Ruffle Heart Cake {tutorial}

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Looking to surprise your Valentine with a special treat this year? I've got the perfect  Valentine's Day cake. This Ruffle Heart cake is fairly easy and oh so sweet! 

Here's what you'll need:

1 iced cake, any size ( you can make one or buy a basic cake from the bakery, any flavor)

1 cup buttercream frosting, tinted hot pink

1 pastry bag fitted with Wilton's rose tip #104

waxed paper, about a 5 inch wide piece

For the fondant heart banner:

8-10 inches bakers twine

1 small heart cutter (1/2 inch)

1 medium heart cutter (1 inch)

small bit of hot pink fondant

small bit of red fondant

two bamboo skewers

Draw a heart on the waxed with a marker that's approximately 3-inches tall for a four inch tall cake. Place the frosting in the pastry bag fitted with the #104 tip, Starting in the center of the heart shape on the waxed paper with the larger end of the tip touching the waxed paper, pip a small round ruffle shape. You will need to turn the waxed paper as you pip. Use a cake turntable if you have one but it isn't necessary to use a turntable if you don't own one. Then pip ruffled rows on each side of the center to until you fill out to the outline of the heart. Make sure your rows from each side meet at the bottom. Using a rounded container that is laying on it's side, place the piped heart on the waxed paper onto round container vertically. You can use any large rounded container such as, an oatmeal or shortening container, soup cans are too small. (see photo above). The curve of the container will allow the heart to set up with a slight curve that will make it easier to adhere to the curve of the cake.  Place the heart on the container into the freezer for 20-30 minutes or until completely firm to the touch.

Put a dot of frosting onto the side of the cake, where you want to place the heart. Gently lift the buttercream heart from the waxed paper and place onto the side of the cake where you put the dot of frosting. I put the heart onto the cake and placed the piece of waxed paper back over it to press it onto the cake. I wanted to minimize the warmth of my hand from warming up the buttercream and crushing any of the ruffles as I pressed the heart on the cake.

To make the heart banner:
Roll out the pink and red fondant to about 1/4 inch thickness. Cut out 4 small hearts from the red and two medium hearts from the pink fondant. Lay one of the pink hearts with a red heart on each side, leave about two inches of space between each of the heart. Place the twine across the middle of each of the hearts. very lightly press the twine onto the heart.  Place the remaining matching hearts on top of their mate. Press together the hearts, trapping the twine in between. If your hearts don't want to stick together, use a tiny drop of water on one of the hearts to help glue on the matching heart on top. Let the fondant dry for at least 24 hours. Tie the ends of the twine very tightly onto bamboo skewers to make the banner.

To add a little extra sparkle,I added a bit of food safe disco dust to my center heart.

Place the skewers on the banner on the top of the cake.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Turkey Cake Tutorial

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I got this wild brainstorm the other night to make a Turkey Cake. It occurred to me that the petal icing effect that I used on this cake would make cute "feathers" for the turkey. I knew I just had to try it to see if it would work. I think it turned out pretty cute and is fairly easy. It doesn't require any special equipment and would be a fun project for older children. How cute would this cake be for Thanksgiving!

Star Spangled Cake Topper Tutorial

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and a giveaway!

This is a super easy festive topper for a cakes or cupcakes that's perfect for the 4th of July! I made these Star Spangled cookies as a centerpiece for the 4th a couple of years ago. I used the same method to make the fondant cake topper. I LOVE how they turned out and thought I'd share this idea with my Half Baked readers. These fun stars will make any cake the star of your 4th of July table!

About a pound of white fondant, gum paste, or a combination of the two, divided into three equal parts (you can buy the colors already mixed but for this small project, coloring a little white fondant is more cost efficient.)
red and blue  gel colors . Regular food coloring will not work.
star cookie cutters that fit inside one another, small, medium, and large.
18 gauge wire or toothpicks
Method:
Divide fondant/gum paste into three equal parts. Knead red food coloring to one piece, blue food coloring to one piece and leave the third piece white. Add enough food coloring to make the fondant a very bright red and blue. How much you need will depend on the amount of fondant you are coloring. Wear plastic gloves or put the fondant into a small ziplock baggie to knead in the food coloring or you'll have festive colored hands as well! 

Dust your work surface and a rolling pin lightly with a little powdered sugar or corn starch. Roll out all three colors of your fondant to about 1/4 inch thickness. I find it easier to thread a wire in the stars if they are not too thin. Try to roll all three colors of the fondant to about the same thickness. 
First cut out your largest star. Cut the center of the large star out with the medium sized star. Next cut out a medium sized star out and insert it into the cut out in the center of the large star. Finally, cut out the center of the medium star with the smallest star cutter. Cut a small star out and put it in the center of the medium star.

