A Tribute to Cake Artist: RON BEN-ISRAEL

I'm going to pick up where I left off a couple of weeks ago with my tributes to cake artists. Ron Ben-Israel is an incredible cake artist with the emphasis on artist. He makes cakes that are beyond exquisite. His emphasis is on sugar flowers and cakes that coordinate with couture bridal fabrics and lace.

Here's a blurb from his web site: "When former dancer Ron Ben-Israel fell in love with a chocolate maker while on tour in Canada, he traded in his ballet slippers for a whisk and a spatula. And fortunately, the discipline he had acquired during years of a rigorous performance schedule helped him as he pursued his new vocation. Like many aspiring chefs he traveled to France and apprenticed in Cannes, Beaujolais, and Lyons. Ultimately, New York provided Ron with the most exhilarating and challenging "stage" for his artistic visions. In less than a decade, his culinary artistry has become legendary and he has truly become America's cake maestro."

This man is just incredible in his vision of elegant cakes. They are meticulous, well crafted, and original. In my Martha Stewart Wedding Cake book there are a number of cakes by Ron pictured, and they are all the "wow" ones. I would love to have one of his cakes made for a special occasion!

Buttercream Icing or Frosting Recipe

I've tried a number of buttercream recipes, and I like this one. I think it's a variation of the Wilton recipe. This is a double batch, since I hardly ever need just a little icing. I usually make at least 2 double batches just to get started icing a large cake. I make it fairly stiff, but all you have to do to get creamier icing is add more milk. I've also used various kinds of milk, and even though the whole milk works better I usually have 2% on hand so that's what I use. Do what you like!

Buttercream Icing

2 sticks of softened butter (1 cup)
1 stick of Crisco (1 cup)
2 pound bag of powdered sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. clear vanilla
about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of milk

Don't use margarine! Soften the butter by leaving it on the counter until you can easily put a fingerprint in it or bend it without breaking. Don't microwave it! Put both the soft butter and the Crisco in the stand mixer and blend for 30 seconds on medium. Scrape the bowl and briefly mix again. Cut the top off the bag of powdered sugar and shake a cup or so into the bowl. Mix on lowest setting briefly, then add the salt and vanilla. Add some more sugar and mix on low again. When you've added about half the sugar, then start drizzling the milk in alternately with the sugar until all the sugar and most the milk is in. Then mix on medium for about 30 seconds. Stop and scrape the bowl well, and add more milk if you think it's too dry (be careful, you can always add more milk but you can't take it out!). Then turn the mixer on to medium and set the timer for 5 minutes. You can scrape the bowl after 2 minutes, but you don't have to. When the timer goes off, turn off mixer and scrape the bowl again, putting it into a storage bowl and washing the mixer bowl if you need to make another batch right away.

Enjoy!

Luscious Lemon Curd Mini Cake Recipe

The third set of mini cakes was Luscious Lemon Curd, and they were actually the first ones that I made. I had a spectacular fail in the middle of the recipe, so there weren't as many of these little cakes as the others. Here's the recipe:

Luscious Lemon Curd Mini Cakes
Baker's Joy flour/oil spray for dusting pans
2 boxes of plain lemon cake mix (with NO pudding added)
1/2 cup of flour (for high altitude only)
2 2/3 cups of water
2/3 cup of lemon curd (I made my own, or you can get 2-10 oz. jars)
2/3 cup of canola oil
6 large eggs
2 cups of heavy cream (for whipping)
2 T. powdered sugar
1 1/3 cups lemon curd
2 tsp. lemon extract
Buttercream frosting (recipe on Thursday)
Whipped cream and leftover glaze for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and get out two mini cheesecake pans with removable bottoms (to bake 24 at a time) and the Baker's Joy. Put a gallon Ziploc bag into a medium bowl with the bag sides folded over in an open cuff, and have a pair of scissors handy.

Wash and dry the oranges, then grate the zest off. Cut the oranges in half and ream the juice from them, removing all seeds and stringy parts. Save 1/2 cup of the juice for the glaze.

