Sugar Buzz Girl

This is WHY

2010-09-12T10:10:00.003-04:00

Far better it is to dare mighty things, though checkered with failure, than to take ranks with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory or defeat. ~ Teddy Roosevelt.

Gardening - growing your own vegetables and preserving them - is fraught with hard work during the season. After the growing season, in the winter, when the dead sunflowers stand for the birds as the only remnant in the snow of the summer garden and harvest, is time to revel in the previous years crop and plan for next year.

I believe that all gardens should be called 'Victory Gardens' like they had in WWII because us home gardeners suffer defeats and have unwarranted bumper crops.

With all of our planning and good intentions, the garden is still in the hands of fate and Mother Nature. Like Forest Gump says, "You never know what you're gonna get."

Personally, we try to fit gardening into an already busy life with full-time jobs, a teenage daughter, renovating a house, and ailing parents. Finding time to spend planting, pulling weeds and preserving is our greatest challenge. Yet, this year we managed to fill our freezer for the coming winter, and (I'm gonna be honest here) sometimes I open the freezer door just to look and see what has been accomplished. There is great satisfaction to be had, a feeling of triumph, seeing all of those vegetables lined up on the shelves waiting for a warm winter's meal.

My mother has been buying cherries and apples and pears from the Amish this summer and canning them. The other day, she took me down to her basement to show me all the jars lined up with the fruit in them. Only someone that preserves food would apprecitate what a beautiful sight that is, and how it fills you with a feeling of accomplishment, pride and security.

I say security because having food on the shelf, no matter what your bank account says, gives you a feeling of security. I am not a doomsday person, but what if the Arabs got ticked off at our country over, let's say, someone publicly burning the Quran, and let's say they decided to hike the price of oil to $200.00 per barrel, and let's say the trucker's here in the US couldn't afford to deliver food to the supermarkets anymore, or that what was being delivered was quadruple the usual cost? I know that we live in a stable country, but stranger things have happened. All I'm saying is that if we have a problem in the food chain, I'm gonna be trading some frozen tomatoes and green beans for Mom's canned pears and the economy can work itself out. It's one less thing to worry about.

Thank goodness we have grocery stores for the years when our best plans have not worked out. Last year, our tomatoes got blight and we lost almost the entire crop and I felt guilty paying huge prices for inferior store tomatoes. This year we had a bumper tomato crop & will probably enjoy them fresh-frozen until next summer.

By the way - see the previous post about freezing tomatoes - you core them and freeze them whole and the skins slip right off of the frozen tomatoes when you hold them under warm running water. Frozen tomatoes are a wonderful, time-saving alternative to canned tomatoes.

We lost our zucchini and yellow squash plants two years in a row. I know, you're astounded because they're one of the easiest plants to grow. Hey, if there's a way to screw things up . . . Last year, my husband decided to run the rototiller through the garden to cut down our weeding time and cut a swath too close to the plants, who - unbeknown to us - apparently have a shallow but expansive root system that was cut. Not weeding by hand cost us our zucchini. This year was a similar story: the zucchini and squash were in an isolated part of the garden where the snow peas stood in the spring, and my husband decided to hit the weeds in the empty part of the garden with RoundUP. The zucchini and squash apparently got some over-spray and all died. Next year, I will be weeding the squash and zucchini by hand so they are out of danger and away from my husband's good intentions. I have threatened to plant a chair in the garden to guard them.

We will also be buying sweet corn from the supermarket this year. We knew we would be too busy and hard choices had to be made regarding the workload we took on. Corn is a lot of work, and we have a large Amish community nearby where we can buy fresh corn should we decide to freeze it. This year, we skipped it.

We have never grown brussel sprouts and decided late in the season to plant some from seed. The plants came up, but we were too late to get any sprouts from them. It's good to try new things - even if they don't work out.

And speaking of crops that don't work out, we planted onions two years in a row only to have them rot in the ground. I'm pretty sure that our garden is too low and wet for them - which is great for most of the other plants, but too wet for the onions. If we want to grow them in the future, we're gonna have to construct a raised bed.

On the other hand, just for fun, I planted a variety of decorative gourds and pumpkins this year and the garden is loaded with fall fun. These are low maintenance and all you need is the seeds and plenty of room to let them ramble through the garden. I will use them for decoration and be able to give some to my friends at the office and we will be learning to make pumpkin pie from scratch (under my mother's supervision) and will probably post that exciting escapade online for you.

We had so many green beans this year that we froze all we could possibly want and gave away all our family and friends wanted, and still have them hanging in the garden. Last year, I pulled the plants as soon as the harvest was over, but let them stand this year. I am going to use this years leftovers as seeds for next year. Possibly show you how to do this in another post.

My husband grows hot peppers every other year to pickle and the plants are currently heavy with the yellow, green and red fruits, so he will soon be picking, cutting, pickling and canning his peppers for the next 2 years. We'll post this process as well if he's willing to share his secret recipe.

Our garden would be a lot more predictable if we spent the time in it that we should, grooming and weeding and doting on our plants. Someday, I hope to be able to do that. The past couple of years we have gotten our seeds and plants in as we could and hoped for the best - spending very little actual time in the garden. We were embarrassed by the weeds at times and surprised at how well the plants did in spite of our neglect.

Stay tuned & I'll try to post more the next few weeks as we continue the harvest.

Meanwhile, she exits saying, "Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!"

(I'm laughing all the way to the FULL freezer.)

Stuffed Tomato Day

2010-08-21T12:24:00.004-04:00

For the past three years since we've had a garden, at tomato harvest time, my husband has asked me to make stuffed tomatoes. Well, I've never eaten them and have certainly never made them so I really don't understand what everyone is raving about, but decided it might be time to give it a try. Besides, if I make the famous stuffed tomatoes maybe they won't force me to make stuffed peppers, which most men love, but I believe smell the same as the bottom of a ripe dumpster.

