Recipe - Red Marshmallow Fondant (MMF)

Alas, I needed to make another batch of red MMF for a Toy Story Cake and decided to try making it with candy melts instead of Jello (see one of my posts about using Jello including tips and tricks).  Also, with Crisco greased hands and a camera, carefully wrapped in saran wrap, I took photos of the step by step:


Ingredients used:
10oz Generic Mini Marshmallows (since I didn't need an entire batch)
Approximately 1 1/2 lbs C&H Powdered Sugar, Sifted
4oz (approx 1/2 Cup) melted Wilton Red Candy Melts
1/3 tsp Americolor Super Red (very little, less than what I use on a Red Velvet Cake!)
1 Tbs Water


(see one of my posts about the tips and tricks with working with MMF to get additional instructions)


Here are the step by step photos:

The Candy Melts!

1) Melt the candy melts
2) Melt the marshmallows separately

Add the melted candy melts into the melted marshmallows

Add any additional coloring to achieve the color you want

Stir it all together

All combined marvelously

Pour mixture over the sifted Powdered Sugar

Knead and knead until all combined

Coat well with shortening, double wrap with saran wrap and store in an air tight container to set and until ready to use.

 Ta-da!  And this is the red right after making it next to a red LEGO brick.  Easy-peasy!


Note:  Using candy melts or chocolate makes the MMF very pliable:  No need to add any corn syrup to it.  When using it to cover a cake with, roll it out and let it sit for a few minutes (2-3 minutes) to rest and stiffen a little bit making it easier to roll up and unroll over a cake.

June 2013 Update:  You can now download the recipe (click here): Angela's MMF with Candy Melts Recipe

Superman Kryptonite Cake (and Sugar Glass Recipe)

I made this cake a year ago for a little boy turning 2.  The parents wanted a Superman cake and I wanted to make something different and this is what I came up with, a Kryptonite Superman Cake!  How I was going to pull the Kryptonite off?  I did not have a clue.  I spend weeks trying to figure out how to make a Kryptonite crystal that were edible...making and growing your own sugar crystals to working with gelatin...so much learned!

Making the Kryptonite:  I originally tried making them from gelatin sheets that I trimmed into the shape of crystals but they just tasted awful and looked nothing like a crystal or the way I was envisioning it to look.  After failing at finding a mold to use, I improvised and made my own mold using a toaster oven rack and foil.  The foil was dented in between each section to form a well for the sugar to sit with the ends curled up to help contain any sugar that may seep to the ends.  The foil along the sides were tightly tucked under - PLEASE take precaution when working with hot, molten sugar!  It is dangerously hot.  Have all your stuff ready and in one place, and be super careful!

Sugar Glass Recipe:

1/2 Cup Sugar (see note below)

1/2 Cup Light Corn Syrup

Combine the sugar and corn syrup into a sauce pan over medium heat.  Use a candy thermometer to check the temperature and keep boiling until it reaches 300°.  Add any coloring and/or any flavor oils.

NOTE:  Do not add the coloring before 300° or else the finished, cooled product will be tacky.

NOTE:  Granulated sugar turns a golden yellow color when boiled.  If you want it to remain clear, you will need to use Isomalt (sugar free).

Note:  If they sugar glass looks a little cloudy, you can rub/polish with a little bit of vegetable oil

I used regular granulated sugar since I was coloring it green using ChefMaster Green Candy Colors.

I lightly brushed the foil mold with vegetable oil so that the sugar wouldn't stick to it like glue and very carefully poured the hot, boiling, 300° sugar glass over each well.  Being very careful and doing it very gently to also avoid getting air bubbles in it.  Let it sit for about an hour until completely cooled and hard.  Then, peel the sugar glass off the foil.  Store the sugar glass in an airtight container with a silica gel packet (helps absorb moisture).  Moisture will make them sticky/tacky and putting them in the fridge will melt them...did you watch the Cake Boss episode where he used isomalt to make coral for an aquarium cake?  I got my silica gel packet from inside those Nori Packets (the seaweed sheets used to make sushi).

Break off the pieces and apply to the cake.  I found that the best thing that worked at holding the sugar glass up against the fondant cake were tiny little pieces of fondant brushed with a little bit of water.  Icing didn't work...well, it didn't stick to the sugar glass, and straight water did nothing.  I'm sure you could use piping gel but I didn't have any on hand when making this cake.

