BONKOS for BUNCOS !! Cake with booze!

These ladies were BONKOS for Buncos night and crazy for this cake. How does Strawberry Daiquiri flavored cake with Rum infused buttercream icing sound?

It's a simple 9x13 inch cake. The dice (is plural, die?) are approximately 3 inches square of yellow cake and covered in pink rolled fondant. Dots are chocolate fondant tinted with black gel color and cut out into circles. A dusting of good-luck-pink edible glitter finishes it off.

The letters are made with one of my newest addition to the playing-with-sugar-tools; teeny little cookie cutters by Wilton,  in the shape of letters and numbers. Fun !Cut in pink , and black icing piped on top. 

Wilton Fondant Alphabet Number Cookie Cutter Cut Outs, Set of 37

Making your life a little sweeter,

Liz
The Party Hostess Diva on Facebook
Elizabeth Corbett on Pinterest

my latest project:

Rainbow Cupcakes! SO EASY.

ahem..(cue Kermit the Frog singing Rainbow Connection ) "why are there so many songs about rainbows?"... Because they are AWESOME, that's why!

And even better on a cupcake! Here's a really fun cupcake to try, the next time creativity hits you. It is not my original idea, but the photo you see here IS of the ones we made.

Wilton 307-826 Cupcakes 'n More 23-Count 4-Tier Metal Dessert Stand

My daughter and I wanted to make cupcakes for the snack table, following her upcoming Summer Orchestra Camp concert.   We saw these on Pinterest (of course!) and thought they would be perfect, because one of the songs they were playing was, "Rainbow Connection".

Blue cupcake liners were a must, and so perfect. We made yellow cupcakes with a mix, and stirred in colored sprinkles to the batter before baking to make a fun confetti looking surprise on the inside. Sky blue icing was swirled on top and the rainbows.., well, they were my best -find- of- the -day -ever. They are from a package of Air Heads Extremes candies in the Rainbow Berry Sour Candy flavor. (not my top choice, but they LOOK adorable!) Each candy strip was cut into 3 rainbows. To secure the ends of the rainbows in a 3-D shape, my daughter piped fluffy white buttercream icing, with a #12 tip for "clouds".

Jessie Steele Cupcakes Apron

Needless to say, they were a BIG hit ! I bought extra packages of the candy, because I know I'll be making these again. Using pre-made things like candies, to decorate, makes for some DIY -friendly results. And what better way to display your cupcakes than on an awesome cupcake stand. They take up less table space and make for more cupcake drama for sure!

Hello, Cupcake!: Irresistibly Playful Creations Anyone Can Make

I hope you'll try these, so fun and so easy. Check out my DIY Wedding Cake for Under $50, book. http://diyweddingcakeunder50.com 

making your life sweeter,

Liz
The Party Hostess Diva
http://facebook.com/partyhostessdiva

http://youtu.be/pC2nePyCcl4

ATTENTION BRIDES! A Wedding cake for under $50 !!

BE THE FIRST TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS LIMITED TIME OFFER!

ATTENTION DIY BRIDES! ATTENTION FRUGAL DIVA'S!

Wilton Fancy Scrolls Cake Stand

The "Do-it-Yourself Wedding Cake for under $50" eBook is FINALLY available! It is a start-to finish, hold your hand along the way tutorial on how to make your own classic and delicious 2 or 3 tiered wedding cake!!(or get an awesome friend to help or do it for you !)

 Includes full color photos and a 40 minute narrated instructional video! This takes the mystery out of "how do they DO that?!" and puts it in your own capable hands. In fact, the method can be used over and over again to make impressive large cakes for other celebration events; Baby showers ..(first comes love, then comes marraige..then comes...? ..in the baby carraige), Christenings, Anniversaries, Birthday Parties, etc.

There is so much more, as well. Advice on transporting your cake, ideas for the cake table, suggestions for DIY cake toppers...resources listed.

Wilton 10 Inch Featherweight Piping Bag

The following link will take you to an information page where you can get it.

http://youtu.be/pC2nePyCcl4


Thanks, in advance, for sharing this with anyone and everyone. There will be a contest on my Pinterest for those who make the cakes using this book. Can't wait!

