Twitter, Instagram and Cake

This week has been crazy! I still do not believe it's Sunday and it seems like its been ages since I've blogged. But I'm back..with a very special cake that I reaallllyy enjoyed doing.

I'm loving those cakes that need small details as opposed to big themed designs. So this was the perfect cake for me to end the week with.

(And I just had to have  a social media cake on my blog :P )

This cake has two social media icons (as you can see):

Instagram

and Twitter

They were pretty straight forward to do. I just baked the cake and made all my fondant beforehand and left the fun part till the end.

I rolled up my sleeves, turned on some music and got to work.

I started with the cake board itself. I'm thinking of starting to always cover those dull golden cake boards. Makes the cakes look better. This cake had a background of the Armenian Flag. So red, blue, yellow. Pretty easy.

Then I covered the cake with white fondant and started with the logos.

I printed out cutouts of both logos in front of me and started recreating.

I really liked the results!

What do you think?

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Guest Post: Is Christmas pudding - pudding?

Hello Deezert people! I have another guest post for you.

This time it's about Christmas! YAY!

 

Enjoy

*********

 

Is Christmas pudding - pudding?
by Corina David

It’s been a while now since shops have started displaying their Christmas decorations and most importantly the Christmas goodies. Among them, the Christmas pudding seems to be just another type of dessert – nothing special.

But the British Christmas pudding is indeed a bit more special than that.

Take a look at these pictures:

 

 

 

One is a chocolate pudding, the other is sticky toffee pudding. One has a cream like consistency, the other one looks like a piece of cake. And then the list can go on: tapioca pudding, rice pudding, banana pudding. You can even buy pudding is sachets, just boil some milk and add some sugar. And you’ll get yourself two nice bowls of steaming pudding.

 

And finally, there is the Christmas Pudding.

The Christmas pudding is mainly a British Christmas dessert that doesn't have the custard like consistency of the pudding described above. It is a proper cake, made with lots of fruits and spices; a classic, favourite British dessert. It’s so famous that we even sing about it, without actually realising it:

“Oh, bring us a figgy pudding

Oh, bring us a figgy pudding

Oh, bring us a figgy pudding and a cup of good cheeer” (We Wish You a Merry Christmas)

 

What are the main ingredients?

Sultanas, raisins, currants, almonds, orange or lemon peel, mixed spices, like cinnamon, nutmeg, plain flour, eggs, sugar and something to make one merry indeed: a tiny little bit of alcohol: either brandy or rum. If you are interested in the recipe, you can find it here.

After all these mouth watering ingredients, it is easy to understand why the Christmas pudding is special. 

Just one more funny detail to keep in mind!

 You’ll want to remember King George I or the Pudding King. George was born in Hanover, in what is now Germany. At the age of 54, after the death of Queen Anne of Great Britain, he ascended the British throne – in 1714. As the Christmas of that year was his first Christmas in England, he requested that plum pudding (similar to the present Christmas pudding) be served as part of the royal feast.  

So you may want to go on with singing the carol “We won’t go until we get some/We won’t go until we get some” or pay a visit to Dunn’s Bakery to find more details about this special Christmas dessert.

 

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Ribbon Engagement Cake

Yes! I've finally ventured into Tiered Cakes. They've always been intimidating to me but once someone asked me for an engagement cake, how could I have said no? So, I researched and researched and RESEARCHED and finally came up with a system for tiered cakes that is reliable, efficient and wouldn't affect the final look.

The cake design was simple enough:

2 Tiered cake with a golden color scheme. The first layer was a polka dot creme colored cake

 and the second layer was an ivory gift box with a HUGE golden ribbon.

Making the diamond pattern on the 2nd tier

The final result:

I've realized that ribbons really add dimension to the cake and makes it pop! Don't you think so?

The cake was a butter devil's food chocolate cake moistened with a sugar syrup to keep it moist and fresh. The filling was Almond Crunch Swiss Meringue Chocolate Buttercream (long name for such a delicious filling).

This is me frosting the cake! I just love this part =)

A piece at the party!

Almonds with caramel, these went into the buttercream! =D

The mess after the cake =P

Check out my other Ribbon Cake

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Deezert is one! My First Blogoversary: Celebrating with Lemon Cake

I can't believe it's already been a year since I started blogging. I remembered how reluctant I was at first..how hard it all looked! All that code and what not..

But soon enough, I got the hang of it and I fell in love with blogging and regretted that I haven't started one long before.

It's really amazing if you think about, I've been my stats for a while now and I have people from all around the world that read this blog: Germany, UK, India, Canada, Australia, Jordan, Algeria...really all over the place...
This just baffles me!!

And don't worry, there will be cake in this post. Did you really think Deezert's birthday will pass without any cake?!!!!!!




I opted for simple (yet not so simple to make) lemon cake.

The vanilla cake was 4 layers of angel food cake, so all egg whites and no yolks!

YUM, white vanilla fluffy cake.

I could eat this cake all by itself but the lemons looked so beautiful I had to use them in some way.

I made a delicious thick lemon curd using sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and a whole bunch of eggs.














 I stacked the cake and the lemon curd and covered the whole thing with sweet white marshmallow fondant (again, Deezert's birthday has to have marshmallow fondant somewhere in it!).

Me, making the flower =)

I ruffled long strips of fondant and layered them on top of the cake and added a 5 petal flower on top.

