So It's Official... Support Frostitution!

I've decided to take the plunge and apply for licensing as 'The Red Queen Cakery'! My friend Don has agreed to partner with me and get this show on the road.

I've greatly enjoyed learning the art of cake and while I am still very much an amateur compared to many out there, I think I'm off to a good start. I've worked to perfect some really good recipes and designs and with the response my friends and their friends and their friends have given me, I'm ready to move forward... on a small scale.

So, the plan is for us to use some local Arts and Farmer's markets to setup, test the water, and begin to build a following.

What do you think about these:

Creme de Menthe cuppies. These are dark chocolate with creamy mint bits and a minty cookie surprise inside. They're covered with a generous swirl of minty buttercream and drizzled with a super-yummy ganache. I ate one of these with some vanilla ice cream and they were 'to die for'! I think these are going on the menu.

The Banana Split cuppies are my favorites so far. Delicious banana flavored cake with banana pieces baked inside. There's a tunnel of strawberry cream cheese filling tucked away inside and they're topped with a Very vanilla buttercream with toasted pecans and fudge ganache on top... and of course topped off with a cherry and a bit of pineapple. *Drool*

Rocky Road also turned out to be a big hit. Brownie bottom fudge cuppies topped with Very Vanilla buttercream and atop that is a fun mixture of pecans, marshmallows, and chocolate chips and again, drizzled with ganache. YUM!

Ah, the Drumstick cuppies! Talk about a throwback to yummy goodness of my childhood (and adulthood!). Very vanilla cake with a chocolate fudge lava center and topped with Very vanilla buttercream. These were then dipped in a super rich ganache and topped with sugar cone pieces and peanuts. Mmmmboy! Delicious.

I'll be sharing more with you all and we progress. Don had some really great banners made for us to use on our booth at the market, I'll post some pictures later and update you. We've got our business cards made, t-shirts, and packaging. We'll be peddling  gourmet cupcakes, truffles, and decorated cookies and will take orders for specialty cakes.

As we move more forward into a business mindset, we'll likely convert redqueencakery.com into an actual storefront display website and use the blog as an avenue to communicate with you all. I'm nervous and super-excited!

Check back later for updates!

The Word Of The Day Is...

Procrastinate.
pro·cras·ti·nate  –verb (used with object)
to put off till another day or time; defer; delay.
(insert my picture next to the definition!)
 
OK, so I've got to get back on track and keep up to date. I've been soooo busy the last couple of weeks that I've gotten behind on many things, including this. I promise to try to be better!
 
I have been baking my butt off! Now, while I know that's not really a pretty image nor would the health department approve, but hey... my mom taught me to always tell the truth.
Here's a little of what I've been up to-

            Ah, the Juicy bag. I knew sooner or later, I was going to be tasked with the purse-style cake and in March, it happened. This was a vanilla/chocolate marble cake and I'm told it was delicious! Looks good, right?

After that, came Alyce's first birthday. Originally her mommy thought we would do a Dora the Explorer themed party and then later changed her mind to a 'cupcake' theme. Yayyy!!!

The cake was a tropical mix. Bottom tier was a combo flavor of pineapple/coconut/banana and the giant cupcake was an orange creamsicle concoction. Super yummy and a lot of fun to make. Now, we need regular cupcakes to go along with the cake! Strawberry cuppies with pureed strawberry buttercream... delicious!OK, ok... I was just looking for another excuse to play around with my new Cricut Expression cutting system.. LOVE.

This past weekend I officially deemed 'Purple Zebra Weekend'. 2, count 'em, TWO purple zebra themes requested:

Couple days ago, I did Georgia Bulldog cake # 2...

... and a Polo Shirt / hat combo

Shew! Are you tired yet? I'm exhausted!

Don't forget the truffles! These boxes had super selections including Cookies & Cream, Strawberries & cream, Lime Coconut, Coconut, Very Vanilla, and Creamsicle. MMmmm!!

OK, we're almost up to date!

I experimented a little this week... chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes covered in ganache (drool!)

After a small snafu, I ended the week with The Princess and the Frog...

OK gang, I think I got it all in! Not much of a story this time, but lots of eye candy!

The two rules of procrastination: 1) Do it today. 2) Tomorrow will be today tomorrow. ~Author Unknown

..until next time!

Mardi Gras, Magic, & A Movie Bomb

So this week, I've officially given up my rights to ever be the one to choose a movie again! In an earlier post, I introduced you all to one of my 'partners in crime', Tim... you remember my 'baseball guru'...

This week we decided to do a movie again, but what to see... there are really no big blockbusters going on that we haven't already seen. Well, someone told me that 'Shutter Island' was the one to see. So, even though I'm far from a DiCaprio fan, I figure why not give it a try. OK, so Tim's game and I'm always up for movie popcorn and a frozen coke!

