Today we have another post in our new series… the Tip of the Week!  For years, you’ve been sending in your questions.  Asking for tips and advice on anything and everything baking related.  For years, I’ve tried to respond to as many of your questions as possible.  I’m honored that you would even ask me!  But I have to admit that I struggle to keep up with the sheer volume of your emails.  So I thought it would be fun (and beneficial for all) if we started to address some of the most commonly asked questions here on the blog.  Each week we’ll feature a new baking tip, trick or technique to officially kick off the conversation.  Then, it’s your turn to chime in!  Our little community is filled with talented bakers and an abundance of knowledge… from which we can all learn and grow.  And we’d love to hear your thoughts!  So let’s get chatting…

There’s nothing like following a recipe to the T… only to have it fail.  Using fresh ingredients is a simple upgrade you can make, to help get the baking results you want.  Here are some quick and easy ways to tell if your ingredients are fresh.

BAKING POWDER
Add 1 tsp baking powder to 1/3 cup hot water.  If you see bubbles, the baking powder is still fresh.

BAKING SODA
Add 1 tsp baking soda to a mixture of 1/3 cup hot water and 1/2 tsp vinegar.  If you see bubbles, the baking soda is still fresh.

EGGS
Place eggs in a bowl of water.  Fresh eggs will sink to the bottom.  Older eggs (which are still good for most purposes) will stand on one end.  Bad eggs will float to the top, and should be discarded.

Do you have a favorite way to check for freshness?  Share it with us!

In case you didn’t get enough on St. Patrick’s Day, we have a little touch of green to start off your week.  But we’re not talking cutesy leprechaun green here.  We’re talking gorgeous mint green with elegant touches of gold.  Paired with a blush pink and a contrasting black, creating one hot color combo for spring.  Delicate roses and tiny pink blossoms get an extra touch of fabulous with gilded gold accents.  And then there’s the perfectly ruffled fondant ribbon.  Dancing around two of the tiers and shining with just a hint of metallic.  It all comes together in one seriously stunning cake!  It’s another swoon-worthy design created by Sherri Meyers and her team at The Pastry Studio in Daytona Beach, Florida.  Let’s take a look!

Sherri of The Pastry Studio gives us the scoop on this design:

“We did this Romantic-Organic cake design for an outdoor affair.  With a barn as the backdrop, the girls wore black dresses and our bride rode a beautiful white horse.  I made the green florals, cut the edges and gilded them with gold.  I love the black silk organza bows for the texture and romantic feel . The bottom and top effect are made out of fondant that we shaped into a ribbon pattern.”

Helllo gorgeous!  As if the incredible mint roses weren’t enough to catch your eye, the pop of black is so striking.  I absolutely love the contrast of the soft colors, the romantic florals and the crisp black.  Not to mention the meticulous attention to detail we’ve come to know and love from The Pasty Studio.

A big thank you to Sherri of The Pastry Studio for sharing this spectacular cake design with us today.  It is perfectly tailored for Spring 2013 weddings!

VENDORS & CREDITS
Cake:  The Pastry Studio
Photography:  Sherri Meyers

Our contributor, Miso of Miso Bakes, is here with a new tutorial for St. Patrick’s Day …

As many of you know, four-leaf clovers symbolize luck.  However, did you know three-leaf clovers (shamrocks) symbolize happiness?  Many years ago, I stumbled upon a quote pertaining to the two clovers that read something like this, “People step on happiness to find luck.”  So true.  My ears burned in embarrassment and guilt when I first read this quote.

For St. Patrick’s Day this year, I created a cake that represented both happiness and luck!  I made shamrocks and four-leaf clovers out of sugarpaste and used them, as well as crumbled cake scraps, to decorate a cake.  Liking the rustic feel of the cake, I decided not to clean and smooth the top edges of the cake.

Here is my tutorial on how to make the shamrocks and lucky clovers…

SHAMROCKS & LUCKY CLOVERS CAKE
DIY by Miso Bakes

Supplies:

• Green gumpaste
• Small heart shaped cutter
• Rolling pin
• Floral wire (I used 26 gauge)
• Ball tool
• Floral tape
• Leaf veiner
• Toothpicks

STEP 1:   Cut three green hearts out.  Using balling tool thin the curved, top half of the hearts.  If your edges are too ruffled, gently flatten out with you finger.  You want the bottom half of the hearts to be thick enough to insert wires in them.

STEP 2:  Gently press your hearts (face down) onto the veiner.  I like to do it this way so that the center vein of the leaf lines up with the center of the heart.

STEP 3:  Dip one tip of your wire in water and insert into heart.  Pinch the seal.  Let dry completely.  Dry flat as shamrock petals are not really curved.

STEP 4:  Using floral tape, tape the three hearts together.  Trim a bit of the wire so it looks like this.  You will be taping a toothpick to elongate the stem so that you may insert the toothpick into the cake rather than the wire.

STEP 5:  Tape toothpick onto the stem.

STEP 6:  Your three-leaf clover / shamrock is complete!

To create a lucky clover, simply follow the steps above creating four petals instead of three.

You may use these to decorate a cake or cupcakes.  I think it would be fun to hide a four-leaf clover in the midst of shamrocks and see who ends up with it on their slice of cake!  Perhaps they can win a prize!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! May you all be blessed with much happiness and luck!

	Miso Bakes Miso is a monthly contributor for The Cake Blog. She is a talented pastry chef with a big passion for cakes. Read more about Miso on her bio page.