18 Jun
Wilton Course III, Class 4
Posted by Chelle as Cakes, Wilton | 0 Comments
My final cake, a 2-tier wedding-style cake. This cake consists of 10-inch and 6-inch cakes, covered in fondant with fondant roses and leaves, and buttercream borders. I actually completed this cake on my own at home because I came down with a little bug and couldn’t make it to my final class. I am pretty proud of completing this with only the instruction of the book and not a teacher!
These roses were definitely time-intensive, as it probably took about 5-6 hours total to construct the 38 roses that went on this cake. Other than that, it was a pretty typical decorating job. I am having a great time doing cake decorating and will move on to the Wilton Fondant & Gum Paste class in July.
More pictures after the break (I went a little crazy with the camera)…
17 Jun
Eclairs and Cream Puffs
Posted by Chelle as Custard Desserts, Pastries | 21 Comments
You may notice that my post does not have a “TWD” header on it as you have come to find on most Tuesdays here at Sugar & Spice. Sadly, I have taken a break from Tuesdays With Dorie, as I have found recently that the commitment was getting to be a lot given some other things I have going on, and I wanted to free up some of my time and grocery budget (not to mention my waist line!) to ensure I had the opportunity to begin tackling things that have been on my “to make” list for quite some time. I still may bake along unofficially some weeks as well as use the recipes as inspiration to tackle those things that I’ve been dying to make.
That is exactly what I did this week - I have wanted to make éclairs and cream puffs for ages, but never made the time. After seeing that this week’s TWD pick was the Peppermint Cream Puff, I decided to roll up my sleeves and finally conquer a pastry!
Continue reading to find out how the pâte à choux went, the secret ingredient to the richest pastry cream ever, pictures of the cream puffs, and recipes of course!
14 Jun
Product Rave: Microplane Ultimate Citrus Tool
Posted by Chelle as Kitchen Products | 0 Comments
This special-series Microplane is absolutely fabulous for zesting lemons and oranges. Look at how perfectly it zested this orange, not touching an iota of the bitter white pith:
More about this tool and where to get it after the break…
13 Jun
Wilton Course III, Class 3
Posted by Chelle as Wilton | 0 Comments
This class was supposed to be solely focused on making flowers using royal icing, but we ran out of time in my last class and had to squeeze in fondant roses as well. I LOVED the fondant roses! It was so nice to be able to shape them and mold them exactly how I wanted versus being at the mercy of buttercream and the flower nail. I think it’s official - I’m totally smitten with fondant!
After having some fun with the roses I moved on to making lilies, poinsettias, and petunias with royal icing. I have a feeling that my icing was a bit too stiff because I wasn’t getting nice points at the end, so I will need to experiment with my icing consistencies a bit. Some of them also didn’t fare so well on the car ride home 
Next week is my final class for this course - I will be making a 2-tier wedding-style cake covered in fondant and roses. I can’t wait!
12 Jun
Barefoot Bloggers: Pesto Pasta & Chicken
Posted by Chelle as Barefoot Bloggers, Italian, Pasta | 0 Comments
What a fabulous meal! This was my first time making homemade pesto and the smell of it brought me back to my childhood and images of my grandfather tending to his garden. This was a great break from our usual dinners and something that I will definitely make more often. Thank you to Barefoot Blogger Elizabeth of Ugg Smell Food for choosing this recipe!
I adapted this recipe a bit to suit what I could find in the store and my allergies. First things first, my allergies. I am allergic to all nuts, so I had to venture out and make my own pesto sans the nuts. Quite easy, actually. Next, I couldn’t find much basil at our store and knew I wouldn’t have enough, so I supplemented what I had with baby spinach. I thought it added a great dimension of flavor! However, since I did this I eliminated the frozen chopped spinach (as well as the mayo and lemon juice). And since I like to incorporate protein in the form of meat in most of my dinners, I added some sauteed chicken breast to the dish. So in the end you get a bow tie pasta dish with chicken and a spinach-basil pesto. Honestly, it was fabulous and I really enjoyed it!
See how the other Barefoot Bloggers liked this dish here.
The original recipe as well as my spinach-basil (no nut!) pesto after the break…
