I wanted to post this in this forum so you could show off all of your baking talents! We are currently casting for the second season of ABC's The Great Holiday Baking Show. 

We are looking for the best home/amateur bakers to compete in a holiday themed bake off!

This is a fantastic and fun opportunity- Participants will get to travel to the UK, bake with some of the best amateur American bakers, and have their bakes judged by world renowned bakers! If you or someone you know is interested, please apply at bakingshowcasting.com, deadline to apply has been extended. Feel free to reach out with any questions.

The Great Holiday Baking Show The producers of the UK Pheomenon "The Great British Bake Off" are once again looking for America's best amateur bakers. This winter, Love Productions is bringing "The Great Holiday Baking Show" competition back to ABC. This is your chance to make history and be a part of this globally beloved format!

Are you ready to compete in the ultimate baking battle to be crowned the Best Holiday Baker in America? Can you bake the perfect pastry, exceptional cakes and beautiful bread? Are you an amateur baking genius ready to show off your skills? 

If so, we are currently taking applications and would love to see you in the tent! For more information please visit bakingshowcasting.com.

 So why does high ratio shortening work? Well for starters high ratio shortening contains micro emulsifiers that allow your mixture to hold more sugar and liquid. That means it is more temperature stable. It also helps to hold more air upon whipping which will increase volume. It doesn't give your icing a greasy taste. It is white in color so it won't change the color of your icing either.

It is also used in high ratio cake recipes. It will give these cakes a finer smoother texture and also help you keep them moist.

High ratio shortening is more expensive than Crisco. The final product is worth every penny. We use a combination of high ratio shortening and white oleo in our buttercream icing recipe. Our customers love our homemade buttercream. This buttercream icing is a crusting buttercream and works well with the paper towel method for smoothing out your icing.

Here is the recipe that we use:

1/2 cup of high ratio shortening that is made for use in icings

1/2 cup of butter or white oleo for a whiter icing

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 cups powdered sugar, approximately 1 pound

2 tbsp half and half

Step 1: In a mixing bowl beat together the Hi ratio shortening and butter with the vanilla until nice and creamy.

Step 2: Add in the powdered sugar one cup at a time, beating well after each addition.

Step 3: Add the half and half and beat until light and fluffy.

If the icing is too stiff you can add more half and half. This recipe makes approximately 3 cups of icing. 

If you need the icing to be whiter you can use 1 cup of high ratio shortening and omit the butter and add 1/2 tsp of butter flavoring.

To thin down this icing use a little more of the half and half or you can also add light corn syrup to thin out the icing.

You can purchase the high ratio shortening in a one pound size so we encourage you to give it a try and see how it works for you.

Nothing says fall like a caramel apple. They are much simpler to do then you might link if you follow these tips and tricks. 

First let's start off with the apple itself. I prefer to use a tart apple like a granny smith. The reason is, I am adding all these sweet things to the outside of the apple so if I have a tart apple then the finished product won't be too sweet. 

Now if you can find apples without a waxed coating that is best. Many of the ones in the grocery stores have a waxed coating on them. The waxed coating may keep the caramel from sticking to the apple. You want to wash and dry the apples thoroughly. You don't want any sort of water left on the apple.

If your apple did have a wax coating on them then take a fine sandpaper and rough up the skin of the apple. When you stick the stick in the apple make sure you wipe off any juice that may come out before dipping the apple. 

I prefer to refrigerate the apple for 30 minutes before dipping. If the apple is a little cold then less of the caramel will run off the apple when you dip it. 

Now for the caramel. If have found the Peter's caramel to work perfect for the apples. Don't waste your time unwrapping the little squares from the grocery store. It will take you 3 times as long and the end result is not as good. I like to have the caramel at about 170 degrees for dipping. If you have it too cold the apple will not dip nice and too warm and the caramel will run back off the apple. 

Here is a trick that I learned long ago. Add about 1/4 cup of melted white chocolate to each pound of caramel. The chocolate will help the caramel set up better and you will have less of it running back off the apple. 

Once you dip the apple set it on parchment paper or a silpat works great if you have one. If you are using parchment paper spray it with a little non-stick spray to keep the apple from sticking. 

Now if you dip the entire apple including up the stick about 1/4" the apple will last longer since you are completely sealing in the apple. If you are serving the apples the same day this is not necessary. 

Now if you are coating the caramel apple in something like chopped nuts, then after you dip the apple in the caramel put it in the fridge for just a minute or two before rolling it in the nuts. Don't let the caramel set or the nuts won't stick. This will help keep more of the caramel from running off the apple once you rolled it in the nuts. 

If you do have the puddle of caramel at the base of the apple then once it is dry you can take your hands and press the caramel back on the apple and shape it or simply trim it off with a sharp knife or scissors. 

Let's talk about the sticks. You will need a nice heavy stick to hold the apple. I like the pointed sticks. They will press into the apple easily and are heavy enough to hold your apple. If you want something more decorative then the branch sticks will give your apple are real fall feel. 

If you are not boxing or bagging your apples then I would suggest you store them in the refrigerator. If you do have them in a box or bag do not refrigerate the apple as condensation will form. 

You are only limited by your imagination when it comes to making caramel apples. Roll them in nuts, sprinkles or crushed cookies. You can dip or drizzle them with melted chocolate. Make sure the caramel is completely set up before dipping the apple in the melted chocolate. 

We hope our tips and tricks will help you to make the perfect caramel apples this season.     

First of all, did you know that you can add meringue powder to your icing to help stabilize it? This is especially important for an all butter icing in a warm climate. Simply mix 1 Tbsp. of meringue powder into each pound of powdered sugar you are using before you add it to the icing. This will help your piping and flowers keep their shape in warmer temperatures.

Probably the most know use of meringue powder is to make royal icing. Royal icing is considered the food glue of the cake world. You can use royal icing on cookies, gingerbread houses, for flowers and more.

To make royal icing you mix 3 Tbsp. of meringue powder to 1 lb. of powdered sugar and 5 Tbsp. of warm water. Mix on low speed for about 7-10 minutes or until peaks form. If your icing is too stiff you can add more water, but be careful it doesn’t take much to thin the icing.

Here is recipe for boiled icing using meringue powder. First you dissolve 2 cups of granulated sugar, with ¾ cup of water, ¼ cup of corn syrup and a pinch of salt. Boil on high heat until it reaches 240 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a mixing bowl put 6 Tbsp. of meringue powder and 1 cup of cold water. Begin to beat using a whip attachment. Slowly add 1 cup of granulated sugar while this is beating. Then slowly add the boiled syrup. Beat all together at high speed until the mixture has cooled. This is a great icing on red velvet cake.

Did you know that you can also use meringue powder to make meringue for the top of pies? To make meringue you need to mix 1 Tbsp. of meringue powder with 1/4 cup of cold water and 3 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. of sugar. Mix with whip attachment at high speed for approximately 5 minutes. Slowly add an additional 2 Tbsp. of sugar and beat approximately 5 minutes more or until stiff peaks form. Top your pie and bake according to recipe directions.

There are a couple of things you need to remember when using meringue powder. Make sure that all of your bowls and utensils are grease free. Grease will keep your meringue from whipping properly and keep your royal icing from setting up.

For royal icing, make sure you keep it in an airtight container. Also when using royal icing in bags for piping make sure you keep the end of the tips inside a damp cloth when not in use to keep them from drying out.

So I hope the next time you pass by the meringue powder you will stop and give it a try. 

Let's start with the melt-n-decorate bottle. The cool thing about this is you can melt the chocolate right in the silicone bottle. This bottle comes with two tips. The first one is the coating cap that is great for covering cakes, cookies, rice krispies and other treats.

