{New to the Shop} Feather Her Nest Collection

Our newest collection called Feather Her Nest is elegant and beautiful.  What a lovely way to celebrate a new mommy to be.  My sweet friend Gina asked if I could help put together a baby shower collection for a surprise shower she was hosting for her friend Dominique who would be visiting from New York City.  How could I say no?  Gina wanted to incorporate a design she found on a recent vacation which was a stencil of a bird's nest.  She also wanted to incorporate flourishes within the designs as well as on the cupcake toppers and favor tags.  We decided to use a soft color palette of pinks and included a beautiful Moroccan pattern for the designs.  The Feather Her Nest printable collection is perfect for celebrating the upcoming arrival of a baby girl, baby boy or gender surprise as our collection is also available in multiple colors!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click HERE for our Tissue Paper Pom Pom tutorial.

 

 

 

The "Feather Her Nest" printable collection includes:

1. Invitation (5 x 7)
2. Nest Pennant Banner (baby)
3. Blank patterned pennant banner
4. Wrappers (nest)
5. Blank Gift Tags/Labels (custom text for additional fee)
6. Blank tents/placecards (custom text for additional fee)
7. Wish tags (my wish for you...)
8. 2 Inch Party Decor (4 designs)
9. 2 inch favor tags (thank you)
10. Cake toppers/table decor/lollipops (2 designs)
11. Welcome sign 

12. Straw ribbons flags

Text can be customized. Please email me for info. 

The “Feather Her Nest” printable collection is currently on sale for 50% off in my etsy shop HERE until May 11, 2012.

2" Flourish Craft Punch

Cupcakes: Delish

Soap Nest Favors: Good Luck Charm Designs

Scallop Cake Plates: Pier 1 Imports

Strawberry Cake Pedestal 

Tissue Paper Pom Pom Tutorial 

{tutorial} Marshmallow Pops

I often receive emails on how I made the Marshmallow Pops for the Hello Kitty party I hosted a while back.  I thought it would be fun to put together a simple tutorial for you.  These marshmallow pops are always a hit at parties and you can choose from so many different toppings to match your party's color palette.

Supplies:

Marshmallows

Melted Chocolate Morsels/Chips

Sprinkles

M&Ms

Mini Cupcake Liners

Lollipop Sticks

Ramekins

Parchment Paper

Small knife

1. Gently place a marshmallow halfway into your melted chocolate.

2. Dip chocolate covered marshmallow into your sprinkles.

3. Place marshmallow bottom onto your parchment paper.  Add a dollop of melted chocolate onto the top of the marshmallow.

4. Place an M&M onto the chocolate dollop.
Repeat steps 1 - 4 for each of your marshmallows.  Place marshmallows in the refrigerator for a few minutes to let chocolate harden.

5. In the meantime, take your cupcake liners and CAREFULLY place a small slit in the middle using a small knife.

6. Remove your marshmallows from the refrigerator.  Slip a cupcake liner onto a lollipop stick.  Add a marshmallow on top of the stick by gently pushing and turning until it sits steadily in place.   Take care not to squeeze your marshmallows too hard.  

7. Slide your cupcake liner up so that it fits right over your marshmallow.
Repeat steps 5-7 for each marshmallow.

Voila!

A fun way to display your Marshmallow Pops is to place them in a bucket or tin.  Fill with sugar (top with candy if you desire) and place Marshmallow Pop sticks into the sugar.  The sugar is a great way to keep your sticks in place. 

Enjoy!

{Recipe} Cherry Blossom Macarons from Cannelle et Vanille

I have wanted to post this recipe for a long time but wanted to wait until now with it being Spring with the flowers in bloom.  Aran Goyoaga of Cannelle Et Vanille took inspiration from nature, specifically cherry blossoms when creating this macaron recipe for Martha Stewart Weddings.  Aran works as a freelance food stylist, photographer, and writer.  She creates delicious recipes and captures stunning photos on her award-winning blog Cannelle Et Vanille (that's "Cinnamon and Vanilla" in French). Scroll down to view Aran's Cherry Blossom Macaron recipe so you too can make these macaron beauties!

Makes about 4 dozen small macarons

Note: Make three batches of this recipe, and color each with a different shade. Use bright pink, pale pink, and copper colors.

MACARON SHELLS

180 grams almond flour
240 grams powdered sugar
140 grams egg whites
3 grams egg white powder
2 grams of finely ground sea salt
80 grams granulated sugar
Few drops of food coloring

In a large bowl, sift together the almond flour, powdered sugar, and salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, add the egg white and the egg white powder. Whip on medium speed until egg whites start to increase in volume.

When the egg whites are almost fully whipped and very fluffy, slowly start sprinkling in the sugar. After all the sugar is incorporated, whip the meringue on high speed until stiff peaks have formed. Then add the food coloring.

Add the dry ingredients to the meringue and, with a spatula, fold the meringue into the dry ingredients. This is called “macaroner.” It is better to fold slowly and test a couple of macarons because it is possible to over fold this mixture. You want a shiny mass. For this amount of ingredients, I would say that it will only take about 10 to 15 strokes. But again, it is better to check for consistency. You are looking for a mass that spreads a little but not too much, otherwise the macarons will be flat.

