J's Favourite Things & Giveaway Part 2 {CLOSED}

August 2012 By i sugar coat it! 91 Comments

J's Favourite Things & Giveaway Part 2 {CLOSED}

This sweepstake is now CLOSED. Thanks to all who entered. Winners are listed below...

I Sugar Coat It is officially 1!!! Come join in the celebration...

It has been a little over a year since I started blogging, and exactly one year since I Sugar Coat It! was conceived.

I started the celebration early on my Facebook page with a little game of Cookie Scrabble. Four lucky winners scored aprons - a small token of thanks for helping me reach 1K. Then last week I had my first blog giveaway for a few of my favourite things!! Thanks again to everyone who participated!

I have learned a great deal over the last year from a number of sources. I started out with a series of courses offered through my local Michael's store, purchased a few books from Amazon, scoured the web (YouTube), took a weekend course for figure modelling at the Bonnie Gordon College of Confectionery Arts and taught myself a few things along the way. Although my abilities do not yet match my imagination, I am enjoying the learning process.

Anyone who knows me well, is all too familiar with my insatiable appetite for learning - professionally and personally. For me, the best part of learning is sharing knowledge gained, with others. So, for this leg of my blogday celebration I thought I would continue my J's Favourite Things theme and offer you a chance to learn something sweet from a couple of my favourite courses.

Some techniques I've learned in the Craftsy and MyCakeSchool courses.

I initially thought about making this a single prize pack - winner takes all, but it's always nicer to spread the wealth - so three people will get lucky. And in an effort to acknowledge and include my international readers, I purposely decided on gifts that do not require shipping. Can I get a WOOT-WOOT!!

With the help of Craftsy and MyCakeSchool.com, I am able to offer two online courses - cause there's nothing sweeter than learning (well, cake maybe...), and instead of the two books I wanted to include as prizes, I'm including an Amazon gift card.

So here's how it will go down. There are three prizes - only one prize per winner (to be clear - you can only win one of the prizes listed below). They are:

1 Year Membership to MyCakeSchool.com. WINNER - Radhika S.!

1 Craftsy Online Course - Handcrafted Sugar Flowers with Jacqueline Butler. WINNER - Stephanie B.!

$30 Amazon Gift Card. WINNER - Natalie M.!

If you entered my last giveaway, then you know the drill. If not, it's easy to enter:

Login to the PunchTab Giveaway Widget below using your email address or Facebook account.
You will be prompted to:

Leave a comment telling me, "Where/how you first learned to bake/decorate?." You MUST leave a comment on my blog in order to be entered.
For extra entries, perform any or all of the additional actions listed in the widget - Subscribe to My Blog, Follow me on Twitter, Become a Fan on Facebook, Tweet My Giveaway, Like This Post, PIN my Cake. Each action is a separate entry.

Contest ends Saturday, September 1st, 2012 at 12:00PM (EST)

The winners will be selected using PunchTab's Giveaway Widget random picker and announced in this post and notified by email. (If entering via email, please ensure your email address is valid - it will not be displayed in the comments, but it's how you will be contacted, should you win). Please note that your comment may not appear immediately; that does not mean it was not received.

This giveaway is open to Canadian residents* and the rest of the world. Please see official contest rules here.

Thanks to MyCakeSchool.com and Craftsy for their generous support.

Please note that I did not receive compensation, monetary, or otherwise, for this post.

August 2012 By i sugar coat it! 27 Comments

J's {not Oprah} Favourite Things & Giveaway! Part 1 {Winner Announced}

Thanks to all who entered and shared my giveaway. This Sweepstake is now CLOSED. See below.

Ice-cream on brownies and frosting on cupcakes

Bright coloured fondant and cake stands that coordinate
Starbursts and gold dust to give it some bling
These are a few of my favorite things...

Does the cake above look familiar to you? Think hard...well, not too hard. You need only click back to my last post to see my Ranunculus flowers perched atop this little beauty. And under all the green and glitter is a moist, mouthwatering, lemon-curd filled, citrus cake.

We'll get to the recipe in a different post, for now, let's talk about the cake's exterior and how those fantastic starbursts came to be.

Back in January, I had an idea for a cake (one that I have yet to make) that would require piping skills, for which I just did not have the patience. So I thought I could try to achieve a similar look with a stencil. I looked, but could not find a culinary stencil in the pattern I'd envisioned. I contacted Designer Stencils and shared with them, a photo of what I had in mind and about a week later they created this, fashioned from one of their wallpaper designs. I thought I would give it a test run... eight months later.

Stencils are a favourite decorating tool of mine and I have a collection to back that up! They are a great alternative to piping and offer so many design options for amateur pipers, like myself (I so desperately need to work on my piping skills). That said, like anything else one wants to be good at, this too requires a little practice. When done well, stencils can yield stunning results - like this, for instance. Here is my first attempt at stencilling. I have since improved, but there is always room.

Stencilling does not always have to be done on fondant, or with royal icing. My giraffe cake is a good example - it's cocoa stenciled on buttercream. This time around I thought I would bring a little bling to the design with the use of edible lustre dusts - another favourite.

Unless I absolutely have to, I avoid cutting my stencils to accommodate any one particular cake size. Instead, I find if you place the cake on a raised surface with a base smaller than the cake, you can better manipulate the placement of the stencil.

I placed the cake on a cake board the same circumference as the cake, covered the top of the cup with a piece of anti-slip cupboard lining (you know the stuff you buy in rolls at the dollar store), and placed the cake board on top. Danger of tipping, so work carefully!

Of course, keeping the stencil in place is also crucial to the process. This is where I find the Cake Wrap Kit comes in handy.

Once I had the stencil positioned to my liking, I used three large brushes, like the one shown in the photo above, to apply the various colours of edible dusts. I carefully removed the stencil and let set a little before attaching the stencil again to do the other side of the cake. I layered some of the colours and BAM, we've got ourselves some blinged-out starbursts!!

Fondant coloured with Avocado food gel. Lustre dusts in Gold Shimmer, Metallic Ginger Glow and Electric Orange mixed with a little Gold Shimmer.

Speaking of starbursts... Did you know the Milky Way will see a starburst in approximately 200 000 000 years? Well, I couldn't wait that long and you don't have to either!

I Sugar Coat It! is celebrating its first birthday this month, and what better way to get the celebration started than with a little fireworks - in the form of starbursts! One lucky reader will have the opportunity to create their own starbursts using some of my favourite cake design tools.

Starburst Cake Side Stencil

Cake Wrap Kit

Small Scraper

It's easy to enter!

Login to the PunchTab Giveaway Widget below using your email address or Facebook account.
You will be prompted to:

Leave a comment telling me, "What is your favourite cake design tool?" You must leave a comment in order to be entered.
For extra entries, perform any of the additional actions listed in the widget - Tweet, Google+1, Become a Fan.

Contest ends Monday, August 20th, 2012 at 12:00PM (EST)

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED.

We Have A Winner!

CONGRATULATIONS, JUDY ROBINSON!!

~chosen by random draw via PunchTab Plugin~

38		Judy Robinson	comment	2 days ago
You have been selected as a winner in Isugarcoatit's giveaway. Judy Robinson My favorite tool is Stephanie (my niece and business partner) I do all the baking and she does all the decorating.

The winner will be selected using PunchTab's Giveaway Widget random picker and announced in this post and notified by email. (You must leave a valid email address - it will not be displayed). Please note that your comment may not appear immediately; it does not mean it was not received.

This giveaway is open to Canadian (excluding Quebec) and continental U.S residents only. Apologies to my international readers - due to high shipping rates, I am unable to extend this giveaway to you. However, future contests that do not require shipping will be available to those outside North America.

Official contest rules are here.

A special thanks to Designer Stencils for donating the stencil for this giveaway. The other two items and shipping are from I Sugar Coat It!.

This is the first of two birthday giveaways - STAY TUNED!!

Designer Stencils has kindly donated the stencil included in the prize pack. I did not receive compensation, monetary, or otherwise, for this post.

August 2012 By i sugar coat it! 15 Comments

Ranunculus Tutorial

The name Ranunculus is late latin for 'little frog', from rana 'frog' and a diminutive ending. A reference to the many species being found near water, like frogs. They are a large genus of about 600 species of plants in the Ranunculaceae - members of the genus buttercups.
(source: Wikipedia)

In the interior of the Pacific Northwest of the United States the buttercup is called "Coyote’s eyes". In the legend, Coyote was tossing his eyes up in the air and catching them again when Eagle snatched them. Unable to see, Coyote made eyes from the buttercup.

I absolutely adore the beautiful flowers created by Jacqueline Butler of Petalsweet! I especially adore her Ranunculus flowers.

In nature, I am attracted to their brilliant colours, and their simple, yet complex, petal structure. As Michael MacCaskey puts it in an article in the National Gardening Association - ... their multiple layers of delicate, crepe paper-thin petals resemble origami masterwork.

Now, my petals aren't paper-thin, nor do they resemble origami masterwork. Still, I am quite pleased with the outcome, as I did these without the help of a tutorial. The next time I make them, I will certainly approach them with the above description in mind.

Until then, here's how I made my Ranunculuses! (I get a kick from saying that)

Note: The slide that shows a photo of the tools includes a white veiner. You will notice later in the slideshow that I used a green veiner. I found the larger petals were too big for the veiner I intended to use and switched it after i had taken the photo.

Don't they just put a smile on your face? What's your favourite flower?

I hope you've enjoyed this post. Would love to hear from you - please consider leaving a comment below.