The second tip that comes with this set is a round tip. This is great for fine detail work with your melted chocolate. 

Some other great features about this bottle is the lid and collar come apart for easy cleaning. Since the bottle is silicone you can put it in the freezer and then once the chocolate has frozen you squeeze the bottle and break the chocolate into little pieces. Then just pour the pieces out of the bottle into a bowl and they are ready to use again and it makes clean up a snap.

The bottle comes with two different tips, but we also sell a decorating tip set that you can also use with the bottle. The cool thing about the decorating tip set is it comes with a coupler that you can use with a disposable decorating bag if you don't want to use the bottle. We also sell a two pack of extra couplers that you can buy as well.                        

The tip set comes with 3 tips. The first one is the round tip which also comes with the melt-n-decorate bottle. The second tip is the ribbon tip. This tip is a thin smooth basket weave type tip that will pipe a 1/2" line of chocolate.

The final tip in the set is the drizzling tip. This tip has 3 small holes that you can use to drizzle melted chocolate onto your treats. 

I hope you will try out these cool new candy tools. Whether you use the silicone bottle or the disposable decorating bags, I know you find fun and creative ways to decorate your treats with melted chocolate. With so many different colors of chocolate to choose from the possibilities are endless. 

Let's start with the dipping tongs first. What these are great for is dipping cookies, pretzels, etc. These are best to use when you only want to dip something 1/2 to 3/4 of the way in chocolate. The tongs will securely hold onto whatever you are dipping. They are much more sanitary then using your fingers.

Here are two examples of a pretzel and a cookie that I dipped in chocolate using the dipping tongs.

The next candy making tool is the dipping scoop. The dipping scoop is a curved screen. It has a nice large area that measures 2-1/2" x 3". It will easily hold a nice sized cookie or pretzel. Since it has a screen when you tap the tool against the edge of the bowl the excess chocolate will run off so when you place your cookie on the parchment paper you will not have a large puddle of chocolate form at the base.

The other thing I loved about using this dipping scoop is the cookie slid easily off the scoop and onto my parchment paper. So I never had to touch the cookie. So you will avoid fingerprints on your chocolates. This dipping scoop also worked well for petit fours. 

Here are two example I have of using the dipping fork. I have used it to cover a petit four and a cookie. 

As you can see the screen is plenty big enough to accommodate both products. I always like to lay my dipped treats on parchment paper to set up. It will not stick at all to the chocolate.

So I hope you will try making some dipped treats for your next celebration. Be sure to use our new candy tools. I know you will love them as much as I do.

Let's start first with the spear dipper. The spear dipper is great for dipping marshmallows, buckeyes, cake balls and strawberries. It opens up slightly on the end to help hold onto whatever you are dipping. The one thing you need to remember is with the spear dipping tool you will have a small hole at the top of the product you are dipping.

This is an example of using the spear dipping tool to dip a cake ball. It will hold the cake ball nice and securely while you dip it. Remember you will need to cover the hole with more melted chocolate or a decoration.

This is an example of using the spear dipping tool to dip a marshmallow. In this case the hole in the top make a great place to insert a sucker stick to make a marshmallow pop.

The next dipping tool is the three prong fork. The prongs of the fork are nice and long so you don't have to worry about what you are dipping sliding off the end of the fork. This three pronged fork works great for dipping cookies and pretzels. 

This is an example of using the three pronged fork to dip a large pretzel. You can tap the fork to remove the excess chocolate without the pretzel falling off the front. 

The final candy dipping tool in this set is the cradle dipper. This is good for cake balls and rolled candy centers. The nice thing about this tool is the round center will set down into the cradle so it will not fall off while you tap the tool to remove the excess chocolate. So your center will stay securely on the tool.

This is an example of using the cradle dipping tool to dip a candy center. See how it sets perfectly on the tool.

So as you can see this three piece set is very versatile. You can dip almost anything in melted chocolate with this three piece set.

You never want to stick a wire directly into the cake. Even worse would be if the wires are wrapped with floral tape. That is unsanitary and who wants to eat the piece of cake that had the wires sticking in it? If you are doing a competition cake you will most likely never place if your cake has gum paste wires sticking directly into it.

So what is the solution? It is a clear micro pick that will hold the wires and then you will be able to safely insert the flower into your cake. These micro picks measure 2" long and have a 1/4" opening at the top to insert your flower.

These clear micro picks are a safe and sanitary way to insert gum paste flowers into cakes and competition cakes. They will also help to hold your flowers securely in place. Since they are so tiny they will not damage your cake when inserted.

This picture shows a 6 petal orchid. Each petal was on a separate wire and they will bound together with floral tape. This orchid fits perfectly inside the clear micro pick as shown. You can use these with store bought gum paste flowers as well as your own.

This picture is of 6 wild roses. Each flower is on their own separate wire. They are not taped together, each wire is individually stuck into the micro pick. This is a great way to make clusters of small flowers to decorate your cake. The micro pick will hold them together nicely without having to tape them together. 

I am so excited about having this product. It is a must have for your competition cakes. Please let me know what you think. I am looking forward to seeing your uses for these clear micro picks. 

If you are interest in puchasing this product please visit our website. Here is the link to the clear mico picks: http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/10900--clear-micro-picks-for-gum-paste-flower-wires.html

The first set of designs I did using a 1m tip. A 1m tip is a large open star tip. You can use any size open star tip to make these designs.

You take the 18" bag and put the 1m tip down inside the bag. Then insert the striper bag. Make sure the end of the striper bag goes down inside the tip. You also need to make sure that you cut the end of the striper bag off enough so none of the striper bag is sticking out past the end of the 1m tip. If this happens you won't get the nice ridges from the 1m tip on your design. 

The first 1m design I want to show you is a simple rosette. For this you hold the bag straight up and down and make a circle motion as you squeeze. You can use this design as a border on the cake. You can also use this design to ice a cupcake with. 

The second 1m design is a shell border. This two tone shell is great for graduation cakes and kid's birthday cakes. Make sure the two colors are side by side when piping. Otherwise you won't get even amounts of both colors when you pipe your shell.

The next open star tip design is a garland. To make this design you use a zig zag motion as you squeeze the bag. This is a fun design to use on the sides of a cake. It is great for weddings as well as birthday cakes. This also is a great technique for piping clown bodies on a cake.

The next set of designs uses a round tip. For the examples I used a tip 1a, but you can use any size round tip.

The first design is a dot. You can make polka dots for a cake or even a dot border. For this design hold the bag straight up and down and squeeze. Don't lift the tip as your squeeze and stop squeezing the bag before you pull the tip away. Let the dots sit for a minute to crust and then take your finger and push down the small tip that will form on the top of the dot.

You can even make a ball border using the round tip. It is the same process as doing a shell border. The difference in looks is you won't have ridges in your border like you will if you use a star tip.

The final set of designs we are doing today use a rose tip. Again the rose tip, also known as a petal tip, comes in many different sizes. For this demonstration I used a tip 127.

The first example is a swag. For the swag you want to make sure the fat end of the tip is facing up and against your cake. You can do a zig zag motion for a ruffled swag or keep the tip steady for a smooth swag.

The final design is to make a two tone rose. Now you will see the each of my two roses looks different. To get the different look to the rose you simply need to turn the tip in different directions. That way you will get the different colors of icing coming out of the tip at different points. That is what makes my two roses look different. 

As you can see you are really only limited by your imagination. The two tone icing bag insert gives you so many possibilities. I really hope you will try these techniques. I look forward to seeing how you use this striper bag.

