Just popping in with a couple of bits for you – don’t want you to miss out on any of these goings on!

There’s a free PDF download of 10  of my quick and simple cake decorating projects over on The Pink Whisk Shop 

Go and grab your copy here

I’ve got a bit of a giveaway going on over on The Pink Whisk Facebook page with some goodies from The Pink Whisk Shop – Books, pushpop holders, dusts and sprinkles worth £60+

You’ve got to be in it to win it of course!  Head on over and get your name in the hat here

And last but not least, I’m helping to judge a competition for Taylor Wimpey I know lots of you  who blog would be brilliant at!  Devise your own dream dinner party menu including a starter, main course, dessert and wine and enter it for the chance to win some great cash prizes! (Who’d say no to a little bank balance boost?!)

You can find all the details to enter here

 Have a lovely weekend gang!

Ruth xx

Ruth Clemens, Baker Extraordinaire

Meet me down the aisles of The Pink Whisk Shop – for all sorts of cake decorating and baking delights!

This one may seems a bit daft, but how many of you are covering cakes with a regular old rolling pin?  Chances are its a wooden one and you’re finding it a bit on the short side?  Sugarpaste rolling pins are super smooth and designed to be non-stick, they really are much better to work with than a regular kitchen rolling pin and mean that your sugarpaste is far smoother before it even makes it’s way onto the cake.

Get yourself a dedicated sugarpaste rolling pin,  the longest you can afford (find them here in The Pink Whisk Shop).  Put it on your birthday list or treat yourself.  Covering cakes is a whole lot easier with one of these lovelies!

And once you’ve got it, you need to look after it.  Don’t go ramming it in an already full cupboard you need to protect it from bumps and bangs.  If you’re a little bit sewing handy get yourself a tea towel.  Make a pocket in one of the long sides, measuring it around your rolling and stitch at either end of the pocket.

Sorry, perhaps I should have got the iron out for this pic

Sit the pin in the pocket and roll it up, it’ll keep that rolling pin safe and snug and it can be jammed put in the cupboard without a worry!

You don’t have a sugarpaste rolling pin yet?  Fancy winning one?

I’ve got 2 x 20″ sugarpaste rolling pins worth £25.50 each to give away courtesy of The Pink Whisk Shop!

To enter:  Leave a comment on this post telling me what other bit of kit is on your cake decorating wish list and you’ll be in with a chance of winning one of the rolling pins (facebook and comments emailed to me do not count - you have to come to the website to leave a comment).  Giveaway closes at 5pm Friday 10th May 2013.  Open to UK residents only.  Only one valid entry per person. 2 winners will be chosen at random from all the valid comments received shortly after closing and will be contacted directly.

Ruth Clemens, Baker Extraordinaire

Meet me down the aisles of The Pink Whisk Shop – for all sorts of cake decorating and baking delights!

This will save you a fortune.  Using a modelling paste for most cake decorations, flowers and bits and pieces is much much easier than using sugarpaste (fondant).  It dries out quicker so will hold the shape you want it to with ease.  You can also roll it much thinner than sugarpaste making decorations look much more refined.  The downside is it’s expensive

Make your own instead by adding 1 teaspoon of Tylo powder (find it here in The Pink Whisk Shop) to 500g sugarpaste and knead well.

Wrap it well in clingfilm and allow it to develop overnight before using.

500g of modelling paste, ready to go, without the expensive price tag.

Ruth Clemens, Baker Extraordinaire

Meet me down the aisles of The Pink Whisk Shop – for all sorts of cake decorating and baking delights!

If you’re like me you’ll always end up with some left over coloured sugarpaste at the end of a project.  It needs storing well so that when you next go looking for the green you know you had it’s not completely dried out or welded itself together with a random ball of purple!

Save yourself a fortune and store your sugarpaste easily.

The answer…. a vacuum sealer!

Pop it in a bag, in the machine, press the button and it’s done!