August 2012 By i sugar coat it! 9 Comments

Sweet Swimmers Revisted

ON YOUR MARK! GET SET! READY! GO!

With the 2012 Olympics in full swing, I thought it fitting to revisit my sweet swimmer cookies from last September. Okay, it wasn't all my idea - a friend suggested it during delivery of her cake last Friday. I'd also seen a few Olympic-themed cookies and cakes on Instagram.

I had not planned to bake last weekend. I was in a bit of a rut on Saturday and cancelled all my plans - sorry Kimmie :-(.

Sunday rolled around and the mister and I were up and about sourcing counters, cupboards, sinks and taps for a remodel (another of my past-times - at least when we actually find the time to attack projects). This project isn't moving along in any fashion resembling what we planned, and after all the rain last week, we discovered a small wading pool in the basement. Sacre bleu!!

Back at home, I decided to drown my sorrows in flour, butter, sugar and vanilla beans. Remember all that cookie dough I made for the wedding favour cookies in June? It was time for a frozen batch to make an encore appearance - as athletes!

I enjoy the olympics, particularly the water and gymnastic events. Here I have used some ceramic egg crates to play the part of water - not very effective, but cute, in my opinion.

This photo is from my post last September.

I used these cutters, but can't seem to remember where I purchased them. I think it was at HomeSense, but I'm not absolutely certain. I am sure you can find them on Amazon.

I also used a heart cutter for the cookies below and used the swimmer cutters to outline the swimmers. Top them off with some fondant caps and swimsuits and you've got your own Olympic team.

This was a really quick project and just as quick a post.

What's your favourite Olympic event? Leave me a note below.

You will find the recipe for these cookies here.

July 2012 By i sugar coat it! 6 Comments

Chocolate Espresso Giraffe Cake

Layers of rich chocolate cake enveloped in a quick and easy espresso buttercream, decorated with cocoa powder.

Come help us celebrate two special birthdays with this rich, moist Chocolate Espresso Giraffe Cake with Whipped Espresso Vanilla Buttercream stenciled with cocoa powder. Be prepared to stay up all night!

You have already met Jess, she is Tay's mama and she absolutely adores giraffes - so did Taylor. So when she asked me to make a cake for both her and Taylor's birthdays, which just so happen to be only weeks apart, I immediately knew it would involve giraffes.

I got to work making fondant giraffe toppers in the likeness of a favourite app, Gina and her little one. These were my second try at figure modelling - you may remember my first. The little one turned out alright, but Gina started to fall apart...and doesn't she look like a cow? I enlisted some toothpicks to help keep her together, but the fondant, even with a healthy dose of Tylose, wasn't drying completely. I moved on to the cake...

Chocolate Espresso Giraffe Cake is layers of rich chocolate cake enveloped in a quick and easy espresso buttercream, decorated with cocoa powder.

I decided to leave fondant out of the equation for the cake portion of this project. The cake board, baby giraffe (sadly, Gina did not make the cut), birthday sign and names were made using fondant. The cake and grass are buttercream.

A couple drops of Americolor Leaf Green were used to tint the espresso frosting, which was then piped with a #233 tip. I used this stencil and unsweetened cocoa powder to create the giraffe print. To further enhance the skin effect, I used an angled spatula to add texture and a little edible Daisy Dust yellow lustre dust to play up the colour.

Unfortunately, I was not able to do a proper photo shoot, a number of the photos in this post were taken with my mobile phone and at night. Above is a shot of Jess cutting into her cake. She promises to eat the chocolate fondant-covered board as well...

I was very honoured to have been asked to make this cake. It celebrates Jess' birthday and the memory of her little girl Taylor, who would have seen her third birthday on July 25th. We continue to celebrate your life Taylor, and join your mama in celebrating hers.

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Chocolate Espresso Giraffe Cake

Layers of rich chocolate cake enveloped in a quick and easy espresso buttercream, decorated with cocoa powder.

Prep Time20

Cook Time30

Total Time50

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Cake

Servings:

Author: i sugar coat it!

Ingredients

Cake:

16 oz butter 4 sticks/2 cups
1 cup high quality Dutch process cocoa
2 tablespoon instant espresso powder dissolved into 1 ½ cups water
4 cups granulated sugar
2 cup sour cream
2 tablespoon almond extract
4 large eggs
4 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Frosting:

4 cups unsalted butter 8 sticks, at room temperature
10 cups powdered sugar
6 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
6 teaspoons espresso powder

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350° F. Prepare four to five 7" x 2" round cake pans - I use cake release to prevent sticking.
Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat; add cocoa, stirring until smooth. Whisk in the espresso water and remove from heat.
Add the sugar, sour cream, vanilla, and eggs to the warmed cocoa mixture and whisk until smooth.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the first mixture, whisking until well blended.
Pour batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until it feels firm to the touch or an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan on a rack for about 15 minutes.
Remove from pan by placing the rack over the cake and invert, tapping pan lightly, if required to loosen.

To make the frosting:

Mix vanilla and espresso powder together until dissolved. Using the whisk attachment of your mixer, whisk for 5 minutes, occasionally scraping down sides. On low speed, add powdered sugar a little at a time. I cover the mixer with a damp tea towel to contain the powdered sugar. When all powdered sugar is incorporated, turn up speed and beat until fluffy for about 2 minutes. Add vanilla-espresso mixture and whip until incorporated.

Assembly:

Level the cakes using a large, serrated knife or other levelling tool (I use the Agbay Jr.). Fill each layer with generous amounts of frosting, wrap win plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour. I find this helps the cake to settle and level itself and makes crumb-coating easier. Remove from fridge, add a thing layer of frosting refrigerate for 30 minutes and repeat. Refrigerate until firm enough to accommodate the stencil. Use a medium-size brush to add the cacao pattern.

Notes

(cake recipe adapted from Sweetapolita, frosting found on
Specialty Cake Creations
- adapted from the Brown Eyed Baker) Both recipes have been doubled.

July 2012 By i sugar coat it! 9 Comments

Red Velvet Mini Cakes & How I Met My Love {Abridged}

Red Velvet Love Note Mini Cakes & Heart Flowers

I Carry Your Heart With Me

I carry your heart with me (I carry it in my heart)

I am never without it (anywhere I go you go, my dear; and whatever is done by only me is your doing, my darling)

I fear no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet)

I want no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true) and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant and whatever a sun will always sing is you

Here is the deepest secret nobody knows (here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide) and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

I carry your heart (I carry it in my heart)

by E. E. Cummings

I remember like it was yesterday, give or take a few years...

It had been a month since I sat the last exam of my first year of University. I had a day off from my crappy summer job, had just completed running my errands and was headed to my aunt's office for our lunch date.

I loved the convenience of living close to campus, transit and all the happening spots. My roommate/best friend and I were in teenage heaven.

I paid my fare and descended the stairs to the platform. It was packed. "Don't people work?" I asked myself, and still do on days off when I run into heavy traffic or long line-ups. I HATE crowds. I was just shy of 100lbs and stood 5'3" - jostling crowds was not my event. I found a pillar and stood with my back against it for fear of being trampled, or pushed onto the tracks.

As the train approached, I positioned myself for the onslaught. I was promptly pushed into one body and then another. I looked up to apologize to that second body and was met with the most mesmerizing green eyes. He flashed me a knowing look and a gentle smile and I returned what must have looked to him as the same, for he did not look away for a long time - all the while being carried by the crowed. I was jolted back to reality when the train doors chimed and found that I was already on the other side of the doors. Mister Green Eyes was nowhere to be seen.

I felt a little panicked and found myself searching the crowd for him. But why? I composed myself, pulled out my book and just when I was about to put him out of my head and escape to the last few pages of The Alchemist, the train doors opened, the crowd thinned and he reappeared.

He smiled and I smiled back. I stared at the words on the pages of my book and they stared back, one not making any sense to the other. Each time I looked up from my book, I was met with a smile and I would politely and cautiously return one. This continued for nine subway stops.

With every stop I wondered if he would get off, and secretly hoped he wouldn't. I then began to worry as we neared my stop that I was flirting with a stalker, a killer, a rapist... My mind and heart were in a frenzy - a shouting match of sorts. My smiles became less relaxed and I think he noticed. He began to busy himself with a book.

My stop was next. I found myself noting every detail from his height to his clothing, hair colour, etc. Weekly doses of Law & Order episodes and criminal law courses will do that. But beneath all the panic and worry there was a knowing - I couldn't explain it then and it sounds a little kooky each time we try now. We, because I later learned that he too, felt 'it'.

My stop was announced and the doors slid open. I remember wanting to turn around to say bye, hi, something - fear and nerves got the better of me.

I made my way off the train and to my surprise and horror, so did he. I became extremely concerned and pretty much sprinted toward my aunt's office building, jumped on the elevator and commenced my ascent. As luck or love would have it, the elevator was a vertical fish tank. I pressed the button and turned to see him standing in the mezzanine searching the crowd. For me?

Then the strangest thing happened. I was compelled by a 'voice' to press the lobby button and head back down. Against my better judgement, I did.

"Are you looking for someone?" were the first words I spoke to him. "Yes, you!" was his response. I took him to meet my aunt, gave her a rain-check for lunch and sat in the park with Mister Green Eyes for over an hour, just talking. It was effortless and familiar - says the normally shy, reserved, guarded girl.

He was on summer break as well and would be returning shortly. He loved to read and had recently read the book I was pretending to read on the train. We talked about everything under the sun and as we did, a butterfly landed on his shoulder and remained there for a while. That pretty much sealed the deal for me.