To make this design you will need one 18" bag, two 12" bags and a 1m tip. You can use either disposable or washable bags for this project. I used disposable so you could better see how it works. We also have a  striper bag which is one bag split in two that you can fill with two types of icing. This eliminates the need for the two 12" bags.

The first step is to fill the two 12" bags with icing. Cut a 1/2" hole at the base of each bag and burp the bag so you will have even icing pressure. Now flatten out the bags so they will both fit inside the 18" bag. 

Next, cut the end off the 18" bag and insert the 1m tip. Now place both bags side by side into the 18" bag. You need to make sure that both ends of the bag go into the 1m tip. If they are not inserted properly you will not get an even layer of both icings. 

Next hold the bag straight up and down from the cupcake and swirl the icing onto the cupcake. Move your tip along the outside edge of the cupcake and as you get higher move the tip towards the center of the cupcake. Once you have reached the center stop squeezing and pull the bag away.

Your finished cupcake will look like this. You will have one color of icing on one side of the cupcake and your second color on the other side of the cupcake. I hope you will try this technique the next time you are going to make cupcakes.

This first step is to bake the cupcakes. I used the square cupcake liners and the square cupcake pan. Fill the liners 1/2 to 2/3 of the way full and bake. Once the cupcakes are cooled it is time to decorate.

If you have a rounded crown on the cupcakes once they are baked then cut off the top so you have an nice flat surface giving your cupcakes more of a block look to them.

Now ice the cupcakes smooth with buttercream icing. After you have iced them let the icing crust for about 5 minutes and then take a paper towel and lay it over the cupcakes. Now take your hand and run it over the top of the paper towel to give you a nice smooth look to the tops of your cupcakes. 

Now with whatever color icing you desire in a bag with a tip 12 outline the outside of the cupcake to give it a block look.

For the inside decoration you can pipe a letter using a tip 5 or you can do a shape using a cookie cutter.

If you choose to do the shape take a mini sized cookie cutter of the desired shape and lightly press it into the center of your block. Now outline the shape using a tip 3.

Now fill in the outline with a tip 14 stars. Make sure the stars are close together to completely fill in the design. Using the cookie cutters are a great way to personalize the blocks to the theme of the shower. You can use animals or shapes. The possiblilities are endless. 

I hope you will try these blocks for your next baby shower. They are cute and much easier to do then the blocks of cake completely iced and I think they are just as cute.

You will need to first start by making a batch of candy clay. You can find the recipe here: http://www.shopbakersnook.com/CakeandCandyDecoratingblog.html?m15:post=how-to-make-candy-clay The fun thing about candy clay is you can make it with any of the coating chocolate. You can use the colored or flavored chocolate. For best results make your candy clay the night before and let it set overnight.

For this basket I used a 6" round pan. You will also need 12 sucker sticks cut to a 3" length. It is important that you use an even number of sucker sticks so the weaving will turn out properly. 

First step is to melt chocolate candy melts. You will need about 10 ounces. Make sure you use the same ones you made the candy clay out of so it will match. Dip the sucker sticks into the candy melts and set on parchment paper to dry.

Pour melted chocolate into the bottom of your 6" round pan. You want is to be 1/4" to 1/2" thick. Place the sucker sticks into the melted chocolate at equal intervals. Place into the refrigerator to harden. Don't leave in the refrigerator to long or the base may crack. Once hardened carefully remove the base from the pan.

You will need to knead the candy clay that has set overnight to make it soft and pliable. Roll out ropes of the candy clay that are 24" long and approximately 1/2" in diameter. 

Take the ropes and weave them in and out around the sticks. Remember that if you went inside the stick on the previous rope than the next rope will need to go on the outside of the stick to create a proper basket. Continue to do this until only 1/4" of the stick remains. 

To finish off the top of the basket take two ropes and twist them together. Then take that double rope and press it into the top of the sucker sticks to hold it into place. Now you have a completed basket ready to fill with your choice of treats.

To prepare the pans properly you can use cupcake liners or spray the cavities with bake easy non stick spray or brush them with pan grease.

There are several products to help you easily fill your cupcake pans and to get even amounts of batter in each cavity. 

The scoop it batter spoons will ensure that each cavity is filled with the perfect amount of batter. There are spoons for the mini, standard and jumbo cupcake. The perfect fill batter dispenser will help you get the batter into each cavity with less mess. These are two great products to help you bake the perfect cupcake.

MINI CUPCAKES

Mini sized cupcakes will take a heaping tablespoon per cavity. One cake mix will make approximately 5 dozen mini cupcakes. Bake mini cupcakes for approximately 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees.

STANDARD CUPCAKES

Standard cupcakes will take between 1/4 and 1/3 cups of batter. One cake mix will make approximatley 20 standard cupcakes. Bake standard cupcakes for approximately 18-20 minutes at 350 degrees.

JUMBO CUPCAKES

Jumbo cupcakes will take between 1/2 and 2/3 cups of batter. One cake mix will make approximately 8 jumbo cupcakes. Bake jumbo cupcakes for approximatley 20-22 minutes at 350 degrees.

KING SIZED CUPCAKES

King cupcakes will take slightly less than one cup of batter. One cake mix will make approximately 5 king sized cupcakes. Bake king cupcakes 24-26 minutes at 350 degrees. 

My favorite is to use the pearl spray to give them a nice iridescent look to them. The gold spray is great for a 50th anniversary celebration. One thing you need to think about is if you spray something molded in dark chocolate with pink mist it isn't going to turn it pink since you are starting with a color that is to dark.

To use mold the chocolate candies and then place them on wax paper or parchment paper. Hold the can approximately 4 to 6 inches from the candies. Use a back and forth motion and evenly coat the candies. 

Let completely dry before handling. You can do a second coat on the chocolates, just make sure you let them completely dry inbetween coats. 

The first step is to bake a cake for your shapes. You will want to use a batter of a contrasting color than you are going to make your cupcakes with. You can even achieve this by coloring the batter with food coloring. Bake the cake in a jelly roll pan. You want the cake to be about 1" high.

Once your jelly roll cake is baked and cooled you will want to cut out the shapes for inside your cupcake using a cookie cutter. Now remember you want to use bite sized cookie cutters for this. You don't want the shape to stand taller than your cupcake.

Now to make the cupcakes. First fill the cupcake liner 1/3 of the way full with the batter. Now place your cut out shape into the batter. The reason we put half the batter in first is so that will hold the cut out shape in place.

Now fill the cupcake liner with the remaining batter to 2/3 of the way full. It is OK if your shape sticks out of the batter slightly since the cupcake will rise and cover your shape as it bakes.

Bake your cupcakes according to the package directions. After they are baked, cool the cupcakes completely and then decorate as desired. 

These cupcakes are fun to make but it is even more fun to see the surprised looks you will get when they bite into them.

You can make these with two colors or even 6 colors. You are only limited by your imagination. First step is to make the batter according to the directions. This will work with cake mixes as well as batters made from scratch.

Now divide the batter into equal portions. Color each bowl of batter with food coloring to the desired shade. I have found the color only changes slightly when baked. 

Now place the colored batter into disposable piping bags. My favorite tool for this is the perfect fill batter dispenser tip. The batter only comes out when you squeeze the bag and stops when you stop squeezing. So this makes the process much less messy.

Now you are going to layer the batter into the pan. Remember to take into account how many different batter colors you are using. You want to have the top layer of batter stop at 2/3 of the way full.

Now bake according to the recipe directions. After baked, cool the cupcakes completely and decorate as desired. The fun part is only you will know the secret of what is inside until your family and friends bite into them.

These are great to make in shool colors for sporting events or graduations. Wedding colors are also a fun idea. Experiment with your favorite color combinations.