Into the mixing bowl dump the two cake mixes, a 1/2 cup of flour if you are at a high altitude, the water, 2/3 cup of lemon curd, oil, and eggs. Mix on low for 30 seconds, stop and scrape to make sure it's all mixed together, then mix for another 2 minutes on medium speed. Stop the mixer, scrape the bowl thoroughly, and pour the batter into the open Ziploc bag. Zip the bag closed.

Spray each little well of the pans with the Baker's Joy, then snip 1/2 inch off one corner of the Ziploc bag full of batter. Carefully pour each mini cup about 1/2 full of batter, wiping up any drips. Put the Ziploc bag back into the medium bowl it was sitting in earlier, this time holding the cut tip up so the batter doesn't run out. Bake the mini cakes for 14 minutes (or so) until a toothpick comes out fairly clean. Remove from oven and let sit on cooling racks for about 10 minutes, then pop cakes out and remove little bottoms before sitting cakes on racks to completely cool. Wash the pans and bottoms then dry and spray with Baker's Joy again. Repeat process again to make 48 cakes. If you have extra batter left over you can either put it into a small pan and bake for eating later or just throw it out.

(Here's my fail: I did't put the Ziploc bag into a bowl, and was trying to pour the batter into the bag without anything to hold it. The bag flopped over, spilling batter all over the counter, down the front of the cabinets, into the drawers, on my son's feet, the chair he was standing on, the floor, and the dog's head. Therefore, I had must barely 40 cakes and no leftover batter. What a horribly sticky mess -- lesson learned!)

When all 48 cakes are cool, put the heavy cream into a chilled mixing bowl and beat until stiff peaks form. Fold in the powdered sugar, 1 1/3 cup of lemon curd, and extract. Dip each cake into this glaze and set back on racks (they will drip off the excess). When glaze is firm (this one stayed sorta gooey), then put a dot of buttercream on each glass coaster, then put a cake on the frosting. These cakes just got a ring of stars around the bottom because it was eleven at night and our hands hurt from frosting little cakes. I finished the presentation with a little tag that told what flavor the cake was slid under the edge of the frosting on the corner of the coaster. Put into a couple of huge, flat boxes with lids and refrigerate until ready to serve. Just before serving, top with whipped cream and a drizzle of the leftover lemon curd glaze.

TOMORROW: Buttercream Frosting Recipe!

Orange Dreamsicle Mini Cake Recipe

The second set of mini cakes was Orange Dreamsicle, and I wasn't as happy with these as the lemon ones, but others at the wedding shower thought they were just wonderful so maybe it was just me. Here's the recipe:

Orange Dreamsicle Mini Cakes
Baker's Joy flour/oil spray for dusting pans
2 boxes of plain yellow cake mix (with NO pudding added)
1/2 cup of flour (for high altitude only)
1 1/2 cups of Miracle Whip salad dressing
2 envelopes of Dream Whip mix
1 1/2 cups of orange juice from 4 or 5 medium oranges
6 large eggs
4 tablespoons of freshly grated orange zest (from oranges above)
2 cups of powdered sugar
1/2 cup of reserved orange juice
2 tsp. orange extract
Buttercream frosting (recipe on Thursday)
Orange marmalade, warmed in microwave

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and get out two mini cheesecake pans with removable bottoms (to bake 24 at a time) and the Baker's Joy. Put a gallon Ziploc bag into a medium bowl with the bag sides folded over in an open cuff, and have a pair of scissors handy.

Wash and dry the oranges, then grate the zest off. Cut the oranges in half and ream the juice from them, removing all seeds and stringy parts. Save 1/2 cup of the juice for the glaze.

Into the mixing bowl dump the two cake mixes, a 1/2 cup of flour if you are at a high altitude, the Miracle Whip, Dream Whip mix, orange juice, orange zest, and eggs. Mix on low for 30 seconds, stop and scrape to make sure it's all mixed together, then mix for another 2 minutes on medium speed. Stop the mixer, scrape the bowl thoroughly, and pour the batter into the open Ziploc bag. Zip the bag closed.