Perfect, organised, fresh as a daisy, excess sugarpaste collection.  Ready to be used up when you need it.  It’s been one of the best bits of kit I ever bought, I have this one by JML – vacuum seal system.

Here’s the full run down on what it can do!

Keeps food fresh and reduce waste with this vacuum seal system from JML. It seals food in compact bags and sucks out the air to keep edibles fresher for longer. Save money by buying in bulk, then seal and save for later. It has all kinds of uses – you can reseal crisp bags, seal toiletries to prevent spills in your luggage and much more.

• Keeps food fresher for longer
• Bags are perfect for home freezing
• Seal and save food
• Less waste – save money

What’s even better?  I’ve got 2 to giveaway, hurrah!

To enter:  Leave a comment on this post telling me what else you’d vacuum seal and you’ll be in with a chance (facebook and comments emailed to me do not count – you have to come to the website to leave a comment).  Giveaway closes at 5pm Wednesday 8th May 2013.  Open to UK residents only.  Only one valid entry per person. 2 winners will be chosen at random from all the valid comments received shortly after closing and will be contacted directly.

Ruth Clemens, Baker Extraordinaire

Meet me down the aisles of The Pink Whisk Shop – for all sorts of cake decorating and baking delights!

Ever turned your hands (and the worktop) purple/orange/green/black?  Mine have been all sorts and usually when you’re off somewhere important.  I don’t buy ready coloured sugarpaste as I find it too sticky and rather colour my own with gel paste colours.  Yes I know you could wear latex gloves but I’m not that organised!

This works a treat when you need enough coloured sugarpaste to cover a cake (350g plus) it’s not going to work with a teeny amount that you need to make a decoration you might as well do it by hand, I’m talking a big bunch of sugarpaste and a whole load of gel paste!

Grease the bowl of your stand mixer with a little bit of Trex (white vegetable fat)

Soften the sugarpaste (kneading, or microwave see top tip no.1) and break it up into bits in the bowl. If it’s not soft and pliable the dough hook will just chase it round the bowl.

Dab on the gel paste colour and fit the dough hook.

Now set it going!  Easy peasy.  Takes 2-3 minutes and then….coloured sugarpaste.

No rainbow hands required!

And I can’t resist just jamming in another couple of tips to this post too – let’s talk black.  The devil of sugarpaste and icing.  Grey, greyish-black yep easy.  Black, not so much.  If you’ve ever done the boot black challenge and everything but your sugarpaste and icing is black then try these tips instead.

Sugarpaste – start by colouring it dark brown first, even better use a chocolate sugarpaste which is naturally dark brown.  They add the black gel paste colour, you’ll get to black in no time at all, without any dire stickiness!

Icing – for liquid icing/royal icing add a tablespoon of cocoa powder first to get your icing dark brown, then colour it black.

Oh how easy, the days of battling grey sugarpaste are over! Thank the cake decorating Gods

Ruth Clemens, Baker Extraordinaire

Meet me down the aisles of The Pink Whisk Shop – for all sorts of cake decorating and baking delights!

Maybe you’ll know my top tips already but just in case…. here’s  number 1

Don’t Knead – Microwave!

Sugarpaste (fondant) has to be kneaded before rolling out and using to cover a cake. It warms up the sugarpaste and makes it soft and pliable ready to cover without splitting and cracking.  The only downside to kneading is that that’s when all those little flecks and bits magically jump into the sugarpaste.  Yes you know the blighters I mean!

Instead of kneading, put the sugarpaste onto a clean plate. and microwave for 10 – 15 seconds.  You’re just warming it up, don’t blast it in the microwave otherwise you’ll burn it and it’ll turn to liquid.

Just gently warmed in the microwave it’s ready to roll straight out and cover your cake.

And, if you’re ready to start a bit of decorating all the basics you’ll find in

The Busy Girls’ Guide to Cake Decorating ;)

More of my top tips coming up every day this week, so until tomorrow Xx

Ruth

Ruth Clemens, Baker Extraordinaire

Meet me down the aisles of The Pink Whisk Shop – for all sorts of cake decorating and baking delights!

