Blue and Dots

I don't usually consider myself to be a creative person so decorating cakes is not a task that is coming easily. I looked online to try and get some ideas of what type of cake to make and most of what I found seemed to be far beyond my capabilities at this point. So this time instead of making a chocolate cake I made a vanilla one. This one is different though because I decided to do two layers and between the two layers I added a chocolate filling. I love chocolate so this cake had to have it somewhere on it! Then for the icing I used plain white frosting and put blue coloring in it. Then on top of the blue icing I used the rest of the plain white and decorated it with polka dots on the top and sides. The polka dots ended up different sizes because I have never done this before but it still turned out somewhat decent. Even though I was having trouble with thinking of a new idea what I created was still different from anything that I have done which I think is the main point of taking on a decorating challenge. I wasn't able to have anyone taste it yet, I hope it's good!

Happy Valentine's Day

This week was more difficult than the previous to think of something to bake. I while I think it is important to branch out from the norm I decided that my ideas were getting to far away from cake decorating which was my original idea for this project. So, for the upcoming weeks I am sticking to cakes. Even though Valentine's Day was this weekend I already made red velvet cupcakes a couple of weeks ago so this week was pretty simple. I made a simple round cake with with chocolate cake mix and chocolate frosting on the top. Now, even though I said I kept it simple I still stayed with the holiday theme just because its fun to do and looks pretty too! After frosting the top with chocolate I then used a pipping bag and formed pink hearts in different sizes on the top. Because I previous said that the important part of this project is to continue to challenge myself I deffinetly accomplished this. The cake it self was easy but working with the piping bag was hard! It was hard try to keep my hands still while making the shape. Unfortunately my camera isn't working properly but pictures are soon to come!

Super Bowl Cobbler

For the Super Bowl I decided that baking something to bring to the gathering I was joining was the perfect opportunity to have others opinions about what I make. I keep trying to challenge myself with the treats that I bake because to me its the only way to learn. So, I found a recipe online for a berry cobbler. I was having a hard time with this recipe because it was so different from the cake or cupcakes that I have previously made. It had a lot more complicated steps. I was afraid that it wasn't going to turn out looking right but it actually did! On top of it all it tastes good too! I made sure that people at the party ate it and it all was good feed back. In the end the blueberry cobbler was a success which gives me hope that I'm going to do well from now on with other pastry goods and cakes!

red cupcakes

This weekend I decided to go home. I really had a taste for red velvet cupcakes so I thought why not make them! Being at home was an advantage because my mom was able to teach me the way she makes them and it was good bonding time since I do not get to see her very often. Now, with Valentines Day coming up and the cupcakes are already red I decided to be festive and decorate them with Valentine colors and sprinkles. It worked really well since the cupcakes have a cream cheese and vanilla frosting the sprinkles were able to stick on top. The red velvet cupcakes definitely turned out better than the poppy seed cake the previous week, I just hope that my next attempt is successful without the guidance of my mom. Here are a few pictures, I think they look pretty good!

            

                                                                    

This blog will follow my journey of learning how to decorate cakes and other pastry foods. I decided on  cake decorating because it is something I have never done before. Decorating with icing can be a creative outlet and it taste good too! My family has always been very food conscience and it seems as if there is not a moment when the cooking stops. However, even though the kitchen is always moving baking is rare to find unless it's the occasional batch of cookies, so I thought that cake decorating would allow me to expand my experiences with food. Because I have almost no experience with pastry goods I know that this is going to be an ambitious and challenging project. I am looking forward to being able to taste the final product each week and sharing it with others around me, hopefully it will bring them some joy. This weekend, a friend of mine had a birthday and her mom taught me how to make a simple poppyseed cake with cream cheese frosting. The cake was a good way for a beginner to start with and it did not take much time to prepare, not to mention it is my friends favorite! I hope now that I have gotten my start that I can continue to use more difficult recipes and techniques as the weeks go on.