We took the train together and caught a movie. He introduced me to his family and we spent the next couple weeks picnicking, swimming, dining out, visiting museums and galleries. It really was love at first sight and has felt the same ever since - most days ;).

These mini 'His' and 'Hers' anniversary cakes were the pefect portion for two. The writing on His is inspired by these cookies I saw on Haniela's blog. They are so adorable - I knew right away that I wanted to borrow that technique. I planned to use the words from our favourite poem that I shared in the opening, but it was more of a challenge than I had time for and after a few tests, I realized my handwriting at the angle at which I needed to work, just wasn't cutting it. I decided only one would have the writing. The flowers are made using a heart cutter and coloured fondant that were wired and assembled around pearl stamen.

The recipe I used for this Red Velvet cake was not my normal tried and true recipe, so I have decided not to share it. Although it tasted fine, I found it a little on the dry side and it did not produce as vibrant a red. I have shared my go-to RV cake recipe below, instead.

The recipe and video instructions for the white chocolate ganache are here.

Would love to hear how you met your love. Leave me a comment below.

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Red Velvet Mini Cakes with White Chocolate Ganache

Prep Time25

Cook Time30

Total Time55

Course: Dessert

Servings: - 8" cakes

Author: I Sugar Coat It

Ingredients

Cake:
1 cup unsalted butter
2 tablespoon water
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa rouge E. Guittard makes a good red dutch cocoa powder
3 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon white vinegar
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoon beet juice 1 medium beet yields about 4 tbsp
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup cornstarch
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
1 ½ cups superfine sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350ºF.
Place the butter, water, and cocoa in a small saucepan and heat gently, without boiling, stirring until melted and smooth. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
Beat together the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla extract, vinegar and beet juice until frothy. Beat in the butter mixture.
Sift together the flour, cornstarch and baking powder, then stir into the mixture with the superfine sugar.
Pour batter into two 8" pans and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until risen and firm to the touch.
Cool in pan for about 10 minutes, then place on a wire rack and cool completely.
Once cooled, cut the circles out with the mould and assemble.

July 2012 By i sugar coat it! 11 Comments

Wedding Cookie Favours

We are confident that with God's guidance, the future will hold for us an ever-growing love. We wish for you, our family and friends, to share with us the beauty of this day, as we joyously unite in marriage before God.

from the wedding program

They did! My sister and her long-time partner tied the knot on Saturday. The weather was great, the service was short and sweet and the reception was held at a manor built in 1906. It's Tudor -Jacobean architecture was the perfect backdrop for the photos and festivities.

I was honoured to be asked to provide the favours and experimented with a number of ideas in the months before - you may remember these test cookies and these bridal shower favours. Between work and all the other things I over-commit to, I was in no position to cut out 100 bride and groom silhouettes like the ones I did for the bridal shower cookies, nor was I comfortable enough with my piping skills to attempt something more elaborate. I really wanted to try my SugarVeil lace mats again, but the thought of it going wrong, as it did last time, just did not sit well with me.

So, in the interest of time, and because I absolutely love these cookies I saw over at Sweetopia, I decided to keep it simple and elegant. Mission accomplished - at least in my humble opinion.

The cookies were made using a Butter Cookie recipe I found on the Joy of Baking website. I added Vanilla Beans - if you look closely, you may see the little specks of beans in each. I tripled the recipe so that I would have enough for 100+ 4" cookies. At the last minute, I decided to go with a 3" cookie cutter just to be safe - I did not want to run out of dough. 120 cookies later and I quickly learned that I am no good at math - I have enough dough in my freezer for another 100 or so cookies. I guarantee you, it will not go to waste.

Early last week, I was panick-stricken. I knew how I wanted to decorate the cookies, but I was having trouble designing the image. I also realized that I did not own a printer or ink for producing edible images - duh! I sent a quick note to Marian of Sweetopia inquiring about the grocery stores that offer this service - I remembered that little tidbit from her post. I also wanted to know if she could put me in touch with a reputable graphic designer to assist with producing the image on short notice. Her response was quick and provided some good options.

I contacted Holly of Confetti Prints and upon receiving her response, felt some of the tension leave my shoulders. I chose one of her designs and it was customized with the colours (lapis, black and white) and text to complement the wedding theme. She delivered the following day!!

OK, so I now had the design but was still panicking about getting them printed - it was Wednesday!! Did I mention the wedding was three days away and out of town?

Marian warned me that the grocery stores, depending on who I spoke with, would have no idea what I was referring to when I requested to have frosting sheets printed. She was so RIGHT! Out of frustration, I decided I would go buy the printer and ink and do it myself, but before I did that I needed to purchase the sheets. Before driving out to Mississauga in vain, I set out to call Golda's, but ended up calling McCall's. Not only do they sell the sheets, they print them! I think my eyes misted a little when I heard those words.

After explaining to the rep what I needed and how quickly, I learned that their sheets were called Marshmallow Sheets and would cost $12.00 per page, 10 per page and included the sheets - do the math... I cringed a little and quickly sent her the file via email and kept my fingers crossed. I was at the store picking them up just after 4:00 pm the same day. I just love when everything comes together.

There was no time for drying royal icing, so I cut out 2" fondant circles, applied the circles to the cookies using corn syrup and then applied the Marshmallow Sheets to the fondant in the same way - too much syrup and the colour on the sheets bleed. Trust me!

I used a pearl mould to make the borders and blended some vintage silk lustre dust with alcohol to add a sheen. 100 cookie boxes and some silver ribbon from Creative Bag and it was a wrap! My aunt D helped me package them up all pretty.

In addition to the Wedding Cookie Favours, I made my three year old niece's dress, shipped it to my sister and she added a few details - she was the flower girl. I also felt very honoured to have made my sister's veil. I also made the flower topper for the cake, which I will share in a future post/tutorial.

I wish you both continued love and happiness for many more years to come.

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Vanilla Bean Butter Cookies

Vanilla Bean Butter Cookies Wedding Favors decorated with printed wafer paper and fondant.

Prep Time30

Cook Time10

Total Time40

Course: Dessert

Servings: -16

Author: I Sugar Coat It

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature 226 grams
⅔ cup granulated white sugar 135 grams
1 large egg
1 teaspoon lemon zest
Scrapings of 1 vanilla bean
2 ¼ cups all purpose flour 295 grams
¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Place oven rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat.
In the bowl of your electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in the egg, lemon zest, and vanilla beans.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and salt.
Gradually add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and beat just until incorporated.
Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Divide the dough in half and shape each half into a flattened circle. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator until firm (at least two hours or overnight).
Remove from fridge and use a rolling pin to roll dough out to about ¼ inch thick - I use dough spacers like
these
to get even cookies.
Cut into desired shapes and place
on the baking sheet, spacing about 2 inches apart. Place
in freezer for about 3-5 minutes.
Remove from freezer, let rest 1 minute and then bake the cookies for about 10 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are a very light brown.
Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Decorate as desired.

June 2012 By i sugar coat it! 16 Comments

Summer Sweets - Pina Colada Push Pops

If you like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain. If you're not into yoga, if you have half-a-brain. If you like snacking at midnight, and a good home-made cake. I'm the dessert you have looked for, press the link and escape.

Well, you're here! So I am guessing that you are a lot like me in that...

You like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain. You're not much into health food, you are into champagne. You should just subscribe to my blog now, and cut through all this red tape. And we'll meet up here weekly, for our sweet, sweet escape.In searching for a song that references Pina Colada, I came across this video and could not stop laughing. Anything that makes me laugh needs to be shared. So I edited the first two choruses of the song and made them the intro to this post. The song is now stuck in my head, and you know what? I don't mind! Cause I like Pina Coladas and getting caught in the rain...

Have a sip, lick or bite! Whatever your preference, these little identity-crisis desserts will deliver. Layers of moist coconut cake, crushed pineapples, shredded coconut and pina colado infused buttercream makes this drink turned dessert a new summer favourite. Not quite ready to tackle a stacked dessert, no worries, I got you covered boo. BAM, cupcakes! - complete with straws. Sip it or bite it - guaranteed to sate your sweet tooth and tropical thirst at once.

Last week's Summer Sweet hit the spot, both at home and on the web. These are definitely on par in the taste department and like the Key Lime Mojito Mousse cake, not overly sweet.

I started off with a basic coconut cake recipe. My grandmother made a mean coconut cake when we were little. Oddly enough, I am not a huge fan of coconut - I'll chew it, but can't seem to swallow. I enjoy the taste, but have trouble with the texture. A conundrum, I know.

I didn't use my grandma's recipe, which uses fresh grated coconut. Instead, I used a recipe I found on my Epi App, which calls for cream of coconut. That, I can swallow! For the frosting, I simply made a few alterations to a basic recipe which complemented the cake beautifully. It tasted just like Pina Colada - NO LIE!

For those of you not familiar with Push Pops, think of a small cup with a syringe-like mechanism that is used to push up the contents of the cup. I purchased my set from Icing Inspiration in Kingston, but they no longer seem to carry them, but you can find them on Amazon. The pretty paper straws were purchased from Sweet Estelle's Etsy shop. Thanks to my sister, I have since found them locally at Creative Bag.

The recipes for the cupcakes and frosting are provided below. Try this treat for your next get-together and let me know if YOU like Pina Coladas.

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Pina Colada Cupcakes

Layers of moist coconut cake, fresh pineapple and whipped coconut create an edible version of a tropical drink.

