Spice Stack

When I started teaching cake decorating classes at the Franklin Rec Center close to a year ago, I only a had a few bottles of sprinkles. Apart from half a bottle of pastel confetti leftover from the Cupcake Cuties Kit I reviewed, all my sprinkles were holiday-themed remainders from our cookie decorating last Christmas. But I knew I'd need more of a selection than that for my students to use, so I started acquiring bottles of nonpareils, jimmies, and sugar beads as I found them on sale.

Not being one to use sprinkles much for decorating, I was--and still am!--amazed at the creativity students show when they have a wide variety of sugar shapes at their disposal. As my collection of sprinkles grew, I realized I needed a practical storage solution. After making do with a couple of plastic storage containers for a while, I saw something new on the CK Products website that looked like the answer. It's called a Spice Stack, and it's actually made to hold bottles of herbs and seasonings, but I ordered one to keep my sprinkles organized.

They actually come in two different sizes, and I got the smaller one. Mostly because it was cheaper, and I didn't want to spend more than I had to on something I wasn't sure would work or not. Also, since I have to transport all the supplies back and forth to my cake decorating classes, I was afraid the larger Spice Stack would be too heavy and/or take up too much space.

This is essentially a three-drawer rack that's meant to hold at least 18 and up to 36 bottles (or however many you can fit) of sprinkles/herbs/spices, depending on the size of the bottles. I'm sure two, maybe even three, of those wee squatty bottles of herbs could fit in each section instead of a single larger bottle.

Instructions, pre-printed labels, and blank labels are included, but because the drawers have a semi-open front, I was hoping enough of the bottles would be visible to allow me to see which sprinkles are where. Using the labels isn't a practical option for me since I change out which sprinkles I bring to class depending on the season.

I was seriously disappointed when I tried to fill up my Spice Stack and realized that only my small bottles of sprinkles fit! Then I noticed that the back of the drawers have longer sections than the front, which was a relief because most of my sprinkles are in the larger bottles.

The sides of the Spice Rack are enclosed, which I think is a good thing, because otherwise I'm not sure how stable it would be. When you open up the top drawer all the way, it feels somewhat top-heavy, and if you bump the side, the Spice Stack will sway. So, maybe this isn't meant to be transported, but I'll find out soon because I fully intend to use it during my upcoming gingerbread house, cookie, and cupcake decorating classes.

As for not using the labels, well, you can see the front row of sprinkles, which is good enough. Pulling out a drawer to see what's further back is quicker and easier than rummaging through a storage container with a bunch of bottles stacked inside.

I do like the fact that the bottom has non-skid feet, and they actually work. When I want to move my Spice Stack, I have to pick it up; I can't just push it across the table. If it turns out to be a nightmare to travel with, or it just doesn't work for use in my classes, I can always keep it at home for off-season sprinkles storage.

I'm curious to know how other cake decorators out there keep their sprinkles organized? Any tips, tricks, ideas, and product suggestions are appreciated! Please let me know by leaving a comment how you store your sprinkles and other cake decorating essentials.

Gearing up for Gingerbread House Season

As mentioned in a prior blog post, I'm teaching "Mommy and Me" Gingerbread House Decorating Classes this year, with two scheduled at the Franklin Rec Center on November 19th and December 17th, and two more offered at Longview on November 29th and December 20th. (please check out my Upcoming Class Schedule Page for times and tuition information). Because I provide all the necessary supplies for these classes, including the gingerbread house pieces, I need to have candy and seasonal sprinkles to decorate the houses with, so I went shopping for trimmings the other day.

Mini candy canes are a necessity, along with the round peppermint candies which you can't see in the picture below because they're in the canister underneath the candy canes. I also have fruit loops cereal, shaped green and red marshmallows, candy fruit slices, M&M's, the obligatory gum drops, shaped gummy LifeSavers, Mike and Ikes, chewy Sprees, and the regular hard LifeSavers.

