The Cake Ninja, that's who.
Unfortunately, due to an uptick in hours at work (massive server moves will do that to a software dev, unfortunately) and the third trimester lack of energy I am currently experiencing, I have not been able to put together the next post in the Cake 101 series. I am hoping to have it up in the next week or two, and will try to plan better for the rest of the series. Lesson 2 is all about having the right ingredients, and what happens when you do not (aka: why I did not enter my threadcake this year).
However, I am filming a how-to on icing flowers this weekend. When it will be edited and online is up to the schedule of my cinematographer/editor/husband, but watch this space for details.
October 14, 2011
September 6, 2011
Cake 101: Lesson 1: Know Your Audience
Labels:
cake 101
I was going to start off Cake 101 by diving into ingredients or techniques or baking pans, but I was reminded over the weekend of the most important thing about making a cake: knowing your audience.
That is, who is the cake for, why is it being made, when must it be done by, and what's really important to them?
Who
This is important. I'm getting ready to do my three year old's birthday cupcakes, and it'll be cake mix, store bought frosting, and pre-made sugar decorations. 1) The store bought decorations are the theme she wants (and less time and expense than doing them myself). 2) She wants funfetti cake, and while I could make my own funfetti cake from a white cake recipe, she does not care if Mom whips egg whites into a frenzy or just stirs the mix up. 3) There are potential peanut allergies among her attendees and using store bought cuts down on potential issues.
I would not serve cake mix to a pastry chef, but neither would I serve a delicate three layer sponge cake to a room full of three year olds. Know the who and their sophistication level and expectations.
Why
Equally important is why. Different occasions call for different recipes, techniques, levels of skill, and expected lack of errors. The cake I make for a paying client has to meet a higher standard than the cupcakes for my toddler or the cake I'm taking to a work potluck or a family occasion.
Knowing the why is the difference between scrapping an entire cake and starting over and being able to do a good cover-up job and not worry. It's entirely likely that you're not baking for the judges of Food Network Challenge, so feel free not to hold yourself to their incredibly high standards. Know the standards of the occasion and strive to meet them.
When
What is your deadline? When must you be done? Is it a hard deadline or a soft/self-imposed deadline? What other things are happening in that time frame that might interfere with your baking? When is critical. There's nothing worse than staying up until 3am finishing a commissioned cake because you mis-planned your timeline.
Back to the cupcakes for a moment -- not only did my toddler request cupcakes specifically, but I knew I'd be more than likely having to work Friday or Saturday of the party weekend. Cupcakes take nearly no time at all, and thus are a better choice.
On the other hand, I spent over two weeks on my husband's birthday cake last year between prepping gumpaste shapes, letting them dry, painting them, prepping frosting, etc. You have know how long it takes you on average to do something, and what your commitments are in order to make a good timeline. Always add fudge factor -- as in "OH FUDGE! I dropped the cake!"
What
Lastly, know what is important to the person the cake is for. I love making big elaborate cakes. This year, I am not making one for my husband's birthday (he's requested a red velvet cake with cayenne -- I'm interested to see how the recipe I found turns out) or for my toddler, because neither of them wanted one.
You can have the most fantastic cake skills in the world, but if it's too ornate, too fancy, or just plain not what the recipient wanted, then it's not the right cake. Does the recipient hate fondant? Don't use it. Pay attention to every detail - color, shape, design, etc. It is often more important that the recipient be happy than that you be happy -- and what makes them happy is not necessarily going to align with your expectations.
(Never fear, I have plans of making an elaborate cake for my own birthday. It will be a ninja carousel. It's going to rock!)
So that's Cake 101: Lesson 1. Know Your Audience. Thoughts? Comments? Questions? The Denver Cake Ninja is all (virtual) ears.
That is, who is the cake for, why is it being made, when must it be done by, and what's really important to them?
Who
This is important. I'm getting ready to do my three year old's birthday cupcakes, and it'll be cake mix, store bought frosting, and pre-made sugar decorations. 1) The store bought decorations are the theme she wants (and less time and expense than doing them myself). 2) She wants funfetti cake, and while I could make my own funfetti cake from a white cake recipe, she does not care if Mom whips egg whites into a frenzy or just stirs the mix up. 3) There are potential peanut allergies among her attendees and using store bought cuts down on potential issues.
I would not serve cake mix to a pastry chef, but neither would I serve a delicate three layer sponge cake to a room full of three year olds. Know the who and their sophistication level and expectations.
Why
Equally important is why. Different occasions call for different recipes, techniques, levels of skill, and expected lack of errors. The cake I make for a paying client has to meet a higher standard than the cupcakes for my toddler or the cake I'm taking to a work potluck or a family occasion.
Knowing the why is the difference between scrapping an entire cake and starting over and being able to do a good cover-up job and not worry. It's entirely likely that you're not baking for the judges of Food Network Challenge, so feel free not to hold yourself to their incredibly high standards. Know the standards of the occasion and strive to meet them.
When
What is your deadline? When must you be done? Is it a hard deadline or a soft/self-imposed deadline? What other things are happening in that time frame that might interfere with your baking? When is critical. There's nothing worse than staying up until 3am finishing a commissioned cake because you mis-planned your timeline.
Back to the cupcakes for a moment -- not only did my toddler request cupcakes specifically, but I knew I'd be more than likely having to work Friday or Saturday of the party weekend. Cupcakes take nearly no time at all, and thus are a better choice.
On the other hand, I spent over two weeks on my husband's birthday cake last year between prepping gumpaste shapes, letting them dry, painting them, prepping frosting, etc. You have know how long it takes you on average to do something, and what your commitments are in order to make a good timeline. Always add fudge factor -- as in "OH FUDGE! I dropped the cake!"
