Tiffany & Co. Box Cake

The end is nigh!  My studies are complete and the school year is almost over - the scent of Christmas is beginning to permeate throughout the house!   

My most recent cake was a request from a friend for her Breakfast at Tiffany’s 21^st.  Her design was a Tiffany & Co. box with a large bow perched on top!  Although I have made a Tiffany cake in the past, I have never made a cube which included some stacking and sculpting!

I am currently working on producing an iPhone/iPod app on cakes, providing simple step-by-step instructions to creating these cakes.  For a preview of how the app will be designed, the following guide demonstrates how to make the Tiffany & Co. box cake!

 

A 10-step guide to creating a simple, yet elegant Tiffany & Co. box complete with white bow.

1. Bake a mud cake in a bread loaf tin (I use Planet Cake’s recipe!)
2. Cool in tin
3. Cut in half and stack using chocolate ganache in between
4. Ganache entire cake, let it set and then use a hot knife to smooth ganache before placing cake on a silver board
5. Colour fondant using light blue paste and a touch of yellow paste to attain the Tiffany turquoise colour
6. Roll out fondant and cover cake using a smoother
7. Roll out white fondant and use a paring knife to cut two long strips
8. Add a drop of water to paste the strips onto the cake for ribbons
8. Cut out two smaller rectangles, loosely fold each in half and pinch the ends to create the bow
9. Roll a small amount of fondant and use to attach the two bow sections together before placing the bow on the intersection of the ribbons
10. Write, with a black texta, the Tiffany & Co. logo

Voila!!

Exploding Present Cake

In contrast, the next cake to follow was decided upon the morning of Lina’s 60th birthday dinner.  Perusing through designs from the Planet Cake books, I opted for the ‘exploding present’ cake - one tier and what I expected to be simple to make.  I chose a white chocolate mud cake and although the shape was perfect, the cake itself was slightly burnt at the edges - must try it again though because the rest of it tasted nice!  I also stupidly did not let the cake completely cool due to my impatience disorder (!) which caused some complications later!  Rookie mistake!  The idea is that you cut out two identical circles and place them in the middle of the cake, ensuring that no glue is applied in between the two circles.  Then a layer of white fondant needs to be placed over the whole cake including the circles.  Incisions are then made through the fondant where the circles are to resemble a pie shape.  These incisions need to be peeled back for an explosion effect.  However, as mentioned, my cake was too warm and the two circles of fondant stuck together.  Sometimes, a mistake like that can ruin the cake but instead of losing heart, you need to find another way to fix it or alter the design!  Things don’t always go according to plan!   To rectify this, triangles were cut out, curled and placed around the circle to imitate the effect.  Silver cachous were scattered in the circle and ribbons were created from fondant to add to the ‘present’ picture.  To finish the cake, coloured stars on wire were inserted in the middle of the cake rising out of the explosion.

Despite the flaws, the cake still worked somehow!  My new approach to cake decorating is not to rush and stress but to bake and decorate in a relaxing manner!  Just the way it should be!  Bon Appetit! 

Beauty & the Beast Castle Cake

Although there has been a drought in my baking for the most part of this year due to an overload of work and study, last weekend saw its re-emergence.  Two major birthdays set the wheels back in motion beginning with my sister’s 30^th birthday followed by my partner’s mother’s 60^th.

Natalie’s birthday cake had been in planning mode for over as was the pre-empted stress in executing it!  Collaborating with our other sister, the delightful Rosie, we had decided on a Disney castle, more specifically with a Beauty and the Beast theme - her favourite Disney film.  This cake had to be grand for mon cheri mademoiselle!

We covered the base with rolled blue fondant to represent the moat before placing a layer of white fondant over a 12-inch circular piece of Styrofoam.  Rosie baked a cake with white and dark blue swirls to match the colours of the castle’s exterior.  We then applied another layer of white fondant to the cake and situated it on top of the Styrofoam before facing the dilemma of the towers and turrets!  Disclaimer: thank you to Safeway for discounting Pringles packets, and to my dad for stocking up!  The Pringles packets were wrapped with white fondant which we were quickly beginning to run out of!  We ended up with four towers as opposed to our planned six but were secretly grateful because by that stage we were both delirious from exhaustion!  The turrets were structured using cardboard shaped into cones.  We applied a roll of gold fondant (using gold dust combined with alcohol - this can be bought pre-done) before layering small dark blue circles onto the turrets and topping it off with a cardboard flag perched on a ball of gold fondant.  White, dark blue and gold were our colour selections to mirror the outfits of Belle and the Beast in the pivotal ballroom scene.  The Beauty and the Beast figurines were then carefully placed around the cake although Rosie later noticed that the horse and Gaston were drowning in the moat!  Whoops!

All in all, the castle was a huge success and we were pretty pleased with our efforts.   Before we knew it, the cake was served and demolished!  Our masterpiece was definitely put to good yummy use!

 The next blog post will feature the second cake created! 

Hot Air Balloon Cake

In the past month, I have attended two baking classes - both of which I received as birthday presents (lucky me!) - which have taught me new skills and provided me with new decorating ideas!

Let’s start with the first: Cupcake Decorating at Pip’s Cooking School, Moonee Ponds, Melbourne. This course introduced new cupcake flavours and various decorating techniques. As fondant is familiar to me, I decided to use this opportunity to practise my piping techniques. Piping has never been my forte and I was pleased to learn about the use and results of different tips and how to create flowers and leaves, and patterns. We were thrilled to leave with half a dozen cupcakes to indulge in! 