Who wants to dive in head first?

You don’t just have to bake cakes in the your Giant Cupcake Tin – time to get them out from languishing in the back of the cupboard and put them to some inventive uses.

And if you haven’t already got a tin, I think I may have convinced you this week to give it cupboard space!  You can get your hands on the Wilton tin in The Pink Whisk Shop as a special deal with both my books – The Busy Girls’ Guide to Cake Decorating and The Pink Whisk Guide to Cake Making for good measure too, you’re going to have to be quick we’ve only got a few left!

Giant Cupcake Tin & Books – The Pink Whisk Shop

Makes me look like I’m wearing a hat!

Ingredients:

Cookie Dough Shell

115g butter, softened

140g caster sugar

1 egg, large

1 tsp vanilla extract

315g plain flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

100g chocolate chips

Chocolate Sauce

250g dark chocolate

50g butter

1 tbsps golden syrup

50ml double cream

To Fill

1 litre of ice cream

20g chocolate chips

Ice cream wafers

To make the cookie dough cream together the butter and sugar

Add the vanilla extract and the egg and beat well.

Work in the flour until the dough is starting to come together.

In go the chocolate chips and mix/knead until it’s all evenly combined.

Now, if your egg was a little on the smaller side you could end up with a dry dough, if that’s the case add 1 tbsp of milk and work it in until the dough is soft and supple.  Too dry and it’ll crack all over the place and you’ll be tearing your hair out!

Prep the base section of the Giant Cupcake Tin, greasing it well.

Lay out a double thickness of clingfilm on your worksurface.

Roll out the dough on top of the clingfilm into a rough circle.  The chocolate chips in the dough will stop you from rolling the dough too thinly and it should end up just the right size if you keep it to a rough circle.

Now pick up the clingfilm rather than the dough and flip it over onto the cupcake tin, clingfilm side should be uppermost.

Gently start to work the dough, still attached to the clingfilm into the tin, easing it down to the bottom.

The clingfilm really helps getting it in andmanoeuvring it about and stops the dough from ripping and splitting.

Once it’s in, carefully peel away the clingfilm and remove it completely.

Start to neaten out the cookie dough bowl, pressing it into the tin to shape the sides and neatening up any folds.  If the dough is sticking to you lightly dust your hands with flour.  Using some of the overhanging dough add a ring around the base the strengthen up the bottom.

Trim away the excess at the top using a pair of scissors or a sharp knife.

Neaten up the trimmed edge using your fingertips.

Once you’re happy place it in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes until firm.

Preheat the oven to 180c (fan)/200c/Gas Mark 6.

Gather together the trimmings and roll them out again, this time cut out small round biscuits and place them on a lined baking tray.

As soon as the oven is ready these little biscuits can be baked in the oven for 6-8 minutes until  very lightly golden brown around the edges.  Allow to cool a little on the tray before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Once the cookie dough bowl is firm line the inside of the case with a double sheet of foil ( try to stop the foil creasing into the dough, keeping it as smooth as possible in the base and sides) fill with baking beans.

Bake it in the oven for 15 minutes.

Take it from the oven and scoop out the majority of the baking beans with a large spoon, gather together the foil and carefully remove from the centre.  Remember that the inside is soft and if you try and get it out all in one go it will most likely rip a hole in the bowl.

Back into the oven for another 15 minutes.

Once baked allow the cookie bowl to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Now you can prep for filling and serving.  I like to scoop the ice cream into balls and keep it in the freezer for a quick assembly.

To make the chocolate sauce, gently melt together the butter, chocolate and golden syrup.

Stir through the double cream and transfer to a jug or container until you need it.  This will set when cool but can be quickly warmed through back to a liquid state in the microwave or small pan when you’re ready to serve.

