Hot Brownies at Home

We baked brownies tonight! Everybody was so excited. At first I wasn't sure why a box of brownie would have that effect on my little family. I mean, we eat out a lot. We eat some REALLY good desserts. But when the kids found out we were making brownies, they went nuts. All except for Nathan of course...who prefers to go nut-less. Nutless brownies, that is.

There must be something to doing it at home. Together. Little hands cracking the eggs, mixing it up and pouring it the pan that is isn't the size the box calls for. And then, there is the aroma. you don't get that in the restaurant. It's heaven. I'm about to die. They are out of the oven now and cooling. My family is gone to the store for lunches for tomorrow and I am here alone. But memories of scorched tongues from days gone by are the only things keeping me from the brownies. I could eat the whole pan, I'm sure.

Why are Custom Cakes so Expensive?

It’s just flour and sugar, right?

Not quite, there’s much more to it.

There so many elements that go into creating your custom cake, the ingredients being only a small part of that but lets start there.

In a standard 3-tier cake which serves 120-150 people, there can be as many as a dozen eggs, 5 pounds of pastry flour, half a cup of real vanilla, several pounds of unsalted butter, several bars of premium chocolate, large quantities of fresh fruit or nuts and more! The filling and buttercream may contain 3 or 4 more pounds of unsalted butter, another dozen or more egg whites, and several pounds of sugar plus the chocolate or fruit to flavour it. If you have a fondant covering, add about 5-8 more pounds of sugar and butter.

Now you need equipment. While some of the basics are in nearly every kitchen, not many home bakers have a set of tiered cake pans in various sizes ranging from 6” to 18” (depending on your cake) and an oven that will fit the larger pans, a heavy-duty stand mixer, professional grade food colours and dusts, piping bags with specialty tips, a rolling pin that can roll out a 2 foot diameter circle of fondant, cutters, molds and more. Depending on the design of your cake, there can be hundreds of dollars of specialized tools and molds required. It’s not hard for any baker to spend many thousands of dollars on tools and equipment for their art. There are boards and boxes to safely deliver your cake and a vehicle large enough to securely transport your masterpiece.

In addition, there is the cake artist’s time to bake and create your masterpiece, her (or his) experience, and potentially thousands of dollars and countless hours in workshops, training courses, and conferences spent honing her craft.

You are paying for her baking experience in using recipes that are tasty but can stand up under the weight of being stacked and shaped, structural engineering of the support systems (that need to be there whether your cake is pillared or not), artistry in decorating, sculpting skills in creating a topper or flowers (some flowers can take up to 4 hours each to create), expert delivery and repairs of any mishaps that may happen along the way, and more.

A note about delivery: one of the most risky “cost-saving” ideas I’ve seen is to decline to pay for your cake artist to deliver your cake. She knows how to transport it safely and how to repair any minor damage that may occur. If your cake is pillared, or more than 3 tiers high, delivery is essential, but even for smaller cakes, it can be critical.

Your wedding cake may have included a tasting session, the creation of a custom design (or modification of an existing one) that suits your needs and taste. Your cake artist may also have the expenses of a storefront, a web site, and various bridal shows to ensure you can find her!

Consider also that even the simplest wedding cakes usually take 8-10 hours of time and that more elaborate or difficult designs can take 45+ hours, it’s a wonder that a wedding cake isn’t much more expensive. If it were marked up in the same manner as a wedding gown or some of the other services you purchase for your wedding, it would be!


Article submitted by Genevieve @ For The Love of Cake
http://www.frugalbride.com/customcakes.html

"Let Freedom Ring"

The cake club I'm a member of is encouraging each of us girls to make and enter a cake in the Permian Basin Fair. I've never done anything like this before, but I'm pretty excited. There are a jillion categories of cakes to chooses from, but I think I am going to try making a dummy cake for several reasons. 1. I've never made one before. 2. The foamy things look really cool and I want a set to play with again an again. 3. I can make it over a long time, since it won't be eaten, and I won't have to worry about freshness.

So...today I guess I need to order my dummies. I just love the shound of that...ordering dummies. As if I don't already have enough dummies. I also am going to try using Satin Ice fondant. Cake Boss uses it, so it must be good enough for me. I wish I had the spreader he uses though....wow!

The theme for the fair is "Let Freedom Ring." I have some ideas, but would love to hear yours. What would a cake have to look like to convey that message to you? I'm seeing a draping American flag, Liberty Bell, Constitution.....?

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

I made banana chocolate chip muffins tonight. I would post pictures but the muffins are currently ....well....unavailable.

I had some bananas that I needed to use and I wanted to do something different than the banana bread I typically think of first. So I tried this recipe from COOKS.COM:

http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,194,150191-231203,00.html.

They turned out great and I had mine with a glass of milk before bed. They left me feeling cozy, and content. Ahhhhh.....

Hello Dollies

This is one of my favorite things to bake. Ok...to eat. It's simple to make too. You really can't go wrong with graham cracker crust, condensed milk, coconut, chocolate chips and pecans.

I made these for JJ's parents' 50th wedding anniversary, but I cut them into pieces the size of the pecans. Mmmmm...just right! They are pretty rich. When cut small you can decide just how crazy you want to get and fill your plate accordingly!