Simply Kate's Kitchen Update

Let me begin by saying that I felt so blessed that what started as a little hobby had grown dramatically the past months. The success of Simply Kate's online business is attributed to all of my customers who trusted me with their orders. Luckily for me, this hobby turned business is giving enough income to pay for our utilities, monthly food consumption, and other expenses. At times, I even earn more than the pay I used to get when I was still working full time. It is hard to get it off my system now. But concurrent with the past nine months of work are some sacrifices that I have to take. One of that is contact dermatitis.

March of this year when the first signs of contact dermatitis started on one finger on my left hand. A single itch that I thought was an ordinary insect bite. Then I realized it just wont bug off. It disappears now then comes back later multiplying each time until the skin on my fingers started to dry out and crack.

I checked with a dermatologist and she was giving me a term I couldn't understand but which was called contact dermatitis in layman's term. I was told that the reasons for the skin problem were stress (being the # 1, as she said), heredity and irritant. Setting aside stress (as I refused to believe in in being a factor), I was thinking the main culprit was the constant exposure to dishwashing liquid. At that time, I did everything on my own, including washing and cleaning up of baking utensils. That prompted me to get a househelp that could do the washing part for me.

Five months of having an assistant didn't help though. I have finished several creams already but conditions only got worst. Now they're on both hands. Believe me I haven't grown cuticles on my fingers anymore. Aside from allergies on my hands, I got some on my neck and both arms. I found out that the culprit wasn't dishwashing soap. They're flour and confectioner sugar. I tried working with gloves on. It works when measuring flour but doesn't work when making fondant and molding toppers. I just couldn't work on them unless with my bare hands. It has really become a big problem for me. The skin on my hands is constantly peeling off. They're full of tiny cuts and rough all the time. I haven't touched the faces of my babies and haven't rubbed their backs anymore. I can't even rub my face without getting scratches from my rugged hand and worst, every other activity involving the fingers (writing, typing, anything) is not without pain. I have wasted lotsa bandaide already and unless I take some time off from baking, this would never go away. This is starting to give me what we, homebakers, call the baking burn-out feeling. If before I can mold figures non-stop for 8 hours, now, a straight two hours is already too much to bear.

I felt that if I continue to do even something that I love dearly, it's not helping both myself and my customers. And as I have the power to choose and act on my own, I choose to have some rest and put aside baking that involves too much exposure to the elements that contributes to my skin problems. I promise myself to do other productive things, anyway. Research, tutorials, baking blog perhaps. I am allowing my hands to heal for now. I am not completely shutting my kitchen doors, I am just regulating the flow of orders. :)

So, to those who need customized cakes and cupcakes, please note that Simply Kate's couldn't make them at the moment until further notice. If you like something in any of my works and want them copied by other bakers, go ahead. A lot of my fellow baking sisters can do them for you. Dont' go any further, check out the link below and find a homebaker near your area.

http://filipinahomebakers.multiply.com/photos/album/68/FHO_Official_Business_Directory

Happy Holidays!

Thanks for your understanding.

Kate

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Adios Dora

I am busy these days making some toppers for a Dora-themed cake and cupcakes.
This afternoon, I called some suppliers for availability of Dora cake toppers but because it was getting late, I decided to put off my Divisoria trip. Just then while I was making some backpacks, my ambitious self thought, "why not make an edible Dora?". I printed some patterns and started outlining the board I've prepared. Goodness, runout or colorflow technique really doesn't work for me. I gave up. Instead of throwing away the brown royal icing, I used it to paint the styro tree I made.Discouraged with colorflow, I pulled out some sugarpaste and started molding dora, beginning with the torso, body and legs. everything went well. Doing the head part especially the hair part was the most challenging for me but I managed to fully create the topper. I admit, I don't like how she looked like and to justify how she'd look in the picture, I put the parts together and stand it in a styro block. After taking some pictures, I took pictures of other things totally forgetting that Dora was still standing upright. The next thing I know, she's due for amputation. I shouldn't have left her standing as her legs were still weak. What can I say, I guess we're just not meant for each other.

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Battle of Marshmallows: MMF Experiment Part 2

To give justice to the marshmallows sold by SweetCraft, I purposely bought half a kilo of their MM and put it to a test against the other MM brand. By the way, the marshmallow I'm using here was from Carla's in Sucat which is no different in appearance from the ones sold in Chocolate Lovers. To those who don’t know the story why I am doing this, read here.

SC previously claimed their marshmallow is of good quality. They said it is made by Markenburg who also distributes MM products at supermarkets. To really check their quality, Anna (annabanana) also made her own experiment using Markenburg MM from the grocery which turned out well.