To serve simply fill the cooled shell with the mini chocolate cookies, scoops of ice-cream and extra chocolate chips.  Top with some ice-cream wafers and a a good generous amount of warmed chocolate sauce!

Ruth Clemens, Baker Extraordinaire

Meet me down the aisles of The Pink Whisk Shop – for all sorts of cake decorating and baking delights!

Split it and fill it!

This photo is showing a cupcake base trimmed down, so it will fit in a chocolate shell.  If you’re covering with buttercream or sugarpaste (fondant) then there’s no need to trim away the sides.

Cake is much easier to trim and split when it’s cold.  Wrap your cake well in clingfilm and then chill in the fridge for a couple of hours.  A sharp serrated knife is the best to use and always cut in towards the centre of the cake, never letting the knife burst out of the cake through the crust as that pulls away the clean shape of your cake.

Have you ever split a cake in two, lifted off the top feeling sure you’ll remember exactly which way it goes back on…..and then instantly forget?

Insert two cocktail sticks one directly above the other one on the base portion, one on the top and then lift it off.

Once you’ve put your filling in the middle line them up again and you have a perfectly matched top and bottom!

Cover it in Sugarpaste (fondant)

Trim both pieces flat and cover the cake in ganache or buttercream, depending on your preference.  Set it onto an upturned side plate or bowl.  This gives you room to trim off sugarpaste at the base neatly with scissors, tucking a little sugarpaste under the edge giving you a completely covered shape.

Cover the base upside down.  It’s much easier.

Make it a Chocolate Shell!

Full instructions for the shell are here,  you will need to trim down the cake to fit it inside!

There really is lots you can do with Giant Cupcakes  once your imagination gets hold, not to mention using the tin for something completely different – these are just a few tips to help you along the way x

Ruth Clemens, Baker Extraordinaire

Meet me down the aisles of The Pink Whisk Shop – for all sorts of cake decorating and baking delights!

Yes it’s completely chocolate!

How about sitting your Giant Cupcake Cake in this?!

To make a Giant Cupcake base chocolate shell you will need 400g of chocolate, white dark or milk.  My photos show a blue chocolate shell as it’s easier to see in the photos – tips of colouring white chocolate are at the end of the post.

Work with 150g of chocolate to begin with and melt gently.

Pour it into the base of the clean dry Giant Cupcake tin.

Gently turn the tin so that the chocolate swirls and coats the inside of the tin completely.

Use a pastry brush to help if you need to.

Set the shell somewhere cool, but ideally not the fridge to allow the first coat to set.

Once that’s set melt another 150g of chocolate and pour it into the set shell.

Use a pastry brush to recoat the first layer completely and then allow to set again.

Finally repeat with the final 100g of chocolate.  Pay attention to the very top edge using the pastry brush to lift the chocolate right up to the top trying to keep the chocolate even across the shell.

Set aside to set fully.

Once it’s set completely it’s time to get it out.

Much easier than you may think.  Insert the fingers of one hand into the shell and apply pressure on the shell upwards and towards the side of the tin.  You should feel a sharp pop as the shell releases.

Carefully remove the shell from the tin.

Ta Dah – one expertly made chocolate shell.

You can trim the top edge very neatly with a sharp warmed knife.    The base of the Giant Cupcake cake will have to be trimmed down with a sharp serrated knife to fit inside.  Just taking off the ridges around the side will have it just the right size for you.

Just don’t put it next to the hot kettle – doh!

Top Tips:

Dark chocolate is much more forgiving to work with than milk and white.

Avoid subjecting your chocolate to extremes of temperature – melt it gently gently and cool it at room temperature avoiding the fridge if at all possible.  Both heat and cold can cause the chocolate to bloom when finished, putting you right back to square one.

If you can’t get your shell out of the tin.  First check that your shell is thick enough, it really does need to be made with the full 400g amount of chocolate and should pop out easily.  If it doesn’t pop the whole lot in the freezer for a couple of minutes and then try again.  A gentle squeeze upwards and to the side of the tin with the fingers of one hand should just release it.

