[smug smile] Sadly, I don't have a cute little cutter, although if I did, you can betcher buns I'd be making a mint off of it! So how DID I get the little lovebirds to come out so cute?
Showing posts with label Tutorial. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tutorial. Show all posts
Friday, February 18, 2011
Cookie Tip: Making Your Own Shapes
Remember these little guys from Valentine's Day? I've been getting questions from some of my friends asking me where I'd gotten the cute little cutter.
[smug smile] Sadly, I don't have a cute little cutter, although if I did, you can betcher buns I'd be making a mint off of it! So how DID I get the little lovebirds to come out so cute?
[smug smile] Sadly, I don't have a cute little cutter, although if I did, you can betcher buns I'd be making a mint off of it! So how DID I get the little lovebirds to come out so cute?
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Tutorial: Making Ganache
Ganache. Sounds fancy, don't it? Pronounced "guh-NASH" (or "guh-NOSH" depending on where you hail from), it is a French word meaning jowl or jaw. In the cake world, ganache is a mixture of chocolate mixed with heavy cream and blended to create a smooth liquid that can be used as a frosting or made into truffles. Some people hear fancy French words and think automatically that something like ganache must be painfully difficult to make, but I am here to tell you that ain't so! Today, we shall embark on an adventure–I am going to show you how to make ganache!
To get started, you will need:
Chocolate, such as Baker's Semi-Sweet Baking Squares
Heavy Whipping Cream
Cutting board
Good cutting knife, like a santoku blade
Large microwaveable measuring cup (you'll see why)
Medium sized heat proof bowl
Whisk
[Claps hands and rubs them together] Let's get going, shall we?
To get started, you will need:
Chocolate, such as Baker's Semi-Sweet Baking Squares
Heavy Whipping Cream
Cutting board
Good cutting knife, like a santoku blade
Large microwaveable measuring cup (you'll see why)
Medium sized heat proof bowl
Whisk
[Claps hands and rubs them together] Let's get going, shall we?
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Tutorial: Icing Sugar Cookies
In my previous tutorial post, I showed you how to bake the perfect sugar cookie. Pay attention, grasshopper, because now I'm gonna show you how to ice them! The method I will show you is what is know as the line and flood technique. In a nutshell, you create an outline on the cookie with a rather thick royal icing, allow it to dry, and then "flood" it with a thinner royal icing. The first line creates a dam which prevents the thin icing from rolling off the sides. This is not the only way to ice a sugar cookie, but it is one of the best to obtain that Martha Stewart perfectionist look.
What you'll need:
1. Prepare your workspace and decide on the design. In this tutorial, I'll be doing the happy little suns and cookie fish from a few weeks back. Once you've decided on design, you'll need to think about colors. A clean workspace is essential: you need to make sure you have room to lay the cookies down once they're decorated and room for you to work in. And clean your hands! You will be touching these cookies quite a bit, so clean hands is an absolute must!
2. Make up your royal icing when you are ready to decorate. Because royal icing dries hard, it is very important to mix it only when you are ready. If you HAVE to premix ahead of time, use saran wrap to create a "skin" on top of it. Just lay it on there right on top of the icing and keep it someplace room temp. DON'T put it in the fridge.
3. Mix the colors you need. You actually need to make up about two batches per color. One batch will be very thick and the other relatively thin. You don't need as much of the thick batches. I have found that the best thing to do is to whip up the thin batch first, then pour a little bit into another bowl and keep adding powdered sugar until get the right consistency. Then, if I need to add another drop of coloring, I can do so. Set the thin aside for now.
The thin batches before we make them thick! You can use an electric mixer, a whisk, or a spoon to mix.
4. Prep your piping bags and fit them with the round tip, which you will be using for outlining. Place the bag, point down, inside a tall glass or cup and fold the edges of the bag over the lip of the glass. This holds your bag upright and open into which you can now spoon in the thick icing. When the bag is full, fold up the edges of the bag, twist and squeeze!
