Frances

A Blanket Down, A Scarf To Go

I recently completed the toddler blanket I was working on and am very happy with how it came out. While I have crocheted/knitted my fair share of blankets, this was the first toddler blanket I completed and was a little unsure about the size I wanted to make it…. I obviously didn’t want it to be on the smaller side which would be more appropriate for a baby, but, I also didn’t want it to be so large that it would be too big for a young child. Ultimately the final size of the blanket ended up being 40 x 50 inches, which I think is a decent size for a young child.

I’ve already moved on to my next yarn project… An infinity scarf (you can never have too many scarves) made with t-shirt yarn. While there a quite a few tutorials online on how to make your own t-shirt yarn I opted to buy mine. I first came across t-shirt yarn when I saw an Arm-Knitting Project using Lion Brand’s Fettuccini Yarn. After visiting the Lion Brand store in NYC I opted to pass on purchasing the yarn for the project – they didn’t have enough skeins of the yarn in the color I wanted and it just seemed like the scarf would end up being a lot more bulky than I would like. Not long after that while at my local Michael’s I came across t-shirt yarn from their Loops & Threads brand and it was more reasonable priced (about $3 skein on clearance than the $9/skein for the Fettuccini Yarn) and didn’t seem as bulky. I decided to scrap the idea of learning how to arm-knit and decided to make an infinity scarf just by regular knitting. So far so good…

Lion Brand Pound of Love Delectable Shell Afghan – modified from here

Materials:

2 Balls Lion Brand Pound of Love Yarn

Crochet Hook – Size H-8

Directions:

Afghan

Chain 173

Row 1: Double-crochet in 5th Chain from hook, *Skip next 2 chains, 5 double-crochets in next chain, skip next 2 chains, double-crochet in next chain, chain 1, skip next chain, double-crochet in next chain, repeat from * across.

Rows 2 – 95: Chain 4, turn, *Skip next Chain 1 space, double crochet in next double crochet, skip next 2 double-crochets, 5 double-crochets in next double-crochet, skip next 2 double-crochets, double-crochet in next double-crochet, chain 1; repeat from * across, double-crochet in 3rd chain of turning chain. Do not fasten off.

Border

Round 1: Do not turn; work single-crochet evenly spaced around entire outside edge of Afghan, working 3 single-crochets in each corner; join with slip stitch in first single-crochet.

Round 2: Chain 1, single-crochet in same single-crochet as join, skip next single-crochet, 5 double-crochets in next single-crochet, *skip next single-crochet, single-crochet in next single-crochet, skip next single-crochet, 5 double-crochets in next single-crochet; repeat from * around; join with slip stitch in first single-crochet. Fasten off.

Weave in ends.

T-Shirt Yarn Infinity Scarf

Materials:

T-Shirt Yarn (being that I haven’t finished the scarf I am unsure of how much yarn I will ultimately use, I do have 2 skeins that are 100 yards each)

Knitting Needles: US 19 / 15 MM

Directions:

Cast on 10 stitches

Row 1: Knit 2, *Purl 2, Knit 2; repeat from * across. Repeat Row 1 until piece measures your desired length (either to loop around your neck or the classic way – topping it over a top)

Bind off.

To finish, sew the ends together and weave in the ends of the yarn.

Springtime Chocolate Chip Cookies

The sayings are that March comes in like a lion and leaves like a lamb and that April showers bring May flowers, but, what is there to be said about the first day of Spring coming with snow. Well, if you ask a New Yorker… enough already! As I write this the snow is falling and starting to accumulate. Thankfully tomorrow some spring-like temperatures are in the forecast so hopefully whatever falls today will be gone tomorrow. Since the day is gray and gloomy I decided to bring some sunshine into my kitchen with some Spring themed Chocolate Chip cookies. What makes them Spring-y you may ask? Well, pink and yellow chocolate chips that I recently picked up at my local Target. I’ve been known to aimlessly walk around Target and find some pretty cool things. I picked up a bunch of things yesterday to hopefully create an Easter cake that I have pictured in my head, but that’s a post for a later date.

