Creative Cakes (part 3)

Marlene Terry

I love how easy it is to ice a sealed and frozen cake. Also this step requires just two tools. First is a rubber spatula, so you can scrape out and use to the very last ounce, the frosting in the mixing bowl, and a metal contoured (bent) handle spatula used when you're ready to apply the final touch to the frosting — making it appear as smooth as glass.

I like to begin by roughly applying the frosting (plenty of it ) to the sides of the tier, making sure things are covered to the excess. Then I place the tier on a turntable (great to have, but you can complete this step without one if necessary) next to the sink.

And why?

The icing process is a running water over the metal spatula to keep it free from built up frosting, applying pressure to the frosting on the tier while rotating it and removing the excess, method.

Sounds difficult I know. But it isn't. The most important thing to remember is water is your best friend. And as long as your spatula is clean and free from frosting, you'll be successful.

Every few seconds you'll need to think, "clean spatula, press in on the frosting, rotate the tier and remove excess." And you'll need to do that over and over again until you achieve the look. Then move on to the top and do the same thing.

... There is nothing like the feeling you get when you're finished and the tier you've been working on is frosted and smooth and ready to decorate. ... One of my most favorite "Aha" moments in life!

Now if you're making a wedding cake, you're going to have to figure out how to stack the tiers one on top of another without a disaster. And that involves cutting wooden dowels just the right length in order to support separator plates, columns, and the cake. But to reduce stress and because most creative cakes we make during our lifetime will be of the one tier variety — birthdays, anniversaries and other special occasions, we'll just skip to the fun stuff, making beautiful, realistic edible roses from dough!

I know, I know. What about silk flowers (very light and realistic) and even more realistic, fresh flowers? The problem is this time our bride wants roses ... purple ones, of-all things!

Best method?

Tune in tomorrow and I share the tip that will make you (if you so desire) the King or Queen of the edible rose. 
I promise anyone can do it. ... In fact when my kids were all still at home, Mom being involved in making another cake and needing a lot flowers for it, always turned out to be a family affair. And while we're making all those lovely purple roses tomorrow, I'll share the fun details.

♦ Hope you'll let me share your stories and photos here at my new residence "In a Nutshell." Email me at nutshellstories@gmail.com. 

Creative Cakes (part 2) or the calm before the storm ...

Marlene Terry

Regarding the progress made on a "simple" three-tier wedding cake, this part includes that wonderful blissful time when cake makers of any skill level gain confidence ... or as it is "confectionally" known, "the calm before the storm."

The cake should now be baked and leveled., with each layer wrapped in plastic wrap and firming in the freezer.

Next step? ... Assemble the tiers.

This cake has three — a 14-inch tier (the bottom); a 10-inch middle tier, and a cute little 6-inch topper tier that traditionally shows off a tiny porcelain, glass or other materials, bride and groom in various poses of happiness or a cake top of your own making!

Every tier will have two layers of cake that are set one on top of the other like a an Oreo cookie, and are glued together with a filling of your choice.

... Personally I love using plain old butter cream frosting for everything. (For the recipe click Under the Nut Tree tab above).

Want a great filling for your cake?

Mix up a batch of butter cream to use, or, for example, just add red cake color (the paste type) and some well drained and chopped up maraschino cherries. Yoila! Cherry filling.

... It's also important that the frosting is stiff enough to hold a peak. If it's too soft, you'll whiz through the icing process in a moment (the calm), but you'll have nothing but trouble from there on (the storm).

To test this. Wash your hands thoroughly. Stick your dry index finger into the finished frosting. If the dollop stands upright for several seconds without finally surrendering to gravity, you're in business. If not, add a little more powdered sugar and test again.

... And because the frosting has been on your finger and it wouldn't be right to put it back into the bowl, it's also a good time to check for taste (my favorite part). ... Which by the way is usually yummy and delicious spread on Graham Crackers ... several of them ... for testing purposes of course.