Evelyn, the 89 year old matriarch of the clan, has loosely translated this recipe to me, so I'll loosely translate it to you:

STUFFED TOMATOES

First of all, decide how many stuffed tomatoes you want to cook and/or freeze and buy your ingredients accordingly. I'm shooting for 12 - 18:

2 bags Plain bread stuffing
Sausage (I used one Jimmy Dean regular)
Bacon (I'm using about 2/3 of a pound, which is what is leftover from our last BLT feast)
3 sweet onions, diced
Whole stalk of celery, diced
Natural Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Tomatoes, washed, cored & gutted. Leave the meat on the outside of the tomato & reserve the guts minus the seeds.
Ripe tomatoes
Mozerella cheese for garnish on top

Directions

Dice onion and celery.
Sautee onion and celery. I did mine in some leftover bacon grease for extra flavor and fat. Right. I know. Set aside and divide into 2 bowls: one for sausage, one for bacon. I'm making a batch of each and we'll vote later on which tastes best.
Cook sausage and put in one bowl of onion & celery.
Cook bacon, chop fine, and put in the second bowl of onion and celery.
To each bowl add: 2 eggs, one package of bread cubes, salt, pepper and tomato guts.
Stir.
Stuff tomatoes.
Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.
The last five minutes of baking, top each tomato with mozerella cheese & put it back in the oven until the tops are golden brown.
Serve with any yummy summer dish.

Because I am making so much, I am going to freeze half of the batch (without cooking it) for later.
* If you like green pepper, you could dice them and sautee some with the onion and celery. I can't stand the smell of cooked green pepper, but for those of you who are fans of the green stinkers (I don't get it) I think it might be a great addition.

Update:
The tomatoes were very good, but I made waaaaay tooooo many and ended up cooking about 7 tomatoes and freezing 20. One bag of cubed bread with one package of sausage would have been sufficient. I would still use all of the celery and onion as it is full of flavor and enhances the flavor.

Also, we added fresh oregano and discussed what adding a little garlic to the onion and celery saute would do.

These are fun because you can customize them with what you have in your refrigerator. But remember, unless you want an entire shelf in your freezer filled, please use only one bag of bread cubes. Ha!

Out To Lunch

2010-08-21T11:53:00.002-04:00

Hello my Followers and Friends,

Since I've been away from the blog for so long, I thought you deserved an explanation; and that is that I have been busy, busy, busy! And I'm sorry that I haven't recorded it for you, but I promise to do better as there are some exciting things coming. . .

First up, we're moving to my new husband's family homestead, where we have kept a big garden for the past three years. Right now, we're in the process of renovating the old house and it's tomato harvest season, in addition to school starting on the 30th of August.

The big crops from the garden this year have been red raspberries, green beans, snow peas, gourds and tomatoes. The hot pepper crop is ripening on the vine and will turn into pickled peppers in the next few weeks - but not without some work.

The red raspberry bushes produce 2 crops per years and the vines are loaded for the 2nd picking sometime in September. We freeze them on cookie sheets straight out of the garden and then put them in Ziplock freezer bags after they are frozen so they aren't all squished (technical Pennsylvania term) together into a solid block later when you only want to use a few.

We make raspberry jelly, wine and syrup and retain some for mixing with fresh and canned fruit throughout the winter.

Our green beans are Blue Lake Bush Beans and are generally tough unless you cook the daylights (whatever that is) out of them. We use them for winter soup and stew where having daylights really isn't of any consequence, so they work great. To preserve them, we blanch them and vacuum seal them in Food Saver bags, and voila`, we're done.

The Snow Peas are a cool weather crop, planted early in the spring and harvested in June. Again, they are easy to preserve by blanching them and vacuum sealing them for the freezer.

The tomato crop is ripening and this week I tried freezing them for the first time, because I did not have the time or energy to can them. To freeze them, I simply washed & cored them, put them upside down on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper and popped (technical term alert) them into the freezer. 24 hours later, I put the frozen red baseballs in Ziplock bags. I understand that the skins will come right off the frozen tomatoes if you run warm water over them when you are ready to use them. We'll see about that.

Anyway, today, I am making stuffed tomatoes for the first time. It's a family favorite and David's 89 year old mother has loosely translated the recipe to me which I will share in the next posting. I will be using all of those extra tomatoes you have left after you have frozen what you need for the year and given away as many as you can to neighbors, friends and cousins.

Ladybug, Ladybug, Fly Away Home

2009-05-31T07:13:00.005-04:00

Ladybug Go-To-Meeting.

These yummy sugar cookies are topped with fondant which is applied to the cookie with piping gel, my all-purpose glue.

Beth, the owner of Bella Catering, came over Friday night & we put these cookies together for her sister, Susie's, baby shower. Then we ordered a pizza and drank wine 'cause cookie making is hard work!

Aren't they adorable?

Got Lady Slippers?

2009-05-20T07:38:00.005-04:00

We have four followers! Thanks for joining the Sugar Buzz gang! Unlike other web pages where the bakers get to play in the kitchen full-time, baking here at The Sugar Buzz Factory is a part-time endeavor - so we don't have as many posts - but we do try to do it first class when we wander into the kitchen.

Let me introduce us:
The Sugar Buzz Factory is a family project: David takes the pictures, friends stop by and Mumsie (my mother) often pitches in on large orders & I come up with ideas and get covered in flour and icing.

Stay tuned for our next baking adventure which is fondant Lady Bug cookies for a baby shower and imprinted fondant cakes (with my new rolling pins & imprint sheets!) for the neighborhood church bake sale on May 30.

Meanwhile, we head into the garden and woods for Memorial Day Weekend, which is where David found these Pink Lady Slipper Orchids.

Oh yeah, and we're gonna empty and sterilize David's car this weekend. (He says we're gonna have to rake it out before we can clean it. Oh, goodie.)

Cake Wreck Gets Buzzed!

2009-05-11T12:17:00.002-04:00

Wahoo!

