Daring bakers make sugar cookies!

The September 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Mandy of “What the Fruitcake?!” Mandy challenged everyone to make Decorated Sugar Cookies based on recipes from Peggy Porschen and The Joy of Baking.

I was so happy that the bloggers this month chose a challenge that I was planning to do that week anyway! I had a try of the recipe, made loads of cookies and then tried some new icing techniques, as well as decorating some with little fondant mickeys for a birthday party.



I found the recipe was great, although when I tasted a cookie it was on the dry side. I guess you en

d up sacrificing a little of the buttery goodness for a cookie that is super easy to roll out, and that doesnt spread when baking, so I made sure to use lots of icing with a kick of lime juice to increase the flavor.

I tried some different techniques here. Firstly, I tried piping a border around the cookies to make sure the outside of the icing was neat, then I filled in with white icing and used dots or swirls of red icing to create various effects. This was easier than I expected!

With another batch, I added a dollop of the sugar icing, then a cute fondant mickey, with a letter 'c' for the birthday boy!

Make sure to check out the other daring bakers, I'm sure there will be some wonderful designs!!

Slow blogging times

I've been terribly slow with the blogging lately, life has really got in the way. I've had some great foodie things going on with fun cakes, the ICES conference, and a house remodel. Thats all got in the way! I thought I'd share some of my cakes that I've been making, its been a fun time and I think I've made some progress.

My dear friend is getting married in a couple of weeks, and I've been working hard on my cake skills to make sure I can make her a great cake. Since its going to be square, I've been practicing square cakes. I had a fun time creating this little display with a yo gabba gabba theme.

This 'little mermaid' themed cake was a lot of fun. I dont like doing human characters so I cheated with a cute little birthday candle from Toys R Us and then added lots of my own touches. It was a lot of fun getting the disco dust and shimmering powders out for lots of girly glitter!

I also had a request from a friend to make a 'mighty boosh' cake for her husband. His favourite episode involved a pac-man game, so I thought it would be fun to add that as a border.

It was also really fun to make a wedding cake, always a happy occasion, the bride was super sweet and wanted something really simple. I loved how this came out.

My most recent cake was quite a project! My friend stealthily had to 'borrow' her sons favourite toy for me to take pictures and measurements of, then I set about making this big garbage truck out of cake. I knew it was a success as soon as I got to the party, everyone was very excited with it, especially the birthday boy, I saw a picture on facebook him standing next to the cake with the biggest grin I've ever seen!

I'm really enjoying making these cakes, I'm hoping to start a small side project selling them soon, once I've got a kitchen space organised. If you're interested in my cakes then feel free to follow me on facebook at www.facebook.com/jennywennycakes to hear more, or email me at jennywennycakes at gmail dot com.

That will all have to wait though, I'm jetting off to the UK for a week and I'll have lots of stories about chip butties, curry, and hopefully an incredible wedding cake for my friend!