For my final cake, I decided to go with the stacked route rather than use the columns. It seemed a little less Wilton retro style...or at least I hope. Since MMF is a lot softer and dries slower than normal fondant, I was so happy it actually worked for the roses. You just have to hold the rose between your fingers while forming it instead of the sponge for better control. One advantage of the MMF is how easily it sticks when pressed together so you can skip the step where you brush clear vanilla?? (Wilton is really trying to sell their products because water so couldn't work..haha) to hold the petals together. One less thing to worry about always makes things a little easier especially since MMF is really delicate and tears easily. It took me a lot of practise (at least 2 movies (Knowing + Twilight) worth of time and some reruns of classic basketball playing at 1am) to finally get through my 38 roses. I wasn't even paying attention to Knowing, but I probably won't see it again after that weird ending and Twilight.. well even though it's not the best movie, I'm totally addicted and couldn't help watching it even those I've already seen it..many times.
Anyway, the sad part was, it took me about 30 roses in until I got the hang of it so these don't look as pretty as I would have liked. I can't wait to start course 4. I don't know if I'll be able to get away with using MMF, since we use gum paste, but I'll definitely give it a try. My instructor always says to me 'You have your own way of doing things.'
Marshmallow Fondant Recipe from What's Cooking America
16 ounces white mini-marshmallows (use a good quality brand)
2 to 5 tablespoons water (I used 2 tbsp)
2 pounds icing sugar (I didn't use all of the sugar)
1/2 cup Crisco shortening (you will be digging into it so place in a very easily accessed bowl)
Make sure you grease every bowl and spoon/spatula the marshmallows come in contact with first. I also find that if you stir in the sugar with a spoon/spatula until it doesn't seem so liquidy before kneading it with your hands, it's less sticky and hot.
Melt marshmallows and 2 tablespoons of water in a microwave or double boiler. Put the bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds, open microwave and stir, back in microwave for 30 seconds more, open microwave and stir again, and continue doing this until melted. Place 3/4 of the powdered sugar on the top of the melted marshmallow mix. (I stirred this with a spatula until it formed a large mass)
Now grease your hands GENEROUSLY (palms, backs, and in between fingers), then heavily grease the counter you will be using and dump the bowl of marshmallow/sugar mixture in the middle. (I did all this in a large bowl that I greased)
Start kneading like you would bread dough. You will immediately see why you have greased your hands.
Keep kneading, this stuff is sticky at this stage! Add the rest of the powdered sugar and knead some more. Re-grease your hands and counter when the fondant starts sticking. If the mix is tearing easily, it is to dry, so add water (about 1/2 tablespoon at a time and then knead it in). It usually takes me about 8 minutes to get a firm smooth elastic ball so that it will stretch without tearing when you apply it to the cake.
It is best if you can let it sit, double wrapped, overnight (but you can use it right away if there are no tiny bits of dry powdered sugar). If you do see them, you will need to knead and maybe add a few more drops of water.
Prepare the fondant for storing by coating it with a good layer of Crisco shortening, wrap in a plastic-type wrap product and then put it in a re-sealable or Ziploc bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible.
MM Fondant will hold very well in the refrigerator for weeks. If I know that I have a cake to decorate, I usually make two (2) batches on a free night during the week so it is ready when I need it. Take advantage of the fact that this fondant can be prepared well in advance.
This was inspired by Wendy of Pinkstripes. After seeing her BBA post, I knew I had to make it right away. I omitted the walnuts, but added a cinnamon swirl and reduced the raisins to 1 cup. She's right, this bread is very addicting! I had a hard time taking photos without reaching out for a slice. I didn't even get a picture of the uncut loaf or wait the hour for it to cool because I was too anxious to dig into it. The only thing that bothers me when I bake bread are the large and irregular holes. Is it from not punching the dough down after the first rise? I have this fear that if I handle the dough too much, I'm going to kill the yeast and it won't rise the second time. This reminds me when I had my bouts of undermixing cake batter from fear of overmixing during my 'throwing out more than I was eating' phase. For the bread experts out there, can you please help me. The unevenness of my crumb is driving me crazy!
