Feverish!

I woke up this morning feeling like someone had beat the crap out of me overnight:  feverish, body aches, sore throat, the whole nine yards.  I'm also feverishly excited, though, because . . .

FLORIDA HAS PASSED THE COTTAGE FOOD ACT!

What is the Cottage Food Act, you ask?  Well, here is a link containing the 2011 legislature for your reading pleasure.

http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2011/7209/BillText/er/PDF 

Scroll to Page 29, Line 786 for pertinent information.

This is particularly exciting news for me, and I'll explain why. 

In my home state of Michigan, back in 2007, when I decided to "do cakes" full time,  the Department of Agriculture required food operations be conducted in a licensed and inspected commercial kitchen.  Since I had just lost my job in the legal field and had two babies to take care of, I didn't have extra money lying around to buy expensive kitchen equipment or to pay on a lease. 

I was lucky enough to find a kind business owner with kitchen space to share, and I paid her a flat monthly fee for the use of her absolutely beautiful kitchen, three days a week.  Just looking at the pictures of her place makes me smile...

When my business began to grow, it became apparent that I needed my own space, as the use of one little standard oven only three days a week was no longer enough!

I tried and tried, but I was never able to find an acceptable and affordable replacement and ultimately my lack of business location in combination with personal health complications that required emergency surgery proved to be the undoing of my business.

Shortly thereafter, my husband and I decided to start all over here in Florida, and I chose the City of Dunedin because it looked like a great place to reopen my business. 

Now, here is the kicker - only two months after we moved, Michigan passed the Cottage Food Act, allowing people to produce and sell baked goods from their residential homes.  No permits, no inspections, no expensive equipment was required. 

Now, thanks to the hard work of the cake decorating community here in Tampa Bay, particularly that of Barbara Schmal of Krazy About Cake (www.krazyaboutcake.com), the Cottage Food Act has passed in Florida, effective July 1st. 

Thank you, Barbara, and all of you who have helped to make it possible for all of us to enjoy our new found liberty!  Happy Baking!!

Easy Marshmallow Fondant

In the beginning of my foray into cake decorating, I would cover all of my cakes with my own, homemade marshmallow fondant.  I used a budget friendly recipe, which was great! 

I was able to affordably practice rolling out the fondant, getting comfortable with the texture, pliability and overall feel of the dough.

When I started my bakery business and the orders started to pour in, I found myself dreading having to spend time making the fondant and waiting for it to rest.  I started looking for a commercially made fondant that worked as well as my own.

These days, Satin Ice is my fondant of choice.  It's ready when I need it.  No prep required!

There are still times, however, that I will make up a batch of this Easy Marshmallow Fondant.  If it's going to be homemade, it's going to be this recipe.

For those of you just starting out or looking for an easy and great tasting fondant recipe, why not give this one a try.  You won't be disappointed!

Easy Marshmallow Fondant:

Ingredients

15 oz. mini marshmallows

2 tbl water

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp lemon juice

2 tsp light corn syrup

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp lemon flavor

2 lbs (10x) powdered sugar

1/2 c. Crisco (approximate)

Directions

Measure salt, juice, corn syrup and flavors into small bowl.

Grease microwaveable bowl and heat proof spoon w/ Crisco.  Pour marshmallows and water into bowl.  Microwave for two minutes, stopping to stir at 40 second intervals.  Mixture should be soupy.

Remove from microwave and immediately stir flavoring mixture into marshmallow mixture.

Add powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, stirring after each addition.  After approximately 5 cups, grease hands with Crisco and begin to knead dough.  Add another cup of powdered sugar and continue to knead.

Turn dough onto greased work surface, adding remaining powdered sugar.  Dough should not feel sticky, but should be pliable. 

Coat finished dough with Crisco.  Double wrap in plastic and seal in a Ziplock bag, pressing air from bag before sealing. 

Allow to rest several hours at room temperature or overnight.

Store remaining dough tightly sealed at room temperature for up to 2 months.

To Use

Finished dough will be firm.  Knead for pliability, adding a little extra Crisco if needed.  Roll out on clean, flat surface dusted with powdered sugar or cornstarch.

Tutu Tutorial!

My daughter's ballet recital was yesterday.  Ever since she was 2, she has wanted to be a ballerina!  She is 4 now and was very excited for her first recital.  I'm excited to be making my first tutorial!  I hope it helps you next time you have a ballet theme.

Here she is waiting to perform The Lion King!
 

I volunteered to help out backstage, and brought along books, crayons... and CUPCAKES!  The girls loved these, and they were really easy to make. 

Since my daughter doesn't care for the taste of fondant, I chose to make my tutus out of a 50/50 fondant/chocolate clay mix.  Incorporating the chocolate clay made the dough more pliable, and I was able to work with each piece without worrying that the dough would dry out.  Best of all, she loved the taste!  (She's a tough critic!) 

STEP 1:  Create a template for the leotard.  I cut mine from a food safe paper plate.

STEP 2:  Use your template to cut out the leotard.  Use the small hole from Tip 10 to easily cut out the neckline.

STEP 3:  Set on wax paper to dry out a bit while you work on the ruffles.

STEP 4:  Using a round cookie cutter, sized a little smaller than the diameter of the cupcake, cut out pink ruffles for first layer.  Place on foam.

