Just a note to all of you who have sendt photos of your gorgeous cake stands. You can now see them in the cake stand gallery I hope that I have all the details right if not then please let me know.

I would still love to see and receive more photos of your version of the cake stand so please send them to me and I will add them to the gallery. Thank you all so far with the contribution:-)

Happy Caking

Louise

So many have loved and used the tutorial on how to make this cake stand and some of you have even send me fantastic photos so that I could see how it looked when it was finished.

So I thought it would be a great idea to make a gallery only with the cake stands that you have made not only just to look but also for insperation on colors and materials aswell.

If you have made one by using this tutorial and have a photo with or without cupcakes I would be very happy if you will send it to me along with your name and where you are from. I will add the photos to the cake stand gallery when I receive photos of them. If you already have send me a photo then please send it again. Thanks!

I hope that many will share their cake stand with the rest of the world.

Happy Caking

Louise

First let me say congratulation to Sandra (socake) who won the Fairy theme Throw Down at the flickr Bake-off group. Sandra made a fantastic fairy who crashed in the frosting. Love it!

I made this little sweet fairy and yes she is very small just over 2″ high. I made her out of modelling paste and used a flower cutter to make the petal dress. I gave her a pair of wings by using a butterfly cutter from Patchwork cutters. I finished it off with green piped vines and some simple “rolled roses”.

You can see another photo of her in my cake gallery.

Happy Caking

Louise

We have had the most fantastic warm summer weather. So standing in the kitchen with the oven on have not been on my agenda lately. But I have pulled myself together to make some cupcakes for a little cupcake project on the Cakes & More forum.

So I have made three different cupcake decorations 1. swirl 2. embossing and 3. animals.

The swirls did not turn out the best because the whipped chocolate ganache that I used did not like the heat and curdled alot.

For the sweet blue cupcakes have I used a small embossing stick from Holly Products. I topped them with small sugar roses and leaves. The sticks are also great to use on fondant decorated cookies. The cute little turtle is made out of modelling paste = ready made fondant about 8 oz. mixed with 1 tsp. of Tylo Powder and kneaded well.

But I have also another cupcake project comming up in fact I am just about to get started on it. I am in this group on flickr called Flickr Bake-off! where you can challenge another person for a “Throw Down”. Then you both decide what theme it should be and if it is going to be a cake, pie, cookie or a cupcake you want to make. You have about 14 days to make whatever you have decided and the photos then goes for a vote. All just for fun like it just should be :-)

So I am a bit late so I will show you my result when the voting is over……. Oh btw the theme is “fairies” Wish me luck :-)

Happy Caking

Louise

It was with excitement that I received the three DVD’s (Perfecting the art of buttercream, Successful Stacking and Flawless Fondant) from the talented cake designer Sharon Zambito. I decided to start off with the Flawless Fondant DVD as I decorate most of my cakes with fondant.

Sharon shows how to prepare the cake so that it will not only make the covering easy but also make the cake look beautiful when it is finished.

You will see what kind of equipment she is using for the job. I really love the blue silicone mat so I just had to buy one;-) Then you will be guided through different ways on how to roll out your fondant, cover the cake and how to smoothe the cake. She shows that on both round and square cakes but also on difficult shapes like petal and hexagon. You will also see how you can decorate with impression mats, crimpers and pearls to make it look even better.

The part I love is where she shows how to get rid of air bubbles, white dust on the fondant and how to cover up small marks on the cake. The Flawless fondant dvd have also a bonus dvd with a small taste sample from Perfecting the art of buttercream. I think it is a “must” have if you are new into cake decorating because of the great step by step guides and it will help you to not give up if you have problems with your fondant. I also think that those with more experience including myself can learn from it aswell.

Happy Caking

Louise

I have received many questions about how I make my royal icing. When I make my royal icing I make it with eggwhites (pasturized) only because meringue powder or dried eggwhite powder is not commen use here in Denmark. Some of the cake decorating shops may have it though but I stick to the eggwhites.

If you do know how to make royal icing but are having trouble getting it runny for flooding your cookies then take a look at the photos maybe they can be helpful to acchive the smooth look on a flooded cookie. I can tell that I always start out with a stiff royal icing and then I thin it down with water to either soft for piping and runny for flooding.

