Piña Colada Cake

I got an order for a pineapple and coconut cake this week. I was excited, because I had seen an article on Martha Stewart weddings about making flowers with slices of dried pineapple, and I'd been waiting for an opportunity to try it out!

The pineapple flowers came put beautifully, and they taste really delicious, too! 

The cake has 4 layers of fluffy coconut cake, with homemade pineapple curd between layers, and frosted with coconut Swiss meringue buttercream.

I made just a bit of extra batter, too... I definitely wanted to try this delicious combination!

Dried Pineapple Flowers

adapted from Martha Stewart Weddings

1 large pineapple

Heat oven to 225 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut the top off the pineapple and then cut off the peel. Use a small melon baller to remove the "eyes." Use a serrated knife to cut 8 slices as thin as possible. Arrange them on the baking sheet and bake 3-4 hours, until they look very dry and are starting to turn golden brown on the edges. Flip them over and bake 30 more minutes. Remove the slices from the baking sheet and press them into the cups of a muffin tin, to give them a flower shape. Let them cool completely. 

Chocolate Sugar Cookies

I tested a new recipe this week, for chocolate rolled sugar cookies. I am very pleased with the result - they came out delicious! 

I topped them with modeling chocolate and edible lace! 

I also frosted some with whipped American buttercream. These looks o beautiful and romantic!

Chocolate Roses Cake

A very good friend of mine had her birthday this week, so I made her a special cake.

I made a modeling chocolate rose to go on it. 

It has 4 layers of chocolate cake with salted caramel Swiss meringue buttercream, and chocolate piping, a modeling chocolate bow, and edible lace border. I really love being able to make beautiful and delicious gifts for my family and friends!

Ninja Turtles Cake

When I was young, we would visit my dad on the weekends, and he would take us to see the latest kids' movies. One of my favorites was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, so when I got this week's order for a Ninja Turtles cake, I was thrilled!

I knew I had to include pizza - the turtles' favorite food, with absolutely no anchovies! I made the pizza out of modeling chocolate, and even grated a small piece of white modeling chocolate to create the "cheese."

I also made an authentic New York sewer grate, and of course the four turtles! Double awesome points if you can name all four!

The cake layers were lime - bright green turtle color, with homemade lime curd filling and lime Swiss meringue buttercream. Then I covered the cake in homemade vanilla fondant and impressed and hand painted a turtle shell design. 

It was so fun to make this cake! Now I need a He-Man and She-Ra order... anyone??

Craftsy Class Review

There's a really neat online school, called Craftsy, with classes on everything from cake decorating to spinning your own wool! I have taken most of the cake decorating classes on there. There are a few free classes, including a new one, Basic Fondant Techniques.

A fellow cake decorator and blogger in Richmond, Virginia, Kara of A Cake to Remember has done reviews of all the Craftsy cake classes and today I am featured on her blog in a guest post, reviewing Basic Fondant Techniques. Hop on over and check it out!

Official Website!

I now have an official website for people to place orders! I will continue this blog to share my cakes and recipes. So, go check out the site and the new easy way to order with the forms on each page!

http://citrusspicebakery.com

Chocolate Lace and Roses Wedding Cake

I got to use a fun new toy this week - a SugarVeil confectionery mat.

This is how you make edible lace!  You make up the SugarVeil icing mix and spread it onto one of their silicone lace mats.  It dries in a few hours, and you can carefully peel it off and stick it on a cake!

This cake was chocolate with salted caramel buttercream, glazed with chocolate ganache, wrapped in the SugarVeil lace, and then topped with hand sculpted sugar paste roses and leaves.  I'm quite pleased with this product!

http://www.sugarveil.com