Once the layers are stacked together in a cake sandwich, it's time to make sure each tier is level. ... Your hubby's tool box will again be a good source to find a carpenter's level that you can use. Or you might opt, as I did, to purchase a mini level of your own. That way you can choose a smaller version of the 3-4 foot giants normally used in construction.

... And if your filling is ample, you'll be able to level up the cake by simply pushing down (carefully) with your hand on the top layer ... until the bubbles in the liquid on the level line up.

Next, mix up another batch of frosting for the sealing process. Sealing means you're going to place a "slightly thinner" layer of butter cream over the entire tier, that after it's set, will keep offending crumbs (crumbs from the cake and not those crummy little family bowl-lickers) from surfacing and ruining the final frosting layer.

After the sealing is complete, you can place the tiers (not wrapped with anything this time) back in the freezer, while you prepare the decorations that go on the finished cake.

On Monday we'll learn how to ice the cake, making it as smooth as glass. ... I promise. It'll be fun!

♦ Hope you'll let me share your stories and photos here at my new residence "In a Nutshell." Email me at nutshellstories@gmail.com.

Creative Cakes 101 (part 1) ...

Marlene Terry

Used to do it all the time ... make and decorate cakes.

Started with birthday cakes and graduated (after years of practice) to anniversary cakes and last but not least, wedding cakes.

Don't know what made me think after 20 years or so, I could just pick up where I left off and do it again. But because it was a good friend who asked me, I thought I could at least give it a try.

The first thing you need to know is a standard wedding cake weighs about a ton. ... Well maybe not a ton, but no matter how hard you try not to, you start out with six, lighter than air, layers in order to make a three-tier cake, and end up with a weighty, monstrous memorial to marriage that at times makes you wish you had a crane to lift it.

Thought it would be fun to take you along with me on my latest attempt to create a "simple" wedding cake. So with the best intentions here we go:

Step No. 1: Bake the cake.

I personally like using standard cake mixes. It takes three mixes to make one 14-inch round layer. And we'll need two layers (six cake mixes) for the bottom tier of this medium-size wedding cake; 1 1/2 cake mixes for each layer of the middle tier and just one cake mix for both layers of the top tier. That is as long as the top tier is no more than six-inches in diameter.

Mixing up the cake is easy. Just follow the directions. But before the baking can proceed  it's important to grease your cake pans with more shortening than you ever thought possible. Then flour each one as well, so the baked cake will slip easily from the pan to the cake board.

In my kitchen greasing the pans means I'll also have greasy plops that fall from my hands onto the floor, counter and stove. Plus, there will be shiny, smooth fingerprints to clean off almost everything, including the refrigerator that I opened several times, mid-greasing, in order to get out the soda that will sustain me through the trying times ahead.

After baking you'll need to level each cake layer before dumping it onto a cake board.

Of course there are professional leveling tools available that make this step quick and easy. But what fun would that be?

To add adventure to the experience some cake makers prefer using a knife long enough to slice off the top of the baked layer while resting the knife's tip on the cake pan for a guide.

However unless you're in possession of a knife with a 24-inch or longer blade, the layers of a large cake may not turn out as level as you hoped. In that case you might want to try my trick.

 ... And yes, I thoroughly clean off all the crumbs from my hubby's hand saw before I return it to his tool box.

Once the layers are baked, cooled slightly, leveled and successfully placed on cake boards you can wrap each one loosely in plastic wrap and place it in the freezer. ... That's when you'll first notice the mass of the cake has increased dramatically.

... But then what could a stick of butter, three eggs and a cup of oil x 10 cake mixes weigh?

Tune in tomorrow for Creative Cakes 101 (part 2): Assembling the cake, sealing, testing the frosting for taste (my favorite part) and preparing for "the storm."

♦ Hope you'll let me share your stories and photos here at my new residence "In a Nutshell." Email me at nutshellstories@gmail.com.

When time flies ...

Marlene Terry

I know it hadn't been that long ago. At least it didn't seem like it, that I'd talked to my oldest grandson.