To find out what went wrong with my failed batches, I decided to try it myself. I want to check who's fault was it. Was it my cousin whom I entrusted to make the two batches that time or was it the MM from SC? To take out any bias judgment, here's what did and found out.

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These were the two MM's . Obviously, the mallows on the left looks prettier and fresher than on the right. The ones on the right are sticky.

I used the following ratio of ingredients as called for in the recipe:

• 4 oz marshmallow
• 8 oz confectioner sugar
• 1 tbsp water

I started with the SC MM.

At first the melted SC MM doesn’t really look good and couldn’t understand it's consistency.

Once melted, added the sugar but only used less than half of the sugar as it was already dry. The end result was somehow okay. The MMF was pliable.

So my conclusion for the failed batch was my cousin used “too much sugar” that dried out the MMF to an unusable state. I couldn’t blame her for who would have thought that SC’s MM would only require less than half of what the recipe calls for.

Now on with the other MM. Here's how it looked like when melted. Notice the difference.

After both were done, here's how they looked like. No doubt, the one on the right wins again. The one on the left only weighs 7oz, the one on the right 13oz. Also put them to a stress (pliability) test and both passed which means that SC's MM isn't that bad at all as I first thought, my apologies. With that said however does not mean I will be buying their marshmallows :) I used both to decorate this cake... I used the SC MM to cover the entire cake and for the black patches. The whiteness of the other MM really stands out. So if you plan to use white MMF for your cake, my unsolicited advice is, do not buy MM from SC else your white will be greyish white.

here's the final soccer ball cake

My cousin and her family devoured it as I don't like eating cake with fondant icing.

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Zoe Cakes & Cupcakes

Despite the few frustrations in making the skirt part, I was able to put it all together. The cake was simple with just a few brown dots and baby items to decorate. The blocks were made from styrofoams covered with gumpaste. Of course, the customer was aware they weren't edible :)

Along with the cake were a few dozens of cupcakes with baby item toppers and a handful of cupcakes with baby toppers.


The set-up was done at home as the customer opted to have the order picked up.

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Project ZOE

This is ZOE, the baptismal cake topper for Sunday's event. I was quite happy but at the same time frustrated over the "eye" part. Happy as I am able to draw the eyes different from the usual dot style I use. Frustrated as she doesn't look like a baby anymore. The hands and feet this time are also more defined than before. The dove doesn't look as good, I hope I can still make a different one. I hope the overall cake would come out nice.

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Marshmallow Fondant

An easy way to make fondant. You can easily find the ingredients in your supermarket shelves. You just need a microwave oven to melt the marshmallows or you can melt the marshmallow over double boiler. Many cake artists are already shifting from the traditional fondant recipe to this one primarily because of the big difference in taste and the ease of preparation.

INGREDIENTS (You can half the recipe):

• 1 pound or 2.2kg about 500 grams white marshmallow, preferably use the small ones (mini)
• 3-4 tbsps water
• 2 lbs powdered sugar (measured then sifted)
• a generous amount of shortening

PROCEDURES:

1. Combine marshmallow and water and melt it in the microwave for around 2 minutes stirring at 30 seconds interval or melt it in double boiler. The latter takes way longer to make (around 10-15 minutes, shorter for smaller batch).

2. Once melted, immediately add the powdered sugar reserving about 1/3 of it. Mix with a large rubber spatula. Generously place shortening on your working table and on your hands.

3. Transfer the mixture to your working table and start working out your arm muscles. Knead. Add more sugar if it is still sticky. Knead some more until pliable. If you don't intend to use the mixture right away, cover the dough with some shortening then store in a ziplock bag. You can store it in the refrigerator for ah, uhm, I forgot, maybe a month (can't find my notes).

Note: You can use marshmallow from the supermarkets but it will come out more expensive. Buy them from your bakery supplies store...but be careful, make sure you ask for the brand name and stay away from Markenburg, a local brand in the Philippines. No offense meant but read my post about a marshmallow incident.

- Some Useful Tips:

1. You can melt the dough by adding a little water and microwaving at half power for your poured fondant icing. You can then use it for poured fondant recipe.

2. If the dough is too dry and too hard (I mean matigas) to knead, microwave at "defrost" for 10-15 seconds to soften a bit then knead and use right away. Just a word of caution, sometimes this doesn't work hehehe.

3. If you can avoid it, don't make too many if you don't intend to use it in a week's time. You can store in an airtight container for a week, no need to refrigerate. I really don't like to use refrigerated fondant. I like working on fondant that is at least a day old.

