Tausha's Wedding Cake

Hello again!  How have you been?  I know...I know...it has been a long time.  This past year was the most difficult of my teaching career so far, but it is summer once again, and I am ready to hit the ground running here at Snips and Spice (not literally running--I hate running).  Although I was too busy to blog, I have been busy cooking, caking, and crafting.  Over the next few weeks, I will be posting many of the projects I worked on over the last nine months, and working on new projects to share with you as well.

One of the things keeping me busy these past months has been cakes.  It got really crazy around Christmas with two weddings (one of which was my sister's).  The week before Christmas entailed this three-tier wedding cake, about 85 cupcakes, and the birthday cake for the bride's father.

Although the cake looks complicated, it was actually pretty easy to decorate.  I covered the cake with fondant, then piped the decorations on the side--see this post for frosting cakes, and this post for covering cakes with fondant.  To transport the cake, I boxed each tier individually. 

Most of the cakes I make do not have space between the tiers, so I use cardboard bases for each tier.  For this cake, I used Wilton'sstackable square cake bases for the top two tiers, and a foil-covered square for the bottom of the cake.  The stackable bases click into place with the columns--creating a stable cake that will last throughout the day.  This was the first time I had used this type of construction, and I couldn't believe how easy it was.  I used a dab of frosting to secure the ribbons in place around the base of each tier after I stacked them.

My friend Pam helped me cut the fruit and dab it on paper towels to keep the juices from dripping on, and melting, the fondant.  The cut fruit and flowers quickly filled the gaps between the tiers and completed this cake.

The twelve-inch bottom tier of the wedding cake was comprised of four layers of red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting.  The ten-inch center tier was four layers of lemon poppyseed cake with vanilla buttercream, and the eight-inch top tier was white chocolate cake with white chocolate raspberry filling.  I used my basic cake recipe for these cakes found in this post about baking beautiful, delicious cakes.

I made the cupcakes with the same flavors as the cake tiers.  I simply colored the frosting to match the wedding colors; see my post about food coloring here.  There are so many different cupcake holders, cupcake wrappers, cake stands, and candy to decorate with right now, that you can easily create whatever look you want.

This particular wedding was a little different because it took place on the bride's father's birthday.  Father of the bride is a man who loved apple and had a deep respect for Steve Jobs, so what could be better than a surprise Apple birthday cake at the reception?  You may not be able to tell from the picture, but the apple cake was the size of a large apple.  My sister helped me create the iPod out of fondant.

Thanks for visiting!  I hope you come back this week to see what else I have been up to.

Experiments - A Variation on No-Bakes

Do you often experiment with recipes?  I have tried two in the last few days.  The first one, I burned, and we aren't going to talk about.  The second was an experiment with my no-bake cookies.  I was thinking they would be delicious with some marshmallows mixed in, or some chocolate chips.  I had white chocolate chips on hand, and since the missionaries were coming over in a couple hours, I thought that there would definitely be someone to eat them.

I made the cookies like I normally do, but after I mixed the oats and the chocolate mixture, I added the chocolate chips.  What I didn't count on, was the fact that the chocolate chips would melt so quickly.  I'm not really sure the experiment was a success, but not exactly a failure either.  They taste pretty good, but the texture is a little different.  I am looking forward to trying it with mini marshmallows.

White Chocolate, Peppermint Popcorn

This easy recipe can be adjusted in a variety of ways and is sure to be a crowd-pleaser!

Ingredients

• Natural/Plain Microwave Popcorn
• Wilton Candy Melts in Peppermint Flavor
• Candy Canes

Supplies

• Large Mixing Bowl
• Medium Glass Bowl
• Medium Pot
• Spatula
• Plastic Sandwich Bag
• Cupcake Liners
• Muffin Pans

Directions

1. Pop the microwave popcorn and empty bag into the large mixing bowl--try to pick out any un-popped kernels
2. Take 4 candy canes, remove the wrappers, and place in sandwich bag
3. Using the bottom of the glass bowl, smash the candy canes into small pieces
4. Line the muffin pans with liners
5. Create a double-boiler using the medium glass bowl, and medium pot

1. Fill the pot about 1/3 full with hot water
2. Place the glass bowl on the top of the pot (it should set on the rim, not inside the pot)
3. Empty the entire bag of candy melts into bowl
4. Stirring with the spatula, heat on medium until water creates steam that melts the candy coating
5. ***Be careful with double boilers--steam can easily burn you
6. Once all the candy is melted, pour over the popcorn (use the spatula to scrape all melted candy into the popcorn bowl)
7. Stir until the popcorn is evenly covered with the chocolate (it may seem like it will not cover, but do not fret, it will)
8. Fill the cupcake liners with the popcorn mixture
9. Sprinkle the broken candy cane pieces on top of the popcorn

10. Let cool completely, then enjoy!

Try other types of chocolate, and sprinkles or other toppings to customize to your tastes and different occasions.