Kathleen Meisinger-CakeVase-Projects-Gardens-Etc...

Finally, a dining room table to seat everyone at the same time.

2011-05-10T10:31:00.003-05:00

Believe it or not, we have crowded 12 people around this tiny table. I purchased this table from HomeGoods in 2001 for $100. It served us well and when I put it out on the curb it was scooped up, in the rain no less, within a couple of hours.

After scouring farmhouse tables on ebay for four years, I found nothing under $2000. I also found out that ten foot tables are rare and costly to ship. I finally found an affordable table, under $1000, at Restoration Hardware. It was on sale and I had to wait two months to receive it, but at ten feet long, it's perfect.

I wanted a table that was one piece without leaves. This table is reinforced underneath with metal rods. It has a rustic and refined feel.

I grew up using these antique chairs and like the mixture of solid and airy space.

I purchased the Parson Chairs, with slipcovers, at IKEA. Each chair was only $79, which is significantly cheaper than any other chair I found online. They can run $200 to $600 for a basic chair. We had problems with the hardware on one chair but IKEA sent us replacement parts immediately and free of charge.

So far, eight people have sat comfortably together for dinner and brunch, but I bet we can squeeze fourteen, albeit small children, around our new dining room table.

What a difference one day and some paint, makes.

2011-04-26T19:03:00.005-05:00

The living room the day before painting. It's bright, but the yellow does not pull it together.

7 a.m.

This is the living room with the furniture moved toward the center of the room. The ceiling did not need to be painted so only the perimeter was cleared.

The paint samples were painted on the far window (to the left) and around the fireplace mantel (to the right). The mantel is soapstone and has a light pink tint.

4 p.m.

It's a new room. Warm, cozy and looks like suede.

Hand Knit Baby Booties.

2011-04-21T12:32:00.001-05:00

My sister's friend shared this free pattern with my knitting group and almost all of us have made them at least once. It's a good pattern for learning how to knit in the round with four needles. I used US 1 needles and fingering weight baby yarn.

I wouldn't say they were "easy" but they are small enough to repeat and improve quickly.

Baby booties pattern

A pink bedrooms gets a teen make-over.

2011-04-11T10:04:00.001-05:00

I finally gave into Piper's desire to have a more mature room. We kept most of the furniture and window treatments but the pink accessories, vanity and childish artwork had to go.

The old iron bed got a fresh coat of black paint and the brass fittings got a long overdue cleaning. I painted the walls a soft brown which incorporated the fringe on the curtains.

We made a trip to IKEA for the rug, white chair and two black side tables. The wall decals came from Dezign with a Z. The calendar and world map are chalkboards. The photo gallery frames came from Uncommon Goods and the photos were taken by Piper on her trips to Madrid and Lake Huron last year. The frames are removable so that she can change her photos in the future. The furlicious bean bag came from PB Teen.

I found the brown sheets at Walmart and the percale shams and comforter cover at Garnet Hill.

Piper's nostalgia for Spain prompts her to cook us a traditional Spanish meal.

2011-03-27T14:52:00.007-05:00

One year ago, Piper spent spring break in Madrid, Spain. Her host family made a traditional Spanish meal and she decided to make it for all of us last night. She assembled her recipes, shopping list and ingredients before chopping, frying, flipping and serving us a beautiful and delicious meal.

Tortilla Espanola

After the olive oil is drained from the onion and potatoes it gets stirred with lightly beaten eggs and put back into a warm skillet with more olive oil. The photo is before we flipped it over.

Pan con Tomate

This is a traditional tapas in Spain.

Piper set the table and poured the wine for the adults.

Strawberry in Orange Juice

She also made a nice fruit soup for dessert. The recipes are easy to follow and the meal was satisfying without being overly filling.

Thanks Piper. Can't wait to find out what traditional meals you get to enjoy this week at your host home in Guatemala.

Time to jazz up a dull powder room.

2011-03-22T10:39:00.000-05:00

The powder room is long and skinny and doesn't offer many options for furniture or artwork. After removing forty year old wallpaper from the walls and the ceiling, I painted the walls a light brown. It stayed like this for awhile before I decided to have a little fun.

In order to tape evenly, I made pencil marks at six inch intervals at four different heights. This photo also shows the valance form I made out of two brackets and a scrap of wood. I attached it higher than the window frame to make the window and the room feel taller.

