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Feliz Dia de Los Muertos! It's time for another year of Sugar Skull Bakers, an amazing Cake Collaboration in its 5th year! This is my 2nd year contribution, inspired by Ferdinand the Bull, who Loved to Smell the Flowers. I say, also Eat The Cake, Honor the Passed, Love Life. And Always Slow Down to Smell the Flowers. I Invite you to slow down right now and enjoy this year's Skullies...over 100 pieces of striking, beautiful Art made for your Joy! @Sugarskullbakers Xoxo Heather at @Art2Eat Cakes. More Pictures at http://www.art2eatcakes.com/ssb17.html #SSB17 #SugarSkullBakers #DiaDeLosMuertos #Skull 
This was a huge process, from original drawings, full-size printouts and models, to digitally rendered panels that were then hand-sculpted and the molds that were made from them. Six different molds were used to cast dozens of panels from Caljava Fondx Gumpaste, which set in curved shapes over custom-made cardboard drying forms. Clear CakePlay Isomalt was used to pour over 200 individual edible windows, painted while still hot in flaming colors. LED 5050 lights were sealed into cardboard,foil, and clear cutting-board units, and then combined with the gumpaste and isomalt panels to light them from behind with a fiery light. After all this work, the cake was finally baked, stacked, carved, and covered with fondant, complete with a Flame Inside Swirl in the Almond Vanilla. Panels were attached with fondant, and the on site assembly was an entire story of its own!!
This Cake Art would not have been possible without the efforts of many to whom I am exceedingly grateful. Id like to thank the Bride and Groom for the Opportunity to Create this Comission for them! <3 Big Hugs and Thanks @Caljava provided all the Fondx Fondant, as well as thier porcelain-like #Fondx Gumpaste, without which those delicate, solid sugar panels would not have been possible. Those glittering edible windows are cast from crystal-clear CakePlay Inc#Isomalt, generously provided by the lovely Peggy Tucker who helped me get over my fear of isomalt!! All of these lovely Photos we see now, as well as more of the three-hour setup, are the work of the incredibly talented Annette Slade Photography. And, from the bottom of my heart I Thank my Fellow co-artists Bryan Williams ( Colorado ICES ), Rebecca Hauger ( Becca's Edible Art) and Lisa Herrera ( A Cake Come True ) whose sweet skills were absolutely indispensable, throughout the Creation of this Art. Because of the sheer scope of this project, I have divided the Galleries of pictures into FOUR PAGES. Click Here to see The Final Cake Click here to see The On Site Setup Click here to see the In Progress Artist Photos Click here to see the Original Sketch
 "Mise en place" (French pronunciation: [mi zɑ̃ ˈplas]) is a French culinary phrase which meant "putting in place", as in set up. It is used in professional kitchens to refer to organizing and arranging the ingredients that a cook will require.
Do YOU M.E.P.?? I do!! It is a simple step that helps in SO many unpredictable ways. For years my kitchen looked like a bomb went off, with me chasing around for ingredients like a freaky chicken. Then I learned to M.E.P., and it is such a simple yet powerful tool that I felt I had to Share I use clear food containers and weigh all of my ingredients for all my cakes at once. All the flour, with leavenings mixed in, weighed at once, for however many batches of cake I am making...all the sugar, milk, eggs, weighed and cracked into my little sanitized food-service containers. I also pull out all my pans and cut all parchments at once. I then use one of each group in each cake - one sugar, one butter, one eggs, one flour, one milk. This allows uniformity of your cakes across multiple batches. We all know how crazy the kitchen gets when the cakes start to fly! When it comes time to bake this really helps time management (FAST assembly), eliminates forgotten ingredients (never forget the leavening again!), and easy cleanup (I put empties straight into the dishwasher). The only exception I have is that Extracts (added normally at the egg stage) are still measured out directly into the mixing bowl, as they don't seem to do well in the tupperware with the cracked eggs. This preparation method also allows you to verify that you have all the necessary ingredients. Nothing more frustrating than beginning to bake and realizing hubby 'borrowed' some of the butter! Give it a try if you dont already do this - betcha love it! Stay Sweet xxoo Heather, Art2Eat Cakes  I love Cake Newbs! I was one!! It distresses me when folks say they won't Post because they are intimidated by other's work. I wanted to Share a few jewels with you lovely folks this morning. First is the "10,000 Hour Rule" (link below) - the idea that if you spend 10,000 hrs you will become Master-Level Skilled at WHATEVER you choose. The Math is below for you geeks like me who want to see it, but it works out to 4hrs a day for 6.8 years.
Second Share is the pic above, of the first cake I actually to a pic of (about a year in!!!) in 2008 - right next to my most recent Favorite Love, Pegacorn Launch, 2015. EXACTLY 7 years.... I mean to inspire you. I beg you not to feel scared or discouraged by other's successes, or that we love to Share them with you. Use us to find your thrill, then turn off the computer and hit the sugar. It is within you, I promise. And if you, in your mastery of your skill, choose to come back and Share so that others may find their thrill, the circle continues. HUGE Thanks and Love out to my personal cake heroes Karen Portaleo, Cake Artist, Mike McCarey of Mike's Amazing Cakes, Bronwen Webber of Frosted Art Bakery & Studio, Michelle Christian of MichelleSugarArt. I could never have done it without your Sharing and Inspiration. Stay Sweet All XXOO, Heather at Art2Eat Cakes "Complexity and the 10,000 Hour Rule" http://www.newyorker.com/…/complexity-and-the-ten-thousand-… Here's the Math: 10,000hrs/365days per year=27.4years/4hrs a day= 6.8yrs Shameless Website/Tutorial Plug: http://www.art2eatcakes.com  I Love Eggs. More specifically, I love local eggs, from a flock that lives in pasture down the street. Ms. Katherine's Ladies are some of the most beautiful chickens I have ever seen. They lay year-round, eggs with beautiful orange yolks full of truly free-range flavor. We pay $20/4doz, and I feel so blessed, since organic or "cage-free" eggs are already $4 a dozen. It is more than that though. Not only are they superior, but we know where they come from, and we support a local producer into creating a strong local food chain not subject to national troubles. We have cultivated this relationship just as Katherine cultivates her beautiful flock, and huge part of that is being regular, reliable customers. We show up and pay up when product is ready, reliably, and the ladies reliably produce enough eggs to feed our mob. Win-Win-Win. You can do this too. I can hear you..."There aren't any chickens around here!".  We found Katherine by touring outside the city looking for "Eggs For Sale" signs. They are far more common these days! I also had great results with a Google search "local egg producers". Not all producers are up to snuff, but when you find a good one, be reliable. Write them a note if they use a drop-box, saying you love their eggs, you'd like to place an order for "X" dozen, and here's your phone number to call you when they have any. I promise it will be worth the effort! YUM
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