Not just gingerbread houses...

Today I came across this amazing video that shows the progressive build of a 17-ft. gingerbread tree at Disney's Contemporary Resort in Orlando, FL. The tree is made up of only 6 ingredients, but check out the quantities:

1,050 pounds of honey
800 pounds of flour
600 pounds of powdered sugar
35 pounds of spices
600 pounds of chocolate
180 pounds of apricot glaze

As someone who enjoys building gingerbread houses, but to put it nicely, lacks the architectural prowess it might take to construct these seasonal builds, I'm in awe of this production. Check out the time lapse video below (and if this doesn't put you in the Christmas spirit, I don't know what will).

Counter Space, a new kitchen design exhibit, invites us to dinner on September 15, 2010

Example of the "Frankfurt Kitchen" design.

One of my goals this summer is to make my first trip to Washington, D.C. to see Julia Child's kitchen at the Smithsonian. However, if I don't end up making the trip, I'll have a nice substitute as of September 15, 2010, when the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) in New York opens the exhibit Counter Space: Design and the Modern Kitchen. Here is how the folks at MoMA are describing the new exhibit:

Counter Space explores the twentieth-century transformation of the kitchen and highlights MoMA’s recent acquisition of an unusually complete example of the iconic “Frankfurt Kitchen,” designed in 1926–27 by the architect Grete Schütte-Lihotzky. In the aftermath of World War I, thousands of these kitchens were manufactured for public-housing estates being built around the city of Frankfurt-am-Main in Germany. Schütte-Lihotzky’s compact and ergonomic design, with its integrated approach to storage, appliances, and work surfaces, reflected a commitment to transforming the lives of ordinary people on an ambitious scale. Previously hidden from view in a basement or annex, the kitchen became a bridgehead of modern thinking in the domestic sphere—a testing ground for new materials, technologies, and power sources, and a spring board for the rational reorganization of space and domestic labor within the home. Since the innovations of Schütte-Lihotzky and her contemporaries in the 1920s, kitchens have continued to articulate, and at times actively challenge, our relationship to the food we eat, popular attitudes toward the domestic role of women, family life, consumerism, and even political ideology in the case of the celebrated 1959 “Kitchen Debate” that took place between Richard Nixon and Nikita Khrushchev in Moscow at the height of the Cold War.

Featured alongside the Frankfurt Kitchen is a 1969 mobile fold-out unit manufactured by the Italian company Snaidero. These two complete kitchens are complemented by a wide variety of design objects, architectural plans, posters, archival photographs, and selected artworks, all drawn from MoMA’s collection. Prominence is given to the contribution of women throughout the exhibition, not only as the primary consumers and users of the domestic kitchen, but also as reformers, architects, designers, and as artists who have critically addressed kitchen culture and myths.

This exhibition is organized by Juliet Kinchin, Curator, and Aidan O’Connor, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Architecture and Design.

For more reading on the "Frankfurt Kitchen" design, check out this 2006 article from The New York Times that touches on the subject: Kitchen Aide by Caroline Roux.

Latest CakeWalk Column on Cupcakes Take The Cake

Be sure to check out this week's installment of CakeWalk, my weekly column over at Cupcakes Take The Cake. You'll get some insight into my fondant class that I attended this week in Brooklyn!

Slice me up some of that deer please...

I happened to stumble across this picture and had to share - this is a cake. A gigantic deer cake. I can't say I would ever want to eat this as I think it might be confusing for my taste buds (Taste buds: "Wait...this isn't meat? It's cake? Whaaaaaaaaat?"). But you have to give a round of applause for the skill it took to make this.

Some sweets to welcome Spring!

Perhaps it was the warm weather I grew accustomed to while living in Australia for six months last year, but this year's winter in New York seems to have taken it's toll. As a result, I'm craving Spring time - warmer weather, trench coats, and fun new desserts that seem out of place any other time of year!

I always try to have cookies or some sort of sweet on hand when I know people will be swinging by my apartment, so i can't wait to try out this recipe from MarthaStewart.com for Spring Shower Almond Petits Fours.

Not only are they beautiful to look at, my past experience with petit fours has always been a positive one!

Let me know if you try out this recipe - I'd love to post your photos and tips!

Check out the recipe here.

How to decorate Spring cupcakes, courtesy of the Culinary Institute of America

Just when you thought that old springerle mold would go to waste...

Do you know what a spingerle mold is? Neither did I until I checked out this month's issue of Martha Stewart Living.

After doing some additional research, I learned that springerle is actually a type of cookie that originated in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Springerle molds are traditionally carved from wood, but most modern day versions are plastic . According to Wikipedia, springerle means "little knights," and the molds can be traced all the back to the 14th century.

So, what better way to celebrate Easter than breaking out the ol' springerle mold that's been gathering dust (Just kidding - I'm going to have to buy one houseonthehill.net) and using it for a creative topping to your Easter cupcakes.

Here's how you do it:

Tools and Materials
Cornstarch
Fondant, room temperature (available at baking-supply stores)
Springerle mold with bunny design
Round cookie cutter


Springerle Easter Bunny Cupcakes How-To
1. Dust a work surface lightly with cornstarch. Knead fondant until soft and pliable. Roll out to 1/8 inch thick.

2. Slide springerle mold, face up, under fondant. Press fondant into mold. Slide mold out from under the fondant; flip fondant over so raised image faces up.

