Saturday, November 29, 2008

Daring Bakers Challenge...postponed


So, yes. I know what date it is today. I had the cake baked up yesterday to be decorated, photographed and blogged today. Until last night. The following conversation took place between me and my 'little' sister after I came home from work last night.

Sis: Hey, can you bake me some cupcakes tomorrow?

Me: Err...I kind of have another cake to finish up tomorrow.

Sis: But it's my 21st birthday!!

------Silence-------

Me: Your birthday isn't until next week!

Sis: Yes, but I'm celebrating it tomorrow because some of my friends have plans to go overseas next week.

Me: Ok, what kind of cupcake would you like?

Sis: (Showed me a photo of a mini woodland scene atop a cupcake) Can you do 21 of these?


So in the end, blood is thicker than water and I had to acquiesce. I emailed Lisa to tell her that some last minute things have cropped up, and therefore I will have to postpone my posting for this month's caramel cake until next week. Those who thought that I was going to completely skip the challenge should take a second look at the name of my blog!! So be back next week and I'll have my cake up here.

Oh, in the end we negotiated and settled for butterflies perched on top of the cupcake.

15 comments:

Cannelle Et Vanille said...

well sorry you couldn't get to it but those butterflies look so beautiful! that's what siblings can do for you!

Y said...

How wonderful of you! I look forward to seeing those cupcakes, AND your caramel cake!

Sweet Treats by Dani said...

that's what big sisters are for :)

Helene said...

You are such a sweet big sister! The butterflies are gorgeous!

Mallory Elise said...

ahhhhh that sounds like a conversation to be had between my younger sister and myself---her 21st is this january, so we'll see how that goes. chances are rather it would be "hey sis can you come over and play bar tender" 21 is the big run for americans. :) tell your sis happy b-day!

Vera said...

You are the best sister, Christy! The butterflies are so beautiful! Happy Birthday and best wishes to your sister!

Thip said...

You're sweet. I'll be back then. :)

linda said...

Can't dissapoint your little sister ;) You're a wonderful big sister.
We'll just have to wait for your DB challenge and the cupcakes.

natalia said...

Ciao ! So I'll "have" to come back to see your cuocakes and caramel cake !

Meeta K. Wolff said...

hahaha! those little sisters. have fun!

Sandra Le Petrin said...

after browsing your lovely blog, I can't wait to see your caramel cake! I'll be back for sure!
I also did my caramel cake later this month because I had to bake a birthday cake for my little sister ;)

Mallory Elise said...

woooooooo a can of pumpkin! you're almost american!!

oh yessss hooray! i will come and eat rice at your house when i run the Melbourne Marathon. oh yeahhh.

Penelope said...

I want to try and make butterflies like that for my daughter's birthday...any chance you could tell me what supplies you use? Cutters etc?

Christy said...

Penelope, I used royal icing for the butterflies, which is basically egg whites mixed with icing sugar. I used a template form Peggy Porschen's Romantic Cakes book and piped the outline of the butterflies using soft-peaks royal icing onto a sheet of baking paper, then flood them (fill in the gaps), using the same royal icing at runny consistency. You get the different consistencies by diluting the royal icing with water. Then you let them dry overnight, and in the morning, fold a piece of cardboard into an accordion pleat. Line it with baking paper, pipe a short line of royal icing in the middle of the fold, then stick the wings on the line. Leave the butterflies at this position to dry.

The whole process is quite straightforward, but the piping can be a bit of a problem, and the steps are pretty hard to explain in words alone. If you really want to make them from royal icing, I would suggest that you get the book I mentioned above, as the steps indicated are much clearer and there are photos included to further clarify the steps.

However, I think what you have in mind are butterflies made from fondant/RTR icing. These would be easier as there are no piping involved. But you would have to purchase the cutters for the butterfly wings and mold the butterfly bodies by hand. Then I would suggest that you stick them together with egg whites, although keeping the wings in place while the whole thing dries might be a bit of a challenge. You can try using the accordion pleat to the same effect, but I can't guarantee that it will work, as I've never made butterflies in this way before.

I hope this helps!!

Penelope said...

Thankyou so much!!!

Your instructions are really quite clear, I'll give it a go soon...

(So glad I found your blog BTW, LOVE it!)