After making the dough for the cookies – I combined flour, baking soda and salt in one bowl and then slowly added that to a mixture of butter, granulated and brown sugars, eggs and vanilla extract which I mixed in a stand mixer and then stirred in a cup of the Spring themed chips – I used a cookie scoop to drop the dough on parchment lined cookie sheets and pressed some extra chips into the cookies and then baked them in a preheat 350 F oven for eleven minutes.

After letting the cookies cool on the sheet for a few minutes I then transferred them to a wire rack to cool completely. In less than an hour I had some springtime in my kitchen while I looked at the falling snow outside of my kitchen window as I washed the dishes. Fingers crossed this will be the last snowstorm of this season, or I should say since it’s the first day of Spring, the only snowstorm of this season.

Springtime Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes 36 cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 2/3 cups (10 oz. package) Nestle Toll House Springtime Morsels

1 cup chopped nuts*

*I opted to omit the nuts from the cookies and added in an extra 1 1/2 tablespoons of flour in addition to the 2 1/4 cups.

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.

2. Beat the butter, sugars and vanilla extract on medium speed until creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually add in the flour mixture. Stir in 1 cup of the morsels and nuts (if using.)

3. Drop the dough using a cookie scoop on parchment lined cookie sheets and top the dough with the remaining morsels.

4. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes or until golden brown. Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheets for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

A Quick and Easy Coq au Vin

The first time I had Coq au Vin was at a cooking demonstration class at Williams Sonoma. I purchased the braising base that was used at the class but unfortunately my result was nothing like the one I tasted at the class. I think part of the reason was that I still wasn’t all that comfortable with cooking – I’m more of a baker, but, slowly but surely my cooking ability is starting to even out with my baking ability. Recently I came across a recipe for Coq au Vin in a magazine and decided to try making it once again, this time from scratch, and I had much better results. And in case you are wondering, Coq au Vin is a French dish of braised chicken in red wine and normally contains bacon, garlic, onions and mushrooms.

Up first I sliced baby bella mushrooms, minced 2 cloves of garlic and chopped some fresh thyme.

I then cooked three slices of bacon, which I cut into half-inch pieces, in two teaspoons of olive oil until they were brown, but not crispy.

After removing the bacon from the Dutch oven and setting it aside I browned four chicken thighs which I seasoned with salt and pepper.

Next I cooked the mushrooms along with a 16 oz. bag of frozen white pearl onions for a few minutes until they began to soften.

Following that I added in the thyme, garlic and a tablespoon of tomato paste.

And then red cooking wine. I cooked the mixture for about 5 minutes until the wine reduced by half…

And then added in chicken stock.

And finally I returned the chicken to the pot, reduced the heat to low and partially covered the pot and allowed the chicken to cook through and the onions to soften, about 40 minutes.

And for the final step, I dissolved three tablespoons of cornstarch in an equal amount of water and added it to the cooking liquid after transferring the chicken to a plate. Once the liquid thickened I returned the chicken and bacon to the pot, stirring to coat the chicken. I must say I have used cornstarch to thicken cooking liquids before but I normally just add it directly to the liquid, dissolving it in water is a much better method as it eliminates the possibility of any clumps forming in the liquid.

Final Verdict… Definitely something I will make again, although I think next time I won’t add the cornstarch.

Easy Coq au Vin – Slightly modified from here

Ingredients:

3 slices center cut bacon, cut into half-inch pieces

2 tsp. olive oil

4 bone-in, skinless chicken thighs

16 oz. frozen pearl onions

10 oz. baby bella mushrooms, trimmed and sliced

1 tbsp. tomato paste

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup red cooking wine

2 cups chicken stock

3 tbsp. cornstarch

Directions:

1. In a 5 to 6 quart Dutch oven, cook the bacon in the oil over medium heat until browned but not too crispy. Transfer the bacon to a small bowl lined with a napkin. Season the chicken with salt and pepper (I used about 1/2 tsp. each). Increase the heat to medium-high and cook the chicken until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a plate.

