Ok guys, if you have taken the basic one stroke painting class and are ready for more we have an advanced class this Saturday Nov.17th here at the shop. You remember how much fun you had the first time around so just think what skills you will walk away with in this class. We still have some spots open so give us a call to sign up while it is fresh in your mind and come have some fun. The Cake Cottage 951-600-4773

Well, Halloween is just around the corner and I bet there are lots of trick or treaters  out there ready for some sweet goodies. So we have a Cupcake Class just for them. It’s Friday the 26th at 4:00pm till 6:00pm right here at The Cake Cottage in Murrieta. They will learn to decorate cupcakes into a ghost, a mummy, a witches hat just to name a few. It’s a great way for them to let off a little steam, give you a break for a couple of hours and go home with some delicious, fun treats. Check our Class page for more details. Here are some photos of the Cupcakes they will make.

Hey guys just wanted to let you know that we are having a DAYTIME COURSE 1 CLASS starting next Tuesday Sept. 4th. Being taught by Susan Carberry herself. We don’t do this very often so if you have been wanting to take a class but can’t come at night then this is the class for you. Here are the details on the class……..This is a four week beginning cake decorating class. Week one will cover leveling, torting, filling and icing your cake. Then you will finish by piping a flower design on your cake. Week two will cover many boarders and accents. Week three you will learn to pipe animal faces as well as trees and foliage. Week four you will finish the course learning to pipe roses. After finishing this course you will have a good understand of cake decorating. Beginning Level $50.00 plus supplies. Give us a call to sign up….951-600-4773

Take a look at these cookies ! Susan Carberry is teaching a brand new cookie decorating class at “Reno Ices” right now. It is her Garden Critters Cookie Class. Susan had these cookie cutters custom made just for this class and we will have them available in the shop by next week. Susan is also teaching this class at our shop on Saturday August 11th. So if you want to learn some advanced cookie decorating techniques then give us a call and sign up today!  951-600-4773

Here are more

           

Wel,l Susan has done it again !! In between owning and running The Cake Cottage, teaching classes, creating new classes, on the road travels to teach, shooting videos and more….yesterday Susan found a few hours to make a cake for charity for the Icing Smiles group. The cake was for christina who is very sick but wanted a fairy princess castle cake. I think Susan delivered…..what do you think? …….Pete …..

 

Well we had a great time on Saturday at our Demo Day. Everyone had lots of fun and learned a lot. So here are some photos so you can see what was going on here and next time maybe you can join us.

 

Ok guys, if you have not signed up for our newsletter yet then you are missing out ! Here is the latest project that Susan Carberry put together for The Cake Cottage Newsletter.  We will be putting more and more info in our newsletters so don’t miss out on great projects like this and tip and tricks to help you on your cake decorating skills…..Pete

Bird House Cookie

By

Susan Carberry

The Cake Cottage

Supply List

Sugar Cookie Dough (see recipe and baking  hints)

Bird House Cookie Cutter

Small Round Cutter (to cut out the hole in the center)

Veining Tool

Knife and scriber tool

Fondant : Pastel Yellow, and a very small amount of black

( Call us for availability)

Canary Yellow Luster Dust

Decorator Tips: # 2, # 3, # 5 and #  349

Icing bags

Icing bags

Royal Icing ;’ light blue, electric green, avocado green, yellow and pink

Sugar Birds

General tools, spatula, rolling pin, scissors, cornstarch puff

Sugar Cookie Recipe
Makes approx 3 Dozen 5” Cookies

Ingredients:

2 Cups Unsalted Butter
2 Cups Granulated Sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 tsp Lemon Extract (or flavor of choice)
5 ½ to 6 Cups All Purpose Flour
3 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt

Directions:

In at least a 5qt mixer or a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy.  Then add the eggs, mix.  Add  vanilla and Lemon extract, mix.

In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt together.  Gradually add to the butter mixture until incorporated.  For 3D cookies it is best to hold back a bit on the flour (5 ¼ or 5 ½  cups). Scrape bowl and mix until dough comes together.

Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Roll out cookies on parchment paper, cut shapes leaving space between the cookies, then place the parchment paper with the cookies onto a  cookie sheet.

Bake cookies at 350 degrees in a regular oven or 300-325 degrees in a convection oven until golden brown around the edges.

Cookie Baking Tips

1 – Roll your dough out onto a piece of parchment paper.  This way you do not need to place any flour under the dough, as the extra flour can cause it to dry out.

