January Meetings Recap 1/6/11 and 1/20/11

1/6/11 Cake Decorating with Jennifer Dingsor

Jennifer Dingsor came to share her experiences with us regarding starting her own cake decorating business in her home. She started watching her aunt make cakes when she was young and she enjoyed it. One year her young boys wanted a Curious George cake for their birthday and she decided to try to make it on her own. After she was successful with that cake, she started to make cakes for friends and trying new ideas.
She makes her cakes usually on Fridays, preparing for weekend parties. It takes her about 4 hours to complete the cake. She does research on the internet regarding the design.
Here are some of the tips and tricks of the trade she shared:
-Greasing your pan with shortening and dusting with flour is the best way she has found to get the cake out of the pan in one piece.
-If you are going to try and shape a cake by carving, she puts it in the freezer for a few hours to help it harden and hold it's shape.
-Carve the dome created when baking off of the top of the cake for a clean look.
-After you've frosted your cake, let it sit 5-10 minutes, then smooth it with a paper towel.
-If you want to copy a picture onto a cake, Jennifer makes a copy on paper. She then puts wax paper over the design and traces the design onto the wax paper with colored food gel. She takes the wax paper and places it gel side down on top of the frosted cake and then fills the design in with frosting.
-Jennifer uses tips, bags and couplers for her frosting. You can buy these at Walmart, Hobby Lobby, Klein's and also online. She makes a fondant recipe she found online. It uses marshmallows for a better flavor. You can find it online.
Her buttercream frosting recipe:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature (not melted)
1/2 cup Crisco
2 tsp. vanilla
Cream the above together.
1 bag powdered sugar
Enough milk to get the right consistency (2-4 tbsp.)

Jennifer demonstrated making shells, rosettes and stars with the cake tips. She also showed how she makes shapes by rolling out fondant and cutting it with small cookie cutters to add to a cake.

1/20/11 Craft Day with Christy

Christy presented a craft for hanging children's artwork. We painted boards and picked between several different sayings to paint on the board. Small safety pins were hot glued to the board to place art work. Some people were unable to finish. Christy will be bringing the supplies back to the February 17th meeting for the people who were absent or who didn't finish.