3. Punch out a circle around image using the cookie cutter.

Then, just lay the fondant circles on top of the cupcakes you've made using your favorite recipe. Bingo! Awesome Easter treats!

Tips: If you don't have a cookie cutter, you can use a juice glass. Fondant circles can be made up to 2 days ahead and stored in an airtight container at room temperature.

It's a great day when...

...my newest issue of Martha Stewart Living shows up in the mail! I never thought I would utter that sentence, but man...that woman has turned me into a craftin', bakin', domesticatin' woman. All I ask is that if I start wearing chinos and button-up, pastel shirts on a regular basis, please stage an intervention.

Moving on, this month's Living has some great Easter-inspired recipes and tips for decorating cakes, etc., which I'm going to share with you all now. This way, you'll have time to practice before Peter Rabbit makes an appearance next month.

Enjoy!

The pleasing sight of cake aesthetics.

As much as I appreciate taste, a well designed dessert is just as important to me. Let's be honest - no one wants to eat something that's ugly. Would you want to stick something in your mouth when your first visual reaction is "Ehhh...is that edible?"

In honor of beautiful cakes, check out this slide show at Bon Appétit.com

Decadent Details: Perspectives of the Grand National Wedding Cake Competition now available in handy book form!

American Cake Decorating has come out with their own book, Decadent Details: Perspectives of the Grand National Wedding Cake Competition. Compiling photos and information from the last four years of the Oklahoma Sugar Art Show.

Now I know many of you will make fun of me for being so interested in cake decorating (I am also a fan of quilts - don't mock me!), but if you take a look at the designs inside this book, I think you'll see how much artistic talent and hard work go into these cakes. It is definitely not an easy task to make creations like this.

So, support my home state and purchase this book at www.americancakedecorating.com!

Great dessert presentation - monochromatic never fails

In the March issue of Food & Wine, there is a great piece about New York City-based Amy Atlas of Amy Atlas Events. Amy is known for her spectacular monochromatic dessert presentations for special events. Although I don't believe her work is necessarily groundbreaking, I can appreciate her eye for great design.

Some of Amy's tips to achieve an eye-catching dessert spread include:

1.) Choose About 6 Desserts - For small parties, Atlas advises balancing an elaborate cake with mini cupcakes or petits fours, chocolates, cookies and hard candies. Serving mostly small desserts lets guests pop them in their mouths while they mingle; no need for cumbersome plates and forks.


2.) Stick to 2 or 3 Colors - Atlas likes the tailored look of monochromatic tables, sometimes in unusual color combinations. The focus of the yellow, white and black table is a custom-made cake by Kate Sullivan of LovinSullivanCakes, inspired by the paintings of Robert Motherwell. Cake, $10 per serving; cakepower.com.


3.) Use a Backdrop - Cover the wall behind the table to help advance the color scheme. To help soften the look of this yellow table, Atlas created a temporary wall out of plywood and attached pretty wallpaper by Osborne & Little. “Marienlyst” paper, $154 per roll, available through the trade only; osborneandlittle.com.


4.) Look for Sweets with Similar Shapes - To echo the circular designs on the Kate Sullivan cake, Atlas set out trays of round sweets, including black-and-white-patterned chocolates from Williams & Bennett ($15 for 12; williamsandbennett.com).


For a fuchsia-colored table, she commissioned a custom cake that mimicked the cherry-tree design on the event’s invitation. A friend then created tree shapes for the back of the table using pink lollipops glued into holes on wooden dowels, with brown construction paper for leaves.


5.) Decorate with Ribbon and Flowers - As an accent to the color scheme, Atlas often ties ribbon around cupcake wrappers and the bases of cake stands. She says that vases of flowers, like the gerbera daisies on the yellow table, are a great way to fill out the back of the table, where it would be harder for people to reach the sweets.


6.) Serving Pieces MatterThink Vertically - Think about the serving pieces as much as the desserts. Atlas loads her tables with platters, dishes, cake stands and vases, often sticking to one color but varying the shapes. Clear glass containers are perfect for holding colorful hard candies. She swears by Crate & Barrel for its wide selection of seasonal and classic pieces. crateandbarrel.com.


7.) Consider a Prop House - Renting serving pieces from prop houses (which supply event planners and stylists) can be cheaper than buying. An F&W favorite is New York City’s Props For Today. propsfortoday.com.


8.) Think Vertically - When she couldn’t find extra-tall stands for a table, Atlas attached platters to ornate black candlesticks with a glue gun. On the table, she keeps low trays toward the front and higher vases and stands toward the back and sides.


9.) Use Candy as a Bed for Other Desserts - Atlas sometimes places cupcakes on a platter of M&M’s or jelly beans. At the bases of the lollipop trees above, she used piles of pink sugar crystals to mimic soil.


10.) Use Any Kind of Table - Covered with a spectacular cloth, even a card table will work. For a casual, summery buffet, try striped linen. For a fancy winter event, try black taffeta.


11.) Set Out Cakes Last - Put baked goods out on the table no more than an hour before guests arrive.


Black Book of Dessert Sources:

Browniepops - To add a vertical element, Atlas likes this company’s chocolate-covered brownies on sticks. $24 for 6; 816-797-0715 or browniepops.com.


Christopher Norman Chocolates - This confectioner makes terrific custom truffles. 212-402-1243 or christophernormanchocolates.com.


Dylan’s Candy Bar - Atlas’s go-to source for whimsical retro sweets, like chewy striped licorice candies. 610-921-3560 or dylanscandybar.com.