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Edible Glue

Use the recipe below to create your own edible glue:

3 tbsp warm water
1/4 tsp Tylose or CMC Powder

Sprinkle CMC powder over water and let stand overnight. The next day you will have a clear edible glue. Add a little water if the glue is too thick.

*Thanks to Lorraine aka Aine2 of Extra Icing on the Cake for this recipe.

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Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cookies are the easiest to bake for starters. Fail or success you can still eat and enjoy them. One tip in baking cookies though ... keep the kids inside their playroom or you will end up with disappearing cookies even before the second batch is baked LOL!

This cookie recipe is not the crispy type like Chips Ahoy. This one is soft-with-a-chew.

INGREDIENTS:

(** always when measuring dry ingredients, spoon the ingredient into the measuring cup and level the top)

• 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
  1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup butter (1 bar butter is 1 cup, take out from the fridge for around 10minutes before using then cut then into smaller cubes)
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed (push it down to your cup first then level)

• 2 large eggs, can be cold from refrigerator
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (actually optional, I don't use vanilla)
• 2 cups (one 11.5 or 12-ounce bag) semisweet chocolate chips (you can use less if you want)
• 1 cup chopped walnuts, optional (chop, then measure but optional if your kids don't like nuts in their cookies. You can also use other nuts like peanuts, almond, or cashew, just not coconut)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Position the oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F or 200 degrees Celsius. (Preheat: light your oven at least 10minutes before starting to bake.)

Bake cookies one sheet at a time for best result.

2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.

3. Beat the butter on low speed until just softened. Add the sugars and cream on low until JUST combined. Do not beat until light and fluffy. Meaning, don't be tempted to overmix it.

4. With the mixer still on low, add the eggs and vanilla and mix on low until JUST combined. Do not beat until fluffy and light in color.

5. Add the flour mixture and fold in with a large rubber spatula. Meaning, add it by hand, don't use the mixer anymore. You should have a few traces of flour showing.

Add in the chocolate chips and walnuts. Fold until just combined. Do NOT overmix.

The dough will be stiff so expect to work out your arm a bit while doing this.

6. Roll one tablespoon of the dough into a ball for each cookie, and place the balls about 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet. I use an ice cream scoop, it's a lot easier.

7. Bake for 7 to 11 minutes (about 5 minutes for smaller cookies) until they are JUST SET and start to show a tiny amount of light brown color on the edges. Let the cookies cool on the sheet for 2 minutes. Then remove the cookies from the sheet to wire racks to cool completely (which I doubt anyway).Makes about 45 cookies. Enjoy!

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Monkey Cake

I was torn between making one big 'flat' monkey on top using frozen buttercream technique and several 3D monkey figures for this cake. My critic thought a flat one is too common. So here's the outcome. A simple design with minimal decorations. I always like to make my cakes like this... a justification for the lazy and uncreative me.

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Sinking Thomas the Train Cake

Restless. Nervous. This describes how I felt delivering a sensitive cake. A little hump on the road sent chills to my spine. I was worried about the little guy sitting atop the cake which I was carrying on my lap.

I was right that it would make an impression on the cake due to it's weight. The chiffon cake base could not hold it's weight well. I should have doweled the part where the topper sits but it was too late to realize what should have been done.

Aside from the chiffon base, the boiled icing makes the cake topper even more unstable.
Now, can you imagine how scary it could be to travel with a cake like this?

By the way, I propped the topper with some toothpicks. The funny part? I forgot to instruct Jack to remove them.

picture from Jack's (The Sweet Fairy) site.

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Thomas the Tank Project

For Saturday's project is an all edible Thomas the Tank sugarpaste topper. I have to check several internet sites for references to how Thomas looks like. I did not get to know this guy much as my sons don't seem to have interest in this cute little fella, never have a Thomas toy ever since.


Oh boy, it was heavy! This topper is all sugarpaste. I wonder how this will sit atop a chiffon based cake. Oh boy, oh boy, I am starting to feel worried it might sink in.



Thomas, behave my dear okay! Keep right on track!

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This time it's the Gelatine

Another local product created havoc in my kitchen. The last time it was Markenburg marshmallows, now Ferna gelatine. The former wrecked my marshmallow fondant and the latter ruined the regular fondant I made today. Weirdly, both created the same result, non-elastic and coarse fondant.

Now give me enough reason to ever trust local brands for my projects?

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That Marshmallow made me Hypertensive

150/90. Yes you read it right, marshmallow raised my blood pressure. No, I don't mean eating marshmallow made me hypertensive.