Cake Wreck http://cakewreck.blogspot.com (When professional cakes go horribly, hilariously wrong) honored our Flower Pot cakes on their Mother's Day 2009 post.

And NO, it wasn't because we screwed up.

Our "Going to Pot" article http://sugarbuzzgirl.blogspot.com/2008/06/going-to-pot.html featured cakes baked in real flower pots topped with fondant and gum paste flowers and they used a picture as something cute to bake on Mother's Day.

Check us all out.

Or get Sugar Buzzed.

Or get Cake Wrecked!

May garden Inspriation

2009-05-05T10:25:00.003-04:00

These pictures were taken May 4, 2009. Above is a wild Columbine growing in the shade garden under The Big Maple. Below is a close up of Muscatari that line my stepping stones from the street to the front porch. They're just like baby blueberries on a stick!

Steelers Fondant Cake Design

2009-04-29T17:57:00.002-04:00

With all the Steeler fans around here, I think I'll make for the next bake sale:

Angelique Tulips for Kiwanis Fundraiser

2009-04-26T10:36:00.014-04:00

Yes, I know I said no more fundraisers, but when there's a bake sale emergency (like a fireman when the alarm sounds) I usually have to respond.

This is an Angilique Tulip from my garden.

And these are the basic sugar cookie on a stick with marbled fondant decoration to look like a pink Angelique Tulip. The stems (sticks) are covered with floral tape and a silk flower is taped in to complete the look.

These went out the door with carrot cookies with fresh grated orange icing, black walnut banana bread, Key Lime Pie in an Oreo Crust & Key Lime Tarts.

1st Spring Flower

2009-04-23T11:32:00.003-04:00

Sometimes, we have to take a break from baking and go for a stroll in the garden.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh . . .

Fundraiser

2009-04-17T12:53:00.007-04:00

There is a fundraiser this weekend for a young man who loves baseball. Two dozen special cookies cookies are our contribution. I'll post a picture of the finished basket presentation as soon as it is available.

Like the Easter cookies, this cookie is our basic sugar cookie topped with a thin layer of butter cream icing, then topped with fondant. The red stitches were piped on using royal icing.

Mumsie's Easter Cookies

2009-04-17T12:49:00.004-04:00

Mom and I sat down and made some cookies for the family Easter. The best looking ones were made out of fondant.

We used the usual sugar cookie receipe and topped it with a thin layer of butter cream icing, then placed the fondant on top and decorated.

These were much, much easier to do than the dipped royal icing cookies and I believe they look better too. The downside is that not everyone likes fondant.

Easter Resolution: No more cookie fundraisers

2009-04-06T12:13:00.004-04:00

The peeps are all baked and on their way to the Central PA Humane Society as I look forward to hosting the family Easter Dinner next weekend.

Mom is coming over some evening while we decorate our personal cookies, and we'll put the pictures up when they are complete.

Meanwhile, my next project is baseball cookies for a fundraiser on April 24. I have decided that cookies are for marketing purposes only. They are waaaaay too much work for what you get in return. I would really like to concentrate on upscale fondant cakes.

Right. We'll see how long I can hold that thought. Ha.

Check out the Sugar Buzz Factory on etsy!

2009-03-13T11:46:00.004-04:00

More Yummy Easter Carrot Cookie Photos

2009-03-12T10:56:00.005-04:00

Be sure to check us out on etsy (search sugarbuzzfactory) and flickr (search sugarbuzzfactory).

Easter Cookies

2009-03-10T12:22:00.007-04:00

Adopt a Peep 'cause they're invading Blair County. See posting below to benefit the Central PA Humane Society.

This old fashioned Eastertide postcard on a sugar cookie is printed with edible ink onto (edible) wafter paper which is similiar to rice paper, but made with potato starch. There are 14 different designs available and they are all on large, postcard-sized cookies that measure about 3 1/2" by 5" and are 3/8" thick.

Check out the Sweet Little Bunny cookies. These bunnies are also printed on wafer paper and attached to a sugar cookie. Which one is Peter Rabbit? These cookies are over 2" in diameter.

The night before Easter, be sure to leave one of these huge (almost 2" by 5 1/2") sugar cookie carrots out for the Easter Bunny along with a frosty glass of milk.

The Peeps are Coming! The Peeps are Coming! The Peeps are Coming!

2009-03-06T16:11:00.013-05:00

Adopt a Peep!

Don't be left out in the cold when Blair County experiences an invasion of sugar cookie chicks this Easter Lenten season.

The Sugar Buzz Factory is baking the cutest sugar cookie Peeps on the planet to raise money for our furry friends at the Central Pennsylvania Humane Society (CPHS). All of the cookies are homemade without additives or preservatives right here in Blair County using flour, sugar, eggs, lemon juice, baking powder, vanilla and food coloring. Each Peep is approximately 2" x 2 1/2" and is about 3/8" thick.

A dozen of these handsome Peeps is $12.00 and is packaged in a kraft box with a handle. They are so adorable, you're gonna want to cut air holes! Choose: All Yellow OR Mixed Colors

You can pick up your Easter Peeps at Fresh Bark (CPHS's Thrift Shop located across the road from the shelter) as long as supplies last. To ensure your get your peeps, call Debbie Pierce at CPHS: 942-2477 or email Leslie: lhayes78@atlanticbb.net. We'll try to keep a supply at Fresh Bark right up to the holiday. A portion of the proceeds go directly to CPHS.

Toilet Cake

2009-03-04T12:07:00.011-05:00

Sometimes I wonder about my friend's sensibilities.

This cake recently came about because my friend, Bob, was looking for a humorous birthday cake for his two friends who were turning 60. And he got it.

The bowl was three layers of vanilla cake with raspberry filling and the tank and toilet paper roll were Devil’s Food layered with vanilla butter cream. Everything was covered with fondant.

The poop was chocolate butter cream, the water in the bowl was tinted piping gel, the handle on the tank fondant, the toilet paper was preforated fondant and the lid was custom made out of wood. There was a detachable card on the inside of the lid that everyone signed for the birthday couple.