I decided on a darker shade of the same color. I made the valance out of a silk remnant. It is attached to a piece of wood on brackets with self stick velcro.

I found the table decal at Dezign With A Z online. The mirror is a chalkboard! They carry many fun designs but also very practical calendars and memo boards.

The bathroom has a sense of whimsy and I can change it up in a snap.

CakeVase makes St. Patrick's Day easy and fun.

2011-03-14T12:33:00.003-05:00

I purchased a bakery cake and flowers from our local grocer. They are overflowing with St. Patrick's Day colors this time of year. I used the 8" ring with water and fresh flowers and one beautifully tapered green candle.

Armoire gets a new life.

2011-01-18T08:45:00.002-06:00

Stollen

2010-12-08T14:04:00.007-06:00

Well, Christmas has passed and we are still enjoying our loaf of Stollen. I first found this recipe in 2003 on The Baker's Chronicle on NPR. The introduction to the recipe says that it is for lazy bakers because there is a lot of waiting between risings. I found this to be utterly not the truth. The original recipe was created by Sherry Yard and printed in her book The Secrets of Baking. I was afraid of losing my only copy of the recipe so I ordered her book on Amazon. I have yet to receive it but

I can't wait to try her other recipes.

What makes this Stollen recipe truly special are the ingredients. It doesn't call for, nor would I use them anyway, neon colored "fruit cake" fruit. I use dried apricots, mission figs, golden raisins, dried cherries from Michigan and slivered almonds. I source all of my products from The Outpost here in Milwaukee but organic nuts and fruits are readily available in almost every city. It also calls for fresh yeast. This seems to give the dough a boost to life.

The strict rule is that this Stollen must rest for two weeks prior to being eaten. We sliced into ours on Christmas morning. It was in stiff competition with fresh baked cinnamon rolls, egg strata, fresh citrus salad with pom

egranate seeds and mimosas. It was a treat and is still my favorite Christmas morning food.

Just a reminder: Never refrigerate your baked goods and always use a serrated knife to cut cakes and breads.

CakeVase® is easy to understand in a video demonstration.

2010-09-12T15:17:00.003-05:00

www.sddt.com/News/article.cfm?SourceCode=20100910tbf

Handbook Live changes advertising with interactive how-tos

By ELIZABETH MALLOY , The Daily Transcript

Friday, September 10, 2010

The idea for Handbook Live came to Beken and Smith two years ago after they had trouble with a cell phone. They couldn't get a certain feature to work, and were having trouble figuring it out from the handbook. They wanted someone to show them. A woman working at the store told them to read the handbook. The very first video they made as an example for customers was a video about that cell phone.

When the company first started, Smith would film videos for companies, and Beken edited them together. Now, they hire a videographer to shoot some videos, and in other cases the companies make their videos themselves.

Handbook Live has about 300 customers. Some only take advantage of the company's free service, in which a business can shoot a video and air it on Handbook Live's website. Then there are pay service levels in which companies can post a Handbook Live video on their own websites. The paid service levels range from $8.25 a month to $36.85 a month, offering varying levels of autonomy over the video.

Handbook Live also offers certain levels of privacy. If a property management company, for example, only wants its managers to view its videos, that setting can be arranged.

Instructional videos might seem like a natural fit for difficult technical devices, but Beken said sometimes even the simplest products can benefit from what Handbook Live offers -- even if it's just to convince people how simple it is. She mentioned Cake Vase, a product that helps nonprofessional bakers stylize cakes with flowers.

"It's just a little plastic tray that you put flowers in and then put on the cake," she said. "It's so simple, but you actually have to see it."

Mar Jennings loves CakeVase for summer tabletop.

2010-07-20T11:12:00.003-05:00

Bathroom makeover.

2010-05-24T10:00:00.019-05:00

I used DIF to remove the wallpaper from the ceiling and the walls. It doesn't have a toxic smell and it works really well. I used a paint roller to roll it on.

During

Taped for clear acrylic high shine paint.

News Austin 8 interviews Kathleen in Chicago

2010-05-14T01:19:00.001-05:00

2010-05-14T00:17:00.005-05:00

Kevin Romiza's Paella with mussels, clams, chorizo, lobster, shrimp, saffron, onion....and there is more. Let me know and I'll ask him for his secret recipe.