2. Add the onions and mushrooms to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until they soften. Stir in the tomato paste, thyme and garlic. Add the wine and cook, scraping up any browned bits, until the wine is reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Add the stock and bring the liquid to a simmer. Return the chicken and any juices to the pot. Reduce the heat to low, partially cover and gently simmer, turning the chicken once or twice, until the chicken is cooked through and the onions are tender, about 40 minutes.

3. In a small bowl dissolve the cornstarch in tbsp. water. Transfer the chicken to a plate. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring the cooking liquid to a bowl. Add the cornstarch mixture and stir until thickened. Season with salt and pepper. Return the chicken and bacon to the pot, stirring to coat.

Cheesecake… Is it a Pie or a Cake?

Well, for today the answer to that question is going to be pie in honor of Pi Day! Yes, it’s the day that Math lovers around the world celebrate in honor of Pi, the irrational number (meaning it cannot be written as the ratio of two integers) that begins with 3.14 and goes on infinitely. This year’s Pi Day is extra special though because it only comes around once every 100 years… The first five numbers of Pi Day is the date (3/14/15) and to go even further at the time 9:26:53 you will have the first ten numbers of Pi in sequence, i.e. 3.141592653. Okay, I’ll stop being a Math geek now and go back to the pie. The idea of cheesecake falling under the pie category isn’t too much a stretch, especially for this cheesecake. Pies tend to have a crust and this one has a graham cracker crust and they also have a filling, the cheesecake part. Okay, maybe it is a tad bit of a stretch, but, I really couldn’t think of a pie I wanted to make but I have wanted to make a cheesecake.

I began by making the crust… Using a food processor I ground up 18 graham crackers until they were fine crumbs. I then added in a stick of melted butter, sugar and salt and pulse to combine them. Following that I pressed the crumbs into the bottom and approximately 2-inches up the side of a 9-inch springform pan.

Next I moved on to make the actual cheesecake. Using a stand mixer I beat three 8-oz. bars of cream cheese with a cup of sugar until it was smooth. It’s important to use room temperature cream cheese to ensure you won’t have any lumps in the mixture.

I then added in a cup of room temperature sour cream and a teaspoon of vanilla extract; beating until these two ingredients were well incorporated.

And finally I added in three eggs, one at a time.

Before pouring it into the crust, I gave the cream cheese mixture a few stirs with a rubber spatula to make sure all of the ingredients were blended together well. I tend to find that sometimes ingredients are left on the bottom of the bowl of the stand mixer untouched since the paddle attachment doesn’t fully hit the bottom of the bowl.

After pouring the cream cheese mixture into the prepared crust I baked it in a preheated 325 F oven for about an hour; until it was set but still wobbly in the center.

A few minutes before removing the cheesecake from the oven I combined a cup of sour cream, a few tablespoons of sugar and vanilla extract in a bowl. I was happy that the cheesecake didn’t have any cracks in it – that normally happens when I bake cheesecakes.

I then spread this sour cream mixture over the cheesecake and then placed the cheesecake back in the oven for about five minutes.

The cheesecake right out of the oven… I let it cool for a few hours before covering it and placing it in the refrigerator.

I ended up leaving it in the refrigerator overnight and then added some sliced strawberries on top of it the following morning in the shape of the Greek letter used to represent “Pi.” I had to validate this being a Pi Day pie somehow!

And how did it taste… It was perfectly creamy and not overly sweet! A winning combination for the perfect cheesecake!

Classic Cheesecake

Ingredients:

18 graham crackers (2 sleeves)

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup plus 4 tablespoons sugar

3 8-oz. packages cream cheese, at room temperature

2 cups sour cream, at room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 large eggs, at room temperature

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 F. In a food processor pulse the graham crackers until fine crumbs form. Add the butter, salt and 2 tablespoons of the sugar and pulse to combine. Press the mixture on the bottom and 2-inches up the side of a 9-inch springform pan.

2. Use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese and 1 cup of sugar until smooth. Add 1 cup of the sour cream and 1 teaspoon of the vanilla extract and continue beating until combined. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Pour the mixture into the prepared crust and bake until just set (the center will be slightly wobbly), 50 to 60 minutes.