But that day when I called the house and he answered, I was pretty sure I'd reached the wrong number.

"Hello" a deep mature voice greeted me.

I was dumbfounded and unable to answer.

"Hello ... Hello!" The repetition made me know I'd better say something or the next sound I would hear would be a dial tone.

"Is this the home of my  ..." the interrogation was abruptly interrupted when my voice WAS recognized.

"Hi Grandma. How are you," came the cheerful reply. "Are you coming over to see us?"

"Oh sometime soon I hope," I squeaked out, gasping with unbelief that it was him on the other end of the line.

What I wanted to say was "What happened to your voice? Do you have a bad cold? That's not a permanent bass is it?"

But instead we chatted about general things and then he turned the phone over to his mother.

Don't think she appreciated my questioning either.

Was there a stranger at her home who sounded much older than the sweet 10 or 11-year-old boy I hugged at my last visit?

What? My grandson is turning 15 on his next birthday? How can that be? Wasn't it just yesterday that I carried him around in his infant carrier, sang his favorite lullaby and ... HE HAS A GIRLFRIEND NOW?

Took me awhile to regain my composure and know that despite my denial, the darling little blonde, blue-eyed baby boy we loved so much really had grown up. The years had flown by and even though I'd enjoyed being a part of his life through short visits, cheering him on at some of his athletic and scholastic endeavors and making his custom homemade Halloween costumes for years, he'd left his childhood behind and moved on.

 ... "Guess that means he can't fit into his blue dragon suit anymore, or the Captain Jack Sparrow coat either," I added to the conversation, moaning.

"No he can't Mom," my daughter remarked, laughing. "But he is a great teenager!"

Guess it's true then. Time really does fly when you're having fun. And fun is exactly what the experiences of all those years has been!

♦ Hope you'll let me share your stories and photos here at my new residence "In a Nutshell." Email me at nutshellstories@gmail.com. 

        

Super glue ...

Years ago I was a very competent seamstress. Made clothes and costumes for all my children and decorated my home with a variety of pillows, window coverings, tablecloths, etc., and really enjoyed the process.

Then things changed. With the kids growing up and having definite opinions on how they dressed, and me heading back into the workforce, I sewed less and less. Even mending and alterations took a backseat to ... well let's see. "Might as well donate those jeans to Goodwill so someone taller can use them" and "What? The stitching around the zipper unraveled on those pants? Time for the million safety pin mend method."

Never could make those jeans that came already worn out and with the knees missing anyway. So when the "whatever" look arrived and things got a whole lot sloppier as well as easier, I was happy.

You know. It was the time when a mother's contribution to kids' wardrobes was minimal. Didn't have to worry about taking up those pants with raggedy hems from stepping on too long legs. And holes? The more the better. And it wasn't because of wear that they were there. It was because they were in.

My favorite though, in regards to mending and quick garment fixes, was the advent of super glue.

Used it plenty too, and saved the day when a careful application to hem on a prom dress made it in just a few minutes, a little shorter than "the olden days length" it came with and acceptable for the upcoming dance. Also bonded a broken and manicured fingernail back in place just long enough for Cinderella to remain in "princess form" and return from the ball.

Needless to say, super glue soon became a staple at our house and even with an occasional drop that fell to carpet and the permanent bonding of the glue bottle itself to the drawer it resided in, I can only recall one other incident when super glue was an issue.

So with that said, here's a tip:

... Never, never, never proceed to glue badges onto your child's cub scout/boy scout shirt unless the aforementioned child isn't wearing it.

... Took a lot of time and solvent following that infamous pack meeting to free my crying son ... who thankfully was adolescent and lacked chest hair. 


♦ Hope you'll let me share your stories and photos here at my new residence "In a Nutshell." Email me at nutshellstories@gmail.com.

Nicknames ...

Marlene Terry

His name is Fred ... one of those cute little babies pictured today. ... That is, "Fred" is the name that he's known by far and wide now, even being called that by his coworkers.

