Rainbow (Bright) cake

We have a friend who loves tie dye, and someone suggested that we make a tie dye cake for her birthday. I never actually did that before so I had to do a little research. In case you were wondering there are 4 ways to make a "tie dye" cake. You can:

1) Blend several different colors of fondant together.

(That had no wow factor for me)

2) You can pipe buttercream onto the cake in a tie dye effect and than flatten it out with wax paper

(Also did nothing for me)

3) You can hand paint or airbrush on the tie dye pattern

(We don't have the patience or equipement to do that)



So we settled on the 4th option - dying the cake batter itself.

We've dyed cake mix before, but not like this...

 I found this awesome recipe on How to make a rainbow cake. P.S. if you are going to do this, make sure you get the good gel dye from your local art store. The liquid food dye from the grocery store won't turn out as vivid.This is also the first time we made a cake with diet soda. I couldn't tell the difference and if it cuts back on the calories and fat, hey, I'm all for it! The only thing we noticed was that the cake was a little more sticky than normal, but that also could have been from the gel dye. But it's pretty cool to cut into a seemingly normal cake and get a whole rainbow of colors out. Even I thought and WE made it.

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Help fight cancer

This weekend the baked treat we like to refer to as the "Threesome" made it's bake sale debut and it went over pretty well. A friend who also loves to bake, held the sale as part of a Get Well Gabby event. She raised $400 which she is donating to CHOP in Gabby's name. If you would like to help you can go to Get Well Gabby.

Phoenixville's 4th Annual Bark For Life was also this weekend, which we did not get to participate in. Hopefully we can next year. (If there is anything I love more than cupcakes, it's animals.) To read more about the Bark 4 Life you can visit http://www.relayforlife.org/barkforlife. For other ways to support the American Cancer Society, or to register for the Phoenxiville Relay for Life you can visit The American Cancer Society - 2012 Relay For Life.

You live, you learn

So back to our cakes....soon after the baby shower, a friend was having a summer party and we jumped on the chance to make another cake. A few days before, sitting in Kacie's kitchen I noticed a picture of a cake on the front of Women's Day magazine. We agreed that we were going to make a "watermelon cake". But, WE were going to do it in fondant.

Our first thought was that we needed to get a rounded edge on the cake so we baked it in a large aluminum roasting pan. (We did not have circular cake pans at this time. I think we used like 2 or 3 boxes of cake mix to fill the roasting pan and it had to bake for like an hour. Now, looking back, we could have just taken a regular rectangular cake and carved it to be round but hey, you live, you learn.) Our other thought was that the cake should be pink when you bite into it, like a watermelon, instead of just yellow so we dyed our cake mix. Then once we achieved the colors we wanted for the fondant, we covered the cake and added the details. We took the cake to the party and it was a hit. By far my favorite cake to this day. And it was much easier compared to our first baby shower cakes

Every time we bake something, we learn something new that we didn't know before. Even if it's through error, that's what keeps baking so interesting. It's just an added benefit that you get to eat what you make :)

Gimme gimme S'MORE, gimme S'MORE

This past Friday, the 23rd, marked the beginning of Fall. Some of you are probably happy Summer is over - no more debilitating humidity. And like me, some of you are already dreading the thought of winter. We didn't get much baking in this summer, so I wanted to make one last summer themed treat. What is the ultimate summer sweet? S'mores...duh! And with a quick search, I found a recipe online for S'mores brownies. It was pretty easy - graham cracker crust, brownie mix, a layer of chocolate chips and then a BIG layer of marshmallows toasted by the broiler. This recipe, though awesome, is not easy to serve and doesn't produce the most photogenic product. The final product was so rich that I couldn't eat a whole piece. So this is only Take 1 of the S'more brownies. 

TO BE CONTINUED....

I'll have a cupcake please...on the rocks.

I'm falling victim to the liquor industries greatest new advertising ploy. Sweets.  I mean it's not completely new, but they are really running with it this time. Just in the past couple days I have learned of two new flavored vodkas - Whipped by Pinnacle and Cake by Three Olives. And of course I had to try them both. Following the drink recipe provided by Pinnacle, I tried a "Cream-tastic" which is Whipped vodka and orange juice. My initial reaction is that it smelled like a Lemonade Girl Scout cookie. (Mmmmm...cookies.) It did not exactly taste the same. To me, it had the same usual taste of a screwdriver. So maybe I didn't pick the right recipe. Fortunately, if you go on the Pinnacle website there are 12 pages of recipes for their Whipped vodka. That doesn't include their recipes for the Cherry Whipped, Chocolate Whipped and Orange Whipped vodkas that Pinnacle also has. (Someone over there definitely has a whipped cream fetish.) So go ahead, knock yourself out trying all those Whipped recipes. Or you can opt for a cake flavored vodka. I didn't get to try Three Olives Cake vodka, but there was a promotional event for the new vodka right here in Phoenixville. And the pictures are posted on facebook. If you went to Phoenixville Area High or live in the area, you should see some very familiar faces. Check out the facebook pictures for a good laugh. 

Three Olives Cake Vodka Hits Phoenixville        

            

So instead of Three Olives, I tried Pinnacle's Cake vodka. Just chilled in a shot glass. I was prepared for the worst. I love cake and I love vodka but I don't necessarily want them mixed together. To my surprise it wasn't that bad, rather surprising smooth! It actually tasted like a flippin' cupcake! It's almost scary that they could make a vodka that tasted so pleasant. It has the potential to be seriously dangerous. So it is worth trying....just don't drink too much, I can't imagine it tastes too good coming back up and you might not want to eat cake for a while after that. And for those of you who would like something a little lighter than vodka I have another noteworthy product to try. Wine from Cupcake Vineyards. I happened across it at the local liquor store a couple months ago. Naturally I had to buy it because I am a sucker for any product that references cake or cupcakes. I first tried Cupcake Vineyards Red Velvet which is a combination of Zinfandel, Merlot and Cab Sauvignon. Now it's a staple in my apartment. AND it's only $12 for a bottle! So if you haven't tried it yet, I recommend that you do. You will not be disappointed.

