Fifty Shades of Chocolate Cake

Okay... have you read the books?
The hype of the Fifty Shades series had a lot of women (and secretly, men) whispering in dark corners. The story of how a normal female reporter gets swept into a dark secret world of passion captured audiences around the world.

Now, I read the series, and was not at all embarrassed to admit it... and I thought, while not well written, to be fun and entertaining (she says about a 'dirty book).

I know of at least one person who refused to read the books on anything but a Kobo for fear of being caught reading 'dirty books.' How dirty can a series be if seemingly the whole world is speaking about it? How can people, knowing that many of their friends have read it, be ashamed of reading the series? This paradox had me chuckling. Of course a book with this hype would certainly garner more readers. Additionally, the movie, set to come out some time in the future, released the name of Christian as Ryan Gosling (really?).

Fun Fact: Did you know that the Fifty Shades series started out as a Twilight fan fiction story (using Bella and Edward as the characters Anna and Christian)? Hmmm.... try to imagine the story now? It seems strange to me!

Okay, so this post has been less about the cake above, and more about the thoughts on the book/movie. Sorry... it is just that when I think about the book, I find it hard to picture a movie being made of it. The subject matter would make the movie too risque to put into theaters, meaning they will have to dull it down, which I think defeats all the fun of the books. I mean, we are talking about a book made to entertain adult audiences with its different content (not at all like a Harlequin Romance book).

But who would not like to see the embodiment of Christian Grey swooning over Anastasia? Really? Super fun (and completely superficial) story-lines are super fun to read/watch... or will it be? Can they actually take the content of the book (beyond the crazy romance which is quite messed up) and make it into a good story? (Wow, I am using a lot of brackets today!)

 

 Anyway... here it was, a chocolate fudge cake with chocolate fudge icing, topped with MMF, decorated to look like Christian Grey's lovely chest! Made as a Bachelorette cake. Hope you enjoyed the rant :)

Anniversary - the Couples edition

Finally, some inspiration. Things have been busy in the Fort. Over the last little while I have been working hard on several creations (some unposted as of yet, sorry!).

So, it is with great pleasure that I post this update! The Kellar Cake - a 50th wedding anniversary!
Red-Velvet and Carrot Cake with Cream-Cheese buttercream, covered in MMF.

 

And of course, my personal update. I don't like adding too much in the way of personal information. True, I have been known to post personal images and updates sporadically, but this one is totally worth doing. This year, my husband and I are celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary (not our 50th, I guess we are 1/10th there!). I say this year, but in truth, we were married on a leap-year (Feb 29th 2008) and only have celebrated one anniversary.... so if you count non-leap years it is five, if not, I guess we are 1.25/5 years.  I suppose my husband's face says it all as I try on my dress for the last time.

What do people do with their dresses? Wreck them, store them for their children who will never want to wear them.... Me. I decided to donate mine. There is a great group in Thunder Bay that sends dresses to people who cannot afford to buy them. I am very happy knowing my dress will have a new life with someone! So... I tried it on. One thing I always thought with my dress.... I AM BATMAN! 

Other silly things being done... a Quincy-hut outside of my house.... we've had a lot of snow! Two people can sit up or crouch in this beast! My husband says I can live in that, and he gets the house.

And of course, after-school snowshoeing on the lake. What a wonderful way to enjoy where you live. 

Winter Wedding

This cake was near and dear to my heart, and in truth, had to be baked twice before I was happy with the results! But, with all my heart, I wanted it to be perfect.

So, with much fussing and playing, I managed to create a winter-themed cake with a rather large Poinsettia on top.

With a little bit of a twist, this is an egg-nog cake with vanilla-bean buttercream. The cake is covered in MMF, and decorated with sugar flowers/snowflakes (a combo if you will). I had no time to order a snowflake plunger set this year. Rats! Maybe next...

 Because the Poinsettia is so large, it actually dented to the top of the cake! I have never done a single flower on top, and was rather pleased with the off-set aesthetic of it.

