What did you Bake/Cook Today?!?!?! :)

[Frosty]

I had some leftover ingredients to use up, so I made some Easter cupcakes for my roommate & her kid, as they went down to the grandmother's for the weekend. Kid likes fondant, so the extremely derpy cupcake bunny was covered with my leftover vanilla fondant.

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The cupcakes are carrot cake. The bird nests were leftover modeling chocolate. They didn't come out the way I wanted, but that's ok. Eggs are Cadbury mini eggs, attached to nests w/Wilton Edible Glue, so they wouldnt fall out on the drive. The eggs were the only thing I had to buy for this "project." Just a fun-sized pack from CVS.


I followed a basic carrot cake recipe from Pillsbury Family Cookbook, the old yellowed thing I've posted photos of here in the past.


Frosting is just leftover vanilla buttercream w/1 tiny drop of Wilton Kelly green gel icing color added.

I tried to pipe grass w/the frosting, but my piping skills are utterly nonexistent, I don't have the patience for it, haha. So i just scattered some green sanding sugar (I keep around for Xmas) to distract from my shitty grass...

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Derpy bunny is just 1 carrot cupcake for the body, w/half a cupcake for the head, attached w/a drinking straw. He's crumbcoated in leftover white vanilla buttercream, followed by leftover white vanilla fondant. Eyes are just candy eyes, ears are fondant attached w/a toothpick & a bit of edible glue, w/a bit of pink gel food color painted on. Mouth was done w/fondant teeth & a fine tip Wilton food color pen.



They loved it, and now I have the place to myself for the weekend... to clean up the kitchen I destoryed. I'm worse than the Muppet Swedish Chef with making messes.

Dude I thought the bunny was solid fondant. The fact its actually cake is super cool

 

[Frosty]

My mother was up visiting from FL, so I made her an early birthday cake since I won’t see her on her actual birthday. It’s a fun hobby, & I figured I could use the practice.

Theme was inspired by this chipmunk w/a nubby tail that my mom hand-feeds whenever she stays up at my grandmother’s house.


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Tree trunk is a marble cake coated in homemade vanilla buttercream & modeling chocolate. Bark detail was done w/some Wilton tools, & some Wilton brown & black gel icing color was painted on a few areas for depth, along w/some cocoa powder & cinnamon.

Top of stump is just a circle of white vanilla fondant mixed w/modeling chocolate, then carved a little & painted w/the gel icing colors & cocoa powder.

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The chipmunk is made from Rice Krispy Treats, then covered in buttercream, & covered in a combo of white vanilla fondant & modeling chocolate for his fur. Eyes are 2 painted choc chips.


The accents have some wrinkle defects closeup, as I was getting pressed for time in the end, & was less careful.
Overall, I’m still happy with it.

His acorn was made from a caramel, which unfortunately did not keep its shape for very long.

Flower & ladybug are just made from fondant, & attached w/Wilton edible glue.


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The mushroom accent was a fondant failure: it drooped. I should have used gum paste instead, as it tends to hold its shape, & harden.


The bottom layer of the cake, & the tree roots, were made from Rice Krispy treat. The cake didn’t have the height i’d wanted on its own, & also, I needed at least a little rice krispy treat on the base to anchor the chipmunk to the cake. There was a wooden chopstick up the chipmunk’s rear, piercing the cake diagonally to attach to the base for max stability.



In hindsight, I wish I’d had the skill to make the marbling of the cake into actual tree trunk rings, but I’m not there yet.

Also, I def should have made the buttercream a slightly bitter dark chocolate; the vanilla was way too sweet, imo, but my mom isn’t a fan of dark chocolate (only vanilla or milk chocolate), & it was her cake, so...

Shit lex I didnt know you could bake like this. This is crazy cool. You have talent

 

[Lexicon]

Dude I thought the bunny was solid fondant. The fact its actually cake is super cool

Hahah oh god a solid fondant bunny the size of an actual cake serving would be so nasty...

Shit lex I didnt know you could bake like this. This is crazy cool. You have talent

Thank you!! Honestly, it’s not talent... it’s just learning easy tricks to making certain cake shapes easier, & having a LOT of time on my hands. And learning about different materials you can use to decorate a cake, like fondant, modeling chocolate (like fondant but tastes better, has a different finish), gum paste, etc. Just nerding out & reading a lot.

(People who do stuff with buttercream decoration are talented... I have no patience for it at all)

And tools made a HUGE difference with cutting, applying frosting evenly, etc.

I really got into this more over the past few yrs, when chronic pain limited a lot of fun activities (fortunately that part of my life is over/damn close to it). Baking projects are kind of adaptable... you can transition from sitting/standing when needed, & certain steps force you to take breaks (like while something is rising, baking, cooling, or while you’re waiting for one part of decoration to set). And it makes people in my life happy... and it’s like, making costumes for food, haha.

 

[ceecee]

Baked Ravioli. Just meat sauce that I had frozen before surgery layered with cheese and frozen cheese and beef ravioli and baked. A easier lasagna I suppose. Nice to be feeling up to being in the kitchen.

 

[Lexicon]

Super Metroid Baking

Samus' space helmet & Metroid cupcakes

Red velvet cake w/chocolate buttercream, & red vanilla fondant (I wish I had modeling chocolate instead, as it'd have a harder/shinier finish like a helmet). Some green & black fondant accents, w/silver food color spray.