Prep Time15

Cook Time25

Total Time40

Course: Dessert

Servings:

Author: I Sugar Coat It

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

2 ¾ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 ¾ cups sugar
1 cup unsalted butter 2 sticks, room temperature
1 cup canned sweetened cream of coconut
4 large eggs separated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk
Pinch of salt

Buttercream:

1 package of cream cheese
1 stick salted butter
2 tablespoons p
ina colada mix or pineapple juice
2 teaspoon of cream of coconut
1 teaspoon rum
2 lb of confectioner sugar
Pineapple chunks shredded coconut, sanding sugar for garnish

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line the wells of a 12 cup cupcake pan.
In medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and ½ teaspoon salt.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat attachment, beat sugar, butter and sweetened cream of coconut until fluffy. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla extract. (I used setting 4 on my Kitchen Aid mixer)
Lower the speed (I used 2 on my KA mixer), beat in dry ingredients and then buttermilk, each just until blended. (To prevent the dry ingredients from blowing out of the mixer, dampen a tea towel and drape over the mixer while mixing.)
Using the whisk attachment, beat egg whites with pinch of salt in another large bowl until stiff but not dry. Fold beaten egg whites into batter.
Using an ice-cream scooper, distribute the batter evenly into the cupcake liners.
Bake cupcakes for 25-30 minutes or until tester inserted into center comes out clean.
While cakes are cooling, make the frosting.

To make the buttercream:

Cream butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add pina colada mix or pineapple juice, cream of coconut and rum. Gradually add the sugar and mix until creamy on low speed.

To assemble Push Pops:

You will need cupcakes, frosting, crushed pineapples, pineapple chunks and shredded or flaked coconut.
Once cooled, remove the cupcakes from their liners and use the lip if the push pop cup to cut the cupcake to size. Use a knife to slice the cupcakes in half horizontally.
Insert the bottom half of the cupcake into the assembled push pop cup. Add a layer of crushed pineapple along with the pineapple juice. Sprinkle some coconut if you like.
Insert the other half of the cupcake and top with crushed pineapple and juice.
Attach a piping tip of your choosing (I used the Wilton 1M tip) and fill the piping bag with the frosting.
Starting in the middle of the dessert, pipe a circle all the way around the top. Garnish with pineapple chunks, coconut flakes or shreds and a little sanding sugar.
Top off with straws or umbrellas for fun!

June 2012 By i sugar coat it! 6 Comments

Summer Sweets - Key Lime Mojito Mousse Cake

As the warmer weather rolls in, I am moving towards lighter, no fuss, less time in the kitchen treats. I'm also taking advantage of the fruits that aren't in abundance, or as tasty during the winter months.

First up, a light, taste-bud-teasing blend of tangy, sweet and creamy...

Said Orange to Lime before parting ways - "You've lost your zest."

Initially, I intended to write a Father's Day post, but a few minutes in, I realized it was a little too heavy for the light, sweet fare I am featuring today.

My father died in a horrible car accident along with a couple of his friends when I was about five years old, so I remember very little about him. Although I had great male role models in my grandfather and uncles, I often wonder what it might be like to have my own dad. K also lost his dad a few years ago and we aren't parents, so Father's Day usually slips by unnoticed in our household - for now...

See what I mean? Sad...and this cake is anything but. So, on to greener, lighter, sweeter thoughts...

The always-too-short Summer arrives on Wednesday, and not a moment too soon!! Mind you, we have had some unseasonably warm weather since the start of Spring, so I really should be thankful.

One of my favourite things to do in the summer months is road tripping - especially up North. Let me just say that if you live in Ontario and have never visited Algonquin Park - YOU MUST. With over 7500 square kilometers, over 2400 lakes and 1200 kms of streams and rivers, one visit just won't do.

We have done three consecutive years there (okay some of that time was spent at the cottage), usually around my birthday and sans-technology - our point and shoot camera being the exception. It is usually very difficult and at the same time a relief, to return to the city, at least for me. The Dude would have us stay there permanently, if he had his way.

Back in the city, our backyard - well, our old back yard - was our miniature Algonquin, our serenity. This one is currently a work in progress resembling an overgrown construction zone, but we cleared a space temporarily to sit and enjoy this tasty mousse cake. Paired with Martinis and Mojitos, you would almost believe summer was already here.

This photo was included in a Key Lime Dessert line-up on Huffington Post Kitchen Daily.

Try this recipe as is, or with changes of your own - you can't go wrong. It is creamy, yet light with just the perfect balance of sweet and tangy. The perfect summer sweet!

Better yet, the perfect Father's Day after BBQ treat. Hope you all have a great day with the man you call dad.

Happy Father's Day!!

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Key Lime Mojito Mousse Cake

A creamy, sweet and tangy mousse sandwiched between a light vanilla cake - summer has finally arrived!

Prep Time15

Cook Time35

Total Time50

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Cake

Servings:

Author: i sugar coat it!

Ingredients

For the cake:

1 ½ sticks butter softened
1 ⅔ cups superfine sugar
3 large eggs lightly beaten
1 generous cup self-rising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

For the filling:

1 ½ cups heavy cream
1 ¼ mascarpone cheese
4 key limes juice and zest
juice of one small orange
2 tablespoon key lime mojito homemade or storebought
1 tablespoon unflavoured powdered gelatin
2 tablespoon water
2 drops avocado green food gel or Matcha
confectioner's sugar for dusting

Instructions

Make the Cake:

Preheat the oven to 325ºF. Grease and line a deep 9" springform cake pan.
Place the butter and ¾ cups of the sugar in an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat until light and creamy.
Gradually add the eggs, beating well after each addition.
Sift the flour and baking powder together and then gently fold into the butter/egg mixture using a large metal spatula or spoon.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool in the pan for 5 - 10 minutes. Remove from pan and allow it to cool completely on a wire rack.

Make the Mousse:

To a separate bowl, add the cream, mascarpone cheese, lime zest and juice, orange juice, mojito and remaining sugar and beat into a smooth cream.
Add the water to a small bowl and place over a saucepan half-full of simmering water, or use a double boiler if you have one.
Sprinkle the gelatin over the water in the bowl and stir until dissolved. Be careful not to overheat - this will cause the gelatin to lose its setting quality.
Stir the gelatin into the cream mixture, add the gel paste and beat the mixture again.

To Assemble:

Cut the cake in half, horizontally using a cake cutter or sharp, long knife. Return the bottom layer to the springform pan and clip the side of the pan back in place.
Pour the mojito lime mousse over the cake in the pan and then place the other layer of cake on top.
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. When ready to serve, transfer to a cake stand or plate and sprinkle with confectioners sugar.

June 2012 By i sugar coat it! 4 Comments

Poppy Tutorial

There is no cake or cookie in this post, just a slide show and some self promotion. Still interested?

The last cake I posted was topped with flowers that were inspired by a photo I found online through a search for Moroccan Poppy.

Here is how I made them...

No Expert
I have made a few other 'How-To's', but I am always a little shy about posting them - I am no expert after all. I've recently realized, however, that it is less about 'expertise' and more about sharing - and I love to share. What's a good deal, sale, tip or trick if not shared?

Medium - How Best To Share?
I am still playing around and trying to determine the best medium in which to present my how-to's. I did a pictorial on sugar brooches, which I also adapted into one of my favourite Apps, SnapGuide. It's available for free download from the App store on your iOS device (iPad, iPhone) - it may also be available on Android. Check it out, lots of great How To Guides on a number of unexpected topics.

For this how-to, I created a slideshow using Keynote on my Mac - the equivalent to PowerPoint on a PC. It was as easy as dragging and dropping the photos into the slides, adding instructions and some music - I used a Zero 7 song called End Theme, uploaded to YouTube and Voila!

I'd like your feedback and I am only interested in the constructive kind. If you don't like this format, tell me why - are the slides too quick? instructions too vague? is your preference video? is the music distracting? Be honest, but be kind.

Unfinished Business
In going through my iMovie library, I came across a number of unfinished projects (haha - a real Gemini, huh?). Over a year ago I created a how-to video for this Anemone in video format. I spent so much time editing it in iMovie then decided it was not good enough, but never found the time for a redo. And they will never be completed, I am more likely to start afresh or move on to something else - I eyes are set at the front of my head, and that's the way I move.

Self Promotion
I am proud to report that out of hundreds of entries, my Ruffles & Pearls cake was one of the lucky 24 chosen for Sweetopia's Sweet of the Month. Head on over and vote for mine here and if there are others that tickle your fancy, I won't be hurt if you voted for them as well. I believe you are allowed one vote for each cake. Although I only have 11 votes, I feel like a winner. I do this cake thing as a hobby and I am fairly new to it, so having been chosen as a finalist is a bit of an accomplishment in my opinion. YAY for me!!

Speaking of accomplishments, I was recently named Cake Decorator of the Week over at CakesDecor.com, and have had a few of my cakes/cupcakes make it to the Daily Top 3.

Ok, that is as much self promotion as I am comfortable doing, and even that was a little painful. A mentor in my professional life outside the sweets world recently said to me, "if you do the work, don't shy away from the attention it garners and stop feeling so undeserving" - see, I listened. 🙂 Although the advice was in context of my career, I feel it applies here and in other areas of my life. It also applies to you, yes, YOU! WE are all deserving!

June 2012 By i sugar coat it! 11 Comments

My Twins' Birthday Cake

Moroccan Chocolate Birthday Cake - I Sugar Coat It!

I celebrated my birthday recently and although I am not into astrology, I thought I would consult the stars for the purpose of this post. They say I'm gemini - constantly conflicting emotions in one spontaneous, excitable package. Meet the twins!

