#crystal bakes

[crystal-rebellion]

I made another FancyCake™️ for a coworker's going away party. (If any coworkers happen to recognize this... you now have to live with the fact you can't say shit to me at work or I will know that you, too, are on Tumblr dot com.)

Its strawberry and vanilla with vanilla buttercream and a vanilla pudding filling. And matching cupcakes.

Here's the inside after it got devoured

Quite pleased with myself overall.

[beforethebraces]

SNICKERDOODLE CUPCAKES ARE SUPER GOOD; HOOOOOMAAAAAGAAAAAAAWD 😍 Lol, the reason why it's half/half for the sugar is because I know my grandma doesn't have a very strong sweet tooth like I do so in order for her to enjoy some, I decided to do this 💕💕💕 buT HOOO MY GAAAAAAAAWD; THE ICING MAKES IT EVEN BETTER 😍😍😍😍👌

[crystal-rebellion]

If you dont mind may I ask what the recipe is for the fairy cake/how you made it? Its looks *so* good (and honestly looks/sounds like it tastes even better)

Aww, thank you so much! I'm so happy you liked it! Here's a little breakdown on the recipes, steps, tools and tips I used which might be way more than you actually wanted to know.

The cake is a two-layer cake, but each layer is a different flavor. Since I was feeding quite a few people at work, I decided to make the full recipe for both flavors of cake, and use the second half of each batch of batter to make the cupcakes. (All this to say, if you just want to make the cake, you'll want to half both of these recipes)

Strawberry cake layer: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/strawberry-cake/print/66510/ (Source: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/strawberry-cake/) [First link should go right to a printable recipe card; source link included for pictures, details and life stories]

White Cake layer: https://sugarspunrun.com/the-best-white-cake-recipe/#recipehttps://prettysimplesweet.com/wprm_print/white-cake-recipe

Vanilla Pudding Filling: literally just instant pudding mix (vanilla flavor for mine) and some cold whipping cream, and then whipping it. It gets thick enough it can just be piped. (https://cookingwithcarlee.com/shortcut-bavarian-cream-vanilla-pudding/)

Icing: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/vanilla-buttercream/ (I made four batches of this in total - one crumb coat, then three different shades of blue - remember tho I made all those stinkin' cupcakes so a cake only would probably just need two - maaaaybe three depending on colors.) Gel food coloring is the play here.

Obviously you can use whatever cake recipe you want - those are the two I used for this, and I just followed the directions.

Tools I used: 9" cake pans (x2) (dark) Disposable Piping Bags* & Tips Spinning cake stand** Offset spatula Stand mixer

*Having done this now, I think I'll just be getting a reusable piping bag or two and using plastic wrap as the interior part of the bag - but disposable is a nice easy starter

**I think the spinning cake stand was really only needed to make the ombre icing look; I think you could get on just fine without it if you just did one color; but it really is SO comfortable to just spin the cake effortlessly while you hold your hands still. That being said, a decent one IS a little bit of an investment. (Paid about $40 for mine.)

Steps:

Some notes: -A crumb coat, which I learned about while making this, is a layer of frosting that goes on first to smooth over all the crumbly edges of the cake, so that when you do the actual icing coat, its smooth and clean, no crumbs getting caught up in it. The crumb coat doesn't need to be perfect, but it should be a color that will go well under the top layer of frosting; white is a good option. In my case, I chose the lightest aqua blue.

-You'll want your cake layers to be cold, any icing on the cake to be cold (chill between working with it), but room temperature while you're putting it on the cake and smoothing it over.

Bake the cakes. (And cupcakes, in my case.) Let cool. Like, completely. If it's still the slightest bit warm, it's too warm.

Cut off the top of the cake layers - when they bake, they rise a bit in the middle, this can make stacking evenly harder. I forgot to cut it off the top layer which was... okay, just hard to get super smooth while icing.

You'll need one batch of buttercream frosting at this point for the crumb coat. Mix it up, set it aside once you're getting ready to frost the cakes - you'll want it at room temperature.

Once the layers are completely cool, you can start stacking them. If using the pudding filling linked above, its pretty thick and can be piped right on top of the bottom layer and support the weight of the top layer. If using something a bit more fluid, like a jam or something - use a little of the buttercream frosting to create a little 'wall' around the outside edge of the bottom layer and put your filling in. Pop in the fridge to help your buttercream (or pudding) wall 'harden' then set the other cake layer on top.

At this point you do the crumb coat. You'll probably use most, if not all, of a full batch of icing for this, but you can always save what you don't use if it stays crumb-free, but start slapping on your first layer of icing. Once smooth, put it in the fridge to chill.

Once cool and firm, you can start working with your proper icing coat and any decorations. (If anyone is interested in the ombre; I'd totally look it up on Youtube; I am an amateur at it, but the jist is piping on the icing in the layers you want (I did three) and then using a straight edge to smooth/blend them out - this is where that spinning cake stand comes in handy, hold the tool steady and spin with your other hand; having a metal one you can heat up in water also helps.)

For the icing swirl on the cupcakes and the edges on the cake, I used this technique.

For the turtles on top, I just used some silicone molds, and made the white ones out of white chocolate, and the clear ones out of isomalt - which is basically molten sugar. You can get Isomalt at baking or craft stores, usually, sometimes at the grocery store - or online. Do read the directions carefully, and treat it with caution; it's like working with caramel.

Anywho this is super long with a lot of links - none of which are any affiliation to me, this is also like, the second cake I've made like this so if any pro bakers happen to find this post I'm sorry for anything wrong lol

[crystal-rebellion]

I really wanted Reese's cups today, but I didn't have any, but I have a fair bit of baking supplies, figured I could make my own. Looked up a couple recipes, saw that the peanut butter filling requires crushed graham cracker crumbs.

I do not have graham crackers.

Looked up a recipe for homemade graham crackers and here we are: Chocolate guy makes pouring chocolate out of molds to coat the inside of it look so easy. Anyway, these ain't super pretty but they're tasty.

[jingerines]

This is the apple clafoutis that I made for my dad's birthday today. It took longer to prepare than I expected, but I still got it done on time. Hopefully my dad will like it. 😆I can’t wait to surprise him with this!