Superman Cake Topper:
I made him out of fondant, all different colors put together like a puzzle, engraved in the details, then painted in the highlights using gel colors diluted with almond extract (you can use Vodka but I never have any on hand and the almond evaporates quickly and dry - using water will just leave a tacky mess behind).

The entire cake was covered in buttercream then with yellow-green tinted MMF.  I originally wanted to make it blue but the green sugar glass did not look right up against it so I settled with this color made with both AmeriColor Electric Green and Wilton Bright Yellow.

  I made some skyline silhouettes of buildings to add around the back of the cake.

The Superman symbol was cut free-handed into a"2" for the little boys 2nd birthday.

Finished off with more Kryptonite around the front of the cake.  Notice the Daily Planet globe on top of the building =).  I love adding those tiny details that pull the theme together!

Cake:  9" Chocolate Sour Cream Cake filled with White Chocolate Mousse.

Recipe: Marshmallow Fondant (MMF)

Below is the recipe I've been using to make MMF including hints, tips, lessons learned along the way.  The original post is under the Notes page on my Facebook Page.  As requested by a fellow "caker" (as I like to call us), I am also posting it here on the blog for ones who do not have access to Facebook.  It is so simple to make, tastes so much better than store bought fondant and is much more economical.

Marshmallow Fondant (MMF)
- 16 oz Bag Generic Mini Marshmallow’s (not Jet Puffed, although some only use Jet Puffed, I favor the texture and workability of the generic ones...either way, just be sure they are FRESH)
- 2 lbs C&H Powdered Sugar, Shifted to remove any lumps (abbreviated "PS")
- 2 Tsp Water (you just need a little bit sprinkled over the marshmallows to help with melting)
- Shortening or Crisco (keeps the MMF from sticking to surfaces) - no more than 2 Tbsp
- 1 tsp Light Corn Syrup (optional, makes it more pliable when adding color)

Directions:
1) Coat a microwave safe bowl with 1 Tbsp shortening, add marshmallows, sprinkle with water.

2) Coat a spatula really well with shortening.

3) Microwave for 30 sec intervals, stirring really well with the spatula in between each interval. DO NOT microwave for more than 3 intervals (it will break down the marshmallows and you end up with a ton of air bubbles in your finished product). Stirring really well will help distribute the heat and melt the marshmallows thoroughly.

4) If needed, add any flavoring or color to the melted marshmallows (see Hints below). You can always add more coloring to it as you are kneading in the PS so don’t worry if you don’t get the color you want initially.

5) Grease a table or counter top really well with shortening and add ½ of the PS onto it. Create a well in the PS and pour the melted marshmallows into it. Grease your hands with a coating of shortening and knead the powdered sugar into the melted marshmallows (work fast, you don’t want the marshmallow to cool and see Hint #1 and #7  below).

6) Keep rubbing more shortening into your hands as needed. Add more powdered sugar and keep kneading until it forms a smooth ball of dough and is no longer sticky (feels a lot like play dough). Coat the dough really well with a thick coating of shortening, cover in saran wrap tightly, cover again in a 2nd layer of saran wrap and store in an air tight container or Zip Lock Bag overnight (sugar incorporates and any lumps melt away).

7) Knead again until soft before using it: If too dry, add a few drops of water or if sticky, add more PS.

Notes:
1) I have never used the entire 2 lbs of Powdered Sugar. Depending on the weather and humidity, I use anywhere from 1-1/2 lbs to 1-3/4 lbs.

2) Optional: When making colored MMF, add a tsp of Light Corn Syrup to the MMF as you are kneading in the PS. It makes it more pliable especially if you make darker colors. When I make white, I don’t find a need to add the Corn Syrup.

3) You can store the MMF at room temperate for about 3 months, in the fridge for a couple months or in the freezer for a very long time. Just keep it wrapped and let it come to room temperature before using it. If really hard, zap in microwave for about 10 secs to soften it slightly then knead by hand.

4) You can make the MMF by using a powerful KitchenAid with a dough hook, coat bowl and hook really well with shortening. I personally like doing it by hand; you can feel if the dough is the right consistency.  When I've used the KA, the PS gets compacted along the bottom and sides of the bowl which I have to scrap off leaving large lumps of PS in the MMF...not good, plus more dishes to wash after wards.

5) If the MMF is too stretchy, let it sit uncovered for about 5 minutes to cool down and settle a bit, you may have overworked it and got it too warm.  Also, MMF will take more PS if too warm so don't add more than the 2 lbs or else you'll end up with a big, lumpy, crumbly ball once completely cooled.

