I just use a simple frosting for cookies
powdered sugar mixed with lemon juice and a bit of water.
On cakes (which I don't bake) I like with real chocolate frosting or white butter cream.
I learned painfully at my wedding the mores of cakebaking... that a cake could be cooked ahead and frozen, and so forth. I didn't know about the crisco part of it.
As I know I've told here on a2k before, perhaps on this very thread, our administrative assistant at the lab was taking cake decorating and pleaded with me to let her make my wedding cake. (I was doing the rest of the food for the 40 plus folks coming to our house the day after the wedding, talk about stupid timing on my part.)
Anyway, the wedding was on Sat, the event was on Sunday, and on Friday morning she brought in a Ralphs chocolate cake. I pulled one of my occasional passive aggressive moves, and said why, thank you.
<flames rising, heart descending>
It was, by that time a matter of "oh, well".
I was already dealing with a cooking storm, without doing a cake.
Turned out, among the first people to show on that sunday was my husband's brother and his girlfriend, a good cook, who brought a giant homemade triple layer wide circular panned coconut cake, ever so slightly askew and completely wonderfully fulsomely coconut flaky and rich.
Portal, I am not saying this out of antagonism to cake deco, but suggesting there are explorations possible past the strict rules of the caking thing, even past Martha Stewart's stuff, which is still all very tidy.
I don't think any designing type anywhere has fooled with the richness of cakery, in the sense of breaking the usual structural order. Dessert chefs have, sure, but they don't have layers drooling to the side as that cake did, and that cake had a certain, er, cakeness, in its nonchalance.
Any sort of enforced perfection during the Wedding Festivities is a bad omen for the marriage.
Successful marriages are not perfect--they survive imperfection.
ossobuco wrote:I don't think any designing type anywhere has fooled with the richness of cakery, in the sense of breaking the usual structural order. Dessert chefs have, sure, but they don't have layers drooling to the side as that cake did, and that cake had a certain, er, cakeness, in its nonchalance.
Hee hee. The tao of cake. I like it.
You wouldn't believe (or maybe you would) how crazy brides get about their cakes. Even some people about their birthday cakes. We had a woman return a cake 6 times because it wasn't the perfect shade of lavender, and I -know- it was perfect. You know I'm a painter. I looked at it under different light, waitied for it to fade or darken as it was exposed to air, etc. It was perfect. The woman was just nutzo.
Cakes are fun because they are associated with so much happiness and tradition. Even a slice of cake with sprinkles on it conjures up thoughts about birthday parties, and makes people happy.
Unfortunately, that also makes people think cake decorating is easy and fun, and its an incrediby physically demanding job, often with overtime. But its rewarding to have happy customers.
Oooh. That reminds me, I planned to make a cake for our neighbor. He's 83 today and I think that's cause for a celebration. Have no idea what he wants, but I suppose the surprise and the sprinkles will make it fun.
Ehhhh, the cake didn't turn out that well, I think it was a little tough. (Maybe if I used cake flour instead of all-purpose flour it would have been better?)
It was not really cake, but Amish Friendship bread and though it was sweet, the sourdough gives it a thicker crust. I baked it in a Bundt pan that was coated with cinnamon sugar, then dripped the top with a milk/powdered sugar/melted butter/salt & vanilla glaze. I also put eight yellow & blue candles on it and set it on a bright red You Are Special plate. At least it looked good. But it turned out he wasn't home last night, so my son delivered it today.
Crisco - Copha - Cooking Fat
The cooking fat that I have seen in Australia contains animal fat which I prefer to stay away from.
I have not tried the icing recipe using all butter but will be given the opportunity to as it is my son's birthday at the end of the month.
Thanks for the translation Adrian, I will give it another look the next time I am in the grocery store.
I am searching for some kind of assistance in decorating various sized square cakes to look like presents. These will be used for an anniversary party. I'm a novice cake decorator so all info in very helpful - what kind of frosting will be best, how to make the ribbon/bows, etc. etc.
Thanks!
I just saw this thread. Ive always wanted to know, how do they make those transfers of photos and stuff that they put on tops of cakes along with the decorations?