According to sources on the matter, "those of us born between May 21 and June 20 personify the airy agility of Gemini, the Twins. We tend to soar in the ether of abstractions, ideas, and - most of all - words. We are the zodiac's wordsmiths, the lovers of language, the poets and bards, the verbal magicians.

While other signs may initiate life's energy, or give it solidity and form, Geminis expand it, extend it, and turn it toward interconnection and communication. Astrology holds that geminis are the nerve synapses of culture, the facilitators who coordinate information and pass it along.

We crave experience, variety, mobility, change, company, banter, and intellectual play. We are mentally quick, endlessly curious and experimental, loathe routine, and fear stagnation. We are generalist. Befitting our sign, we are skilled at seeing two-sides, or all sides, of a topic.

Geminis are forever beset by ephemeral enthusiasms. For us, to discuss an idea is wonderful and magical, but to implement it is tiresome. We are said to be the masters of the half-finished project, the thought abandoned short of fruition once talking stops and tedious work begins.

The Twins' manifest intellectual gifts often bring us great success with no real effort - but we are hard put to sustain it. Thus our quest is to learn perseverance and cultivate depth. We aspire to substance as well as style. We must learn to take ourself and our words seriously."*

It reads like drivel to me, yet a number of those traits fit like a sweater that's snug in all the right places - the others, I'll leave to my twin.

Ahhh, my twin... Those who know me well and long enough will have no trouble believing the duality claim.

I could stick with that storyline and flush it out, but that would be tiresome. So, in true gemini fashion, I will abandon it and maintain the 'master of half-finished projects' title bestowed upon us twins.

On to more exciting projects - this Birthday Cake! As you can see I was able to see this through, even when it became tiresome and after the tedious work had begun. Am I trying too hard to dispel the astrology drivel?

We purchased a Moroccan tagine set about a month ago from HomeSense and used it for the first time recently. We christened it with a vegetarian tagine, but I can't wait to try a lamb, chicken or beef version. The Moroccan fare got us thinking, well, Moroccan - I see a trip in our future. With my birthday around the corner, I thought I would stay with that theme for my birthday cake.

So, I got to work implementing the idea floating around in my head. The base would be a deep, rich brown, framed with colourful, yet muted tiles in three of my favourite colours.

I whipped up a double batch of my currently favourite chocolate cake recipe. I made an 8" base and topped it with a 6" and filled them with colours that coordinated with the tiles. A thin layer of vanilla bean buttercream was then applied to prepare the cakes for the chocolate fondant.

Now the fun stuff. I used my hydrangea petal cutter to cut out the tile shapes and then used a #2 round piping tip to create holes in the center of each. As I discarded each into a close-by bowl, I thought of ways to incorporate them back into the design. I planned to add gold dragees to the tiles in the top tier; instead, I found good use for the discarded centers. Can you say, homemade sequins?! Using a mixture of lustre dust and vodka, I painted a number of the tiles to try and achive a more rustic look. Then I placed the centers, now dry-dusted with lustre dust back in their rightful place - well, some of them.

My birthday cake was complete in my opinion, until I came across this photo. I instantly knew they would become a part of my cake. With photo in view, I set about recreating the Moroccan Poppies to top my cake. I think they turned out just lovely and are now number three in my sugar flower repertoire.

One more thing about Geminis not mentioned above - we love to share. Here, have a slice on me!

*Astrology info found on the web, but can't recall the link.

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Chocolate Espresso Cake with Whipped Vanilla Bean Frosting

Prep Time10

Cook Time40

Total Time50

Course: Dessert

Servings:

Author: I Sugar Coat It

Ingredients

Cake:

2 sticks unsalted butter
½ cup high quality Dutch process cocoa
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder dissolved into ¾ cup water
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon almond extract
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt

Frosting:

3 sticks + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter softened and cut into cubes
3 cups confectioners' sugar icing/powdered
3 tablespoons milk
1 vanilla bean scraped
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1 drop each of Avocado Violet and Orange Americolor gel paste

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350° F. Prepare pans - I use cake release.
Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat; add cocoa, stirring until smooth. Whisk in the espresso water and remove from heat.
Add the sugar, sour cream, vanilla, and eggs to the warmed cocoa mixture and whisk until smooth.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the first mixture, whisking until well blended.
Pour batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until it feels firm to the touch and has slightly pulled away from the sides of the pan.
Cool in pans on a rack for 20 minutes. Remove from pan by placing the rack over the cake and invert, tapping pan lightly, if required to loosen.

To make the frosting:

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip butter for 8 minutes on medium speed until very pale & creamy.
Add remaining ingredients and mix on low speed for 1 minute, then on medium speed for 6 minutes. Frosting will be very light, creamy, and fluffy. Place about ½ cup of frosting in three small bowls and add the colours to each. Use the coloured frosting to fill each layer of the cake. Use the remaining frosting to mask the entire cake.

Notes

adapted from Sweetapolita

May 2012 By i sugar coat it! 6 Comments

Giraffe Cookies for Taylor

Imagine after numerous attempts, learning that you are finally going to have a baby! Imagine a healthy pregnancy and safe birth. Imagine the joy that fills you, your family and friends. Imagine taking your little girl home with the new title and responsibilities that she brings. Imagine immersing yourself fully into your new role and loving every second of it. Scenes of her future play in your mind like that movie you wish would never end, you know, the one where everything turns out just the way you imagined...

Imagine ten months later gathering to celebrate your little girl's life; balloons, butterflies and bubbles released in her honour, floating up towards the heavens to greet her. Hard to imagine.

Taylor was born to my dear friend Jess and her husband on July 25, 2010 and presented her wings exactly two months before her first birthday. Most of her ten months were spent at Sick Children Hospital in Toronto, also known as Sick Kids, where she lit up her ward with her smile and spirit. It was there she was diagnosed with Type 1 Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), and where she spent her final days before being summoned for angel duty.

Prior to Taylor's diagnosis, I knew very little about SMA. Through the knowledge I gained from Jess from her experience and scouring the net once I learned of Tay's diagnosis, here are a few key points about the disease:

SMA is a group of inherited diseases that damages and weakens muscles, eventually leading to death.
It is the second leading cause of neuromuscular disease.
A person must get the defective gene from both parents to be affected.
The most severe form is SMA type I, also called Werdnig-Hoffman disease.
Life expectancy for SMA type 1 is usually no longer than 2-3 years because of respiratory problems and infections.
Although rare, SMA may begin in adulthood, but is usually a milder form of the disease.

Symptoms include:

Breathing difficulty, leading to a lack of oxygen
Feeding difficulty (food may go into the windpipe instead of the stomach)
Poor muscle tone
Lack of head control
Little movement
Weakness that gets worse

Sadly, there isn't a cure.

I was at work when I received the message from Jess saying that Tay was no longer with us in body. There were messages in the weeks prior filled with panic and elation; flat-lining and stability. We were all warned that it was only a matter of time, but no one abandoned hope. Knowing what we knew about the disease, hope would have to be accompanied by a miracle for a more desirable outcome.

Tay put up an impressive fight and wore a smile all the while. You could not help but see beyond the tubes connecting her to numerous machines, and be happy in her presence. There was something so other-worldly about her, and it resided in her eyes. I know now we were all in the presence of an angel.

Just as impressive a fight was the one waged by Taylor's mama, Jess. What would bring most to their knees and keep them there in submission, catapulted Jess to move mountains in ways I had never before seen, and all without losing her composure.

Bravery beads from SickKids Bravery Bead Program.

I wrote this post in an effort to bring awareness to Spinal Muscular Atrophy, but more importantly, in honour and memory of a special little girl whose time here on earth was shortened by this disease.

Although short, her life touched all around her and brought to light a disease most of us knew very little about. With eyes as bright as stars and a smile that warmed our hearts, Taylor has greatly impacted our lives.

She’s an angel now; a part of every sunny day and star-filled night for eternity.

Jess, my thoughts and prayers are with you on this day and always. I speak for a number of people in saying, Taylor will forever remain a part of our lives. Thanks for allowing us to be a part of hers and yours.

Taylor's favourite toy was a stuffed Giraffe. I think she would have been amused by these cookies I made just for her. Perhaps they can be shared with the other wee angels.

Please visit Families of SMA Canada to learn more about the disease and if you can, make a donation.

Sources: curesma.ca, PubMEDHealth.com

May 2012 By i sugar coat it! 8 Comments

Sweet Hearts

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. Lao Tzu

My sister, and her partner of many years are getting married - a formal blending of hearts and families.

It was mostly girls on Sunday as we came together to celebrate my sister's upcoming nuptials. The weather was great, the food was divine and the company was gut-busting fun - but one expects nothing less when a giant trampoline is involved.

It's always a treat to see my sister and nieces. Since they moved to another city, visits have gone from weekly to a few times a year. Also gone, is frequent access to my sister's amazing desserts. Where I have to try in the kitchen, she is a natural.

My aunt did a fabulous job organizing the event - she had tents set up so that we could keep everything outdoors and arranged for entertainment to keep everyone engaged and light tasty food and drinks for the health-conscious bunch. I, the least health-conscious of the bunch, was responsible for desserts.

I had so many great ideas pop into my head that included a sweet table boasting cake pops, push pops, macarons, cookies, a three-tier cake etc. - but had to quiet them due to lack of time. Plus, we really would not get through all that sugar. So, I kept it simple, and even that had its challenges.

The venue for the wedding is a historical building and so I thought I would go for a vintage feel. Purple is a big part of the wedding's colour palette, so I have incorporated it in all three sweets.