5. Take a cookie and lay it in your work area. This is where those little cookies I had you make the last time will come in handy; you can use them to practice on first! Outline the cookie with the thick icing. Set it in your drying area to dry and move onto the next cookie. Do this will all of the cookies. Allow the cookies to dry for at least ten minutes before flooding.
Outlined vs. non-outlined cookies
6. If you have finished with all of your thick icing, you can mix it back into your thin icing if you want. If it gets too thick, add a little lemon juice. Repeat step four with the thin icing. To save on mess and waste, you can reuse the same bags.
7. Take the first cookie you outlined and use the tip to flood the cookie with the thin icing. Go easy at first until you get the hang of it. Less is more in my experience. You may need to use a toothpick to help you scoot the icing all the way to the edges. Once the outline has been filled in, set the cookie aside to dry. Allow to dry for one hour minimum.
8. If you have flooded the cookie and want to add lines or polka dots in another color, y all means do so! Just realize that it's still matter and it will be displaced by the introduction of new matter, so if this is your design plan, go for the minimalist approach on the flooding. Again, less is more!
This cookie didn't have the facial features added to it before I flooded. On this one, I went back and added them before the flooded icing dried.
And there you have it, perfectly iced and decorated cookies. Your friends and family will be wowed by the appearance AND the taste. And speaking of taste, here is my royal icing recipe. What I love about this recipe is that it has a hint of lemony aftertaste that gives an elegant feel to my sugar cookies.
Royal Icing
3 egg whites
1 TBSP lemon juice
3-4 cups of powdered sugar
Whip the egg whites and lemon juice together until they start to foam (see above). Add in the PS slowly in increments until you reach the desired consistency. The theory is that the lemon juice kills any bacteria from the eggs (like in lemon icebox pie), but just to be safe, I use the pasteurized egg whites in a carton. You simply follow the chart on the side to measure out 3 egg whites. Easy and good for you...sort of...but, well, whatever. It's NATURAL and preservative free and that makes me a happy mama.
So there you have it, the line and flood technique. I hope it serves you well!
Happy Baking!
Kelly
What you'll need:
- royal icing (recipe to follow at the end!)
- icing colors
- spoons and bowls for mixing various colors
- piping bags
- #2 or #3 round icing tip
- tall glass or cup
- extra powdered sugar, as needed
- drying racks
- parchment or wax paper
- toothpicks
- a comfy chair (see below)
* * * * * *
1. Prepare your workspace and decide on the design. In this tutorial, I'll be doing the happy little suns and cookie fish from a few weeks back. Once you've decided on design, you'll need to think about colors. A clean workspace is essential: you need to make sure you have room to lay the cookies down once they're decorated and room for you to work in. And clean your hands! You will be touching these cookies quite a bit, so clean hands is an absolute must!
2. Make up your royal icing when you are ready to decorate. Because royal icing dries hard, it is very important to mix it only when you are ready. If you HAVE to premix ahead of time, use saran wrap to create a "skin" on top of it. Just lay it on there right on top of the icing and keep it someplace room temp. DON'T put it in the fridge.
3. Mix the colors you need. You actually need to make up about two batches per color. One batch will be very thick and the other relatively thin. You don't need as much of the thick batches. I have found that the best thing to do is to whip up the thin batch first, then pour a little bit into another bowl and keep adding powdered sugar until get the right consistency. Then, if I need to add another drop of coloring, I can do so. Set the thin aside for now.
The thin batches before we make them thick! You can use an electric mixer, a whisk, or a spoon to mix.
4. Prep your piping bags and fit them with the round tip, which you will be using for outlining. Place the bag, point down, inside a tall glass or cup and fold the edges of the bag over the lip of the glass. This holds your bag upright and open into which you can now spoon in the thick icing. When the bag is full, fold up the edges of the bag, twist and squeeze!
The glass helps reduce the amount of mess and makes it easier to get every bit of icing in the bag
5. Take a cookie and lay it in your work area. This is where those little cookies I had you make the last time will come in handy; you can use them to practice on first! Outline the cookie with the thick icing. Set it in your drying area to dry and move onto the next cookie. Do this will all of the cookies. Allow the cookies to dry for at least ten minutes before flooding.