3. In a small bowl combine the remaining 1 cup of sour cream, 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Spread over the hot cheesecake, then bake until set, 3 to 5 minutes more. Let cool to room temperature in pan, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Run a knife around the edge of cheesecake before unmolding.

Where are the Beads & Yarn?

While as of late most of posts have been about baking (i.e. the Spatula) I have been working on some yarn and bead projects and today I would like to share with you some of the yarn projects.

I recently completed three scarves…

A button-through cowl I made with Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick yarn in Barley. This was a quick cowl to crochet thanks to the nature of the yarn (hence the name of the yarn) and the easy pattern working with double crochets. I believe I was done with this in less than three hours!

Next I completed another cowl using another Lion Brand yarn, their Landscapes yarn in Desert Spring. It’s a beautiful self-striping roving yarn that’s also great to work with. Well, it was great yarn to work with once I wound it up into a ball as opposed to pulling it out from the skein. I did that during my first go at making this scarf and the yarn began to fray which affected the outcome of the cowl. Thankfully I bought 2 skeins of the yarn – even though the pattern only required one – so I was able to start over with much better results. One other thing, the pattern called for the cowl to be knitted in the round but I opted to add a few extra stitches and just sewed the ends together.

And finally using Red Heart With Love yarn I crocheted a puff stitch scarf. I had a slight mishap while making this scarf. I knew that it was looking a little funny while working on it but it wasn’t until I finished and needed to add the border around the scarf that I knew for sure what I had done wrong. I didn’t end one of the rows on the right stitch so every few rows the last stitch was sticking out which prevented me from adding the border. So, I had to take the scarf apart and crochet it again. Thankfully it was a quick pattern to stitch up so I was done in no time and done correctly

And currently on my crochet needle is a toddler blanket for a friend’s daughter – I actually made a smaller version of this blanket last year as a baby gift for another friend. I’m about half-way done and just about to start working with another skein of Lion Brand’s Pound of Love yarn in Honey Bee. As with the button-through cowl, this blanket is just a series of double-crochets.

Almond Pound Cake

I pretty much love anything made with almonds…Danishes, croissants, cookies, cakes, milk, etc. And of course almond themselves are wonderful to snack on. Their health benefits are pretty vast. To name a few… they are a great source of Vitamin E, they are packed with protein, they are gluten free and snacking on them can help curb other cravings. So, when I had half a pack of Odense Almond Paste left over from a previous recipe I knew I had to put it to good use and what better use than an Almond Pound Cake… something simple but yet so satisfying.

To begin I beat 2 sticks of butter until they were creamy, then gradually added in 2 cups of sugar and continued beating the mixture until it was light and fluffy. I then added in an 8 oz. package of cream cheese, vanilla extract and the almond paste, which I crumbled.

Following that I added in 6 eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

And finally I added in 2 cups of flour that I whisked together with baking powder and salt. I beat the batter until it was well blended and then stirred the mixture a few times with a rubber spatula to ensure all of the ingredients were well combined.

I then poured it into a prepared tube pan. To prepare the pan I sprayed it with a baking spray that contains flour.

After baking the cake in a 325 F preheated oven for 55 minutes it came out perfect and smelled amazing.

I let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then removed it and let it cool completely on a wire rack.

I couldn’t wait to slice it into it and I wasn’t disappointed. This was the perfect comfort dessert for the cold weather this winter has brought. It had the dense familiarity of a pound cake while still being moist and a hint of almond flavoring thanks to the almond paste.

Almond Pound Cake – Adapted from here

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups sugar

1 8oz. package cream cheese, at room temperature

4 oz. almond paste, crumbled

1 tsp, vanilla extract*

6 eggs, at room temperature

2 cups flour

1 tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp, salt

*For an extra dose of almond flavor use almond extract

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 F. Grease and flour (or spray with a baking spray that includes flour) a fluted tube or tube pan.

2. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.

