I wish I had better cake news…..

10 05 2011

I have been on a cake hiatus lately, sorry all. I did bake some cupcakes for Amy’s Birthday but we at them before I could photograph them. And I have been taking shortcuts with my cakes lately. I pride myself on the “homemade angle”. However, after a recent health issue and working full-time I gave myself a shortcut. I went to work on Sunday baking a cake for Mother’s Day. It was going to be a Cake two-tier heart-shaped because Mothers are love. I had it all visioned. One large heart and one small heart iced and flowered touting “Happy Mother’s Day”.

The cake was all baked, I use parchment paper to line the pans it makes flipping and releasing so much easier. I inverted the first cake and pulled the paper up and noticed something hard and dark in the cake. ???? Wondering what it was I set out to take it out of the cake. I hadn’t used nuts of anything in the cake. I dug out two pieces of glass from one of the cake.

Horrified I took more pictures...

Yes, I have contacted the company. I do not wish to disparage any company via blog, or internet (I tweeted about it – out of concern). I and many other people have used this companies products in the past. I am just looking for some concern and food safety upgrades and better quality control and checking.

It was a Duncan Hines boxed cake mix Classic Yellow Moist deluxe. If you’d like to know more about it contact me directly – I’m not going to go into a tangent here. But seriously food safety is a concern. This has happened recently in Canada with a Duncan Hines cake mix. The only good thing is no one ate the cake at all so, thank goodness no one was hurt.

So people please be safe and maybe check your mix before adding the water-eggs and oil.

Sincerely,

ShariCakes


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Categories : Concerns and Food Safety

There are cakes on the way…..

26 03 2011

Shari's Birthday Cake courtesy of Weis Markets

Greetings again! Yes after a long hiatus from caking I am starting to get a twinge in my sweet tooth or pastry thumb (you know like green thumb).  Ok I tried to make a joke it wasn’t funny :-) oh well. Anyhoo…I featured this yummy cake because – I wanted to. We had a birthday while we were cake less again and I wanted to share my birthday and my appreciation for the yummy and pretty cakes that call us from the bakery cases. :-)

As some know I am working full time again and not in the cake industry but I will continue to share my cake baking and decorating passions with you from time to time. As spring decends upon us and the days are longer hopefully there will be more and more things that I can share with you. New recipies, cakes, cupcakes, pies  and more sweet things to satisfy your sweet tooth urges. Til then happy spring! And to cakes. Stay tuned and subscribed please – we have some birthdays on the horizon!


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The Cakery has been postless but not sweetless

18 01 2011

 I apologize for missing out on the awesome aromas of fall baking. But while I was working 3 part-time jobs, I was baking behind the scenes. Yes again in tradition – these orange cuties became puree’ and turned into many many yummy treats.

Among the list of fall pumpkin recipes were, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, pumpkin butter and pumpkin soup. All of it perfectly delicious. I used real pumpkin puree and I still have some of if frozen, waiting to amaze taste buds with its amazing qualities.  So our fall baking did go – literally eaten every crumb and drop.

Yummy, pumpkin bread....

I was exhausted literally. I just lacked all types of motivation and literally went on a hiatus from baking of all sorts. I hope that this year I will be able to put my knack back into my cakes and baking possibilities. 

We had two birthdays during this break from cake (:-) just realized that rhymes). My brother had a November Birthday.

 And my mother had a  cool blue December birthday – which we celebrated on New Year’s Eve.


Thanks to my friend Sarah for baking the cake and rushing it over before the ball dropped :-) .  So from baking to cake craze to hiadous…the cakery is still caking. We hope that you will be by again for some cake. Let me know what you would like me to bake this year. I am all ears, wisks and baking bowls ready :-) . As always I welcome your comments and requests.


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Categories : "Busy Baking Bees"

Orange: Bright, vibrant and zesty

27 08 2010

I know what you are thinking, what is so vibrant about this. Well, we had another birthday this past week. It needed to be orange – it needed to be vibrant, and zesty. It needed to be an orange.

So with out the proper shaped pan – I went into experimentation mode – I used a glass bowl to bake the cake. It took awhile to bake and the white butter based cake was so dense (more on that later). But when it was all set and done. It was round and ready to be turned into one of the best fruits on earth.

What is so special about this cake is not that it was hard to do – it was hard to release from the bowl yes – but it was not a difficult task. While the cake baked in the oven I decided on a special frosting Vanilla Butter Cream frosting with real butter. Just whip it up and add some color and voila it is ready to adorn your cake. One the cake was done – and ready to ice, I went to work with the crumb coat and then to the freezer for 5 (min). Afterward, the orange icing coated this moist/dense white cake. With some orange sugar, a hint of green stem and naval this bright birthday cake was complete.

