Royal Icing - Insider Expert Tips To Improve Your Cake Decorating

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Royal Icing - Insider Expert Tips To Improve Your Cake Decorating
By Peter Lock

The title ‘royal’ was given to royal icing after being used on Queen Victoria’s wedding cake in 1840. Francatelli, the Queen’s famous French chef, published a book in l864 in which he describes how to ice a wedding cake with a mixture of egg whites, sugar and lemon juice beaten together. He wrote ‘use this icing to mask the entire surface of the cake with a coating about a quarter of an inch thick’.

But,long before the above date this type of icing was in use. A cook, wrote in 1789, that she spread it over cakes with the aid of a board or a large feather! And then placed it in front of ‘a great fire’ to dry.

So we can see royal icing has been popular for many years. The simple ingredients, egg white and icing sugar create a dazzling icing, making it the perfect choice for wedding cakes. Dried egg whites can be used instead of fresh. Not only does this save having a surplus of egg yolks, but also the icing is whiter than icing made with fresh whites.

Begin by rinsing out bowls, wooden spoons,and beaters with boiling water. This simple but most important job is done to dissolve any grease which could be lingering on the surface of the tools. Grease and royal icing do not mix well!

Sift the icing sugar. It is a good idea to keep a small sieve especially for this job. Separate the egg whites from the yolks. Discard any whites that contain even a small amount of yolk,as once again the fat in the yolk will prevent the whites from aerating.

If a food mixer is available,use when beating three or more whites. Smaller quantities are best made either with an electric hand whisk,or with a large wooden spoon(again kept especially for that purpose). Begin by beating the whites until they are quite stiff. How long this takes varies according to the tool used,and the number of egg whites.

Now start adding the sifted icing sugar, a tablespoonful at a time, beating well after each addition until the icing stands in peaks. To store, place in an airtight container,and cover with cling film, then place in the refrigerator.This type of icing will keep for weeks, but always remember that it needs re-beating again before use.

The consistency of the icing needs adjusting according to how it is being used. For instance,to ‘flat ice’a wedding cake the icing should be the consistency of beaten double cream. If too stiff, add a few drops of water,too soft,then add icing sugar.

To prevent royal icing setting too hard one teaspoon of glycerine can be added to every pound of icing sugar used. When smooth icing a cake,use icing that is two or three days old. Freshly made icing may cause air bubbles to appear on the surface of the cake. Usually three thin layers of icing are needed,allowing each layer to dry before adding the next.

Icing used for piping decorations should be well beaten,and recently made otherwise it will not hold its shape. Do not use icing which has glycerine in it. Royal icing for Run-Outs (Colour flow) can be softened with either a few drops of water or egg white.

Use Royal icing instead of Glace Icing (icing sugar and water)for flooding over cakes. Softened down with egg white it is denser and whiter than Glace icing and gives better coverage.

Royal icing is also used when making Rock Sugar, which as the name suggests is a way of making lifelike edible rocks. It is made by adding royal icing into hot sugar syrup, the royal icing literally erupts and hardens into a volcanic-like substance.

So as you can see from the above descriptions, this is a very versatile icing. And most importantly, most people love the taste!

Pat Lock is a cake decorating expert with over 25 years experience who runs the excellent
Cake Decorating Tips website. She has won awards at the prestigious international competition at Hotel Olympia, London and is also an accomplished author.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Peter_Lock
http://EzineArticles.com/?Royal-Icing—Insider-Expert-Tips-To-Improve-Your-Cake-Decorating&id=1038755

Popularity: 17% [?]

Cake Decorating Tips - Express Your Creativity

Cake Decorating Tips - Express Your Creativity
By Berlinda Barrymore

Cake decorating is a hobby and a delight for all seasons. It is a fun and rewarding art to bake cakes yourself and decorate them for your family, it can also save you money. It is an artistic skill that anyone can master with a little expert guidance intermingled with a some good cake decorating tips and ideas. It is an art form that will keep exercising your imagination, continue building your skills, and will always make others happy. Decorating cakes is very self nurturing, since you will feel good when you give your cake to another or share it with them.

read this analogy the other day and I will quote it here with only one minor change to avoid any sexist accusations: “Cake decorating is what happens when a woman (or man) redefines the kitchen as an artist’s studio.”