Outlined vs. non-outlined cookies
6. If you have finished with all of your thick icing, you can mix it back into your thin icing if you want. If it gets too thick, add a little lemon juice. Repeat step four with the thin icing. To save on mess and waste, you can reuse the same bags.
7. Take the first cookie you outlined and use the tip to flood the cookie with the thin icing. Go easy at first until you get the hang of it. Less is more in my experience. You may need to use a toothpick to help you scoot the icing all the way to the edges. Once the outline has been filled in, set the cookie aside to dry. Allow to dry for one hour minimum.
Using a toothpick to help fill in the space. Note that you can use outlining to create other features on the cookie surface as well; here I used the pink to create the fish stripes, the gill, the eye, and the fins on the fish cookies and the face on the sun cookies.
8. If you have flooded the cookie and want to add lines or polka dots in another color, y all means do so! Just realize that it's still matter and it will be displaced by the introduction of new matter, so if this is your design plan, go for the minimalist approach on the flooding. Again, less is more!
This cookie didn't have the facial features added to it before I flooded. On this one, I went back and added them before the flooded icing dried.
And there you have it, perfectly iced and decorated cookies. Your friends and family will be wowed by the appearance AND the taste. And speaking of taste, here is my royal icing recipe. What I love about this recipe is that it has a hint of lemony aftertaste that gives an elegant feel to my sugar cookies.
Royal Icing
3 egg whites
1 TBSP lemon juice
3-4 cups of powdered sugar
Whip the egg whites and lemon juice together until they start to foam (see above). Add in the PS slowly in increments until you reach the desired consistency. The theory is that the lemon juice kills any bacteria from the eggs (like in lemon icebox pie), but just to be safe, I use the pasteurized egg whites in a carton. You simply follow the chart on the side to measure out 3 egg whites. Easy and good for you...sort of...but, well, whatever. It's NATURAL and preservative free and that makes me a happy mama.
So there you have it, the line and flood technique. I hope it serves you well!
Happy Baking!
Kelly
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Tutorial: Baking the Perfect Sugar Cookie
Mmmm, cookies! I love the smell of freshly baked cookies and I’d be willing to bet that you do too. I love all kinds of cookies, sugar cookies being my favorite. Of all the cookies in the world, I think they are the most versatile. They are a blank canvas on which you can create art that can be a masterpiece or the embodiment of simplicity. They fit any and every occasion and can be made as flavorful as you want. So how do we go about creating the perfect sugar cookie? I thought you’d never ask! I’ve made many a batch of sugar cookies and I offer to you the method in which I create my cookies.
You will need:
2. Take a ball of dough a little bigger than your fist and flatten it slightly with your hands. Flour the surface liberally and place the dowels on either side of the dough disk. The trick to getting a consistent cookie is to use rolling pin guides. I use balsa wood dowels that are 1/4" thick and flat. You can purchase these bad boys in the model aisle at your local craft store for less than a dollar. Some folks may opt to actually buy those rubber rolling pin bands that serve the same purpose, but note that they do not fit every rolling pin nor are they easy to use IMO.
3. Now start rolling! The benefit to using the dowels is that you can move them around as needed to keep everything consistent. Make sure that they are never spaced wider than your rolling pin! Remember to dust the dough, your rolling pin, and the work surface as needed.
4. Once you've rolled out the dough and it's not spreading anymore, you can use your cutters to cut out your cookies. Even if I am making a very specific design, I always keep a small circle or star cutter out (about 1" big) to help me use up the dough. These can also be used as practice cookies when you start decorating or as snacks later on ;o) If you find your cutter sticking, dip it in your flour mixture to help it come off cleanly from the dough.
5. Use your dough cutter or spatula to lift the cookie up. It's really important that it be as thin a spatula as possible if you aren't using a dough cutter.
