Buttercream haunts my dreams

When I first started making cakes I saw fondant as a challenge. I figured anyone can make a cake out of buttercream, it was the easier option. So every cake I made was with fondant. After about 20 cakes I felt like I had conquered it and was almost professional...almost. I slowly figured out that most people didn't actually like the taste of fondant, unless you're my mother in law who can't get enough.

There are certain occasions where fondant does not work and it needs to be buttercream. A really good friend of mine approached me about making two smash cakes for her little girl's 1st birthday. They were going to do a cake smash photo shoot and then wanted a small cake for her party. Both needed to be buttercream for the adorable icing covered baby look they were hoping to achieve. Again I thought no problem, anyone can make and use buttercream! Wrong!!! I suck at it!! I have no idea why, or what I am doing wrong but it is consistently horrible! I use the same recipe as all the professionals but for whatever reason it never works out. It's either lumpy or runny and never holds its shape. More on this later.

For their first cake request they asked for a large cupcake with pink and white icing and little flowers on top. I didn't have a pan to make the super large cupcake and was planing on renting one from the bulk barn. Until one day when I randomly decided to browse the house section at the Superstore and found the large cupcake pan for only $10!! I was pretty giddy.

It was surprisingly easy to make, I just googled the directions online since the pan didn't come with any. You can find the link here.

The cake came out perfectly! Now time to decorate.
Back to my inability to make a decent buttercream. I followed the directions and started to ice the cake. As I was working on it I was finding the consistency of it was really runny and wasn't holding it's shape. That is a big problem when you are trying to pipe vertical lines to make a cupcake liner. Many times I actually had to scrape it all off and try again! I was getting so stressed out, to the point of texting my friend and apologizing before she even saw it!

I kept at it knowing I had to finish it. It came out ok. It looked decent enough but I definitely wasn't bragging. . They kept telling me not to worry cause she was only going smash it! I felt the flowers were the best part cause they were made with fondant...my specialty
It looked ok in the pictures as long as you focused on the adorable birthday girl instead!

For the party smash cake they wanted a 6'' cake with buttercream roses in a pink ombre. I've seen the pictures and these are some of my favorite looks. But again my dilemma with buttercream had me so nervous and stressed out. When I first attempted the flowers they slid off cause the buttercream was too runny. I was running out of time to experiment and was almost in tears so I made a quick run to Bulk Barn! The beauty of living in the city, it was only 5 minutes away. I purchased their delicious pre-made buttercream and tried again. This time the flowers came out perfectly! I was pretty excited. I later had a chat with a culinary friend who told me what I did wrong and how to fix it. So next week come back and we will attempt it together. I will offer you tips on how to perfect your buttercream based on my previous mistakes!

Thanks for Reading!

#buttercreamcakes #smashcakes #largecupcake #pinkombrecake

What year is it?

I cannot believe how much time has past since I first started this Journey back in 2010. So much has happened in that time. My husband and I have since made 2 major moves across Ontario. From Amherstburg to Sudbury and finally landing in Fergus Ontario. We've also had three yes 3 little babies. I may have mentioned my oldest in a few of my posts and believe it or not she is two weeks into junior kindergarten! There have been many months and years of stress and uncertainty but we are now starting to really settle and put down some roots. 
Now that things are starting to feel a little back to normal I am ready to start baking again! If mainly to just help feed my sugar cravings! 
The blog will soon get a fresh look as well! So please subscribe to keep in the loop and know I will be back soon!

Luisa :)

A new venture

Hey there! Thanks so much for following this blog and my journey through cake decorating. Since moving to Sudbury and being a mom, the cake making has slowed a little. While I have been making little cakes here and there, it has been mainly for friends and family. I will post a few pictures of cakes made recently.
Stay tuned for more cakes! :)

I have a present for you!

 How the time flies! It's already the middle of July, my little girl is already 5.5 months and I haven't posted in ages. In the last post I mentioned how I made a cake for our youth bake sale/cake auction. That same day I got my first order here in Sudbury. A couple approached me and asked me to make a cake for their mother's birthday. They didn't have much of an idea of what they were looking for, so I took care of the design, hoping they would like it. It turned out to be a success. They also couldn't decide between chocolate or vanilla, so I made one layer chocolate, and one vanilla! Best of both worlds. The cake was made to look like a present. The bow was slightly tricky, I spend a lot of time placing and replacing each layer, but in the end I was pleased. :)

Spring is in the Air

I haven't been able to do much in the way of cakes since we've moved here. The past 8 weeks have been crazy anyway, due to the cutest newest addition to our lives. But this week the youth group that my husband pastor's at, held a bake sale/Cake auction. Our kitchen turned into a mini bakery, with tons of cupcakes, cookies, brownies and cakes being made. It smelt heavenly, but I feel a major sugar rush from all the taste testing. I was able to make a cake for the auction in my spare time lol IT was quite the busy week let me tell you, but I enjoyed it.
Since the weather here has been beautiful I wanted to do a spring cake. I found a few pictures on line that I really liked, so I took parts from each and made my own creation.
I made a red velvet from scratch using a different recipe then normal and it turned out really well. It had a few extra tedious steps but worth it in the end.
Hope the winners enjoyed it!!