Making your life a little sweeter,
Liz
The Party Hostess Diva on Facebook
Elizabeth Corbett on Pinterest

Vintage Tapestry Purse.it's a CAKE !

How do you get this cake from a photo of a vintage tapestry purse?

Well, I had to figure it out. I'll show you the basics of how I got there. 

Plan out your design and all the components on paper first. Make a list of the parts you'll need. For example, fondant purse handles that stand up, fondant around base and top for leather structure look and gold tone fondant for purse opening and clasp. 

The purse handles were made ahead of time so they would be dried and stand up on their own, just like the real purse. I made a comparison, by looking at the photo, of how tall the handles were in relation to the height of the purse. Also I made note of how far in from the edge, the handles are attached.

Satin Ice Rolled Fondant - Brown - Chocolate - 2 lb

I looked around my kitchen and pantry to find something round, the right size to dry my handles on. A large cardboard oatmeal container served perfectly. The handles (chocolate fondant and then black gel icing color kneaded in) were draped over the container with wax paper underneath to prevent sticking.

                                                                  

To carve out a purse shape , always start with mostly frozen layers of cake stacked on top of each other into the approximate width and height of your finished cake. This is where eyeballing comes in handy, if you're good at it. A ruler is great too if you don't trust yourself. You can always carve off more, so go easy when you start cutting. A large serated bread knife works great. 

Work quickly because as the cake defrosts, it will get softer, you want to get your final shape and dirty icing layer on while its very cold.

Wilton 2104-7778 Master Tip Set

As you can barely see in the photo above, I have inserted two tall Bubble Tea Straws (found on eBay and cake supply websites) to give support because of the narrow width and the height. Icing between the layers for "glue" and taste, of course.

Shown at left is the cake with a thick layer of icing because it will be covered in a small star decorator tip design, not fondant. The fondant pieces for leather and hardware have also been added. I simply measured the circumference around the bottom and made two long fondant pieces which were scored at the edges to look like stitching. (a rolling wheel fondant tool) A wooden ruler made the perfect item to trace for width.

The gold tone fondant at top was brushed with Wilton gold dust shimmer, found at any store that sells cake supplies. I recommend it highly, it really   adds a fabulous realistic touch to your fondant. It also comes in silver and pearl.

Wilton Fondant 20 Inch Rolling Pin

Next comes the outlines for the tapestry design. I was going for overall effect here, not exact copy. The black lines serve as the coloring page to fill in between and around. I predetermined which side would be the front, so made an extra effort on the design on that side, since it will be the first impression and show in photos. 

My colors had been pre-tinted. I ended up putting a touch of black into them to tone them down and give a more vintage look rather than bright. Experiment with a little at a time, you can always add more color. Once the outlines had been made, the filling in went very quickly. It was really fun to see it come together and I got more exited with the results as I went along. 

As a side note, if you are making a purse cake, that does not have a tapestry or floral design, you can follow these instructions up to the outlining part. The basics are the same for most all purse cakes.

When filling in the tapestry look, I recommend doing one color at a time rather than each flower, that way you can see that each color is even distributed in your overall design.

Filling in the background to cover the chocolate butter cream goes quickly. I used very dark black icing. (I was laughing to myself imaging birthday guests with black stained tongues) 

The purse handles were supported with a toothpick in each end that went into the top of the cake. I also pressed the handles together slightly as an additional precaution. For the shiny effect, I simply brushed the black "leather" parts with watered down black gel coloring.

Wilton Disposable 12 Inch Decorating Bags, Pack Of 24

I hope you enjoyed this simple tutorial and you are inspired to perhaps try it out or something similar. Leave a comment if you have. I'd love to hear from you! For the butter cream recipe, go to my blog about the Perfect Cupcake. 

So here to the left, is the photo I worked from.(I know, not too much information, right?) and again, the final product, to the right. 

For more cake ideas for inspiration, join my email mailing list below to receive newsletters and other tips.