Cinnamon Raisin Bread Recipe
Peter Reinhart
I rarely make the same recipe twice. Ok, that's not entirely true, I've only made banana bread a gazillion times and many variations of CI's thick and chewy CCCs hoping that one day I will find the best version. Dorie's chunky peanut butter and oatmeal chocolate chipsters are one of my favourite cookies. I love them so much that I waited almost an entire year to make them again because I didn't want to eat the whole tray. I reduced the butter from 2 sticks to 1. Yes, it sounds like a huge drop, but when you think about it, 1 stick of butter + 1 cup of PB should be plenty of fat for 1 cup of flour and 3 cups of oats. I also reduced the cinnamon in half and used all brown sugar. Although resting dough for 36 hours seems to do wonders to CCCs, I don't like to refrigerate oatmeal cookies for an extended period of time. I think it softens the oats too much, which some people like, but I love the sharp, jagged edges of oatmeal. My cookies didn't spread at all, which might have been due to the reduction of butter, but also from the use of peanut butter. No peanut butter cookie I've ever made has spread. I guess it's a good thing because there is no debating whether 'to flatten or not' in case the cookies might rise up like a scone or flatten like CDs. Instead, I simply flatten these as much as I would like my baked cookies to look.
When's a better time to eat a cookie than when the chocolate chips are still gooey?
Chunky Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Chocolate Chipsters
Dorie Greenspan: Baking, From My Home to Yours
3 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon (I used 1 tsp)
1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg (I omitted)
1/4 tsp salt (I used 1/2 tsp)
2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature (I used 1 stick)
1 cup peanut butter--chunky (my choice) or smooth (but not natural)
1 cup sugar (I omitted)
1 cup (packed) light brown sugar (I used 1 1/2 cup)
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chunks, or 1 1/2 cups store-bought chocolate chips or chunks
Getting Ready:
Position the racks to divide the oven into thirds and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.
Whisk together the oats, flour, baking soda, spices and salt.
Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter, peanut butter, sugar and brown sugar on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each addition, then beat in the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the dry ingredients, beating only until blended. Mix in the chips. If you have the time, cover and chill the dough for about 2 hours or for up to one day. (Chilling the dough will give you more evenly shaped cookies.)
If the dough is not chilled, drop rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart onto the baking sheets. If the dough is chilled, scoop up rounded tablespoons, roll the balls between your palms and place them 2 inches apart on the sheets. Press the chilled balls gently with the heel of your hand until they are about 1/2 inch thick.
Bake for 13 to 15 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back after 7 minutes. The cookies should be golden and just firm around the edges. Lift the cookies onto cooling racks with a wide metal spatula - they'll firm as they cool.
Repeat with the remaining dough, cooling the baking sheets between batches.
Serving: I can't remember when I actually served these. They're more often plucked from a cookie jar than picked from a platter.
Storing: Wrapped airtight or piled into a cookie jar, the cookies will keep at room temperature for about 4 days. Wrapped and frozen, they'll be good for 2 months.
Playing Around: You can substitute soft, moist raisins for the chocolate chunks or just stir in some raisins along with them. If you're really looking for crunch, toss in chopped peanuts too (salted or not). With or without the chocolate chunks, raisins, and nuts, these cookies are great with ice cream or around ice cream - think about them the next time you want a chipwich-ish ice cream sandwich.
As much as I love cream, I tend to make substitutions or remove heavy cream entirely when I can (pastry creams, curds and sauces). If I'm eating cream, it's going to be in whipped cream frosting or icecream and maybe a tiny sliver of whipping cream pound cake or else I feel kind of guilty. When I decided to substitute the cream for milk, I knew it wouldn't be as decadent or rich and that I've possibly converted it from blanc-manger to milk jello, but I did save a lot of calories from saturated fat! Surprisingly the milk jello wasn't so bad...ok, that's what I wish was true. I really didn't like the crumbliness of the ground almonds, but maybe it would have been different if I used cream. I don't think this even counts as a TWD anymore and I wasn't even going to blog about it, but I was too proud of how it didn't fall apart from unmolding because I forgot to grease.