Decorating a cake in artistic ways is both rewarding for the decorating artist and the recipient of the cake. Creating your next cake does not have to be a stressful experience, just get really creative and do not be frightened to try something new. Some simple cake decorating tips are sometimes best to get you started, decorate cup cakes and cookies with some edible photos or art, using other sorts of images is now easy and cost effective with Kopykake’s edible photo cake products. Special marker kits are also now available for children to participate and help decorate. Your decorating can be as simple as applying a butter cream coating or using a stencil and dusting with some confectioner’s sugar or cocoa powder.

Your cakes can be iced with butter cream, royal fondant, or cooked icing and can be topped with features such as icing flowers, spun sugar, sprinkles or candy. You can create your cakes to look like a hot dog, drinks or even a pizza. If fact whatever your imagination can cook up. The perfect cake for you to demonstrate your artistic flair is firm, moist and not crumbly.

The real secret to producing really professionally iced cakes is two fold. 1. Eliminating crumbs. 2. Creating a very smooth and even finish. Icing your cake to a ultra smooth finish is one of the most crucial parts of cake decorating. The secrets that the experts use is to create a “Crumb Coat,” I have explained this system in more detail on my Cake Decorating Tips Blog.

Using fondant will add a nice little zest to your cakes, it can be rolled out and then draped carefully over a cake, it can be poured on for a glaze, or crafted into shapes. It is available in two kinds, white, and of course Chocolate. Utilizing special fondant produces a seamless covering for your cake. The pure white fondant that is used for wedding cakes will give that look as though it has been sculpted from one single piece. Fondant is by far the most versatile type of cake icing, it does cost a little bit more than the other alternatives, but the creative design possibilities that it opens up for your cake decorating far out weigh the extra cost.

So learn the basics and pick up as many cake decorating tips as you can. There are plenty of ideas and tips widely available on the internet. You never know, you made decide to keep your cake decorating as an enjoyable pastime or develop it into a profitable business.

Berlinda Barrymore makes cake decorating easy to understand and can help you create beautiful cake decorations, quickly and easily. Learn the basics and then graduate to expert by reading and following her Cake Decorating Tips Blog.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Berlinda_Barrymore
http://EzineArticles.com/?Cake-Decorating-Tips—Express-Your-Creativity&id=721324

Popularity: 13% [?]

Healthy Muffin Recipe with Yoghurt and Oats

Healthy Muffin Recipe with Yoghurt and Oats
By Kit Heathcock

Sweet treats for kids that are also healthy can be hard to come by, healthy treats that the kids actually like even harder. This recipe has been tried and tested by a part of the blogging community all around the world and as far as I can tell has been universally a hit with kids and parents alike. The muffins are moist and keep for a few days, have a good crust and flavour and get devoured as soon as they have cooled down enough to eat. Mums like them because the yoghurt and oatmeal ingredients spell Nutrition with a capital N, kids like them because they taste good and they didn’t actually see you putting that healthy stuff in, when you were baking them. If your kids are picky and recoil in horror from such things as plain yoghurt and oats, present them with the baked muffins without telling them what’s in them!

You can experiment with your own flavours. I used banana and cinnamon for mine, as that was what I had in the house and because my kids pick raisins out of any baking, leaving a trail of crumbs around the house, or a heap of raisins and crumbs for me to eat in Hoovermum mode. I’d like to try with nuts too, but again only one child likes nuts so the same thing would happen…I do believe that chocolate chips would go down well though, if only I had some in the house!

Yoghurt and Oat Muffin Recipe

1 cup unsweetened plain yoghurt

1 cup rolled oats

1 egg

½ cup vegetable oil

½ cup sugar

1 ¼ cups self-raising flour

1 ripe banana mashed

½ teaspoon cinnamon

Alternative flavour combinations:
instead of the banana and cinnamon try adding
1 teaspoon vanilla extract and ½ cup chocolate chips or
½ cup mixed nuts and raisins
or make up your own variation with whatever berries and fruits are in season.

Mix together the yoghurt and oats and leave them to soak in the fridge for half and hour. After they have soaked, beat in the egg, sugar and the oil, and fold in the flour with ingredients for whichever flavour combination you have decided on.