6. When it's time to bake the cookies, bake them about 25F lower than the recipe calls for. Intense heat on a baked good can cause the edges to bake faster than the center, especially with a thick cookie. Lower heat means increased baking time, so cook them about 6-7 minutes, flip the pan around in the oven and then give it another 6-7 minutes. As you can see in the picture below, the cookies have come out with a light golden tinge around the edges. The fish with the darker tail is actually thinner than the rest; this is a good example of why it's really important to use rolling pin guides of some kind so that the cookies are all the same thickness!
7. Because the cookies will continue to cook on the pan, it's imperative to remove them as soon as possible. I've found that waiting one to two minutes allows the cookie to "set up" before I move them to a cooling rack. Allow the cookies to cool completely before you decorate.
You will need:
- Sugar cookie dough (homemade or storebought)
- ½ cup each of flour and confectioner’s sugar in a wide shallow dish
- cookie cutters of your choice
- dough cutter or thin metal spatula
- rolling pin
- cookie sheets
- parchment paper
- ¼” thick square cut or flat wooden dowels, minimum 12” long
2. Take a ball of dough a little bigger than your fist and flatten it slightly with your hands. Flour the surface liberally and place the dowels on either side of the dough disk. The trick to getting a consistent cookie is to use rolling pin guides. I use balsa wood dowels that are 1/4" thick and flat. You can purchase these bad boys in the model aisle at your local craft store for less than a dollar. Some folks may opt to actually buy those rubber rolling pin bands that serve the same purpose, but note that they do not fit every rolling pin nor are they easy to use IMO.
3. Now start rolling! The benefit to using the dowels is that you can move them around as needed to keep everything consistent. Make sure that they are never spaced wider than your rolling pin! Remember to dust the dough, your rolling pin, and the work surface as needed.
5. Use your dough cutter or spatula to lift the cookie up. It's really important that it be as thin a spatula as possible if you aren't using a dough cutter.
6. When it's time to bake the cookies, bake them about 25F lower than the recipe calls for. Intense heat on a baked good can cause the edges to bake faster than the center, especially with a thick cookie. Lower heat means increased baking time, so cook them about 6-7 minutes, flip the pan around in the oven and then give it another 6-7 minutes. As you can see in the picture below, the cookies have come out with a light golden tinge around the edges. The fish with the darker tail is actually thinner than the rest; this is a good example of why it's really important to use rolling pin guides of some kind so that the cookies are all the same thickness!
And voila! There you have it, the perfect cookie. Soft yet firm, crisp but not too crunchy, light and golden! So to sum it all up:
Happy Baking!
Kelly
- work in small batches for better control
- 1:1 flour and confectioner's sugar for dusting
- use guides to create a consistent thickness
- bake it low and slow
Happy Baking!
Kelly
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Tutorial: 2D Mod Fondant Birds
After my success at the Cupcake Smackdown last weekend, I have since received lots of shout outs and comments about my cute little birds that adorned the tops of my coconut lime cupcakes. Those little fellas were really easy to make, so here is a tutorial on how to make them!
To get started, you'll need a few things:
* Fondant (I used SatinIce in white/vanilla)
* fondant coloring (I used Americolor)
* water
* vodka
* paintbrush for food purposes only
* a clean workspace
* cornstarch
* cutters of various sizes and shapes or pastry cutter/exacto knife
* toothpicks or beading pins
1. First things first, pick your color scheme and dye your fondant accordingly (I am assuming you know how to do this, if you don't, let me know!). Depending on how many birds and the size you're making will determine how much fondant you need. I made a baker's dozen of birds that measured about 2” long and used *maybe* a quarter pound of fondant.
2. Roll out your fondant to about 1/8"-1/4" thick. Make sure they’re thick enough to stick your toothpick or beading pin into!
3. Using your cutters or knife, cut out a body and two wings. I used the Wilton leaf shaped fondant cutters and then rounded them out with a pastry cutter. I used the medium leaf cutter for the body and the small leaf cutter for the wings. Make sure to cut 2 wings per body, and cut extras just in case. Set these aside for the moment.
4. Take your beading pins or toothpicks and carefully stick them in the body of the bird about halfway in. If you get too close to the surface, don’t worry; you can cover it with the wings!
