Super Easy Valentine's Cake

I made this cake a few years ago, when I was pretty new to fondant. Even so, the total decorating time was less than 45 minutes. It's so easy. All you need is fondant and nesting heart cutters, and you're set!
(Sorry there are no photos here of the process, it was a few years ago, and I just ran out of time to recreate it.)

What You Need:
One 8-9" cake, iced
Approx. 1.5 pounds white fondant*
Red Gel Food Coloring
Nesting Heart Fondant Cutters

*One box of Wilton fondant (the most readily available is 1.5 lbs. But you can click this link to see my "Great Fondant Comparison" where I put 3 store-bought and 2 homemade fondants to the test).

Start by covering the cake with fondant. Then, color about a golf ball-sized piece of fondant red, and another pink. Roll the fondant to about 1/8" thick. Cut one heart with the largest cutter. Position the medium-sized cutter inside of the large cutter, cut out that one, leaving the large heart outline, and then cut the smallest heart out of the medium. Alternate the colors of the outlines to create the patterns you see here. If necessary, you can brush the backs of the hearts with a little clear vanilla extract to help them stick.

This cake would also look great if you just ice the cake with your favorite icing, and put the fondant cut-outs on that. Then you'd be talking about a really, really easy cake!

Click the Links below to find:
Recipes for icing, fondant, cake and more
Other Fondant Decorating Ideas

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The Most Ridiculous Chocolate Cake Ever

I've mentioned before that my husband loves chocolate. So, we were discussing his usual birthday chocolate pie the other day, and with the input of the two 5-year-olds, we ended up deciding that he didn't want just a chocolate pie this year. No. He wanted a chocolate cake and French Silk pie combo. If I weren't writing this blog, there is no way he'd have EVER gotten away with this request.

So, here it is: The most ridiculous chocolate cake ever! (Don't let the candles throw you, that is 6"x8" of pure chocolate, butter, sugar goodness.)

What You Need:
One recipe Rich Chocolate Cake
One recipe French Silk Pie (including crust and whipped cream)
One recipe Chocolate Ganache

Just so you're prepared, we're talking about 1 pound (and then some) of chocolate, 6 eggs, about 1 pound of butter, 2 cups of heavy whipping cream, and a dozen or so other ingredients.

Your Favorite Posts & Something New

Happy Half-Birthday to Beki Cook's Cake Blog!
We celebrate half birthdays in my house... well, my boys' half-birthday anyway. Otherwise all of the gift-giving happens between October 26 and December 25, and they have no summer toys ever. So, I'm celebrating the half-birthday of my blog today.

To celebrate, I'm announcing a new feature on the blog. I'm creating downloadable or printable versions of my most-popular and favorite blog posts. One of the things I'm unhappy with on this site is how much scrolling I have to do when I go to make one of my recipes. But I'm not willing to give up the photos to make it easier. So, I've decided that I will make it easier for myself, and for you.
Here's an example:

There is a small catch, of course. Each printable will be available for $1 through PayPal. I've been told that this won't work, and none of you will want to do this, but I'm hoping those people are all wrong!

You'll find my 10 most popular posts listed below (as ranked by the number of pageviews since this blog began). Those with printables available will have a prompt for you to go to PayPal, which will alert me, and I will email you the .pdf file. I will also add more to some other popular posts, but that will probably take me a little time.

French Silk Pie

Did you know today is "National Pie Day?" Really?! I don't get these "days." But since I had planned to post this recipe later in the week, I decided I'd go ahead and celebrate.

This French Silk Pie recipe is adapted from one I found in an old church cookbook. (Don't all of the best recipes come from an old church cookbook?) This is usually what I make for my husband on his birthday. This year, however, he raised the stakes. His birthday dessert did involve this pie, but not in a traditional way. You'll see what I mean Friday with "The Most Ridiculous Chocolate Cake Ever."
Now, for the pie.

What You Need: (for the crust)
2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. powdered sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 Tbsp. butter
What You Need: (for the filling)
3/4 cup butter (at room temperature)
1 cup powdered sugar
5 oz. semisweet or unsweetened chocolate, melted*
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs (or 3/4 cup pasteurized egg "product" to protect from salmonella)
For the topping:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
3 Tbsp. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

How to Ice the Corners of a Cake

Covering square and rectangular cakes with icing can be a little challenging the first few times you do it. I know it was for me. Getting those corners covered with icing and not gouging them or filling them with crumbs can really be hard.
Please click the link if you want to see my complete tutorial for icing any cake. 

Tropical Coconut-Pineapple Cupcakes

I recently taught a cupcake birthday party for a girl who wanted a Hawaiian theme, so I had to come up with some simple fondant tropical designs that even 'tweens could do.

The girl wanted chocolate cupcakes and vanilla frosting, but when I practiced them at home, I wanted something more 'tropical.' Not being a huge fan of coconut (really, it's a texture thing), I decided that using coconut milk in the cupcakes, and pineapple in the icing might be just the right combination for me.

