Holiday Planning

Today I plan to go out perusing the internet to see what is up for Thanksgiving in the USA. Being from Canada and spending this year here in the USA for Thanksgiving has already been a huge treat!! I am pretty sure I like this much better as it streams the holidays nicely together and makes for more fuzzies by the open heart.

What are your plans for the holidays? DO you have any brilliant ideas for crafting or baking or both? We here at Sweet Cuppin Cakes/ Fimo Fondant would LOVE to see what you are up to! Feel free to use our flickr upload to show us what you are doing! ( you will find the link as the top widget on our right side bar) Cheers!

Fall cupcakes

Fall cupcakes, a photo by mick6799 on Flickr.

I am going trick or treating at Mick Robson's place for absolute sure! Look at those yummies,

bat and spider Oreo Cakesters 3

bat and spider Oreo Cakesters 3, a photo by thedecoratedcookie on Flickr.

Meaghan Mountford is a hero of mine and these make me smile like I was a little kid all over! I just love them.

Miniature Halloween 2010

Miniature Halloween 2010, a photo by Hummingbird Miniatures on Flickr.

Think these are edible? Trick or Treat! Caroline of Hummingbird Miniatures is sooo gifted.

Halloween Black Forest Cake

Halloween Black Forest Cake, a photo by ledelicieux on Flickr.

This is just enough spookie and so inviting. I love it! by Delicieux

Halloween Pumpkin Cake Pops

Halloween Pumpkin Cake Pops, a photo by niner // We Choose Organic - sweet treats on Flickr.

How can you not fall in love with these little cutie heads! by Niner We Choose Organic Treats

Halloween Cupcake Class

Halloween Cupcake Class , a photo by thecustomcakeshop on Flickr.

I am out trick or treating already, for some wonderful baked, artful Halloween treats and ohhh what I am finding WOW! by Rachel Walker thecustombakeshop

Halloween in a baked art form

What would your interpretation of baked Halloween art be? Cake, cookies, pies, fimo, bake it clay? Whatever your medium we would love to see your bestiest Halloween creations. Head to our blog and play, we would love to have you join in our new start up!
You can post all your photos by clicking the link to the right of this post!
We are hoping to see a great deal of talent out there. Cheers

Puppet in cake Contest

About six weeks ago we all put together a fantastic fun light hearted contest for a puppet theatre casting call. The theatre being in Canada and Nick Lemon being quite the fellow we called out for a celebration!

Not being too sure if it is seasonal or just a very busy time we have decided to extend this contest for a short period of an additional 2 weeks Bringing the last entry date to April 9th! 

My fingers are crossed the nicer weather will help motivate some puppets out there =o)

Please visit our photo pages for inspiration and remember Nick has given his permission to copy any of his cast for this contest!

OUR PHOTO GROUP

Cupcakes and chicks by KatisKupcakes! One of our treasured sponsors!

Sesame Street cupcakes

Sesame Street cupcakes a photo by kristin_a (Meringue Bake Shop) on Flickr.

These little puppets by my friend Kristin are just awesome and quite inspiring for anyone interested in trying there hand at a puppet cupcake in our contest we are running right now. I just love these and NO FONDANT! How about that? So cute

ALICE T CUP

ALICE T CUP
Originally uploaded by nice icing

Adorable

Look at that face!

Originally uploaded by IntergalacticHobo

Haha!

Puppet Inspiration

Originally uploaded by Handmade Goodies

This would be lovely in cake don't you think?

Gonzo Cake

Gonzo cake for my favourite wierdo
Originally uploaded by Really_Rach

Free Pattern - a set on Flickr

Free Pattern - a set on Flickr

http://fairyfox.wordpress.com/category/free-tutorials/

If you ever wanted to get sewing food and not baking it, here is your chance from the talented fairy fox. Click links for all her tutorials, you are going to love this.

Eric the Valentine Emu Cupcake

Eric the Valentine Emu Cupcake
Originally uploaded by The Lone Baker

Jeniffer has created Eric, how can you not fall in love with this Emu? he is cake! LOVE!