Thanks so much to Susan of Sticky, Gooey, Creamy, Chewy for choosing this recipe! You can find the recipe on her blog or in Dorie's book. Don't forget to check out the TWD blogroll!
"What is this? Is it Wilton?"
"No"
"What is it??"
"Umm..."
"What is it? Did you make this? Marshmallows?"
"Umm... yes"
"Well then, that's why. Feel yours and feel hers. See the difference? That's why I said to use Wilton fondant instead of making your own because I would rather have something that always works instead of making batches that fail half the time."
"Yes, that's right, even though I covered the cake with no tears, it still failed." - I wish I was brave enough to say that.
O boy, now that was pretty embarrassing in front of the entire class. I also happened to be standing up too... talk about being at the centre of attention. Embarrassment wasn't the only thing I was feeling after being confronted like that with 9 pairs of eyes staring at me. I was so stunned at the time, I couldn't even think of anything to say except for feeling like I did something really bad by not buying the fondant. The worst part was after I successfully covered the cake with no tears, it still felt bad because oh wait, this isn't store bought. That's like saying we shouldn't bake scratch cakes, pie crusts or yeast breads because they're not always bound to turn out. I totally understand that the classes are designed so that we use the products, but to be humiliated in front of everyone like that felt really unfair. It's not like I was parading around my homemade fondant to encourage others to make their own. I have to be honest and say that I'm not completely satisfied with my cake (being a little bumpier than I would like), but I think it has to do more with my decorating skills (poor frosting job and rolling out the fondant way too thin) than the MMF because I've seen so many amazing MMF cakes.
Making the marshmallow fondant was a lot easier and less messy than I expected, but you have to make sure everything is properly greased (bowls, spoons, anything that comes in contact with the marshmallows). Most recipes do the kneading on the table, but I wanted to keep cleaning to a minimum. Instead, I greased a large metal bowl so that I wouldn't have to scrub shortening off the counter (a huge pain!). Also, no matter how much I clean the counter beforehand, it still feels dirty to me. Anyway, the MMF came together pretty quickly and tasted like marshmallows except doughier. I can't imagine snacking on the entire ribbon/bow, but I can definitely see the appeal of fondant when it comes to decorating. Just in case you are interested in making your own marshmallow fondant (but beware.. there is a 50% failure rate..haha), I got it from What's Cooking America
Marshmallow Fondant Recipe from Here
16 ounces white mini-marshmallows (use a good quality brand)
2 to 5 tablespoons water (I used 2 tbsp)
2 pounds icing sugar (I didn't use all of the sugar)
1/2 cup Crisco shortening (you will be digging into it so place in a very easily accessed bowl)
Make sure you grease every bowl and spoon/spatula the marshmallows come in contact with first. I also find that if you stir in the sugar with a spoon/spatula until it doesn't seem so liquidy before kneading it with your hands, it's less sticky and hot.
Melt marshmallows and 2 tablespoons of water in a microwave or double boiler. Put the bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds, open microwave and stir, back in microwave for 30 seconds more, open microwave and stir again, and continue doing this until melted. Place 3/4 of the powdered sugar on the top of the melted marshmallow mix.
Now grease your hands GENEROUSLY (palms, backs, and in between fingers), then heavily grease the counter you will be using and dump the bowl of marshmallow/sugar mixture in the middle. (I did all this in a large bowl that I greased)
Start kneading like you would bread dough. You will immediately see why you have greased your hands.
Keep kneading, this stuff is sticky at this stage! Add the rest of the powdered sugar and knead some more. Re-grease your hands and counter when the fondant starts sticking. If the mix is tearing easily, it is to dry, so add water (about 1/2 tablespoon at a time and then knead it in). It usually takes me about 8 minutes to get a firm smooth elastic ball so that it will stretch without tearing when you apply it to the cake.
It is best if you can let it sit, double wrapped, overnight (but you can use it right away if there are no tiny bits of dry powdered sugar). If you do see them, you will need to knead and maybe add a few more drops of water.
Prepare the fondant for storing by coating it with a good layer of Crisco shortening, wrap in a plastic-type wrap product and then put it in a re-sealable or Ziploc bag. Squeeze out as much air as possible.