6)  Different brands of marshmallows give you different shades of off white as well as texture.  It may take a few batches to find one you like and works best for you.  To get MMF really white, add a few drops of bright white gel or icing colors to it.

Update Sept 2011:
7)  Don't use more than 2 Tbsp to make your MMF.  I usually use about 1 to 1 1/2 tbs to coat the bowl to melt the marshmallows in, the spatula, the work surface and my hands with.  If you use too  much shortening, your MMF will be really soft, sag and droop.  Use only enough to keep it from sticking and no more - the less you use the better the texture of the MMF.  Also, I read somewhere long time ago that shortening breaks down the MMF so if you need to make it more pliable, add a tsp of light corn syrup or glycerin instead.

Hints:
1) Don’t dig your hands into the melted marshmallows or else you will get a big, sticky mess on thy fingers. You want to FOLD the PS into the melted marshmallows while keeping a layer of PS between your hands and marshmallows and after doing this a couple times, you will be able to handle the marshmallows without it sticking like glue to your fingers. If you do get a sticky mess on the hands, rub them with PS and it will peel right off.

2) Use flavored jello’s to flavor and color you MMF. Add a large, 6 oz box, of Jell-O Mix into the melted marshmallows and stir it well and quickly to melt the jello into it.  Or you can also use Candy Melts. I haven't used the melts yet I am eager to give it a try soon.  

Nov 2010 Update:  See post about making Red MMF with Red Candy Melts =)  Worked wonderfully!

3) Dark colors become darker over time, so be sure to give yourself 2-3 days to get the shade you need and to allow the colors to mature completely.

4) Red MMF:  As difficult as everyone says it is to make red, I am glad to say that I have succeeded (see Ferrari Cake). How? When the marshmallows are melted, add 1 large box (6 oz) of Strawberry Jell-O Gelatin and stir really well and until it's not grainy (work fast, you don’t want the marshmallow’s to cool down before adding the PS). This gives the MMF a pink base to start with. Then added a ½ oz of the Wilton No Taste Red Icing Color to it. Kneed in the PS and add more of the red coloring a little at a time. Don’t worry if it is not very red; Dark colors darken over time. Coat the dough with shortening, wrap tightly and store in an airtight container. Let it sit overnight. On the following day, knead the dough more and add more red as needed. For the red on the Ferrari Cake, I made the MMF 3 days ahead, kneaded more red into it on day 2 and let it just sit and rest until I used it on day 3. It smelled and tasted deliciously like strawberry jello!

Red Ferrari Cake covered in Red MMF made with Strawberry JELL-O and Wilton No Taste Red
(the shine is due to rubbing the cake VERY lightly with with a TINY bit of shortening - letting the heat off you fingers melt and spread the shortening evenly around)

Closeup of the JELL-O MMF

Update:  I've been getting comments on how some of you are getting a grainy MMF when using the jello mix.  Be sure to use the JELL-O brand - I've used a generic brand before (see Denture Cake below) and the sugar didn't melted completely and left the MMF grainy feeling, almost like it had some tiny specs of sand it.  Please mix the JELL-O really well and completely into the melted marshmallows.  Above I added a closeup of the red MMF made with JELL-O (Ferrari Cake).  If you look really close, you can see some tiny, darker specs randomly around the cake that are only noticeable up close (really up close, this is the only photo I was able to find that it showed up on).  Even though there are some tiny darker specs, the MMF was still smooth and not grainy.  Please keep trying and if it doesn't work for you, don't give up.  You can also get dark and bright colors by using the candy melt method.  HTH!

Dental Cake make with a Generic Brand of Strawberry Jello Mix and a tiny bit of Wilton No Taste Red
(MMF was grainy)

Closeup of the Denture Cake right after it was covered and before it was dusted off and cleaned off.

Barney and Friends Cake (and Modeling Chocolate & RKT Recipes)

A Barney, BJ, and Baby Bop cake for little Evan who turned 1 and it turned out so adorable.  Evan loves Barney and although I find him (Barney) quite annoying, after playing a couple episodes to get an idea of what the dinosaurs looked like in detail, my own 3 year old loves him too and requests to watch it EVERY day...oh well!  He does have very catchy songs and the kids love singing along.