White chocolate can be coloured using food dusts, don’t use gel paste colours they will cause the chocolate to seize.  To colour with food dusts remember that white chocolate is actually fairly yellow.  Rather than choosing a dust that is the shade that you want choose one much darker then you won’t have to use as much.

Sift the food dust first as it tends to clump together in the pot a fair bit.  Place the dust in a small bowl and add a good couple of spoonfuls of melted chocolate.

Work out any specks of dust in the chocolate with a spatula, paddling it against the side of the bowl.  This bit is super important,  if you don’t get rid of them now the finished shell will have a speckled effect.

Now add this coloured chocolate back to the rest of the melted chocolate.  Repeat until you have the right shade.

Create a squiggly white and dark chocolate shell by piping in slightly cooled (so it doesn’t run everywhere) white chocolate  in squiggles.  Set the white and then create a dark shell around it using 400g of dark chocolate.

You’ll be turning out Chocolate Shells in no time!

Ruth Clemens, Baker Extraordinaire

Meet me down the aisles of The Pink Whisk Shop – for all sorts of cake decorating and baking delights!

Lots of you have requested cake recipes for a giant cupcake tin,  so I thought I’d put them on the blog for you all to use. You can pretty much use any cake recipe but how much?  I have to admit in the past I’ve just made a big old batch of cake mix, filled up the tin and then used the extra for cupcakes, so you don’t have to you’ll be pleased to hear I’ve worked out quantities for you!

Ingredients:

225g butter, softened

410g caster sugar

4 eggs, large

90g self-raising flour

280g plain flour

1 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

90g cocoa powder

300ml milk

45ml (3 tbsps) vinegar (malt or white wine vinegar is fine)

I’ve tested three different giant cupcake tins and they all take practically the same amount of mix and is the equivalent to a 10″ cake tin recipe.

I know lots of you bake the base and the top separately but in all honesty I’m too impatient for that and in fact there’s only a five minute difference between the top being done and the base fully cooked through, certainly not enough to excessively dry out the top, so shoot me the base and top get baked together!

First up prep your tin – a really important step in getting it out whole.  Spray cake release is by far the easiest but greasing with butter will do just the same, just make sure you grease every nook and cranny.

Place a circle of baking paper in the bottom of the base.

Now on with the cake….

Preheat the oven to 140c (fan)/160c/Gas Mark 3.  A longer gentler bake means that the cake doesn’t take on a hard thick crust.

Measure the milk and vinegar into a jug, quick stir and then set it to one side.

Cream together the butter and sugar until it’s nice and fluffy – no skimping on this stage please!  If you don’t get enough volume into it now, you won’t have enough to fill your tin.

Beat in the eggs one at a time making sure the mix goes light and fluffy again after each.

Now you need to mix in all the dry ingredients and the milk/vinegar mix until it’s evenly incorporated.

Time to fill up the tin.

Fill the top first – and roughly level – fill it to about 2cm short of the rim.

Now add the rest of the cake mix to the base section – this one will have slightly more space to the top of the rim but as it contains more mixture it’s got more oomph to rise.  Roughly level them both with the back of a spoon.

Bake in the oven for 1hour 10mins – 1 hour 15 mins, check the centre of the base section with a skewer and bake until it comes out clean.

Now out of the oven BUT DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT TURNING IT OUT NOW!

Set a timer for 25 minutes and leave it for now.

After 25 mins is up place your cooling rack on the top of the tin and turn them both over together.

Give the rack and tin a firm tap on the worksurface and carefully lift away the tin.

If you realise the cake hasn’t released as you go to lift away the tin give it another sharp tap until it does.

Now leave to cool fully on the rack.

Perfectly turned out Chocolate Giant Cupcake Cake – ready to trim and decorate!

Ruth Clemens, Baker Extraordinaire

Meet me down the aisles of The Pink Whisk Shop – for all sorts of cake decorating and baking delights!

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