Someone message me on Facebook today asking about Italian Meringue Icing. Then I remember this blog that I had abandoned for a long time. Oh, not so very long, just about three months ago. Because three months ago, I thought of closing this blog but never got the chance to do so. Today, I logged in to check my boiled icing recipe and almost couldn't remember my password. Then I see that it has over a hundred followers and just over 30 old comments awaiting moderation. Then it dawned on me that, somehow, no matter how inactive I was in updating this, it helped somebody. Somebody, like me, who searches for baking tips or recipes on the net. No, I am not closing this anymore. Just let me be the lazy blogger that I always am.
You can reach me on my Facebook page when you need to. Just add me if you find me there.
I am writing this post because some of you might have encountered the same problem I had with CMC.
Back in 2008 or so, I bought my first kilogram of cellulose gum or CMC. CMC is a thickener used in lieu of Tylose in this gumpaste recipe. I am not sure who originated that recipe but it looks like many refer to it as Nicholas Lodge gumpaste. The Tylose or CMC called for in that recipe is 12 teaspoons or 4 tablespoons. I have used the same proportion until the last drop of my first CMC pack. Just late last year, I bought a new pack at the same store I got my first one, Hi-Q Commercial in Recto. The only difference I was told was it's made in China because they ran out of the one made in Holland.
My first gumpaste batch from the new CMC was a failure. It was too gummy to work on. Aside from that it was too grainy. I made another one and ended up throwing everything. Same result. I got really frustrated so I called a chemical company in Quezon City, Alyson Chemical Enterprises and ordered another kilogram from them, supposedly made in Finland. The result of the gumpaste is the same, gummy, grainy. I was about to throw the towel.
For some time, I stick on with fondant in my figures and it's a nightmare for me as I really love my 50-50 paste, half MMF, half gumpaste.
After about a month, I did some test. I made 1/4 of the recipe and just added half of the CMC amount. The texture has improved but it was still hard to work on and grainy. I did another test and only added 1/4 of the CMC amount. The result? Just PERFECT!
It turned out it was not only me who had the same problem. My baking friends told me they've given up on it. I don't know what happens to the new CMC batches they are making. One thing I'm sure, the new one is a saver. So to those of you who are using this same recipe and having the same problem with generic CMC, try using a quarter of the gum and see if it works for you, too.
My son is so crazy about Angry Birds and so are some other kids. Since last year, I already made several Angry Birds cupcakes and cakes, some are undocumented. I could now make the figures without looking at references. Much more, the figures are easier to make because they are mostly rounds. So all you need to do is start off with round figure then just add the beaks, eyes, eyebrows and feathers. For the beak, just roll some yellow paste into tear-drop shape and cut in half with a pair of scissors or blade. I use surgical scissors or scalpel for the job. This might be the easiest character to make.
Edited: August 14, 2013
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Boiled Icing is a meringue frosting. The process of making it is similar to the Italian Meringue Buttercream (IMBC) except that the proportion of egg to sugar is not the same. To my customers I don't use the term "boiled icing" because I don't want to explain to people why it is called such. If I want it to appeal to kids, I just say marshmallow icing and tell them it tastes like melted marshmallow which is true, would you agree? If I want to confuse people, the silly me, I tell them it's Italian Meringue and notice how their jaws drop..."Italian, what???" and that makes it sounds classy hahaha! More often than not I just tell them, "you know, that soft, fluffy icing that kids really like" and that ends the confusion.
Boiled icing is a very stable icing when done the right way. It can stand high humidity. You can pipe it, make it super smooth, make it stand in peaks. This is why I super love, love, love boiled icing than any other kind plus the fact that clean up is easier than butter based icing. I find the Italian Meringue recipe I previously posted too airy and light which is why I always go for this recipe.
Do not get intimated doing this recipe, it may look scary at first but if you follow the procedure carefully, you will get it right. If not, there is always the next time. It doesn't take long before you can perfect this. I suggest you read the instructions carefully and try to imagine each step before taking the dive.
BOILED ICING
Ingredients:
4 eggwhites
2 cups white sugar (or 1/2 cup for every eggwhite)
1/2 cup water (or 1/8 cup for every egg)
1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
Directions and Notes:
1. Egg whites are easiest to separate and you cut the risk of breaking the yolks when the eggs are cold. I separate them after I take them out from the fridge then let the egg whites allow to come to room temperature, about 20 minutes. The yolks, I drop them in a glass of cold water and keep them in the fridge covered until I need them.