The figures were modeled with Rice Krispy Treats (RKT) cereal then covered and molded with modeling chocolate.  I made the RKT without butter and used a little bit of vegetable oil instead:  Using butter will make them go stale quick.  I started these guys 3 days earlier.


Below is the recipe I used for the RKT.  Measurements are approximate since I basically eyed it until I got the right texture.
 
RKT Recipe (with vegetable oil):
16oz Bag of Mini Marshmallows
12 Cups Rice Crispy Cereal (I crushed it a little bit)
1 Tbs Vegetable Oil
1 Tsp Water


Coat a microwave bowl really well with shortening or vegetable oil.  Add marshmallows, drizzle with water and microwave in 30 sec increments, stirring in between, until all melted.  Add veg oil and stir well.  Add cereal and stir again until incorporated well.  Cover in an airtight container so it stays soft while you make your figures.  If it hardens, just put the amount needed into the microwave for 5 secs to soften it back up again.

This batch was enough to make the 3 dinosaurs, number 1 and a 6" round (4 inches tall)...I had about a cup left over.

Cover the RKT in modeling chocolate.  I used white candy melts and tinted them with a combination of Chef Master Candy Colors and AmeriColor Gel colors.  Instead of using toothpicks, I use dry spaghetti as skewers to help hold each piece to the body.  I let these sit overnight to set and dry before assembling them although you can assembly them right away when using modeling chocolate.

Modeling Chocolate Recipe:
(I prefer to weigh my ingredients, much easier and less clean up)
14oz bag of candy melts or chocolate, melted in the microwave in 30 secs increments, stirring each time, once all melted, add 4oz (weighed) light corn syrup (or 2.6oz measured), stir very little, spread over a piece of wax paper and let sit overnight to set.  When ready to use, break off a small piece and knead until soft again.  Use as is or knead some coloring into it.

The basic recipe is 16oz chocolate to 3oz (measured) corn syrup (4.5oz weighed).  Candy Melts usually come in a 14oz bag, so use a little less corn syrup.  Using more corn syrup will make the modeling chocolate softer, using less, will make the modeling  chocolate harder.

Update March 2011:  see step by step photo's on this post, How to Make Modeling Chocolate

Here are the dinosaurs all decorated and waiting patiently to get on the cake.

For BJ (yellow dino), I stuck his shoes into the sides of the cake, spread piping gel over the tops, then lay his knees over it.  All the the dino's are attached to the cake with piping gel.

They look so adorably happy...and cute =)

The top, 6" tier is actually a RKT rather than a cake.  I just filled 2, 6" round pans with the RKT, let it cool, then covered in buttercream and MMF like you do a normal cake layer.

The bottom, 9" tier is Chocolate Chiffon filled with strawberry buttercream and fresh strawberries.

Translating Over My Mom's Recipes

I grew up in a British colony where neighbors and friends got together every afternoon for tea and with a mom who made everything, and I mean everything, from scratch.  We had dessert every single day and off course, with tea every afternoon.  We left when I was almost 10 and headed to the the US.  Over here, my mother never got into baking all those desserts as she once had.  She would say that it was too much work and so much easier to buy it - bummer, right?

Now that I'm older and baking more, I wanted to take her hand-written cookbooks and translate them over from Portuguese to English and try to replicate those delicious desserts I remember growing up with.  My Portuguese is not very good, actually, it's very bad!  I don't speak it and barely understand it and rely heavily on the Internet to help translate things over.  She finally handed me one of her cookbooks last week - yay!  So old and frail, the pages lightly browned from age are barely hanging in there, the cover held together with tape....It's beautiful and I love it how it brings back the memories of watching my mother cooking with these books by her side.

Another challenge, reading my moms handwriting, but I'm getting through it.  Many of the recipes she created on her own.  She has an act for tasting something or looking at something and recreating it just perfectly.  Some of the measurements are in "tea cups", "coffee cups", and "shot glass" and in British/English units...I'm so meticulous about being exact about things that its already driving me insane trying to figure out the exact conversion.  Wish me luck though...After this one, she has a couple more waiting for me to do the same with.

Super Mario Bros Cake (and Oreo IMBC Recipe)

A birthday cake for Rowen who wanted Bowser, Mario, Luigi and Goomba's and this is what I came up with to pull it all together.  My crazy story behind  the idea - Bowser's Castle with Bowser chasing the Bros while they were running away trying to catch the stars and jump into the Pipe.

