for DH cake mix other than the grocery store??? MaraTLee: They usually give me 10% off YOYOQLT: Lizzie, if you have a grocery warehouse, a private one, not a chain, you can buy direct.

Home made Kaluaha (much less expensive)

Mix in a large bowl 13 c. Vodka (1.75 liter bottle = 7 1/4 cups), 1 1/3 c. Instant coffee crystals and 3 t. Vanilla mix the two liquids together and store in bottles or jars for about 2 weeks before using. (takes a little time but is so much less expensive) 

COLOR TIPS If you accidentally get your icing to bright - add a small amount of the color that is opposite on the color wheel and it will soften that bright color. Not lighten but soften the color I.E. Bright yellow - add purple, hot screaming pink - add green, bright green - add pink, orange or red. For a rich royal blue - use royal blue and add purple and black colors if your brown icing has to much red tone - add green color or if it is to green - add red. If it turns brown you have used to much color - you only want to soften the too bright color - use it sparingly

BIliff6092: Thanks Pwd - since I'm still new at this my colors usually come out in "day glo" colors

Pwd Sugar: Those of you who need a smaller amount - I tripled that recipe. I buy the Vodka by the case now - when I tell them it is just an ingredient for cakes they look at me like I am nuts

Strawberry and lemon cake mixes (this will probably work with some of the other flavors. I just haven't had a chance to try them yet.) Mix in a large mixing bowl 3 flavored cake mixes, 3/4 c. Flour, 2 cups of eggs divided as follows (2/3 c. Whole eggs and 1 1/3 c. Egg whites), 2 lbs. Sour cream, 1 1/2 c. Wesson oil and 1/2 t. Butavan. Mix thoroughly and add 2/3 c. Home brew (same as the Kaluaha recipe without the instant coffee). Fill greased/floured pans 1/2 full and bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour to hour and 20 minutes.

My favorite way to color the gumpaste leaves. At the ices convention (Sunday night sharing) I walked up to a table where the young lady was putting her things away. I asked her what she had been showing. She showed me her leaves and I requested that she show it at least one more time. This is my favorite way to color the ivy and rose leaves now. You will need a wide mouth pint jar, vodka and food colors. Mix the vodka and food colors until you have a very dark liquid. Very dark. Make your gumpaste leaves (in a soft green shade) and let them dry thoroughly. Touch your finger lightly into Crisco and then touch randomly on the leaf. Dip the leaf into the colored vodka - remove and spin (in an empty container) to remove the excess liquid. Dry again. Dip again if you want a darker color. I had a bride this summer who wanted teal touches in her leaves. I tried dipping in the green first and then the teal but that didn't work. I tried airbrushing over the green and that didn't work. I dipped the leaves in the teal vodka and then with a paint brush drizzled some of the green vodka randomly on top of the leaves. Spin and let dry. This worked great. You don't always succeed with a first try - you just keep experimenting until something works. The dipped leaves are very realistic if you get your vodka colors right. It takes an enormous amount of color.

Bakerbear1: does the Crisco make the color stick? Pwd Sugar: No = Where the Crisco is touched the color runs off and does not adhere, Leaving the variegated Ivy leaf look YOYOQLT: Mara, no one I know ever eats the flowers, etc. Just to look pretty. I learned it at a class by the famous lady from South Africa. Forget her name. LgntCakes: yoyo - do you mean Eleanor Reilander? Pwd Sugar: That famous lady wouldn't be Eleanor Rielander would it - a real sweetie YOYOQLT: Yes, it was Eleanor. She has some great classes. A doll, LgntCakes: A few of us just had a class with Eleanor in NJ last weekend! She's wonderful! YOYOQLT: I took made me feel so welcomed and part of the group.her class, feeling totally lost, with all the experienced gum past artists, but she

Now if you want softer blended colors then I prefer the air brush. Such as the fall leaves that you might want to do for a cake right now. Make the leaves pale green or gold - air brush hit and mix w/ gold, soft green, orange and red. You need a soft blend of colors randomly blended - let dry completely and then steam. To steam - bring a teakettle of water to a boil and place the gumpaste leaf in the stream of steam just long enough to dampen the surface. Dry before repeating. If you loose the detail in your gumpaste you are leaving the gumpaste in the stream of steam to long. This will brighten your airbrushed colors and give the leaves a soft shine. This shine will not hold for a long period of time without repeated steaming.

Dolores will be back from fishing next week and the topic will be "clever pan usage...what can you do with all those pans? - more baking hints" then I'll be gone for the next two weeks for a few days of vacation, a couple of demos for the Michigan cake decorators at their day of sharing and teaching fondant and gumpaste techniques a couple days after that. If you want more information about that day of sharing contact jeannie at babbitt@unnet.com 

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