HAPPY (belated) THANKSGIVING!

Well it's that time of year again where homes will be filled with the smells of cakes, cookies, and pies oh my! I'm so happy that I work out, my body will need a little extra after I'm done deserting it up with the Thanksgiving pastries.

This year I wanted to bake something different, normally I make sweet potato pies, 7-up cake w/ pineapple & coconut frosting, and cream cheese pound cake. I got adventurous and made a carrot cake, chocolate cake, & lemon meringue pie. My first attempt at the chocolate cake was an epic fail. I had the wrong measuring spoon and added too much baking powder and soda...lol. So I got creative turned it into my version of a turtle caramel cake. I did my best to torte each layer, fill them with the left over chocolate buttercream and added dulce de leche caramel and crushed walnuts in between the 2 layers and on the very top layer. That poor cake looked awful, but taste so good...(Homer Simpson drool...) "uhhhHHHhhrghhhuuuuHHHggrruhhhHHhh."

Sorry...no pie pic!

Buttercream Basics

Believe it or not, but I hate the taste of buttercream (BC)! I love working with it to decorate pastries, but I always scrape it off if it's on my dessert. I'm always drawn to buttercream because you have to be pretty skillful to work with it and not make mistakes, as some mistakes can't easily be fixed.
 
Here are a few tips that I would like to share based on my experience about buttercream.
 
-The brand of shortening does and doesn't matter. I've used Crisco, and I've used a generic brand and have gotten the same result with both. With the generic brand I did have to let my shortening beat longer in my Kitchen Aid stand mixer (best mixer EVER!) to reduce the lumps, but in the end I had a nice batch of buttercream!
 
-Buttercream will melt aka become runny. This can happen do to handling it (e.g. warm hands, over working it), the temperature of the environment where you're decorating, or too much liquid.

-When flavoring buttercream, AVOID the extra liquids. For example, if you're adding 2-4 tbsp. of water or milk to your buttercream to change the consistency, but would like to flavor your BC with a spirit (e.g. amaretto, lemon juice, etc.), remember to reduce the initial liquid (water or milk) and replace with the flavor of your choice.

-Buttercream should always be refrigerated...especially if you use butter or dairy!

-Buttercream can be made with 100% shortening, 100% butter, or a combo of both (see this Wilton BC recipe which uses both http://www.wilton.com/recipe/Buttercream-Icing).

-Buttercream can be used to repair flaws! E.g. one side of your cake is lower and leveling would take too much of the cake away. Use BC to even it out...yes, you'll have more BC but a pretty cake!

-Buttercream can be use frozen in a design and then transferred to a cake! Check this Wilton tutorial out! http://www.wilton.com/blog/index.php/decorating-with-frozen-buttercream-transfers/

I know there are many tips that I can provide, but this is what I can think of at the spur of the moment...I hope this helps!


Me practicing designs with BC...

 

My First Class

Yesterday I instructed my first Wilton Course 1 class. Initially I was nervous because I found out the day before that I had students and I wasn't prepared. The last thing a gal wants to do is sound like a goof!!!

But it went smoothly, I realized that they were just like me when I first started, looking for someone to teach them the correct way. I won't bore you with the details because it was more exciting when I took the course and I spoke about my trials and tribulations. So now that I'm on the other side and know what I'm doing the only thing that I can critique myself on is needing to improve my timing...the class went over about 30 mins. 

These are the cupcakes I decorated yesterday with my students. 

Yes, I ran out of frosting...lol.