Cookie Time

So today Noelle was home sick so I thought I would try and pop out some cookies.

I decided to use a new sugar cookie recipe which does nothing for me. My old recipe has a base of confectioner's sugar and the new one is flour. The reason I tried this is they claim the cookie would not spread. LIE!! They also seemed to cook odd meaning the left side would brown and the right side wouldn't. Nothing new with my stove so I have no clue on this one. I'm so going back to my ol' stand by!

I also decided instead of using my normal royal icing I would use my new friend MMF to 'frost' them.

Here are my efforts for today:

I truly enjoyed making these but since they are my first attempt I am totally not satisfied with how they look. I like the idea of using the MMF instead of doing the outline and then flowing the color on the inside.

I know... Two cookies in an entire day? Please! I made a bunch more cookies but haven't iced them yet. I also tinted a crap load of MMF.

By the way gang, the MMF tastes wonderful! Yummy! I give it a thumbs up and currently I'm looking for some flavorings so I can change the taste a little.

So I hope you enjoy and Tonya, I thought of you while I made the martini!

Let me know what you think!

Messy Mallow Fondant

So here is the update...

I got straight to business last night to make my MMF. It was a crazy mess! It smelled incredible but an all out mess.

I had confectioner's sugar all over my counter from mixing everything and then the instructions tell you to generously grease your hands with Crisco and begin to knead the MMF. They aren't joking when they say to generously grease up your hands! I had it stuck on every inch of my hands within moments. Thank goodness Tim was there to help me add the rest of the confectioner's sugar and then he greased the counter so I could pull it out of the bowl and knead it more.
I've never met such a kneady recipe in my life! This is why I don't make bread. Hello!?!

So here it is looking all pretty:

I know it doesn't look like much but I felt like I built a small house after all of that!

So the all important question is "How does it taste?" You know what... I haven't gotten around to that part yet. I decided I'm going to use it on some sugar cookies and go from there. That way I can hand out the cookies and have people give me their feedback.

So just as a side note: I did swear during this process but it sounded like "WTF" & "FUB". Oh I can't forget my favorite "FTLOC".

There's something to chew on my friends!

MMF? Watch your mouth!

As I have been traveling around on these cake blogs and websites I kept seeing people use "MMF". What the heck?! I couldn't grasp it and honestly didn't pay too much attention to it.

Every time I would see it I would try to figure out what it stood for. Massive Mongo Frosting, Melting Mountains of Frost? I didn't know and then one day there it was in a post: "Oh!!! MMF! I didn't even think of that."

I couldn't believe it! It was the baking moms' way of swearing! Holy crap! It just blew me away! There they were talking about frosting and then suddenly a light went on for this lady and she felt the need to swear. BUT... what did it stand for?

So I pondered quickly over all of the dirty words it could be. Now listen, I'm not going to post my thoughts on the combinations I came up with but for those of you that know me know I can swear like a sailor! Everytime I ran across "MMF" over the next couple of days I would crack up and shake my head. Crazy ladies!

There I was one night sitting there researching fondant. (For those of you who don't know what fondant is, it is the frosting that you roll out that makes the cakes look smooth and perfect.) Why was I researching this? Because the fondant I have tried tastes like crap. A layer of blah with a hint of almond. Very gross honestly but for the way it has become so popular there had to be some out there that was tasty.

So there I was reading about fondant and how people make it in their kitchen instead of buying it. Cool! I'm all up for processes that save me money. So I noticed a couple of different recipes that seemed pretty easy and then I came across one that caught my eye: Marshmallow Fondant - MMF. What???? I couldn't be! MMF stood for Marsh Mallow Fondant.

I must admit, I was seriously disappointed. I thought these crazy baking Moms sat around on these sites, taking to each other, getting pissed off and to be PC would swear using MMF. Damn.

Maybe next time I should really read the posts before assuming what they talking about? Nah! It was fun while it lasted!

So tonight I'm off to try my first homemade batch of MMF and I will let you know if it really stands for Marshmallow Fondant or one of my fancy combinations.

Patience!

As this is a new beast to me all I ask is for patience while I find my groove! Once I get it, I promise you'll be amused!

Let's Begin

My love of cakes all started with my daughter Haley's 3rd birthday. Spongebob was new on the scene and she wanted a cake that looked like him. I agreed knowing that he was just a square and it should take no time at all.

Night after night I would sit on my computer looking for an easy cake that didn't consist of just slapping some figures on top. I wanted to wow her! Soon I found one that seemed easy; a sheet cake decorated with just sectioning off the cake and frosting it to look like him, sleeves and pants made with frosted Funny Bones and pretzel rods dipped in melted chocolate. Ohhhh and let's not forget the shoes made out of Ring Dings!

Being a beginner I knew it could be a challenge but it was still just a square cake. OMG! The time I put into decorating that cake!

The melted frosting wasn't smooth enough on the pretzel rods so I threw them away and then sat there and picked all of the salt off and dipped them again. Success! But then the angle of his sleeves didn't line up so I continued to cut until I got the left and right equal. So what if I now had cut up Funny Bones just laying there. My husband didn't complain as he ate my mistakes.

As I finished up Spongebob I put on his blue eyes and red tie. Hmmmm, that frosting looked choppy and bad. I sat there staring at the cake as everyone told me that it was okay and it would still taste the same. Geez that irritated me! My sister Kim started patting at the tie and it went down a little. My eyes lit up! We then figured out if we dipped our finger tips in water and then patted the icing, it went smooth. Life saver!!!!

As people started to arrive I stood hunched over the cake giving it a bath. I wouldn't stop until he was 'perfect'! Once done, I put Spongebob in the fridge with a warning to everyone as I ran to get a quick shower: "Open that fridge and I will kill you!"

Later everyone smiled and praised me as I pulled Spongebob out and got the candles out. Dilemma! Where do I put the candles? I can't just shove them into him and mess up my work! Kim walked over, grabbed the candles and punctured him three times. It was like a knife to my heart. Dramatic I know but hey! It was my first non-store bought cake!

I will never forget Haley's face when she saw her cake! Her eyes lit up with excitement and her little hands covering her mouth as she let out a scream. (Haley is dramatic too!) I felt like Super Mom as my smile went from ear to ear. Then my smile disappeared as I was handed a knife and plates. I felt a little sad watching my creation being sacrificed to a bunch of people who just stuffed him in their mouths.

I vowed to myself at that moment that I would never get that attached to a cake again!