This first step is to pipe the bow loops. You will want to pipe them onto parchment paper using a tip 5. I made two different sized bow loops. You will want approximately three 2" loops and six 1-1/2" bow loops for each bow. Of course you will want to make extras in case they break. You can make them smaller but be careful trying to make them to large or you will have more problems with breakage.

You will want to let the bow loops dry at least 24 hours. In more humid climates they may take longer. You can make these far in advance to save time. You can also make them multi colored for a fun bow.

Now it is time to put the bow together. You will want royal icing in the same color as your loops. Using your tip 5 pipe a ball of icing onto the parchment paper. Immediately start inserting the bow loops into the ball. Place the 3 larger loops in the center first and fill in around the base with the smaller loops. Make sure the loops are firmly into the royal icing ball or you won't be able to pick up the bow without the loops falling off.

Let your finished bow dry completely approximately another 24 hours. Once dry you are ready to place on your cakes and cupcakes. To remove the bow slide an offset spatula underneath and lift up. Do not try to pick up the bow by the loops. These are perfect for a wedding shower, wedding or even a birthday party. 

First you want to cut the desired shape out of your sugar sheets. You can do this with the punches, rotary cutter or even scissors. 

Then you want to mark where you want the sparkle to be on your cut out. A great way to do this is with our edible markers. Use a color of marker close to the color of sparkle you are using so you don't see the marker line underneath the sparkle.

Next, take piping gel and brush it onto the sugar sheets where you want the sparkle to be. You just want a real thin layer of the piping gel.

After you brush the design with piping gel, it is time to add the sparkle. Sprinkle the area with either edible glitter, mystical dust or sanding sugar. Shake the piece off to remove the excess sparkle.

Now you have a finshed piece that is ready to use as a decoration on your cakes, cupcakes or even cookies. 

First you want to start by melting the chocolate. I use the coating chocolate for this. It is the easiest to use. If you use pure chocolate you will need to temper it.

There are lots of different types of coating chocolate to choose from. You can make these using different colored chocolates or even different flavored chocolates. 

Pour some of the melted chocolate into the bottom of a paper cupcake liner. Take a brush and brush the melted chocolate up the sides of the liner to form a shell. Make sure the paper liner is completely coated. Set them on a cookie sheet and place them in the freezer to harden.

This will only take a couple of minutes. Don't leave them in the freezer for too long or they will crack. You may need to repeat this process a couple of times so your shell will be thick enough to hold up.

If you want your chocolate cup to have straighter sides then put it into a cupcake pan before putting it into the freezer.

To unmold your chocolate cup carefully peel back the paper liner leaving you a great chocolate cup that you can fill with a variety of things. Some of my personal favorites are fresh fruit or chocolate mousse. Your guests will surely be impressed.

For other variations you can use mini sized cupcake liners to make bite sized chocolate cups. You can even use the cordial cup mold to make the cup pictured above. 

Another great idea for your cordial cup shell is to use it to serve your favorite liquor. Who doesn't like a shot glass they can eat?

Getting this beautiful shine is easy using the pearl dust. You can brush the pearl dust on dry, or use equal parts of pearl dust and either pure lemon extract to make an edible paint.

Before brushing on the pearl dust or edible paint you want to make sure that the chocolate pieces do not have any type of condensation on them. This will prevent you from getting an even coverage.

If using the edible paint you will want to let the pieces completely dry before touching them.

You can also achieve this look with edible glaze or edible spray. I hope you will try this technique to add some shine to your molded chocolates.

Step 1: Bake and cool your cupcakes. I always like to use the fun Christmas print liners to make a more festive look to my cupcakes. 

Step 2: Ice the cupcakes smooth with white buttercream icing. I always make mine from scratch, but the pre-made icing also works great for this. 

To get a nice smooth surface after icing the cupcake let is set for about 5-10 minutes to crust. Then take a paper towel and lay it over the top of the cupcake. Run your hand over the towel. This will smooth out any spatula marks.

Step 3: Fill a piping bag with buttercream icing that has been colored green. Then, attach a round tip #4 to the end of the coupler.

Step 4: With your bag at a 45 degree angle, using a zig zag motion, go around the outside of the cupcake with the green icing. For a fuller wreath, pipe a second zig zag on top of the first.

Step 5: Sprinkle the wreath with Christmas non pareils. Make sure you do this before the icing crusts or the sprinkles will not stick to your cupcake. 

Step 6: To make the bow you will need large sized red gum drops. Roll out the gum drop onto white sanding sugar, to a 3/4" x 3" long strip. Cut the strip in half.

Use each half to form the two bow loops. Use the top of a second gum drop for the center of the bow. Put a dot of icing on the back of the gum drop to attach it to the bow.

Now you have a quick and easy Christmas cupcake. I hope you will try this for your Christmas party. I know I will be making them this year.

Let's first start with Extracts. These are generally the most common type of flavorings. Extracts are alcohol based and are most commonly found in pure or imitation. Pure extracts are generally stronger than imitation extracts. So why would you want to use imitation extracts? The main reason is the imitation extracts are usually clear in color so they won't change the color of your batters and frostings. You can use extracts to flavor cookies, icings, cake batter and candy fillings. Extracts are perfect for all your baking needs.

Next we are going to move on to emulsions. The main difference between emulsions and extracts are that the emulsions are water based and not alcohol based. Emulsions are superior to extracts because when they are subjected to high heat the flavor will not bake out. So you will end up with a better flavor in anything you bake by using Emulsions. If a recipe calls for 1 tsp of extract you can substitute 1 tsp of emulsions. Just like extracts, you can use the emulsions to flavor cakes, cookies, icings, fondant and all you're baking. 

We also carry Natural Flavorings. Natural flavorings contain no added sugars or fats. All the natural flavorings are water soluble. You can use the natural flavorings to add flavor it icing, cakes, cookies, ice cream, candy centers and even hard candy. Natural flavoring will work for all your baking needs. Now one thing to remember if you are using the natural flavorings to flavor your hard candy you will need to add double the amount of natural flavoring as you would of the candy oils. 

Most people think that candy oils are only used to flavor hard candy. This is not true. First of all candy oils are not oil based. They contain no vegetable oil. Candy oil actually means the flavor is concentrated and undiluted. Candy oils are 3-4 times stronger than extracts. If a recipe calls for 1 tsp of extract you will substitute 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of candy oils. Most all candy oils can be used to flavor chocolate unless otherwise specified. This is the only flavoring that is safe to flavor your chocolate with. Any water based flavorings will seize up your chocolate and make it unusable. To flavor chocolate you will use approximately 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of candy oil per pound of chocolate.You can also use the candy oils for all your baking needs.  

We hope that this will help you pick the perfect flavoring for your next project. 

The first step is to roll out the gum paste to approximately 1/16" thick using a fondant rolling pin. You can also make these flowers using rolled fondant. I like to roll out my gum paste on a celboard. This way I don't have to use powdered sugar and the fondant or gum paste does not stick to the board.

Now using the heart shaped cutter that comes in the set cut, out your calla lily from the gum paste. Now move it to a thin piece of foam and using a ball tool gently thin out just the edges of the flower.

Pick up your flower and wrap it around one of the cones that comes in the set. You want the point of the flower pointing to the largest part of the former. Before putting the flower on the cone you will want to dust the cone lightly with powdered sugar to prevent the flower from sticking. Take a brush and place a dab of gum paste glue on the rounded edge to hold the flower together.

To make gum paste glue use 1/4 tsp of readymade gum paste and break it into small pieces. Dissolve those pieces in 1 tablespoon of water. Let this mixture set for about an hour until most of the pieces have dissolved in the water and then it will be ready to use. Gum paste glue is the perfect thing to use the attach gum paste or fondant to itself.

