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Artistic Sugarworks

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  1. I have a cake to do for a bridal shower and they want a Tiffany Box. Not sure how to make the color. They also want the box done in buttercream. Any help would be most appreciated!!! TIA
  2. I have a question that maybe someone here can answer (sorry if they have been and I missed them). Why do the schools require that you take the culinary course before allowing you to take the pastry course? (The 2 local to me require this) I have looked into both schools here and both are quite expensive when combined with the culinary course. Not to sound crass, but, I want to bake, not julienne and sear. I don't see that that Culinary part is necessary for me to be able to bake. (If you disagree here, please be kind in telling me) I would love to be able to just take a Pastry Course, unforyunately, that isn't possible as the schools I've found that offer just Pastry are way too far to commute (out of state) and I don't think my Husband, kiddos and boss would allow me the time off to attend. Thanks for any light anyone can shed on this for me.
  3. Klondike Ice Cream bars (Invented by Islay's) Islay's Chipped Ham Clark Bar candy bars Devonshire sandwiches (open-face chicken or turkey sandwich invented here in Pittsburgh by Frank Blandi in 1936 at his first restaurant, the Stratford in Oakland) Iron City beer Pierogis Parma Sausage Heinz ketchup Frizzled Ham Sandwiches Fried Bologna Sandwiches
  4. Thanks, Heather! I haven't seen it here either, and just figured I'd ask. Duh on me for not even thinking of going to their site and looking!! Thank you again!
  5. Ok, I may be showing my ignorance here, but, is this to mean that Karo has a Brown Sugar Flavor in addition to their Light and Dark Corn Syrups?? Sorry if this makes me sound really out there, but, I just thought I'd ask.
  6. Thanks, Wendy! The shoe was baked as one piece except for the roof supports. They were baked seperately and "glued" on with royal. The shoe was easy. If I get ambitious enough to make another one, I'll make sure to take pics of the construction, but, until then here's how I did it in the text version. You only need 6 elements: A coffee can Poster board a 6" cake board Masking Tape Foil a Gingerbread recipe that doesn't slide off while baking I used a modified version of one from Nick Malgieri. I'll post it in a minute. Construct the support for it: Ball up some foil and mound it onto the top of the coffee can until it looks good. Cover with a single piece of foil and masking tape it around the can. Take another piece of foil and cover the sides of the can and tape in place. Lay the can on it's side. Cover the cake board in foil and tape about a 1/8" of it onto the top lip of the can. Take a 12"x12" piece of poster board and mark it at the 6" point with a line that goes the whole way across. Take the poster board (line side out) and curve it around the cake board and over onto the sides of the can to shape the heel/back of the shoe. Tape into place. Next, cut the poster board along the 6" mark on both sides until they can be curved to form the part that has the laces (Have no idea what it is called). Tape into place. Cover with foil. Next, I rolled a piece of GB large enough to cover the top and sides of the can (which is lying on it's side) and enough to go halfway back the poster board and cut a curve from 1 long side to fit around the "part with the laces". Trimmed it to sit flush with the sheet I was baking it on. Then I rolled a circle to fit the "toe" overlapping it about 1/4" onto the previous piece. Used water as the glue to hold it in place and again trimmed to meet the sheet. I rolled a rectangle long enough to fit around the back of the shoe and overlap a 1/4" onto the sides and curved the top 2 corners. Again, water used for glue. Next the upper part of the shoe, this I did in 2 pieces (only have 2 hands) but, if someone is helping you, you could do it in one. Again, a rectangle to fit except about 1 1/2" for the tongue and glued in place with water. I just cut a piece the height I needed for the tongue and held it in place by the pieces just wrapped around. Again, water as glue, but, only a 1/4 of the way up. I curled the edges of the wrapped piece and the tongue back just a bit. You can see this caused them to fall completely during baking, so I just baked a piece about 5"x6" around the coffee can to fit the gap it left and it became a wall/roof support. The other supports were 2" tall by 5" long triangles baked around the edge of a 6" cake pan. I then took a piece about 1" tall, used some water for glue and wrapped it around the bottom of the shoe from the front of the heel to the same point on the other side. Took another piece, used water for glue and wrapped it around the heel and overlapped 1/4". Try not to push the bottoms in as you won't be able to get your coffee can out.I baked it for almost an hour, until I tapped it and it sounded hard. After the shoe cooled, I removed the can and poster board and used the cake board to make a 6" floor which was placed where the lace part met the top of the can. I used a dremmel to cut out the windows and the door. The window sills and the door were made from gumpaste. The roof itself was graham crackers covered in pretzel sticks. The mice were all hand formed from Pastillage. All pieces were held in place by royal (and you thought I was going to say water!) The Sorting Hat was formed over, you guessed it, Poster board covered in foil. The features were again glued on with water prior to baking. The base was baked seperate and the top glued (with royal) onto the bottom after everything was cool. I used powdered black food coloring to highlight the eyes and mouth and cocoa petal dust to highlight other areas of the hat. I think that covers it. Any questions, just holler. Forgot to add this: Gingerbread Dough Makes a little less than three pounds dough 5 cups all-purpose flour 1 tablespoons ground cinnamon 1 tablespoons ground ginger 1/2 tablespoon ground cloves 1/2 tablespoon nutmeg 1 teaspoon salt 8 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, slightly softened 3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1/2-3/4 cup water 'til it feels right to you In the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until soft and light, about 3 or 4 minutes. Scrape the bowl and beater and add a third of the dry ingredients. Finally, beat in water and the remaining dry ingredients. The dough will be somewhat dry and crumbly. Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured work surface, but don't overwork it to the point that the butter melts. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rest for a few minutes at room temperature.