Spray each little well of the pans with the Baker's Joy, then snip 1/2 inch off one corner of the Ziploc bag full of batter. Carefully pour each mini cup about 1/2 full of batter, wiping up any drips. Put the Ziploc bag back into the medium bowl it was sitting in earlier, this time holding the cut tip up so the batter doesn't run out. Bake the mini cakes for 14 minutes (or so) until a toothpick comes out fairly clean. Remove from oven and let sit on cooling racks for about 10 minutes, then pop cakes out and remove little bottoms before sitting cakes on racks to completely cool. Wash the pans and bottoms then dry and spray with Baker's Joy again. Repeat process again to make 48 cakes. If you have extra batter left over you can either put it into a small pan (like 8 inch) and bake for eating later or just throw it out.

When all 48 cakes are cool, put the powdered sugar into the mixing bowl with the reserved orange juice, add the orange extract, and beat with a whisk until thoroughly combined. Dip each cake into this glaze and set back on racks (they will drip off the excess). When glaze is firm, then put a dot of buttercream on each glass coaster, then put a cake on the frosting. These cakes were covered on the sides with a striped basket tip, then a ring of stars around the top and bottom finished them up. I finished the presentation with a little tag that told what flavor the cake was slid under the edge of the frosting on the corner of the coaster. Put into a couple of huge, flat boxes with lids and refrigerate until ready to serve. Just before serving, warm the orange marmalade a bit and pipe a teaspoon onto the top of each cake.

TOMORROW: Luscious Lemon Curd Mini Cake Recipe!

Pina Colada Mini Cakes Recipe

For my birthday, my husband got me three cookbooks: The Cake Mix Doctor, The Cake Mix Doctor Returns, and The Chocolate Cake Mix Doctor, all by Anne Byrn. She has a great website that has a newsletter, recipe corner, and lots of other goodies. There are full color photos in the front of each book for all the cake recipes and detailed directions. They are great books!

I used the list of ingredients (mostly) and sorta followed the directions on combining the ingredients, but this is where my use of the recipes ends. Since I was making tons of little cakes and not the sizes Anne called for, I had to punt with cooking times and I totally took the frosting and finishing in a totally new direction. That being said, here's the first of the three recipes I used for Emily's wedding shower. (And yes, the horrible photo was taken with my cell phone camera. I was standing at the shower, everyone was packing to leave, when it hit me that I had NO PICTURES. I ran around a grabbed cakes that people were taking home with them and took these icky photos. Better than nothing, but not MUCH better. Sorry!)

PINA COLADA MINI CAKES

1 large can (15 oz.) crushed pineapple packed in juice
1 can (15 oz.) cream of coconut (found with drink mixers)
1 tiny bottle rum extract (flavoring)
Baker's Joy flour/oil spray for dusting the pans
2 boxes golden butter cake mix (NO pudding added)
1/2 cup flour (only for high altitude)
2 boxes (3.4 oz ea.) instant vanilla pudding mix
2/3 cup canola oil
8 large eggs
2 cups heavy cream (for whipping)
2/3 cup powdered sugar
Prepared buttercream frosting (recipe on Thursday)
2 cup unsweetened flaked coconut (for a toasted garnish)
1 bag dried pineapple chunks, each cut in half lengthwise

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and get out two mini cheesecake pans with removable bottoms (to bake 24 at a time) and the Baker's Joy. Put a gallon Ziploc bag into a medium bowl with the bag sides folded over in an open cuff, and have a pair of scissors handy.

Drain out about 1/2 cup of the pineapple juice into a small bowl for the glaze, and dump the rest of the pineapple and juice into your mixing bowl. Then both shake and stir the cream of coconut. Put 1 cup into the glaze bowl and the rest into the mixing bowl. Put a little rum extract into the glaze and the rest into the mixing bowl (I wanted the rum to bake out as much as possible).