3. Beat butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until creamy. Gradually add sugar, beating well after each addition. Continue beating until the mixture becomes light and fluffy. Add the cream cheese, almond paste and vanilla extract and beat for another minute. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat until well blended.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about an hour or until golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in the pan and then remove and let it cool completely on a wire rack.

Valentine’s Heart Candy Box Cake

A great thing about blogging and social media – Instagram in particular – is the chance to discover other bloggers. One blog that I have enjoyed following is The Cake Blog – a blog with amazing cake designs that include tutorials so you can recreate them yourself if you wish. Recently they featured a Valentine’s Heart Candy Box Cake that I thought was too cute not to try.

Using one milk chocolate box cake mix I baked two heart cakes filling the pan with about 2 cups of batter for each of the cakes. After letting the cakes cool completely I leveled the cakes using a large serrated knife. I used to use a cake leveler but have found that using a knife allows me to level the cakes more evenly.

Following that I frosted each of the cakes with vanilla frosting and then placed them in the refrigerator so the frosting could harden in preparation for decorating them with fondant.

And while I was on a kick making marshmallow fondant recently, I opted to go with store bought fondant to decorate these cakes. I picked up Wilton’s Decorator Preferred Fondant in red and pink and I was pleasantly surprised; it was easy to knead and roll out. I’ve used Wilton’s Rolled Fondant in the past and it wasn’t as easy to work with.

After rolling the red fondant out to an 1/8 of an inch thick I cut two strips of fondant long enough to wrap around each of the heart cakes, one an inch and half wide – the height of the cake – for the top of the candy box and the other two inches wide for the candy box.

I rolled up the strips and then unrolled them around each of the cakes.

Next I rolled out more of the red fondant and using my heart cake pan as a template, I traced out a heart for the cover of the candy box.

Once I was done with the red fondant I rolled out the pink fondant and cut out two hearts – one smaller than the red cover I previously cut and one to fit inside of the wider red border – the candy box cake. On the smaller of the two pink hearts I used a fondant stitching wheel to etch an angle design.

Next it was time to make the candy box cake actually look like a candy box and to do that I needed candy, more specifically chocolate candy. I melted some Wilton Dark Cocoa Candy Melts and filled heart & circle swirls molds to create the candy.

After refrigerating the molds so the chocolate could set I tapped them out onto wax paper.

I then used some of the melted chocolate to glue two pieces of the candy together so they would have a little height inside the candy box cake.

To add a little more pizazz to the chocolates I drizzled them with melted chocolate and then sprinkled them with Valentine’s themed sprinkles.

Then I used more of the melted chocolate to glue the pieces onto the candy box cake.

On the original cake the edges were painted gold using gold dust and extract. I attempted to do the same with shimmer powder I had on hand…

But unfortunately I wasn’t too successful as the powder I have didn’t have the same color intensity. It was worth a try though! While there were some imperfections with my final outcome, overall I was pleased with it. I definitely need to work on cutting fondant shapes and making straight lines when etching a design into the fondant.

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

For me any time is a good time for soup – it’s like ice cream; it can never be too cold or too hot to enjoy it. Especially since there are so many varieties of soups that can be enjoyed either hot or cold. But these days with the temperatures being so cold and every few days there is some sort of wintry mix falling from the skies hot soup is definitely the way to go! The other day while picking up some produce while grocery shopping – this is a common place (the produce section) where I get some of my cooking / baking ideas – the idea of making roasted tomato soup popped into my head. I had no idea what ingredients I needed but I figured tomatoes would be a good start and some basil. I knew I had the other basics at home that I assume I would need – yellow onions and garlic. I didn’t think I needed any specific type of tomato – i.e. plum, beefsteak, etc… – so I picked up a pack of six tomatoes but then when I got home and did some research I soon realized that I needed double that amount so I picked up another pack of six tomatoes the following day and I was ready to go.

I began by slicing the tomatoes in half and tossing them with olive oil and kosher salt and placing them on a baking sheet.

I then roasted them in a 400 F preheated oven for about 45 minutes.