It's not his legal name but a name he's been called by since he was small. And whenever I hear people talking about him using his 'real' name, I feel like they're talking about a stranger.

Nicknames always have funny stories that tell why a person is tagged that way. And generally, once we hear the story, it makes perfect sense. 

It's no secret that a nickname is assigned because of traits and incidents that folks we meet, usually in the first part of our lives, remember with much affection. Nicknames also come because someone wanted to honor someone else — a favorite relative or friend. And because of that, those who we become acquainted with later in life, have no clue why we're referred to that way.

... For me there is never a time when I see one of those olden days photos of my darling little twin sons, that I don't remember "Ryan" (his real name) sitting in his high chair winding thread from one of the spools in my sewing room around his finger.

... And with all the practice he got during the first few years of his life he became very proficient at it.

The most endearing part was that the action was soon accompanied by his own made up little song:

"Whiney, whiney, whiney fred," (translation: "Winding, winding, winding thread"), he'd repeat over and over in a sing-song way.

And I don't think I ever once wondered why that spool of thread, winding it up and letting it down again, became one of his favorite pastimes. With so many children to care for, I was just happy to let him enjoy the process and assisted him whenever he needed the help.

"Don't cry sweetie. I'll get your 'fred,'" I'd say whenever he dropped it and became inconsolable or cranky. Or soliciting help from other family members, I'd yell, "Everyone look for the 'fred' right now and give it to the baby!"

... Believe me when I say I will always will be grateful for that wonderful spool of 'fred.'

So that's the reason why a handsome young man with a million dollar smile now goes by the name of Fred, instead of and not even close to the name found on his birth certificate. 
It's because when he was small he enjoyed winding thread around his finger and singing about it. ... And those who love him most, STILL think that's pretty cute!

♦ Hope you'll let me share your stories and photos here at my new residence "In a Nutshell." Email me at nutshellstories@gmail.com. 

The other side of the story ...

Marlene Terry

No doubt summer has arrived with temperatures for the past several days in the triple digits.

There's a lot to say about summer. And believe me when I tell you I've heard it all. Summer is a favorite season for many and some of us dream about those warm weather activities from January until summer is actually upon us.

"There's just so much more to do," a friend commented recently. 

"It makes me feel so alive and anxious to do things," said another.

... And I ask, WHAT THINGS?

Here's one top ten list from a blog entitled I Love Summer:

1.  Fun rides down the slide at the water park.

2.  Hammocks.

3.  Evening walks without flashlights or a jacket.

4.  Almost no schools zones.

5.  Shorts and flip flops.

6.  Grilled hamburgers.

7.  A hot Saturday afternoon, with me asleep on the couch.

8. The Fourth of July and Labor Day.

9. The sound of fireworks.

10.Kids outdoors in the middle of the day, middle of the week and having the time of their lives.

And even though those words really do paint a lovely picture and bring back wonderful memories for me as well. there is always, as they say, TWO SIDES to every story.

So without further ado. Here's my top 10 list of things I DON'T like about summer:

1. Going to work wearing a light jacket and wishing you'd put on your snowsuit.

2.  The effort needed to keep kids happy, busy and not bored.

3.  Falling asleep on the patio lounge and waking up with a third degree sunburn.

4.  Weeds.

5.  Dull lawnmower blades that shoot large, hard clumps of petrified grass through windows.

6.  Flies, spiders, earwigs and mosquitoes.

7.  Weeds.

8.  Tube tops, shorts and flip flops on people who should NEVER WEAR tube tops, shorts and flip flops.

9.   Loud obnoxious neighbors who used to be that way ... INSIDE!

... And of course

10. Weeds.

Hope the week ahead proves to be for you, one that is filled with many more activities from the first list ... with the exception of weeds of course ... which we all know sprout up overnight and in places we haven't even thought of yet!

♦ Hope you'll let me share your stories and photos here at my new residence "In a Nutshell." Email me at nutshellstories@gmail.com.