Isn't this a refreshing way to start another year of full Deezerts??

Happy First Birthday Deezert

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Monster Cookie Layer Cake

I've seen this cake many many times and always thought about recreating it but was intimidated by the "fur". However, I will never say no to a request! (Especially a Sesame Street Cake!)

The cake itself was also a challenge. Two layers of moist vanilla cake: a white white and pink-tinted one. One layer of red-velvet cake and last but (definetly) not least chocolate cake.
(Ah, if only I can have a piece right now!!!)

Then it was time for FROSTING!

I wanted something that tastes really good but can also last and not melt and mess up my pretty cake.
My final decision was laid upon Sweetapolita's Swiss Meringue Buttercream.
It looks silky smooth and tastes delicious. It's starting to become my go-to frosting.

I made a LARGE amount of buttercream. I chilled my cakes and stacked them one on top the other and cumb coated the whole thing.

Then I got out my piping tools. I searched and searched and finally found the perfect tip: Wilton Grass Tip 233.

2 cups of butter cream later...I was confident enough to try frosting my cake.

3 hours later (and an almost broken wrist =O )....I WAS DONE.

I then added white buttercream eyes and chopped off my cookies in half (and I totally did not eat the broken ones =) ) and stuck them on his mouth.

Here's the cake on the inside =D

 

and voila!

Monster Cookie Cake

 

 

 

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Guest Post: Have Your Cake and Eat it: Four Sweet Treats That Can Be Surprisingly Good For You!

by Lily Robinson

 

Are you a secret chocolate eater? Do you beat yourself up about having that extra slice of cake or picking the most calorific desert on the menu? Well fear not – extensive scientific research is proving that cakes, chocolate and deserts can actually be surprisingly good for your health and wellbeing. Here are some of your favourite treats and the way in which they can benefit you.

Chocolate

Photo Credit: Diana Loutfy

Chocolate gets a hard time. Although it dates back to the time of the Aztecs, the inclusion of sugar and cream to the cocoa beans has seen it become the ultimate guilty pleasure for many women (and men, but mostly women!) over the years. But despite its high calorie content, research has shown that there are in fact several benefits to enjoying a moderate amount of chocolate in your diet.
Chocolate is essentially made from plants, which means that it contains many of the same compounds as dark vegetables. In particular, cocoa beans and chocolate are full of antioxidants which help protect the body from the effects of aging (such as thinning hair and clogged arteries) and also neutralises any harmful chemical reactions happening within the body during metabolism. Dark chocolate contains twice the amount of these antioxidants as milk chocolate and Healthspan say that studies indicate even 100g of dark chocolate in your daily diet can dramatically reduce the risk of high blood pressure which in turn reduces the risk of heart disease and stroke by 21%.
And because we all love eating chocolate so much, it is a well known mood enhancer. This isn’t just because of the yummy taste but because it contains chemicals that help increase the brain chemical serotonin – the happy hormone. This is why chocolate can often perk you up if you’re feeling irritable or tired and is a good example of it being beneficial for both mental and physical wellbeing.

Cake

Cakes come in all shapes, sizes and varieties so it’s hard to pinpoint the nutritional value of ‘cake’ in general. Like chocolate, cakes are not renowned for being particularly healthy, what with the sugar, hydrogenated oil and bleached flour not to mention calorific, creamy fillings. However the majority of cakes do contain some useful vitamins and minerals such as protein and calcium which can be found in binding agents like egg and milk. Calming carbohydrates can also be found in the flour, sugar and oils which can give the body a boost of energy and maintain a healthy body heat, making a slab of cake the ultimate comfort food during the winter months.
The beauty of homemade cakes is that you dictate what goes in. Admittedly, many shop bought cakes do contain additives and preservatives used to increase shelf life which are both unhealthy and unnecessary. If you choose to make your own cake you can use wholegrain flour to increase fibre, omit any buttery frostings and include a variety of fruits and nuts to make your cake extra healthy.

Ice Cream

Everybody loves a good ice cream on a hot day but who’d have thought that a sensible variety and amount of ice cream can actually help you lose weight?! Because ice cream is made from milk it is very high in calcium which is one of the most important compounds needed for fat metabolism. Experts also think that ice cream can oppress the appetite and satisfy the cravings for other sweet foods, hence results in less unhealthy snacking. Frozen yoghurts and iced fruit lollies are also healthy summer treats.

Sweets

Studies have shown that certain sweets can help both prevent and alleviate symptoms of some serious diseases. In an article published in The Atlantic experts suggest that root liquorice (the root ingredient of the popular sweet) has anti-diabetic properties and can help reduce blood sugar as well as having anti-inflammatory properties. In fact, liquorice has been known to treat a variety of ailments throughout history from eczema to heartburn.
Similarly, hard boiled sweets, particularly lemon drops and sour candies, are though to help prevent oral infections and taste disorders by encouraging the mouth the produce more saliva. Saliva is important to oral health because it keeps the mouth well lubricated and doesn’t allow for an dry environment in which anaerobic bacteria can grow. Sucking hard candies is more beneficial than simply using water to hydrate the mouth because that can just flush natural saliva away.
So next time your sweet tooth flares up and you find yourself heading guiltily for the confectionary aisle, remind yourself that, providing you’re eating it in moderation, you could actually be keeping your mind and body healthy.

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