What You Need:
1 box white cake mix
1 can coconut milk (I opted against "light")
6 eggs (divided)
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter (softened)
1 sm. can crushed pineapple, drained
*Yield: Approx. 2 dozen cupcakes or 1 dozen standard cupcakes and 2 dozen mini-cupcakes

Easy Hawaiian or Beach-Themed Cupcakes

One of the cake-y things I do is that I teach cake, cupcake, cookie decorating at birthday parties and workshops around the Twin Cities. A mom recently contacted me to do a "Hawaiian-themed" cupcake party with fondant for her daughter. The project needed to be simple enough for 12-year-olds to do.

These are what I came up with. Nothing is too hard or requires many hard-to-find supplies to create.

What You Need (for the decorations):
1 box Wilton Neon Fondant
1 package Wilton Gum Paste (optional)
Large Round Cutter
Small Round Cutter (or any icing tip)
Large & Small Rose or Blossom Cutter
Shortening (for greasing surface)
Parchment or Waxed Paper, or Roll & Cut Mat
Tapered Spatula or small knife
Food-Safe Paintbrush
Rolling Pin

Ten Commandments of Cake Decorating

1. Thou shall not lick thy fingers or spatula.
2. Thou shall not suck icing from thy tips.
3. Thou shall not be afraid to ask a question.
4. Thou shall not make negative comments to others.
5. Thou shall listen, watch and learn before practicing.
6. Thou shall not over-fill icing bags.
7. Thou shall not wipe hands on clothes or others.
8. Thou shall always eat thy mistakes.
9. Thou shall always take pictures of all projects.
10. Thou shall remember to have FUN while we learn!

These are my Ten Commandments for the cake decorating classes, workshops & parties I teach.
Sometimes students follow them... sometimes they do not.

Food Blogs I Love

These are the blogs that I like to check out. The ones that both inspire me and make me shake my head in the realization that rarely will my ideas/designs look as beautiful as theirs.

Bake at 350

Bakerella

Build-Your-Own Snowman Cookies

I saw this idea on another cookie decorating blog, and I just had to try it myself. I sent some to my nephews for Christmas, but I think it works any time in the winter as a fun activity or gift.

It does take a little bit of time, just because you need to mix up many colors, and cut out lots of little pieces, but as far as decorating goes, these are SO SO easy to do. No intricate details, no worry about color bleeding. Easy. (I let my kiddos help a lot with the sprinkles, too.)

What You Need:
Vanilla Sugar Cookie Dough (one batch will make 7-9 snowmen kits)
Royal Icing
Set of 3 nesting biscuit cutters
Icing Tip #12
Icing Colors
Piping Bag and Tip # 1, 2 or 3

*Optional:
triangle cookie cutter
White and/or Clear and/or Orange sprinkles
Bags or Boxes, tags and raffia ribbon for gifting

Royal Icing Cake Decorations

When a friend asked me to make first birthday cakes for her twin girls... that had the likeness of their favorite stuffed animals on them, I scratched my head a little bit, because while I love making cakes, I'm just not a cake artist like some of those people you see on TV.

Then I remembered a technique that would allow me to make a picture of the animals, and it wouldn't require too much artistic work. I used royal icing... just like you would on a cookie, but I piped it on to parchment paper, let it dry, then you can transfer it to the cake.

What You Need:
Royal Icing
Parchment paper
Cake board or cookie sheet
Tape
Printed picture of your decoration*
Icing colors/tips for design

*Remember, if you're making money off of a cake, you can't use a copyright or trademarked image.

What Does THAT Do?! -- Cake Leveler

If you follow this blog, you've seen me use it a zillion times...

My Cake Leveler

This $5-6 gadget, which you can buy at your local craft store or cake supply store, is awesome, and worth every penny.

You use a cake leveler to level off the dome on the top of the cake - as seen in the pumpkin cake photo above.

Or to add layers to cakes/tortes as seen in this vanilla-chocolate cake.

Do you have an idea for "What Does THAT Do?!" Send me a photo or a description, and I'll try to find out for you.

Click the Links Below to See:
Other What Does That Do?! Posts

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Fondant Snowflake Cake

Isn't it so peaceful, this sparkly little snowflake cake? It's what a snowy day is supposed to look like.

If you want to make this cake with me, I will be teaching classes at a few community education locations around the Twin Cities that will teach you how to cover a cake with fondant and decorate it like this. A perfect wintertime activity with a few friends! (See below for class information.)

If you're ready to go it alone...

What You Need:
8" round cake baked & cooled
2-3 cups icing
Spatula
Approx. 20-24 oz. white fondant*
Wilton Pearl Dust (white, silver or blue)
Blue Gel Coloring
Clear Vanilla Extract
Rolling Pin
Vegetable Shortening (to grease rolling surface)
Roll & Cut Mat or Parchment Paper for rolling fondant
Food-Safe Paintbrush
Snowflake Cookie Cutters

*Note on Fondant: Please click these links to see my posts about
Making Fondant from Scratch
Making Marshmallow Fondant
Which Fondant is Best for Cakes