Posts by: kimberlychapman

FYI, I just made a blog post about eye placement on snowmen cookies, and they happen to be the cookies I brought to the Capital Confectioners holiday party, so you all ate these crazy things. :)

The Subtleties of Eye Placement

 

Oakleaf Cakes made a life-sized Storm Trooper cake for a sci-fi convention. Even better, they photographed many steps along the way so if you’ve ever wondered what kind of structures are inside one of these amazing cakes, go check out their blog entry and photo slideshow here.

I considered sharing an image but a) I’m lazy b) I’m busy and most importantly c) I really want you to go look at their page!

 

We got a note from Photofrost to let us know about their cake decorating contest, so if any of you are interested, the details are here:

http://photofrost.com/contest/

And of course don’t forget to register to enter a cake in our cake show! You can also enroll for classes online or buy general admission tickets now, all at http://thattakesthecake.org. Our deadline for competition registration is February 19 with no unregistered entries accepted at the door this year, so sign up soon!

 

A week from today, Capital Confectioners will be hosting our monthly meeting. This time we’ll be focusing on organizing volunteers for our colossal cake show at the end of February.

So if you’re in the Austin area and want to help at the show – which can earn you some spiffy perks if you put in enough hours – come to this meeting and let us know who you are and what you want to do.

We will also have volunteer sign-up forms on the website soon, but what’s really important about next Tuesday’s meeting is getting more people involved in leadership roles. We want to meet you, discuss your strengths and expertise, and help you find the best and most fun ways you can help us. (Update: The web link for the volunteer form is here, so please fill in your available times asap even if you’re going to discuss specifics at the meeting).

What sort of things need to be done? Lots, including but certainly not limited to: set up and break down, competitor registration and management, hospitality, vendor care, supply management, event/class management and assistance, kids table help, general public management (including guarding cakes against poking fingers), and more. It takes a small army of volunteers to run one of the nation’s largest sugar arts shows!

If you’ve volunteered before, you still should come if you can, because we’re making changes to how perks are earned and other details.

Remember: the coolest volunteer jobs go to the most dedicated, long-term volunteers! For instance, getting to be the assistant at a celebrity class is something we reserve for someone who has also put in tons of hours doing other stuff. So come on out and join our team to not only put on the best cake show ever, but get your own fun slice too!

The meeting is 7 pm, Tuesday January 10, in the conference room at the back of the IHOP by Zilker Park (1101 S Mo Pac Expy, Austin, TX). Further details and RSVP are here. If you’re not already a member of the club, you may need to create an account here first.

We don’t require dues for the first meeting or two. You can definitely check us out for free first! So if you’re keen to volunteer for the show but not necessarily commit to being a club member all year, that’s fine. Come to the Tuesday meeting anyway. We’re happy to have you for what time you can share!

 

I haven’t had time to post Quick Bites lately (and in part because I’m not sure many were reading them…more comments would inspire more posts!), but I stumbled across this gem on Google+ and had to share:

Strawberry Mascarpone Cream Cake (or Ice Cream Cake)

Strawberry Mascarpone Cream Cake

Photo from SheSimmers.com.

Leela of SheSimmers.com has a brilliant yet simple methodology of assembling this lovely cake and she shows you how in photos on the linked page. Brava Leela!

 

As promised at our last club meeting and in my previous post, here’s a tutorial on how to make a really gross zombie-skin cake:

Zombie Skin: Let’s Bite ‘em Back!

 

I had a big cake win this weekend when I was given permission to make a cake for Weird Al Yankovic during his visit to Austin on his latest album tour. I just posted a tutorial on how I made it, plus some tips on creating for celebrities:

How To Make An Accordion Cake and How To Create For Celebrities

Working on another how-to post for this evening as well!

 

For those who attended our gummy class or are otherwise interested in my experiments on the subject, I’ve posted two updates on my blog of recent nifty discoveries:

Experiments With White Opaque Gummy

Molding Flesh-Like Gummy in Buttercream

 

Nothing beats the Austin heat quite like a serving of ice cream. But which of these are real ice cream and which aren’t?

Use the heat to pretend your ice cream has melted with these Melted Ice Cream Cupcakes by Confessions of a Cookbook Queen.

Make these Twix Ice Cream Pie Cups by Dollhouse Bake Shoppe.

Ladies’ Home Journal has a recipe for making Mini Ice Cream Pops. Via CraftGossip.

Sweet Sugarbelle has a tutorial on adorable Pastel Popsicle Cookies.

Stump everybody with these cake pops that look like ice cream but then have rainbows inside: Rainbow Ice Cream Cake Bites by Sugar Swings. Via CraftGossip.

If one of those links is yours and you want to show off having been featured, grab the button on our About page.

 

Summer may be wrapping up for some but it’s still hot as blazes here in Austin, so enjoy these refreshing beach/summer-themed treats and projects!

By the way, we now have an “as seen on” graphic those featured can place on their blogs! It’s on our About Us page.