Chocolate Cupcake with Piped Chocolate Icing

Next class was at Planet Cake in Balmain, Sydney. I was both nervous and excited about this class as the end products are usually of high quality and I feared mine would not meet this expectation. After introductions, our teacher, Jessica, who is an expert cake decorator, guided us in making a Hot Air Balloon cake - Novelty 101. 

We rolled out blue fondant to cover our boards and added a white cloud. Our chocolate cakes had already been baked and cooled and our next step was to sculpt them into shape using cardboard templates. The excess cake would be added to the other side to complete the shape of the balloon and scraps would be placed on the top (glued with ganache) to give the balloon height. After shaping, we ganached our cakes and let them set. We then smoothed out any ridges (using a hot knife) so that the fondant would be placed on a smooth surface. Time to cover our cakes! We rolled out fondant (in our preferred colours - I chose a dark purple) and added stripes (in lilac) along the balloon as well as patches of colour at the top and bottom. The basket was styrofoam covered in complementing stripes and teddy was moulded and carefully placed in his basket. We then added coloured wire to attach the basket to the balloon and piped decorations. We were all impressed by the results!

Jess provided us with tips such as removing ganache from fondant (brushing a small amount of water and wiping away with a tissue) and removing corn flour from fondant (brushing with rose spirit). Overall, the class was a success and I walked away more confident about cake decorating!

Hot Air Balloon

And then the panic set in. The cake had been placed in a 40x40cm box. How on earth would I get it home to Melbourne? After much deliberation, my partner and I decided to purchase a couple of boxes in the event that we would have to disassemble my cake. I probably should’ve measure the actual balloon before leaving because it didn’t actually fit into any of the boxes that we had purchased! More panic! I decided to call up my airline and ask for options. Apparently, my only two options were to either check it in - which was a definite no because I have seen the way staff handle fragile boxes and bags! - or see if it would fit on the conveyor belt through security and pray for a nice crew to help me out! At this point, I am stressing! I have spent hours on this cake, was told that it would retail for $300-400 and I was not ready to part from my hard work! Luckily, I did end up with a nice crew and they were happy to let us board first to carefully place my cake in the overhead compartment. Thank you, Virgin Australia! After a delayed flight, we were finally home and my cake was safe and sound on my dining table… only to be demolished by family the next day! Delicious!

Lego Cake

Even though it is holiday season, I have found little time for baking so far in 2012. Between socialising and the Australian Open, my plans of attempting different flavoured macarons and a series of other delicacies have been put on hold. However, as the first celebratory event falls in January, I had to whip my butt into shape and start the cake decorating season. 

My partner’s childhood obsessions were Super Mario and Lego (I, too, recall wasting away the days trying to save Mario’s bitch - whatever kept us kids out of the kitchen!). As his previous cake was Mario-themed, this year I made the latter: Lego building blocks with the infamous Lego head. My excitement to start on my first cake of the year – which also happens to mark my one year anniversary of cake decorating (!) – quickly faded as Melbourne decided to have one of its weather spasms and set high temperatures on both days of business! Heat to marzipan is like water to the Wicked Witch of the West.There is no saving her; bring out the next witch!

I decided to experiment with a new recipe. I’m not one to seek out recipes that are gluten-free or dairy- free – only because I have never needed to – but after having sampled Planet Cake’s Flourless Orange and Almond Cake, this had to be the cake! It is soft, moist and delicious – full of flavour! Definitely a new favourite!

To make the Lego bricks, I simply cut my square cake in half (to form two bricks) and covered the cakes and marshmallows with marzipan! Although my blocks looked more like Duplo blocks than the Lego Technic micro pieces that my partner is used to, he still loved the design. In the end, the smile of gratitude makes the Wicked Witch’s death and her resurrection well worth it!

The Gingerbread House

Tis' the season to be jolly! It's less than a week til Christmas (and less than a week of work!) and I've started the preparations! First up, a gingerbread house, complete with footpath, letter box and Santa's unfortunate mishap! Thank you to my wonderful partner, Joseph, for his contributions to the house - he has an eye for detail AND patience!

Unfortunately, I've been ill the last couple of days and won't be able to bake as much as I anticipated for Christmas! But hopefully, I'll have time to whip a thing or two more!

Otherwise, new year's cake, anyone?

Choc Mint Cupcakes & Caramel Cupcakes

November and December are the busiest months for teachers. Instead of relaxing and preparing for Christmas, we are marking essays and countless exams, planning engaging lessons to keep our students on task, writing detailed reports and on top of that re-enforcing classroom rules as students begin to enter “holiday mode”. Not that I blame them. The scent of Christmas is lingering and my frustration increases at the thought of the last day of school occurring only TWO days before Christmas! 

However, I refuse to allow all of my work to heavily impact my baking. I need balance!

I have been experimenting with different cupcake flavours and even different desserts. Being a lover of chocolate mint, I thought it was only fitting that I begin with that, looking up recipes and settling for Nigella’s Choc Mint cupcakes (http://www.nigella.com/recipes/view/mint-chocolate-cupcakes-1170). I added a chocolate decorative piece on top for presentation purposes. 

Choc Mint Cupcakes

Next up. Caramel. My partner’s favourite. Although I disliked the buttercream topping (perhaps too sweet with the caramel), the cupcake itself tasted delicious and in future, I would use an alternate icing or salt the caramel. This recipe comes from the Women’s Weekly Class Collection Cakes & Cupcakes books. 

Caramel Cupcakes

Looking forward to trying Peanut Heaven, Strawberry Meringue and Banana Cakes!