Spoon the mixture into a greased muffin tray. You will get either 12 large muffins or 24 small ones. If you are baking them for lunch boxes it is a good idea to line the tins with paper muffin cases. Bake at 200C / 400F for 15 to 20 minutes, until the top is springy to the touch and golden brown.

Small muffins are excellent for school lunch boxes if there are any left over. They also solve that eternal dilemma of contributions to those school bake sales and class events when teachers ask for healthy foods only, but your child wants to take something delicious - if you tell the teacher what’s in the muffins they’re sure to count them as healthy, just use raisins and nuts rather than chocolate chips in this case!

Copyright 2007 Kit Heathcock
Kit Heathcock - worked and travelled in Italy for many years, is passionate about food and is lucky enough to work from home and have time to cook and write. She contributes to A Flower Gallery home of original flower pictures, Just the Planet and Original Orange.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kit_Heathcock
http://EzineArticles.com/?Healthy-Muffin-Recipe-with-Yoghurt-and-Oats&id=683993

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Popularity: 11% [?]

Brownie Recipe for Chocolate Lovers

Brownie Recipe for Chocolate Lovers
By Virginia Van Vynckt

This is an easy brownie recipe you are sure to make again and again. These brownies are very rich and chocolatey and not too sweet. They are bound to win any chocoholic’s heart.

If you prefer your brownies a bit on the sweeter side, increase the amount of sugar to 2 cups.

Makes 20 to 24 brownies

5 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into chunks

1 3/4 cups sugar

3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray or grease a 9-by-13-inch baking pan.

Place the chocolate and the butter in a microwave-proof bowl. Microwave on 80 percent power for 1 minute. Stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth. If the chocolate is still lumpy after a minute of stirring, microwave again in 10-second increments, until it is completely smooth after stirring.

Add the sugar, then the eggs and vanilla, stirring thoroughly to make sure the eggs are completely incorporated. Stir in the salt, then the flour, just until the flour is completely incorporated.

Pour into the prepared pan. Bake in the center of the oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the brownies no longer look wet in the center.

Remove to a wire rack and let cool completely, then cut into bars.

Virginia (Ginger) Van Vynckt is a longtime food writer, the author or co-author of six cookbooks, and the webmaster of MakeGreatCookies.com, a site devoted to cookie baking and cookie decorating ideas.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Virginia_Van_Vynckt
http://EzineArticles.com/?Brownie-Recipe-for-Chocolate-Lovers&id=139960

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Popularity: 11% [?]

Only 4.5 Steps Separate You from Cupcake Perfection

Only 4.5 Steps Separate You from Cupcake Perfection
By Sharilyn Starling

One of the questions that is asked frequently on baking and decorating discussion forums is, “Can a home kitchen deliver bakery quality cupcakes?” People want to know if there is a way to achieve cupcake utopia without industrial ovens and $200 pans.

The answer is a resounding, “YES”.

In this article, I’ll share with you the baking secrets that professional bakers don’t want you to know. They are so simple, they may almost seem like common sense, and that’s the beauty of these methods. Anyone can make perfect cupcakes with almost no investment.

While these techniques may seem obvious, I have to admit that it took dozens of batches of trial and error to settle on these particular steps.

And while it is great to be able to write an article sharing these secrets with you, the biggest bonus I received from all of this is that now, I can make flawless cupcakes every time.

What Are the Secrets?

1. Use a shiny pan. Do not use dark pans that have non-stick coating.
2. Use cupcake liners. These offer easy removal and cleanup as well as keep the cupcake fresh longer.
3. Use a standard trigger ice cream scoop. This should fill your liners up two-thirds and three-quarters full. This will get the consistency in size everyone strives for.
4. Cook the cupcakes on the middle rack of your oven taking care not to over-bake them. Use the standard toothpick trick where you put a toothpick in the center of the cupcake. If it is done, no cake will be on the toothpick when you pull it out.
5. Really the 4.5 as this isn’t really a step, it’s more of another helpful hint. If you’re sending the little one off to school or a loved one off to work, you can “lunch-box” proof your cupcakes. Tort (just a fancy word for slice in half) the cupcake to make a mini layer cake. Ice in between the layers then put the cupcake back together. Wrap in plastic, and viola, “lunch-box” proof cupcakes.