First up, something for our guests to take away. I used my favourite cookie recipe, covered them with a fondant circle and decorated with fondant abstract bride and groom silhouettes inspired by this pin. Cutting each out freehand was time-consuming, but I only needed two dozen. A little sanding sugar, and crumbs, and voila! I found the cookie packaging at Michael's. They came complete with little bags for the cookies, polka-dotted envelope cases, ribbons and do-it-yourself print labels. You gotta love anything that aims to make life easier!

Next on the list, cupcakes. My Red Velvet cake seems to be a hit among the adults and kids alike, so I went with that. I topped them off with a very light cream cheese/white chocolate frosting and adorned them with dragee-centered, fondant sugar flowers in a vintage purple. I found these great cupcake liners at Fancy Flours. The flowers were very simple to make and the addition of dragees added interest and bling.

Finally, the cake! Rog and Ali have four beautiful girls between them; three separately and the fourth they created together just over three years ago. There is a whole lot of parties involved in blended families, and with that sometimes comes a little drama, but more importantly a whole lot of love. It's like having three sets of parents and all the associated relatives - a community of people with a shared interest. Add grandparents, aunts, uncles and there is never a shortage of love.

The cake represents all the love this union brings to the couple, their kids and the extended family. The purple hearts are his, hers and theirs. All the hearts link to make one big heart that contains their love, or in this case, cake.

May sound corny to some, but that's just me, corny! I love a happy ending and I try to look for meaning and good in everything and everyone.

Ivory Sweet Hearts Shower Cake - I Sugar Coat It!

I used a peony cutter and a mix of fondant and gum paste to create this ruffled flower. I dusted it and added dragees to the center. The cake is small around but very tall - I used two 6" x 3" pans. Filled and covered, it stood around 8" high.

The photos aren't my best, but are a testament to how occupied I was enjoying the food entertainment and most importantly, the company - I did not have a chance to take photos while the light was good.

Ali and Rog, I wish you both the very best and look forward to your big day!

Keep an eye out for a post-wedding post!

May 2012 By i sugar coat it! 11 Comments

Ruffles & Pearls Mother's Day Cake

Mom, Mother, Ma, Mommy, Momma, Mum, Mumsie, Madame, Mama, M... Whatever you are called - Happy Mother's Day!

I am extremely blessed to have a number of women in my life that I can call 'Mother'. My mom, from whom I was conceived, my grandmother, with whom I spent my formative first years, my aunts, who, when my sister and I moved to Canada from the U.S., adjusted their very young and child-free lives to accommodate us - the list goes on.

Although my gratitude can often be unconventional and subtle, there is no shortage of it throughout the year. Today, however, it comes in the form of cake - ruffled and pearled.

The ruffles represent times of turbulence, sadness, adversity that were in turn corrected, consoled, and resolved by their wisdom, love, and experience, represented by the pearls. The band of aubergine pearls are those milestones that could not be achieved without their unabating support and encouragement. Thanks!

Inspiration for this Ruffles & Pearls Mother's Day Cake came from a number of sources. I have seen a number of ruffled cakes around, I even attempted one with buttercream back in February for my sister's birthday. Remember this? This time around I used fondant to create the ruffles and pearls. The pearl design is inspired by a cake I saw on Sweetapolita's facebook page and the ruffles were inspired by a Fondant Flinger cake also on Facebook.

I should note that this is my first tiered cake - YAY!! Both tiers are vanilla bean, filled and masked with white chocolate ganache. The base is two 6" and the top tier, 4". I used a rose cutter set that comes with six pieces/sizes - I placed the larger petals as the base row and used the next size down as I made my way up the base tier. For the pearls I used a pearl mould - the same one I used to create the pearls on this cake. The mould and instructions to make the brooch can be found here. I added some colour and shine with my new decorating addiction - edible dust.

Fairly easy techniques, but the petals were time consuming and the pearl strings broke each time I lifted them to attach to the cake. They lost their perfectly rounded shapes in the process.

By the time this post goes live, you would have already had your celebratory brunches, dinners etc. I hope that your day was filled with love, laughter and the company of loved ones.

Happy Mother's Day!

May 2012 By i sugar coat it! 5 Comments

100 Days Celebration Cupcakes

Back in January of this year, I made these for my good friends who were expecting their first child. Since that post, they have become parents to a beautiful, healthy baby girl who, at 100 days expressed interest in writing her first post.

Hi, I'm Kiernen! I recently turned 100 days and celebrated by throwing an eight-hour party for family and friends. Mind you, I slept through half of it, but you can't fault me - sleeping and eating are a huge part of my growth regimen. In fact, this will be a short post, as I am following a very strict feed-and-sleep program.

The events leading up to my delivery were well documented in the birth announcement penned by yours truly and shared with family and close friends while my exhausted parents slept. I've summarized for this purpose.

It's quite a riveting tale of speeding, being pulled over by the police, mommy setting the police straight and getting out of a ticket, daddy panicking the entire way and forgetting to pack a change of clothes, but somehow packing a kettle instead, mommy being fully dilated upon arriving at the hospital, me stubbornly resisting against mommy's pushes for ten hours and finally heading to my new home four days after being pushed from my home of almost nine months. I am tired just reliving the events.

Fast forward to 100 days later and a house buzzing with excitement and my favourite thing that I can't yet eat, cake! But I digress...

By Chinese tradition, "100 days birth celebration represents the wish that the baby will live 100 years." It's a celebration of my birth and health and all the good things that my family wishes to come my way - I think you folks call it prosperity. That's about as much as I gathered from mom and dad and I am not yet allowed to surf the net. If your culture has similar celebrations, I would love to hear about them.

In addition to all the wonderful food, and I mean a whole lot of food, there was cake! Cupcakes for my guests to enjoy and a little tri-colour cake made especially for me, which, when cut, revealed a soft, sponge-like cake bursting with vanilla beans, and the prettiest colours I have ever seen - SQUEEEEE!!!

It's nap time again, but I hope you enjoyed my post. I am pretty sure I'll be back in the near future. In the meantime, feel free to leave me a note below. I'd love to hear from you.

xoxo, Kiernen

April 2012 By i sugar coat it! 16 Comments

Gastro-Entomology or Lavender Honey Cupcakes

Lavender Honey Cupcakes by I Sugar Coat It!

Welcome to Gastro-Entomology 101! Today we will take a closer look at the predatory dragonfly and the very sociable honey bee. Let's start this lesson off with a video clip I prepared. Will someone kindly turn down the lights?

Now that we've had a glimpse of the dietary behaviour shared among the Odonata and Apoidea, let's explore how they might fit into our diet.

Ever had stir-fry grasshoppers or beetles? Well, K was brave enough to sample the street fare while in Thailand a few years back, circa the meat-eating days. I still gag each time I think about it, yet, I am fascinated. So much so, that I decided to finally indulge - wuss style.

Insects are best enjoyed fresh, but first you need to catch them. I designed two types of traps, as shown above, each specific to a type of insect and concocted from secret ingredients to attract and lure the prey.

First in line, the ever sociable Honey Bee. Difficult to distract from its busy-bee, running around for the queen all day long self. This one was instantly attracted to the set trap, cleverly disguised by what he mistook for a honeycomb.

Once in contact with the surface, a magical adhesive was released, trapping the insect. No buzzing off for this little guy. Where's your queen when you need her, huh?

Next up, the super-cool, flying dragon with its long slender body and stained glass-like wings. Doesn't he just reek of coolness? I mean look at those sunglasses! Really? He too met the same fate as our bee friend.

Once trapped, they were prepared to my liking and immediately enjoyed. Don't know why it has taken me this long! I think I can get used to this.

So that we are clear - no insect was hurt in the making of the movie clip or cupcakes. These entomological delicacies were hatched from this recipe for modelling chocolate and this silicone mould. I then made them all pretty and blingy-like with edible dust in various colours (remember my sugar brooches?). The ingredients that attracted and lured these fancy fliers, lavender and honey - Lavender Honey cupcakes, to be exact. That secret adhesive, royal icing - yup!

I topped off this batch of cupcakes with black marshmallow fondant and used impression mats to create the patterns, which I then painted with edible dust dissolved in vodka. The other batch were treated differently and queued for a future post.

How about we end this lesson with a little bee rap? Cue the beat -

I like bee butts and I cannot lie, those other bees can't deny, that when a bee flies by with an itty bitty waist and a round thing in your face, you get stung...

Sir-Mix-A-Lot remake not your thing? How about a little bee humour?

Q: Who is the bee's favourite singer?

A: Sting!

Q: What did the bee say to the naughty bee?

A: Bee-hive yourself.

Q: What did the confused bee say?

A: To bee or not to bee.

Had enough?

How about some dragonfly humour? Not to worry, couldn't find any worth sharing. Cue the sighs of relief...

Consider this the next time you reach for the honey -
Honey bees transform nectar into honey by a process of regurgitation? YUM!!

These cupcakes are tres facile to make, so what you waiting for?

(Bee humour borrowed from here.)

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Gastro-Entomology or Lavender Honey Cupcakes

Lavender & Honey Cupcakes Yields 18 regular-size cupcakes

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Total Time30

Course: Dessert

Servings:

Author: I Sugar Coat It

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted 2 sticks, softened
1 cup superfine sugar
2 cups self-rising flour
4 eggs
1 tablespoon . lavender honey
1 teaspoon . vanilla extract

Instructions

Prepare your muffin pan. If not using baking cups, grease and flour the pan.
Preheat your oven to 400ºF.
Combine all the ingredients in a mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium for 2-3 minutes, or until fully combined.
Use an ice-cream scooper to spoon batter into the cups/wells.
Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes in pan. Remove from pan and let cool on a rack.
Decorate to your liking and enjoy!