Now that we have the flower wrapped around the cone you will want to set is aside to dry. Now we want to make the calyx that will wrap around the base of the flower. For this you want to roll out green colored gum paste to 1/16" and cut a circle using the middle circle cutter from the fondant circle cutter set. Cut that circle in half.

Brush a little gum paste glue on the base of the calla lily. Now wrap the half circle around the base of the calla lily. You will want to start and end where the seam of your flower is so both seams will line up. Press gently to attach and set the flower back aside to dry.

To make the center of the flower roll out a piece of gum paste about 1-1/4" long. What I like to do to make the flowers stand out more is to brush the center 3/4 of the way down with gum paste glue and roll it in yellow sanding sugar. This will add some sparkle to your flowers. Set them aside to dry slightly.

If you want your calla lilies to be on a wire you will need to insert a cloth covered wire into the center of the flower. For best results do this step before you roll the centers in sugar. You will want these to dry before inserting them in the flowers so your flower will hold on the wire. I even like to make my centers a day in advance and let them dry.

Now to attach the center to the flower brush a little gum paste glue on the inside at the base of the calla lily and insert the center and press slightly. Make sure the part of the center without the sugar is the part you attach to the calla lily. If you are using the centers with the wire do the same thing but thread the wire through the base of the flower so it comes out the end of the calla lily.

You can use the flower drying rack to hang the calla lilies that you made on wires. This is a great way to dry lots of flowers at once without taking up a lot of space.

I hope you will try this beautiful and easy flower and use the calla lilies to decorate your next cake.

Thank you for becoming a member of our baking group. 

 Our baking group philosophy is:

Start by making your candy cup for your cauldron. To do this, you will need a standard size muffin pan, and liners. Place the liners in the pan and paint the inside of them with Mercken dark chocolate candy melts. Then set them in the freezer to become firm.

Once your chocolate has hardened, remove them from them pan and and carefully peel the liners from the candy cups, and set cups aside. See link below for candy melts, liners, and muffin pans. 

Now you can make your bubbling brew. For this you will need a sheet of parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Place medium size cookie cutters on to the parchment, and pour in melted dark green Merckens candy melts. You will want this base to be approximately 1/4" thick. Once the cutters are filled, place them into the freezer to become solid. 

When you pull them out carefully remove the candy discs from the molds and set on a cooling grid with parchment underneath it. Place mini marshmallows on top of the discs, and pour over more dark green melts to seal the marshmallows in. 

Next, mix a batch of royal icing, (see link below for recipe) and split the batch. Tint one half yellow, and the other half orange. Then using an angled spatula stripe your bag with both colors.

You will want to form a base for your cauldron to sit on, so using a tip 7 in circular motion make a base to fit the bottom of your candy cup. Then with a tip 352, pipe flames coming out from under the candy cup, and insert thin mini pretzel rods to give the visual of burning wood. Remember royal icing drys quickly, and becomes hard so be sure to do this step rather quickly. 

Now you are ready to put it all together. Fill your candy cup with any of your favorite candies. We recommend M&M's, Resse's Pieces, or the traditional candy corn, and place the bubbling brew on top.

With a dab of melted chocolate, attach an icing ghost and there you have is. A delightful Halloween treat perfect for any witch, goblin, or ghoul.

Links to products used:

Muffin pan:

http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/7848--baker-s-best-12-cup-muffin-pan-by-wilton-standard-size.html

White cupcake liners:

http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/9774--white-cupcake-liners-by-reynolds-500-count.html

Merckens candy melts:

http://www.shopbakersnook.com/67.html

Round cookie cutter set:

http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/7332--round-cookie-cutter-set-by-r-m-7-piece.html

Cookie sheet:

http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/3411--excelle-elite-cookie-sheet-pan-by-wilton-13-1-4-x-9-1-4-x-5-8.html

Parchment paper:

http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/4044--parchment-paper-for-baking-and-candy-making-by-wilton.html

Cooling grid:

http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/1582--cake-cooling-rack-cookie-cooling-rack-by-wilton-14-1-2-x-20.html

Petite Icing Ghosts:

http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/1734--petite-ghosts-icing-decorations-by-wilton.html

How to make royal icing:

http://www.shopbakersnook.com/CakeandCandyDecoratingblog.html?m15:post=how-to-make-royal-icing-for-cookies-and-gingerbread-houses

Photo Courtesy of Wilton

For the meatloaf recipe you will need:

2 lbs. Ground beef (you can substitute ground turkey or a mix of beef and Italian sausage)

4 eggs

1-2 cups of Mozzarella cheese

1 cup parmesan cheese

1 cup of Italian bread crumbs

1 onion chopped

1 green pepper chopped

1 package of cubed pepperoni

1 package of sliced pepperoni

1 jar of pizza sauce

1 head of romaine lettuce

Salt, pepper, garlic, and oregano

For the garlic bread bones you will need:

1 tube of Pillsbury pizza dough

1 stick of butter

1 tbs. garlic salt

Parmesan cheese

And green food color (optional)

To start, Mix your ground beef, eggs, italian bred crumbs, parmesan cheese, onions, green peppers, cubed pepperoni, mozzerella cheese, salt, pepper, garlic, and oregano in a large mixing bowl.

Spray the inside of your skull pan with non-stick cooking spray, and fill both cavities with your meatloaf mixture, and set on a cookie sheet. Place in an oven preheated to 350 degrees; allow to cook approximately 45 min to an hour. 

While that's baking you can make your garlic bread bones. Open, and roll out one tube of Pillsbury pizza dough. Cut into strips approximately 6" by 1" and place on a non-stick cookie sheet. Cut a small slit into each end for effect. 

Now melt 1 stick of butter, stir in 1 tbs. of garlic salt, 2 drops of green food color, and brush mixture onto uncooked bread sticks. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese, and bake. These should take approximately 10 to 15 min to bake so place them in the oven with your meatloaf near the end of its cook time.

You're almost done, all that's left is presentation. On a serving platter lay down romaine lettuce, place the back half of the skull pan down on leafs and cover in a thin layer of pizza sauce, and pepperoni. Place the top half of your meatloaf on top, and spoon on additional pizza sauce and pepperoni. Now place bread bones around your meatloaf and there you have it, A Scary Good Pizza Meatloaf with Garlic Bread Bones. 

Perhaps the best part of this recipe is that you can customize it to fit your family's taste. You can add any of your favorite pizza topping to the mix, and it's sure to please.

Link to Products Used:

3D skull pan:

http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/8016--skull-cake-pan-wilton-3-d.html

To make the cake push pops you want to bake and completely cool your cake. Then level the cake and cut off the very base of the cake and the sides. You want to make sure all the outside parts of the cake are trimmed off. Now slice the cake into approximately 1/2" layers.

From your layers you are going to cut circles of cake. Take your push pop container and use it as the cutter to cut the circles of cake. You will use three cake circles for each cake push pop. We got enough to make 10 push pops out of one 7x11 sheet cake or one layer 8" round.

To assemble the cake push pop, start with a cake circle. Push it all the way to the bottom of the container. Next we put a layer of buttercream icing on top of the cake. To do this we used a piping bag with a 16 star tip. 

Then we put a layer of raspberry filling on top of the icing. For this we just used a disposable decorating bag. Continue by adding more cake, icing and filling.

This is the final product. You will have three layers of cake, two layers of the icing and filling and you will finish off the top with a swirl of icing. The push pop containers come with a lid so you and keep your creation fresh.

Here is another example of one of our push pop cake creations. For this one we used chocolate cake, chocolate mousse and finally chocolate buttercream icing. 