2. Make sure your bowl for the egg whites is super clean, no trace of grease.
3. In a small saucepan, preferably the thick stainless type, combine sugar and water.
4. Bring to a boil over low heat gradually increasing to medium heat as soon as it starts boiling. If you have a candy thermometer, use it. If you don't have one, I suggest you buy. If you don't intend to buy soon, don't panic.I'd say do not bother to use candy thermometer unless you are using the most accurate infrared type. They are not dependable. It's a hit and miss for me so if you still have not one, don't think about getting one for this purpose. Also, don't bother to stir the mixture at all, and forget about those procedure that asks you to brush the side of the pan with water. Just keep it in medium heat.
5. I use a Kitchenaid for my egg whites. I usually start beating the eggs as soon as temperature reaches 200degF syrup looks sticky. If you are very observant and take some minutes to observe and marvel at it while it boils, you will see that it looks very liquid from the start and as soon as most water evaporates, bubbles will start to look sticky. Our target is 240-248 degrees F or the "thread" stage, as I call it. Some call it the soft ball stage. If using a hand mixer, you can start beating at this point also as it starts boiling. It takes about another 7-10 minutes before the sugar mixture reaches the desired temperature.
How do we know that it reaches the correct temperature already?
After getting frustrated with the hit and miss result using thermometer I go back to the dependable, old school, thread test. If you become expert in it, just by looking at the syrup, you will know that it is almost there. Syrup at this stage looks sticky. When it starts to look sticky, I start testing and doing it every 3 minutes using a clean spoon every time. Dip the tip of the spoon in your syrup and lift it. A thin thread will form once your syrup temperature reaches 230-240. If your syrup is undercooked, icing will get runny in a few hours after frosting the cake. If syrup is overcooked, icing could get grainy but will be stable. Overcooked syrup mostly happens when you do Facebook while waiting for the sugar to cook.
6. Okay, this is how I do it. When I start beating the eggwhites and get to the soft peak stage, I decrease the mixing speed to medium and increase the heat of the stove to medium-high so that it reaches 240 degrees fast. As soon as it reaches 240, I increase the mixer speed to high and take out the sugar from the fire and slowly pour it to the side of the bowl, aim for the spot between the beater and the bowl. Don't worry, it isn't difficult to do, I promise. Continue beating at high speed until meringue is stiff. To test if you're at the right consistency, stop the mixer, run a metal spatula across the icing and it if forms a stiff wall on each side, that is it!
Here are important notes:
If using a hand mixer, I suggest, strongly suggest, you get an extra hand to hold the bowl or run the mixer for you when pouring the syrup, unless you are using a hand mixer with a bowl fitted to a stand. Gosh, one time I tried to use a hand mixer all by myself, it was crazy. Imagine trying to keep the bowl steady, while your other hand is running the mixer and the other pouring the sugar. Risky, risky! I wouldn't dare do it again. Try it if you want an adrenalin rush.
Boiled icing should be used right away. Any extra icing should be discarded or you may put in the fridge for a day for personal consumption.
Now, good luck!
Let me talk more about ovens in this come back post. Even if I am not actively posting here, I still get questions as to the type of oven that I'd recommend. If you are asking for recommendations, I cannot give any specifics. Instead, let me share with you what ovens I have and my experiences with them. You can also read my old post about ovens here.
Let me start with my first oven which was smaller than the one on this post. It was a tiny electric oven that can only fit a 7"x11" rectangular or 10" round pan. I managed to bake several batches of cupcakes and cakes with that oven. Temperature in these tiny ovens including with the one on my old post are unreliable. You need to have an oven thermometer and constantly monitor and adjust the temperature else it will burn your cakes. However, if your budget is restricted, this is the cheapest kind you can buy.
Then I got this La Germania gas range which has 4 burners and an oven. I so love this oven because it has automatic thermostat control. With that feature, I do not have to worry much about adjusting the temperature of the oven. This intelligent system automatically lowers the fire when temperature gets higher than what is set.
I have had this oven for over 5 years now and this buddy had baked hundreds of cakes and cupcakes. This model comes with only one wire rack but I had bought an additional rack direct from the service center. That way I can bake 2 pans at the same time. The biggest pan this buddy can accommodate is only 12" but I tell you I was able to make a 5-tier wedding cake with 18" base cake using this oven.It took me more than 10 hours to bake the entire batch. Price range for this type of oven starts from P15,000. If you have that budget for oven and you are seriously baking, I suggest don't buy this, but get the commercial type for almost the same price.
This is my new oven from Usabal . There, that's free advertising for them. This is not my first commercial type conventional oven. My first one was from Welldone Industries. It was this size and has thermostat control. I sold it to a dear friend when we went to live in Singapore in 2009. I find it too expensive to buy the same kind now. Welldone sells it now for P40,000. It was P33,000.00 in 2009. This one from Usabal costs less than 20k, believe it or not. The downside... no thermostat control. Thermostat costs an additional 16k if you want it installed. My baking friends swear by this oven so I was compelled to get it. Now, I swear by it. No thermostat? Not a problem. Temperature is pretty stable once you know the correct setting.