Dusty loves to swing and is learning to eat fresh pureed asparagus, mango, peas, tofu, turnips, edememe, plain yogurt, turkey, applesauce and more that I can't remember. Pretty soon she'll be enjoying Paella along with the rest of the family.

We also made a Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake for dessert. The video below documents how easy it was to assemble and frost. Our cake was straight from the refrigerator so it was still very firm. We decorated CakeVase with flowers and let it warm up. We pushed the flowers down so that CakeVase became invisible but after a couple glasses of wine, I forgot to take a "finished" photo.

Frost a four layer cake quickly and easily.

2010-05-14T00:00:00.000-05:00

2010-04-20T08:00:00.008-05:00

My friend Sue and her daughter Mary baked and decorated a 50th birthday cake for their Dad and Husband Brad They spent the afternoon making him a cake, paella, salad and strawberries for dinner.

This is the cake before they took the flowers off. They made the floral arrangement on top using CakeVase which was an obvious success.

They took the flowers and CakeVase off so they could cut the cake, and now the flowers make a nice centerpiece in this bowl.

Thanks for the pictures Mary and Sue and Happy Birthday Brad! I wish I could have had a bite of cake. It looks very tasty.

Adorable girls teach us to use CakeVase®.

2010-03-25T15:23:00.005-05:00

Twin Kitchen Video

Garden

2010-03-23T22:37:00.000-05:00

Last year's veggies.

Location:E Congress St,Shorewood,United States

Mommy on a Shoestring video

2009-12-01T11:10:00.003-06:00

Video of CakeVase is action; fast, easy and beautiful.

Give thanks for these crafts

Comments

November 25, 2009

By BETH ENGELMAN Mommy on a Shoestring

www.SheScribes.com blogs about how easy it is to us CakeVase®

2009-11-09T08:10:00.002-06:00

I will be the first person to tell you that I can't bake to save my life. My intentions are good. Luck is just never on my side. Thankfully my husband can bake fairly well. As it is with baking cakes, decorating cakes just never goes my way. I'll cite a few examples to prove my point. Many years ago I made a Christmas cake for a party my friends and I were planning. I decorated sugar ice cream cones to look like Christmas trees and painstakingly decorated little Teddy Gram cookies to look like elves. I even made a frozen pond out of foil (the elves needed something to ice skate on). It literally took me the entire day just to decorate this sheet cake. I safely got the cake to my friend's house where the party was going to be. As my bad luck would have it the florescent light bulb above the sink fell and broke and pieces of shattered glass went everywhere, including all over my cake! There was no way we could risk eating the cake so we had to toss it out. Fast forward years later. I was decorating a cake for my son's birthday. It was suppose to resemble a construction site. I even purchased new construction vehicles to top the cake with. Sadly when I was removing the cake from the pan a HUGE piece stuck, leaving a massive hole in the middle of the cake. There wasn't time to make another cake so I improvised and pretended the hole was part of the construction site. I crushed up some Oreos and put the crumbs in the hole and some in the dump truck to make it look like dirt. It ended up looking "OK", but I was so disappointed that there was a huge hole in the cake. Decorating cakes is not my forte. My sister on the other hand is a fantastic cake decorator. I'm always impressed with her skills and she never had any formal training either. Just once I would love to decorate a cake just as impressive as my sister's cakes. There is a super easy way to decorate any cake and it will have people thinking you are the ultimate cake decorating pro. It's called CakeVase(http://www.cakevase.com/). It's the most amazing idea! CakeVase is a plastic "disc" which has holes on one side and "spikes" (for lack of a better description) on the other side. To use the CakeVaseall you need to do it bake a bake (or purchase a cake) and frost it (you can purchase a pre-frosted cake too). Then you insert the spiked end of the CakeVase into the cake so that it's resting on top. Then you can take real flowers, fake flowers or greenery and insert them into the "holes" on the CakeVase topper. Your cake will look amazing!