You are really only limited by your imagination. You could also use these with brownies instead of cake. You can layer fresh fruit with whipped cream. You can make frozen treats with cake and ice cream or even a healthy alternative with yogurt and granola. The possibliities are endless.

Another variation of this is the push cupcake. For this, we baked two mini sized cupcakes. Swirl them with icing and add sprinkles. Then you stack the two mini cupcakes into the push pop container and you have your push pop cupcakes. These are super cute for a birthday party.

We hope you will try these push pop containers. They are fun and easy to use.

Here are the links to the products used to make the push pops:

Push Pop Containers

Buttercream Icing

Pastry Fillings

Mini Cupcake Pans

Sprinkles

Sotas is basically made when you pipe icing out of the bag using a very small tip. When the icing comes out it curls in a random pattern creating the lace look.  

To pipe the sotas you will need to use a thin consistency buttercream icing. Since we will be using a very small round tip make sure there are no lumps in your icing that could clog up your tip.

To make the sotas we use a round tip 1. This will give the sotas a nice delicate look. If you use to big of a tip then the sotas will look thick and clumpy you don't want that.

Simply squeeze the bag and as the icing is flowing out of the tip move the bag back and forth in a slight zigzag motion as you move the bag across the cake.

If you are piping the sotas on the sides of a cake then attach the string to the cake first then slightly pull the bag away from the cake to pipe the sotas. If the string breaks then simply attach a new string and start again.

Here is an example of a wedding cake decorated with sotas. We covered the tops and down the sides to a scalloped design on the sides of the cake. We finished the sides with a tip 16 zigzag ruffle.

Please try this technique. We know it will quickly become one of your favorites as well. 

Here are the links to the products to make the sotas cake:

Round Tip 1:

Pastry Bags:

Couplers:

Photo Courtesy of Wilton

This first step is to cut a strip of rolled fondant. You want to roll the fondant out about 1/8" thick. You don't want your fondant too thick or your ruffle will look heavy.

You can make the width any size. Usually 2" to 3" is a good width. If you try to make it too wide it will be very heavy and hard to attach to the cake. If you want a fuller ruffle look you can always add more layers of these ruffles.

For the length you will want to go 2-3 times the length of the area you are covering. If you are trying to go around a large cake do not try to do it all in one piece. It will be too hard to manage. Do smaller sections and put them together on your cake.

Hold the strip of fondant at the top and take about a 1/2" section and fold it over at the top to the left. Pinch this together to hold it in place. This will give you about 1/4" pleat.

Now go over about 1" to 1-1/2" and repeat the process. Continue doing this until you have reached the end of your fondant strip.

This is what your finished ruffle will look like. Once you have the strip ruffled you will want to immediately attach it to your cake. If you wait the fondant will start to dry and may crack when you try to attach it to your cake. 

If attaching the ruffle to a fondant cake then just brush the back of the ruffle at the top with a little bit of water. This will stick the ruffle to your fondant cake.

If attaching the ruffle to a buttercream iced cake then pipe a line of fresh buttercream icing underneath the fondant strip. On a buttercream iced cake it is best to use this at the base of the cake so the strip will rest at the bottom and will not slide down your cake.

We hope you will try this technique to add something special to your next cake.

Here are the links to the products to help you make a fondant ruffle:

Rolled Fondant:

Ribbon Cutter:

Water Brush:

Photos Courtesy of Wilton

You can find links to all of the products used at the end of this post.

In advance make the base for your mushroom. To being this step set your Wilton comfort grip cookie cutter, on a sheet of parchment paper, atop a cookie sheet, and fill to about 1/4 inch with melted green Mercken's chocolate. Tap to settle and chill to set. Once set, remove chocolate from cookie cutter, and set aside. 

Also in advance, make the mushroom stem, cap, and tint your coconut. For the stem, use the cordial cup candy mold, spoon in melted Mercken's yellow candy wafers and paint up the sides of the mold. you'll want the walls to be approximately 1/4 of an inch thick.

While you're doing this, place your mini ball pan in the freezer to chill. You'll want your pan to chill for at least 15 min. Now, melt down Mercken's white chocolate, and tint a light pink with Chefmasters pink candy color. A drop should do just fine, and fill a disposable pastry bag or parchment triangle, with your light pink chocolate. Remove mini ball pan from freezer and pipe dots of light pink on the inside of the pan. (If chocolate starts to run place back in the freezer to chill some more.) Then melt down pink Mercken's and spoon into mini ball pan, using a food safe brush, draw the melted candy up the sides. You'll want to stop approximately 1/2 inch from the top edge of the pan, and return pan to freezer to chill. Again you'll want to walls of your mushroom cap to be approximately 1/4 of an inch thick.

Now tint your coconut green by placing your desired amount of coconut into a mixing bowl, add a small amount of green food color, knead until you've reached your desired color, and spread out on a sheet of parchment paper to dry. 

Next, make your truffle mixture. In a microwave safe bowl mix 12 ounces of your desired color/flavor melting wafers with 1/3 cup of heavy whipping cream, and heat on 50% power for 1 min. Remove and stir, continue to microwave at 50% power in 30 sec intervals, stirring in between, until mixture is completely melted and smooth. Let sit for 15 min.

To assemble mushroom, spoon truffle mixture into both the stem and the cap of the mushroom, and seal with melted chocolate, chill to firm. 

To make the caterpillar for the top of the mushroom, tint rolled fondant green. This is done by adding small amounts of both lemon yellow and leaf green food color into white rolled fondant. Roll into 5 small balls, decreasing in size from 1/2 inch in diameter to 1/4 inch. These too, can be made in advance for your convenience. Attach in size order, with a dot of melted green candy (the same as used for the base). Using a black CK candy writer to draw a face on the largest ball. 

Now, you are ready to assemble. Attach the stem of the mushroom to the base, using melted green chocolate. Once, attached, brush more green chocolate to the rest of the base and immediately sprinkle on green coconut. Using a small amount of chocolate attach the caterpillar to the top of the mushroom, and you're done!

Links to Products Used:

Mercken's Rainbow Melting Wafers:

Satin Ice Rolled Fondant:

Mini Ball Pan:

Cordial Candy Cup Mold:

Wilton Comfort Grip Cookie Cutter- Round:

Leaf Green Ameri-Color:

Lemon Yellow Ameri-Color:

Pink Chefmaster Candy Color:

Black CK Candy Writer:

Parchment Triangles:

Photo Courtesy of Wilton

Start by using your favorite cupcake flavor, and any liner of your choosing. This idea is great for standard and jumbo cupcakes but we don't recommend the 3 layer look for minis. To check out our wide selections of liners just type "cupcake liners" in the search bar at the top of the page. 

After your cupcakes are baked and cooled, you'll be ready to ice them. We offer a rainbow of colors for buttercream icing by CK. See link below. Our if you would like to make your own, try our delicious recipe. You will find a link to this as well at the bottom of this post, as well as a link to icing colors so you can customize your cupcakes.

While icing we recommend using a 12 tip, for a smother look, or a tip 233 for the grass look if you want your flower to appear to be growing in the grass. 

Now, you're ready to make your flowers. Here, we used red, pink heart, and bright pink, sugar sheets. Using the single shape punch set, with the 3 piece flower cutting insert, cut out your flower shapes. As you punch them out of the sugar sheets, place them on flower former to dry. You will find a link for the punch set, inserts, and flower formers at the bottom of this post as well.

Once you have your shapes cut and formed, you are ready to attach. Using piping gel as an adhesive, attach the smallest flower to the medium, to the large, and attach them all to your cupcake using a dab of buttercream icing. 

