Adventures of the non-edible kind!

You may have noticed that I haven't been doing much caking over the last month or so!  Well, I have been busy with my other passion... ceramics!  If you didn't know that I also love to sculpt and paint then take a look at my website www.carrie-anneutting.co.uk.  As an artist with a love of baking I can produce original bespoke designs.  I like to think that my artistic background helps me with the cake design process!

Anyway... I am a member of Lincolnshire Art on the Map and I have just finished the annual open studio event.  For 10 days I have been working in my garden studio (which I am very lucky to have in my parents' beautiful garden!) whilst it has been open to the public.

The shed on the left is where my kiln is and the big one on the right is the studio.

 Above and below are pictures of my nieces getting involved...

Faith and Fleur where very excited about the Art on the Map open studios 

and they also enjoy getting creative!

 Unfortunately we didn't get many visitors, but Bramble kept me company...in the hope that I would throw her ball for her instead of work on my ceramics!

 I displayed some of my work on the kiln, so that people could view it when they came to look.

  

And Bramble wasn't the only one who has kept me company all week ...

I really enjoyed having the time to just sit and be creative.  I love working in clay and I have had so many ideas over the past few years that I have not created!  So this was a great opportunity to spend precious time just building!  I made a new friend for Wilbert and the Warthogs... haven't come up with a name yet!  Any ideas, please share!  

I also started building some of my versions of an amazing bird called a Hornbill, which I discovered during my travels in Borneo.  I know what this bird looks like from looking on google at pictures of it, however, when we were in the jungle we could only hear this bird and rarely got a glimpse of one!  So it was like a strange, mysterious and exotic bird to me and we could only imagine what they actually looked like in reality!...

People are welcome to come and visit my studio any time through out the year, but it would need to be arranged.  The good thing about the Art on the Map open studios is that all of us open our studios at the same time so you can go from one to the other to have a look...  there are painters, glass artists, artists that work in metal and wood...and so on!  If you missed it this year then don't forget to watch out for it next year!

As for my elephant and hornbills...  in a few weeks they will be going in the kiln ready to be glazed!  So watch this space for an update on how they turn out!

And as for cakes... don't worry, it wont be long until I write about more caking adventures - I have some very exciting projects coming up!

Carrie-Anne

How to make cake pops...

Cake pops are basically balls of cake...covered in chocolate...on sticks!  Yum!
They are really cute and fun and a great way to use left-over cake!   They are incredibly delicious.... the chocolate shell gives way with a little snap to a moist and soft inside and it melts in your mouth.  They are not as rich as truffles, but they are still very sweet.
This is a really really simple guide to the basic cake pop....no crazy machines or special tools needed, just simply made from scratch, by hand.  Once you have mastered this you can then move on to make them more decorative with different flavours etc!  They are great fun to make.

You will need:  Ingredients for frosting, some cake, cooled (I usually use cake that I have left over, it can be any flavour), cake pop sticks (you can get these from any cake making suppliers, or even off ebay!), chocolate or candy melts (any flavour, any colour!  You decide!  The only thing I would say is don't use chocolate chips, they are not designed for melting and don't use really cheap chocolate, because it does strange things when it is melting!)

Step 1:  Mix together a frosting...any flavour frosting...!   For these cake pops I used a simple vanilla frosting.

step 1

Step 2:  Use your hands to crumble the cake into the frosting.  I never really measure out the cake and frosting, you will easily be able to work out how much you need of each.  The basic guide I go by is that you need it to be more wet than dry...more frosting than cake!  If it needs a little extra moisture and you don't have enough frosting then just add a little bit of milk or cream.

Combine the mixture well and put it in the fridge for at least one hour.  I usually set mine over night, but you can leave it in the fridge for a couple of days, as long as it is covered.