I just had to try the CakeVase for myself. I purchased a pre-made cake from the grocery store down the street. I also picked up a small bundle of mixed flowers from the florist in the grocery store too. When I got home I just took the various CakeVases I have (they come in different sizes) and found the one that best fit the top of the cake. I was a bit worried I would smash it down too much but it inserted into the cake really easy. You can fill the wells in the CakeVase with water to keep the flowers lasting longer. I have bad luck when it comes to cakes so I omitted the water. Besides we were going to eat the cake that night anyway so it was fine. Next I cut the stems on the flowers to fit into the well and tried to arrange them nicely around the cake with the CakeVase. It didn't exactly turn out as nice as some photos I have seen, but it was certainly much nicer then any cake I could have decorated. It was so easy too! I did take a few pictures of the finished product. I just have to hunt them down. I have a feeling my daughter deleted them, but she's not admitting to it. Either that or she uploaded them onto her computer when she uploaded pictures from a sleep over she went to. As soon as I can find my pictures I will update this post. I'm seriously very impressed with the CakeVase. It's so simple to use. Even my four year old neighbor could do it (although I wouldn't recommend that...ha ha). You can even use pillar candles in place of some of the flowers. I don't have any on hand so I wasn't able to try that out for myself. For Christmas this year I want to get a cake frosted with white frosting. I want to ask the bakery if they could give it a "basket weave" design. Then I want to use some greenery and some red flowers (maybe Carnations) and decorate a cake to look very festive for Christmas. I would love to use some Evergreens. I think that would look stunning! Here are some examples of cakes decorated with the CakeVase. I love the one that uses candy canes/candy sticks around the cake. What a fun and tasty idea!

How gorgeous are these cakes! With CakeVase anyone - including someone like me - can make the most impressive and amazing cakes. I'd like to try and make one for Thanksgiving too. If I do I'll take pictures and post them on She Scribes. To learn more about CakeVase you can visit http://www.cakevase.com/.CakeVases come in various sizes to fit most round and sheet cakes. Cake Vase is available at many online retailers including Amazon,Gooseberry Patch, ChefTools.com and other locations. There is a complete list on the CakeVase web site. Kathleen from CakeVase would love to give TWO lucky She Scribes readers their own set of CakeVases. Thanks Kathleen!

Product Suggestion

2009-11-04T13:38:00.006-06:00

I have used this mix for years because it

is economical, easy to use and tastes

great.

Mulling Spices, Set of 2

For centuries, friends have gathered at the onset of Winter to enjoy a warm mulled drink consisting of ale, cider, wine or fruit juice flavored with citrus and spices. For over a decade, our own mulling spice blend has evoked the true essence of this time-honored tradition. Simmer this beautifully balanced mixture of cinnamon, orange zest, clove and allspice with cider or red wine for an old-fashioned flavor and heady aroma that personifies the spirit of the holidays. 6 oz., packed in an airtight tin. A Williams-Sonoma exclusive.

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2009-10-26T16:21:00.003-05:00

2009-10-13T09:57:00.000-05:00

www.TheGoodStuff.com just did a great review of CakeVase® Leave a comment on her blog and enter for a chance to win a free CakeVase® set.

Bring Those Flowers Inside…

October 13, 2009

I have my last annuals still going strong in my garden and I finally cut some to enjoy indoors. I have two favorite things that make flowers so easy to show off inside.

The second little beauty is CakeVase. I had never seen anything like it, but now I’m hooked.

You can create this:

or this:

with the help of CakeVase.

You either bake or buy a 6 or 8 inch round cake. Then place CakeVase onto the top. Add a little water and your cut flowers (even a store-bought bouquet!) and VOILA: A gorgeous creation.

Have you ever seen anything more brilliant?

Enter a comment below to win a set of 3. You can also find them at Amazon.

Just leave a comment by Saturday, October 17th and I’ll choose 2 lucky people: one for the CakeVase and one for the Easy Arranger. Good luck and have a great day!

Category: Brilliant, GardenTags: CakeVase, Easy Arranger, easy entertaining |

1 Comment »

marla
on October 13, 2009 10:02 am
I want this!!!

2009-10-06T23:30:00.000-05:00

This is a really cool video that the people at HandBookLive are featuring on their website. Check it out.

CakeVase Product video demo - HandBookLive

http://www.handbooklive.com/index.php?pr...

Sort ByCompany Product UpdatedDisplay ByDisplay Icon Display List 10 20 30

Cake Vase

Company: Kathleen's Cakes

Updated: 2009-10-06 23:41:45

2009-09-30T14:08:00.000-05:00

Janice Thomas Kitchen classroom

Helpful cake decorating suggestions:

Always do a crumb coat.

Temperature matters!