IMO, the helmet shape is not quiiiite right; sculpting rounder cakes has proven more difficult than expected, but everyone was still happy with it.


Cupcakes are also red velvet, but w/vanilla buttercream, red m&m's, and cashew halves.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Super Metroid Baking

Samus' space helmet & Metroid cupcakes



Red velvet cake w/chocolate buttercream, & red vanilla fondant (I wish I had modeling chocolate instead, as it'd have a harder/shinier finish like a helmet). Some green & black fondant accents, w/silver food color spray.

Cupcakes are also red velvet, but w/vanilla buttercream, red m&m's, and cashew halves.

The one thing I know about this game is the reveal at the end. What's the story with the green guys?

 

[Lexicon]

The one thing I know about this game is the reveal at the end. What's the story with the green guys?

Per Wiki because I'm lazy today:

The eponymous Metroids are a species of predatory, jellyfish-like organisms that feed on an undetectable life energy found in all living creatures. Biological weapons, the Metroids were engineered by the Chozo to eradicate a parasitic, shapeshifting alien race known as the "X" that threatened their civilization. While the Metroids succeeded in stopping the X, they became a danger to the Chozo themselves when they developed the ability to evolve into different and far deadlier forms. Most of the games center around the efforts of various organizations, including the Space Pirates, the Galactic Federation, and rogue members of the Chozo race, to weaponize the Metroids and the subsequent conflicts they cause.

The last Metroid larva imprints Samus as its mother. I like to imagine her as the cat-lady of Metroids, even though that's inaccurate.

from google images

 

[Lexicon]

Made for my grandmother's birthday:

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Made for my grandmother's birthday:

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Neat.

How'd you make the door?

 

[The Cat]

Made for my grandmother's birthday:

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Submitted for your consideration a grandmother who has no idea how good they have it experiencing a birthday experience that more than makes up for another tired year around this madly spinning little marble second star to the right and straight on into...The Twilight Zone.

 

[The Cat]

Neat.

How'd you make the door?

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess fandante and skilled, honed raw talent?

 

[Lexicon]

Neat

Thank you!

How'd you make the door?

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess fandante and skilled, honed raw talent?

I had a braindead moment and googled "fandante," thinking it might be some specialized craft.. then I realized you mean fondant. English is stupid, your spelling looks fancier.

The door & other toppers were made with an edible material called gum paste. Like fondant, it is a sugar-dough type substance, but dries quite hard (whereas fondant remains clay-like). It's very sweet, so most people don't actually eat it. Had I the time/ingredients/steam, I would've done thin sugar cookies instead, since I really prefer my stuff to be truly edible.

So the door is gum paste, carved and put together with Wilton edible glue. The handle is gum paste sprayed with silver food coloring. I ground up some black sprinkles for texture on the door panels.

Inside the door is black cookie icing (dries shiny) with birthday sprinkles for space nebula.

The chocolate cake itself is covered with vanilla fondant and vanilla buttercream underneath.

I had a lot of fun making it.

 

[Lexicon]

Submitted for your consideration a grandmother who has no idea how good they have it experiencing a birthday experience that more than makes up for another tired year around this madly spinning little marble second star to the right and straight on into...The Twilight Zone.

Cake Theatre needs to be a thing.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Thank you!

You're welcome!

I had a braindead moment and googled "fandante," thinking it might be some specialized craft.. then I realized you mean fondant. English is stupid, your spelling looks fancier.

The door & other toppers were made with an edible material called gum paste. Like fondant, it is a sugar-dough type substance, but dries quite hard (whereas fondant remains clay-like). It's very sweet, so most people don't actually eat it. Had I the time/ingredients/steam, I would've done thin sugar cookies instead, since I really prefer my stuff to be truly edible.

Is gum paste what they make those solid flowers out of? I've always thought those tasted pretty good.

 

[ceecee]

I made this English Muffin Bread, it was so much better than anything I've had from a store and much easier than making English Muffins.

English Muffin Loaf (Toasting Bread) - Restless Chipotle

This easy English muffin bread recipe has all of those nooks and crannies and craters of an English muffin but in a quick, no-knead toasting bread loaf.

www.restlesschipotle.com

It's just a sticky dough and as long as you get it into a loaf pan, you're good. A small plastic dough scraper works great here.

 

[The Cat]

Cake Theatre needs to be a thing.

I always thought that's what Gumby was.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I always thought that's what Gumby was.

Gumby, I think, is traumatized by food because of the one time Pokey turned evil and tortured him because of his gluttony.

 

[The Cat]

Gumby, I think, is traumatized by food because of the one time Pokey turned evil and tortured him because of his gluttony.

all i can think of is that rockos modern life episode where Heiffer goes to heck.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

all i can think of is that rockos modern life episode where Heiffer goes to heck.

I forgot about that! I was reminded of that one Simpsons TOH episode where Homer got sent to hell and they had elaborate machines for stuffing you full of food just like you see here. I can't remember if Rocko had any.

 

[Saturnal Snowqueen]

Made some Odango from this kit I found on Etsy. They tasted ok, but it's definitely not as pretty as the pictures/emojis make it out to be. Also, I found a metal chunk in one of the pieces.