While the tomatoes cooled I chopped two yellow onions and minced four garlic cloves and sautéed both in two tablespoons each of unsalted butter and olive oil over medium heat. The smell of sautéing onions and garlic is probably one of my favorite aromas when it comes to cooking.

Following that I added a quart of vegetable broth – I used College Inn’s Garden Vegetable Broth – the tomatoes and ten large basil leaves to the onion mixture.

I brought the soup to a boil by raising the heat to high and then lowered the heat so the soup could simmer uncovered for about thirty minutes. I did a taste test and I already knew that this soup was a winner… The broth had a wonderful taste with a hint of the basil.

I removed the pot from the heat and used an immersion blender to blend the mixture into a delicious creamy soup that still had bits of the basil in it. I seasoned it with some fresh ground pepper and it was ready to be enjoyed.

While the soup was meant to be for dinner, I couldn’t wait to try it so I ladled a few spoons into a bowl and topped it with some shredded parmesan cheese and I was very happy with the result. I enjoyed a second bowl a few hours later along with a grilled cheese!

Roasted Tomato Basil Soup

Makes about 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients:

12 tomatoes (approximately 3 pounds) – halved

2 medium yellow onions, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

10 large basil leaves

1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning

1/4 cup olive oil, plus more for sautéing onions and garlic

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 quart vegetable broth

Fresh ground pepper for seasoning

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Toss tomatoes with olive oil and salt and spread on a cookie sheet in a single layer and roast in the oven for 45 minutes.

2. Sauté the onions and garlic in 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the butter over medium heat for about 10 minutes, until the onions begin to brown.

3. Add the vegetable broth, tomatoes and basil to the onion mixture and raise the heat to high and bring the mixture to a boil. Lower the heat to low and simmer the soup uncovered for about 25 – 30 minutes, the tomatoes will looked stewed / poached.

4. Blend the soup with an immersion blender, or blend in a blender or a food processor, until the soup is creamy and all of the tomatoes have been blended. Season with salt and pepper.

Frozen Themed Birthday Cake

Oh, where to go begin! So, unless you have been completely unplugged from the world for the past year or so you most definitely have heard of Disney’s Frozen and the two heroine sisters of the movie, Elsa & Anna. At some point you must have also heard the song “Let It Go,” or the more playful “Do You Want To Build A Snowman?” Hence it came as no surprise that when the time came to make a birthday cake for a friend’s daughter the theme would be Frozen. This cake and post is a special one as well since it marks my blog’s third blogiversary! It all started with a 2nd birthday cake for the same little girl this cake was intended for in the shape of Elmo’s head and ever since I have been blogging about other delicious treats I have made and some lovely knitted/crocheted items and handmade jewelry. But, I digress, back to Frozen. By far this was the most ambitious cake I have ever made and required numerous steps over the course of a few days.

On the first day I made sky blue and violet marshmallow fondant. Thankfully I had done a test run of the process a few weeks prior so I pretty much knew what to do and what consistency the fondant needed to be. I lightly coated the fondant with shortening and wrapped it tightly in clear wrap and then placed it in a Ziploc bag to ensure it wouldn’t dry out. I then put it in the refrigerator so it could “rest.”

I also made some white chocolate and dark chocolate molds of snowflakes, the number 5 and plaques by melting Wilton candy melts and pouring the melted chocolate into the molds and refrigerating them for at least 15 minutes and then tapping them out on my counter.

The following day I made hard candy by dissolving sugar in water and light corn syrup by stirring it over medium heat. Once the sugar was dissolved I raised the heat to high and brought the mixture to a boil without stirring it to a temperature of 300 F.

Once it reached 300 F I added a few drops of blue dye to the mixture and poured it into a greased rimmed cookie sheet and placed it in the refrigerator until it hardened – about an hour.

I then unmolded the hard candy onto a sheet of wax paper and broke it into pieces so I could use it as a cake topper for Elsa’s ice castle.

With all of the decorative pieces done it was finally time to bake the cakes. I started with baking the larger of the two cakes – a three-layer 9 inch chocolate cake. The recipe I was following was for a two-layer cake so I whipped up the batter twice and for the second batch I baked one layer and 12 cupcakes.