  7. I can't make a traditional gingerbread house to save my life. They always come out looking like where the Crooked Old Man with the Crooked Cat lives. So, I kinda do my own thing and call it a gingerbread house. This is the one I just did this past week. Not much to look at, but, I had fun doing it. Promise you won't laugh! The only other 2 gingerbread anything I have ever done........ Ok, I shared.
  8. This comes from Bruce Weinstein's "The Ultimate Candy Book" Chocolate Cherries (Liquid Centers) with Variations This is perhaps one of the most delicious candies ever invented, and also one of the most clichéd-a firm chocolate shell surrounding a maraschino cherry swimming in a sweet, syrupy filling. The secret to the liquid center lies in dipping the cherries twice. The first dipping is into melted fondant. The fondant hardens and the cherries are dipped again into melted chocolate. The fondant will then reliquefy after the chocolate hardens. Magic! Makes about 60 cherries •3 cups sugar •1 cup plus 1 tablespoon water •1/4 cup light corn syrup •60 maraschino cherries with stems (do not use fresh cherries) •24 ounces semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped, or 24 ounces semisweet chocolate chips •Butter or margarine for greasing the pan and the cookie sheet PREPARING FONDANT 1.Butter a 9 x 13" baking pan and set aside. 2.Combine the sugar, water, and corn syrup in a heavy medium saucepan. Using a wooden spoon, gently stir over medium heat until the sugar dissolves & syrup boils. 3.Cook the syrup, without stirring, until it reaches 240 F (soft ball). 4.Immediately pour into the prepped 9 X 13 pan. Let cool, undisturbed, until bottom of pan feels lukewarm to the touch. 5.Using a heavy wooden spoon, stir until it forms a ball. Some may stick to the pan. May also seize into a very hard ball that is impossible to stir. Seal in a 1-gallon Ziploc bag, remove as much air from the bag as possible. Let rest 1 minute. 6.With fondant still in the bag, roll with the heel of your hand, pressing down toward the counter. Continue this light kneading until it looks smooth and creamy and feels like firm cookie dough, about 10 minutes. Set aside, wrapped in bag and prepare cherries. Can be made up to a week ahead and kept well wrapped in the fridge. FIRST DIP 1.Drain cherries, reserving the liquid. Place on paper towels to absorb excess liquid. 2.Butter a large sheet, line with wax paper and set aside. 3.Place fondant in top of a double boiler over simmering water. If you don't have a double boiler, use the medium bowl over a pot of simmering water method. Stir fondant until it melts. Insert candy thermometer in the melted fondant and continue stirring gently, until the fondant reaches 150 F. Turn off heat. 4.Stir in 2 or 3 tablespoons of the reserved cherry liquid to give the fondant a pink color and a mild cherry flavor. Should temp. fall below 150 F, turn the heat on low and bring the water back to a simmer just until the fondant rises back to 150 F. 5.To dip, hold a cherry by the stem and quickly dip it into the melted fondant covering the cherry. Avoid getting any on the stem. Place on the prepared cookie sheet. Repeat with the remaining cherries until all are dipped. Stir the fondant occasionally. If fondant becomes too thick as you dip, add more cherry liquid, 1 tablespoon at a time, until thinner consistency is reached. Set the dipped cherries aside while preparing the chocolate for dipping. SECOND DIP 1.Melt 12 ounces of the semisweet chocolate in the top of a clean double boiler set over hot water. 2.When the chocolate has melted, remove the top part of the double boiler from the water. Add the remaining 12 ounces semisweet and stir until all chocolate is melted and smooth. 3.Insert a candy thermometer into melted chocolate. temperature should be 88 to 90 F. If too cold, place back over hot water until the temperature reaches 88 to 90 F. If too hot, let cool until temperature is reached. 4.Hold a covered cherry by the stem and dip it into the chocolate to cover the pink coating. Repeat until all are dipped. Stir chocolate occasionally. 5.Let sit at room temperature for 2 hours. Place in the refrigerator overnight, and chocolate will harden and the centers will liquefy. 6.Store in single layer in airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. VARIATIONS MILK CHOCOLATE CHERRIES Substitute 24 ounces milk chocolate for semisweet chocolate. WHITE CHOCOLATE CHERRIES Substitute 24 ounces white chocolate for semisweet chocolate. The following variations work with the base recipe or with either of the preceding chocolate variations. NUTTY CHOCOLATE CHERRIES Place a small piece of toasted almond inside each cherry before dipping. Can also add 1/4 teaspoon almond extract to the melted fondant before dipping. SPICY CHOCOLATE CHERRIES Place a small piece of fresh jalapeno pepper inside each cherry before dipping. SPIKED CHOCOLATE CHERRIES Drain the liquid from the jars of cherries. Refill the jars, covering the cherries with brandy, vodka, or kirsch. Let soak at least 24 hours. Substitute the soaking alcohol for the cherry liquid in the directions.
  9. I can almost guarantee that you won't hear Wilton mentioned. Martha has her own line of cake decorating equiptment that she sells in kits (saw them on Ebay). I'm not sure if KMart carries it since I can't stomach her and don't frequent her "aisle" there.
  10. Thank you both, Ladies! You've just made my life easier since I'll only need to make 2 1/2 batches of this!
  11. Chefpeon, How big are the puffs in your photo? I need to make these for my sister's wedding only bite-sized. How long should I bake them for? Also, How many did you get from this recipe? Thanks!
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