Pipe the mass onto half sheet pans lined with silpats. Let them sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes to dry. You want the tops not to stick to your finger when you touch them. This will ensure a crack-free macaron.

Have your oven preheated at 350 degrees. Bake one sheet pan at a time positioning it in a middle rack. Turn oven to 300 degrees. Bake for about 8 minutes and rotate sheet pan to ensure even baking. It should take about 14 minutes, but that depends on the oven. You want to be able to pick up the macaroon without it falling apart, but you don’t want to over bake it either. It is better to bake it slowly so no browning occurs.

Remove them from the oven and slide the silpat onto a cold surface. Let them cool on the silpat.

BUTTERCREAM FILLING

Note: Flavor the buttercream for the pink macarons with cherry blossom extract and the copper ones with cocoa powder.

100 grams of egg whites
200 grams of granulated sugar
300 grams of room temperature unsalted butter
flavoring (cherry blossom extract and sifted cocoa powder)

In the bowl of an electric mixer, lightly whisk together egg whites and sugar. Place over a water bath until sugar is dissolved and the mixture is warm to the touch, shiny, and very fluffy. Bring bowl to the electric mixer and whip, adding a tablespoon of butter at a time, until stiff peaks form. Make sure the meringue has cooled to room temperature. Then add the flavoring and mix until incorporated.

Pipe a teaspoon of the buttercream on a macaron and top with another one that is similar size.

Frost by Numbers: How to Make Frosting Colors

I received the May issue of Food Network Magazine in the mail yesterday.  I wanted to share with you a fabulous cupcake icing color chart from the magazine. Now with this handy dandy chart, you too can make frosting in amazing new colors — with just a basic box of food coloring.

Helpful Tip:  Pure white frosting is ideal for dyeing.  Don't add vanilla extract as it will alter the color of the icing.

Remember this cupcake frosting guide created by Glorious Treats that I posted about HERE?

(Left to Right)  Large round tip, Open star (Wilton 1M), Closed star (Wilton 2D), French tip

Now you have everything you need to create the perfect cupcake in your favorite colors!

{Interview} Meet Wild Orchid Baking Company

Recently, I was putting together pictures for a new boards on Pinterest called Somewhere Over the Rainbow and another board for Beautiful Flowers.  That is when I came across the most elegant and exquisite cakes. I instantly fell in love and had to learn more.  I discovered that the creator and designer behind these gorgeous pieces of art is Erin from Wild Orchid Baking Company.  See my first post HERE featuring Erin's tutorial on creating your own cake flowers.

Located in the North Hampton, NH, Wild Orchid Baking Company offers cakes and cupcakes that are breathtaking masterpieces.

I had the honor and privilege to interview Erin last week and I am delighted to share with you some of her beautiful and unique designs. Are you ready to swoon?

{Question}  Please tell us about Wild Orchid Baking Co., from conception of the idea to where you are today.

Wild Orchid Baking Company is a custom cake studio in North Hampton, NH. I started my food career as a fine dining restaurant pastry chef a little over 10 years ago. 5 years ago while trying to figure out what direction I wanted my pastry career to take, I took a sugar flower class with Ron Ben-Israel. I instantly fell in love with sugar flowers and knew this was what I wanted to do! I started making the cakes from my house, mostly for family and friends. Then 3 years ago I opened up shop. Today we're a busy custom cake studio, creating cakes for weddings and any other occasion. At times it's been a bumpy road, but I always feel so lucky to do what I love!

{Question}  Do you have a favorite cake that you created?

From a design perspective, I don't know that I could pick a favorite cake! One near and dear to my heart is actually the biggest cake I've ever made. It was 7 tiers of cake and close to 1,000 sugar flowers. It took weeks of planning, prepping and stressing out. But when it was all said and done, the cake was a success! It was such a special moment for me in my cake career. It helped me realize that if I put my mind to it, nothing is out of reach.  From a flavor perspective my latest favorite is my orange-clove cake. It's so summery and light and absolutely surprises everyone who tastes it!

{Question}  What are your favorite sources for inspiration when creating your beautiful cakes?

When creating cakes I love to look at other designer's work, but I also love non-cake related sources. I love to draw inspiration from fashion, textiles, art, etc. Inspiration can really come from anywhere!

{Question}  What is next for Wild Orchid Baking Co.?  Would love to hear about them!

So many fun things on the horizon for WOBC! This upcoming wedding season has me so excited! Couples are more open than ever to using un-traditonal designs. Color is also very big this year. As a business we'll be launching a new line of Giant Cupcake Cakes for our clients who want a little something special, without doing a full custom cake. A very special project I'm working on is adding Dessert Buffets to our sweet offerings! I've been working on this a while now, because if we're going to do it, we have to do it right! Look for expanded individual dessert selections and even stands and dishes!

Thanks so much Erin for sharing your answers with us today!