First on the First - Cake Decorating
Yes, gentle readers, I'm back. The not-so-brief hiatus was the result of a ded computer. And my finding that it's very nearly impossible to blog via iPad. At least for me. However, computer issues are now resolved and I look forward to sharing more goodies with you as we move into Spring. (It's nearly Spring, right? In spite of the 4 foot mounds of snow at the end of my driveway.)
I must confess that I'm not really new to cake decorating. My mother is a consummate cake artist. Not of the Food Network Challenge variety, but more of the old school style. She made my wedding cake, which I like to think of as "not that long ago."
Granted, not the best shot of the cake itself, but you get the idea. Decorator icing and I aren't exactly strangers.
I've done Hello!Kitty in ColorFlo, Nemo in decorator icing, and baby chicks in Royal Icing. I even once got suckered into a set of Wedding Cakes (of a very simple and informal variety). I'm planning some Irish Dance dresses for The Princess's Irish Dance class on St. Patrick's Day. So I was also feeling a little bit lazy.
One thing I have NOT done is attempt to pipe anything much in real buttercream. Those of you who've been with me for a while probably know where this is going. Yes, that's right The Brave Tart's German Buttercream. It's my favorite buttercream for a lot of reasons - taste, handling, ease of use.
In this particular instance, I separated two portions of a 1/2 batch of icing and tinted one with a tiny bit of Americolor Electric Green and the other with a little (too much?) Americolor Rose Pink. Then I striped each tinted icing up opposing sides of a large vinyl piping bag fitted with at 2D drop flower tip, then filled in the rest of the untinted icing. It was the work of just a few minutes to cover the tops of a batch of cupcakes with quick drop flowers and make hydrangea cupcakes.
I rather like them. They'd be nice for a bridal shower. In fact, it might be fun, next time to make one piping bag striped with just pink, and another with just the pale green, and pipe a whole cake - moving from one color on one side to the other on the opposite.
I promise to share the seriously vanilla cupcake recipe with you in a little bit. Honest!
I must confess that I'm not really new to cake decorating. My mother is a consummate cake artist. Not of the Food Network Challenge variety, but more of the old school style. She made my wedding cake, which I like to think of as "not that long ago."
One thing I have NOT done is attempt to pipe anything much in real buttercream. Those of you who've been with me for a while probably know where this is going. Yes, that's right The Brave Tart's German Buttercream. It's my favorite buttercream for a lot of reasons - taste, handling, ease of use.
In this particular instance, I separated two portions of a 1/2 batch of icing and tinted one with a tiny bit of Americolor Electric Green and the other with a little (too much?) Americolor Rose Pink. Then I striped each tinted icing up opposing sides of a large vinyl piping bag fitted with at 2D drop flower tip, then filled in the rest of the untinted icing. It was the work of just a few minutes to cover the tops of a batch of cupcakes with quick drop flowers and make hydrangea cupcakes.
I rather like them. They'd be nice for a bridal shower. In fact, it might be fun, next time to make one piping bag striped with just pink, and another with just the pale green, and pipe a whole cake - moving from one color on one side to the other on the opposite.
I promise to share the seriously vanilla cupcake recipe with you in a little bit. Honest!
Welcome back!!!!! I wondered where you'd gone. Your cupcakes are fantastic and so very pretty! Love the colors. So bright, cheery and very "spring-y." Lovely!
ReplyDeleteNice color choice! Spring is on it's way and these cupcakes would be a great way to welcome it! Great job! :)
ReplyDeleteYay, glad your computer problems have been resolved! (And I never imagined posting from an iPad would be a pain, but now that you mention it...) Beautiful technique! I really need to branch out on my buttercreams more. I still use pretty close to what my mom taught me eons ago.
ReplyDeleteI think the fourth time I accidentally erased an entire post... I gave up. ;-) It doesn't help that we don't have a keyboard for the iPad. Eesh!
ReplyDeleteI did love how the buttercream worked out. With a little more practice, these might be fun for showers.
Thanks, everybody!
So pretty. I love the multi colored look but have yet to master it. Very pretty.
ReplyDelete