Blueberry Pie

Category: Pies > Sweet > Blueberry Pie

Baking this pie, there was nothing special. It was some store brought pie crust dough and canned blueberries. I was a little worried about how the blueberries would taste, but they turned out quite good. The only problem was, the pie didn't set. When I cut into it, blueberries went everywhere. Anyone have any tips on how to get a blueberry pie to set so you can cut it nice? Maybe partially freezing it before cutting it?

I really like the pie crust lattice cutter designs. So I purchases a double sided one that has leaves on one side and apples on the other. I was really disappointed in how it worked. Of course, I think I'll get better with time. You can't see through the cutter so it is hard to tell if you have cut all the way through the dough or not. Turns out I didn't. And, since you can't see through the cutter, there was no way for me to press it down to cut again.

I ended up cutting the cut outs with a toothpick. Then, the dough was really flimsy went I put it on the pie and hard to center. So, it turned out distorted as you can see in the picture.



I wanted to cut the pie up and put them in individual boxes for my father to take to work. But that would have been impossible with the way the pie cut. I would have given him the pie to take in in the pan, but I cut out a piece to try (I always test new things to make sure they taste okay). I didn't want to send a pie with a piece missing. So, the pie stayed home.

My mini-tart pans came the other day in the mail. I am thinking about making mini blueberry tarts for him to take in instead.

Gelatin Rolled Fondant

Category: Filling > Gelatin Rolled Fondant

In my last post, I mentioned that I made my own gelatin fondant for the carnation cake. The Wilton's fondant tastes pretty bad. Other pre-made fondant tends to be a bit better than Wilton's. Duffs, for example, is better. However, to give Wilton's their due, their fondant is very pliant. If you are looking to make special designs with your fondant, like a bow, Wilton's works much better than a homemade fondant will. But if you just need to cover a cake, I would make your own. Not to mention that pre-made fondant is ridiculously expensive.

Many people shy away from making their own fondant because they think it is hard or messy. It can be a little messy if you are kneading and mixing it by hand. However, I found the following recipe, mixed with the bread hook attachment for the mixer, works well and isn't messy at all.

Recipe:

• 1 (.25 oz) Package Unflavored Gelatin
  
• 3 tbsp. Cold Water
  
• 1/2 cup Corn Syrup
  
• 1 tbsp. Glycerin
  
• 3 tbsp. Shortening
  
• 1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract
  
• 1/2 tsp. Butter Flavor
  
• 8 cups Powdered Sugar (2 pounds)
  
• Food Coloring
  

Combined gelatin and water and let sit until the gelatin thickens. It shouldn't take too long. In a double boiler, heat gelatin over medium heat until dissolved and turns into a clear liquid. Add the corn syrup and glycerin and mix. Stir in the shortening. Just before the shortening as completely melted, remove from the heat and add the vanilla and butter flavor. If you want to add a color, add it now.

Place 4 cups (1 pound) of the powdered sugar in your mixing bowl. Create a well in the middle of the sugar. Allow the rest of the shortening to melt in the gelatin mixture and for the mixture to cool to almost room temperature. Once cool, pour it into the well in the middle of the powdered sugar.

Using the bread hook attachment, mix the sugar and gelatin mixture together until it is a liquidy consistency. Scrap the sides of the bowl as needed. Once it is all mixed, slowly add the remaining powdered sugar. Hold back about 1/2 cup of powdered sugar. Remove fondant from bowl, onto a clean surface and knead remain powdered sugar in by hand.

Once done, store fondant in a zip lock bag. You can use immediately but it is best if you let it sit for a few hours before you use it.

Baking Tips:

• You can use any flavoring you like, you don't have to use the vanilla/butter combination.
  
• You don't have to add food coloring. If you want white fondant, don't add any food color. If you want your fondant many different colors, create white. Once your fondant is done, you can break off as much as you need and knead the food color into it.
  
• You can find glycerin at Micheal's or Hobby Lobby in the cake decorating section.
  