MM Fondant will hold very well in the refrigerator for weeks. If I know that I have a cake to decorate, I usually make two (2) batches on a free night during the week so it is ready when I need it. Take advantage of the fact that this fondant can be prepared well in advance.
I was so excited for that this was the brioche plum tart and not just plum tart because brioche is so much yummier than tart crust! I didn't have a fancy fluted pan so I used my 9 inch springform. I substituted the plums with nectarines, used peach jam and omitted the nuts. I tried to keep it as simple as possible by not doing the slap down every 30 minutes of the refrigerated dough because I was worried I would ruin it with my inexperience with yeast. Instead, I let the dough rise at room temperature until doubled, shaped it into the pan and then let it rise a second time. I sort of had this great idea in my head to make a twist border, but as it is most of the time, imagining something doesn't always translate well when executed.
I didn't expect to like this so much because it looked pretty flat going into the oven and I thought I was going to end up with a stone. Thankfully, it puffed up to double its size once it started to bake. Despite my sour nectarines (which was the result of omitting the sugar because I can't stand syrupy fruits) this was really good!
Thanks so much to Denise of Chez Us for choosing this recipe! You can find the recipe on her blog or in Dorie's book. Don't forget to check out the TWD blogroll!
These were supposed to be cupcakes until I tasted my blueberry puree and found it a little bland. I was pretty sure baking wouldn't magically release more blueberry flavour so I decided to make muffins instead, since additional fruit is added. I made Cook's Country's low fat blueberry muffins, although I don't know if I would call these low in fat because there was still 1 tsp of butter per muffin. Maybe if compared to a Costco muffin then sure, but then again, those are gigantic! I wasn't actually planning on making a low fat recipe. All I wanted was something that wasn't overly rich and used milk/buttermilk as their liquid so I could substitute the blueberry puree for some of it. Too bad it led to a greyish batter, but other than that, these were really good! I also creamed the butter and sugar for a lighter texture because that's how I like them. You can always melt the butter for a quicker and denser muffin.
Cook's Country Low-Fat Blueberry Muffins
1 cup blueberries (I used 1 & 1/4 cups)
2 cups plus 1 Tbl. all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
4 Tbls. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3/4 cup nonfat buttermilk
1 teaspoon grated zest and 2 teaspoons juice 1 lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 12-cup muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray.
Whisk 2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl. Whisk eggs and brown sugar together in medium bowl until thoroughly combined. Gradually whisk in melted butter, then buttermilk, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla until well blended. Fold into dry mixture with rubber spatula (a few streaks of flour should remain).
Toss blueberries with remaining tablespoon flour in small bowl. Gently fold blueberries into batter, being careful not to break berries.
Distribute batter in muffin tin and bake until light golden brown and toothpick or skewer inserted into center of muffin comes out clean, 25 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking.
This was my final cake for Wilton Course 2. I was so proud of my basketweave and rope, but the entire cake? Not so much. The flowers and birds make it look so umm.. dated? Simple and elegant.. definitely not here. Not suprisingly, I just stared at my cake for the longest time not knowing where to start. It wasn't until my instructor started putting random flowers on for me when I finally got going. She thinks I have commitment issues. I agree.
The part I hate about these courses is all the wastage that comes with it. I can't stand wasting food, but I can't eat the shortening frosting either because the greasy film that's left on the roof of my mouth and plastic tasting qualities grosses me out. Also, it just feels dirty to be eating something that has been played around with that much (piping, scooping it back into the bag and repiping) in the middle of a Michael's store. To minimize waste, I just use a cake mix + water so it doesn't feel nearly as bad as throwing out butter and eggs. Next week I'm starting course 3: fondant and we'll be needing 2 cakes + Wilton fondant. This cake is already in the freezer so no wasting or turning on the hot oven for me! My instructor who found out about my homemade royal icing (and wasn't too pleased about) told me to buy the Wilton fondant, but I'm making my own. The whole class will probably hear about it and it will probably be embarrassing, but honestly, I would rather buy myself a new pan than something that even she says tastes gross.
