by Yvette van Niekerk
Woman over 55
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Thursday 7 April 2022
How can I clear the slate?
Tuesday 5 April 2022
Vanilla Buttercream Recipe
by Yvette van Niekerk
My Vanilla
Buttercream Recipe
I am sure you will enjoy this simple recipe, it’s nothing
special a really basic recipe but it sure make my cakes pop, I use this on my
cakes and also my cupcakes.
I use a good quality vanilla extract to make my buttercream
taste delicious. So something to keep in mind room temperature is important
when making my buttercream.
Now lets get started:
Vanilla Buttercream
Icing
This is a rich flavored vanilla buttercream that is so easy
to make which tastes like you made something delicious.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Servings: 3 cups
Ingredients:
1 cup of Wooden spoon margarine or unsalted butter, room
temperature.
3 ½ cups of icing sugar (powdered sugar), sifted.
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp whole milk of heavy whipping cream, room temperature
¼ tsp salt, to taste
Method:
With a hand mixer or paddle attachment on your stand mixer,
cream the butter on medium high until its creamy and light for approximately 6
minutes.
With the mixer on low, add your sifted icing sugar one cup at a time remember
to scrape the sides of the bowl after adding the icing sugar. Keep on
incorporating the icing sugar to the mix.
Now add your vanilla, milk and salt and mix to incorporate in the icing sugar.
You are ready to cover your cake. Do enjoy.
How I fill and stack a cake.
by Yvette van Niekerk
I have had such a fiasco with filling and stacking cakes, I thought I would share some of my own experiences with you today. My cakes have bulged out between layers and are straight up oozing off the sides. An expensive lesson especially when I am baking for my clients.
What was my problem? I realized now after a lot of tears and frustration, that many times I didn’t put enough icing on and the cake was just cumber covered. I also came to the realization that I didn’t build a wall on my cake when placing a filling inside of the cake.
I soon realized the essential part of building your cake starts with the basics, your icing needs to be thick enough so that your foundation is sturdy. I have baked cakes and on delivery, my cakes started pulling to the left and going lopsided.
Now I have been baking for over a decade and it has been an experience. There are two kinds of fillings and a trick to stacking a cake. One is the stable filling which is straightforward buttercream icing and the other less stable fillings are like soft consistency chocolate ganache, salted caramel, jam, lemon cured etc.
I am going to demonstrate a stable filling today and next time we will explore the filling of ganache or chocolate.
Starting point.
I go straight to my board and place a dash of buttercream on the surface of the board before I place my first layer of cake on said board. This swipe of buttercream acts as “glue” to keep my bottom layer in place. Using this cake board method I find makes life a lot easier to place my cake on my turntable and then straight into the box for transportation.
Filling and stacking my cake with buttercream icing.
I find filling and stacking my cake with buttercream icing, it’s very straightforward. I know that consistency is very important and will share my vanilla buttercream icing recipe with you. In South Africa we have a different kinds of margarine and butter, I find that you should stick to the margarine or butter specifically made for baking. When I first started baking I never realized that the consistency of the margarine affects the wall of your cake. To thicken the buttercream I normally add more powdered sugar. I find the thicker the icing consistency the better the cake.
I take some of my icing mixtures and place them in a piping bag, then I pip the icing on the base of my cake. I then place the icing on top and start the covering of the first layer, here you can decide the thickness of the icing for the cake. I like it about 1 cm for the filling. I then place my next layer on the cake and do the same.
I have learned through hard experience that I need to ensure my first layer of icing is as level as possible, otherwise, my cake isn’t as even as I want it to be.
Stacking cake layers
As mentioned above it's important to place a dash of icing on the bottom of the cake board to secure the first layer of your cake. I then proceed to place my cake on my board. I don’t cake anything off my cakes, as you can see they are straight and no bulging on the top of the cake. I place my icing over the top and then the next layer and carry it onto the next layer.
I find that it is important to first put crumb protection covering my cake and I place my cake in the fridge for 20 minutes allowing my cake to cool. I then start with the base cover with plain white buttercream icing and then I pipe my colors for the finale stage.
I use a scraper to level my cake out and then I start with decoration. On this cake, I printed Masha and Bear on rice paper placing it on a biscuit for a nice touch. I then sprinkled some sprinkles on the cake.
Wednesday 30 March 2022
People with a past.
Tuesday 29 March 2022
Spoken faith.
How can I clear the slate?
by Yvette van Niekerk Ezekiel 18: 31 MSG “Clean house. No more rebellions, please. Get a new heart! Get a new spirit! Why would you choose t...
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by Yvette van Niekerk Ezekiel 18: 31 MSG “Clean house. No more rebellions, please. Get a new heart! Get a new spirit! Why would you choose t...
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by Yvette van Niekerk I have had such a fiasco with filling and stacking cakes, I thought I would share some of my own experiences with you ...
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by Yvette van Niekerk Psalm 46: 5 CSB “God is within her; she will not be toppled . God will help her when the morning dawns.” What a wond...