A bent spatula is a must.

A turntable makes it easier to achieve a professional look.

Mix your color into a generous amount of frosting. It’s hard to match the original color if you run out.

Add food coloring 1 drop at a time, mix and add 1 more drop to achieve the best color for the job.

You can always add white frosting to bring down a dark or bright colored frosting.

Frosting colors should be somewhat edible.

Red food coloring comes in a “non taste” version. Use is when you need a really deep-rich red color.

Decorations only stick to freshly applied frosting.

Refrigerate a cake fully if it is going to travel.

Allow cake to return to room temperature before being served.

Suggestions for better baking:

A stand up mixer is essential.

Have several sets of measuring cups and spoons on hand.

Measuring cups in many sizes, including 6, 8 and 12 cups sizes make it easy to pre-measure everything, including eggs.

All ingredients must be room temperature.

Use heavy, metal cake pans (not non-stick or dark metal) so as not to over-brown the exterior of the cake.

Follow individual recipe’s guide for mixing ingredients.

Do not substitute “key” ingredients:

Flour, cake flour, salt, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, unsalted butter, etc..

Add eggs one at a time on the slowest setting.

Stop beating cake batter once eggs have been completely incorporated.

Use a serrated knife to torte or cut cake. This preserves the crumb.

My favorite Websites:

www.creativecutters.com - tools, readymade fondant, dragees, beautiful cake boards, wide variety or rich food coloring paste, cake pans in many sizes and shapes, gum paste tools etc..

http://www.colettescakes.com/ - My all time favorite inspiration.

http://www.margaretbraun.com/cakes.html

http://www.confetticakes.com/designer.html

http://www.gailwatsoncake.com/ -the original cake decorator for Martha Stewart from back in the 1990’s.

http://cakelove.com/

http://wendykromer.com/

http://www.weddingcakes.com/ - One of the best in the world!

https://www.auiswisscatalogue.com/store/merchant.mvc - amazing European cake decorating supplies.

http://bakednyc.com/

http://www.fancyflours.com/cgi-bin/fancyflours/index.html - A new favorite of mine. Colorful and inspirational website.

Books:

The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum - This book is easy to read and she explains the science behind baking.

Neoclassic Buttercream

Lemon curd

Cakes by Design by Scott Clark Wooley & Michael G. Farace

Detailed gum paste instructions that are very easy to follow.

Any of the Colette’s Cakes by Colette Peters books

Beginner to expert techniques.

In less than four hours, students learned to torte, fill and frost two cakes. They learned to fill a pastry bag and pipe stars, dots and leaves. Students were asked to bring in flowers to decorate of their cakes using CakeVase®. The finished products were truly stunning. It’s amazing what can be learned in the right environment, with the right tools and with with a determined mind!

Door County is a popular vacation destination on Lake Michigan in Wisconsin. The thumb shaped peninsula is lined with small towns, shops, an active arts community, lighthouses, B&B's, restaurants and small hotels.

Midwest Living Magazine has named Door County the "Best Small Town Getaway in the Midwest." Money Magazine has named Door County "One of the Top 10 Vacation Destinations in North America"

Door County consists of several small towns, lining the 300 miles of coastline of Lake Michigan,

Midwest Living Magazine has named Door County the "Best Small Town Getaway in the Midwest." Money Magazine has named Door County "One of the Top 10 Vacation Destinations in North America"

Door County consists of several small towns, lining the 300 miles of coastline of Lake Michigan, for a scenic drive. German and Scandinavian immigrants were the early settlers of the region and their heritage is still evident.

In the spring the cherry trees blossom in the rich lands of Door County. The cherry crops are harvested and used to produce cherry treats, beverages, and wines. Winery tours are offered by wineries in the county to taste locally produced vintages.

Door County has a active arts community. There are artists and galleries in the towns throughout the island.

The American Folklore Theater can be seen at an outdoor stage at the Peninsula State Park. The summer main season features different shows in repertory

Savory Spoon honored to be included in:Gourmet Getaways: 50 Top Spots to Cook and Learn

Thanks to my daughter, Piper, who helped during the entire day. Thanks to all the students who participated. Many thanks to Janice and her staff at The Savory Spoon. I had a wonderful time!

2009-09-30T13:43:00.000-05:00

Jill Piper Schoenfeld made this beautiful cake out of wee garden tools, CakeVase® and a homemade cake.