STINKER!

Now, of course this is just my own opinion and I'm certainly not trying to offend any fans, it was just not the movie for me. I think I may have even actually dozed once or twice! Now, I will say that it had a pretty interesting twist of an ending, but was not enough to save the movie. OK, so now I'm just waiting for Toy Story 3 and maybe the remake of Clash Of The Titans to redeem my cinematic voting power! So, I digress... lol!

OK, back to what's important, BAKING!

This week I was in cookie-mode.  

It was Erica's birthday and Erina wanted to surprise her with some cookies. Now, I know Erica is a big poker fan & player and her party-theme this year was Mardi Gras... so Erina wanted to incorporate the two into cookies. Erina also tells me it's her husband's birthday as well and he's a big 'Magic, The Gathering' fan. Now, I'm familiar with MTG because my son used to play many years ago so I can get into this.

If you're not familiar, MTG is a collectible card game. Each game represents a battle between powerful wizards, known as "planeswalkers", who use the magical spells, items, and fantastic creatures depicted on individual Magic cards to defeat their opponents.

So, the task is to make Erica a dozen Mardi Gras playing card cookies and to personalize them with her name, age, and theme. Hubby gets a dozen MTG card cookies. Not a problem! These cookies will be a piece of cake (ooohhh yes, I did say that... sorry!).

I used a basic firm sugar cookie recipe and cut each cookie into a 3"x4.5" rectangle. Once cooked, I brushed them with some nice apricot preserves and covered them with fondant. White for Erica's cards and black for hubby's cards. I covered each cookie with images provided by Erina. Now, I still had to create the personalized saide of the Mardi Gras cards... nooo problem. While finishing up the MTG cards, my son Chris (who you also met earlier) makes a suggestion. 'Mom, don't you remember the Black Lotus?'

Ummmm... oh yeah! The Black Lotus was supposedly the most soughtafter Magic card and very valuable. So, I figure, as a bonus, I'll throw one in and make a baker's dozen.

What do you think of them?

I also had 2 birthday's, 2 new team members, and 1 veteran member departure from my work team this month. We celebrated with homemade German (or German's if you want to be historically correct) Chocolate cake and ice cream sundaes. Back to the treadmill for me!!!!

Next week, I have a friend asking for a Juicy Couture bag and it's also Alyce's first birthday... it's going to be a busy week. Sometime's I wish I could quit my job and do this for a living! :)

...see you all soon!

Just How *IS* a Raven Like a Writing Desk Anyway??

After returning from the long-anticipated release of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, I still don't know the answer to this riddle... but I do know one thing...

THIS MOVIE WAS GREAT!

A word of advice - do not go to this movie expecting to see a remake of any previous Alice nor an Alice story you've previously read. This is Tim's vision and adaptation of his own imagination and brilliance! Now, not that we expected anything less from Tim Burton and his usual cast of characters, Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. Throw in Anne Hathaway, Mia Wasikowska, Alan Rickman & the rest of the 'Underland' gang and POW! Magical is all I can say!

I saw this movie on opening day, IMAX 3d of course and it was amazing. Gorgeous scenery, incredible effects and yet slightly dark at the same time. I would highly recommend getting lost in this world with the help of IMAX. The sound, the size, the feeling that you were also immersed in Underland was excellent.

Now, I won't give away the plot nor any details of the film, you just have to RUN to the theatre and see for yourself. I absolutely fell deeper in love with The Red Queen in this one and actually moved The March Hare up a few rankings on my favorites list. He was a riot. There was definately not enough time spent at the tea party this time, it was one of my favorite scenes. The March Hare and Hatter are equally mad I think! Check out this clip...

From Alice to Hatter to Red herself this movie was a nonstop overload of excitement, eye-candy, special effects, whimsy, nonsense, adventure, action, heroism, and I believe there may have even been a little touch of warm fuzzies between Alice and Hatter. What a couple that would make! Almost as interesting and odd as the wink-wink relationship between Red and Stave...

The Red Queen's Bandersnatch was second only to her Jabberwocky, and while I realize if you haven't seen the movie, that may sound a little risque'... those in the know would agree with me!

This movie gets a 4.5 out of 5 stars from me and it only lacks the last 1/2 star because it wasn't long enough. The epic battle between good & evil, Red & White, was over almost as quickly as it began. Either the movie was so good that it was over before we knew it or not enough time was spent in Underland... I haven't decided which yet but I suspect it was the latter.

This is definately a go-to movie... do yourselves a favor and see it then buy the dvd!

I love the Red Queen obviously and all the hearts and cards. In her honor, I created these cake truffles. They are a yummy combination of banana, rum, and coconut and coated in white chocolate. They are as colorful, decadent and delicious as the Queen herself!