Birds and Flowers Cookie Inspiration Fimo

birds and flowers
Originally uploaded by ✿ Sissi's Sweets ✿

We saw these today and even though they are not at all related to the puppet contest we think they are truly an inspiration for sugar art work. I would love this design on cookies What do you think? Siss's Sweets has a literal TON of inspirational designs

Ice Cream Cupcake Toppers

Ice Cream Cupcake Toppers
Originally uploaded by Lynlee's Petite Cakes

This is where we know that fimo artists can come in and teach sugar work with their own special fimo techniques. I love when art forms cross spectrums. Don't you? For more inspiring designs you can check out Lynlee's Petite cakes by clicking the original link. Cheers! Happy fimo fondanting! Remember it is all art =o)

Japinha e palhacinho...

Japinha e palhacinho...
Originally uploaded by Djalmma Reinalldo (Cake Designer)

Djalmma allowed us this photo to inspire you to build a puppet! Very amazing cake artist. We adore her.

The class with their muppets

The class with their muppets
Originally uploaded by jennywenny

Jenny Wenny shares a picture of her puppetry class. Such fun. Thanks for the inspiration

Introducing our Jurors for the Puppetry in Cake Competition

HONORARY JUROR
Bonnie Gordon
Bonnie Gordon College of Confectionary Arts
Bonnie is revered as a front runner in the field of cake design and a mentor to the current generation of young cake designers.
CANADA

Nicholas Lemon owner of Lemon Productions
Actor, producer, Master Puppeteer

"I need some water"

CANADA





Manuela Kjeilen
Pastry Chef and Author
Passion for Baking

"I love everything pink"


NORWAY

April Paolotto Poyer
Bakery Chef
Mum first, owner of Apple loves orange
owner of Babee Cakes Bakery
"Baking is in my blood and it's my true passion"


USA

Tomasz Deker 
Master Sugar Artist
T Deker Patissier and Chocolatier

"His motto is a wonderful quality of confectionery products referring to the French culinary school being characterized by an excellent taste and an appearance stimulating imagination of the consumer." 

POLAND

Paula Surrette

Bakery Chef

Owner of Cake by Paula

Everything I look at whether it's cake or not, somehow translates to "how can I do that in a cake"

USA 

Michelle Garcia
Master Pastry Chef
Challenge Competitor
Author of Who You Callin Cupcake
Bleeding Heart Bakery
owner
"Do you have the chops to work alongside Vinny and I?"
USA

Casting call for Puppet Theatre Cakes

Chad Fada

Jim Levine

Lil Nina

Lil Phat Al

Lemon Productions

All Images *copywrite protected with permission to use for contest from Nicholas Lemon These puppets and logo can be reproduced in cake for the sole purpose of the Puppet Theatre Cake *copywrite casting Call by Sweet Cuppin cakes Lyndsay Zoratti

We are very pleased to announce our Casting Call for Puppet Theatre Cakes, we have an impressive jury and some pretty neat sponsors too. This contest is borne out of a love for sugar arts and the cross over to other art forms. We welcome anyone to compete and the rules are very simple.

Contest opens Wednesday February 9th and runs for six weeks to allow everyone time to get their Puppet Theatre Cake made. Last entry must be in by March 25th at midnight.
Our jurors will have a 2 week period to judge all entries and a winner will be announced April 8th at 2pm EST.
The puppet: Must be made of cake and or cupcakes, must be similar to the puppets featured by Lemon Productions, Lemon Productions logo can be used or your very own design. A likeness of our jurors can be depicted if you are kind. ANY form of foul play is cause for automatic termination of your puppet.
Your puppet must be in fact 2/3 cake as we know you will require armature. As you make your puppet please take at least 3 photos of the production. Then submit those and a final photo of your completed cast member to the fimo fondant photo shoot page which is located in the right side bar of this blog.
Our jurors will score your cast member (Theatre Puppet cake) by the following guidelines.
1. likeness to a puppet
2. proper use of cake proportion
3. colour and clarity of sugar work (you have lots of time)
4. size must be at least 12 inches and no bigger than 36 inches in height
5. photo quality must be clear
Marionettes are include in this casting call and cupcakes should be used if and where possible for these (dedicated to Kari Haskell of Retro Bakery) Cupcakes can also be used for facial features and body parts (again be nice)
Good luck to everyone and the most important Have Fun. We have some amazing jurors on board that it is a privilege to make a Puppet Theatre cake for any one of them. Thanks for playing.
There will be a Grand Prize winner and honourary mention prizes awarded. Sponsors have supplied our prizes once again and we give our humble thanks.
x Lyndsay