5. For the beaks I chose to use a small heart cutter and then lop off the pointy part of the heart because of the width and angle it made the beaks. You can use your pastry cutter or knife instead to cut out your beaks. Again, cut a few extras just in case.
6. Water on fondant causes the sugar in it to dissolve and become like glue. Using your paintbrush, paint a little bit of water on the wing pieces and “glue” them onto the bodies. It’s best to do the same side on all of the bodies first and then flip them over and repeat the process. Remember, a little bit of water goes a long way!
7. Once the wings are attached, give them about 10 minutes or so to dry and adhere. Then you can glue on the beaks; you might need to shape them a bit around the front of the bird’s face.
8. To do the eyes, mix a small drop of Americolor fondant color with the vodka. DO NOT MIX WITH WATER. This will cause the fondant to become a gummy mess. Use a leftover toothpick or beading pin to mark the spot for your bird’s eyes, going through the head completely. Then use the point of your paintbrush and lightly fill in the tiny hole you’ve made, expanding it to as large as you want.
9. Allow the birds to dry completely for several hours. You may need to gently lift them off of your work surface once you’ve finished working on them to make sure the eyes aren’t bleeding through improperly or that your bird isn’t stuck on the other side. If there is excess cornstarch, simply use a pastry brush to brush it off.
And voila! Now you have some really stinkin’ cute birdie picks for your cakes!
Happy Caking!
Kelly
To get started, you'll need a few things:
* Fondant (I used SatinIce in white/vanilla)
* fondant coloring (I used Americolor)
* water
* vodka
* paintbrush for food purposes only
* a clean workspace
* cornstarch
* cutters of various sizes and shapes or pastry cutter/exacto knife
* toothpicks or beading pins
1. First things first, pick your color scheme and dye your fondant accordingly (I am assuming you know how to do this, if you don't, let me know!). Depending on how many birds and the size you're making will determine how much fondant you need. I made a baker's dozen of birds that measured about 2” long and used *maybe* a quarter pound of fondant.
2. Roll out your fondant to about 1/8"-1/4" thick. Make sure they’re thick enough to stick your toothpick or beading pin into!
3. Using your cutters or knife, cut out a body and two wings. I used the Wilton leaf shaped fondant cutters and then rounded them out with a pastry cutter. I used the medium leaf cutter for the body and the small leaf cutter for the wings. Make sure to cut 2 wings per body, and cut extras just in case. Set these aside for the moment.
4. Take your beading pins or toothpicks and carefully stick them in the body of the bird about halfway in. If you get too close to the surface, don’t worry; you can cover it with the wings!
5. For the beaks I chose to use a small heart cutter and then lop off the pointy part of the heart because of the width and angle it made the beaks. You can use your pastry cutter or knife instead to cut out your beaks. Again, cut a few extras just in case.
6. Water on fondant causes the sugar in it to dissolve and become like glue. Using your paintbrush, paint a little bit of water on the wing pieces and “glue” them onto the bodies. It’s best to do the same side on all of the bodies first and then flip them over and repeat the process. Remember, a little bit of water goes a long way!
7. Once the wings are attached, give them about 10 minutes or so to dry and adhere. Then you can glue on the beaks; you might need to shape them a bit around the front of the bird’s face.
8. To do the eyes, mix a small drop of Americolor fondant color with the vodka. DO NOT MIX WITH WATER. This will cause the fondant to become a gummy mess. Use a leftover toothpick or beading pin to mark the spot for your bird’s eyes, going through the head completely. Then use the point of your paintbrush and lightly fill in the tiny hole you’ve made, expanding it to as large as you want.
9. Allow the birds to dry completely for several hours. You may need to gently lift them off of your work surface once you’ve finished working on them to make sure the eyes aren’t bleeding through improperly or that your bird isn’t stuck on the other side. If there is excess cornstarch, simply use a pastry brush to brush it off.
And voila! Now you have some really stinkin’ cute birdie picks for your cakes!
Happy Caking!
Kelly
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