Because we had never done this before, it was an engineering challenge. A sturdy platform (cake’s heavy!) had to be built for the tank that included a back so the cake tank wouldn’t lean halfway through the party and we had to find small hinges for the lid, which also needed a place to be attached so it could be opened and closed.

All of the wood was painted white to seal it and to make it washable. The platform was covered with blue and white checked washable vinyl wallpaper to imitate a typical bathroom floor.

Now that we’ve made this cake for Bob, we can make one for you. Contact us with your event: be it an anniversary, birthday, an open house, renovation celebration or any party for a plumber.

Steelers Win Superbowl

2009-02-18T09:32:00.006-05:00

There are certain aspects of football and the Superbowl that appeal to me. Like the idiot commercials, the unsportsmanlike conduct, the frenzied yelling and screaming during the game that would ordinarily draw the police, and the snack food.

The cookies were David's idea to send to Ben stranded down in Texas for the past few years. They are sugar cookies topped with Royal Icing, "Steelers" is written in chocolate buttercream and the colored logo thingys are made of fondant.

Cookie Madness

2008-12-23T03:58:00.004-05:00

Today was cookie delivery day for the most part and thinking back, the 2008 holiday season t'was truly the season to bake cookies: 100 to the senior citizens at the local church, 170 plus to Blair County Children & Youth, about 70 to take to a friend's party, 40 to the Humane Society volunteers & workers, 150 for Christmas baskets, and hundreds more for a cookie & egg nog party here at the house.

Adding that up makes about 800 decorated cookies, not including the chocolate chip cookies and Key Lime Pies. No wonder I feel like I've done nothing else during the evenings and on weekends.

The neighbor kids agreed to help me out with the extra broken and messed up cookies and they have been making out pretty well. So well that we finally had to establish a secret code to communicate: I hang a "Cookies!" sign in the dining room window to let them know when there are broken cookies and they stop by on weekends and after school to collect their paper lunch bags of goodies.

I'm gonna settle in for a loooong winter's nap.

Christmas Light Cookie Ingredients

2008-12-08T14:00:00.016-05:00

We have had requests for the ingredient list for the Christmas Light Cookies.

While the exact recipe is Top Secret, I can tell what is NOT in them: additives, fillers and preservatives.

All of our cookies are lovingly made fresh from scratch with the purest ingredients right here in Blair County--just for you.

For example, we use real butter, not margarine, imitation butter, I Can't Believe this Crap's Not Butter or butter-flavored grease in a can. We also use real eggs, not imitation low cholesterol eggs. If your cholesterol is high, you shouldn't even be looking at cookies, let alone reading a blog about baking. Your cholesterol probably just rose 10 points the past 5 seconds.

Anyway, we believe that good old-fashioned ingredients not only taste better, but are healthier than all the imitation stuff on the shelves, which is why we stick to the basics: eggs, butter, flour and sugar--and this is why our cookies are as good as what Grandma used to make.

Sugar Cookie & Icing Ingredients

Sugar: regular and confectioner's

Flour

Butter

Eggs

Baking Powder

Vanilla

Lemon Juice

Food Coloring

The Cookies are accented with purchased decorations such as non-pariels, Sparkling Sugar, jimmies and dragees.

Buy A Cookie, Be A Light

2008-12-05T22:19:00.015-05:00

When a foster child is initially taken from their home, they often leave with nothing. This season, the Sugar Buzz Factory is helping Blair County Children & Youth raise money for their Special Fund which supplies these children who are spending the holidays away from their family with the extras in life, such as Christmas presents and warm winter coats.

As of today, all of our Christmas Light Cookies are being sold as a fundraiser. If you would like to purchase these cookies (pictured in the post below) all of the profit will go to the Blair County Children & Youth Special Fund, and your checks should be made out to them as well.

Individually wrapped cookie: $2.00

6 cookies in a gift box: $11.00

12 cookies in a gift box: $20.00

And yes, we know that's expensive, but it's for the kids.

Thank you in advance to all of the folks who are making this possible by volunteering their time, talents and commercial kitchens: Beth & Larry, David, Tessa, Nancy, my mother and anyone else I can talk into icing, wrapping, packing, selling and delivering cookies for this drive.

By baking zillions of cookies in the next couple of weeks (in our spare time) we hope to be able to make every Blair County child's Christmas merry & bright.

T'was The Month Before Christmas

2008-11-16T19:58:00.021-05:00

Three tiered cake covered in moss green fondant.

Covered in lights and poinsettas & ornaments & ribbon.

T'was the month before Christmas

And all through Blair County

People flocked to Peterman's

To see what's gonna matter

Christmas Light Cookies, Extra Cake & Cake Pops in the background.

The Christmas Light Cookies

Were strung up with care

On licorice wire
Eat some, if you dare.

Sugar Buzz Bites & Cookies, yum!

The Cake Bites were dipped

And displayed with aplomb

In hopes that Saint Nick

Would soon be along

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work

And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.

And laying his finger aside of his nose,

And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,

"Merry Christmas, Blair County!

And to all a good-night!"

2009 Price List & Order Information

2008-11-12T12:30:00.024-05:00

All baking is by special request, so be sure to ask if you don’t see what you want. I'll be glad to work with you to design a unique cake for your special occasion.

FUND RAISING
I'll work with you to design a fund raising package to suit your organization.

BOOKING
The Sugar Buzz Factory will only book one large order--such as a multi-layer wedding cake or a major fund raiser--per month in addition to smaller requests.

DEPOSITS & PAYMENTS
Large orders and Multi-layer cakes require $200.00 deposit to hold the date, and the balance is due in full two weeks before the event.

All other baking is done on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Cash or check only. Sorry, I do not accept credit.

DELIVERY
Multi-layer cake delivery and assembly is included in the price of the cake within Blair County. There is a mandatory transportation charge outside the county. Small orders will have to be picked up.