*Keep fondant covered with plastic wrap while not using as it dries out quickly. Thread a wire or toothpick into the bottom of the star, pushing it  at least half way into the star.  I let mine dry flat for a few hours and then them stuck them into a piece of oasis to dry completely. Cut wires to desired lengths.  Then I threaded the wire through festive straws but that's an optional step.

If using just fondant not a mix of fondant and gum paste, you may need to let the wired stars dry flat for several hours, up to overnight before picking them up. Gum paste or a 50/50 mix of gum paste and fondant dried fairly quickly and doesn't need as long to dry before you can use them.
Your toppers are ready to use!

We took the these photos at Waterberry Farm.

And now for the GIVEAWAY!

So far this summer has been an extremely busy one for me, fun but busy. Last summer our family farm along with several others in our area joined together to form The Route 52 Farm Trail. All the farms on the trail are open to the public on Saturday's June and July. We sell our produce, baked goods and preserves. This year we've added two local artisans work as well at Waterberry Farm. Fat Bird Designs sells gorgeous hand painted tea towels and other beautiful hand made goods. Beatrice and Lulu makes heirloom children's clothing and many other beautifully crafted items.
Ok so I guess not all of you will be able to visit is at Waterberry Farm. Never fear! Fat Bird Designs and Beatrice and Lulu have teamed up for a giveaway!!

Fat Bird Designs is giving away this stunning original, one-of-a-kind hand painted table runner.

 Beatrice and Lulu is giving away these adorable recycled chevron drink coasters. She makes the absorbent center using her daughters old baby bibs! So cool! Read about how she makes them here on her blog

She's also giving away one of her cute chevron print hats. The winner will be able to get the hat personalized with their monogram in the center!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

DIY chocolate heart decorations

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These decorations are super simple and don't require any special skills or equipment to make. If you can draw a heart shape then you've pretty much got the skill set needed to make these chocolate hearts. Use them as cupcake toppers or to decorate a cake. They're so cute they'll make you look like a decorating superstar!

What you'll need:

Candy melts, (any colors you want) can be found in the cake decorating section of Wal-Mart or any major craft store.

Wax paper or parchment paper

zip top baggies, or if you want you can use pipping bags and tips but they aren't necessary to make the hearts.

How To:


Place a piece of the wax paper or parchment paper onto a cookie sheet..

Put approximately 1/2 cup of candy melts into the zip top baggie. Melt them in the microwave for 30 seconds.

Knead the bag and heat them for 15-20 seconds until melted.

Push the melted chocolate toward one corner of the baggie. Cut a very small tip from one corner of the baggie.

Fold the top of the bag over and squeeze as you draw some heart shapes onto the wax paper.

If you think you need a pattern, or want them to all to be exactly the same size, you can print out some hearts on paper and place the paper under your wax paper to use as a guide. Alternately, you could trace around some small cookie cutters onto parchment paper, flip the paper over and follow the pattern.

I like to do them freehand. I like making different sizes and shapes.

Get as fancy as you like. Fill in the hearts completely, make curlicues, whatever! Any mistakes are easily to get rid of, just pop it in your mouth and mistake...gone!

Let the chocolate candy heart set up for 30 minutes to an hour. They should be dry enough to pick up easily. If they stick a bit, carefully slide a spatula or off-set decorating spatula under the hearts to lift them up. Try not to handle the hearts too much. The warmth from your hand softens the chocolate and can make them break.

Sugared Cranberries

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I made these lovely little gems for the first time as a topping for my pumpkin cranberry cupcakes. I liked them so much I also decorated my All-in-One Holiday Bundt Cake with them as well. At first I was really just looking for a festive decoration. After making these however,I found that not only are they a glittery and beautiful decoration for desserts but they're an excellent little snack as well. The cranberries are soaked overnight in simple syrup then rolled in superfine sugar. They are sweet and tart and pop in your mouth when you bite them. The cranberries hold quite well for several days in an airtight container. Put these gorgeous little gems into pretty containers and give them as gifts along with your other Christmas goodies.

Ingredients
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups water
2 cups fresh cranberries
3/4 cup superfine sugar
Preparation

Combine granulated sugar and water in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring mixture until sugar dissolves. Bring to a simmer; remove from heat. (Do not boil or the cranberries may pop when added.) Stir in cranberries; pour mixture into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.

Drain cranberries, reserving steeping liquid, if desired. Place superfine sugar in a shallow dish. Add the cranberries, rolling to coat with sugar. Spread sugared cranberries in a single layer on a baking sheet; let stand at room temperature 1 hour or until dry. Store in an airtight container in a cool place for up to a week.
Use the reserved steeping liquid as a mixer in your holiday cocktails!