Rosette Cake

It recently dawned on me that it has been approximately 21 years since I took Wilton cake decorating classes. I use to sell a lot of cakes back then, but haven't done any, except for family, in recent years. Times and styles have changed quite a bit, so I figured that now was as good a time as any to try and teach myself some new methods. One of my favorite types of cakes that I have been seeing a lot of are rosette cakes. I love to look at all the different kinds on Pinterest. I am particularly fond of this Neapolitan version, from I am Baker:

 

 

In the recent issue of Phyllis Hoffman Celebrate magazine, there was a recipe and a tutorial for a rosette cake, so I decided to give it a try.  

 

 

 For the cake, I used a Pillsbury triple fudge cake mix. I have absolutely no problem with cake mixes. Personally, I think they taste better than scratch cakes. In my experience, I have had a very difficult time finding a scratch recipe that produces a moist cake, while mixes are always moist. In between each layer is Smucker's hot fudge sauce. Once it is assembled, it goes in the freezer for an hour.

 

 

Next comes a thin layer of butter cream. I tinted mine blue, because the boys told me to.

 

 

The rest is easy-peasy. All you need is a pastry bag (I love Wilton disposable bags) and a large star tip. Then, you just cover the whole cake in spirals. I had to fill in a few holes here and there, but mostly it came out fine. I love the end result! I definitely need to practice a few more times before I would consider selling one. I love how many variations there are on this type of cake.  

 

 

I was hoping to get a good picture of the inside of the cake, but my lighting was a bit off, and it appears I smashed the cake on the left side. With this particular recipe, I loved the hot fudge between the layers. So good!

Cub Scout Cake Auction

Last night was the annual Cub Scout cake auction fundraiser for our local Cub Scout pack. Cam and I had never been to one before (since we are new to Cub Scouts and all) and it was a lot of fun! Each boy is to make a cake with their father, which is then auctioned off to the highest bidder, to raise money for the pack. Since Camden's dad is off in a foreign land right now, he was stuck with me. As luck would have it, I know a thing or two about cake decorating.

Camden wanted to do a "camp site" cake, and this is what we came up with. There were quite a few other cakes that were along the same line, but they were all unique so that was great. I just could not get over how many great cakes the boys made. In the end, the pack raised well over a thousand dollars.

This is Camden giving a little background information on his cake to the wonderful auctioneer, Mr. Heath. My boy is a natural when you stick a microphone in front of his face.

I went with the intention of letting both Camden and Griffin bid on a cake. Unfortunately, Griff and I got caught up in the bidding excitement and ended up paying $45.00 for a gigantic lemon cake decorated as a target, with a real arrow sticking out of the top. Neither of them particularly like lemon cake, so basically I payed $45 for an arrow that I won't let either of them touch in fear of someone driving it through their eye socket. Camden really wanted me to "win" our cake so we could keep it, but since I'd spent all but $5 of our cake money on the arrow cake, it went to someone else. We had a great time and my mind is already abuzz with ideas for the next cake auction.

Butter & Eggs Make the World Go 'Round

There is a fundraiser at the library tomorrow, and I volunteered to make a cake for one of the auction tables. My only direction was that it couldn't be a chocolate cake, and it had to be "a winter theme". I have a couple of Wilton Christmas pans, but I couldn't use those, because that winter theme didn't include Christmas (because that just isn't politically correct anymore, you know....sad!). Anyway, I drove my self nuts all day yesterday, trying to come up with something winter-y, and finally settled on this recipe for coconut cake, from Barefoot Contessa. When I saw how many eggs and sticks of butter it called for, I knew it had to be good, because eggs and butter make everything good. I chose coconut cake for the snow effect, but still needed to decorate it, so I be-bopped over to the Dollar Tree, and spent $2.00 for the topper and the snowflakes that I secured around the side of the cake. I did tweak the recipe just a tiny bit - - I only put 1 tsp. of almond extract in the cake batter, and I used buttermilk instead of regular milk. The texture of the cake is almost like a pound cake, and it has a really nice flavor. I'm not usually a big fan of coconut, but I would definitely bake this again.

Random Pictures & A Quick Update

One good thing about convalescing is that it gives me a chance to clean out my email. I am so bad about keeping it organized, and before I know it, I have 25 pages of email that I can't just go and delete because I have no idea what is lurking in there. So, over the past few days while I've had my bottom firmly planted in the recliner, I did some weeding. I came across a few pictures that cracked me up - - mostly taken with my cell phone while out and about on various occasions:

Griffie, on a recent outing to the Rumor Mill, for donuts and milk. Please take note of Griffin's donut-eating method. He eats the part covered in frosting, and then discards the rest. That's my boy.
This was taken one day when Griffin and I had a lunch date in Meridian. We went to the Blue Sky Bagel Bakery where Griffin had a bagel that was nearly the size of his head.