2009 PRICE LIST

COOKIES Chocolate Chip Cookies $0.50 ea. Chocolate Chip Cookies with Black Walnuts $ 0.75 ea. Decorated Sugar $ 1.00 ea. and up, depending on size & decoration, Min. order 3 dozen, Individuallly wrapped, add $.25 each.

CAKE BITES regular $ 1.00 each, Fruit stuffed $1.25 ea. Min. order 3 dozen, individually wrapped, add $.25.

CAKE Fondant Covered Wedding / Event $ 4.00 per slice & up
CAKE Butter cream, $ 2.00 per slice & up
CAKE Additional decoration, Butter cream, Gum paste & Fondant: Quotes on an individual basis
DESIGN CONSULTATION Free
CAKE TASTING $40.00, by appointment only

KEY LIME PIE: Best pie north of Key Largo! graham cracker crust, $10.00 ea. Add your own whipped topping
KEY LIME PIE: Macadamia & Cashew Chocolate Graham Crust $15.00 ea. Add your own whipped topping

KEY LIME PIE MINI TARTS: 0.75 each

GENUINE CENTRAL PA HOMEMADE RASPBERRY SYRUP TO COMPLIMENT THE KEY LIME TREATS: 4 oz./$6.00

KEY LIME PIE IN A JAR WITH RASPBERRY SYRUP: 4 oz / $4.00 each

FLOWER POT CAKE a real flower pot with a real cake baked inside, topped with gum paste flowers $30.00 ea, Limited quantity-Check for availability
FLOWER POT CAKE REFRESHER $10.00 ea, “Re-pot” your cake Cupcakes: Plain Butter cream Swirl $10.00/ doz., Min. order 3 dozen

CUPCAKES with butter cream swirl $10.00/doz., Min. order 3 doz.
CUPCAKES with Basic Fondant or Gum paste Decoration $20.00/ doz., Min. order 3 dozen
CUPCAKES Stuffed Add $5.00/ doz, Min. order 3 dozen
CUPCAKES Fresh Fruit Stuffed Cupcakes with Key Lime Glaze Market Price, Min. order 3 dozen

Peterman's Open House

2008-11-12T12:00:00.007-05:00

Catch The Sugar Buzz Factory on Sunday afternoon, November 16 at Peterman's Florist Open House in Juniata, PA--located on Chestnut Avenue, a.k.a. 4th Avenue--just north of the Juniata Sheetz.

We'll have a stunning holiday cake on display and we'll be serving up cookies, cake and cake pops.

BRING A GLASS OF MILK!

And we'll post pictures of the event RIGHT HERE as soon as possible.

A Sugar Buzz Christmas

2008-10-29T21:12:00.007-04:00

(See above for photos of actual event.) Maybe its because we're on a sugar buzz high here at The Factory, but we kinda see things differently than most.

We believe that pink is the new red for the holiday so instead of the traditional red & green this year, we are celebrating with a holiday cake done in mint green fondant with silk mint green poinsettas and trimmed with real pink ornaments.

Because this cake is going to be way too beautiful to hack up, we're serving little pink & mint green christmas ornaments made of cake, and pink & mint green sugar cookies cut into christmas lights.

And there you have it: all of the ingredients for a Sugar Buzz Holiday!

My All Time Favorite is . . .

2008-10-27T14:47:00.003-04:00

Home baked chocolate chip cookies with loads of black walnuts mixed in. I made up a double batch of these yummy goodies and sent them to my friend's house Saturday night.

And I saved a plate for me. Ha!

I Know! I Know! I Know!

2008-10-24T22:51:00.009-04:00

I know that I've been lax with my postings and haven't kept you up to date with all the latest Altoona, PA baking news. But I'm back! And I brought pictures of the yummies direct from our new hand-crafted stone patio.

This picture just makes me want to break out the cider and bob for apples.

Where have I been the past month? In the garden & in the woods, getting inspired. Do you see that pumpkin and gourds pictured above? Well, we grew them.

The Sugar Buzz Gang has been doing a lot of hiking out in the woods, particularly on the old railroad beds on Wopsy & Blandburg Mountains and I have been getting a lot of inspiration for fall cookies from Mother Nature as we stroll under the canopies of brilliantly diverse colors.

In the vegetable garden it was harvest time for the gourds & sunflower heads & we have been pulling down the corn shocks to put the garden to bed for the winter--which is right around the corner!

I spoke to a little old lady from the 28th Street Church of the Brethren today who requested a Key Lime pie & fall sugar cookies for the bake sale table at their fundraiser on Election Day a.k.a. MY birthday.

No problem. Mother.

The cool weather makes my mouth water for warm chocolate chip cookies made with black walnuts anyway, so while I'm at it . . .

Stay tuned for more pictures of Fall Sugar Cookies as the batches just keep coming this fall. I am truely amazed at how brilliant the fall colors really are.

Patriotic Cake, Country Style

2008-08-28T10:01:00.005-04:00

Here is the same cake design with the colors and some details slightly changed for a country effect.

Patriotic Cake Design

2008-08-27T14:07:00.001-04:00

Here's a design for a Fourth of July or Election Day celebration.

Fabulous Birthday Cake Design

2008-08-25T14:32:00.005-04:00

This is a two-tiered, fondant covered cake. It is dressed with 2-3 different sized pearls, topped with crystals & surrounded with white roses.

A variation on this in white fondant with red roses would be great for a wedding, Valentines Day or Christmas.

Cake Cutting / Ordering Guide

2008-08-25T11:06:00.010-04:00

This guide shows how to cut popular shaped wedding tiers into pieces approximately 1 in. x 2 in. by two layers high (about 4 in.). Even if a larger serving size is desired, the order of cutting is still the same.

The first step in cutting is to remove the top tier, and then begin the cutting with the 2nd tier followed by the 3rd, 4th and so on. The top tier is usually saved for the first anniversary, so it is not calculated into the serving amount.