You will know that you did it right if the mixture has set firm and it is easy to complete step 3.

step 2

Step 3:  Now that the mixture is chilled, use your hands to roll the mixture into small balls.  I usually just put mine straight onto a clean baking tray, but you can also use grease-proof paper if you find that easier.  You can put these back in the fridge at this point too...or you can continue straight to step 4...

step 3

step 4

Step 4:  Melt the chocolate or the candy melts.  You can temper the chocolate if you know how and that helps you cover the cake pop really well, with a nice smooth finish.  But I am keeping to the basics!  :)  I usually melt my chocolate in a glass bowl over some simmering water.  Dip the tip of the lolly-pop sticks into the chocolate and stick it one into each ball.  Let them set in the fridge so they are secure.  You can even put them in the freezer for a short while, so they harden.

step 4

 Step 5:  Using more melted chocolate or candy melts, use a spoon to help you cover the balls with chocolate.  Don't put too much on and don't keep them over the heat too long, or the cake pop will collapse!  

step 5

Step 6:   While the chocolate is still setting, decorate them with sprinkles of your choice.  I let mine set by sticking them into a square of dry oasis or polystyrene.  Once the dry oasis is full of cake pops put it in the fridge to set hard.

Step7:  Eat and enjoy!  :)  Google cake pop recipes and you will find hundreds of recipe ideas for them!

Valentines Day fun!

I had a lot of fun with valentines day this year!  Two of my orders were really lovely and finally I can share them without ruining anyone's surprise! :)
Thank you to Chris for giving me such a lovely cake to make for Milly!...  A cake that is also a box of chocolates... with a sugar crafted orchid spray on the top.  He put a lot of thought into it and I really enjoyed making it and had never made an orchid before!  I was thinking of doing the orchid in brush embroidery, but I really love orchids and decided to give it a go in sugar paste.  I put it in a spray with rose buds and some blossom fillers and ivy leaves. I got the orchid cutter from Sugarart of Lincoln and researched how to put one together online.  Here is the finished product!...

Orchid spray

I was organised with the spray and had it finished in plenty of time, however, I was on a course the day I needed to be decorating the cakes so I didn't get started until gone 6pm!  It wasn't too bad, I think I was in bed and asleep by 2am...but it is a good thing I love what I do! :)

I made the cake by cutting a circle out from the top layer and laying the roll-out icing on top, moulding it into the hole.

We bought chocolates...  who can resist Milk Tray???

I iced each chocolate so that they wouldn't move about.




Chris asked me to make the top tier (the chocolate box lid!) red...  and it was too late to order ready-made red icing so I decided to die it myself and ended up with very red hands...they are still red now! 

 This is one of the hazards of the job!  Infact, the other day someone asked me if my hands are permanently died because of the colourings I use in the cakes... the answer is that no, they are not, they are only died for a few days.  By the time the die from one has gone, it is time to make another!  I could use gloves, but then it makes it difficult to work... so when you see me with multi-coloured hands, please don't judge me, haha!  Remember what I do :)

And this is a photo of the finished cake!  I was really chuffed with how it turned out and I think the red behind the orchid looks stunning.  For the sponge I used my usual buttermillk recipe that I posted not long ago and a genache-style frosting with dairy milk and double cream - yum!!!  I hope Milly enjoyed it!

I also had a lovely cupcake project to do - a series of 6 cupcakes that was a timeline of their relationship....very sweet, don't you think?  He gave me a list of what he wanted and I was really excited to get started!  This is what I came up with...

relationship timeline cupcakes

In all the chaos (organised chaos ofcourse!) I was also baking an 18th birthday cake...for some reason I was convinced it was a chocolate sponge....and didn't realise that she had ordered a vanilla sponge!  DOH! So my family scored!  They enjoyed the chocolate cake very much...

especially my brother...

nom nom!

Thank you for reading my blog, please follow it if you want to know more and don't 

forget that you can also keep up to date with my cakes and treats on my facebook page!

www.facebook.com/UttinglyScrumptious

Sugar Crafted Scottish Thistle

When I was asked to create a cake that had a rose and thistle spray I jumped at the chance!  I love making roses and I had no idea how thistles were made - so what a great opportunity to find out!  I found it quite difficult to find anything online about how to make them and had almost lost hope... but I came across this thistle making kit by rainbow sugarcraft.  It's a bit annoying if you already have some of the materials needed, but in the set you get everything you need to make a scottish thistle, at great value and with directions too!  Here is the linkhttp://www.rainbowsugarcraft.co.uk/shop/Scottish_Thistle_Designer.htm

This is a picture of the thistle spray that you can buy from the rainbow sugar craft website. It's quite nice, but personally, I think it is a bit life-less and boring.  But it gives you a good idea of what to aim for when putting the thistle together.  I used some brown dusting powder to make the spikes a bit more life-like and textured.