Always remember to cover up your royal icing with either cling film or a wet cloth as this will prevent the royal icing to dry out. Also if your icing gets too thick add water or if it is too wet add more icing sugar. So here is the tutorial on how to make royal icing.

This is what I use:
2 eggwhites
2 lb icing sugar sifted (Not all may be used)
1 tsp lemon juice
Large bowl
Handheld mixer with hooks or kitchen mixer with paddle attachment
Cling film

Step 1:

Combine eggwhites and lemon juice in a large bowl. Add some of the sifted icing sugar to the mixture and start the mixer.

Step 2:
Keep adding icing sugar a little at a time. When the mixture looks like thick whipped cream and makes soft peaks when you push down the hooks/paddle in it, you can use it for piping.

Step 3:
When you have the soft peak icing, you start to only add 2 tbsp of icing sugar at a time because from now on the icing will get more and more stiff. When you can pull out small stif peaks the icing is ready. Cover the icing with cling film and a lid or wet cloth and store it in the fridge.

Runny icing:
If you want to make runny icing for flooding cookies or making run-outs then take some royal icing (stiff made) into a bowl and start mixing it with water, a few drops at the time. Continue this until the icing it thin and liquid. It should be smoothing out when you lift the spoon. The mixing with the water will most likely cause many air bubbles in the icing, so it is always good to cover up the icing and let it “rest” for 30 min. Then give it a slow stir and you have reduced the amount of air bubbles in your icing.

I hope you can use this :-)

Happy Caking

Louise

Here are the four cookies that I made from my own templates. The cupcake cookie lollie from the previous post, a mini cupcake, a cake and a Petit Four or domed cupcake?.

If you like, you can download your own copy of the cookie templates, from me to you. They are easy to cut out with a small sharp knife on cold cookie dough.

Note: It is a good idea to transfer the templates to cardboard paper or laminate them so that they last longer.

You can also find inspiration on how to decorate cookies.

Happy Caking

Louise

I have been playing with the cookie dough lately and made a lot of cute cupcake cookie lollies? or simply just cookies on a sticks. These cupcake cookies have been on my “to do list” for a very long time and I finally had a go making them. I dont have a speciel cupcake cookie cutter so I sat down and draw a template myself. I am very satisfied how they turned out and I have more cake inspired cookies on the way because I had a great time decorating them.

It is sugar cookies decorated with royal icing and you can see more cupcake cookie lollies at my gallery.

Happy Caking

Louise

A whole year has gone by and a lot has happend since I started writing on CakeJournal.

A new fantastic design for the site and loads of emails in my mail box every day with all kinds of cake decorating questions and great comments on my gallery pages. I have also been so lucky to have found so many new and sweet friends online who are all as passionate about cakes as I am.

Thank you all so much for your support and feedback whenever I write a new post or a tutorial it really means a lot to me. Happy Birthday CakeJournal!

Happy Caking

Louise

Are you tired of using lots of time cleaning up your cake tins after you are done baking? I know I am, so I like to line my cake tins when I bake my cakes because it prevents the cake to stick to the cake tin and makes the cleaning a lot easier. Here is a tutorial on how to line a cake tin.

This is what I use:
Baking paper or grease proff paper
Non-stick baking spray
Pencil
Scissors
A paper clip

Step 1:
Take your baking paper and place you cake tin on top of it. Now draw around the cake tin with your pencil.

Step 2:
Cut out the marked piece of paper and make sure that it fits the tin.
Note: This is for the bottom of the cake tin.

Step 3:
Cut a strip of baking paper long enough to go all the way around the cake tin. I like to cut my strip 1″ higher than the tin.

Step 4:
Fold down 1″ of the strip and make 1/2″ cuts into the paper. Make around 1″ between each cut.

Step 5:
Grease you cake tin with non-stick baking spray.
Note: butter and vegetable oil can also be used

Step 6:
Now you take the long strip of baking paper with the fold and cuts facing down at the bottom of the tin. Make sure it fits nicely all the way around the cake tin.

Step 7:
You can use a paper clip to hold the ends together. Now take the paper from step 2 and place it at the bottom of the cake tin.

Step 8:
The cake tin is now ready to be filled with cake batter.

Note: If you are baking a cake that raises a lot then it is important to line you cake tin with a collar so you wont end up with cake batter everywhere.

Happy Caking
Louise