Sprinkle and Sugar Management

My blog is about finding delight in everyday life.  Celebrating the beauty of everyday moments. Embracing what you love, collecting what you want.  

I love a lot of things, but I tend to tell people that my life is driven by color and sugar.  No image will make that clearer than the one above.  My new genius invention...what I call "Sugar Management."

Do you love it!?!  It is every sprinkle I own, contained in individual clear boxes with lids.  I know, it makes my heart pound too.

You see, I have a lot of decorations and I use them liberally on cupcakes, cookies and the like.  I go on "field trips" with my friend Alison and we buy what we need for the upcoming holiday.  It is so fun, so reasonable and is the best collection ever.

Collection?  Yep, this counts.  Something that I have this much of and something that brings me this much delight surely counts as a collection. To me, this is art.

The road block for me was that the containers that they came in were of varying sizes and not at all appealing.  When I pull out my cookie decorations it should be as pretty as the sugar itself. Do you know what I mean?  The marginal packaging was standing in the way between me and the cute.  So I found a way to fix it.

Want to have your own system of sugar management?  I bought a collection of clear Amac boxes (this variety with a deep lid) and (this variety with a narrow lid) at the Container Store and I feel like a Sweet Genius.  

Checkerboard Cake

Tah-dah! The cake I have been imagining is finally brought to life.  My mom (a baking enabler) bought me this checkerboard cake pan when I was in my twenties.  While I was enthralled with it back then and made several chocolate and vanilla checkerboard cakes, it has been years since I have used it!

I started thinking about it this Winter and decided to make a pink and white checkerboard cake as soon as I was back home in my house and ready for Spring.  

My dad stopped by when I was assembling the layers and loved the ingenuity of the removable ring batter divider.   

We were still visiting when the layers came out of the oven and we were both so happy to see them release from the pan so easily.  I had sprayed the pans with Bakers Joy (nonstick spray with flour) and cut parchment paper circles to line the bottom of each pan.  They came out perfectly!

This 3-layer cake is made from 2 boxes of Pillsbury Moist Supreme "classic white" cake mix.  Make one box and leave it white.  Make the second box and add drops of liquid red food coloring until it looks as pink as you'd like.

The frosting is one batch of homemade butter cream.  I beat 3 sticks of salted butter until smooth.  Slowly add 3 3/4 cups of powdered sugar (confectioners sugar), one cup at a time.  Mix in 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and a few drops of liquid red food coloring.  Once the cake has cooled completely, stack the three layers on top of one another without frosting in between, alternating the ring pattern.  Spread frosting on outside of cake.  Voila! 

* I will post about the white chocolate flower decorations on top on Friday, May 3, 2013.

Santa on Christmas Eve

Don't you love it?  I fell for this little Santa and his reindeer at the cake and candy supply store.  I wasn't sure how I would use him, but I knew that where ever I placed him (mind you, I was thinking on a cake) he would be adorable.

It was my husband, Dan, who took him from the kitchen and placed him on the roof of my advent calendar house.  Can you stand it?  It couldn't be more perfect.  I found a source for you online, in case you wanted to put your own Santa "up on the housetop - click click click." 

Merry Christmas!

Winter Brownies

I normally like to come up with my own cute, but this darling Winter scene (on top of a pan of brownies) exists because Nigella Lawson did it first.  She is a British television personality that has her own cooking show (and many cookbooks).

One day recently on her show, she made a gingerbread cake in a 9 x 13 pan, cut it into cubes, dusted it with powdered sugar and placed a few deer and trees on top.  I loved it!  And you know I have the deer from my successful "Reindeer Games" cupcakes of 2008.  When I was at the cake and cookie supply store the other day I noticed a bag of trees and knew that I had to try making my own woodland scene.  And all of a sudden today I had an occasion to use them!

My nephew came home from Switzerland today after 3 months studying abroad  and his parents hosted an impromptu welcome home party.  I made this batch of brownies and brought them to the party to represent the the snow-filled forests in Switzerland.  They looked adorable and were a big hit.   

Festive Cakes

When my friend called me for directions to our "Euchre Night," she asked what I was bringing.  It was a holiday-themed card party and she was curious to hear what I was up to.

I told her that I was making a cake, but that it was less about the cake and "All about the stencil."  Can you blame me?  Look at this masterpiece!  Anything that can look this good just by shaking powdered sugar on it, is a dream come true.

The stencil is by Martha Stewart and you can get one here.  I used a yellow box cake mix and made homemade chocolate butter cream icing.

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter 
2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup whole or 2% milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency.  Add additional milk, if needed to be spreading consistency. Stir in vanilla.  Spread on cake smoothly.  Put in refrigerator for a while to let the icing set, this allows the stencil to be placed on the icing, sprinkled with powdered sugar, and then lifted gently away, leaving a gorgeous image.  Voila!

