{ Cake Decorating } Invaluable Post on Royal Icing

If you have ever worked with Royal Icing you know how difficult it is in many ways!  BUT look how beautiful it can be . . . the options are endless.

I found this fabulous post by The sweet adventures of Sugar Belle.  If you are at all interested in making your cookies look like this . . .

you need to see this post!

In this post you will even find a color chart to mix your colors to a perfect hue, a tip for thinning the icing, a simple solution for an easy pastry bag ~ it is a must see post for anyone interested in Cookie art, or fancy additions to cake decorating.

Happy Baking

~Lia

{ Cake Decorating } Vintage Inspired Santa Barbra Wedding Cake

It was a hot July two years ago when I created these cakes.  The bride and I collaborated on the wedding cake for months!  The vintage wedding dress she found and fell in love with was the inspiration for the cake and many other details of this Santa Barbra wedding.   Vintage white, you know that creamy yellowish tone vintage fabric gets was the goal for the color of the cake, then in bright white I freestyled the lace pattern from the dress on the cake and added a few dragees where the dress lace had pearls . . . it was fabulous!  I had a lot of fun.

 

The same couple had a large reception here in San Diego county and the reception cake was a much larger cake than the wedding cake.  It was a very HOT day, you can see the cake was not holding up as well as the one above in a climate controlled room!  I kept the same theme here but decided to make it a little different by changing the shape.  The dahlia flowers were a fun change for an afternoon occasion instead of the peonies for the quaint evening wedding.  Since all the details were done freehand, you can see a slight difference between the two cakes.

I’d love to hear from you, let me know what you think . . . . leave me a comment below  {{ wink }}

~Lia

 

{ Tips on Tuesday } Trick to a Moist Chocolate Cake

My trick to a moist chocolate cake that doesn’t become crumbly . . .

Some of you may know I spent a few years as a cake decorator and have a few tricks up my sleeve!  One thing I have noticed and heard people talk about, is how difficult it is to get a really moist chocolate cake.  For some reason chocolate cake often tends to be a tad dry and develops a crumbly texture.  Well, I’ve heard all kinds of things, but what I have found is just a simple solution that works well for me every time . . .

Ready???

{{Drum roll}}

Slightly under-bake it!  I always try to take my chocolate cake out of the oven a few minutes earlier than the time called for in the recipe.  As it cools it always sets up nicely and is never dry.

Try it.  Let me know what you think . . . I love your comments {{ wink }}