A rose without thorns

It's photos galore today! I attended the second session of the Wilton fondant and gum paste class and made roses, carnations, and calla lilies! Here's a photo of my favourite of the three:


We learned how to make the rose base in the first class and had to bring some today. They are shaped like teardrops and are stuck on a stick to allow the petals to be threaded through. I made a couple using spaghetti, which can be seen in the photo below. My goal was to dye the fondant a soft peachy pink, but it ended up hot pink.


We also learned how to do carnation bases during the first class and had to bring some today. This is the carnation I finished in class:



Here is another photo showing two carnation bases plus the finished flower...


As for the calla lilies, they were the easiest to make, but are rather plain. I originally wanted to make them dark purple, but got tired of adding dye to my fondant so it ended up bright red. Here is one finished calla and four more resting on cones:


Lastly, I made three more roses when I got home because I had a little extra fondant left and didn't want to forget the technique. They are resting in candy cups that have been threaded through upside down styrofoam cups. The candy cups help the petals hold their shape as they dry and on the left is a little makeshift styrofoam stand for my flower bases. The teardrop ones are for roses and the little round ones are for chrysanthemums, which I will learn to make next week!

DIY coloured sprinkles

Those in the know are already aware I had my first Wilton Gum Paste and Fondant class today... I will be sharing photos and thoughts as things progress, but in the meantime, I wanted to post this photo:


These are the plain, colourless Wilton sparkling sugars after I had dyed them with Golden Yellow and Pink. My professional baker friend Nicole gave me this idea years ago, but I didn't try it until last night because the class prep list said we had to bring yellow sparkling sugar to class.

So how did I do it? I dabbed a bit of gel dye inside a small zip bag with a toothpick, poured in some sugar, zipped up the bag, and shook. When I was happy with the colour, I poured the contents onto a flat container to airdry. Easy peasy!

Now, as for lessons learned, I figured out with the yellow that the longer you shake, the more intense the colour on the sugar, up to the actual shade of the dye. When I did the pink, I shook lightly for a few seconds so the colour is very light, but a couple pieces picked up the darker shade anyway. Also, the more dye that the sugar picks up, the longer it takes to dry. Lastly, I used a makeshift aluminimum foil dish instead of an actual plate to avoid accidental staining.

Lime cloud cookies

I had a lime that desperately wanted to be grated and squeezed so I baked these cloud cookies recently. They are drop cookies with a very liquidy batter, and I chose the name "cloud cookies" because although the edges are a little crispy, the centre of the cookies are soft and pillowy. This is probably due to the eggs being beaten beforehand. Here is the recipe along with some photos:

• Lime cloud cookies
•  
• 1 1/2 call-purpose flour
• 1/2 tspbaking powder
• 1/2 tspsalt
•  
• 3eggs
• 1 1/4 cgranulated sugar
• 1 Tbsplime juice
• 1lime, grated
•  
• Sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Set flour mixture aside.
•  
• Beat eggs until fluffy. Add sugar and beat. Mix in lime juice and rind. Fold flour mixture into batter and mix.
•  
• Spoon onto a lined cookie sheet about 1/2" apart. Bake at 350 degrees F for 8 minutes.

This is the mixture before the flour mixture was added... It looks a little frothy due to the eggs:


This is after the flour mixture was added. It was very liquidy and had the consistency of white glue.


Then here it is on a cookie sheet:


And one more photo after baking... The cookies retain the same shape as its liquid pre-baked form and do not spread much.


I had originally hoped to pipe these cookies, but it clearly could not be done. One day when I try this recipe again (with a different flavour), I may try chilling the mixture before piping. Hopefully that will make a difference!