S.H.A.M.E. on ME!

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.

♥ Kate

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Red Iced Tea

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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Men, Cake & Travel Equals Disaster

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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Back with No Promises

Helloooooo! Anybody there????

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.

I hope to post more. I will try.

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Ariel Cake: The Cake that Never Was

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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Cathedral Window

Originally Posted: May 2010 

Here is my official version of the Cathedral Window. After almost a decade of not making this recipe, I finally conceded to make it one more time to see if I still want to eat it and to check if my picky kids would like it too. This is an adaptation of the old recipe I had.

CATHEDRAL WINDOW

Ingredients:

2 packets Knox gelatin (1/2 ounce)
1/2 cup cold water
1 can condensed milk
2 cups all-purpose cream (500ml or 2 tetra pack Nestle All-Purpose Cream)
colored jellos/gulaman (I used green and red Alsa Mr. Gulaman)

Directions:

1. Prepare your cubed jellies ahead. Simply follow the instructions that comes with the jelly you bought. I used Alsa gulaman in green and red colors only. The gulaman takes about 30-45 minutes to cool down and set. Cut into cubes.

2. Sprinkle 2 packets of Knox gelatin to water and allow to soften for two minutes then melt the gelatin by microwaving for 30 seconds or by slowly heating it over low fire. Once gelatin has melted, mix the rest of the ingredients.

3. Mix the cubed jellies and transfer to your jelly mold. You can use any shape you like, any mold you like. Even glasses will do. Allow to set then chill for a few hours (if you can wait) before eating. If you plan to serve it to your guests, I suggest you use the old school jelly mold, the one that has a removable bottom for easy release.

Enjoy it, it still is the tastiest, yummiest Cathedral Window for me.

Edited: 19 January 2010 for my friend, Anna.

For the colored jellos, I prefer to use the cheap Agar-agar carrying the brand name Mr. Gulaman and the other one, I forgot, similar to the former. These are the ones that requires 6 cups of water per sachet and sets really, really well. Just add a little sugar to make it not to bland.

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My First 5-Tier Wedding Cake

When I accepted this order in September, I couldn't sleep. I was too excited at the same time worried. Three weeks before the event, I was confident I could nail it, and I did. Here is a blurry picture of it.

and a not so blurry one...

Oh boy, was I proud? Oh yeah, baby! There was no panic, everything was a breeze, from preparation to delivery to set up. Whew! I would definitely do it again but it would have been easier, I mean lighter, if some layers are dummy cakes. This was just too heavy. Of course, we did not deliver this stacked but carrying the 3 bottom tiers was back-breaking.

Each layer was doweled with nothing but large bubble straws, no center dowel was used for this one. The bride and groom loved it inside out. That was her word.

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Boiled Icing 2

For quite sometime now, I have been using this Boiled Icing which is the meringue base for the Italian Meringue Buttercream (IMBC) recipe from Joe Pastry's site. The meringue recipe is very similar to the boiled recipe I had posted before except for the amount of sugar that is cooked. In my old boiled icing recipe, all the sugar is cooked while the one below, only a cup is boiled. The sugar in this one is also 3/4 a cup lesser making it less sweet than the previous one. Just read through my notes.


BOILED ICING 2

Ingredients:

5 eggwhites
1 1/2 1/4 cups white sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp cream of tartar

I started to adapt this recipe after my first successful IMBC using their recipe. I had observed that the boiled icing here is more stable and the sugar is cooked faster.

Start off by mixing 1 cup sugar with 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan. Do not stir and make sure there are no specks of sugar on the side of the pan above the water level. Wash them down with drops of water. No need to use pastry brush to do this task. A spoon will do.

Speaking from experience makes me believe that the kind of saucepan you use affects the way the sugar cooks. I have three small stainless saucepans. Two of these are thick-bottomed ones of really good quality while the third one, though not cheap, is a little thinner than the two. Boiling sugar on the last pan always gives me burnt sugar. I won't even make choco fudge icing on this one because it gives me the same result, burnt chocolate. So, I think the kind of saucepan you use has a big role in making a successful boiled icing.

Set the sugar on low heat. Use the smaller burner on your stovetop as much as possible. I don't start heating my sugar on medium -high as opposed to the instruction from Joe Pastry. I did it once on medium heat and it left some crystals on the bottom of my pan.

While waiting for the sugar to boil, start beating your eggwhites with 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar. As soon as it gets to softpeak stage (no more big bubbles or you may refer to the photos at Joe Pastry's site), start adding your 1/4 cup sugar gradually and beat it until stiff but not dry. Once you get to that stage, you can left it at that while you wait for the sugar to cook .

I suggest that you set aside anything you wish to do (like checking FB) while waiting for the syrup to reach the softball stage and just focus your attention to it, admiring the entire process :). When the necessary temperature is almost reached you will visibly notice that the sugar turns a little sticky. Start your thread test.

Okay, before discussing this thread test, let me tell you why I don't use my candy thermometers anymore. My digital/instant read thermometer had ran out of battery and I am too lazy to replace it. It was the more accurate thermometer but if you happen to own one, please note that you need to calibrate it. It is the same with the regular candy thermometer. I will put a note at the last part of this post on how to check for accuracy in your thermometers. Okay, main reason why I don't use them is because with the thread test I cannot go wrong. Simply said, I don't trust my thermometers.

I had attempted before to take pictures of this "thread test" but my camera just couldn't focus on the tiny strand of thread. I checked Google and there is non either :D. So for now just use your imagination.

To do the thread test, dip the end of a spoon into your sugar and lift it above the pan and let the syrup drip. If the soft ball stage is nearly reached you should notice a thread starts to hang from spoon. The higher the temperature gets, the longer the thread is, the more cooked your sugar is. What we are looking for is a thread about 4-6" long. If you see that, turn off the heat, start your mixer again and start pouring the sugar in thin streams to the eggwhite. You may want to do it the Joe Pastry way. Add a little, mix a little, add a little, mix a little. This will avoid splattering the sugar on your mixing bowl. Once all the sugar is added, run your mixer on high and keep beating until the meringue is stiff. I do it for 5-8 minutes on my Kitchenaid mixer and maybe 10 minutes in the hand mixer. I found that with this recipe, there is no risk of over beating it.

My college friend who used to bake told me that her mom puts "kalamansi" (small green lime) juice in her icing and when I asked her what it does, though she, herself, was not sure of her answer, said it could be for keeping the icing from crusting. My mom said she used to do it too but could not give me a scientific explanation. Duh!

That's it, your boiled icing is ready to use. For more questions on this type of icing, feel free to leave a comment here. I'd appreciate if you include your first names so I can address you properly rather than having to call you Ms. Anonymous.

And oh! Yeah, the thermometer. I read it from an old recipe book from my Mom and I quote:

"To check candy thermometer for accuracy, let stand 10 minutes in boiling water. Thermometer should read 212 degrees. If there is any variation, subtract or add to make the same degree of allowance in testing candy."

Now please note that the boiling point of water varies depending on your location. The above test is for locations on sea level only. If you happen to be neighbors with Spongebob, that would be a different story.

Let me leave you a photo of my attempt to pipe roses using this boiled icing recipe. They're not perfect (I suck in piping), they softened a bit,  but the roses did not melt.

I was piping still a quarter of the basketweave side and my hand already screamed, "STOP!"

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