Bowser was the hardest and most time consuming of the characters to make; so many pieces!  All hand cut and put together piece by piece, layer by layer.  He took 2 hours but I loved how he turned out...grrrr! 

Mario's and Luigi's outline was cut out of fondant then I lightly engraved in all the details and painted in all the features.

The Goomba's were put together from 3 seperate pieces (feet, legs, head).  Each piece was left to dry for 1 day before assembling it together.

I made the bricks by using "Duff Brick Texture Tile" bought at Michael's (with my 40% off coupon - whoo hoo).  It made it so easy to create instant tiles that worked perfectly with the cake.

And Rowen's name was made using the Wilton Alphabet Cutterwhich fit perfectly over the brick blocks.  Plus I added 6 gold coins around the cake since he was turning 6 (I used a flower tip impressed in the middle of each coin to give it some dimension).

Rowen loved his cake and so did I!  I hope you do too :)

Lesson learned:  Make extra Goomba's, at least one per guest - the kids all wanted to eat one and I only had 4...ay yay yay!

8" round Chocolate Sour Cream Cake filled with Oreo IMBC.  Covered and decorated in MMF.

Oreo IMBC:  Make your usual IMBC or Buttercream, set aside.  Take Oreo Cookies, break them apart, scrape off the cream filling and set the filling aside. Crush the oreo cookies (without the cream center) in a blender or chopper (I used a Magic Bullet). Take about a third of your buttercream (enough to fill and thinly crumb coat the cake with) and fold the crushed cookies into the buttercream. For the actual filling that goes between the cake layers, I mixed the cream filling from the middle of the cookies into it (so that it won't go to waste ). Spread the oreo buttercream filling over the cake layer, sprinkle with additional crushed cookies if you want, and top with another cake layer. Repeat between the layers.  Cover the entire cake with the rest of the oreo buttercream.  Add another layer of plain buttercream over that then top with fondant (this way, any chunks from the oreo won't show through to the fondant).

I do the same technique with fresh strawberries blended into the buttercream/IMBC. You can pretty much add anything to it and just be sure to save some aside plain to use as the final coating over the cake if you want to cover it with fondant.

Music Themed 80th Birthday Cake (and IMBC Recipe)

For my Great Uncle (mom's uncle) who has been singing in choirs his entire life.  The 9" round cake was White Almond Sour Cream (WASC) filled with fresh strawberries and Strawberry Italian Meringue Buttercream (IMBC) - Delish! (recipe below).  The outside was covered in Vanilla/Almond IMBC, hand-piped black Color Flow and finished off with a red fondant bow and "80".

This was my 1st bow and I was so proud of how real it looked.  Thank you Edna (www.DesignMeACake.com) for the wonderful tuturial that you can find here.

IMBC is soft like whipped cream and doesn't crust at all.  I love using the upside down method to get tall, straight sides and sharp corners with:  I also do this with ganache and regular buttercream cakes too.  Put in the fridge to get firm (IMBC is just like butter - hard when cold, soft at room temperature), remove, flip the cake over then put back in the fridge until you are ready to decorate it.

During the entire decorating process, I kept sticking the cake in the fridge for a couple minutes at a time to firm up.  Added the red, fondant ribbon around the bottom, put the cake back in the fridge, piped the "Happy", put in fridge, piped "Birthday", put in fridge...repeat, repeat, repeat until all the piping was complete.

I'm not very good at piping and take a very, very long time with each and every letter and music note, carefully fixing each stroke with a wet brush or toothpick.  I did try to pipe out all the letters and music notes a few days prior in dark chocolate but I didn't temper it correctly and they had beige swirls all over them.  Then I tried to pipe them in Color Flow over wax paper but they cracked as I pealed them off so I had to pipe them directly over the cake - holding my breath with each stroke and being super careful - ay yay yay!

Finished the cake off by adding the red bow and "80" both of which were made from red mmf mixed with tylose a few days prior to allow time to dry.  Put the entire cake back in the fridge so it would be firm and stable for the long drive to my Great Uncle's 80th Birthday party.  Everyone loved the cake especially the filling and every single slice of it was gone, eaten, enjoyed!  Happy Birthday Uncle!

Here is the recipe for IMBC.  1 Recipe (approx. 8 cups) was plenty enough to fill and cover a 9" round plus, when making it, it fits perfectly in a 5Qt mixer (if you need to make more, make it in a separate batch).  I included the weight of each ingredient since I prefer to weigh each rather than to measure.

