Cakeb0t

Cake Decorating Techniques and Tutorials for the Cake Artist

Patti Paige’s Sugar Cookies

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Makes 40-45 cookies

Ingredients:
24 ounces all-purpose flour
1 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
¾ pound butter, at room temperature
2 ¼ cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Instructions:
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl and set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the eggs and vanilla together in a container. With the mixer on low speed, pour out container one egg at time until incorporated. Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula.

Add the dry ingredients to the mixture, about 1/4 at a time, scraping the bowl after each addition. Pour the dough on a sheet of plastic wrap. Wrap and chill the dough in the refrigerator for about an hour, or until firm.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Roll the dough to out to about 1/8 inch thickness on a floured surface.

If the dough is sticky, you can work in small sections of dough while leaving the rest in the refrigerator. Flour the top of the dough as you roll it out to prevent it from sticking to the rolling pin.

Cut the dough with cookie cutters of your choice. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper, and place the cookies on the sheet. Bake the cookies for about 10-12 minutes, until the edges of the cookies are golden brown. Let the cookies cool completely before decorating.

Chocolate ganache

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Yields three cups

Ingredients
24 ounces of chopped semi sweet chocolate or chocolate chips
12 fluid ounces of heavy cream

Directions

  1. Pour chocolate into a heat safe bowl.
  2. Heat the heavy cream in a sauce pan until it comes to a boil.
  3. As soon as the cream boils, pour it over the chocolate.
  4. Give the bowl a jiggle so that all of the chocolate is covered with cream.
  5. Let the bowl sit for 4 minutes.
  6. With a whisk, stir the chocolate slowly and firmly. Avoid making bubbles. Whisk until the mixture has a silky smooth, shiny consistency.
  7. Cover and press plastic wrap directly onto the chocolate and the inner sides of the bowl.
  8. Let sit in the fridge over night.
  9. Remove the plastic wrap and heat in 30 second increments until it becomes a spreadable liquid (a bit thinner than peanut butter) for frosting or filling a cake

The proportions for chocolate ganache are 2 to 1: two parts weight of chocolate to one part volume of heavy cream. Convert this recipe for a bigger or smaller batch as needed.

Modeling Chocolate

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Modeling Chocolate (from Candy Melts)

Ingredients:

  • 14 ounces candy melts (color of your choice)
  • 1/3 cup of light corn syrup

Directions:

  1. Warm the melts in the microwave them at 30 second intervals. Let it rest for a minute or two, especially if it’s hot.
  2. Pour in the corn syrup and mix with a rubber spatula until incorporated and doughy.
  3. Pour out the doughy mixture on a baking sheet covered with a silpat or wax paper. Using another sheet of wax paper, pat the dough down to about a 1/4″ thick.
  4. Let the dough sheet rest for 2 hours until set, then break up the sheet as needed and knead it together until it becomes a clay.

To store the modeling chocolate, wrap it tightly in a plastic sheet, and keep it in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge. It’s there to use any time you need it! This will keep for months.

Tips:

  • To tint your modeling chocolate, add a few drops of oil soluble food color (candy color). I like Chefmaster Candy Color. A good time to add the color is when the candy melts are in its liquid stage, just before adding the corn syrup. You may also add color to already made clay.
  • To work with it, remember your warm hands can start to melt the chocolate. Not a problem! Just put your sculpture in the fridge for a few minutes to harden, and continue working.
  • After making the clay, resting it overnight can make it easier to work with.

Modeling Chocolate (Semisweet or bittersweet)

Ingredients:
  • 8 ounces semi sweet or bittersweet chocolate
  • 1/3 cup of light corn syrup

Directions

  1. Melt the chocolate over a bain marie or in a chocolate melter until it is just melted. Let it cool so as to not shock and seize the chocolate in the next step.
  2. Stir in corn syrup and mix until incorporated.
  3. Scrape out onto plastic wrap and chill until firm (about 2 hours)
  4. Take out the chocolate and knead until it is a clay consistency.

To store the modeling chocolate, wrap it tightly in a plastic sheet, and keep it in an airtight container at room temperature or in the fridge. This will keep for months.

Tips

  • After firming up in the freezer, the chocolate does become very hard. Kneading it takes some muscle!
  • You can use a pasta roller to roll out flat, even pieces.