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 to die, Israel?”

When we are unable to confess our wrongs and sins, our countenance changes. We have darkness over our faces, and it may seem we are sad. Then we experience condemnation. We fail to repent and ask for forgiveness of my sin, our countenance changes.

Psalm 34: 5 MSG “They looked to Him and were radiant; their faces will never blush in shame or confusion.”

Confession is good for my soul. I need to repent of things I may have said or done. I do not want to build a wall between myself and God. I am honest when I confess anything I did and I receive God's forgiveness. I want a direct line to God and I can only achieve it by confessing my sins.

Repentance: means "turning away and deciding not to do it again." I am saying "Yes, I did this, I am sorry and won't do this again."

Ezekiel 20: 43 "Then you will look back at all your sins and loathe yourselves because of the evil you have done."

Yes, it's true I struggle with self-loathing when I know I have been doing something wrong. I cannot move past it and it makes me feel miserable and I am frustrated.

My self-esteem is down the drain, condemnation trails behind me. Life looks bleak and miserable. I seem to be going down the road of destruction in my life and only when I confess my sins, there is a relief.

I realize that I cannot do this on my own, I have and always ask the Holy Spirit to reveal anything I should be confessing. God is faithful and He does show me my iniquities, giving me a chance to confess and repent. The experience is my heart feels lighter, freedom and joy come to me. God knows the secrets of my heart Psalm 44 verses 21.

Prayer

Father, Lord as King David prayed, "Wash me from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation." Psalm 51. Please show me anything I am hiding and help me to see it and confess it to you, so that I may repent and receive Your forgiveness. Psalm 31 says "blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered." Please help me to always confess my sinfulness so that I am able to say "see if there are any wicked ways in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Please forgive me, in the name of Jesus Christ.

Father God today I want to be obedient and accept the gift that You have given me. I am trading my tired and worn-out life for a new one today with Jesus Christ. Today I surrender all my faulty plans for Your perfect plan. Lord, please help me to abide in you so that you can abide in me. Father today I am embracing the new life available to me. I don’t know how things will work but I beg You hear my call. I accept the Lord Jesus Christ to renew my life today. Amen

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.

People with a past.

by Yvette van Niekerk.

God uses the painful times in our lives to make us stronger. Getting through a difficult time and moving forward every day, never giving up. Today, I want you to thank God for what He is doing and can do through the trials you are facing. No, I’m not saying thank God for what you are going through right now, it might be a very difficult situation. But, I do want to encourage you to thank Him for the good He is producing through these trails.

Matthew 5: 3 CSB “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.”

And Psalms 34: 18 CSB “The LORD is near the brokenhearted; he saves those crushed in spirit.”

I have been going through some personal stuff for a long time, and to be honest, I thought this is never going to change. Then I realized God is busy in my circumstances. I saw and realized that He is also working on my side. God is working to help me change my mind and enable me to see new possibilities. It’s not easy and I struggle with negative thoughts. I am the person that will think the worst before something good.

God is showing me new possibilities. It struck me that these possibilities are faith – things I cannot see but believe in. I realized that without faith it’s impossible to please and be satisfactory to God. In God’s Word; the Bible. Hebrews 11 verses 6 “For however would come near God must (necessarily) believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him (out).”

I have been speaking to God and moving towards God by investing in my own deliverance. I heard that when we invest in something, we value and protect it.

So here I am investing in my own deliverance. God is drawing near to me. I will not allow the devil to take away my peace again.

Prayer

Father God, I am asking that the Lord Jesus please be patient with me today. I also need to ask if the Lord Jesus will work with me through this problem I have of being negative and constantly moaning about things I have no control over. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for the insight and understanding to looking at my circumstance with new possibilities. Changing the way and learning to focus and trust that You are in control. Lord Jesus according to Jeremiah 31 verse 3 to 4 NKJV “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness, I have drawn you … I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt.” Lord I am asking that You turn my mess into a hope for others, You know my struggles and I am holding onto You today. The same applies to today, I am asking that You will bless my work and my hands today, Lord that You will come into my life and lead me I need You. Holy Spirit You are welcome in my life today, please help in Jesus Christ's name. Amen

Spoken faith.

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 wonderful statement wow. My thinking is then why do I forget that God is within me? Why do I try and fix things, control people and circumstances? Am I struggling with pride? I am being self-centered instead of God-centered?

The truth of the matter is God is my power source and I am supposed to be drawing my strength from Him, but sometimes I want to be indented and go it on my own. This is when I start falling and toppling over.

I am currently going through a difficult time, it’s called burn-out. I don’t feel like doing anything, I am restless, I have no drive and I am so very tired. God has been so good to me that I now can relax and rest and not stay focused on so many projects.

My husband doesn’t push for things to happen; and thinks I should relax. Read a book or watch a movie on Netflix or even sleep in the afternoon.

I want to draw near to God and I want to recharge my battery I need to be in a place where I can rely on God again. I am staying connected so that I don’t have to throw in the towel. Today I am resting in God, my Father's power. I am waiting on the Holy Spirit to carry me through. Philippians 4 verse 13 CSB “I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.”

It’s clear I don’t have to worry about everything. I cant make things happen. I need to keep myself plugged in. 2 Timothy 1 verse 7 CBS “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.”

Joseph Campbell wrote, “We must be willing to let go of the life we’ve planned, so on have the life that is waiting for us.”

2 Corinthians 5: 17 CSB “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away and see, the new has come.”

I feel like there are so many wrongs I have committed in my life, but I feel certain that God already knows my past, present and even my future. I know that God exists outside of time, He is omnipresent and because of this, He has access to all time.

Isaiah 43: 18 – 19 CSB “Do not remember the past events; pay no attention to things of old. Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.”

I believe God knows all the hardship, obstacles and my terrible decisions and sin I committed and that was when I was created by God for an assigned purpose in my life. I am grateful that God decided to send Jesus Christ to die on a cross for me because of all the wrongs in my life making a wedge between God and me, but because of Jesus Christ, I have a chance.

Father God today I want to be obedient and simply accept the gift that You have given me. I am trading my tired and worn-out life for a new one today with Jesus Christ. Today I surrender all my faulty plans for Your perfect plan.

Lord, Father God, please help me to abide in you so that you can abide in me. Father God, today I am embracing the new life available to me. I don’t know how things will work but I beg You hear my call. I accept the Lord Jesus Christ to renew my life today. Amen