April 2012 By i sugar coat it! 4 Comments

Chocolate Forest

If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? What if the tree is made of chocolate???

This is my first time participating in 'cooperative' baking, or baker's challenge as it's called. I was invited to join Walnuts and Honey, Sugar Vanilla Bakes, Bakes-A-Lot, Anuta Loves Cupcakes, and a few others on Facebook to create a dessert each month that embodies the chosen theme for that particular month.

This month's theme is 'The Forest', which coincides nicely with Earth Month (well, day actually, but I'm sure Mother Nature won't mind the extended recognition).

For instant grass, add shredded coconut and green food colour to a freezer bag, shake and Voila!.

I have never really done a 'themed' cake, so was a little unsure of my approach.

My original plan was a little dark in it's depiction of our abuse and misuse of our natural resources and the impending catastrophic end. Sounds pretty, huh? Phew! That all went out the window when I happened upon new inspiration by way of a Thank You card at Mandagirl, a scrapbooking site. The colour scheme of the card spoke to me and I listened. And, even more so, when I received my daily dose of design seeds.

The plan was to keep it simple with just the tree, some painted on grass at the base of the cake and maybe a couple birds perched atop the cake. The tree on its own made a statement and was in line with my taste - simple, uncluttered and lots of green.

Through the camera lens, however, it appeared bland and uninteresting. So I added and subtracted and shifted and repeated until I got here - a completely edible and palatable 8 x 4 chunk of chocolate forest. I used fondant and modelling chocolate to decorate and ate a few birds and leaves along the way.

Here is a list of the items I used to decorate my little chocolate forest:

Square Pans - two 4x4x4
Fondant - to cover cake
Modelling Chocolate - white and dark
Sugar Flair - yellow, green, violet, orange
Americolor - avocado
Veiner - for leaf detail
Scriber - to create bark texture on the trees
Wilton Mold - birds and blossoms
Xacto Knife - to carve tree and leaf shapes
Fondant Smoother - I love these new edgers!
Cake Board
Paint Brush

For the cake, I used the same recipe used for the Chocolate Espresso Cake. It's a fairly dense cake, so will stack well without compromising moisture and taste. Really, I just needed another excuse to make it.

Instead of buttercream, I used chocolate ganache under the fondant. Not only does it taste better, in my opinion, it allows for sharper edges - still not as sharp as I would like, but that takes practice. I came across this trio of videos from Inspired by Michelle some time ago and finally got around to trying it. Her cakes are just stunning. I'm a convert.

Ganache is basically two ingredients - chocolate and cream - YUM!

For dark chocolate - 2 parts dark chocolate to 1 part cream.

For white chocolate - 3 parts chocolate to 1 part cream. The cream should be heavy, I used 35%.

Hope the videos will inspired you to give ganache a go for your next cake.

It's always great hearing from you - feel free to leave a comment or question below.

Visit me on Facebook for additional photos.

April 2012 By i sugar coat it! 14 Comments

Lavender Rose French Macarons

FEET! FEET! They've got FEET!! I burst into the quiet, little room reserved for yoga, meditation and nothing louder than the all encompassing Ohmmmmmmmm. My screams pierced the silence, almost knocking the Dude over from his Sirshasan (head stand). THEY HAVE FEET!!!

Once right-side-up, he reluctantly climbed the stairs and followed me to the kitchen. We peered through the oven window, and in that moment of silence I felt a foot feetish take form.

If you have been following me long enough to remember these, then my reaction to this success should come as no surprise. Although I tried to make the best of my first attempt, I was terribly disappointed. I followed the steps to the letter and failed.

The experience reminded me of my first Orchid plant. The Dude gifted me beautiful Phalaenopsis in the early days of our relationship - a gift leading to a long-lasting obsession with orchids. They were so stunning, I did not want them to meet the same end as most plants left in my care.

Instead of simply enjoying the plant, its beauty and the meaning behind the gift, I focused solely on keeping them alive - how much water, when to water, temperature, lighting, nutrients. They died within ten days. I learned my lesson and have had great success with orchids since. I basically just let them be, and they thrive.

Macaron Pops

In my second attempt at macarons, I decided to take the same approach. I didn't over-think, didn't age the eggs, didn't let the macarons rest for extended periods, I made my own almond flour and didn't over-sift, didn't open the oven door after five minutes. I'd become so overwhelmed by the many conflicting advice/tips that exist on the web the first time around, I decided to bypass them this try. Two things I did that I felt may have contributed to the outcome - I became fully acquainted with my oven and I invested in an oven thermometer. No-brainer for some, but light bulb moments for me.

I have a gas oven, but only just learned about its convection feature, and finally put it to use. I baked three batches and there was not a single crack. Oh, and I baked them all at once, another no-no, apparently.

I may have just gotten lucky, but I don't believe in luck. I'd like to say it's all skill, but that would be a lie. I am told these little wonders are hit-and-miss. Perhaps the universe felt I deserved this one after such a horrible first attempt. Yeah, I'll go with that!

If you have not yet tried a Macaron, I urge you to. They are widely available, heck, you can even find them at McDonald's McCafés in France.

I used the recipe from my previous attempt, but coloured them purple (5 drops of Americolor Regal Purple). They turned out a beautiful, soft, vintage purple. The baked shells turned out lighter than the batter, something to keep in mind if you are trying to achieve a specific colour.

Once they were completely cooled, I dry-dusted the shells with edible luster dust in Violet. This didn't change the shell colour, but provided a satiny sheen that photographs nicely.

I whipped up some Lavender Rose Buttercream to create the centers of this delicate cookies. Some of them were treated with a little Ultra Violet bling from the India Tree line of sparkling sugars. They come in the most striking colours and are all natural.

I have been trying out my new Nikon Macro lens, an early birthday gift from the Dude. I shot the photos for this and my last post using the macro lens - explains all the close-ups. LOL I have always been interested in photography, but only tackled food as a subject when I started blogging. I see improvement - even had a few shots accepted on foodgawker, still, I have a great deal to learn and improve.

Mac Attack:
Orange Blossom French Chantilly Macarons
Matcha Mojito Macarons

I would love to hear from you, leave a comment below and feel free to share the sweets!

April 2012 By i sugar coat it! 7 Comments

How Do You Like Your Eggs?

Easter Egg-Shaped Cakes Decorated in Sprinkles, Sugar Hydrangeas and Butterflies

How do you like your eggs? Do you like them on a boat, with a goat, in the rain, on a train, in the dark, in a tree, in a car, in a box, with a fox, in a house or with a mouse? Would you like them here or there? Or would you like them anywhere?

Some people like them green with ham, or a mystery food that goes by Spam. I know most people eat them first, but me, I like them as dessert!

Hey, you gotta give it to Dr. Suess - the man had mad rhyming skills, huh? I wonder what he would think of my loose interpretation of his Green Eggs & Ham...

I had eggs on my brain all weekend - combination of Easter and the Dr. Seuss app I recently downloaded (go ahead and judge, don't bother me none). So what do you do when life gives you lemons? Make eggs!

Well it was actually K who gave me the lemons, and he set them in such a way, so that the bright yellow of their skin, became little suns that beckoned me, each time I walked past the kitchen. It was too much to bear, so I quickly became acquainted, massaged them, sliced them in half when they were too relaxed to recognize their fate and extracted every last drop of their tart juices. Soon after, they were resurrected as Lemon Pound Cake (I added Vanilla beans - scrapings of 1 pod).

Which brings me to the eggs! They were created using this pan. To join the halves, I filled them Vanilla Lemon Buttercream icing adapted from here - I added Vanilla Beans. One was then crumb-coated and covered with yellow fondant, to which I applied sugar Hydrangeas in various colours. I used Royal Icing to adhere the flowers to the Fondant and as centers. The second, I iced and showered with sprinkles. I then topped them with these delicate Butterflies I made using this amazing mould. (I went a little crazy at Squires Kitchen last year.) I kept one white and dusted with a little shimmer and painted the other with a combination of yellow, pink and purple non-toxic lustre dust. You can't quite see it in the photos, but the lace detail is exquisite.

So how do I like my eggs, you ask? I do not like them green with ham. I do not like them in a van. I like them sprinkled, flowered and frosted. With lemon zest, they are the best!

Hope everyone had a happy Easter!

Let me know you've been here - leave a comment below.

April 2012 By i sugar coat it! 11 Comments

Chocolate Cake With A Kick

Chocolate Cake With A Kick is a coffee and chocolate lover's dream of rich chocolate espresso Bundt cake, smothered in chocolate almond cinnamon glaze.

Chocolate. Espresso. Almond. Cinnamon. Chocolate. Repeat. Release the dopamine!

I have made many a Bundt cakes - Vanilla Bean, Pumpkin Spice, Lemon, Brown Sugar, Banana, even Carrot. Surprisingly, never chocolate! So, you will understand why this cake spoke to me the very moment it appeared on the screen, while browsing Rosie's Sweetapolita Facebook fan page album. I immediately hopped over to her blog and bookmarked the recipe.

I already owned the pan - purchased it at a sale about a year ago. Truth be told, there was a period when I went a little nuts with Bundt pans - I think I own every shape made. Not proud. If you are ever driving along the 400, stop here, there is a discount housewares store there that offers them at a great price. Or, shop online at the source, here.