Into the mixing bowl dump the two cake mixes, a 1/2 cup of flour if you are at a high altitude, the pudding mix, oil, and eggs. Mix on low for 30 seconds, stop and scrape to make sure it's all mixed together, then mix for another 1 1/2 minutes on medium speed. Stop the mixer, scrape the bowl thoroughly, and pour the batter into the open Ziploc bag. Zip the bag closed.

Spray each little well of the pans with the Baker's Joy, then snip 1/2 inch off one corner of the Ziploc bag full of batter. Carefully pour each mini cup about 1/2 full of batter, wiping up any drips. Put the Ziploc bag back into the medium bowl it was sitting in earlier, this time holding the cut tip up so the batter doesn't run out. Bake the mini cakes for 14 minutes (or so) until a toothpick comes out fairly clean. Remove from oven and let sit on cooling racks for about 10 minutes, then pop cakes out and remove little bottoms before sitting cakes on racks to completely cool. Wash the pans and bottoms then dry and spray with Baker's Joy again. Repeat process again to make 48 cakes. If you have extra batter left over you can either put it into a small pan and bake for eating later or just throw it out.

When all 48 cakes are cool, put the whipping cream into the mixing bowl and beat until soft peaks form, add powdered sugar and mix a bit longer, then fold in the reserved pineapple juice, coconut milk, and rum extract. Dip each cake into this glaze and set back on racks (they will drip off the excess). When glaze is firm, then put a dot of buttercream on each glass coaster, then put a cake on the frosting. These cakes were completely covered with stars of buttercream, then I garnished them with toasted coconut and a little chunk of dried pineapple. I finished the presentation with a little tag that told what flavor the cake was slid under the edge of the frosting on the corner of the coaster. Put into a couple of huge, flat boxes with lids and refrigerate until ready to serve.

TOMORROW: Orange Dreamsicle Mini Cake Recipe!

Great Thundering Herds of Mini Cakes, Batman!

My nephew got married this past weekend, and my cake contribution to the celebration was to make dessert for the bridal shower. Now I've been to my fair share of bridal showers, and usually by the time they get to the cake everyone is stuffed and thinking about calories so the cake goes largely uneaten. I wanted to not only do something special but also make it really fun. Therefore, I made 123 mini cakes in cheesecake pans and frosted them individually on little glass coasters to put at everyone's place on the tables. Yes, I'm a little nuts.

The bride requested pina colada cakes, so I made those as well as orange dreamsicle cakes and luscious lemon cakes. I'll post the recipes and individual photos next Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Each one was just the perfect size for a dessert, and they looked so cute! However, I never got a photo of all eight boxes full of these things covering my entire kitchen, or of me and my sister working late into the night frosting the little buggers. What I do have is a random shot I took of my fridge with all of Karissa's wedding cakes chilling and all the little lemon cakes taking up the middle section. Did I mention that I bought a second fridge for this shinding? I truly am a little mad. I think I'll go wander around the forest now...

Wedding Cake in the Classic Style - UPDATED

This past week was incredibly hectic, and I didn't even get to a couple of cake artists I wanted to pay tribute to! I'll have to get them later. In the meantime, allow me to share my latest wedding cake photos with you. Mind you, I forgot the camera (boo! hiss!) but I did get a few shots with my cell phone. A friend of mine was there and took some photos but I haven't gotten copies yet, and I hope to get a few shots of the bride and groom cutting the cake from the professional photographer, but in the meantime you'll have to settle for my crummy little cell phone pictures. Either I need a better cell phone camera or I need to put "CAMERA" first on my list of cake supplies!

Anyways, the cake was the first wedding cake for someone I didn't know. I got a phone call from the mother of the bride asking me to give her a bid for the cake. I always come in low in those situations because I charge so little for my cakes. It isn't that they aren't worth more, I just want to get more experience before I'm comfortable with a higher price. Plus, I tend to work with brides who have a very small budget. As a former bride who had a total wedding budget of $1000 I totally understand.

This is a white cake (with almond flavoring and sour cream to make it really yummy) with a strawberry cream filling and buttercream frosting. The bride asked for black satin ribbon around the base of each tier and pillars separating the tiers. The porcelain topper is below the anniversary layer, so those pillars are extra long. She also provided deep burgundy silk flowers to put between the tiers and those really turned out wonderful.