SQUARE CAKES

Square Tiers: Move in 2 in. from the outer edge and cut across. Then slice 1 in. pieces of cake. Now move in another 2 in. and slice again until the entire tier is cut.

8 inch for 32 servings
10 inch for 40 servings
12 inch for 72 servings
14 inch for 98 servings
16 inch for 128 servings

ROUND CAKES

Round Tiers: Move in two inches from the tier's outer edge; cut a circle and then slice 1 in. pieces within the circle. Now move in another 2 in., cut another circle, slice 1 in. pieces and so on until the tier is completely cut. The center core of each tier and the small top tier can be cut into 3rds, 4ths, and 6ths, depending on size.

8 inches for 24 servings
10 inches for 38 servings
12 inches for 56 servings
14 inches for 88 servings
16 inches for 10 servings
18 inches for 146 servings

HEART CAKE

Divide the tiers vertically into 1/2ths, 4ths, 6ths and 8ths. Within rows, slice 1 in. pieces of cake.

10 inches for 36 servings * 12 inches for 54 servings *16 inches for 94 servings

PETAL CAKES

Cut similar to round tiers as diagram shows.

9 inches for 18 servings * 12 inches for 40 servings * 15 inches for 64 servings

OVAL CAKES

Move in 2 in. from the outer edge and cut across. Then slice 1 in. pieces of cake. Now move in another 2 in. and slice again until the entire tier is cut.

10 inch for 26 servings * 13 inch for 45 servings * 16 inch for 70 servings

PAISLEY (COMMA) CAKE

Move in 2 in. from the outer edge and cut across. Slice and serve 1 in. pieces of cake, similar to oval tiers as diagram shows. Now move in another 2 in., repeat process until the entire tier is cut.

About 25 servings

Drape and Pearl Cake

2008-08-18T12:27:00.010-04:00

I'm getting married in the morning
Ding, dong the bells are gonna chime . . .

This ended up being one of the more elaborate and larger cakes I have made, and it turned out beautiful. The bride was happy, the groom was happy and I was happy.

For your sake, we were a more diligent taking pictures of the process of building this cake so I could share the process with you in pictures, but we skipped some of the obvious steps to save time and space.

The Body

Again, we're starting with a white cake with raspberry filling. The plan was four layers: 12" base, 10", 8", and a 6" topper. Each layer was composed of two cakes, each of which was split horizontal for another layer of filling. So, each cake tier had three layers of filling and was covered with buttercream icing. The bottom two large tiers were filled with raspberry filling and I simply used icing as filling for the top two tiers.

The Undergarments

After the layers are filled and assembled, the cake is covered with buttercream icing on the sides and top as a base for the fondant icing that will be it's final covering.

It is of utmost importance that this icing be as straight and smooth as possible, with right angles and level tops.

To acheive this, an abundance of icing is applied, and the extra scraped off. The remaining icing is smoothed out to finish this step.

Now, it is ready for the fondant.

The Dress
Fondant is a beautiful smooth finish for a cake. The lack of texture is a classically simple matte background for whatever you are going to do to dress it up with. Think of fondant as a "little black dress" for cakes.

The fondant is rolled out and then placed over the iced cake. It is then coached down the sides to a smooth finish before the extra is trimmed.

I trim twice. On the first trim, I trim the heavy majority and leave 1/4 inch in case the fondant was stretched and wants to spring back up the side a little once the weight is removed. After I see that all is well, the final 1/4 inch is removed and overall smoothing begins.

Every dress has a hem, and I like to put something around the bottom for a finished look. In this case, I am using ivory colored grosgrain ribbon to match the cake. I wanted it to blend as much as possible with the cake and not call attention to itself because of all the other decor that will go on it eventually.

Then, we inserted dowels into each cake and stacked them up to take a look.
As the layers are stacked (with the exception of the largest bottom layer as it is more difficult to move) the ribbons are adjusted down to fill any space between the layers. The ribbons are just wrapped around the cakes and attached to themselves with scotch tape.

Jewelry

The bride wanted pearls that looked like they were cascading down the cake like a waterfall. She is an artist, but I am not. I was particularly nervous about how to create something she would be happy with, but was really pleased with the results. Each individual pearl was applied by hand.

Here is a close-up picture of the detal work on the two bottom layers.

Using this design as inspiration, I would like to make a Pearl Cake in the future.

Transport
Because of the nature of the finish on this cake, it had to be assembled and finished at the reception site.

Therefore, the four layers were plated and anchored in my trunk on rubber gloves so they wouldn't slide around.

There are no pictures of the trip because I had my eyes shut the entire time, praying that the cakes would make it without incident, and without loosing too many pearls.

Accessorize, Accessorize, Accesssorize

At the reception site, the cakes were unpacked and restacked with pearls and ribbons intact. Yeah! We made it!

Next, I found myself a workspace and rolled out fondant for the drape. David and toothpicks held the drape on the cake while the piping gel dried to make it permanent.

After fondant drapes were made for each side, I realized that this cake was not pushed up against a wall like at most weddings, but was displayed in the center of the room so there was a 360 view of it. Even worse, the bride and groom had a view of the back! I was going to have to put some sort of last minute decoration on the back, no matter how last minute or lame.

With the fondant drapes finally applied, the fresh flower topper was placed and individual flowers were scattered around the fondant drapes for final decoration.

This is a picture of the finished left side of the cake.

And this is a picture of the finished right side of the cake.

The small fondant drape and flowers on the back of the cake were enough to give it a finished look, without pretending there were two fronts to the cake.

And they ate cake happily ever after.

Grab a Quickie

2008-08-18T12:18:00.010-04:00

It was the beginning of August and we had a birthday in the office. Since it was a coon's age since I've drug any of my creations into the office, it was time to whip up a celebratory cake.

Of course, I was busy freezing corn and picking green beans at the time, which is also why I'm writing this after the fact. I was simply busier than a spring bunny in heat.

Which is why this turned into a simple cake.