Recipe - IMBC (Whimsical Bakehouse):
1/2 Cup Water (118g)
2-1/4 Cups (500g) Granulated Sugar (500g)
1 Cup Egg Whites (approximately 6-10 eggs, 236 g)
6 Sticks Unsalted Butter (1.5 lbs or 680g), cut into 1" pieces and at room temperature
1 Tspn Pure Vanilla Extract (or any other flavor preferred - I used 1/2 Vanilla and 1/2 Almond)

In a saucepan, bring water and sugar to a boil using a clean brush and cold water to wash down any sugar crystals that form on the sides of the pan as it is heating (any crystals will ruin/collapse the IMBC).  As soon as the sugar comes to a boil, set a timer to 7 minutes and continue to let it boil.

After 5 minutes, whip on high spead the egg whites with a stand mixer until stiff.  They will be done when the timer goes off (2 mins).  With mixer still on high, slowly (very slowly) pour the hot sugar syrup down the side of the mixing bowl into the egg whites.  Continue to beat on high until the bowl is cool to the touch (about 10-15 mins).  After the mixture is cool add the butter, 1 piece at a time.  As soon as the buttercream begins to curdle and jump around, reduce the spead to low, add the extract, and continue to mix until buttercream becomes smooth, light and fluffy (approx. 10 mins).

Store at room temperature for up to 3 days, in the fridge for 1 week, in the freezer for 1 month.  Be sure to bring it back down to room temperature before beating it back up fluffy again.

Strawberry Puree for Strawberry IMBC:
1/4 Cup fresh strawberries, diced
1 Tspn granulated sugar
1 Cup IMBC
Spinkle the strawberries with sugar, mix, cover, place in fridge for 1 hour or overnight.  Blend the strawberry mixture in a blender, strain out the junks and seeds and fold the strawberry puree into 1 cup of IMBC.  Spread between the cake layers and top with fresh strawberries....Enjoy!

Dental School Grad Cake (and Pink Lemonade Cake Recipe)

Very unique and very fun to do! A friend’s husband graduated Dental School and asked if I could help make the cake. A few months ago, I had helped her 2 friend’s make her a Safari Baby Shower Cake and at the same time showed them how to do it all; baking, making the marshmallow fondant (MMF), Ganache and decorations to torting, filling, covering it…all of it! Now, she wanted to have the same opportunity to learn too. What better way than with a carved cake and of course, for her husband! There wasn’t much we could do ahead of time aside from making the MMF. On my Facebook Page, I have the MMF recipe with tips and hints on how to work with it. We used Strawberry Jello Mix to color and flavor the MMF. It gave it a light pink base and we added about ¼ teaspoon of red gel color to it. It tasted more like bubblegum and smelled super delicious.

The cake was Pink Lemonade (see recipe below), filled with chocolate mousse, and covered with semi-sweet chocolate Ganache.

Two 9x13 cakes were baked. The cakes were stacked together 1st with a piece of parchment paper in between each layer then, carved. They were then taken apart and filled with chocolate mousse. The pieces cut off the corners were used to build the roof of the pallet and the ridge along the top then, the whole cake was covered in Ganache.

We covered the cake with the MMF and then cut out each tooth, smoothed it into shape, then attached it to the cake. The teeth were a little heavy and kept sliding down but we just keep shoving them back into place until it set. I must have printed out about 4-5 different pictures of teeth to get it right.

We also covered the 16”x16” cake board with a grayish-purple MMF (a mixture of what I had left over from other cakes) then sprayed the whole board with a can of the Duff Cake Graffiti in Metallic Silver: 1 can was barely enough to cover the board with…the instructions said that it would lightly cover six 8” round cakes – yeah! The spray worked perfectly, so much better than trying to brush it manually. An airbrush would have worked perfectly too but I didn’t have one…quite yet (but it's on my wish list).

She made the tools at home and then we painted them with silver luster dust. I heard the cake was a hit and she’s going to try to make a cake on her own. I love this…teaching others what others have taught me!

Pink Lemonade Cake – adapted from MacsMom’s “Lemon Cake”

2 white cake mix boxes

2 c cake flour

2 c - minus 2tbls - sugar

1 ½ t salt

1 t baking soda

1 1/3 cup frozen pink lemonade concentrate

1 1/3 cup water

2 c sour cream

6 whole eggs

¼ c oil

½ t vanilla extract

½ t lemon extract