April 05 was a hectic day for me. Weekends are my Mondays. I was out the whole morning setting up for Andrei's baptismal. I dropped by my supplier to get some boxes. On my way home at around 10AM, my cousin texted me that the marshmallow fondant I asked her to do wasn't as good as the one she made before.

Indeed, when I got home and checked it, it was a disaster. I thought she might have messed up with the ratio of marshmallow, water and sugar but she got it all right when I checked with her. Then she told me that the marshmallow she used was the last pack left which she said kinda looked different from what she used the day before and which tasted different too. I remember, it was the marshmallow I bought from SweetCraft. I don't usually buy my marshmallow from them. Either I get it from Chocolate Lovers or Divisoria or Quiapo but that time I was buying several items from them and thought would try their marshmallow. It's a lot cheaper at 115 for 1 kilo versus 115 for 850 grams at Chocolate Lovers.

The fondant was really a mess. It was crumbling to pieces everytime I try to knead it. I was already in panic. I got no marshmallows left because my cousin tried to make two recipes out of it hoping she'll get it right the second time. But both mixture were a total disaster. I couldn't think of any other ingredient that would make it fail. It couldn't be water nor confectioner sugar. I called SweetCraft, trying to complain about the quality of the marshmallow they have but we only indeed up half arguing as they insisted that their marshmallow is of good quality and pride that it is from MARKENBURG, the same brand that sells in supermarket DAW. They insisted that it must be my recipe. I told them I've been making the same recipe over and over and only failed this time that I used their marshmallow. They still insist that they haven't heard of anyone used marshmallow for fondant yet... so to avoid further argument, as I was already I told them I'd never buy from them again and hung up. I was angry. I might be just one customer but heck, I could spread the word, I thought.

I asked my cousin to rush to Cubao to get some marshmallows. The cake has to be delivered at 4PM and it was already almost 12 noon, just imagine my desperation. While my cousin was away, I tried to remedy the fondant by adding some water and heating it in the microwave. It looked good at first. It became pliable and soft but as soon as it cooled down, it crumbled into pieces again. I was already fuming in anger took my bp which read 150/90. I couldn't let this pass by. I phoned SweetCraft again to get the exact name of their marshmallow supplier. If they wouldn't listen to my complain I'd rather blog about it, just to vent out my feelings. Just then, I was surprised to be greeted with apologies and was told that they called Markenburg to air out my complain. To make the long story short, I gave SweetCraft my fondant recipe as they would want to test the recipe themselves using their marshmallow and those from the other supplier which they said carry the brand Mayfair.

I have kept the fondant I made, I will be bringing this to SweetCraft and the other one we made using Mayfair marshmallow. See the picture below. After kneading for about 1 minute, compare the two icing.
I did a research and it appears that Markenburg marshmallow is a local product. I have nothing against a local product I want to advocate it as much as possible but if it could spell disaster and make me hypertensive, I'd rather not patronize it. Perhaps their marshmallow has a different ratio of ingredients than what others are made of.

I was just thankful that SweetCraft after making me storming in anger the first time apologized, otherwise, I would never ever buy from them again.

The next ime I buy marshmallow, I will make sure it will not be the ones from Markenburg. It might kill me the second time around.

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PAVLOVA CAKE

I was showing my new blog to Jehu and while reading the post about "Baking: Past and Present", he pointed out that I missed out some misadventures in baking and one very thing struck me....a PAVLOVA cake.

PAVLOVA is a meringue dessert named after the Russian ballet dancer, Ánna Pávlova (from Wikipedia). I just knew about this a minute ago :D. My first encounter with this cake was about 15 years ago. A friend's friend offered it to us for dessert. I could never forget the name because the taste hit me like a canon ball. It was indescribably delicious.

I was very happy to find a recipe in one of mom's old handwritten cookbook. I attempted to bake the cake maybe 2 or 3 times, years apart. I could NEVER get it right. Everytime I take out mine from the oven, it always collapsed and flattened. We ate it anyway. Then I gave up.

Now, with memories of it's taste rushing to my tastebuds, I know I gotta make it again. I can't wait. I wonder why I haven't seen any bakeshop sell something like... ahhh...Pavlova.

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Cupcake Babies

When a former co-worker ordered a few cupcakes for baptismal, I insisted I'd design it my way. She simply requested two dozen cupcakes with a "Happy Christening Gerald" in them. I was actually trying to take the opportunity to try a design I saw from a Wilton Yearbook. I found them too cute and simple to make.

Since I posted these babies in my Multiply site, orders had never stopped coming in.