Things I didn't like about the cake is that I didn't get to hear anything about how well they liked it, how the final product served or tasted, and I still haven't gotten my plates and pillars back from the hotel banquet staff. I got the base and the porcelain topper, which I now have to get back to the bride. I guess that's all part of getting the details straight. I did really enjoy making the cake, and I'm glad it looks pretty. I just wish I had better pictures, so when I get nicer shots I'll post them for you to see.



UPDATE!


A friend of mine was an invited guest at the wedding, and she took real PICTURES! Here's a better one of the cake, and one of the bride and groom cutting their first slice together. May their marriage be richly blessed!

A Tribute to Cake Artist: MIKE McCAREY

Next up is Mike's Amazing Cakes. His website is sometimes frustrating in that it's really cool and takes a while to load, but it is totally worth the wait. Mike is a pastry chef in Seattle, Washington that has talent oozing out his ears. His bakery can produce a 1, 2, or 3 dimensional design based on your concept. This guy takes cake artistry to incredible heights. He creates some more traditional cakes, but what he's really known for are his sculptural cakes.

What I find amazing about this bakery is that they ship anywhere. Actually put these fragile works of art into boxes and stick them on planes. That is just incredible. I'm sure they have special boxes and ways to ensure delivery without destroying the cake in the process, but to make something this gorgeous then entrust it to an airline is wild.

Take a look at his gallery. The variety and quality of the cakes is phenomenal, and it goes to show that sometimes the only thing holding us back from getting the cake we really want is imagination and skill. Oh, and money helps. His base prices are inexpensive but it is guaranteed that the sculptural cakes aren't cheap. Not that they should be with all of that work and care with detail.

I included a couple of wedding cakes here since I find that brides sometimes don't want to think outside the box when it comes to their cake. Granted, there are some spectacular failures that end up on Cake Wrecks in the wedding world, but it's like watching the evening news. For every ax murderer and rampaging psycho, there are millions of nice, normal people helping others. Therefore, for every wedding cake horror story there are thousands of really nice cakes. So the moral to my story is this -- live a little. Step outside your comfort zone and order a cake that will really be incredible from a reputable cake artist. You'll be glad you did.

A Tribute to Cake Artist: DUFF GOLDMAN

Most people have heard of the Food Network show "Ace of Cakes," and this is where the owner of Charm City Cakes, Duff Goldman, shines. Here's his quick bio from his web site:
Charm City Cakes was started in March of 2000 when Chef Duff had tired of wandering the country and decided to settle in Baltimore. At first, Chef Duff was just making a few cakes for friends and family, but as word got out about his uncommon creations, business picked up fast. In March of 2002, Chef Duff was getting so inundated with cake orders that he decided to fling off the oppression of his day job and make cake baking his full time gig! He quickly outgrew his home kitchen and two bakeries; in August of 2005 he bought a 6,000 square foot cake compound in Remington. Today, Charm City Cakes has grown to a staff of eleven friends who make cakes, listen to music, and eat a lot of sushi.

The cake artists at Charm City have a lot of fun, and Duff is at the lead in all the cake designs. They are primarily known for their sculptural cakes, but are also busy making more classic wedding and special occasion cakes. One thing that absolutely amazes me is that on their web site they state that cake prices START at $1000.00 and go up from there. I can't imagine spending that much money on a cake! However, several thousand people disagree with me so if there's a market for specialty cakes, Duff has that market cornered.

The Crayola cake at the top is entirely edible, and was made for their 50th anniversary. How cool is that? The second cake is Duff's "signature" cake that he started his business with, and is a neat topsy turvy cake with metal spirals springing out of it. Almost all of his cakes are covered in fondant, and he considers it a wrapper to keep in freshness as well as a decorative covering. The third cake is one of my favorite Lego cakes with little bakers decorating it, and the last one is based on the movie "Independence Day" and has a lit tube connecting the White House cake with the alien ship destroying it from above. Here's the video clip from that Ace of Cakes episode if you want to see how they did it. I love his stuff!