STEP 5:  Create ruffle effect using ball tool.  Press indentations into the dough at roughly 1/2 inch increments going all the way around the circle. 

You will begin to see a ruffle effect forming. Press 3 times into each indentation.

STEP 6:  With a knife, cut out a slit in the centers of each of your top ruffle layer.  Make sure it's wide enough for your leotard to sit in, without being too wide.  You don't want the leotard to fall right through. 

STEP 7:  After the top layer of ruffles have dried/firmed up a bit, place the leotard inside.

STEP 8:  Make your second layer of ruffles.  Follow Step 5.  You won't need a slit in this layer.  I made mine a lighter shade of pink.

STEP 9.  Pipe buttercream onto your cupcake.  Place bottom layer of ruffles onto the buttercream.

STEP 10:  Pipe thick dot of buttercream on top of the bottom layer of ruffles.  This will be the glue to stick the two layers together.

YOU'RE ALMOST DONE!

STEP 11:  Place top layer of ruffle with attached leotard onto the bottom ruffle.

See how easy this is?  And I think they look great.  Simple and cute!  There are so many ways you can continue decorating these.  Adding bows, flowers, glitter, changing the colors... the possibilities are virtually endless.  This is a great basic canvas to get you started!  Have fun creating!

Jack's Birthday Cake

As you may have caught on, I am a big fan of Buddy Valastro's.  I love watching him on TLC, whether it's on Cake Boss, The Next Great Baker, or most recently Kitchen Boss; although I have no interest in cooking for pleasure anytime in the near future (maybe when my kids are a little older and appreciate more than chicken nuggets, hot dogs and Kraft Macaroni and Cheese).   

I really love his sculpted figures and 3-D cakes, and oftentimes, he talks about his use of modeling chocolate as a medium to create his amazing works of art.

Personally, I have been wanting to give modeling chocolate (also known as candy clay or chocolate clay) a try for quite some time.  I love learning new techniques.  So with Jack's 6th birthday coming up, it was the perfect occasion to give modeling chocolate a try.

After contemplating a theme for Jack's cake, I decided on Dreamworks' recently released kids' movie, Kung Fu Panda 2, and got busy sculpting the main character, Po.

Working with modeling chocolate was a dream!  It didn't dry out on me whatsoever while I was sculpting.  I was even able to leave it uncovered while I worked on my piece.  In the past, when I've used gumpaste to make my figures, I've had to work very fast before the pieces began to dry out and crack.  I've also used a 50/50 mix of gumpaste and fondant.  I've found the 50/50 mix to be easier to sculpt with than straight gumpaste; however, the pieces can take hours or even days to dry, and that can be a problem when you're working on a last minute cake order! 

To attach Po's limbs, I merely had to press them into his body.  For heavier pieces, I used a dab of water, and for Po's head, I used a little bit of melted chocolate as glue.  My finished Po stood straight up on his own without the need for wires.  When I was ready, I simply attached Po to the cake plate with melted chocolate, and he survived the 30 minute drive to Jack's birthday party compltely intact and undamaged!

In the future, I will probably opt for using Rice Krispie Treats (RKT) to sculpt the bigger parts of my figures - in this case, Po's head and belly, which I would then cover in modeling chocolate.  Doing so would result in a much lighter figure, and would require less chocolate, which is a more expensive ingredient than RKT.

Happily, Jack loved his birthday cake, and Po survived undamaged even after being poked and picked at by several curious children!  Modeling chocolate definitely doesn't replace gumpaste or fondant, but it is a great option for sculpting figures, especially for kids, because it tastes . . . well . . . like chocolate! 

*Modeling Chocolate Recipe

1/3 c. light corn syrup (such as Karo)
14 oz. dark or white chocolate

Heat chocolate over double boiler, stirring constantly until completely melted.  Immediately add light corn syrup to melted chocolate, stirring until a dough is formed.  (The dough will begin to separate from the sides of the pot.) 

Turn dough onto sheet of wax paper.  Blot any residual oils with paper towel.  Wrap dough tightly in clear plastic wrap and either store unrefrigerated overnight, or refrigerate 2-3 hours before using.

*Tips

1.  If you do not have a double boiler, you can create your own by placing a glass or metal bowl sized to fit over a pot containing a few inches of simmering water.

2.  You can use any variety of chocolate, from chocolate melts (chocolate flavored wafers that require no tempering) to high quality chocolate that must be tempered.

3.  If desired, you may color the modeling chocolate by adding gel or powdered food colors to the cooled dough.

4.  Finished dough will be hard.  This is normal.  Break off a workable amount of the dough and begin to knead for pliability.  If the dough is too hard to knead, microwave it on high for 5 seconds at a time until it is just soft enough to knead.  If you mistakenly overheat the dough, you can pop it back in the refrigerator for a few minutes, or simply let it rest at room temp until it firms back up.

All Over the Place

Seems these days, you only have to turn on cable t.v. to find yet another new cake related show.  They're popping up all over the place! 

As a cake decorator, I watch these shows to gain new techniques, but I have to admit that more and more often, the show ends, and I feel like the girl who wasn't invited to the party.  Which leads me to many questions, such as if I were invited, would I even go, what would I wear, and what would I bring?!  Ok, of course I'd go, who am I kidding?!  Because that would be the be all, end all to any career in culinary arts.  Or would it? 

What would it really take for me to achieve Baker's Bliss?