I find this oven safer to use also than the one from Welldone. The gas chamber was so designed that your eyebrows will not be charred when accidents happen. I hope you figure out what I mean. What takes 12 hours to bake in my La Germania oven only takes 3-4 hours on this one.
If you have the budget and is looking forward to baking hundreds of cupcakes and brownies in the future, invest in a bigger oven. For now, I am not looking forward to a 12-plate oven. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
I'm a big embarrassment to the blogging community. Seems like I only post on this blog twice a year and I am a bit disappointed with myself for not keeping up with what I started. I somehow abandoned blogging for a more lucrative habit. The habit of not being able to say no to people asking me to make cakes for their loved ones. I keep telling myself that I needed a break. Caking for money (well, there is no term more frank than this) has been taking over my life. Although I can afford to live comfortably without this so-called cake business, I have been engulfed by it just as it did to me three years ago while I was still in the big metro.
Barely a year since I baked that first order since I arrived (from Singapore), orders are just piling up filling my calendar so fast that I barely have time for myself. This is where the cycle of my love and hate relationship with baking comes in. Now I love it, then I get exhausted and complain and feel like it's a curse. It looks like an addiction. I get withdrawal symptoms when I am not working. During breaks, I spend my time spring cleaning my tools and working space to be ready for the next job. Shamefully, I spend too much time FB'ing, if you know what I mean, catching up with friends, answering inquiries and comments, sending quotations.
I feel the need to break this cycle. I am getting dumb from interacting with walls. These short status updates are blocking my creative juices. Today is my birthday. There's not gonna be plenty of years ahead. Life is short. I want to do all the other things that makes life wonderful. I will keep you posted more often, that's my birthday promise.
Who does not love the red iced tea from Tokyo Tokyo? Since there is no Tokyo Tokyo here in Dipolog City, this is the next best thing:
Kate's Red Iced Tea!
The taste? No bragging about it, but tastes so close to Tokyo Tokyo's red iced tea. The ingredients? Simply Nestea Lemon Iced Tea and Tang Strawberry juice mixed at 50-50. A must try!
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I know, I see some questioning eyes and raised eyebrows. Been wondering where I've been? I am not ashamed to admit that I am just here, sometimes very occupied with baking projects and in betweens, I sew, organize stuff, read and do the endless cycle of putting away toys. I have forgotten about this blog, really until today when I was searching for some photos and came across my own blog. I thought it looked familiar, hahaha!
So, before I forget this again for a month let me vent out my frustration with men, cake and travel.
See that Ariel Cake before this post? This cake had the same fate.
The common factors for disaster: men and travel
Let me explain. The Ariel cake was picked up by three men. The second man who received the cake carried it like carrying an ordinary box full of stuff when otherwise it should be carried straight up, fully supported underneath. It was set on his lap during travel and perhaps they were travelling at full speed because they were late for the event.
The three-tier cake was also set on the lap of a man and traveled over a hundred miles at full speed otherwise they won't reach their destination in two hours time. I gave instructions to check the topper every now and then (that would of course include the cake). It would have been best to travel the cakes unstacked but it would not be possible when I wouldn't be in the location to stack it and do the final details on it. I was very confident the cake would withstand since it was well-doweled. However, carrying it on a lap during travel when it is not otherwise flat would really contribute to it's sad fate made worst by 60-80 mph travel speed. I would always drive snail slow when I have cake on the car. When we delivered the 5-tier cake to Dakak on some rough road, two tiers were stacked and carried on my lap. I was like hugging the cake the whole time and we drove really slow. The cake arrived at the location perfectly okay.
The next time a cake would have to travel outside the city leave me with two options:
1. I travel with the cake.
2. I won't make the cake.
I won't cry over spilled milk. Huhuhu!
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Huh, over two months of zero post? It was that long? What's been keeping me busy, let me think.... hmn, really nothing but the usual surge of orders and.. the usual laziness. I am not making a promise to update this blog daily because I am sure of one thing: I can't keep it.
Isn't it pretty? Sad, but this cake did not make it to the destination in one piece. Long story but to make it short, let me just say that some people just don't know how to take care of cakes. I have my share of fault. I will not elaborate. I just want to give a lesson to bakers like me. Let the person/s who pick up the cake sign a waiver or whathaveyou stating that they receive the cake in good condition and that whatever happens during transport, you're no longer liable to it.
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All character cakes/ figures posted on this site are results of experimenting with sugarpaste. The cakes were either baked for family members or friends only and the author has no intention to violate any copyright laws. They are posted here for the sake of fun and creativity. These characters are not for sale.
