And We Have a Winner!

 

 

I know you'll join me in offering congratulations to my big “Fan Appreciation” giveaway winner, #133, Misty McMahon.  

Misty chose as her prize a flouncy apron from Swanky Aprons (great choice!), and as soon as I notify her and she decides which one she wants, I'll share with you.  (Remember the contest rules said if you chose the apron as your prize, you could have any apron Swanky Aprons sells, and they are adorable!)

Here are a few of the many samples Misty will have to choose from:

 

Need to see more, you say? 

I'm in no way affiliated with Swanky Aprons, I just love them and wanted one sweet fan to have the chance to win one.
 

Thank you so much to all of you for making this giveaway possible!   

Watch my blog for more giveaways coming SOON!!  

(Pssst, hey, why not be a blog follower if you aren't already so you don't miss anything?)

Oven’s on – I’ll be back soon. Congrats again, Misty!

~ Peggy

Fan Appreciation Giveaway: Cake Decorator's Dream Prizes!

Click HERE to see the fabulous prizes!

Click HERE to enter the drawing!  Everyone is eligible, regardless of region.

 

Hurry!  Deadline to enter is this Sunday, August 28, at noon (central standard time).

Tutorial: How to Cover a Square Cake Drum with Scrapbook Paper

CLICK ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good luck! If you try this, I’d love to see your work. Feel free to leave a comment here and link me, leave a message and/or link via Facebook by clicking HERE, or email me at peggydoescake@gmail.com to share your masterpieces with me!

Oven's on - I'll be back soon!

~ Peggy 

Meg's Wizard of Oz Cake!

Now that I’m in my 2^nd year of cake decorating, I’m experiencing something new – repeat business.  

I made little Meg’s “princess” themed cake last year (see it here) and recently I was asked to do this year's cake - with a “Wizard of Oz” theme. Right away I began to think of all the cool stuff I could put on this cake - the ruby slippers, the emerald city, spooky "bad witch" legs poking out from under a shattered house, glittery "good witch" pinkness, munchkins, lollipops, a little dog in a basket...

My cakey bakey brain was immediately slammed into overdrive. Actually, I had been fantasizing about making a Wizard of Oz cake (yes, sadly, that's what I fantasize about), so this request was kind of like winning the lottery for me. I think you'd be pretty hard pressed to come up with a more clever theme, although last night someone asked me if I had ever made a "Gone With the Wind" cake, so yeah, that's a pretty close tie. 

Cake was WASC with vanilla butter cream filling and icing. All décor is fondant and everything is 100% edible.  Yes, I need practice with my fondant characters. I can make an excellent monkey; but it's a crying shame that all my fondant people end up looking like monkeys!  I suppose as long as you can tell who they're supposed to be, it's ok.  I'd just rather knock it out of the park every time, and I know that if my "Dorothy" were sitting on a shelf, far away from a cake, it would take some great stretch of the imagination to be able to guess correctly who she was. Ha!

Luckily, her ruby red slippers give it away.  I wanted to give her slippers a bigger high heel (although you can't see it, they DO have a heel), but really, these things were about a 1/2" long and it becomes difficult and a bit silly at that size to get too particular.

Oven’s on – I’ll be back soon.

~ Peggy

 

Coloring Instructions for Fondant, Icing, Frosting, Royal Icing, etc.

This information has been gathered from several places, it is by no means original. I have, however, added a few notes and changes to the colors, based on things I've learned the hard way. (You don't want to know.)

Remember that icing colors tend to change in time. Butter cream icings tend to deepen and become richer in color, and other mediums, like color flow and royal icing, can actually lighten. Ingredients can cause color changes, too. So be expecting that when using extracts, lemon juice, cream of tartar, etc. (even water).

I’ve read that if you dissolve brown food coloring in 1/4 teaspoon water before adding it to icing, you will eliminate the odd “greenish” undertones you sometimes get with brown icing.

Now on to the good stuff:

• Antique Gold - Golden yellow with a very small touch of leaf green.
• Apricot - 2 parts orange, 1 part golden yellow.
• Aqua - 5 parts sky blue, 1 part leaf green.
• Avocado - Use moss green paste or 4 parts lemon yellow, 1 part leaf green, and a touch of black. 
• Black - Black paste color or royal blue, Christmas red, orange, and lemon or mix all leftover icing you have been using and add black to it
• Burgundy - 5 parts rose pink, 1 part violet
• Chartreuse - 6 parts lemon yellow, 1 part leaf green
• Copper - 1 part golden yellow, 1 part brown, and 1 part Christmas red
• Coral - Creamy peach paste and a touch of pink or orange and a touch of pink or 3 parts rose pink and 2 parts lemon yellow
• Dusty Rose - 2 parts red, 1 part brown, hint of orange
• Flesh - Add just an extremely small touch of copper to white icing or light pink with a small amount of brown
• Gold - 10 parts lemon yellow, 3 parts orange, 1 part red
• Grape - 1 part sky blue, 6 parts rose pink
• Gray - Add just a touch of black to white icing
• Hot Pink - Rose (do not use pink or rose petal pink, as those are orange-based and will never attain a “hot” pink)
• Hunter Green - Kelly green with a touch of black
• Ivory - Hint of brown
• Jade - Leaf green, royal blue, and a touch of black
• Lavender - 5 parts pink, 1 part violet
• Lime Green – 4 parts leaf green, 1 part lemon yellow
• Marigold - Lemon yellow and orange
• Maroon - 4 parts red-red, 2 parts burgundy
• Mauve - 5 parts pink, 1 part orange, 1 part brown
• Misty Green - Leaf green, royal blue, and a touch of black
• Moss Green - Moss Green paste or 2 parts violet and 3 parts lemon yellow
• Mulberry - Rose with a touch of royal blue.
• Navy Blue - Royal blue and black or 1 part sky blue and 1 part violet
• Periwinkle - Royal blue and violet
• Plum - 1 part violet with a touch of Christmas red
• Raspberry - Pink and red-red or 3 parts rose and 1 part Christmas red
• Ruby Red - 1 part red-red and a touch of black
• Rust - 8 parts orange, 2 parts red-red, and 1 part brown
• Silver - Hint of black to get gray (for fondant, paint afterwards with silver luster dust mixed with vodka)
• Teal - 9 parts sky blue with a small amount of lemon yellow
• Turquoise - 6 parts sky blue and 1 part lemon yellow
• Warm Gold - Golden yellow with just a touch of brown

Oven's on - I'll be back soon!

~ Peggy