What
Lastly, know what is important to the person the cake is for. I love making big elaborate cakes. This year, I am not making one for my husband's birthday (he's requested a red velvet cake with cayenne -- I'm interested to see how the recipe I found turns out) or for my toddler, because neither of them wanted one.
You can have the most fantastic cake skills in the world, but if it's too ornate, too fancy, or just plain not what the recipient wanted, then it's not the right cake. Does the recipient hate fondant? Don't use it. Pay attention to every detail - color, shape, design, etc. It is often more important that the recipient be happy than that you be happy -- and what makes them happy is not necessarily going to align with your expectations.
(Never fear, I have plans of making an elaborate cake for my own birthday. It will be a ninja carousel. It's going to rock!)
So that's Cake 101: Lesson 1. Know Your Audience. Thoughts? Comments? Questions? The Denver Cake Ninja is all (virtual) ears.
June 10, 2011
Could it be content?
Labels:
cake 101,
threadcakes
It just might be indeed.
I have learned the folly of committing to what I am going to do for threadcakes too soon. I have decided, given that we are moving into a new house in late July, that perhaps I ought to pick something I am not going to have to move between houses -- which means no gumpaste. With the contest over in mid-August, I did not think I'd have enough time to prep the gumpaste after the move, and I really don't want to try to move a 10" bicycle wheel made out of gumpaste across town -- that seems like a chance for disaster to me.
Instead I am going to try a new-to-me technique called frozen butter cream transfer. I've done the Wilton method of butter cream transfer where you use piping gel to delineate your picture and then pipe directly onto the piping gel on the cake. This is different -- it involves building the transfer on wax paper, freezing it, and then flipping it over onto the cake. This does mean that this year's cake will be 2D and not 3D, but it also means I might have half a shot at placing.
In other news, I am starting to prep a series of blog posts called Cake 101, which will be part of something I'm going to call Cake Ninja University. These posts will be the foundation for the YouTube (or possibly BlipTV - my editor and cinematographer likes their terms of service and conditions on how they will use our content better) videos I will be doing next year. And yes, there will eventually be Cake 102, 201, etc.
This is where you, my audience, (is there anyone out there?) come in. I have some ideas for where to start -- the first few posts will be about ingredients, tools, pans, and display methods -- but I also want to know what people want to hear about. So what would you like to see in a Cake 101 post or show?
I have learned the folly of committing to what I am going to do for threadcakes too soon. I have decided, given that we are moving into a new house in late July, that perhaps I ought to pick something I am not going to have to move between houses -- which means no gumpaste. With the contest over in mid-August, I did not think I'd have enough time to prep the gumpaste after the move, and I really don't want to try to move a 10" bicycle wheel made out of gumpaste across town -- that seems like a chance for disaster to me.
Instead I am going to try a new-to-me technique called frozen butter cream transfer. I've done the Wilton method of butter cream transfer where you use piping gel to delineate your picture and then pipe directly onto the piping gel on the cake. This is different -- it involves building the transfer on wax paper, freezing it, and then flipping it over onto the cake. This does mean that this year's cake will be 2D and not 3D, but it also means I might have half a shot at placing.
In other news, I am starting to prep a series of blog posts called Cake 101, which will be part of something I'm going to call Cake Ninja University. These posts will be the foundation for the YouTube (or possibly BlipTV - my editor and cinematographer likes their terms of service and conditions on how they will use our content better) videos I will be doing next year. And yes, there will eventually be Cake 102, 201, etc.
This is where you, my audience, (is there anyone out there?) come in. I have some ideas for where to start -- the first few posts will be about ingredients, tools, pans, and display methods -- but I also want to know what people want to hear about. So what would you like to see in a Cake 101 post or show?
May 23, 2011
I have failed at updating this blog
For which I am terribly sorry.
Truthfully, I haven't been making much cake. I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic, so I figured that by not making cakes I'd not be tempted to eat them and my blood sugar would remain good.
Plus, I haven't taken any photos of the cakes I have completed recently, so I don't have any content.
I would promise to be better about content, but I know myself too well -- I might keep it up for a bit, and then it'll all fall apart again.
I am actually planning on making a new push on the whole DenverCakeNinja thing in the coming year -- we're buying a new house and I'll have a nice, light, airy, and large kitchen with an island to work on, so watch this space for a redesigned website, etc.
For now, I promise that there will be cake -- Threadcakes opens again in about a month. This year I am going all-out with the gumpaste (two words: bicycle wheel), so we'll see if I have any better luck this time around than the previous two years. I also fired my sous chef, so while I'll have to go it entirely alone, I also won't have to deal with directing another person, trying to get them off their cell phone and focused on task, etc. etc. etc. We shall see how it goes.
Truthfully, I haven't been making much cake. I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic, so I figured that by not making cakes I'd not be tempted to eat them and my blood sugar would remain good.
Plus, I haven't taken any photos of the cakes I have completed recently, so I don't have any content.
I would promise to be better about content, but I know myself too well -- I might keep it up for a bit, and then it'll all fall apart again.
I am actually planning on making a new push on the whole DenverCakeNinja thing in the coming year -- we're buying a new house and I'll have a nice, light, airy, and large kitchen with an island to work on, so watch this space for a redesigned website, etc.
For now, I promise that there will be cake -- Threadcakes opens again in about a month. This year I am going all-out with the gumpaste (two words: bicycle wheel), so we'll see if I have any better luck this time around than the previous two years. I also fired my sous chef, so while I'll have to go it entirely alone, I also won't have to deal with directing another person, trying to get them off their cell phone and focused on task, etc. etc. etc. We shall see how it goes.
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