Sweet Things...

My 1st Painted Cake goes to my new Daughter-in-Law Chelsea Campbell!

Happy Birthday Chelsea!

 

(7-Up Confetti Cake with Lemon Butter Cream Frosting - it's a party on the inside! )

 

I had so much fun painting this cake that I can't wait to paint another one.  My son likes to bake and suggested we go into business!  Said he'll bake and I paint.   The idea of a CFL (Cottage Food Operations License) has been tossed around this house for the last 6 months or so.   I took a cake decorating class "many many Moons ago" as my Dad would say.  (That's really the only Indian thing he has ever said now that I think about it. hahaha Another story for another time.) Anyway!  I enjoy decorating them but not so much baking them, I'm more of a cook than a baker, so it could work.   Cakes are swirling around in my head.  Pumpkins with Pumpkin Spice, Roses with Red Velvet,  Carrots with Carrot Cake, Poinsettia & Holly, Sunflowers, Hydrangea, Trumpets, Shamrocks, Robots,.............Angels!   (Did she say robots?)

I painted this cake with regular food coloring. I know there are cake paints on the market that are very much like acrylic paint,  but have never looked at them but be assured I will be getting some soon! I started with new paint brushes, a flat brush & a liner brush.  Watering down the food color a little and painting from light to dark just like water colors, adding layers of color worked out best & was less stress, too much color and your design could be done for, or at least your fondant.  I used the flat brush like a calligraphy pen for the writing and then went over the top with the liner brush. If your brush gets too wet and a lot of color goes on it's easy to fix though, just dry your brush to use it to mop up the extra color like a little sponge.   I learned a lot from this little cake.  Green & red make brown & black depending on the intensity of either color. So one box of ordinary food color will make just about any color that you need.  If ever I make another lemon cake I will stipple the little lemons on the bottom to give them some texture.  I chickened out when it came to writing on the cake. I folded under the pressure...I only had 1 box of fondant....I didn't want to ruin it... so I made the banner.

Of course I have already started a little book of cake illustrations & ideas. I did each of these in a matter of minutes, but if time was taken to properly draw them out,  I think these could be cool & fun to paint. Paintings of Painted cakes......

 

Yes I will make a cake for you! 

 

Life is getting Sweeter...

 

 



Ta Da I Tried It Thursday...

... I tried several things this week.  Having a purple thumb, actually I should say yellow thumb because that's the color all my plants turn before I kill them off. hahaha  Coming home from the grocery with 2 bunches of celery, I remembered seeing this Pin on Pinterest and decided to see if it would really work.  I washed the celery cut the bottom off (cut the rest up & put in water for snacks in the frig) then I removed some stalk pieces then placed in a little water & set it in the window.  Well to my surprise it does look like I'm growing more celery! In just a few days there were new leaves. When it has more roots I'm going to try planting it outside. I placed it a glass on top of a tiny antique hand painted plate. I have a set of these & I love them. I always look for them in antique shops & thrift stores. I am never afraid to use my antiques or vintage items. I use them & enjoy them. 

Another thing I tried this week is Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies,  a No Bake, No Fat, Gluten Free Cookie Recipe. My mother has made these all my life, only this recipe you can make in 5 minutes start to finish in the microwave instead of boiling on the stove.  The recipe says 20 min but that's just crazy talk unless you are walking to the store to get your ingredients! Here is the Pin & Recipe.  It was so quick & simple, & such a small batch that I decided to experiment with it.  I replace 1/2 of the sugar with Stevia In the Raw and they still turned out great.   I also made a batch using 3/4 C of oatmeal instead of 1/2 C, even better!

Ta Da!