Stellar Special
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My mom wanted to take a Stellar treat to her homeschool mom's gift exchange. I first thought about making a Christmas tree cake, but we talked about how not everyone celebrates Christmas. I decided a snowman cake would be cute, even though not everyone has snow either. It did just snow where we live as a rare occurence! The cake was vanilla with vanilla buttercream icing. I used some extra cake to create the nose and scarf. It must have been a big hit at the party. Mom didn't bring any home and told me some people even took some home to share with their kids.
I learned not to level cakes while they are hot. I had too much cake mix and I overfilled the pans, so they weren't flat on top. When they are hot, the cake squishes and the cuts are not even.
It's pumpkin season, Thanksgiving is coming, and I love Harry Potter so for November 2017 I made pumpkin pasties. The key to these is the pastry dough, which I cut into circles and filled with the pumpkin filling. Then I folded them over and used a fork to crimp the edges. Mom says the pastry dough was the best she's ever tasted. I added a secret ingredient to my dough, so that's probably why! Even if you don't like pumpkin, you might like these pasties. It's not overwhelmingly pumpkin, but a perfectly spiced concoction.
I learned not to overfill these pasties with my first couple of batches. The filling spills out and burns the edges. The crimping also needs to be perfect or they won't stay closed.
For September 2017 I wanted to try cake pops because I'd never done them before. I wanted to do a unique flavor, and my mom loves salted caramel, so I chose that flavor. I mixed vanilla cake with buttercream frosting to make the inside cake part. Then I melted white chocolate chips and covered the cake in it. I drizzled the caramel over the top and sprinkled some salt on top for the final touch.
I learned a couple of things with this project. The first thing I learned was not to try to cool the cake down in the freezer. The outside felt cool, but the inside was still hot and when it mixed with the frosting it made a mushy mess. The second thing I learned was caramel is hard to melt and it's very sticky. At first I put too much caramel on the cake pops and it would all come off in one piece when someone took a bite. Then it would get stuck in my taste tester's teeth!
For August 2017 I made chocolate creme-filled donuts. I'd never made donuts before, but after watching my favorite bakers make them, I wanted to give it a try. I decided on creme-filled because they are the most delicious. I chose chocolate for the donut because it's a family favorite. The creme filling is powered sugar and whipped creme. On the top, I used the same creme but added water to make it drip down the sides like a glaze.
I learned that the whipped creme was really runny and wouldn't easily fill the donuts, so I needed to add powered sugar to keep it thick. Also, the creme soaked into the cake donuts. It probably still needed to be thicker.
For Father's Day 2017 I made mustache cupcakes because my dad has a mustache, and lots of other fathers do too. I also wanted to practice making mustaches for my dad's cupcakes on Father's Day. I chose vanilla because it was easy to whip up for practice. The mustaches are chocolate buttercream, which is delicious.
I learned making mustaches is hard! It took a lot of practice.
For Mother's Day 2017 I chose to make a coffee flavored cake with coffee flavored icing. The cake had brewed coffee in the mix and the icing had instant coffee. I made this for my mom who loves coffee. The cake was very moist and my mom said it was the best cake she'd ever eaten. She wants this cake for her birthday and Mother's day every year.
I learned that just because a cake doesn't look good at first, doesn't mean it's a fail. I had a difficult time making this one and was freaking out, but my mom said it tasted amazing and helped me finish decorating it. I also learned it matters less what it looks like and more what it tastes like.