Since I was afraid it was too dry or dense I served it with Mango Water Ice, Orange and Rainbow Sherbet from Ice Cream World this cake was a huge success, tasty and zesty. And trust me there is NOTHING like buttercream icing with a real stick of butter it is delectable.


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Categories : birthday cakes, Cake Fun

Birthdays: August and (July)

12 08 2010

 Yes it is August and we have another birthday to share. Now, I am into cake, making cake, decorating cake, talking about cake, etc etc. But I must say this summer has been HOT even for Pennsylvania, just hot. Too hot frakly to be baking in a house like mine.

So I caved, well not caved but I just didn’t bake. I work in an ice cream shop – so I decorate ice cream cakes all day long. And its busy so why not get an ice cream cake for the summer birthdays. So here it is, a regular vanilla and chocolate ice cream cake with chocolate crunch in the center.

 And while I am at it, I cannot forget July birthdays either; almost a repeat of my birthday – we have mini gourmet cakes – Snickers and Peanut Butter Cup cakes. YUM!!!

Each one just covered in icing, chocolate, carmel, candy and all kinds of sweet drizzles and topped with nothing other than a cherry! So happy, happy summer birthdays. Stay tuned for another August birthday in a few weeks. Will it be cake, ice cream cake, cupcakes or ???? We’ll just have to wait and see!! So stay cool (if you can) this August and savor the rest of this summer month.


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July 4th: Striped and sprinkled with blue and red

4 07 2010

 Today is July 4th,2010, Independence Day – America’s Birthday. As man other countries do, we are celebrating our nation’s birthday. We are celebrating with fireworks, picnics, friends, family, food and cake. Yes, we always have cake at each and every events and then some. While this is similar to last year’s treat, it is not the same.

A different time, date, year and cake shall grace the July 4th festivities here amongst the friends and family of Sweets and S’morsels. Please check back after the fireworks and fun to get the “inside scoop” in this Sweets and S’morsels treat.

Happy Independence Day! Our July 4th treat was yet another heart shaped cake. Let’s face it….if you are celebrating on a day like this you love America – or at least you are fond of the principles set forth so many years ago. Life, liberty and freedom —simple goals and plans for early settlers who came to this great land. So a heart shaped cake was in order.

Complete with blueberries and strawberries this yummy treat was refershing and tasty. Topped with whipped cream blue and red sprinkle sugars and confetti stars. The suprise inside was a first time for me — Jello Poke Cake, and double layered at that as well. Using red and blue Jello, poke the top of the cake with a fork or the end of a wooden spoon and pour the Jello Mixture over the cake and chill. Having room to chill the cake is the key :-) .



So the end result is a red (jello), white (cake) and blue (jello) suprise as you cut the cake. And Enjoy! Fun, food, friends, family and festivities. Blessing to all until the next cake. Happy Baking!


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Categories : Cake Blogging, Cake Events, Featured Cake of the Month

Ice Cream Cake Craze: I scream

4 06 2010

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream. As the saying goes, yes we scream….and yes I get ice cream and I eat ice cream but there has been a heat wave and it seems, a craze for ice cream cakes is on the rise, now.

So I have been summoned…I have been “ice cream” caking for the past two weeks. My part time job has now turned into a full fledged all day-5 day-cake fest.

Wish me luck this summer as I cake away and decorate, oh and before the cakes melt too ;-) . Yes we can’t have that.

So, I have not vanished I have just been busy caking in another sector :-) . We hope to be back on track very, very soon.

DUPLICATE POSTING on Miss Shari’s Storytime.


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Categories : Cake Blogging, Ice Cream Cake

A dollop of daisies and ‘love buds’ for Mom

11 05 2010

So here it is, Mother’s Day – has come and gone – and in my struggle to find the best cake for my mother I ended up with something unexpected. Since I had been under the weather – actually just exhausted from the past few weeks – I wanted something simple. Because I knew that Mom would want something simple. If I had asked her she’d have said a flavor and color nothing fancy. So….as I thought about what I would do. I remembered…….I had two chocolate mini heart cakes still in the freezer from Pat’s Shamrock Birthday Cake - 1 star. I also still had some white, pink and purple icing in the freezer – 3 stars. Now for something fancy – into the cupboard there sat a box of Instant Pudding Chocolate Fudge 2 cups of milk and 2 minutes to whisk – 1 star. Then I went to take a ShariCakes cat nap and read a bit.  