 And of course, this was a drop-in wedding, so Cupcakes make things a little more munchable! I was rather pleased all around.

So, now I have some extra cake in the house... I wonder what I will use it to make next :)
Happy New Year!

Pink wedding!

I loved the setup for this wedding. Pink and Fuchsia were the colours, and boy did they fit the bride and groom! The spread included on two tier cake (with Polka-dots), one Ice-creme cone cake, and one gluten-free orange-almond cake. I was super happy to pull myself out of my baking funk, and to get to work on a real project!

The cake included small sugar flowers and sugar butterflies! I loved the cake flavors she choose. The top tier is Chocolate, the bottom, Lemon.... In the other cake, almond and then strawberry. FUN! I love the not-so-basic flavors!

The whole room was decorated in pink bows and white tulle. I loved the bride. Her bubbly personality and cute babushka to hide her hair from her husband was just adorable!

So, I now have two tutorials to post as a result! I guess you'll have to check back later to see what they will be :)

Anniversary in more ways than one

February 29th is a big day for me. Not only is this my 200th post YAY, but it is also my first, fourth anniversary. It was four years ago today, February 29th 2008 that I got married.
Now, I get to celebrate!

Hubbie and I met some 10 years ago this month (Feb). I saw him in my first year English class and thought he was super beautiful! Being too shy to say anything, I just kept my nose in my books and soldiered on. A cute guy like him needs someone equally as good looking.
Later on that day, I walked into the social area of the university, the Agora, and saw some people playing a game. I walked up and said: OH WOW... MAGIC CARDS (nerdy game)... only to notice that the one playing the game was ... my future hubbie.


I was super embarrassed! But he was nice. We talked, played a few games of Magic, and then he asked me out to a movie. Our first 'date' was watching a movie about cannibalism (a movie called Ravenous).
One thing led to another, and we started to go steady. Six years later...
Hubbie hands me a box... my birthday present he says. I open it up, only to find a lovely kitten he had rescued from the humane society. As I lift the kitten and begin to freak out, he tells me to look at the bottom of the box. There was no ring, just two simple words... ENGAGEMENT KITTEN. I said yes of course. To this day, I still only have my wedding ring... one which matches his.

We were married in 2008. I was completing a Masters degree in English, and he was in Fort teaching... we decided to go ahead with our planned wedding date, even though we would only get a weekend together. We had chosen the leap year. Much like our courtship and engagement, the day was unique and fun... a perfect day for a wedding.
With Hubbie-to-be driving in town late on a Friday Night (after the school across the street blew up ... no really... from a gas leak just as he was leaving), and with me getting the final touches in place... we wed on a cold, freshly snowy Saturday. Our small ceremony was perfect. And he was mine forever! The school was repaired 1 and 1/2 years later...

I think the world of him. Unfortunately, he is actually sick today, so no big celebrations for us. He was super sad that he was not well enough for our dinner reservations, but I would much rather go when he feels well. Instead, I get to nurse him to health... I love him a lot!

Of course, what anniversary would be complete without cake! I decided to finally try the "ROSE" cake that I am Baker Legend, Amanda designed some time ago. You may have seen other people's versions... not it's my turn.

It's pretty. Roses for an anniversary. Hubbie loved it!

And of course, I can continue on being the dorky house wife I've always wanted to be. I seriously dreamed of it when I was young, but not knowing how to cook put a real hamper on that. I had a lot of work to do, and I think I fixed the problems... Maybe . At least I don't burn water anymore.

So, now I'm off to 'cubble' my Hubbie. Later on, we eat cake. Maybe, just maybe he'll be better this week, and we can celebrate for realsies.

CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE! CAKE!
And HUGS!

Sugar Flowers!

Back from vacation #2! Now I can stay at home and not worry about anything.
You would truly think that vacations are easy and care-free, but you are WRONG! I hate being away from home for long periods of time... it drives me nuts. So, you can imagine that day 3 of being home (day one and two dedicated to laundry cleaning up the house), I would jump right into baking. Hubbie complained that he had no sweets (or food in the house at all for that matter... grocery shopping is number four on my list), and that I should get right to work creating something delicious. So, I whipped up some cake and decided to play with sugar flowers!