Sugarland

Holiday baking season is here and you will be amazed at the selection of sprinkles, sugars and jimmies at your local cake and candy supply store.  I was taken to this marvelous "sugarland" called Heinrich's Decorating Nook by my friend Allison.  She makes a run here every November to get the chocolate and peppermint crunch she needs for her holiday candy making.  When she mentioned her pilgrimage to me, I jumped at the chance to go with her and see this sugar supply store for myself.  Now I am a part of her annual trip and last week was my 5th year going with her.  We wander up and down every aisle and have a wonderful time imagining all the varieties of candy we could make.  In the end we always settle on our now-famous toffee.  December 18th is the big day this year and I am really looking forward to having her over for a fun day of toffee making.

Want to find your own sugarland?  Google: "(Your Town), cake decorating" and you will see a list of options in your area.  You won't be disappointed - the selection is greater and the prices are better than any grocery (or craft) store where you might be tempted to shop for cake and candy decorations.  Have some fun!   

White Chocolate Shells

Has the shore ever looked so sweet?  I have fallen for these white chocolate shells that I saw in the bakery of the Publix Greenwise Market.  Aren't they charming?

I was just at Sugar Craft (a cake & candy supply store in Cincinnati) admiring their wall of beautiful chocolate molds and now I am sending you to them with a link!  I bought several outstanding molds that day (stay tuned - Spring is going to be great!) and now I can recommend shell molds at Sugar Craft too.  I think the finishing touch is dusting the chocolates with pearl dust.  I can't wait to get these molds and make these edible shells for myself! 

12 Days of Valentine's Day: Sprinkles

Is your cupboard full of pink sprinkles?  You can easily find pink sugar, white jimmies and red hot hearts at the grocery store right now.  I love to enhance just about everything (pancakes, yogurt, scones) with a tough of pink or red.   

In a pinch?  You can buy heart-shaped cookies at the grocery store, then frost and add sprinkles yourself.  I buy most of my decorations at a cake & candy supply store - a great value and so fun to visit in person! 

I took this photograph (a jar of hearts!) at a cupcake shop in England called Lola.  Not only was the display brilliant, but I could see one red heart in a sea of pink.  Happy Day 11!

Day 11:  Add whimsy to life with a little pink sugar.  Come on, you know you want to.

Christmas Cake Stencils

Yodel Eh Hee Hoo....Okay, that may not be how you spell a yodel, but you get the idea.  In my mind, I am in the middle of Switzerland and I have the cake to prove it.

Actually, my dear friend just had a baby and I am bringing her dinner tonight, complete with this alpine-inspired cake.  I find that nothing perks up a gingerbread cake mix like a few cocoa reindeer.

This food-safe cake stencil is part of the new Martha Stewart holiday collection at Michael's.  If you can't bear to leave the kitchen during your pre-Thanksgiving preparations, you can also follow this link to purchase Martha Stewart Holiday Cake Stencils online.

I'll say it again, "Yodel Eh Hee Hoo..................."

12 Days of Valentine's Day: Day 6

Yes, sweet treats are a big part of the 12 Days of Valentine's Day around here. I've had an assortment of cake decorating stencils in my baking stash for a while now and decided this was the year to show them off.

I am so happy that a simple box cake (Betty Crocker "white" cake mix) and a tub of dark chocolate frosting can be elevated to this with just powdered sugar and a stencil!

I made this cake in the evening, and the next day, my father, brother and 3 of his kids ended up staying for dinner (I had made soup!). Suddenly 7 people were sitting around our dining room table, all eyeing this cake. That is what I love about baking - there is always someone willing to dig in.

And the hot pink glass cake plate? I bought 3 in varying sizes last year (at a bookstore, no less! You never know where you'll find something fabulous.) and love them more than I can say. Wait till this Summer when I float a peony on top!

Day 6: Bake cupcakes or a cake with box cake mix and a tub of frosting. Decorate with pink sprinkles, red hots or white chocolate chips. You'll be surprised how fast they'll disappear!

Country Living Fair, Part Three

Sticky, sweet and very scary! Country Living magazine's Senior Food Editor, Cheryl Slocum, hosted a wonderful "Autumn Treats" cake decorating demonstration at the Country Living Fair. My favorite was this spider web cake - complete with black raspberry/black licorice spiders! The recipe for the cake & glaze can be found in the October 2008 issue of Country Living magazine and on their website here. The cake batter is delicious and the "spider web" technique surprisingly easy. A perfect snack for an October meeting of the Girl Scouts - show them that a memorable dessert doesn't have to be difficult. Each girl could flat frost her own cupcake, squeeze a swirl of white frosting on top and then drag a toothpick through the swirl. Build a little spider and suddenly, it's snack time. Oh what tangled webs we weave...