There's even more on its way to me that I recently ordered from CK Products in the way of holiday sprinkles, colorful sugar pearls, and other cool stuff like candy pebbles and red hots. Now I just need some students, and I'll be all ready for the fun to begin! 

In these classes, we'll build a modest-size house from prebaked gingerbread house pieces. Once assembled, I'll show students a few basic piping techniques while we wait for the icing holding the houses together to dry, and this will also give students a chance to plan out how they want to decorate their house and select the candy and sprinkles they wish to use. Anything goes when it comes to gingerbread houses, so this is a fun (and yummy!) way to be creative.

Gingerbread house decorating is an activity all ages can enjoy, and while these "Mommy and Me" classes are listed for ages 3 and up, I plan to have enough decorating options to suit a wide range of ages. Children aged 10 and older don't need to have a parent helper present, but parents of older kids are still welcome to join the class.

Gingerbread House Challenge

Some of you may already be seasoned gingerbread house builders and not need my class. Well, I have excellent news for you! JoAnn's in Cool Springs is hosting a Gingerbread House Challenge on November 19th. Participants must be at least 14 years old to compete individually, but younger contestants can participate with a parent helper.

Customers will vote for the winners, and the prizes are as follows:

• 1st Prize: $50 Jo-Ann gift card plus a $10 Wilton product gift certificate
• 2nd Prize: One free Jo-Ann class (max. value of $45) plus a $10 Wilton product gift certificate
• 3rd Prize: $10 Wilton product gift certificate

Please check with the Cool Springs JoAnn store for complete details, but here's a quick rundown of the participation guidelines:

• Participants should be age 14 and above. Parents and minor children can participate as a team, however prizes will be awarded to parents only. 
• Gingerbread projects can be decorated in the participant's choice of theme. 
• Cakes cannot be used in lieu of gingerbread. 
• Participants can use any type of icing. 
• Decorations must be edible or food-safe items. 
• The store will not be providing decorating tools, icing or fondant; Participants must bring/purchase their own supplies and tools and take them home after the challenge. 
• Decorations can be pre-made and brought to the event in storage containers. They are not allowed to be on the gingerbread projects before 1 pm. 
• Gingerbread projects must be real. Substitutions such as styrofoam are not acceptable. 
• Projects should be decorated on a base cake board, no larger than 17" with footing underneath. The purpose of the footing is to allow projects to be easily lifted and moved. 
• Customers will vote for their favorite gingerbread from 2:30-3:30. 
• There is no entry fee. However, space is limited and is on a first come, first serve basis. 
• All Jo-Ann customers are welcome to enter the event. 
• Participants will be provided with tables and chairs in their workspace. 
• Gingerbread decorating begins promptly at 1 pm. Participants should arrive in enough time to set-up and prepare his/her workspace, no earlier than 12:30 pm.

For gingerbread house enthusiasts who live elsewhere, if you have a JoAnn store nearby, check and see if they're also running a Gingerbread House Challenge.

Gluten-Free King Cake

I know Mardi Gras is over, and it's not really something I celebrate anyway, but Tuesday I found a recipe online for a gluten-free king cake and decided on a whim to bake it. Of course, I did have to make a few substitutions and slight changes, but I think it came out just fine.

This is one to eat the same day, as it doesn't keep very well. I sealed it up in cling film but by the following afternoon it was pretty dried out. I'm not sure how to remedy this. Considering it's king cake though, I suppose there's not meant to be any left over to add temptation during lent. But I don't do lent, and I would like to enjoy it for more than one day.

I don't have step-by-step photos this time, mostly because my kitchen table was otherwise occupied on the day, and it was a cloudy and rainy afternoon so the light wasn't all that great. Still, I have a photos of the yeast proofing (exciting, I know!) and the finished cake. Also, I know that the sprinkles aren't technically Mardi Gras colors since there are a few white and pink nonpareils in there, but lacking purple, gold, and green sanding sugar, I had to improvise.