If you want to go a step further you can also punch out leaves, using the leaf cutting insert, from a green sugar sheet, and attach them, once dry to the base of the flower. 

These cupcakes are great for birthday parties, baby showers, wedding, or just because, so try them today.  

Links to Products Used:

Ready to Use Buttercream Icing by CK:  

http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/9036--buttercream-icing-by-ck-products-15-ounce.html

Buttercream Icing Recipe: 

http://www.shopbakersnook.com/CakeandCandyDecoratingblog.html?m15:post=how-to-make-buttercream-icing-to-ice-cakes-cupcakes-and-cookies

Icing Color Kit:

http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/9103--8-icing-color-kit-by-wilton.html

Bright Pink Sugar Sheets:

http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/8822--bright-pink-sugar-sheets-edible-decorating-paper-by-wilton.html

Hearts Sugar Sheets:

http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/8827--pink-heart-sugar-sheets-edible-decorating-paper-by-wilton.html

Red Sugar Sheets:

http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/8821--red-sugar-sheets-edible-decorating-paper-by-wilton.html

Single Shape Punch Set:

http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/8889--punch-set-by-wilton.html

3 piece Layered Flower Insert:

http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/8848--layered-flowers-cutting-insert-set-by-wilton.html

Piping Gel:

http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/1371--piping-gel-for-writing-on-cakes-by-ck-16-oz.html

Leaf Shape Insert:

http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/8844--leaf-cutting-insert-by-wilton.html

Green Sugar Sheets:

http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/8819--bright-green-sugar-sheets-edible-decorating-paper-by-wilton.html

Photo Courtesy of Wilton

Start by melting your chocolate, we recommend using Merckens melting wafers, because they come in a variety of colors, so you can customize your baskets easily without adding extra steps. You can find a link to this product at the bottom of this post. 

Next, take the dessert shells candy mold and with a food safe brush, paint the inside wall of the mold with your chocolate. You'll want the bottom and walls to be about 1/8 of an inch think, and let sit to set up. For quick setting you can place your mold in the freezer for a few min, and remove. You can find links for the dessert shell candy mold, and brushes at the end of this post. 

Now that the basket is made you can assemble your handles. to do this you will want to measure the width of your basket form inside wall to inside wall. On a piece of cardboard, draw a half loop the width of your basket to make your handle pattern. Once you have your pattern you will want to place a piece of parchment paper over your cardboard pattern, and with your melted chocolate in a disposable pastry bag with the tip cut off trace the pattern on to the parchment paper. 

Let this sit to dry, or place in the freezer until firm. Once it's set carefully remove the chocolate handle from the parchment, and flip it over. Now, pipe onto the back of the handle another line of chocolate to give your handle more dimension and stability. 

Once that has set, you can now take a bit of melted chocolate and attach your handle to the basket. Note: DO NOT LIFT BASKET BY THE HANDLE. 

Now you are ready to fill your basket with goodies. This is makers choice, but here are a few ideas you may wish to try. 

Take, a package of plan flaked coconut, and tint green using a few drops of green food color, this will give you the look of grass. once that's dry you can place it in your baskets, and finish with jelly beans, pastel colored jordan almonds, or any of your favorite egg shaped Easter candy.

If you want to fill your basket with flowers, take the Fuzzy Bunny Lollipop mold, fill the flower trio cavity with your choice of color. Tip: Use CK candy writers for this step. Fast and easy with little to no mess. Find the link below. Let set till firm and remove from mold. Use green colored coconut, or jelly spearmint leaves fill the basket and place the flowers on top. 

For more candy mold to fill your baskets, type, "Easter Candy Molds" into your search bar, for a look at all of the molds we have to offer for the up coming holiday.

Links to products used:

Merckens Chocolate Wafers: http://www.shopbakersnook.com/67.html

Dessert Shell Candy Mold: http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/4557--dessert-shell-candy-mold-by-wilton.html

Food Safe Brush Sets: http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/8923--deluxe-brush-set-by-wilton.html

Parchment Paper Roll: http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/4044--parchment-paper-for-baking-and-candy-making-by-wilton.html

Disposable Pastry Bags: http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/1285--disposable-pastry-bag-12-10-pack.html

Green Food Color: http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/500--leaf-green-soft-gel-paste-by-americolor.html

Fuzzy Bunny Lollipop Mold: http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/4237--fuzzy-bunny-lollipop-candy-mold-by-wilton.html

Photo Courtesy of: Wilton

The first way to marbelize fondant is to knead the food coloring into the fondant. 

For this technique dot your rolled fondant with food coloring. Now, you will knead the food coloring into the fondant like you would do if you were coloring the fondant.

The difference is you will stop before the fondant is completely colored. What you want to see is the color distributed through the fondant but not all the way. You will see parts of the fondant will still be white. 

This is what you are looking for. This technique works best when you want to marble one color into white rolled fondant. If you want to marbelize two or more colors together the technique below works best for this. You want to see a streaked look to the fondant and not a solid color. This is a great effect for water on a cake.

For the second way to marble the rolled fondant, you will start out with two solid colors of the fondant that you want marbled together. 

Take the two colors of fondant that you want to marble together and roll them into two logs. Take those logs and twist them together as shown. 

Now knead the twisted logs slightly to give you a marbelized effect as shown below.

You can do this technique with more than two colors of fondant at once. You would take how ever many colors of fondant you want to marble together and roll them into logs. Twist them all together and knead slightly.

This is a great techinque to use for camoflauge cakes and to give a tie dyed effect to cakes. It is actually very simple to do. The one draw back to the marbled fondant is when you re-knead your scraps you will lose the marbelized effects.

Here are the links to the products you can use to marbelize your rolled fondant:

Rolled Fondant:

http://www.shopbakersnook.com/PremadeFondantforcakes.html

Food Coloring:

http://www.shopbakersnook.com/88.html

Fondant Work Mat:

http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/7765--silicone-work-mat-red-by-fat-daddio-s-24-x-36.html

Photos Courtesy of Wilton

First you want to make your medium sized cake balls and insert the stick. Dip the stick into melted yellow chocolate before inserting into the cake ball. This will help keep the cake pop from coming off the stick.

Place the cake pops with the stick inserted into the refrigerator until firm. This should be at least an hour.

Now dip the cake pops into melted yellow chocolate and set in the cake pop decorating stand to set up.

For the egg, roll out white rolled fondant 1/16" thick and cut circles using the largest round cutter from the Wilton fondant round cutter set.

Cut triangle shapes on the edges of the circle of fondant you just cut. 

Slide your circle of fondant up the stick starting at the base of the stick. Attach it to the cake pop with by brushing the fondant with a tiny bit of water.

Now we are ready to make the wings, hair and beak for our chick. For this we use gumdrops.

For the wings, cut a yellow gumdrop in half. Roll the gumdrop out onto sugar. Once the gumdrop is 1/8" thick, cut out the wings and hair for your chick. 

For the beak, roll the orange gum drops the same way and cut 2 triangle shapes that are 1/4" wide and 1/4" tall. Attach the wings, hair and beak to your cake pops using a little bit of melted yellow chocolate.

For the eyes, take melted black chocolate in a disposable bag or a black candy writer and make two dot eyes for your chick.

Here are the links to the products we used to make the Chick cake pop:

How to make a basic cake ball blog:

Yellow Chocolate:

http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/73--yellow-chocolate-coating-by-merckens-1-pound.html

Black Chocolate: 

http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/7661--black-melting-chocolate-by-clasen-1-pound.html

Black Candy Writer:

http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/86--black-candy-writer-by-ck-products.html

Fondant Roller:

http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/4082--fondant-roller-by-wilton.html

Fondant Round Cutter Set:

http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/273--round-shaped-fondant-cutter-by-wilton.html

Sticks:

http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/1536--6-suckersticks-50-count.html

Cake Pop Decorating Stand: 

Photos Courtesy of Wilton

This is a good basic tutorial for making your cake balls. To turn your cake balls into cake pops just insert a stick.