Carnation Cake - Wilton's Cake Decorating Class Review

Category: Cakes > Butter > Decorated > Carnation Cake

So here it is, my final project cake for the last of the three Wilton's Cake Decorating Classes. Happily, it is also the only one of the three final project cakes that I was actually happy with! Psssh, it also happens to be the first fondant cake I've done.

The fondant was a home made gelatin fondant because the Wilton's fondant tastes pretty bad. The carnations are made with gum paste, the yellow ribbon border is fondant, the brown shells is buttercream icing, and cake board is covered with fondant.

Honestly, I don't like cake board covered with fondant. No matter what your cake looks like, it always seems to make the cake look like a hat.





So, now that I finished all of the new Wilton's Cake Decorating Classes, what do I think? I think meh. I would recommend the classes but they could be so much better. I think the curriculum is flawed and error filled. It's like they didn't proof or trouble to check it once it was written.

Some sessions were jam packed with almost too much information while others seemed a bit on the skimpy side. The new courses removed a lot of information that I was sad to see left out like color flow and tiered cake construction.

The first, basic class, was the best. The other too classes just seemed to focus on how to make different types of flowers. Fondant was barely covered at all. Don't get me wrong, flowers are nice, but there was a lot of overlap between the last two courses. I think that was because they wanted to design the last two courses so you could take them in any order. But, if they removed that and tightened up the curriculum, they could have added a few more flowers to the course ware.

Another huge problem I had was that it is painfully obvious that the main goal behind these courses is to sell more Wilton's products and to get you to buy as much as possible. I don't mind Wilton's wanting to sell their stuff, but towards the end it was insulting and rude. In the final course, it got so bad that they were telling you to buy things that you never used during any of the courses! Wilton's would do a much better job getting me to be a loyal Wilton's customer by providing a good curriculum and proving themselves to be an honest company rather than playing these little games. As it stands right now, I'm just as likely to buy some other brand than Wilton's because they have proven to be just another corporate-greedy company. But perhaps doing business with a smaller company with integrity, and maybe paying a little more, is more important to me than some other people.

All that being said, I did learn a lot and if you are interested in learning about cake decorating, the Wilton's classes are not terrible. I would recommend them to someone who was interested.

I ended up shelling out quite a bit of money for all three courses (at least $400). So beware it isn't cheap, but I did end up with one really nice cake decorating kit for all my future endeavors.

Spookay Bouquet

Category: Rolled Cookies > Sugar Cookies > Cookie Bouquets

A while back I signed up for a cookie bouquet making class. Autumn is my favorite season so I really wanted to do a bouquet with a Halloween theme. My brother dubbed my idea the "Spookay Bouquet". Isn't that cute? So I stuck with it.

The Spookay Bouquet:



This is the bouquet my mother made.

Flower Bouquet:


We used crumbed up chocolate cake for dirt and put little gummy worms in it.

Flower Bouquet's "Dirt":


Theses are other bouquets that were made by other people in the class.

Floral Bouquet:


Ghost/Halloween:




Shoes:


We decorated the cookies with a glaze, fondant, and royal icing.

Sugar Cookie Recipe:

• 1 cup Butter; softened
  
• 1 cup Sugar
  
• 1 Egg
  
• 1 tsp. Vanilla (or flavoring of choice)
  
• 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
  
• 1/2 tsp. Salt
  
• 3 cups Flour
  

In a mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Beat in egg and vanilla. Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. Add flour slowly mixing well. Blend the last of the flour by hand.

You don't need to chill the dough. When ready, roll out dough 1/4" thick and cut out desired shapes with cookie cutters. A trick is to roll out your dough between two pieces of parchment paper. It keeps things cleaner. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place cookie cut outs on parchment lined cookie sheets. If making a cookie bouquet, place cookies upside down on the cookie sheet. Press a stick, like a skewer, into the cookie. Make sure you place the stick high enough to cover about 3/4 of the cookie. Cover stick with a little bit of cookie dough, pressing the cookie and the little piece of cookie dough firmly together. Place cookie sheet in freezer for about 5 minutes. Flip cookies over so they are right side up. Bake 8 to 10 minutes until done. Let chill on wire rack.