For the smaller of the two cakes I baked a two-layer 6 inch yellow cake.

Once I leveled the cakes I frosted the layers and the sides and tops of both cakes with chocolate frosting. I placed both cakes in the refrigerator overnight so the frosting could harden.

The next day it was finally time to put the entire cake together! I began by rolling out the sky blue fondant…

Which I used to cover the 6 inch yellow cake. After rolling out the violet fondant I covered the larger chocolate cake. I did end up with an air bubble on the blue cake and while at first I was upset and frustrated with it I soon realized it wouldn’t be a big a deal as I was going to mask it with the candy pieces and figurines.

Then it was on to decorating… I wrapped the bottom of both cakes with silver speckled ribbon which I attached to the cake with double-sided tape. Next I attached the smaller chocolate snowflakes to the cake with small dabs of vanilla frosting – I rested the larger snowflakes against the cake. To create the ice castle I pushed down a few pieces of the hard candy onto the top of the smaller cake. And finally I placed the Frozen figurines – which I was lucky enough to find on the Disney Store’s website as they were sold out in all stores – on the cake.

Here’s a close-up of the top tier of the cake…

And after carefully transporting the cake – thankfully I wasn’t driving too far – without any of the decorations on it but the small snowflakes I “glued” on I reassembled the entire cake to perfection once again!

And of course there were Frozen themed cupcakes that I baked in Frozen themed cupcake liners and then topped them with white decorative sugar and a chocolate snowflake!

This cake was a hit in appearance and as this picture suggests (and I can attest to as well) in taste!

And if you are wondering, yes, all of this work was worth it! The Birthday Girl was absolutely thrilled with her cake and she enjoyed a nice slice of the chocolate cake!

Marshmallow Fondant

Ingredients:

1 package (16 ounces) white mini marshmallows

2-5 tablespoons water

2 pounds (about 8 cups) sifted confectioners’ sugar

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening

Directions:

1. To make marshmallow fondant, place marshmallows and 2 tablespoons of water in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave 30 seconds on high; stir until mixed well. Continue microwaving 30 seconds more; stir again. Continue until melted (about 2 1/2 minutes).

2. Place 3/4 of the confectioners’ sugar on top of the melted marshmallow mixture. Fold sugar into marshmallow mixture. Flavoring can be added at this point if desired. Place solid vegetable shortening in easily accessed bowl so you can reach into it with fingers as you are working. Grease hands and counter GENEROUSLY; turn marshmallow mixture onto counter. Start kneading like you would dough. Continue kneading, adding additional confectioners’ sugar and re-greasing hands and counter so the fondant doesn’t stick. If the marshmallow fondant is tearing easily, it is too dry; add water (about 1/2 tablespoon at a time) kneading until fondant forms a firm, smooth elastic ball that will stretch without tearing, about 8 minutes.

3. It’s best to allow Marshmallow Fondant to sit, double-wrapped, overnight. Prepare the fondant for storing by coating with a thin layer of solid vegetable shortening, wrap in plastic wrap and then place in resealable bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible. Marshmallow Fondant will keep well in refrigerator for several weeks.

4. When not working with fondant, make sure to keep it covered with plastic wrap or in a bag to prevent it from drying out. When ready to use, knead fondant until smooth. Roll out fondant 1/8 in. thick.

5. To color fondant: If you need to tint the entire batch of fondant, add a little icing color to the melted marshmallow mixture before adding confectioners’ sugar. For smaller amounts of tinted fondant, add icing color to portions of fondant as needed.

Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for the pan(s)

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, spooned and leveled, plus more for the pan(s)

2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3 large eggs, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups whole milk

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Butter the pans, line the bottoms with parchment, butter again, and dust with cocoa, tapping out the excess. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

2. Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium-high until fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla, then the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

3. Reduce mixer speed to low. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions and the milk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix just until combined (do not overmix).

4. Transfer the batter to the prepared pans and bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean – approximately 25 to 30 minutes for two 9-inch rounds. Cool the cakes in the pans for 15 minutes, then turn out onto racks to cool completely.

