Beauty and the Beast

This month I was thrilled when a colleague shared a baking opportunity with me on Facebook. I hadn't heard of the All Fool's Night fundraiser held by the Cape Breton Regional Library. As part of it, there would be a silent auction featuring altered book art and books to eat. I immediately contacted the organizer to get the details.

Then I needed to choose a book to inspire my cake. I covered a lot of ground in my deliberations -- from Dexter to Ramona Quimby and Murder on the Orient Express to Shopaholic and The Telling Room to In Too Deep (those last two were a nod to my book club). In the end, I choose something popular now as a result of a new movie -- Beauty and the Beast. After reviewing several videos on YouTube and pins on Pinterest to inspire me, I determined that I would make a 9" contour vanilla cake filled with strawberry buttercream and covered in yellow rosettes to suggest Belle's dress. A few white pearls would be added for interest. The centerpiece would be an edible red rose under an acrylic dome if I could find one. I had less than two weeks to plan, prepare, and execute my design.

Naturally, I started with the red rose. I had read online that it was possible to make a rose out of fondant -- the instructions were on the Wilton site. I was skeptical, though. From my experience, the rose would need to be made out of gum paste. I tried making one with some fondant I had on had and my suspicions were confirmed -- fondant simply wouldn't do. I made a special trip to Michaels to purchase new gum paste, some pearls, and new red colouring. I was much happier with the results and made three gum paste roses, along with about eight leaves. I wanted to have back-ups in case something went wrong on the day of the assembly.

I then searched Dollarama for something that would work as a dome over the rose. Nothing seemed appropriate in terms of shape and size. I was getting ready to scrap that design and find a workaround. Luckily, while strolling through Walmart a few days later, I found an acrylic stemless wine glass in the seasonal section. It would be the perfect dome over the rose.

Then the worst part was ahead of me: I had to wait another six days before I could do anything else related to the cake.

On the afternoon before the fundraiser, thanks to a snow day, I baked my cake and levelled it. Since I expected to have some buttercream left over and I was having a few friends over for dinner on Saturday, I also baked four cupcakes. The next morning, I made a double batch of buttercream. I took out about 1 cup and mixed it with pureed strawberries -- and used that to fill the cake, which I'd cut into two layers. Then I dyed the remaining buttercream the yellow of Belle's dress and covered the cake with rosettes. I had seen online that the best way to add candy pearls is to throw them at the buttercream so that the pattern is random. This was hilarious and resulted in pearls all over the floor of my apartment -- but it did work. Finally, I added the rose and a few petals, and covered the rose with the acrylic dome, held in place by the buttercream.

I was very pleased with how the cake turned out. Hopefully it did well at the auction. I would have liked to go, but I was busy at home eating cupcakes with friends. :)

Creativity Lost and Regained

It's been several months since I wrote an entry for this blog and there are many reasons for that. I was recovering from an illness that left me with hardly any energy for a long time. Then I had to pack up my crafting area while a new door and windows were installed in my apartment. Next, my evenings were filled with course prep and teaching. Before I knew it, it was August and I was busy attending Action Week events, singing in the Jazz Festival, and traveling home for a vacation. In short, there's been little time for crafting, baking, or any other hands on creativity in my life (though, there has been some writing and singing).

This past weekend, however, was an opportunity to get back into the kitchen. My friends were involved in the Rotary fundraiser in North Sydney and I decided to bake cupcakes for the auction. Admittedly, I wasn't sure about this idea. For a moment, I wondered if I should paint some chalkboard wine glasses instead, but I did recall that cupcakes had been in the auction before, so I figured why not. And even if they didn't make a lot of money, every dollar would count.

After quite a long hiatus from Pinterest, I found myself browsing the site during my vacation. I was intrigued by and had pinned a recipe for Neapolitan cupcakes. They looked delicious and I was happy to have a reason to experiment with the idea. The cake was chocolate and vanilla, and the frosting was strawberry. Naturally, I had to make it my own, so I decided that strawberry cream cheese icing made with real strawberry puree would put them over the top. I also thought they needed a little something special on top. I considered several options: strawberry jelly beans, dark chocolate pieces, the little strawberry candies from a box of Runts, whoppers. In the end, I decided a cherry sour would be the "cherry on top," so to speak.

And so I set about baking cupcakes and then making frosting. While conditions were fine for baking, they were quite challenging for frosting. The humidity was incredibly high on Saturday. My strawberry cream cheese icing made with Madagascar bourbon required significantly more sugar than normal to be of an appropriate consistency (I've since Googled and discovered that the addition of cornstarch would have helped the situation -- good to know for next time). Eventually, the battle with humidity won, I topped each cupcake with a pink swirl and a cherry sour. I then chilled them until it was time to drive to North Sydney.

Now, naturally, I had to cut open one of the cupcakes to try. Quality control is an important part of baking, especially if you intend to auction off your goods! I was very pleased with the results. The inside of the cupcake was a sight to behold! The chocolate cake surrounded the vanilla. These were some of the most unique cupcakes I'd ever seen. I'm honestly still not sure how exactly that effect was accomplished! And the icing, of course, was as heavenly as ever. You really can't go wrong with strawberries and cream cheese.