Like I said, nothing earth shattering, but following the above steps will allow you to make bakery quality cupcakes every time. My hope is that you will be able to enjoy great cupcakes without any of the frustration I went through trying to figure out how the bakeries do what they do. Happy Baking.

Sharilyn Starling is a cake decorating fanatic and part-time baking guru. Her newest website Wilton Cupcake Stand is now online. For more information, please see, www.wiltoncupcakestand.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sharilyn_Starling
http://EzineArticles.com/?Only-4.5-Steps-Separate-You-from-Cupcake-Perfection&id=951392

Popularity: 10% [?]

What Makes a Great Cookie?

What Makes a Great Cookie?
By Frank Carter

Do you want to make a great cookie? Using quality ingredients and quality bake ware are probably the two most important elements. A lot of bakers will purchase brand x ingredients like chocolate chips, coconut, oatmeal, raisins, butter and other important cookie ingredients. Any one of these cheap ingredients could ruin your cookies. Think about what you are doing. What would you enjoy more, a cheap brand x chocolate bar or an expensive top brand chocolate bar?

Like all lessons in life, you reap what you sow. Cheap ingredients make a boring cookie. Why waist your valuable time and energy baking cookies no one will like, not even yourself. You can taste the difference. Cheap tastes cheap and quality taste like quality. When you purchase brand x Oreo knockoff cookies, do they taste as good as the real thing? I don’t think so.

Your gifts of cookies are a reflection on your baking abilities and I’ve tasted a lot of really bad cookies in my lifetime. these treats are usually given as a gift from a neighbor with good intentions. During the Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays our house fills up with goodies from neighbors and friends. Most of the goodies are cookies. Generally 50% of the cookies we get are not fit for human consumption. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for the thoughtful gift, but let me make a point. If you take the time to follow a tried and proven cookie recipe and use quality ingredients, how much more enjoyment will come out of your gift.

Not only do quality ingredients play a part in delicious cookies, but the quality of your baking supplies play a part. A good quality cookie sheet will give you an evenly baked cookie, unless you didn’t follow the baking instructions. The best cookie sheets are the heavy commercial ½ sheets. Take all your thin cheap cookie sheets and give them a toss in the garbage. You will always have a struggle realizing a perfect cookie from one of those devices.

Other devices used in baking cookies may or may not have an effect on the outcome of your cookie. However, if your time and effort is of any value, quality appliances and accessories can play a big part in an enjoyable baking experience. I don’t want to name names, but KitchenAid by far has the best stand mixer. The 5 quart or 6 quart mixers make mixing ingredients a breeze. They also have a great array of attachments and accessories.

Using a scoop, like a small ice cream scoop to measure out your cookie dough will give you professional looking results. There are many sizes and makes of scoops on the market. Buy a couple of different sizes; you will probably find a use for all the sizes.

Finally, let use put what I’ve said to practice. I may not be a professional chef, but I know my cookies. So if you will follow these simple rules and advise your next batch of cookies should be a success. In fact try this recipe, which by the way is my favorite, and see and taste the results for yourself.

Chocolate Chip Cookie

1 3/4 cups butter

1 3/4 cups brown sugar

1 3/4 cups sugar

3 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

Cream together thoroughly and then add:

3 cups old-fashioned oats

3 1/4 cups flour

2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. soda

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup pecan or walnuts

1 cup coconut

To keep your cookie from spreading out too much place the cookie dough in the refrigerator of a couple of hours before baking. I like to make these cookies big. Scoop out by spoonful onto a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 375°. Place the cookie sheet on the middle oven rack. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. All ovens bake a little different so keep an eye on your cookies.

The web site is all about baking delicious cookies, like the peanut butter cookie recipe and her list of baking supply products.We give you all the kitchen utensils and recipes you will need to be a successful baker.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Frank_Carter
http://EzineArticles.com/?What-Makes-a-Great-Cookie?&id=708825

Popularity: 10% [?]

Cake Baking Tips - How To Make Chocolate Cake

Here is a video demonstration on how to make a delicious chocolate cake.

Popularity: 11% [?]