Royal Icing... What went wrong??

OK... so I've been doing all these cookies and using Royal Icing up the wazoo (is that even a word..lol) with pretty good results.  BUT... this past weekend, I made some patriotic cookies and the red just didn't want to dry.  And some of the other colors were pretty runny (too runny) and took way longer to dry as well.  So... I went searching and searching to see what I did wrong..  (the red did eventually dry on my non-patriotic cookies I have sitting on my counter... like 2 days later)

Seems as though I could have done several things wrong this time around and the humidity that reached our area recently didn't help either.  So, here's what I think I did:
- too much water (this happens when you let your kids add the water...)
- too much color (I didn't have the no-taste red either... so not only did it not dry completely before party, I think the red tasted awful...I hate that taste...but there were no complaints from the cookie eaters, I just don't like it)
- humidity
- think I overbeat the icing...this also happens when you're trying to do too much at one time and  your kids are 'trying' to help you  (Please note: these cookies were for a bbq we were going to, so the kids helping was ok this time around... I generally kick them out of the kitchen when I am prepping and decorating)
- the use of the Wilton brand meringue powder, it seems, could have something to do with it

Yes...I did all of those things.  No wonder I had runny icing that didn't want to dry!!  But, alas, the best part of it all is that it was a lesson learned and I got some pics of the cookies to use in my photo gallery of cookies.

Here are my cookies:

I also found some fellow 'cookie decorating' bloggers... here are some links in case you are interested.. I found some new ideas on how to make, store and thin:)

http://savannahsouthernbelle.blogspot.com/2012/01/menu-monday-cookies-and-royal-icing.html

http://www.sweetsugarbelle.com/blog/2011/03/coloring-and-preparing-royal-icing/

http://onetoughcookienyc.com/2010/12/give-it-a-shpritz/

I will be trying the Sweet Sugar Belle way of making, storing and thinning... and I gotta get another spray bottle...that seems like a great tip for thinning the icing to make it NOT too runny:)

Happy decorating!!

Vanilla Cake... and my biggest fondant cake to date!!

Vanilla cake has been my hardest thing to make.  I think I have been searching for that perfect Vanilla cake for over a year now.  Every time I make one, I try a new recipe.  And...drum roll please...I've finally found my final vanilla cake:)  Yeah me.

I really did love the vanilla cake recipe in Buddy's book... but, realistically, it was a lot of extra work and the cost to make it wouldn't have proven cost efficient for selling.  He adds vanilla pastry cream to the batter...which makes is super moist... but it's an extra day, and extra thing to make, and extra $$.  I did make it for the strawberry/whipped cream cake I sold a few weeks back:

You can make the cake without the pastry cream but I didn't think it was as good... so I went back to the drawing board.  I finally made one that came out of a magazine (with a few tweaks to make it my own) and came up with a winner!!

I used that cake for my HUGE 1/2 sheet fondant covered (filled) cake and it worked out beautifully!!  I was moist but at the same time, held it's shape for slicing, filling and decorating.

Now, about that really big cake... Wow... that was a lot of time and effort... and I probably only made about $2/hour making it... but, it was a learning experience.  And learning experiences are completely priceless for me right now!!

I made the fondant characters ahead of time:

I put the cake in the freezer to make it easier to slice down the middle.  This was probably the most stressful process for me.  I really do hate slicing big cakes down the middle...I haven't quite mastered this and I don't have a knife long enough to go all the way through... but I did it.  I also created a well in the lower level for the filling and created a barrier around the outside with buttercream to make sure it didn't run out:

And than came the next stressful factor...rolling out fondant big enough to cover this sucker!!  I had to do it on the countertop b/c I didn't have a big enough mat.  Someone gave me advice that I wish I acted upon sooner but didn't have a chance to buy...will be looking out for it so I will be more prepared for this part.  Use the vinyl table cloth stuff...and than you can just pick it up and gently unroll vinyl while laying fondant on cake.  Yup...that would have made it easier.  Because, did you know that if you fold fondant it will leave a crease that doesn't smooth out once on the cake??  Well, now you do and so do I...lol.

All in all, I think it came out great...for being so new to the fondant world.  Yes, there was a crease...but, the ends (where the fondant ends) came out much better than the communion cake I did for my daughter.

Here is the final outcome:

Oh, and I used Royal Icing for the outlines and letters.  Blue buttercream along the base.

My first 'Dessert Table'...

Dessert tables seem to be all the rage these days... or, at least, I see a lot of them on websites and in peoples pictures and at some parties that I attend.  So, I thought, I want to put one together.  And what's more perfect that my daughter's communion party to try my hand at it.

I know it's not as elaborate as some I've seen and I didn't have any fancy signage for the treats and no matching straws/drinks to go with it...but I think I did a pretty darn good job pulling it off.  We went with a pink and white theme...even did her cake myself (yes, my first tiered cake covered in fondant).  Was it all perfect??  Of course not...but, it was a definite learning experience:)

I know all my blood, sweat and tears paid off when my daughter came into the room and her eyes nearly popped out of her head...she was sooooooo excited that I did all of that just for her!!

And, so, I leave you with my pics...

Special thanks to my Party Planning friend for the use of the tiered cake stand... http://www.melissanewell.com
And special thanks to my Momma for cleaning up after me while I made a mess trying to put it all together!!

Pricing...

Yes, that horrible thing called pricing.  At least, it's always been like a plague for me.  I just never know what's an appropriate price for things.

I look it up on the internet, you know the whole 'price equation' and I look around and see what others charge for things...but it always seems like it's so much.  I guess, for me, I would never pay these prices for cupcakes, cakes, pops, cookies, etc.  Perhaps because I know I can just make them??

My latest pricing predicament is for cupcakes.  A neighbor ordered cupcakes for a b-day party in school.  And I have no idea what to charge for them.  If I low-ball it, based on the average price out there for the bakery and/or home baking business, it would be $2/cupcake.  Wow...I think...that's a lot for cupcakes for school.  Like I said, I would just bake them myself, you know??  So, do I go lower or charge the $2/cupcake??

Oh, what to do, what to do...

On the flip side...we home baking business owners need to make money so I just need to man up and charge what I need to charge, right???

Yes...this is my biggest weaknes!!

Comments are welcome:)

My first fondant bow...

Yeah... it's a disaster!!  I didn't work fast enough, it looks like crap and it's already cracking:(  But, it's only tuesday so perhaps I can try again tomorrow...

The crosses came out cool, though:)  And while I was at it, thought I'd make some little flowers just in case I want to use them...those came out good.  But, than again, I just rolled and used a cookie cutter.  There was not folding, attaching, moving, etc.

I also put this thing together...kinda could be a cross and I can put that nice pink one in the middle of it???

I'm still brainstorming on this cake.  I am definitely covering it in fondant and it is going to be 2 tiers.  So, now I have to figure out what decor I'm going to actually use and what to use to do the borders.

Any ideas from you creative people out there feel free to give a shout out!!

Have a great night:)

Change of plans...again...

OK, so I was really excited about baking my way through Buddy's book.  And I started to...even have the pics to post here for you.  But, than life took over and I just didn't get to it.  So, I am thinking that I will just have to write about what I'm doing on that particular day and if I get a chance to throw in a Buddy recipe, than I will.

Thanks for bearing with me and I hope you find some useful information in here as I move forward in my self-taught baking education!!

This week I am working on my daughter's communion dessert table:)  I will post my progress when I have a chance.

In the meantime, here are some pics of my latest baking/decorating adventures: