vlog - I'm Topsy Turvy

My Craft Channel episode

November 13, 2012 by Ashlee · 8 Comments

I have always wanted to be on TV, in fact to this day I wouldn’t say no to my own show… But for some reason I don’t think the Food Network has much need for a show about a one woman cake business done in my small basement kitchen at midnight when my kids are asleep… But hey, if you guys want to see it I’m all for it!

So when the chance came to film an episode of My Craft Studio I jumped at the chance! I was SO nervous, and it went so fast! But it was super fun and I’d do it again in a heartbeat~ So who wants to give me my own show?? HA!

I look like a GIANT next to Kristine!!! I even took off my 5 inch stiletto’s for filming! It was really fun to film. It was fun and I think it went well, but I can already see what I wish I had done differently! I certainly need some practice before I get my own show, but what a totaly rush and so so SO much fun!

I didn’t HATE my voice like usual, but I hate my double chin… And the fact that I NEVER looked at the camera. My eyes are my favorite feature and you only get to see them for seconds at a time! GAH!!! So be kind! Head on over and watch it and let me know what you think!!!

So whose going to try to make some gumpaste roses??? These are the roses I’ll be teaching with my Fondant Roses and Ruffles class at Gygi’s

I got my egg shaped Styrofoam at Michael’s.
The ball tool, large rose petal cookie cutter and flower foam from any cake decorating supply store, like Gygi’s. Don’t forget to use my code: “topsyturvy” for a 10% discount and for locals choose next day pick up.

Filed Under: cake tutorial, Cakes, Craft Tutorial, Crafts, me, vlog · Tagged With: flowers, fondant

How to cover a cake with Fondant part 1- video series

March 14, 2012 by Ashlee · 5 Comments

The questions I get the most often in regards to cake decorating all revolve around fondant! Usually problems people are having with fondant. The key to working with fondant successfully is buying quality fondant to begin with. Your already spending a bit of money making this cake, spending a bit more to buy higher quality is going to make all the difference in the world.

The most affordable is Wilton, and while they make cake decorating affordable for the at home cook, and I LOVE most of their products I’m NOT a fan of their fondant. Next step up is Duff’s Fondant, which is definitely a huge improvement, but it works best if you slightly warm it in the microwave first. My favorite while still affordable (although more than the other two options) is Satin Ice. It’s my go to for accessibly and quality. And the top tier is Carma Massa Ticino, which if I could find it locally I would for SURE spend the money on. From what I’ve heard it’s no only AMAZING to work with, but tastes incredible too! Fondant that tastes good???? Worth every penny!

I get asked a lot of about marshmallow frosting and I am not a fan. It’s too soft and pliable, not a pure white. It’s just okay for covering a cake, but not at all useful for any fine detailed work. It doesn’t dry and hold any shape and it always looks wrong to me. Too… soft? Cakes covered it in always look a bit droopy, or even melting to me. Anyway, if your going to take the time to add fondant, and want that clean smooth look, use good fondant. If your going for taste use buttercream.

Anyway, this is a long video, and we don’t even get to covering the cake, which is why it’s a 2 part video. Covering a cake is coming, I promise, it’s the next video! I hope some of the tips and tricks I mention are helpful, even though some of the kneading keeps drifting off frame (I was 8 months pregnant and home alone doing my own camera work!)

Basic Cake Decorating Series:
How to prepare a cake board
How to cut a cake layer to prepare for frosting
How to fill a cake
How to frost a cake
How to cover a cake with Fondant part 1
How to cover a cake with Fondant part 2
How to cover a cake board with fondant

Filed Under: cake tutorial, Cakes, how to video series, me, vlog · Tagged With: fondant, tutorial

Abba 70′s “You can dance” party and game review

December 16, 2011 by Ashlee · 11 Comments

Last Friday night I had an Abba “you can dance” party. I had SO much fun getting ready for the party. Researching the right food for a 70′s party, creating the labels and of course practicing my dance moves! We broke out the Wii “Abba you can dance” a few days before the official party.

The game was a BLAST, the kids and I really enjoyed playing! Lego Boy has been singing “Money, Money, Money” non-stop for over a week now! The Reader loved the Karaoke settings and is our official singer every time we play. The Destroying Angel isn’t very good at the game, but she sure loves trying! Clearly Baby Boy (the only one who dressed up for the party – wearing his daddies authentic 70′s newborn outfit!) loved it. Now I want to collect the rest of the UbiSoft dance games!

I had never played any of the wii dancing games before so I wasn’t sure what to expect. They had a ton of different styles. Some songs had one “dancer” that we followed with a figure on the side the “previewed” the next move so you could get more points. My favorite songs though were the ones with 4 dancers, each doing a different move. Those are really fun when you have all 4 wii-motes being used.

Our group was a ton of fun, my sister, sister in law, daughter, nieces, friends and their daughters… and Baby Boy (our token male)! It was a BLAST! We always have fun together, even just talking, but adding great food (if I do say so myself), fun music, dancing and prizes? A winning evening! (Thank you to Chelsea Peterson, my baby sister, for taking the food pictures for me!)

The food was mixture of normal parties foods and 70′s party food items! My Disco ball cake of course, and I HAD to make a bright rainbow jello mold!!! Not the tastiest item, but GORGEOUS, and the wiggle was OH so fun!

My “disco” oreo balls, and of course fondue! I went with a chocolate fondue (made from my ganache), it just seemed more party friendly than hot cheese! We had pound cake, cinnamon bears, marshmallows, orange slices (the candy kind) and Famous Amos cookies (the company started making cookies in the 70′s- seemed fitting!)

Cheese ball (Mmmmmm, roca blue is back on the shelves so go stock up for the year) and cocktail weenies wrapped in croissants! I debated putting them on sticks and sticking them into a cabbage (found a few 70′s picture that way) but in the end went with a slightly more picture friendly serving?

Watergate Salad! There was actually a fascinating story online about how when Kraft started making pistachio pudding in the 70′s they created this “salad” recipe. Soon they started getting requests for the “Watergate salad” recipe, they had no idea what people were taking about. To this day no one knows how the name came about! The funny thing is it’s right on the pistachio pudding box and I had NEVER noticed before (pistachio is my favorite pudding). And one of my FAVORITE party foods – meatballs!

I was also sent this totally adorable disco ball for the party! My kids LOVED it and are so excited that we get to keep it, I think it’s going to find a home in my girls room (when I finally get around to cleaning it out and remodeling it for the girls). I also had some 70′s inspired colored nail polish for anyone interested, my daughter was in heaven, since I don’t usually let her paint her nails! And finally prizes. Best way to “inspire” women my age to get up and dance! A colorful version of my bearded beanie, some chevron winter scarfs and the clear favorite, a few of my knit finger-stache’s!

We had a GREAT night, and I loved having an excuse to throw a party. If I had my way I’d throw parties every few months! Lucky for me it’s the holiday’s! And then birthday season starts around here! (PS I have a few fun videos, but since my computer crash I haven’t been able to find the right program to re-download so I can CREATE them… Maybe I’ll have one I can add in the next few days)

Thank you to Ubisoft for sponsoring this blog post. Please click here to learn more about Ubisoft. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions are my own.

Filed Under: Cakes, crochet, me, Parties, printables, review, treats, vlog ·

How to frost a cake- video series

November 30, 2011 by Ashlee · 6 Comments

It’s time for the next video in our series! How to frost your cake. This is BASIC frosting, nothing fancy. After we finish the basic series we’ll move on to more advanced techniques. I plan on showing you how I “iron” a cake for when I’m not using fondant, along with other frosting idea’s. But for today super basic and fast. Esp for when your covering your cake with fondant (next video!)

My basic rule for frosting thickness on a cake is about 1/4 inch if your not using fondant. 1/4 inch is always too much for frosting haters and never enough for frosting lovers, but a good in between the two camps. I go even thinner when I’m covering a cake with fondant because if you go to thick the fondant will squeeze out quite a lot of the fondant and you’ll be left with a pillowy soft look instead of nice sharpish corners!

I hope this was helpful! Here is a classic buttercream recipe (again- same as the last videos). Any buttercream recipe will work, just remember to use THIN (not thick or medium) for frosting a cake. If your frosting is too thick you’ll get tons of crumbs and basically rip apart your edges. The frosting in this video is on the thin side of thin, you can go a bit thicker and still get great looking frosting!

Buttercream
makes 3 C frosting
1 C shortening
½ tsp vanilla
¼ tsp butter
¼ tsp almond
2 Tbsp water
1 lbs powdered sugar
Pinch of salt
Mix shortening until smooth. Add flavoring and water, mix again until incorporated. Add sugar and salt, mix again until smooth.
This makes 3 C thick icing.
To make medium add 1 tsp for every C of icing.
To make thin add 2 tsp to every C of THICK icing or just 1 tsp for every C of med icing.
For Chocolate butter cream add ¼ C cocoa and about 1 Tbsp of water.