 So, I awoke from my nap and went to work whisking the pudding up to chill, frosting and piecing together my Mother’s Day surprise. It literally just went together, although, small cakes are easy to manage sheet cakes however can be tricky. But this little cake was a charm to put together, frost and decorate…until I realized I was out of green icing for the bud stems. I knew Mom wouldn’t care – so I did the next best thing I could think of…….SPRINKLES. Yes I have a ton of colored sugar in the cupboard as well. So I dusted the cake with some pinks and some greens (in case you thought I went nuts with some abstract flower cake :-) .  And our result was….  

"Oh, Happy Birthday" - Mom "Uh, um" - ShariCakes "Mother's Day"-Mom

Yes, as Mom saw the cake – She said Happy Birthday and I was worried for a bit but yes I guess without a birthday or two or three or four – there would be no Mother’s Day. So after a (well okay for a novice and tired cook) steak dinner with rice and veggies we enjoyed this pink chocolate little gem. Complete with a dozen purple “love buds” for Mom. It was simply small, simple and yummy. 

Daisy Wedding Shower Cake

 

More than a Dollop of Daisies
So the equator decided to visit Northeastern/Southeastern Pennsylvania two weeks ago – I guess what I am saying is, well it was hot. Yeah it was scorching hot and I had this half sheet cake to make for a wedding shower. I knew that it was going to be vanilla and chocolate with that ganache inside. So I needed a cool place to make my cake. My house is bone chilling in the winter and hot, hot, hot in the summer. Very little air flow so having and oven going all day was not a good idea with a ganache filled cake. So I carted my kitchen – yes literally everything but the kitchen sink to my friends Amy and Sarah to make this cake in the AC/Central Air. It was small and a bit difficult but it came together in the end. The cake seemed bigger that the apartment however, it was able to set well and I was in the company of good friends and it turns out they love daisies too.  So in then end we ended up with more than a dollop of daisy – we ended up with a cake covered with daisies. And Congratulations to Monica and Eric – on thier upcoming wedding celebration.


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Categories : Cake Events, Cake Fun

Spring Sweets

13 04 2010

Easter was not forgotten here at Sweets & S’morsels – it was just crazy. However we managed to serve a special treat on Easter Sunday. Complete with LOTS of icing decore.

After a very busy week – of eggs, bunnies and more – what we needed was a simple, tasteful and sweet treat. Spring had sprung and all the pastels we bursting with joy and delight. So I took my oval shaped pans (usually used to make baskets, but I have used it for footballs too!) and went for an “egg-cellent” theme. The cake was a simple strawberry cake for a spring flavor, rather than yellow, chocolate all the time.  It was frosted it in white and then going to the decorating with purple trim, rosebuds and topped with a rose.
 

A complete, Easter treat!

 

With the eggs colore so brightly (we used red onion skins for a few of them), the daffodils, the tulips and the hyacinths we had a sweet spring Easter Sunday.
The ham dinner, with all the fixings – sweets potatos, green beans and salad – made for a perfect afternoon meal.
The day of course was completed only with a slice of strawberry cake.  After a day of family, laughter, warm sun, spring air, a wonderful dinner and peace – a s’morsel was all that was needed. I hope your Easter was blessed and that your spring will be warm, sunny and sweet!
 

 


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Categories : Cake Events

Cake Lit: Lion’s Share by Matthew McElligott

30 03 2010

Okay, so we all know I love cake and kids books. So what we have here is a children’s book about cake. It is a fairly new book 2009, by author and illustrator  Matthew McElligott, Lion’s Share: A tale of halving cake and eating it, too.

In this unusual “cake” tale – a lion has invited the ant and various others to join his special dinner. This seems such a nice gesture until ant realizes what pigs the other guests make of themselves – right down to the cake. See the cake is first presented to elephant who gladly takes half of the cake and passes it down well hippo take half of that and this cake halving continues until ant hasn’t anything but crumbs and nothing left for lion and herself.

She offers to bake another cake for lion tomorrow. Well each guest decides they are going to top that; beetle claims he will make two cakes, frog four and the doubling coninues…until elephant has to make “two-hundred and fifty six” cakes. Well as you might guess as everyone is slaving away the next day – lion and ant are enjoying a strawberry sponge cake.

What I like about this book is its funny twists, its learning experience and it is about cake. This would be a great tool to use for fractions, counting and multiplication. This is a great math learning book, similar to Greg Tang’s math riddle books.


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Categories : Cake Blogging, Cake for thought

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