Puppetry in Cake Competition

Puppetry in Cake Competition is all about rounding up a cast of artists, new and experienced in any capacity to come create a puppet or a theatre out of cake and or cupcakes! (I promised Kari Haskel of Retro Bakery, a valued friend and sponsor of ours, cupcakes would be included)  Our contest is inspired this time round by one of our jurors Nicholas Lemon of Lemon Productions
"At the age of 14, Master Puppeteer Nicholas Lemon co-founded Lemon Productions, a live touring company. After a very successful 10-year run of live performing, in 2005, Nicholas took over sole ownership of Lemon Productions.
Since that first show, the company continued not only to perfect their puppetry skills but also to expand and introduce groundbreaking techniques into live performances. During that time, to add a new dimension to the show, the company started approaching various musical celebrities to create puppet likenesses and to use their music in live performances. The first celebrity approached was “Weird Al” Yankovic, who gave immediate approval and was soon a popular addition to the show. Following him, permission from many other iconic celebrities such as Elton John and Janet Jackson followed.
By “invitation only”, he has taken part not only in Jim Henson Company workshops,
but also in a Sesame Street workshop. Having the skills required to make it through to the end of each of these workshops, without being cut, gives Nicholas the pleasure of being able to say that he is on their short list of qualified puppeteers. You can read more about the inspiring Nicholas on his web page.
How does Nicholas relate to cake? In the fall of 2008 Nicholas and his company were delighted when Duff Goldman gave his blessing to create not one, not two…but nine puppet likenesses of the cast of “Ace Of Cakes” to be used on “The Food Network’s” hit reality show (“...we had the absolute thrill of having all of us recreated in puppet form by the brilliant and talented Nic Lemon of Lemon Productions.” Mary Alice, Manager of Charm City Cakes.)" quoted from Nicholas Lemon's press bio.

 Thus hatched my idea to unite another form of art to the sugar arts Puppetry in Cake! Being a huge supporter of all of the arts I just love to see when all inspiring artists are cast together to create, well simply put, Amazing creations. Sweet Cuppin Cakes was born out of my love for celebrating, being artistic and the love of making people happy so these competitions held in our Fimo Fondant blog just naturally followed. I am very thankful always for everyone's participation and feel so happy when I can bring others into this endeavor of mine. I am a true believer that the healing arts comes with it the component of sugar artistry.
Nicholas and I are very energetic about this competition and invite you the artist to come play with us. (I am certain Nic could interject a jingle or two here if we asked him) And yes, his real last name is Lemon ;o)
As you search around the links and Nic's webpages you will come to see why I have chosen this talented man to be a source of inspiration for us all. I adore him and I am sure you will too. Enjoy. x Lyndsay

Prizes

All prizes are being sent out today! Sorry for the delay but we had to catch our breath after the looong holiday season! We want to thank Bake and Destroy, Bakers Nook, Cake Journal and Sweet Cuppin Cakes for sponsoring this past contest. Our announcement of a new contest to commence February first 2011 is in the works so watch for it here! It is a good one xox