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Liz Corbett is an experienced cake baker decorator and hostess.  She has been planning and hosting parties and designing, decorating and delivering cakes for over 20 years. Her hope is that everyone will be inspired to more creativity and to gain the confidence to host events big and small with success. 

Baking Tip for the day.

BAKING TIP for the day. The next time you make cupcakes and you really only need 12, not 24, fill 12 cupcake liners and the remaining batter you pour into an 8" round cake pan or smaller. When the round layer is cooled, wrap securely in plastic wrap, then heavy foil and you've got an "almost ready" dessert in your freezer.

Wilton 307-831 13 Count Cupcake Stand

Some ideas for your one layer round? Yellow cake: split horizontally (when still partially frozen) and fill with instant vanilla pudding, chocolate glaze on top= Boston Creme Pie. Or with icing it's a just-the-right size small cake for dessert.

Wilton Aluminum Performance Pans 8 by 2-Inch Round Pan

Short and sweet ;)   that's it for today !!

making your life a little sweeter,

Liz
The Party Hostess Diva on Facebook
Elizabeth Corbett on Pinterest

check out my latest project: 
http://youtu.be/pC2nePyCcl4

Hot Tub Fun !! playing with gumpaste people...

What do you do with a 9 inch square cake, a photo of 4 friends in a hot tub and gumpaste and piping gel? Unleash the creativity! Fondant, of course is a wonderful medium to play with. Shown here is a square, two tiered cake, covered in icing then chocolate fondant that has been scored and marked to look like wooden planks. The inside was partially scooped out and filled with blue buttercream icing. On top of that, clear piping gel (fantastic stuff!) tinted blue for the water effect.

Wilton Gum Paste and Fondant Student Kit

  

Featured in the hot tub are figures made of gumpaste, with fondant bathingsuits and icing hair. Fun little touches are bottles of beer. See the spilled one on the right? candles, and a towel, all made of fondant. This was my first attempt at making people out of gumpaste. I would like to experiment further to fine tune the details and continue to work with the recipe.

Not much for "how to" with this post, but just wanted to share the photo. You could easily adapt this idea to a round swimming pool and fill with just little heads bobbing around and tubes and rafts. What would YOU like to see on a cake with this great water effect?

Wilton Piping Gel, 10-Ounce

This photo and other cake and food ideas are also shown on my facebook pg.(see below)

Making your life a little sweeter,

Liz
The Party Hostess Diva on Facebook
Elizabeth Corbett on Pinterest

http://youtu.be/pC2nePyCcl4

Edible Play-dough ! Beautiful flowers and trim!

I took a Gumpaste and Fondant class a few months ago and I'm still appreciating what I have learned. And will continue to enjoy the new skills for a long time. There are SO many beautiful creative things to be done with such a magical medium . It's sugar play-dough, basically. 

I highly recommend a nice set of the flower cutters (like cookie cutters), and the fondant/gum paste tools. If you make the flowers assembly line style, you can create a much higher volume of   flowers in a shorter amount of time. They need to dry anyway, so make ahead. I was VERY pleased to make the roses as I've always had difficulty doing them old-school on the flower nail. A little bit of arthritis and jitters from too much coffee have often prevented me from attempting too many. Not so with the gum paste! I cranked these out in a matter of minutes! It's all about working quickly and letting them dry in the proper shape. What a great concept to have leaves and flowers ready made for the next project! 

Wilton Gum Paste and Fondant Student Kit

I love the eyelet detail at the bottom. SO simple and a fun alternative to the usual shell or rope border.  A roller tool that cuts even strips and a cutter that makes the eyelet lace detail. I feel like a kid with my new toys !

Check out a Wilton class in your area. Many Michael's Craft stores offer them. Well worth the time and money. 

Wilton 1907-1107 Set of 10 Gum-Paste Modeling Tools with Storage Case

Next up... modeling people and tiny items! fun !!

making your life a little sweeter,

Liz
The Party Hostess Diva on Facebook
Elizabeth Corbett on Pinterest

http://youtu.be/pC2nePyCcl4