Okay, back to this handsome, rich, dark piece of sweetness. I substituted a couple ingredients to try and make it my own. For the cake, I used almond flour in place of all-purpose flour, almond extract instead of vanilla and increased the baking soda by ½ teaspoon. It didn't rise as high, but it produced a nice dense crumb cake. I also added a touch of almond extract to the glaze to build on the almond flavour.

I had the pleasure of meeting Rosie from Sweetapolita and learning some of her photography tips and tricks at a recent CCSA event. It was clear from the onset that she is passionate about what she does. I hope she doesn't mind I borrowed her recipe...

In the mood for a sweet pick-me-up? This cake delivers with its combination of chocolate and espresso. I wonder if there's a Starbuck's hot drink equivalent?

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4 from 1 vote

Chocolate Cake With A Kick

Chocolate Cake With A Kick is a coffee and chocolate lover's dream of rich chocolate espresso Bundt cake, smothered in chocolate almond cinnamon glaze.

Prep Time15

Cook Time40

Total Time55

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Cake

Servings:

Author: i sugar coat it!

Ingredients

Cake:

8 oz butter 2 sticks/1 cup
½ cup high quality Dutch process cocoa
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder dissolved into ¾ cup water
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon almond extract
2 large eggs
2 cups almond flour
1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt

Chocolate Almond Cinnamon Glaze:

4 oz high quality bittersweet chocolate coarsely chopped
⅓ cup unsalted butter softened and cut into ½ pieces
1 ½ teaspooons light corn syrup
½ teaspoon almond extract
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350° F. Prepare a 10-12 cup bundt pan - I use cake release.
Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat; add cocoa, stirring until smooth. Whisk in the espresso water and remove from heat.
Add the sugar, sour cream, vanilla, and eggs to the warmed cocoa mixture and whisk until smooth.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the first mixture, whisking until well blended.
Pour batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until it feels firm to the touch and has slightly pulled away from the sides of the pan. Cool in pan on a rack for 20 minutes.
Remove from pan by placing the rack over the cake and invert, tapping pan lightly, if required to loosen.

To make the glaze:

Place the chocolate, butter, corn syrup, and cinnamon in a medium heat-proof bowl over a pot of simmering water. Stir the mixture using a rubber spatula until melted and smooth.

Notes

Adapted from Sweetapolita.com

March 2012 By i sugar coat it! 6 Comments

Sugar Brooches

To embellish, or not to embellish? My other half has very strong opinions on the matter. He feels if it can't be eaten, it has no business on a cake. It's not that they can't be eaten, they are 'edible' after all. Palatable? Well, there is where my argument fizzles. For all the visual impact 'edible' embellishments provide, edible, does not necessarily translate to palatable.

I have yet to find a commercial fondant that I truly enjoy, add gum paste to the mix and it becomes even less palatable. I have heard good things about Marshmallow fondant, but I have yet to try it (#12 on my ever growing list). Still, my view is, if it adds visual impact, embellish away - as long as it does not compromise food safety.

Spicy Pumpkin Bundt Cake & Pecan Pumpkin Butter Frosting

I used the Karen Davies brooch mould for the smaller brooches and the Baroque for the larger, featured piece. I just love the way these Sugar Brooches turned out and can't wait to make more for a future cake or cupcakes. I'll use modelling chocolate - edible and palatable!

For today's post, I am treating them as jewellery and have used a 50/50 fondant/gum paste mix. I played around with a few finishes and colours and chose to feature this lot. Here's a pictorial on how I made them:

March 2012 By i sugar coat it! 14 Comments

Southern Belle

Gold and Pearls Cake with Sugar Magnolia

I have added another flower to my sugar flower repertoire! Hmmm, is it really a repertoire with a mere two flowers? Yes ma'am. Make room Anemone, and welcome Miss Magnolia, she's southern.

I recently came across a video by Minnette Rushing of Savannah Custom Cakes, while shopping online at Flour Confections. After watching the three-part instalment, I realized that I already had most of the items needed to make the flower, and quickly set out to do just that. The video is great - it provided clear instructions, and used camera angles and close-ups that allowed me to grasp the steps quickly. It really helped me approach the project with confidence.

A cake was not a part of this post, initially. In fact, it was an after thought - made and decorated today. I am happy I added it. I think it lends an air of elegance to the photos and the flower - or perhaps it is the other way around.

The cake is a simple Vanilla Bean pound cake - two 6 x 3" stacked, filled and crumb-coated with Buttercream of the same flavour. I then covered it with white fondant and used a ruler to score the lines to create the diamond pattern. To create the rows of pearls, I had a little help from this mold. I planned to stop there and keep it as a blank canvas for the flower to pop against, but it was too bland a canvas.

A little while back, Caljava had a great sale on their dusts - I think I bought one of every colour, and I was quite certain 24 karat gold made the list. I added a couple drops of vodka to the gold dust and painted the pearls and a few of the diamonds to create a rustic look.

I am rather pleased with the end result!

I really enjoyed making the flowers - I made three and had to stop myself from making dozens.

If you like what you see, I hope you'll take a few seconds to leave a comment and share this post. To receive new posts directly to your Inbox, enter your email address in the space under 'Sweeten Your Inbox' on the right.

March 2012 By i sugar coat it! 6 Comments

Red Velvet & Avocado Mudslide

After enjoying some delicious homemade Guacamole, I thought I would experiment with the left-over Avocados. So I baked one of my favourite cakes, Red Velvet, and to work I went...

Sixlets in silver and green were added to the top.

Sounds a little gross you say - not to worry. The only Avocado in this post is the one that comes in an Americolor bottle, used to colour the buttercream frosting! That does not mean I've ruled it out - Avocado mixed with a little almond extract, icing sugar and water, pulsed in a food processor would probably produce a consistency perfect of piping. I'd have to experiment with the taste, of course - but it could be the first 'healthy' icing/frosting. But I digress...

Ruffled cakes were a hit in 2011 and continues to be a popular choice for wedding/celebrations cakes this year according to the so-called trend experts. I have seen this particular style of ruffle cake on a number of blogs and Facebook pages and I was instantly drawn to it.

The perfect occasion presented itself in the form of my sister's visit. Her visit was mainly to focus on planning her wedding, but I took the opportunity to surprise her, as her birthday was the week prior. Remember, she is the baker in the family, so I was intent on making an impression.

A former U.S. president puts it best in one of his infamous quotes, "Good intentions aren't good enough."*

Home-made flag topper and cake board cover. Lighting in the basement was on dimmer it seems.

What began as a thing of beauty, quickly morphed into the above - an Avocado mud slide. I was heartbroken and embarrassed...but not for very long - a loving family, and great sense of humour have that effect. We went on to make wedding plans, sing, dance, eat and marvel at the disaster that was my ruffle cake. We scraped away the icing and a enjoyed massive slices of the treat that laid in waiting under the frosting-gone-wrong - a moist, delicious Red Velvet cake. Then we danced and laughed some more, all the while stuffing invitations.

The rows of ruffles began to fall away from the cake about thirty minutes after it was decorated. Boy am I happy I took the photos shown earlier in the post when I did. I am still not sure what caused this. Although, my gut tells me the cakes were not completely cooled. It's the only explanation that makes sense to me. If anyone thinks/knows differently, I am all ears - would like to avoid a repeat...

I was asked how I achieved such an intense red - beet juice and cocoa rouge are my not-so-secret weapons. And no, the beets don't alter the taste.

The cake, pre-icing, stood seven inches tall. I used three pans - 1 6x3 and two 6x2. Oh, and I got to use my fairly new toy, the Agbay Jr. Double Blade - it's the only way to torte or level cakes effortlessly in my opinion. Thank you, Maureen for being so extremely helpful and for putting me in touch with www.icinginspirations.ca in Kitchener. Maureen and her husband are the creators of these exceptional products!

Cake drama aside, I had a wonderful time!

ps -*I don't vouch for the accuracy of the quotes found on the site, only their humour.

February 2012 By i sugar coat it! 4 Comments

Love & Ruffles Chocolate Engagement Cookies

Love is in the air and it smells like chocolate and vanilla!

My sister is getting married in a few months, so I thought I would test some cookies that could potentially become shower favours.

Her colour scheme is metallic gray and aubergine, which I think go superbly with the rather regal manor she has chosen for her venue. Upon seeing photos of the venue, I instantly went to my stash of Designer Stencils and pulled out the Chandelier Set and Gem Pendant Set that had been sitting on a shelf for almost a year, just waiting to be used. I also had some inspiration from one of my favourite cake artists Zoe Clark - she uses the chandelier stencil set on cookies and a three-tier cake in one of her books. I am a huge fan and own all her books.

So you may remember last month when I wrote off wafer paper after a losing battle with dragons. I also mentioned that I had another set in my possession - well, here they are. The lady and gentleman silhouette that bear absolutely no resemblance to my sister and brother-in-law to be. Regardless, they serve the purpose - and guess what? I enjoyed did not mind working with them! However, if these cookies make it on to the favour list, I am likely to use fondant to carve silhouettes that more closely resemble the couple.

The ruffles around the cookies were created using Wilton tip #101 and royal icing coloured with Americolor Violet and Silver Sheen.

Gem Pendant Stencil - 3 shapes and Chandelier Stencil - comes in 3 sizes.

I rather enjoyed working with stencils and will be digging through my stash for future projects. Not one to pat my own back, but I think my flooding has improved somewhat?!?

The cookies were made using my favourite recipe. Once the flooded cookies were dry, I used more royal icing in a thicker consistency to stencil the designs. I later added luster dust in Antique White onto the white royal icing and Smoky Amethyst onto the stenciled areas using both the wet and dry techniques.

Thanks for stopping by!