Winners of the Cookie Contest

Well it is official and the winners of the cookie contest have been selected! bridget sent over an email to me today and let me know who won! YAY! Below are the cookies and who won them. All prizes will be sent out right after the Christmas rush so nothing gets lost in the mail I imagine this will be January 4th so bare with us on that! Everyone did a fantastic job and I have never seen such a festival of gorgeous cookies, please continue to upload your photos here =o)


Ok....winner:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dremecakeartistry/5114857026/in/pool-1497804@N21

runner up:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37819981@N02/5066291480/in/pool-1497804@N21

Kids: (the Pumpkin potato head...2nd row...Cate)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ourjustdesserts/5230767430/in/pool-1497804@N21


Please email me your mailing address to lyndsay{@}acupcakery.com
Also all participants can email me their email addie for a participation certificate
Please send us a photo of you and your prize so we can post that in the new year 
We look forward to seeing more of your sugar art and will announce our next contest very soon!

Happy Baking!
--
♥Bridget and Lyndsay =o) 

Bake at 350...    Sweet Cuppin Cakes Bakery...

Sugar Cookies by Tish from Dreme Cake Artistry and Paula Deen

Sugar Cookie Recipe used for the Cookies made by Tish from Dreme Cake Artistry

I have entered some cookies into your contest (the 3d wedding dresses and other designs), and would like to submit a recipe that I use. It is a recipe from Food Network that aired on Paula Deen's Show. Wedding Dresses by Tish at Dreme Cake Artistry. Here it is below:

Ingredients

• 2 1/3 cups plus 2 tablespoons (11-ounces) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks; 6-ounces) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (4-ounces) granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugar and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined.

Add the flour mixture in 2 batches, scraping down the bowl after each addition. Beat until the dough just comes together, being careful not to over mix.

Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Form the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Place the ball of dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper and roll out to 1/4-inch thick. Keeping the dough in the parchment, transfer to a cookie sheet and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut out the cookies in the desired shapes and place on a half-sheet pan lined with parchment paper or an un-greased nonstick cookie sheet, at least 1-inch apart. Transfer to the freezer and chill for at least 15 minutes or until they are firm.

Bake until the cookies are light golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Let cookies cool completely on the sheets before decorating.

Best Sugar Cookies from Julie

I received this recipe from an online friend and I love it! All my sugar cookies are from this recipe. So are my linzer cookies, filled with lemon curd... Oh yeah...

Best Sugar Cookies

2 c. sugar
2 c. butter
3 eggs
1 tsp. lemon extract
Cream above together, then add:
1 tsp. salt
6 c. flour – add only enough of the flour to the creamed mixture to handle the dough (I use between 5 and 5-1/2 cups) without being tough. Chill dough about an hour. Roll cookies out on floured board and cut with cookie cutters. Bake 8-10 minutes.

Decorate with royal icing or buttercream.

It does make a big batch and yes, you can freeze the dough. I do it every year for holiday cookies. Just thaw it in the fridge a day or two before baking and you’re good to go.

Julie

Cookie Contest to close at Midnight tonight

Hey everyone, it seemed like forever ago we announced our cookie contest and here all of a sudden time is up =o) Thanks to everyone who entered and thanks for all the fabulous recipes that will be posted here over the weekend. A winner will be announced by Bridget over at her blog and here so make sure to visit both. We have three tiers so good luck to everyone. Also a huge thank you to our sponsors for this contest! Another contest is in the making for January called ICE so check back for details ... Good luck to you all and Happy Safe Holidays

All participants will receive a certificate of merit so please email me your home addie when time permits. These will be mailed in January. 

Powdered Sugar Glaze

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon LAND O LAKES® Butter, softened (I like this best)
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon almond extract or vanilla, if desired (Neilsen Massey)
Food color, if desired

Directions:
Combine powdered sugar, water, butter, corn syrup and vanilla in small bowl; mix until powdered sugar is moistened. Beat at medium speed until smooth, adding additional water, if necessary, to reach desired spreading consistency. Tint with food color, if desired.

Glaze cooled cookies. Let stand until hardened (6 hours or overnight).