Once cookies are cool, you can decorate as desired.

Baking Tips:

• If you decide to make a cookie bouquet after you baked the cookies, you can add sticks to the cookies by using royal icing to "glue" the stick to the cookies.
  

Pumpkin Fudge

Category: Candy > Fudge > Pumpkin Fudge

Continuing on with the pumpkin theme, I made some pumpkin fudge. Again, it you are not a fan of pumpkin, you might want to skip this recipe. Otherwise, you'll probably like it.



Recipe:

• 3 cups Sugar
  
• 1 cup Milk
  
• 3 tbsp. Light Corn Syrup
  
• 1/2 cup Pumpkin Puree
  
• 1/4 tsp. Salt
  
• 3/4 tsp. Cinnamon
  
• 1/4 tsp. Ginger
  
• 1/4 tsp. Nutmeg
  
• 1-1/2 tsp. Vanilla
  
• 1/2 cup Butter
  

Butter a 8x8" pan and set aside.

In a 3 quart saucepan, mix together sugar, milk, corn syrup, pumpkin and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium and continue boiling. Do not stir.

When mixture registers 232 degrees on candy thermometer remove pan from heat. Allow to cool to 150 degrees and stir in spices, vanilla, and butter.

Beat mixture until it is very thick and loses some of its gloss. Quickly pour into a greased pan. When firm, cut into pieces and serve.

Baking Tips:

• Remember to use a wooden spoon so it doesn't melt.
  

Pumpkin Mousse

Category: Fillings > Mousse > Pumpkin Mousse

I like pumpkin so when I came across a recipe for pumpkin mousse, I really wanted to try it. It tasted alright, a little like pumpkin pie. However, it wasn't as firm as I thought a mousse should be. It actually tasted a little like a pumpkin flavored whipped cream.



After serving it by itself, I ended up making a ginger snap pie crust and using the left over pumpkin mousse as a pie filling. Overall, if you are a fan of pumpkin, I'd suggest trying this recipe. If not, I was pass.



Recipe:

• 1 (15-ounce) can Pumpkin
  
• 3 cups Heavy Cream
  
• 3/4 cup Sugar
  
• 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
  
• 1/4 tsp. Ginger
  
• 1/4 tsp. Nutmeg
  
• 1 tbsp. Vanilla
  

Combine pumpkin, 1 cup cream, sugar and spices in a medium saucepan. Simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes. Cool fully.

Whip remaining heavy cream and vanilla to soft peaks and fold into cooled pumpkin mixture. Pour into a serving dish and chill for at least 1 hour before serving.

Zucchini Bread

Category: Breads > Quick Breads > Zucchini Bread

The first time I heard of zucchini bread, it sounded gross to me. My mother said it was good and promised to make me some to try. I was willing to give it a shot and I am glad I did. It was delicious. I ended up freezing some of it, so it wouldn't go bad, and pulling it out and toasting it when I wanted some. Very yummy!



Recipe:

• 1-1/2 cups Flour
  
• 3/4 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
  
• 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
  
• 1/4 tsp. Salt
  
• 1/4 tsp. Baking Powder
  
• 1 cup Sugar
  
• 1 cup shredded unpeeled Zucchini
  
• 1/4 cup Cooking Oil
  
• 1 Egg
  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 8x4x2" loaf pan.

In a mixing bowl combine, sugar, zucchini, cooking oil, and egg. Mix well. Sift flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and baking powder over the mixing bowl. Stir just until combined.

Pour batter into greased pan and bake for 55 to 60 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack and then remove from pan.

Baking Tips:

• Remember, as with all quick breads, don't over mix. It will cause the bread not to rise or be tough.