Her Wee Garden supplies are adorable and fun. It did not matter if the succulents were food safe because CakeVase® kept them off of the cake entirely.

Her website is www.WeeGarden.com and it is inspiring.

CakeVase® arrives

Bake Cake

Insert CakeVase®

Pour water

Begin arranging design elements.

My attempt at a wee garden. I purchased a stone planter, miniature evergreens, succulents, pea gravel and sand at Milaeger’s Garden Center in Racine, Wisconsin.

I purchased the arbor, pots, urns, watering can, wheel barrow, garden tools, bird house and fence fromWee Gardens .

I found the moss in the back yard.

2009-09-30T13:37:00.000-05:00

I have hours of weeding to do almost everyday in the summer. I have tried many different weeding tools, gloves and collection devices over the years.

Weeding is a tedious job and anything that makes it easier and faster is my best friend.

The Radius Weeder is easy to hold. I also like that it dislodges weed roots but not everything around it. I can get weeds out that have grown inside my perennials. I also use this to plant bulbs, annuals and small perennials.

Tubtrugs® are becoming an addiction of mine. I like the medium size for weeding and recycling. Their website is adorable, the color choices are delightful and they really work. Their height and diameter make them very versatile.

Atlas 370 Nitrile gloves are the best fitting and best performing glove I have ever used. I have small hands and used to weed bare handed so that I could grab small weeds. Other gloves feel thick and clumsy. Atlas 370 Nitrile gloves feel like a second skin. My hands stay dry and protected and I can get any job done.

Baby shower baking preparation

2009-06-19T23:16:00.005-05:00

Coconut cupcakes without their frosting.

The recipe comes from Ina Garten's first book.

The Barefoot Contessa.

Banana Layer Cake

This cake is an perfect example of layering of flavor.

Alone each ingredient is simple but

together the flavor is complex and deeply satisfying.

Banana Cake

Chocolate

Sauteed Banana

Sweetened Sour Cream

Cream Cheese Frosting

The butter cookies are a scaled down version of a 20 pound bakery recipe. Some of the ingredients are a little strange.

shortening

powdered sugar

powdered milk

cake flour

I roll the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap. After the dough has been refrigerated and is firm, I cut out the shapes and bake them until just before they get brown around the edges.

After they cool I outline and fill in the cookie shape with white chocolate melts. Before it has a chance to dry, I place the wafer paper and press it gently into the frosting.

Finally, I outline the cookies with roll icing and quickly dip them in sanding sugar. I love Fancy Flours for the prettiest decorating embellishments.

Confessions of a Secret Recipe

2009-06-02T21:16:00.000-05:00

After ten years of making wedding cakes from scratch, I have something to confess. I used a box cake as the foundation for all of my cakes!!!!

In other words, if a bride wanted yellow, lemon (especially lemon), chocolate or almond, just to name a few, I used the Secret Recipe. I know it by heart.

ingredients

1 18 1/2-ounce package yellow cake mix
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
6 large eggs
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup water

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter two 9-inch-diameter pans with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Combine first 6 ingredients in large bowl. Beat until smooth, about 2 minutes. Divide batter between prepared pans. Bake cakes until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 28 minutes. Cool cakes completely in pans on racks.

It is definitely rewarding to make an almond cake from real almond meal, a lemon cake from lemon oil and zest and a chocolate cake with espresso and 70% cacoa but, honestly, it all depends on the audience. If the almond meal texture is pleasureable, the lemon zing strong enough and the chocolate sweet enough, then I've got a happy audience. But truly homemade cakes are often too subtle for the general public.

I could offer a person two cakes, one made entirely from scratch and the other made with the Secret Recipe, and 90% would choose the latter. I have actually done it. I launched my career making everything from scratch but found that the extra time and expense was not worth the overall satisfaction.

To this day I will still consider my audience before choosing a recipe. If my fellow diners are foodies, I'll temper the chocolate, zest the lemon, grind the almonds and separate my whites from my yolks. If my fellow diners love a sweet cake that reminds them of their childhood, I'll hit the Secret Recipe.

For sure, if the cake is for children.... Secret Recipe.

Try this recipe the next time you committed to baking a cake but have limited baking skills or time. You can substitute any flavor or brand box cake for the yellow cake. You can also fill or frost the cake with anything you like.