We're off to Champion Stadium in Orlando tomorrow for Braves Spring training and I'll be taking tonight's special creation with us...

Cookies & Cream cupcakes. This is a French Vanilla cake with Oreo pieces baked throughout and covered in a super-yummy cream cheese frosting. Here's a tip when you make your own... twist oreo's in half and put the unfrosted half in the bottom of the cup before you fill with batter. It's a nice surprise when you bite! I think my Dad will enjoy these, what do you think?

I end today's post with one of my favorite quotes from the movie, "Sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.".
See you all after the game!

Faith, Trust, & Pixie Dust!

OK, so as a result of the Saints baby cake from my last post, I picked up a request for a Tinkerbell theme number. Tinkerbell huh... ok, no problem!

Now, I haven't watched Peter Pan in many years. It happens to be one of my dad's favorite moves and the whole family, well, we're all big Disney fans. Tink should literally be a piece of cake, right (yes, I said it!)? So, I pop in a dvd, grab some popcorn, and take a trip back to my youth.

Ah, Nana! Wendy! The Lost Boys, and who could forget Captain Hook! Tick-tock tick-tock, poor ol' Hook was terrorized by one of my favorites, the croc!

So, ok, after watching and reminiscing, I got it...

Straight to the kitchen I go, humming 'You Can Fly, you can fly, you can fly....'!

I sat in there for about 2 hours, cutting blades of grass, flowers, and leaves and still not a clear vision of what they'd look like on a cake... until I grabbed my airbrush and started painting! I covered the 3-layer cake in a pretty pale pink pearlized paint (say that 3 times fast, I dare you!) I varigated the shades of pink and ended at the bottom with a pretty neon shade. oooooohhhhh! OK, on goes the grass (blade by blade), leaves, flowers, butterflies... BAM!

I like it! I Love it! Everything on this cake is edible, aside from Tink herself. I wanted the birthday girl to be able to have a keepsake, so Tinkerbell is actually a pre-made topper. Now, anyone familiar with me and my work knows that normally I like eveything to be handmade and personalized... but... I am by no means talented enough to attempt molding figures, yet. I am really envious of others out there that just seem to have a gift for it, but that's not me, not yet. One of my goals is to get it and get it right. Hopefully as you follow me, you'll start to see attempt to molding.

All of the flowers, leaves, grass, snails, & butterflies are handmade and painted. All are fondant and edible.

Bernesha's birthday plaque is made of blue chocolate and personalized with an edible image made just for her. She chose a basic french vanilla cake with vanilla frosting. Always a classic and always yummy!

I hope her 12th birthday is a blast!

Let me know what you think. Tomorrow's another Disney day... Tim Burton/Disney's Alice in Wonderland premiers and I've already got my tickets... it's going to be a good day!

Peter Pan quote for today:

"When a new baby laughs for the first time a new fairy is born, and as there are always new babies there are always new fairies."

Keep laughing everyone...

Oreo's, Saints, & The Braves!

Hi again everyone! It's about 2am and I just finished my latest cake and wanted to share.


I was approached by a co-worker and friend to make a baby shower cake for her soon-to-be-here grandson. Sonia and her family are huge Saints fans, in fact this is the 2nd Saints theme I've done for her.


We decided this one would have baby shoes on top and rather than conventional baby blues, we'd go Saints gold, black & white... below are the reults along with some progression steps... enjoy!


The cake is a 3-layer cookies & cream mix filled with Oreo's...

...and it seemed to pass the preliminary taste-test!

I covered this one in a yummy white chocolate ganache, one of my standards. For all you other cakers reading, if you haven't used ganache under your fondant, you simply MUST try it! Aside from the great taste, it smooths sooooo easily and you can really get some sharp edges with it... I highly recommend it.

Now, I've only made one shoe prior to this (I'll show you in a later post), and I saw a picture of the cutest baby Converse high-tops and had to try them too! I initially started making them in baby blue until Sonia corrected me and and reminded me, this was a Saints baby! Silly me, what was I thinking!

The sneakers are made from fondant with some Tylose mixed in to help them firm up and hold their shape. I think they turned out pretty cute, what do you think? How about that logo, personalized with the little one's name? I LOVE my edible image printer!

I think this one turned out great! Complete with chocolate rattle and plaque, this one is 100% edible!

Now, personally, I'm not really a football fan, although I have made several football themed cakes... I'm more partial to The Boys of Summer. Thanks to my good friend Tim, I'm now completely addicted to the Tampa Bay Rays! Next weekend (after the Alice in Wonderland premier of course!) we're taking a road trip and I'm graduating to America's team... Go Braves! Champion Stadium, here we come!

That's all for tonight, I'm off to watch some late night tv and practice up on my 'Tomahawk Chop'..

... until next time