This birthday cake was a white cake with raspberry filling--which after chocolate filled with crushed Oreos--is everyone’s favorite.

Anyway, I had a wedding cake to make for August 16 and wanted to practice, because the bride also wanted white cake with raspberry filling.

This cake is covered with buttercream icing, tinted tan because the upcoming wedding cake is going to be ivory instead of stark white.

And, instead of an elaborate decoration, I simply snipped a morning-fresh hydrangea head out of the garden and popped it onto the top with minimal decoration.

Since it's just you and me talking here, I'll tell you the truth:
I was late for work--again--and I shoved that purty flower into the top of the cake, right after I slapped some swirls around the sides. Then I crammed the whole shee-bang into my handy-dandy carrier and whisked it off to the office where it was a hit with birthday and non-birthday celebrants alike.

And that's the truth.

Eve-ry-things-Com-ing-Up-Roses-and-But-ter-cups

2008-06-23T23:11:00.009-04:00

As Time Goes By, I feel more and more confident about my Flower Pot Cakes. Pictured above is one I made for a friend who had a (and I'm not going to tell you how old she is) who had an extremely significant, half-century birthday today.

This one has an open rose in the middle surrounded by 6 rose buds, a plethora of leaves and small white generic flowers. I like the balance, I like the color combination and I like the size. I believe the perfect one will have 5 rosebuds with one center open rose. Stay tuned for that.

What is different about these roses from previous flowers are that the middles are done in a burgundy color and the petals in a light pink that is under-mixed, creating a slight marbling effect that gives depth and a tad more authenticity to each flower. The leaves are likewise slightly marbleized.

Of course, I have no idea what the little white fake flowers around the edge are representative of, but I can tell you that they're staying.

My special birthday friend, Joanie, also received a Macadamia Nut Crusted Key Lime Pie. Who said getting older wasn't sweet?

Happy Birthday to YOU!

Garden Party

2008-06-20T18:52:00.006-04:00

Summertime is picnic time here in the mountains of Central PA and I had a request to make a dessert for a coworker for her neighborhood picnic. We looked at some pictures and she was drawn to the teal/white theme. Cupcakes are the latest rage and easier to eat standing up, so I decided to do both a small cake and cupcakes to match.

The cake and cupcakes are lemon with buttercream icing. The cake was then covered with fondant and sugar gum paste daisys and the cupcakes all received a daisy, leaf and some some dragees just for fun.

Above is a close up of one of the flowers on the cake. I painted a little pearl luster on the flower petals to make them stand out.
The cupcakes were both adorable and yummy.
This order was accompanied by a signature Flower Pot cake with hand-painted rose buds that looked much better in person than we could capture on film.

Big thanks to Linda for her ID stakes. I hot-glued one of my business cards on one so everyone at the picnic would know where the amazing confections originated.

Garden Party

I went to a garden party to reminisce with my old friends

A chance to share old memories and play our songs again

When I got to the garden party, they all knew my name

No one recognized me, I didn't look the same

CHORUS

But it's all right now, I learned my lesson well.