Here's the resulting Hubbie-Cake:

This was a late-night version of a brush embroidery on cake. It can be done with buttercream! HURRAY!

The sugar flowers themselves are ruffled Anemone flowers. I tried to pick fun and bright colors to off-set the black/white cake. Pink, orange, white and yellow with green leaves just looked so pretty.

A butterfly that was hand-painted!

Now, the cross-section of the cake. I love showing the cut cake whenever possible. Most people forget to show the insides... I think it's the most interesting part. Like a surprise. I find myself asking of others...
WHAT TYPE OF CAKE IS IT... ९(ेД॔)७
Rainbow? Strawberry? Chocolate? Vanilla? Marble?

So, what type is my cake?

Vanilla-almond sandwiched between Marble cake with Chocolate buttercream filling. YUM!

My whole plot for this post was actually to do a tutorial on how to make the sugar anemone. I had a post a while back about a black/white cake with a beautiful anemone on top where people asked for tutorials... I forgot to take good pictures *\(°˛° )/* . Since I don't work with a lot of fancy tools (you do need gumpaste tools though), my flowers are super easy!

Anywhoo, to post it I have to shrink and crop some photos... that takes a long time.
Come back in a couple of days to see what it all looks like.

:: JUMPS INTO HER OWN BED AND CUDDLES THE PILLOW ::

Brush Embroidery Tutorial

Good Morning (depending on where you are... someone must just be getting up).

I am still a live, although some might have noticed a conspicuous absence (especially since I usually post at least twice a week on normal weeks). But, as I get deeper into the house thing, I am getting further from the kitchen. This week, I moved back into it to make these fabulous Brush Embroidery Flower cookies.

This technique it super easy, and while some may have seen it, others may not have. I figured I would post a quick tutorial on brush embroidery and let you decide how you like it. This technique has also been used on my cakes (I used it on my Cheerleading Cake a while back).

So, all you really need is pre-baked cookies, royal icing (that's the kind that hardens), and a flat-sided paintbrush.

Okay, into the tutorial we go... you get to see more of my ugly picnic-indoor-eat-off-of-it table.

Step one. Using your royal icing in a piping bag, line the outside of the cookie... like this:

Let the outline dry for 10 minutes. Next, using a thinned royal icing called a 'flood', fill the circle so you will have a smooth cookie surface. I actually tap my cookies on the table to bring up air bubbles and pop them with a pin.

Once you have let that fill dry for at least 1 hour (depends on humidity etc), you can start painting. Mix a counter-color icing for the flower pattern... now we have fun!

In a piping bag with a #1 or #2 tip Place begin piping the design on the flower. I used the broken petal method. Be careful not to have the icing too thin, if it is, it will be hard to get detail. I actually made my a little thin, but it came out nice all the same. It just needed more love ♥.

Now grab the brush and drag it downwards into the icing, moving towards the center of the cookie (or wherever you placed the flower. It does not necessarily need to be the center). I like to push up ever so slightly on the icing before brushing down, which gives it a little more ruffle int he petal, but it's your choice.

Continue to add petals moving into the center using the same technique.

Keep going, then to finish, add lines (now you can see the thin-ness of the icing), and center it off with some kind of embellishment. I like using silver or white degrees, but there are other things you can use too.

Like I said, you do not need to do a center flower each time. I like to add other flowers on the sides or off-center. I also thought it looked nice to add leaves to the sides of the flowers, a little green to contrast the blue and white.

And that's how it's done. These cookies made their way to a lovely birthday party, though I got no photos. PHOOEY! I think I need a new camera... that way I have something to post good photos with, rather than these gloomy, grainy ones. You know you need a new camera when.

If you are feeling generous, and wish to send me one, please e-mail me :)

Until I get your e-mail, O mysteriously kind person, wherever you may be, I shall continue to post cookies and cakes.

Hope you are enjoying nice weather!