I found this recipe on the Art of Gluten-Free Baking website, and it calls for a special flour blend. I didn't have any tapioca flour or the sweet rice flour. Since it seemed pretty similar to Flour Blend #2 from the Gluten-Free Baking book, and I had some of that already mixed, that's what I used. Except I was short 1/2 cup, so I subbed some Flour Blend #1.

Ingredients:
4 cups gluten-free flour mix
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt (recipe called for 2 teaspoons salt)
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1 extra large egg (I only had large eggs)
4 yolks from extra large eggs (I used 2 whole large eggs and 2 yolks from large eggs)
3/4 cup warm water
2 tablespoons yeast
1/2 cup warm milk
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375% and grease and flour a bundt or tube pan.

Dissolve the tablespoon of sugar in the warm water and add in the yeast. Set aside to proof. As promised, here are the photos. It may be necessary to transfer the yeast to a bigger bowl.

  

Mix flour, nutmeg, salt, and lemon zest together in a large bowl and set aside. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the egg(s) and egg yolks and beat until well combined.

Add the flour and warm milk alternately in batches, beginning and ending with the flour, and mix after each addition until just combined. Pour in the yeast gradually so it doesn't slosh out everywhere. Once all the yeast has been added, beat on high for a few minutes.

Spoon batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the cinnamon evenly over the top and let the cake rise until doubled (about an hour).

Just before baking, you're supposed to brush the top with egg wash, but I didn't do that. Since I used a bundt pan, the top becomes the bottom, so what's the point? Bake for 25-35 minutes, until it reaches an internal temperature of 190 degrees.

Let cake cool in the pan for 5-10 minutes, then remove from pan and allow it to cool completely on a wire rack before icing. I used the simple glaze recipe, which is just powdered sugar and the juice from one lemon mixed together. You want it to be a little runny, but if it's too thin it won't do a good job of covering the cake and it will just make a mess. Before the icing dries, add sprinkles.

 

I was really happy with how this cake came out. It tastes similar to an old-fashioned coffee cake, and the texture was spot-on. It's just a shame that it dries out so much. I'm wondering if the recipe could be halved. Since it doesn't keep well, I think I'd rather make a smaller cake next time.

Yummy Treats Decorating Camp: Cupcakes

The kids are on "Winter Break" until Wednesday, and my genius child had a great idea: host a Yummy Treats Decorating mini-camp for him and his friends. One day for cupcakes, one day for cake pops, and another day for cookies. We're having to skip a day for other obligations, but today was the day for cupcakes.

I baked 2 dozen red velvet cupcakes and 2 dozen yellow cupcakes, thanks to Kroger having Duncan Hines cake mixon sale for $1 per box not too long ago. We used chocolate pudding and raspberry jam for fillings and CK Buttercream icing. I had some Roundabouts Cupcake Sleeves left over from the Art Sparks event, which just happened to be Valentine's Day themed, so we used up the rest of those. They'll get distributed to various friends and acquaintances over the next few days. The kids got very creative with the other cupcakes, and it was a lot of fun.

These were super easy to make. They were iced using a piping bag and tip 1M, then sprinkled with either red sanding sugar, nonpareils, or Nerds candy.

  

I then topped each one with either a red M&M's candy, a SweeTarts heart, little blossoms cut from red modeling chocolate, or a red rosebud rolled out of modeling chocolate.

 

Then I just wrapped a sleeve around the outside, and viola: they're cupcake Valentines!

  

Roundabouts Cupcake Sleeves

I have something really cool to share with you guys! It's another quick and easy way to dress up your cupcakes. Roundabouts Cupcake Sleeves are self-adhesive and grease-resistant decorative paper wrappers that go around the base of cupcakes. Then you just add whatever sprinkles, candies, or other toppings you'd like to complete your design.

Created by a busy mom, Roundabouts Cupcake Sleeves come in eco-friendly and recyclable packaging. There are a dozen sleeves in each pack, and I received 2 holiday themed sets to try: Nutcracker and Delicious Drums.

   

The packets open at the bottom, and inside are the cupcake sleeves, detailed instructions printed on a handy door hanger for easy viewing, and a tip sheet.