Griffin, Josie, and Camden, enjoying a nutritious meal at the Cherry Festival. Griffie looks as if he's about to explode. Yes, that's my finger, partially obscuring the lens. I'm a professional photographer, you know.

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The boys and I have had a very good weekend, although yesterday was a bit sketchy because I still wasn't feeling quite like myself. Today I was able to get a lot of work done for the library, in addition to doing a lot of playing outside with the boys. Steve left for another Army training stint on Friday, so we won't be seeing him until the middle of the month, unfortunately.

Here's a cake I made for my friend Terri's baby shower. I never knew how much I used my pectoral muscles to decorate a cake, until I tried to get this thing finished. Ouch!

I love this picture of Camden reading, Good Night, Maine to Griffin the other morning. Although Camden does not actually read yet, he has this book (and a couple of others) memorized word-for-word, so he'll sit and "read" to Griffin. Griffin has a thing for "rubbing hair", which is what he is doing to Camden in this picture. Gosh, I love my boys.

Our schedule is jam-packed this week, and the weather is supposed to be wonderful, so we are a happy bunch here!

A Wonderful Weekend

We had a very busy weekend here, and it was wonderful. Camden had his birthday party on Saturday, Steve and I attended an Army Ball Saturday evening, and all throughout the weekend, Steve was working on replacing part of the roof on our rental property. A special thanks to Terri for watching our boys so that we could enjoy a very rare evening out among adults!

Here is the crazy cake I made for Camden. I did a little research on the internet, looking for an idea, and then kind of came up with my own cake. I used an 11x13 sheet cake for the water, baked a little cake in a cereal bowl for the island, and then for the ship I used an 8x5 loaf pan for the large part of the ship, and then a mini loaf pan for the top section of the ship. Camden so excited when he saw his cake on Saturday morning, which was the best part of all. He had a great time with his friends and cousin at his party - - they all dressed like pirates, got pirate tatoos, and did lots of running and playing.

After the party was over with, I did some quick cleaning up and then got ready for the Army Ball. It was so much fun! The food was delicious, the company was great, and it was so nice to get all dressed up and get out for a bit. I even managed to get my husband (and my brother-in-law!) to dance with me...gasp!

I love seeing a man in uniform...this one in particular is my favorite though, because this is what Steve wore when we got married.

My lovely sister-in-law, Kasey, and my brother-in-law, Rex (Steve's brother, as if you weren't able to tell!). I like Rex's hat.

There's a bit of ceremony involved in these Army functions...some of it funny, like how all of the soldiers stand on their chairs during the toasts, and then some of it very sobering, like the ceremony remembering prisoners of war, and soldiers who have been lost in combat.

Here's Steve, toasting the non-commissioned officers

I think the absolute best part of the entire weekend, though, was this:

Steve took the training wheels off Camden's bike, and that was that!

Happy Monday, everyone!!

Never a Dull Moment

Seriously. One of my friends from my former job told me, when I was preparing to become a stay-at-home mother, that the days would drag by, and that I would find myself biding my time until the weekend arrived. I may have had some days like that in the beginning, but I have to say, that is not the case at our house. I cannot believe how fast the days escape me, as well as the weeks and months. It seems we are so busy here, and sometimes it feels as though there aren't enough hours in the day. I really cannot believe that in a little over a day, my wee little Griffin Peter will be turning one. Where has the past year gone? It boggles my mind.

We celebrated Griffin's birthday this past Sunday, so that cousin Banzer could join in the festivities. Of course Griffin really didn't know what was going on, but I suppose putting on a first birthday celebration is more for a mother's sentimental heart more than anything, isn't it? We had a lovely day, and I really enjoyed baking and getting things together. Here is the cake I made, compliments of Martha's website:

It was so much fun to make, and there were even little video tutorials on the website (in case you were wondering, it is supposed to be a monkey!).

Unfortunately the little guy has a nasty cold, and I fear he may have another ear infection. We have a doctor's appointment on Wednesday for his one year check, but may find ourselves going to that a day early, if he doesn't show some signs of improvement mighty quick.

As for me - - I'm all kinds of messed up. I went to my appointment with the surgeon today, and found out that I don't have one hernia, I have FOUR. So, I'm going in for surgery on Friday, to get sewn back together. The doctor seems to think I may also have a hiatal hernia, which would explain the massive heartburn I've been having. For now I'll just continue sleeping on an incline, and taking my Prilosec!

Alas, I must get to bed before Griffin wakes up because he can't breathe through his nose. Closing with some assorted pictures. Enjoy!

Camden was pretty sure Griffin needed help opening his presents...

...and blowing out his candles

Griffin, eating the monkey's ear

Griffin's new favorite place to play

This morning, before my drastic new haircut (which I love, by the way!). I'll try to get a picture posted later this week.