Mazel Tov!

I was recently asked to make a cake for a Bar Mitzvah.

It was my first. Considering I was raised in a Christian household, attended only parochial schools, and have only been inside a Synogogue a handful of times in my life.....I think it turned out pretty well, don't you??

I used two 9 x 13 pans to create a double layer vanilla cake. After freezing the finished cake, I carved the top and sides flat.

I bought this humongous spatula for only $5 at a close-out store in North Conway, N.H.

I don't know how I have lived this long without one.

LOOK! It picks up the whole dang cake!

Crumb-coat or "dirty-ice" the entire cake before placing the fondant.

Once the fondant is placed, work quickly to seal and trim.

The base of the cake represents the bimah, which is the elevated area or platform from which the person reads from the Torah. I used brown food coloring mixed with vodka to create a woodtone.

The Vodka dries to a very shiny finish. You don't believe me?? Okay, go spill some Vodka on your kitchen floor and let it dry.

Even though I froze the cake before carving out the shape, I still wasn't happy that the sides still came out slightly rounded. Next time, I'm using a chainsaw.

The tallit, or prayer shawl, was much easier to replicate. I used white fondant and rolled it out to the desired length. Then I used a small rolling pin to press three strips of blue fondant into the white.

This looks like the prayer shawls that were worn in the film "The Ten Commandments". Especially the one worn by...........go on..........you know the name.............tall guy, long white hair, gladiator sandals, carrying two stone tablets, answers to the name of.....................MOSES.

After trimming and shaping, I made tassles for both ends and tried to gracefully drape it across the cake.

For the yamaka, I shaped white fondant on an upturned cereal bowl and let it dry overnight. Then I carefully trimmed it with white fondant strips and sugar pearls.

A hand-held steamer is a great way to give the fondant a nice shiny finish on the completed cake.

I still like to use the food coloring and vodka mixture on the more detailed items though. You know what they say "Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker".

Shalom!

Be Mine!

It's Valentine's Day? Already??

Didn't we just celebrate the Holidays? Where is the time going, will someone please tell me? I have about ten recipes that I wanted to try for Valentine's Day, but I totally caved and settled for the easiest one.

Cake. Ball. Heart. Pops.

What else should I call them? Heart Pops? Cake Hearts? Whatever you call them..........they are good. I took the long way around on this one. I realize that I should have could have used brownies, but I was halfway through the recipe when I thought of it. In the end...........I think that both work just as well.

I'll admit it. I cheated and used a box cake mix. Horrors! Let's face it, when it comes to Cakeballs, it's just easier to use Duncan Hines. I baked the cake on a sheet pan, so it only took about 15 minutes in the oven at 350 degrees. Did you know that?? If you use a sheet pan, you can have cake in 15 minutes. At any time of day or night. This is NOT what a Weight Watcher wants or needs to hear.

Anyway, after beating up the mix, I poured it onto a greased sheet pan. I used Crisco because I was out of cooking spray. Please don't report me.

When it's finished, let it cool and break it all up into a mixing bowl. I use about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of buttercream frosting to mix in. You really need a mixer to do this, otherwise you'll be beating it until Christmas.

Hey! Then you could make Christmas Cake Pops!

I ended up making two separate batches of cakeballs. I made chocolate with white chocolate coating with my niece Brenna. Although she's just seven years old, she's a fabulous help in the kitchen and I would recruit her as my number one helper any day of the week.

For the Valentine Cakeball Heart Pops (giggle), I pressed a small amount of the cake and frosting mixture into a small pattie and cut out the shape with a heart shaped cookie cutter.

Good Lord, I have such sausage fingers! Why can't I have delicate hands? I've always wanted graceful hands. But I've got to face facts. These photos don't lie. I have "Man Hands". I have the hands of a Blacksmith.

"Can I shoe your horse for you today Madam?"

Then I placed them all on a waxed paper-covered sheet pan and popped it into the freezer for about two hours. I've learned that Cakeballs will dip much easier when they are frozen solid.

Then I melted red candy melts over a double boiler. I usually add a little vegetable oil to thin out the candy when it's melted. If the candy is too thick, it will be too heavy to stay on the Cakeball. Again...........learning through my mistakes. But this won't happen to you, will it....because I just told you one of my secrets for total Cakeball success.

For Cakeball Pops, I use cookie sticks as opposed to lollipop sticks. The cookie sticks are sturdier and will allow a bigger Cakeball. You can use the lollipop sticks, but the Cakeball will have to be smaller and your candy coating will have to be very thin.

Carefully place a cookie stick into the base of each of the cake-hearts and/or Cakeballs and dip into the melted candy. I usually use a spoon to coat the Cakeball, then tap it gently on the side of the pan to let any excess drip off. Then place each stick into a styrofoam board until the candy is completely dried.

Voila! A perfect Cake. Ball. Heart. Pop.

Moses. When I'm baking, Emily is never very far away.

Lonely Hearts Club, anyone?

I can still remember my first love. I met him on the playground on the first day of first grade. His name was Ricky Beauchamp and whenever he looked at me and smiled, my heart skipped a beat because I knew it was true love. Until about a week later, in the throes of homesickness.....I threw up next to his desk.

He never looked at me the same way again.

So who was your first love?

Fini

It is finished.

Three months later I find myself just sitting in a corner chair, mouth slightly open.....drooling and staring.....at my brand new kitchen. Correction. A brand new, gorgeous kitchen. I was going to ask the Smithsonian Institute if I could donate my old 1966 poo-poo-brown formica kitchen cabinets, but they told me they have enough dinosaurs already.

Just to refresh your memory, I started out like this,

Hideous.

and after three painfully short months, I ended up with this.....

Okay. I'll say it.

It was so-o-o-o worth it.

Nothing left to do but commence baking.