Yellow Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup cake flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

3/4 cups (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter and flour two 6-inch round cake pans and knock out the excess flour.

2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter until soft and creamy. Add the sugar and continue beating until the mixture is light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes. (If you’re using the organic sugar, the texture of your mixture will be quite gritty.) Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla. On low speed, gradually add the dry ingredients until thoroughly blended.

3. Spoon equal amounts of batter into each pan and smooth the tops evenly. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until light golden and a cake tester comes out clean. Let the layers cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then unmold onto wire racks to cool completely.

Marshmallow Fondant

The last time I worked with fondant was a few years ago when I took a Wilton decorating class and while I did like the polish look fondant gave the cake I ultimately didn’t like working with it and more so didn’t like the taste of it. In the very near future (next week) I am planning on making a birthday cake that will look much better covered with fondant as opposed to frosting so I decided to try making Marshmallow Fondant ahead of time to see how the whole process will go. I am very much a planner and like knowing how to tackle a project as opposed to jumping in and trying to fix the bumps along the way. So, all you essentially need to make the fondant is mini marshmallows and confectioners’ sugar. You also need a few tablespoons of water and shortening which you use to grease your hands and countertop when you knead the fondant.

First I melted approximately 8 oz. of marshmallows with a tablespoon of water in the microwave at 30 second intervals. Stirring the marshmallows after each 30 second burst.

Once the marshmallows were melted I added in some gel based good coloring – I picked green because it was the first one I grabbed that was already open – and about 2 1/2 cups of the confectioners’ sugar, which I had sifted, and folded the three ingredients together.

Next I dumped the mixture onto my shortening covered countertop and kneaded it as though I was kneading bread incorporating about another cup of the confectioners’ sugar into the fondant. I knew it was “ready” once it was pliable and didn’t tear when I stretched it. Having worked with store bought fondant before I more or less knew when it was ready. You don’t want the fondant to be too dry and you also don’t want it to be too rubbery. Remember you will be rolling this out and covering a cake with it. Once I felt that it was ready I formed the fondant into a ball, coated it with a thin layer of shortening, and wrapped it in plastic wrap, put it inside of a Ziploc bag and then placed it in the refrigerator. Now, some recipes I came across didn’t mention putting it in the fridge but I opted to do so. I figured it wouldn’t hurt it at all since it was covered fairly well.

I only intended to leave it in the fridge overnight but I ended up leaving it in there for four days, which I am happy I did. Now I know for sure that the fondant can be made quite a few days in advance of me using it. I took the fondant out of the fridge early in the morning so it could come to room temperature by the time I was going to use it. Following that I warmed it in the microwave for two five-second bursts so that it would be easier to work with. Now I was ready to roll it out.

Since I was covering a 6-inch cake that was about 4-inches high I knew I needed to roll out the fondant at least 14 inches.

Once I had it rolled out I wrapped it around the rolling pin…

And then rolled it over the cake.

I then trimmed the excess fondant off the bottom of the cake…

And then did a little test decorating. I brushed the edges of the cake with water and dusted it with shimmer powder – the outcome of which I wasn’t all that thrilled with – and then I soaked a ribbon in water, squeezed out the excess water and then wrapped it around the bottom of the cake and used double-sided tape to hold it together.

Overall I think I am set and have figured out all the little tricks to make sure when I work on said birthday cake I will be prepared. Oh, and yes this fondant definitely tastes better than store-bought fondant. I probably would be more thrilled with it if I liked marshmallows though! I used to like them but as I got older I just didn’t have the taste buds for them anymore.

Below is the recipe I followed to make the fondant, one thing to note, I halved the recipe (I used 8 ounces of marshmallows, 1 – 3 tablespoons of water and 1 pound of confectioners’ sugar)

Rolled Marshmallow Fondant

Makes about 2 pounds

Ingredients:

1 package (16 ounces) white mini marshmallows (use a good quality brand)

2-5 tablespoons water

2 pounds (about 8 cups) sifted confectioners’ sugar

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening

Instructions:

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