Mise en place.

For these, you can use any flavor cupcakes and icing you want. I used just plain old yellow cupcakes (from a mix because I ran short on time and ingredients) and vanilla buttercream icing. Of course, you'll want to make sure the cupcakes are completely cool before working with them. I prefer to pipe the icing onto my cupcakes because I think it's easier and less messy, but you can use a spatula if that's your preferred method.  For the drums, I decided to follow the example picture and use pretzels for drumsticks.

The instructions say to ice the cupcakes first. I was hesitant to do it that way because I was worried that I would mess up the tops trying to put the sleeves on, but the instructions also say to let the iced cupcakes chill in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to set up before adding the sleeves. I figured it might work out okay, so for once I actually followed directions, and they came out fine. Since I was covering the tops of these with white sugar sprinkles and nonpareils, I knew that the icing had to be fresh in order for the toppings to stick. As soon as I iced each cupcake, I dipped it into the sprinkles.

  

I like to pour the sprinkles into a small, shallow bowl for this. The bowl needs to be wide enough for the cupcake top to fit without touching the sides.

  

Once I had them all iced and dipped, I put them on a tray and stuck them in the fridge as directed. While they were chilling, I went ahead and started on the nutcrackers. For these, I couldn't find any black sugar crystals, but I did have some red and silver ones, as well as some chocolate jimmies, so I had a variety of colors to play with.

Mise en place.

While the drum cupcakes were supposed to be flat, the nutcrackers needed to have more rounded tops. To accomplish this, I piped a big mound of icing and then dipped them in the sprinkles.

 

In order to get the edges covered, I tilted the cupcakes and rolled them in the sprinkles. The jimmies didn't do as good of a job covering the icing, so I think next time I'll use chocolate so there isn't as much white showing through.

  

Then, I just repeated the process with the silver and red sugar crystals.

  

Again, I had to tilt the cupcakes and rotate them around in the sprinkles in order for the edges to get covered.

  

By the way, any leftover sprinkles can be saved for later. The easiest way I've found to get them back in their container is to dump them onto a paper towel, pull up the corners to make a funnel, and carefully pour them back into the bottle.

  

While the nutcrackers were enjoying their time chilling in the fridge, I finished the drums. Simply remove the backing off the adhesive strip and carefully wrap the sleeve around the outside of the cupcake, attaching the ends.

 

The directions say to place the cupcake on a flat surface to do this, and I highly recommend doing it that way. Trying to hold the cupcake and wrap the sleeve around it resulted in mismatched ends. The adhesive is very strong--which is a good thing because you don't have to worry about it falling off, but it also means you can't reposition it once it's attached to the other end.

Oops.

Once the sleeve is on securely, add 2 pretzels for drumsticks, and it's done! I personally found the pretzel sticks to be a bit long, so I broke them in half. Also, I had to press the pretzels into the icing in order for them to stay put.

  

The same method applies for the nutcrackers. My only snafu making these was letting some sprinkles get on one of the adhesive strips, which caused it not to want to stick. Luckily, I had some clear tape handy, and nobody noticed.

Oops again.

I think I like these topped with the silver sugar crystals best, but the red looks pretty impressive too.

  

The chocolate jimmies even look good on them, I'm just overly picky and would rather not have the white icing showing.

I really had a lot of fun making these. You could get much more creative with them and do all kinds of different designs. The sleeves themselves are very easy to work with because they're pretty thin and supple, while still being very sturdy. I'm rather clumsy and can be a bit heavy-handed, and I was able to use them without ripping or tearing them, so I know they can take some rough handling. Also, you don't have to worry if icing gets on them, as it wipes away easily and doesn't leave any grease spots, which is fantastic.

But hey, you don't have to take my word for it because the company is letting me host a giveaway for their Roundabouts Cupcake Sleeves, so you have a chance to win a set of your own! Click here to enter.

I received the Delicious Drums and Nutcracker Roundabouts Cupcake Sleeves for free in exchange for my honest review.