Next on my list to try: Pinnacle Gummy :)

What does it really mean to have a "sweet tooth"

Preface

Yesterday I was enjoying some quality cuddling time with my cat. And I was thinking of how he is so awesome - he's a gorgeous domestic longhair with quite a personality and strangely, a wicked sweet tooth. Cupcakes are his favorite, no joke. So, naturally, I began to think about what really determines one to "have a sweet tooth". After our cuddling session, I went on the internet and did some "research". Having gone to school for nutrition and FOOD SCIENCE you might think I would know the answer. Pssh...that was like 3 years ago, I have totally forgotten all that by now. (I can't even remember what I did yesterday.) Anyway, browsing through the internet I have discovered a few theories as to why we crave sweets. Here they are:

Chapter 1

Family tradition or cultural influences

Makes sense, right? When you are young, its a treat to go get ice cream. Or maybe you and your mother would bond over baking cookies Friday nights watching episodes of Sabrina the Teenage Witch (*wink wink*). Not to mention the holidays. It's not a holiday celebration without sweets, family and food comas. So the theory is if you are raised in an environment where sweets are a common part of the cultural, you will be more likely to turn to them as a comfort food. 

Chapter 2

Low blood sugar

People who are dangerously lacking certain vitamins or minerals in their diet will often obsessively crave food that contains those vitamins or minerals. Unbeknownst to them, their body is protecting itself. So when your blood sugar drops below its normal level, you might start to crave sugar to give it a quick boost. Sugars are going to be absorbed into the body faster than any other macronutrient, so consuming sugar would produce the quickest increase in blood sugar.

Chapter 3

Low serotonin levels

We have all experienced sugar cravings when we are stressed or upset. You sit down on the couch and it feels like you could eat a whole pint of ice cream (dont forget to put on the Horribly Depressing Music station on Pandora). But there is an actual biological reason that these "comfort" foods actually produce a sense of comfort. Sugar consumption can have the same effect on the brain as anti-depressents. Sugar increases the production of serotonin which is like a feel good hormone in our body. This is another example of how the body is amazing; it's an incredible self-regulating machine. You are experiencing low serotonin levels, your brain knows exactly what to do, and *ta-da* theres your sugar craving.

Chapter 4

Dehydration

Water is extremely important to the functioning of our bodies and our survival. So when you get a sugar craving your body might actually be in some degree of dehydration. It's recommended that if you get a sugar craving, or a craving of any kind, to drink a glass of water. Wait 10 to 20 minutes, if the craving goes away, you were probably dehydrated.

Afterword

So whatever the reason for our sugar cravings, it's important to not think of it as a "bad" thing. Your body might actually be trying to tell you something. And why deny yourself something that makes you happy.  Afterall, you only live once, so enjoy the sweet things in life.

If you can't love yourself, how the hell are you gonna love somebody else?

BEWARE: The following post may contain crude and unusual content.

Approximately a week ago I was flipping through the channels on the TV. This usually lasts for about 5 minutes at the most because even though there are 1800 some channels offered I can hardly ever find anything that interests me. No Cake Boss or Amazing Wedding Cakes :( And then I came across RuPaul's Drag Race on Logo. The vulgarity and colorfulness of the show captured my attention. And to my suprise I see cakes! But what are they for? The drag queens have to design and construct an outfit inspired by their cake.

AND they have to make their own cake to represent their personality. (You don't get more talented than that - a sewing, baking, biological man that does his own makeup and can put on a mean strut in stilettos. I'm kinda jeal.)

So after all the sewing, frosting and drama, it is time to see the final results. Some are...interesting. Some are just horrible. Either way, they were all inspired by one of my favorite things - CAKE!

Even if this show may be offensive to some, I can't help but love it...especially when it involves cake. But more importantly, the show represents a very important point - you can't truely love someone else until you love yourself fully. So whether your thing is baking cakes, or dressing up like a women, put your whole heart into it and you will never be dissappointed with the results. Be proud of what makes you you :)

Threesome anyone?

CAUTION: Consuming this treat could result in a major sugar rush :)

We have gone CrAzY this time for sure.

This is the result of improvision...again. First, Kacie wanted to make a cupcake that wasn't just cupcake, but also had brownie on the bottom. She baked them, they turned out great but something was missing. The plain old icing was failing to impress us. So what do you do in a time such as this? Throw a cookie on top!!

Now what the hell do we call this thing?!

It is currently called the "Threesome" ;)

The Cakes That Started It All

We started planning these cakes a couple weeks in advance. They were for a babyshower for Kacie's sister. The theme was jungle animals. This, being our first experience with fondant, was quite an adventure to say the least. The cake was to be a two tier masterpiece (as far as we were concerned). 

 We the night before the party we covered the cakes with fondant and went to stack them. Novices that we are, we used wooden skewers to "stabilize" the cake.  FAIL  .Plan B - two seperate cakes. So late into the night we had to improvise two new designs for the cakes. We finally called it quits at 2am so we could each get some sleep.

The cakes were a great hit at the babyshower and they tasted good too! It wasn't easy and it didn't turn out exactly as planned, but for the first time using fondant we were pleased.