2009-05-30T22:31:00.000-05:00

Brown Sugar

I baked Peanut Butter Cookies twice this week and both times my brown sugar was hard as a rock.

My two favorite ways to soften brown sugar

place brown sugar in a microwave safe bowl or container. Microwave sugar for 30 seconds. Stir. repeat until brown sugar is soft. Do not heat the brown sugar. It will melt.
Use a terra cotta brown sugar softener. This is a little clay disc that you soak, wipe dry and put in with the sugar when you store it.

The best way to store brown sugar is in a plastic bag. Push all of the air out of the bag so that the actual surface are of the brown sugar that is exposed to air is absolutely minimal.

My favorite brown sugar is Billington's because it has a rich flavor. It is very expensive. A more reasonably priced natural brand is C&H Pure Cane Sugar. You should avoid beet sugar. It is inferior in taste and quality.

2009-05-11T09:17:00.000-05:00

New Packaging:

Our new hang tag packaging attractive enough for gift giving and practical enough to see what you are receiving.

We are offering the set of three (6" plate, 8" plate & 8" ring) and the 6" plate individually.

Check out some of our newest vendors on our "where to buy" page at www.CakeVase.com

2009-05-05T21:08:00.000-05:00

Kelly and Julia took a cake decorating class in my professional cake kitchen in our basement. I baked two 2-layer cakes for each of them. They filled, crumb coated, frosted, piped leaf borders, inserted CakeVase® and used flowers to finish their own centerpiece cakes.

I will be teaching a class this fall at www.circleoffriendsfolkschool.net

in Lake Mills, Wisconsin. It's a girl's weekend getaway in a B&B environment. Learn, in a relaxed and supportive environment, how to make your homemade cakes clean and pretty.

Feel confident using a bent palette knife to smoothly frost your cakes, fill and hold a pastry bag properly and demystify the process.

I will share all of my knowledge and secrets for easy, fast results! This class is designed to highlight your intuitive skills and prior abilities. How fun to get away with friends or family to relax, laugh and learn an old fashioned skill and you can eat the mistakes!

Meanwhile, if you have any questions or need resources to become a better home cake decorator, feel free to email me anytime.

2009-05-01T17:22:00.000-05:00

At a recent fine arts night I set up flowers, cakes, scissors and CakeVases®. The kids jumped right in and didn't even need direction. They got it intuitively and were so creative and proud of their designs.

2009-04-28T23:29:00.000-05:00

This was my father-in-law's 51st birthday (not the candles). I baked a carrot cake and purchased the sugar carrots from Trigg's Grocery in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. They were a little confused at the bakery counter but agreed to sell me a few carrots.

I am still shocked at how excited I was with my creative baby steps.

In this photo I see a cake that was stacked, filled, frosted and coordinated.

Al passed away two years after this birthday. We miss him severely and talk about him often. He was our greatest cheerleader.

2009-04-28T23:17:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday Zoe Strawberry

This photo reminded me of so many things: being pregnant, my niece Zoe's 1st birthday, that she is celebrating her sweet 16 this week and a funny first attempt at cake decorating.

Look how proud I was of a single layer cake with grocery store gel tube icing and a few handily placed strawberries.

2009-04-16T22:11:00.000-05:00

These Easter eggs are several years old but still worthy of reflection.

15" tall, hand cast tinted sugar, sugar pansies, royal icing details and a hand painted chocolate hen make an amazing centerpiece.

I used to sell these eggs for $150 a piece. They required so much time and arm strength!

Equipment:

It took at least a year just to figure out how to cut out the window. I ended up using a tool called The Roto-Zip. It' s a drill bit that allows cutting at certain depths and any shape.
I used a grapefruit spoon to scrape soft sugar out of the back until I could see light.
A paring knife worked well to smooth off the rough edges.
A butcher knife cut the bottom quickly and evenly.
A professional half egg mold for chocolate making.
Tin hen mold.
Parchment, round tip, royal icing, gum paste, white chocolate melting coins, 8 pounds C&H sugar and sheet cake size pans.
Patience. It takes time to allow each and every part to dry completely.

The beginning of a cake designing career.

2009-04-10T19:21:00.000-05:00

Hi,

Here is my 2nd paid wedding cake. The flowers were supposed to be Dogwood blossoms but the yellow centers made them look more like daisies. I managed to get the cake straight and everything came together smoothly.