About an hour before I was due to be in North Sydney, I removed the cupcakes from the fridge and packaged them for the event. I had picked up brown cardboard cupcake boxes from Michaels for this purpose (yay 50% coupon!) and placed four in each. They looked pretty and professional, which made me very happy. (I am only sad now because I didn't take a photograph of them in the boxes!) I figured the auction organizers could decide whether to split them up or not.

Dressed and ready to go, I was very concerned about the humidity melting my cupcakes and even more so about the cherry sours melting and running all over the icing. (Then they'd be Dexter-inspired...) I rushed to the car and turned the air conditioning on bust for the drive over. Trying to avoid them toppling over, I held the handles of the reusable grocery bag they were in as I made a few sharp right-hand turns. I briefly paused at my friend's house and gave her a cupcake to try before we continued on to the event, which was held at the Yacht Club. Cupcakes delivered, I strolled around to see the other auction items. I was surprised to see just how many homemade items were available: jam, pickles, beets, fudge, bread... I felt less self-conscious about my contribution as a result. My friend and I grabbed wings and fries, and sat down at the best table in the joint (right next to the door) to wait for the auction to begin.

I eventually learned that the organizers had decided to break up the cupcakes and auction them four at a time. I wasn't sure this was a great strategy, since I couldn't imagine anyone paying much for just four of them, but I noticed that this had been done with several of the other homemade items. At this particular auction, that approach seemed to work quite well. Jams, beets, and fudge were all going for $25-30 each. And when the time came for my three boxes of cupcakes, they did equally as well. Who would have imagined that my cupcakes were worth more than a Joe Carter (Blue Jays) autographed picture? Not me. (And probably not Joe Carter either...)

So, it was good to get back into the kitchen after many months away from baking and I had a lot of fun at the auction. And now I must put on my thinking cap to decide what I'll make for a cake sale later this month! Stay tuned!

Crafting for a Cause

When I moved to Cape Breton (the second time), I made an effort to become more involved in the community (though I freely admit that I'm still trying to find where I fit in). In 2013, when I learned through a friend that the Cape Breton Chorale was hosting a fundraiser in support of the palliative care music therapy program, I wanted to help out. But I had no idea what one should contribute to an auction.

Auctions, both live and silent, are popular here in Cape Breton. I'd go so far as to say that you could attend an auction every week during the year if you wanted to (but that is perhaps exaggeration on my part). I might even suggest that they are overdone and that greater creativity in fundraising initiatives would help diversify events and improve the financial outcome. But that would probably be an unpopular standpoint... Auctions are popular here.

So, I turned to a few "locals" to guide this CFA (come-from-away). I asked them what I might be able to contribute to an auction, not having been brought up in the auction tradition. Some suggested drawing on my musical background (a certificate to serenade someone on Valentine's Day, for example, or voice lessons), but I wasn't certain that such a certificate from a largely unknown musician in a land of many musicians would even get a bid. One thought that I could offer up a custom cake, having completed all of the Wilton courses at Michaels. While I loved the idea, I wasn't entirely confident that I could produce something to my own standards, since I haven't had a lot of time to practice these skills. Others suggested I get my craft on. They noted that painted wine glasses, such as the then popular chalkboard wine glasses, were good options. Having recently watched a friend working on a set of them one afternoon, it was clear that they would be easy enough to make even though I had never attempted them before. And with similar products on Etsy, I could identify the appropriate value for the auction sheet. As an added bonus, it would be an opportunity to try something new. I headed off to Michaels and Dollarama for supplies.

It didn't take long or much money (less than $20) to assemble what I needed. Black chalkboard paint, a paint palette, four wine glasses, some alcohol (for cleaning the surface), and painter's tape. I already had paint brushes and Goo Gone to remove the price tags from the glasses. I followed the directions on the paint, used the tips shared by my friend, and consulted this tutorial for baking instructions (which I modified slightly). I worked on them for a few minutes each day and less than a week later had the finished product. I visited a Walmart to purchase chalk that could be packaged with them.

I was very pleased with the way they turned out. I packaged them in a gift bag along with the chalk and passed them along to my contact with the Cape Breton Chorale, who incorporated them into their auction. I also attended the auction -- my first ever -- and have to say that I do see the appeal of the live auction. It's strangely exhilarating to bid on items with a paper plate!

Since then, I've made several sets of chalkboard wine glasses for various fundraisers in Sydney. They are valued at more than they cost to make -- often found on Etsy for about $20 for 4 -- and obviously after the initial investment for paint, etc, the cost of supplies is now only that of the unadorned wine glasses.

So, do they sell at an auction?

I'm happy to say that I have never had the embarrassment of no one bidding on the glasses that I made and donated. Even better, they have been bid on by people I don't actually know (although people I know have bid on them as well). They have sold for between 60% and 210% of their value, so as auction items go, they aren't bad (I recently read that items in silent auctions often sell for 50% of their value -- after all, people go to silent auctions for a bargain, right?). The great thing is that I really enjoy making them. As someone who likes to craft, it's nice to have something to do with the end product. Since I don't sell my crafts, they usually become gifts for family and friends. Making them available to raise funds for good causes makes me feel good. And during a recent illness that left me apartment-bound for almost a month, making them was even therapeutic.

Do you craft for any causes? I'd love to hear about your experiences!