2 – Roll out the dough between two dowels or thick skewers for a consistent cookie shape and size.  Another option is using a wood rolling that has wood spacers on the side.

3 – Place the same or similar sized cookies on the same tray to ensure proper baking times as the smaller cookies will bake faster.

4 – Royal Iced Cookies – Use a Tip #3 and  stiff royal icing to pipe an outline around the edge of the cookie.  Then, thin  down the icing, place in a bag without a tip, cut off end and flood the center of the cookie.  note: For cookies that do not have a lot of detail or small areas, you can spread the icing with a Spatula if it is the correct consistency and you do not need to outline the cookie first.

5 – Fondant Covered Cookies – attach the Fondant using  water, shortening.or Piping  Gel.

Instructions

Step 1

After your cookie has cooled,  knead your Yellow Fondant to give it elasticity (while kneading use a bit of shortening on your hands and work surface to prevent sticking).  Dust your counter with the Cornstarch Puff and place the Yellow Fondant on top of the cornstarch, begin  to roll out the Fondant.

Roll your Fondant approx 1/8th of an inch thick and cut out the shape using your Bird House Cutter.

Brush the back of the Fondant with water, then place the Fondant on top of the cookie with the water side down.  Smooth the surface.

Step 2

Cut out a small whole just below the roof line using the small Circle Cutter.  Roll out a bit of Black Fondant, cut out a circle using the same round cutter.  Brush the back of the circle with water and place inside the round opening on the cookie.

Step 3

Using the Veining Tool, draw lines from the top of the cookie down to the bottom, approximately 1/2 an inch apart.  This creates the wood  planks.  Using  the Knife Tool, draw random lines up and down in various lengths on the wood planks. This will give you the wood grain look.

Step 4

For the perch, roll a small ball of Yellow  Fondant  into a tube shape and attach using water, just below  the Black Fondant .

Step 5

With a dry brush and Canary Yellow Luster Dust, brush the Yellow  Fondant  to give a variation of color.

Step 6

With light blue royal icing and a Tip # 5, pipe a zig zag pattern from one end of the roof line to the other end. Using the same bag and tip, pipe a zig zag on the base the bird house.

Step 7

Use Tip #2 and Electric Green Icing to pipe random vines. Using Tip # 349 and Avocado Green Icing, pipe leaves on the vine.

Step 8

Flowers ; using  Tip #3 and Pink Icing, pipe a small  balloon shape for each petal (hold the tip at a 45 degree angle and slightly off the surface, pipe and let the icing build up moving the tip up with the icing but still keeping it slightly imbedded in the icing, Once the icing  has built up a bit, then lower your tip, relax your pressure and drag  the tip at the end). Pipe five petals for each flower with the small ends of the balloons meeting in the middle.  Fill a small bag with Yellow Royal Icing and cut a small amount off of the end.  Pipe centers of the flowers with the bag at a 90 degree angle to the surface.

Step 9

Attach the sugar bird using a bit of royal icing. There you have it. Now go show your friends and watch them be amazed……..!!

 

 

Ok guys, spring is here and time to start thinking about all those spring flowers……but how about some Gumpaste Spring Flowers ?..well this coming Saturday April 21st Susan is teaching her amazing class on Spring Time flowers, and they beautiful and soooo lifelike….take a look for yourself then get in the class and really expand your skills……………Pete

Well this is the time of year when everyone has a little Irish in them. Yep….St. Patrick’s Day is almost here so we have something for you to celebrate with…….It’s our Green Velvet Cupcakes……These will be available starting tomorrow wed. the 14th thru Sat. the 17th. But we will have a limited amount so If you want some for the weekend call us and let us know, that way we can be sure you will have them…….have fun !…….Pete

Just wanted to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving and remind all you chefs out there to try to take it easy and don’t get too crazy with your cooking this year……don’t forget, this is supposed to be fun…lol.
Anyway we still have just a few spots left for our Demo Day this Sat. 26th. Seating is limited so call us ASAP if you want to go and have some fun. We have some great holiday classes coming up to really get you in the holiday spirit so check out the class schedule, pick a class and get ready to invite in the holidays. Again, all of us here at The Cake Cottage wish you all a great Thanksgiving and happy eats…..Pete
P.S.  If you really want a hit on your dessert table this Thanksgiving, then pick up some of our Fresh, Jumbo, Gourmet Cupcakes decorated for the holiday. Always a crowd pleaser.