It's amazing that after my first disaster I was able to deliver on my promise of a pretty cake.

2009-04-08T21:59:00.001-05:00

I haven't shown these photos to anyone. Ever. This was my first paid wedding cake and it served 300 people and it was rife with mistakes.

Here is a list of each known mistake:

This was the 1st time I had covered this large of a cake in rolled fondant. No prior experience.
I mixed only enough fondant for half of the cake, hence the two tones of champagne.
The cake was crooked.
The cake was viewed from all sides but I made it with a definite, "back side".

This list may not look very long or horrific but take a closer look at each photo.

I tried to use greenery to cover up some of the bigger lumps and bumps. It didn't work very well and I haven't used greenery on any cake since. I only use sugar flowers I make by hand.

Look at the side seam I made to cover up the crease. In fact, look at all of the border ribbon around the bottom of each tier. Notice how they are all uneven? What a silly question.. it's glaringly obvious.

One of the wait staff walked up to me and said, very loudly, "Your cake's crooked." I said, "thanks but there isn't anything I can do about it now". So she went and told all of the other waiters and they stood around pointing and critiquing my work.

My hands were shaking but I finished the job.

Even from far away it didn't look that great.

Okay, now the positive side of things.

The cake tasted really good: lemon curd, fresh raspberries, Italian butter cream & yellow cake.
The bride and her mother loved it.
The flowers were pretty.
I made an overabundance of sugar flowers which enable me to make up for the other flaws.
I was able to use a photo of the sugar urn filled with sugar flowers for my early portfolio and on my website.
I learned a lot!
I got paid.

When I first started reading cake decorating books and thinking that, "maybe I could make beautiful cakes too," I had many doubts and hurdles to overcome. The way I handled it was to keep my ambition to myself and practice everyday.

When I did tell people that I wanted to do cakes professionally they discouraged me with white noise: "everyone already gets their cakes from xyz bakery," or "have you gone to culinary school?" These questions only revealed their insecurities, not mine.

Nobody knew that this was my first paid wedding cake, and in the end it didn't matter. I've been embarrassed all these years and now I just laugh.

2009-04-01T23:15:00.000-05:00

These cakes crack me up! I think I got carried away. I always talk about proportion and scale and here I chose flowers that were either way too big for the cakes or cut the flowers way too long.

Lessons learned:

Double layer cakes look better with flowers.
Single layer cakes should be decorated with smaller, lower profile flowers such as Pansies, Daisies or small Roses.
Remember, no matter how imperfect your flower arranging skills may be, it's about having fun, doing something fresh and new and making those around you feel that you care about them.
You can always eat your experiments.

2009-03-14T16:56:00.000-05:00

I baked a little last week and experimented with flavors. I have come up with a no mix no measure cake.

Can anyone guess how it is made?

2009-03-08T14:57:00.000-05:00

I had knitting group at our home on Friday and, as usual, baked something yummy. Double-Ginger Sour Cream Bundt Cake with Ginger-Infused Strawberries

The cake was shimmery and beautiful on its own but the flowers raised it to a higher level and made the rainy morning seem sunny.

Plain cake looks a little drab.

All it needs is CakeVase® and some fresh flowers.

Now you see CakeVase®

Now you don't.

Much prettier centerpiece and a pulled

together dining room.

2009-03-04T14:24:00.000-06:00

Bonnie & Sunny

Easy centerpiece

Delicious dessert

Beautiful table.

Bonnie turned 92 and her daughter, Sunny, threw a lovely luncheon to commemorate the moment. The cake came from the Pick N Save, the basket weave was added at no additional charge, the customized sparking apple juice and photo cookies were ordered online and everyone had a wonderful time. Bonnie is very special and Sunny has a gift for making all of us feel special too!

2009-02-28T09:51:00.000-06:00

I decorated the cake with plaid ribbon, Hydrangea twigs, Statis, Companula and, of course, Heather. I used the 8" ring and put a candle at the center of the flower arrangement. The rocks were chocolate, the cake was marble and the filling was vanilla. I purchased the cake at a local grocery store at it served approximately 75 people. Total cost: $57.00

Cheers to the cast and crew at University School of Milwaukee's upper school performance of "Brigadoon"

Piper, Kevlyn and Emily.