A Tribute to Cake Artist: MARTHA STEWART

Usually I'm not a huge fan of Martha Stewart, but when it comes to wedding cakes she really has elegant down pat. I'm a fan of classic and well proportioned cakes, and detail is what I focus on for an incredible cake. Details is what she does best, and I just love her cakes.

I've seen several people try to duplicate her work (and some of those efforts end up on Cake Wrecks), and what they tend to do wrong is not pay attention to detail and accuracy. Most of her symmetrical designs are royal icing traced over a pattern that can be accurately reproduced as many times as needed for the cake. Some people just try and "wing it" in plain buttercream and fail miserably. Remember, this is a woman who measures and plans, not just artistically flings frosting at a cake and hope it all works out.

I now have "Martha Stewart's Wedding Cakes" in my library and I'm loving it. They not only give directions on how to make the cakes they often show the inside of the cake and serving suggestions as well as recipes. You have to be patient and willing to invest a lot of time to replicate a Martha cake, but it is well worth the effort.

A Tribute to Cake Artist: COLETTE PETERS

This week will be filled with making my own cakes, sugar flowers, individual desserts, and a wedding cake on Saturday. However, all that baking and preparation doesn't leave much time for posting on my blog. So I'll post my own cake photos next week, and this week I'll be posting photos from my favorite cake artists.

First up is Colette Peters. Here is the biography she has posted on her website:
Colette Peters has been the owner of Colette’s Cakes, a specialty cake company in New York City, in 1989. Since she was 8 years old, living in Chicago, she made cakes and experimented in the kitchen. Her first love, though, was painting, and after earning a bachelor’s degree in painting, moved to New York to earn her Master’s degree in painting from Pratt Institute. She then worked as a designer for Tiffany & Company for 8 years. While at Tiffany & Co. she made cakes for her co-workers, and was then asked to design cakes for the books Tiffany Taste and The Tiffany Wedding. This exposure led to a contract to write a book of her own.

I have read and own several of her books, including Colette’s Cakes: The Art of Cake Decorating (1991), Colette’s Wedding Cakes (1995), and Cakes to Dream On (2004). Several of my own cakes have been inspired by her artistry. She has a distinctive style that is filled with eye-popping detail and craftsmanship. I love her use of colors and the fact that she isn't afraid to work outside the constraints of traditional cake decorating.

Boots the Monkey and Football Birthday Cakes

I had a busy weekend. First up was a birthday cake for a little girl named Eryn. Her grandma called me last week and asked if I could make a cake featuring Boots the Monkey (you know, the cute little guy that hangs out with Dora the Explorer?). She had called several bakeries and they were willing to make a Dora cake but not Boots. I should turn them in for sidekick discrimination. Since she read my blog and liked my cakes she contacted me. How cool is it that people actually read my blog? It's just a little surreal to be asked to make cakes for people outside friends and family. But a lot of fun!

I printed out a picture of Boots and got to work with the cake. It is an oval white cake with lemon curd filling in three layers and buttercream frosting. I made a purple basketweave border for the outer edges as a frame then carefully drew Boots on top. I think he turned out really cute, and I would love to see a photo of Eryn blowing out her birthday candles.


The second cake is for my nephew Calvin. His mom and I decided to split up the boys' birthday parties which left his cake all about football. I made a yellow butter cake with chocolate frosting (his request) in a large square covered with buttercream "grass" then topped it with a big chocolate cake shaped like a football. I wanted to cover the football with fondant but it has been raining non-stop and the humidity is just ridiculous for Arizona. The frosted version isn't bad, and he had a great birthday party. Happy Birthday, Calvin!

On a more personal note, I'm going to be in California taking care of personal business this week so this is my last post until August 9th. My niece will be house / dog / chicken / fish sitting for me (lucky her!) so if you can all hold down the electronic fort for me until I get back, I would be grateful. Thank you for everything!