You see, ya can't please everyone, so ya got to please yourself

~~~

Someone opened up a closet door and out stepped Johnny B. Goode

Playing guitar like a-ringin' a bell and lookin' like he should

If you gotta play at garden parties, I wish you a lotta luck

But if memories were all I sang, I rather drive a truck

CHORUS

But it's all right now, I learned my lesson well.

You see, ya can't please everyone, so ya got to please yourself

Going to Pot

2008-06-20T18:20:00.006-04:00

Sorry it has been so long since I have written but the end of May begins gardening season here in Central PA. My friend, Linda, has been sharing her wonderful perennials with us this spring as we build new flower beds here at the house and I was pleased to learn that she would have use for some cute little cakes as Thank You gifts and Birthday Remembrances, so I got to experiment hoping to be able to reciprocate a little. Of course, being two gardeners in early summer, I felt compelled to stick to the theme.

Call me Dr. Frankenstein, but I was a mad woman (as if that's different for me) in the kitchen one night baking cakes in real flower pots after failing to make a fondant flower pot. Live and learn. Even I have my share of dismal failures but this particular one led to a wonderful discovery of a new line of items--my new unique flower pot cakes.

Now, I have to warn you that the flower pots are real, the cakes inside are real and the flowers are made with sugar gum paste, but I wouldn't eat the pot or the flowers as they would be waaaaay too crunchy. You can eat the cake but these little pots are so cute, how could anyone rip them apart for a snack? It would break my heart.

Linda received three pots to give out as gifts: One pot had rose buds, the second had open roses with a "fantasy flower" and the final pot had sugar gum paste daisys with blue forget-me-nots and (in true gardener fashion) a token worm. I weighed the appetizing factor against the cuteness factor before adding the worm and they cancelled themselves out to a neutral on the Gross-Me-Out Meter. The worm stayed.

As a finishing touch, Linda added gardening ID tags to her pots and wrote her messages of Thank You and Happy Birthday on them.

Yeah, I am now a pot(s) pusher.

Vrooom, Vrooom.

2008-06-09T12:56:00.009-04:00

The annual Indy 500 race brought a request from a friend for a cake. I don't watch the race (I can't imagine anyone wanting to watch cars drive in a circle for hours) so I had to do a little research before I could start baking.

For example, did you know that the tires on the Indy cars do not have tread unless it is raining and they need them for special traction? Otherwise, no tread gives the most traction. This was disappointment to me because the cake I had visualized had tread, which would have been easy to make on the sides, and because without tread it kinda looks like a plain cake with black icing.

I researched the Indy racing flags and made these out of craft foam and cookie sticks that I painted black with magic marker. Just for fun, I enclosed information on what the flags each meant.

Finally, the interior of this cake was devil's food with an Oreo/buttercream icing filling. Yum.

A good time was had by all and the cake was a hit.

And she gets another checkered flag for good behavior!

Don't worry, it won't last.

Behind My Back

2008-05-21T10:22:00.020-04:00

I am inspired. Again.

I have been surfing the web, exercising my Google and Flicker pages, and have found soooooo many pictures of beautiful cupcakes.

Cupcakes aren't what they used to be when I used to (technical term alert) slop batter into 25 cupcake papers, (again) slather them with icing and send them off with my daughter to kindergarten.

In case you are not aware, cupcakes have grown up.

Also, cupcakes come in different sizes and shape these days from mini to giant. Who knew so much was possible?

Check out these beautiful creations:
The cupcake at the top of the post is embossed fondant topped with a fondant rose. The one above is covered in minature roses. Major cute alert. But that's what cupcakes are: They're cute.

As the outsides of cupcakes have been changing behind my back and so have the insides. You can scoop out a cupcake and stuff anything inside such as fruit or preserves or even use it for a hiding place for MORE ICING. Yes, my name is Leslie and I'm a sugarholic.

To the left we have a culinary interpretation of shabby chic. Oh yeah, I'm making some of these.

Just in case green food turns you off, they would look equally delighful in pink or white. These look as though they were dipped in royal icing or poured fondant and topped with a buttercream or fondant flower.
Now, is this the most beautiful cupcake you have ever seen in your life OR WHAT? What do you think those curlycues on top are made of? Pink chocolate? I'm pretty sure I could make this using white chocolate and it would be equally beautiful.

If anyone has any ideas on how to make this, I would really appreciate your input. It's just too pretty.

Finally, these cupcakes to the right are just flat elegant all decked out in white rose buds. Half have a single, slightly open rose while the other half are sporting three closed buds, strictly following the rule to always decorate in odd numbers.
If I had to guess, I would say that these cupcakes were topped with fondant and have either gum paste or fondant roses. Wouldn't these be great to serve at a wedding or anniversary party?

You can not get more mature than that.

And that's how to go directly from kindergarten to grad school.

Be a Cookie Hero

2008-05-20T15:24:00.008-04:00

One of the best things about baking is that it combines two of my favorite hobbies: sugar and gardening. Okay, I'll admit that I don't always enjoy digging in the dirt, which is why I appreciate flowers when I get to play with them in icing.

My third favorite hobby is writing, so blogging about baking and decorating with flowers is a natural. Go figure that anything like this would ever fall into place. Ha.

Anyway, I was inspired by Wilton's garden colors and by some really cute cookies I saw on the web, so I decided to make some of my own.

To make these cookies:

cut out and bake sugar cookies
allow to cool
dip in very thin royal icing flavored heavily with lemon juice
allow to dry
decorate background with royal icing in a few of your favorite colors
allow to harden
pipe a half rose in pink and stem in green with buttercream or royal icing
pipe some buttercream or royal icing dots all around
deliver to your boss, mother and future mother-in-law

These cookies are beautiful and addictive.

Viola! You're a cookie hero.

See one, Do one, Teach one

2008-05-20T15:08:00.006-04:00

The story goes that after my first fondant class, I was bragging at work about how easy it was to make beautiful cookies and cakes and the girls at the office retort was something like, "Easy for you to say!"

So, I told them that I would show them in one lunch hour how to make really cool cookies that would impress friends and family alike.

The day before the class we surfed with web for a design they would like to make.

Meanwhile, back in the kitchen the night before class, I baked sugar cookies and cut circles with the same cutters out of yellow fondant. I stored them for the following day.

At the class, my two students colored their fondant, learned how to roll it out, and how to cut two sizes of flowers. We used piping gel to attach the layers and the little center.

They were amazed at how easy it was.

Don't forget that whatever you can do to a roundish cookie, you can also do to a cupcake.

I like to think of teaching fondant decorating as advanced Play Dough class.

By the way, everyone passed.

*We decided that this design might look good as a water lily with a white flower with a touch of purple painted on the petals on top of a background of blue for water or green for a lily pad. Later.

Mother's Day Cakes

2008-05-20T14:53:00.007-04:00

This cake is a devil's food cake that was jazzed up with a dozen crushed oreos mixed with (and forgive me for being so specific with these technical measurements, but that's how it goes in my kitchen) a mountain of buttercream icing (note specific procedural term) shoved between the layers, which made it yummy for the tummy when we finally sat down and devoured it Mother's Day night at my parent's house.

The gum paste flower known in the Wilton World of Flowers is called a Fantasy Flower because you aren't ever going to run into one of these suckers out in the woods. However, they're a head-turner.

I used Wilton's garden colors to color the fondant and am hooked on the sage green, delphinium blue, white and pink combos. They are sooo shabby chic.

I made a six inch cake just like this with my leftover batter for my future mother-in-law. I tied a few yards of tulle around the brim and tied bows and it looked just like a spring hat. They don't eat many sweets at that house so a six inch cake was just right.

Sorry, but I don't have a picture of that one, but it was very similiar--just smaller.

I think small fondant cakes made to look like spring hats would be an adorable sweet alternative for Easter dinner dessert. Meanwhile, it would make a great centerpiece for the table. You could even put a basketweave impression on the brim to make it look like a straw hat.

So many cakes! So little butter!

First Blood, er, First Blog

2008-05-20T12:09:00.002-04:00

My name is Leslie and I'm starting this blog to chat and vent about baking and decorating and to use it as a place to stash and--okay--showoff, my baking photos. I'll also be adding links to other baking blogs and websites where you can buy cool baking accessories.

The cake pictured above is a white cake with buttercream icing. The cake board is covered with fondant that has been impressed with swirls, the cake is covered with fondant, the seam is trimmed with hand-rolled balls and the entire presentation is covered with two sizes of leaves and three sizes of fondant flowers. Daisey cookie cutters were used to make the flowers. Pearl dust was brushed on the flowers.

For those of you anal-retentive, detail obsessed, scientifically accurate critics that are unfamiliar with the rare flowers displayed on this cake, they are from the species: fondant, genius: daisey, color: white. . . as they say in the botanical bizness.

Got milk?