First step is to take 1/2 of a baked 9x13 cake and crumble it into a bowl. Make sure there are no large pieces of cake left in the bowl.                                    

To the cake mixture add 1/2 cup of buttercream icing. This can be store bought or homemade. It is the same icing you would ice your cakes with. Stir the mixture until the icing is completely incorporated. The amount of icing can vary. You want to use just enough icing so your ball will hold together.

Measure out the cake mixture for the balls. You can use a measuring spoon or cookie scoop for this process. You want them all to be uniform in size. You can make them as large or small as you like. Usually about 2 bites is a good size for cake balls.

Roll the measured out mixture in your hands to form a ball. You can also form this mixture into other shapes to customize your cake balls or cake pops.

Place your cake balls into the refrigerator to set up. This will help them hold their shape when you dip them into the chocolate.

If you are making the cake pops then dip your stick into melted chocolate before inserting it into the cake pop. This will keep the cake ball from falling off the stick.

Dip your cake pop into the melted chocolate. Tap the stick lightly to remove the excess chocolate.

Insert the sticks of the cake pops into the decorating stand to set up. If you lay your cake pop down to dry it will have a flat spot. This is fine to do with cake balls, however. 

Now your cake pops or cake balls are ready to decorate. If using sprinkles make sure you sprinkle them on the cake ball before the chocolate sets up. You can also decorate them with melted chocolate and rolled fondant.

You are only limited by your imagination when making cake pops or cake balls. These are so fun to make as a project with your kids. 

Here are the links to the products to help you make your cake pops:

Cake Pop Supplies:

http://www.shopbakersnook.com/CakePopsdecoratingsuppliesbyWilton.html

Decorating Stand for Cake Pops:

http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/8424--cake-pops-decorating-stand-by-wilton.html

Merckens Melting Chocolate:

http://www.shopbakersnook.com/67.html

Sprinkles:

http://www.shopbakersnook.com/78.html

Photos Courtesy of Wilton

1. Is isomalt safe to eat? Yes. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has reviewed isomalt and declared it GRAS, or Generally Regarded as Safe. That designation means the substance has been approved by the FDA for its intended use as a food additive, similar to baking soda, sugar and corn syrup.

Isomalt is made from sugar, tastes like sugar and has half the calories of sugar. It does not cause dental cavities and is the most popular sweetener in the world, behind sucrose/sugar. Isomalt has a low glycemic response, and therefore is used in many dietetic candies.

The manufacturer recommends ingesting no more than 50 grams of isomalt a day within a normal diet to avoid a laxative effect. Just like many high-fiber foods, the consumption of isomalt in moderate amounts is well-tolerated by most people. 

2. Are CakePlay Isomalt Sticks kosher? Not at this time. 

3. How long do I melt CakePlay’s isomalt sticks in the microwave? Since microwave ovens vary in wattage, we don’t indicate a specific amount of melting time on our package.

Most decorators have success in melting 1-2 broken sticks in an ovenproof bowl or measuring cup for 45 seconds on high power. After that, you can stir the isomalt and keep melting in 15-second increments until the isomalt is the desired consistency. Allow any bubbles to subside before pouring into your desired mold or proceeding with any other decorating technique. 

4. Can CakePlay’s Isomalt Sticks be used in pulled and blown sugar projects? Yes. Professional cake artists have successfully used our pure isomalt product in various pulled and blown sugar pieces with no problems.

Our isomalt does not contain acid, which is sometimes added to isomalt to make it softer and easier to work, but pastry chefs and cake professionals have found it to have adequate pliability for their projects. 

5. Can I flavor the isomalt? Yes. Flavoring oils may be added to isomalt as desired. LorAnn Oils recommends ½ to 1 teaspoon of flavoring per pound of melted CakePlay isomalt.  However, some flavoring oils impart a color to the product, or contain fine particulates that can detract from the clarity of the isomalt.

We recommend testing your flavoring with a small amount of isomalt and observing the results before proceeding with candy production. 

6. Can CakePlay’s isomalt sticks be tinted to another color? Yes. CakePlay has had good success with gel colors, especially since they impart less moisture to the product.

Just touch the tip of a popsicle stick to your desired gel color. Then touch that tip of the popsicle stick to the hot isomalt right after it comes out of the microwave. Let the moisture sizzle off before stirring in the gel color. For a fun “swirled” look, don’t stir the gel color in completely. 

7. Can I burn isomalt? Yes, but only with significant overheating. This is why we recommend adding time to the microwave in small increments. When melted properly, isomalt can be heated multiple times.

Typically, the color breaks down long before the isomalt, and you should be able to heat the product several times without detrimental effects. 

8. When do I put finished pieces on a cake? CakePlay recommends placing finished isomalt pieces into an air-tight container until just before displaying your cake.

If you live in a high-humidity environment, you may want to add a desiccant to the container with your finished piece. CakePlay offers desiccant packets in its product line. Do not refrigerate finished pieces, as the refrigerator is a humid environment. 

9. Will my melted isomalt have a cloudy appearance? CakePlay’s isomalt sticks are very clear. However, the mat or mold used to cast the isomalt can give it a cloudy appearance, depending on its surface, composition and/or density.

Typically, a mold with a tighter cell structure will give better results. One technique to try for improved clarity is to rub a little vegetable oil onto the mold, then wipe it off before pouring in the melted isomalt. You can also use a crème brulee torch to restore surface clarity. Use a light sweep with the torch to avoid losing surface detail. 

10. My molded piece looks cloudy. What should I do? There are a number of factors which may be causing the cloudiness in your finished piece: (A) If you’re using a silicone mold (or some silicone mats), the silicone may not have been properly manufactured. Only use top-quality molds.

(B) Excess humidity in your area and/or preparation location can cause cloudiness. Use desiccant packets when you store your finished pieces to alleviate this issue.

(C) Lightly run the flame from a crème brulee torch carefully over the mold’s surface to remove cloudiness.

(D) Lightly rub oil onto the mold’s surface, then remove the excess with a clean cloth or paper towel.

(E) Do not refrigerate molded pieces. Store in an air-tight container with a desiccant until just before display.

11. Will CakePlay’s isomalt sticks work in a high-humidity environment? Isomalt works much better than sugar in areas of high humidity, but will still absorb moisture, although more slowly, and will not crystallize. As with fondant and gumpaste, cake artists and pastry chefs will want to take some precautions when working with our product:

(A) Immediately after finishing a sugar showpiece, store it in an air-tight container with a desiccant such as silica gel. Do not remove the piece from the container until just before display.

(B) Unused isomalt sticks should be stored in an air-tight container away from light, heat and humidity.

(C) Leftover melted isomalt can be poured onto a Silpat mat, cooled and stored.

(D) Those in high-humidity environments can also protect their finished creations with an edible lacquer spray or confectionery glaze.

(E) In areas of extreme humidity, work with isomalt on clear, sunny days when the humidity is lower, or use a room dehumidifier.

Here are the links to the isomalt sticks:

Blue Isomalt Sticks: http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/8415--isomalt-sticks-blue-pre-cooked-isomalt-by-cake-play.html

Clear Isomalt Sticks: http://www.shopbakersnook.com/m5/8412--isomalt-sticks-clear-pre-cooked-isomalt-by-cake-play.html