The designs had evolved already to include babies in different positions.






The price for each had evolved too, LOL!

Making these cute little fellas was so much fun but can be stressful especially when you are making more than 50 of them.

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Sugarpaste Project: Karin and Lola Luz

These were my first attempt to do Lorraine's Tutorial on sugarpaste molding. I have had several attempts making human figures even before including those I used in my cupcake babies. However, when I saw Aine's works, I undoubtedly wanted to get hold of her paid tutorials and learn more. Now, look at how my sugarpaste (used 100% gumpaste on this one) figures had improved. Though I still couldn't make it as impressive as it should be, my models' eyes are more detailed now. Practice makes perfect, way to go!!!

She's suppose to be a topper for a cake I was supposed to send to my preggy sister in Dipolog. It just didn't make it... lack of time... and determination LOL!


The one below was my first official practice model. She looks like Lola Luz...

Look at the two of them, don't they look like Lola Luz and Karin? Somehow, the legs of the preggy model 'sank' when the gumpaste hardened.

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Tutorials

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Blogs I Read

These are some of the Sites I lurk at:

Friends' Sites

• Perky Sweet Girl
• Must be That Girl
• Live That Life!
• Evil and Demented Little Cooker Girl

Pinoy Bloggers

• Heart and Hearth
• Heart of Mary
• Life...the way I live/love it!
  

Baking Sites

• JoyofBaking
• Bakerella
• Tartelette - on the Sweet side of Life
• Angie's Recipes
• The Purple Foodie
• Smitten Kitten
• La cuisine de Mercotte
• Baking911
  

Cooking Sites

• Overseas Pinoy Cooking
• Pinoycook - Home Cooking Rocks!
  

Food Photography at it's Finest

• Cannelle et Vanille
• My Explorations

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Recipe Archive

Cakes

1. Apple Cinnamon Cake
2. Banana Cake
3. Carrot Pound Cake
4. Easy Butter Cake
5. Moist Chocolate Cake - Our Secret Recipe
6. Pavlova Cake Recipe

Cookies and Bars

1. Chocolate Chip Scones
2. Chocolate Chip Cookies
3. Mango Bars
4. Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
5. S'mores
6. Thick and Fudgy Brownies

Cupcakes and Muffins

1. Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin
2. Blueberry Streussel Chocolate Chip Muffin
3. Strawberry Cupcake

Simply Delish Treats:

1. Avocado Ice Cream ala Kate
2. Camote Que the Super Easy Way
3. Cathedral Window
4. Chocolate Coated Polvoron
5. Churros
6. Polvoron Espesyal
7. Rolled Pizza

Frostings

1. Italian Meringue Icing
2. Boiled Icing
3. Chocolate Fudge Buttercream
4. Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

Sugarpaste & Decorators Icing

1. Pastillage Recipe
2. Marshmallow Fondant
3. Edible Glue
4. Easy Gumpaste Recipe
5. Royal Icing Using Meringue Powder
6. Color Flow or Run-Out Icing

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Recipes

Cakes

1. Apple Cinnamon Cake
2. Banana Cake
3. Carrot Pound Cake 
4. Easy Butter Cake 
5. Moist Chocolate Cake - Our Secret Recipe 
6. Pavlova Cake Recipe

Cookies and Bars

1. Chocolate Chip Scones
2. Chocolate Chip Cookies 
3. Mango Bars 
4. Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
5. S'mores
6. Thick and Fudgy Brownies

Cupcakes and Muffins

1. Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin
2. Blueberry Streussel Chocolate Chip Muffin
3. Strawberry Cupcake

Simply Delish Treats:  

1. Avocado Ice Cream ala Kate
2. Camote Que the Super Easy Way
3. Cathedral Window
4. Chocolate Coated Polvoron
5. Churros
6. Polvoron Espesyal 
7. Rolled Pizza

Frostings

1. Italian Meringue Icing 
2.  Boiled Icing
3. Chocolate Fudge Buttercream 
4. Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

Sugarpaste & Decorators Icing

1. Pastillage Recipe
2. Marshmallow Fondant
3. Edible Glue Easy Gumpaste Recipe
4. Royal Icing Using Meringue Powder
5. Color Flow or Run-Out Icing

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Basic Baking Information

1. Getting Started at Baking
   

2. Why Bake?
   

3. Basic Baking Equipment
   

4. The Type of Oven you Need
   

5. List of Basic Baking Ingredients
   

6. Types of Frostings & Icings
   

7. Baking Suppliers in Manila
   

8. Will you buy from a Homebaker?
   

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