Saturday, March 13, 2010

Beehive Cake

Thursday was my mom's birthday but we are celebrating it today. Since she love Winnie the Pooh, I decided to make her a Beehive cake. I also bought her a Pooh figurine by Jim Shore. This was my first sculpted cake as well as the first cake I had ever made that was more than two layers. I had some trouble with the cake layers in the beginning because they kept wanting to crumble and lean. After I got the initial buttercream layer on and into the freezer it set up just fine and didn't fall over. I kept the cake in the freezer over night and today I covered it in fondant and decorations. For some reason my cake started sweating really bad. I had to put a fan on it after I covered it with the fondant to dry it and to keep my bees from falling off. The bees are having some trouble staying on still. I think they might be too heavy but I added a couple of toothpicks to help them out and it seems to be working for now. My only big concern is transporting it to the party tonight... My cake holder is not tall enough so I think I'm going to have to use a box. Hopefully none of the decorations will fall off. I surprised my mom with it this morning and she LOVED it. Of course I thought it turned out alright because I'm my biggest critic but she kept going on and on about how pretty it was and how much she liked it. :) Make all my hard work worth it. I would've had the cake finished a bit sooner (and with less stress) if I hadn't felt so terrible. Someone at work got me sick so I had to take a lot of nap breaks while working on the cake. But I finally have it finished and my mom adores it. She said she doesn't even want to eat it lol It's a chocolate cake with vanilla butter cream and marshmallow fondant.
Oh and if anyone knows the best place to get a cake board I would love to know. Lowes said they could give me a piece of plywood but couldn't cut it in a circle so I have no idea where else to go. Enjoy the pictures and any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Win a FREE Knuckelbiter!

The Plush Team is offering a chance to win this insanely cute plush by abbydid. Visit the Plush Team blog for more details on how to win!

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Cheesy Vegan Enchiladas

Although this is not a baked good, it is a very good recipe! I figured since it was going to be a couple weeks before my next cake I'd share a few delicious dishes instead. I love going to VegWeb.com and this is where I found this recipe. I modified it a bit because I did not have all the ingredients. It turned out delicious! I made them for my omnivore mom and I for lunch and she loved them. She didn't even add any real cheese which to me means it's a perfect vegan dish! One more note about the recipe. I only used 2 cans of beans and only 6 tortillas and I still had about 2-3 cups of the filling left!

Cheesy Bean and Cheese Enchiladas

Ingredients:
1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup nutritional yeast

1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 cups water
1 teaspoon mustard
4 tablespoons margarine
10 tortillas
2 small cans enchilada sauce
3 cans beans (white kidney, pinto, black), drained
2 medium onions, chopped 1 can olives, chopped
1/4 cup chopped cilantro(I used dried parsley), 1/2 cup salsa (optional)

I also added about a cup of diced, sautéed mushrooms

Directions:
In medium-large saucepan, combine flour, nutritional yeast, salt and garlic powder. Add water and mix thoroughly. Heat on medium heat until bubbling and thick. Remove from heat and add mustard and margarine. Set aside 1/2 cup of cheese sauce in separate container. Add onion, beans, olives, cilantro and salsa to sauce. Mix it up. **Pour a 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Place a tortilla in pan and cover in enchilada sauce. Spoon in filling. Roll and push to one end of pan. Continue until all tortillas filled. Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce on top and then spread reserved cheese sauce on as last step. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until brown, 30-45 minutes. Makes: 6 servings, Preparation time: 15 minutes, Cooking time: 30-45 minutes

** I would add a little more than a 1/2c since some of my enchiladas stuck to the dish. 


(Not my picture)
I topped mine with some mashed up avocado with a little lime juice. A very filling, tasty dish. Enjoy!

On a non-food related matter, I am very happy to announce that Joanna is finally 100% healthy and has gained 40g since the last time she was at the vet! Her amputated tail and toe are all healed, she no longer has pneumonia, and she is shedding and growing like a pretty baby Savannah monitor should!