Cameron Tartan

And below is a picture of my finished cake!  I was really pleased with it and particularly enjoyed making the red berries!  I wanted it to match the ribbon that they chose to go on the cake, which was cameron tartan, in the picture above.

As you can see, it was a 40th wedding anniversary - and what a lovely project it was!  

Happy Anniversary Mary and John!  I hope the cake was enjoyed!

The baby bootie cake!

My amazing friend Katy gave birth to her second daughter, Roberta, on Thursday 27th October.  They are a Latter Day Saint family and as a proud friend I wanted to do something special for Roberta's blessing day, which was last Sunday, the 5th February.  I found a bootie cutter and came up with the design of daisies and butterflies and Roberta's name along the base.  

Here is a close up of the baby booties.  They are made from sugar paste.  I got the cutter set from www.surbitonart.co.uk.  The set comes with directions too...very helpful!  I found the most difficult part was to get the laces long and thin enough!

I knew there were going to be quite a few children at the post-blessing party, so I did a simple vanilla sponge cake on the bottom and a lemon drizzle cake on the top for the grown-ups.  Katy set aside the booties, I think they are going to keep them. The cake was devoured!  Both the lemon and vanilla and most of the daises and butterflies too!  haha!

This was my first attempt at using royal icing on a base.  I have always covered bases with regal icing before, but I like the finish that royal icing gives.  At first I found it impossible, until I realised that my icing was too thick!  It has to be really runny so that you literally pour it onto the base and it settles on the base with a lovely, smooth finish!

Congratulations to the Gosling family!x

The Cadburys Cream Egg challenge!

As soon as I saw that it was possible, I wanted to create a cupcake that had a whole cream egg in it!  ...  however, it is not as straight forward as you might think!
From all my research people say that you can do it and it is better if the egg is frozen first.  I was so excited and I had frozen my cream eggs ready...  But when I had finished my baking the cream egg was not a nice egg shape in the middle of the cake...it was a block of burnt (but still tasty!) chocolate and cream egg mix at the bottom of my cupcake!  Argh!

Thanks to Anna's comment below after blogging about my burnt chocolate cupcakes I have tried again and this time I covered the frozen cream eggs in plain flour and put them in the oven with all fingers and toes crossed!  15 minutes later I took them out and waited for them to cool.  I was so thrilled when I cut into the first one and there was a whole cream egg in the middle!  whoop whoop!
I did it with mini cream eggs, but now I know I can do it I want to do it with the normal sized ones...YUM!

So there you go - Just one simple technique and it is possible!

Now what sweets should I try next???......

My first big adventure!...The Wedding of Seonaid and Andy Watson

 As soon as I realised I could... I volunteered to create Seonaid and Andy's wedding cake...and what an adventure!  Their colour scheme was white and blue and they wanted to create a winter wonderland theme. Seonaid and Andy, along with their family became a massive part of the design process and also enjoyed the regular cupcake tasting sessions as I perfected my recipe ideas!  This was my first wedding, so I had a lot of preperation to do.  I had also taken on the challenge of creating cake pops and push ups too, to go on their favour table of sweets for the guests.

I would NOT have got this done without the help I had!  My mum and I worked so hard getting everything done.  The biggest disaster happened 2 night's before the wedding when I started baking the cakes and the oven door broke!  Ooops!  The seal went, which meant all of the cupcakes I had baked had sunk...I had to start again, using another oven, which meant things took longer than expected!  Argh!  My mum and I worked through the night both nights, having a few hours sleep the first and only two hours the second.  In the 48 hours before the wedding my mum gained many skills, including piping with a Wilton 1M and how to create cake pops and cake push ups!  Haha!  On the day we also had a little extra help from my friend Katy with the last bits of preperation. 

The final cake design was a mix strawberry and cream cheese, chocolate and vanilla cupcakes, mini cupcakes and muffins on a mirrored cupcake stand decorated with 16 small rose sprays in purple, white and blue. I kept the final design from Seonaid, so it was a surprise on the day!  (Which didn't help with my stress levels!  haha!)  But all the work was worth it when I saw how pleased Seonaid was when she saw it!

The two cupcakes on the top had an 'A' and an 'S', especially for Andy and Seonaid.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the cake push ups!...

And ....relax!   A successful day... a very happy bride and groom... a beautiful winter wonderland created... a lot of fun had...  and a day of seeing everyone enjoy my cakes and treats!  Phew!