Know what’s better than a DIY? An easy DIY, and we have two of ‘em. The best part is, you probably already have most of the materials in your home.
Our Necco wafer cake takes the classic Necco wafer candy to a whole new {trendy and sophisticated} level. For the full project, see our DIY tutorial on Project Wedding.
Our fruit gem cake is perfect for spring. You’ll find the full project instructions on Project Wedding.
Photos 1, 3, 4: Val McCormick
Photo 2: Brooke Allison Photo
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This is my maternal grandmother, Miriam Klusner. She was Mimi to most people that knew her, but Mama to me and my sister.
Mama grew up in Brooklyn, where she met and married my grandfather, Albert. In the 1950s, they moved from Brooklyn to Bayside, Queens, with my father and uncle. At that time, Queens was the country, at least compared to Brooklyn, and in the back of their tiny house, at the far end of the yard, she planted blueberry bushes. As a girl, I loved picking blueberries in her backyard, and they have been my favorite fruit ever since.
Mama was a great cook and an even better baker. (I’m pretty sure my mean sweet tooth comes directly from her.) I wish she were here today so she could eat one of my cakes. I know she’d be so proud.
Although it’s always exciting to design a new cake for an editorial photo shoot, this one has a special place in my heart. Brooke Allison and Stefanie Kapra, who conceptualized and photographed the shoot, called it Something Blue(berry). They incorporated buttons, birds, and books, rustic decor, and lots of blue elements. Thanks to Brooke and Stef for asking me to create the cake, which includes antiqued fondant birds and, of course, lots and lots of fondant blueberries.
I’ve written about stained glass cookies before. My family has been making them for years. Below is a copy of the original recipe we used as kids. We first saw it on the 1970s PBS show “Zoom” and my mom sent away for the recipes, as per the show’s instructions and long before email, with a stamped, self-addressed envelope.
I’m glad to see she made some adjustments to the recipe (add an egg, change the amount of honey), presumably in an effort to improve it, but truth be told the cookies were pretty hopeless. The dough was tough, and the cookies, which always ended up a brown several shades darker than golden, took on a puffy appearance. The candy pieces always seemed to bubble up over the cookies and look burnt. And, since it was before Silpat, they stuck relentlessly to the waxed paper.
Last time I wrote about stained glass cookies, I started with a new recipe that required molasses in lieu of the honey and an oven temp of 375. I changed the recipe a bit and swapped corn syrup for the molasses, yielding a cookie that was lighter in color. I also lowered the oven temp to 350, so the cookies wouldn’t puff as much and my candy bits wouldn’t burn or explode.
This time around, I reworked the recipe even more. After my dough was rolled and cut and placed on the baking tray, I popped the tray in the freezer so the butter could chill, further preventing it from puffing up. I realized that the candy takes less time to melt than the cookies take to bake, causing the candy to brown when they’re all baked at the same time. So instead, I par-baked the cookies for about 7 minutes in the oven without the candy, then filled the cavities with candy and returned them to the oven. The resulting cookie was exactly what I wanted: a cookie that was golden brown with a candy filling that looked like glass.
Here’s what you’ll need:
1 recipe stained glass cookie dough (recipe at end of post)
Rolling pin
Letter cutters in various sizes
Heart-shaped cutter (large enough to accommodate letters)
Mallet or hammer
Lollipops or hard candy in the colors of your choice
Small plastic bag
Silpat or other non-stick baking sheet liner
Baking sheet
Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit
1. Working on Silpat or non-stick baking sheet liner, roll out dough approximately ¼” thick.
2. Cut dough using heart-shaped cutter.
3. Remove excess dough. (Excess can be frozen for future use.)
4. Using letter cutters, cut out monogram from dough.
5. Place on baking sheet and freeze for 15-20 minutes to firm. Bake in pre-heated oven until dough is partially, but not completely, baked and just barely beginning to turn golden, about 5-7 minutes.
6. While cookies are baking, place lollipops or hard candy into small plastic bag. (We used the dulce de leche Dum Dums, and had to buy two giant bags to ensure that I had enough since there were only about three dulce de leche Dum Dums per bag. I’ve since learned that you can buy single flavor Dum Dums on their website.) Use mallet or hammer to crush candy into very small pieces about the size of gravel, but not powder.
7. Fill cavities with crushed candy until it is slightly above the cookie line, taking care not to get any crushed candy on the cookie part.
8. Return to oven and bake until candy is just melted, about 3-5 minutes. Remove from oven. If you plan to hang your cookies, make hole large enough for a ribbon using a toothpick. Allow to cool.
9. Wet a small piece of fondant until it is very sticky. Gently adhere to cookie in several spots, avoiding candy part, and use to affix cookie to cake. Here, we added fondant blackberries and leaves for extra impact.
Stained Glass Cookie Recipe
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
Method
1. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream together butter and sugars until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add corn syrup and vanilla extract, mixing until incorporated. Add egg and mix until light and smooth, about 1 minute on medium speed.
3. Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. Fold dry ingredients into wet mixture. Use electric mixer to blend just until flour is incorporated. Divide dough in half and flatten into two disks. Wrap disks in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least an hour and up to 2 days.
Enjoy!
Special thanks to Brooke Sforza of Brooke Allison Photo for her generosity, talent, and photographs.
Read MoreI love using invitations for cake design inspiration. Before making the cake, I always create a sketch that I present to the client for his or her approval. While the sketches are time consuming, for me, they’re important for two reasons: First, the sketch ensures that the client knows exactly what to expect, clears up any design miscommunications, and confirms that I understand clearly my client’s vision. Second, the sketches help me as the artist to more fully flesh out the design concept and anticipate any design pitfalls before working on the actual cake.
Below are two recent cake designs based on the invitation. The first was for a Victorian-era enchanted garden-themed wedding:
The second cake was for a Lilly Pulitzer-themed bridal shower.
Somewhere around the late ’80s, I swore off gold. No more gold earrings, gold bracelets, or gold necklaces for me. I also renounced pastels. Pinks and lavenders, mint and seafoam green, and especially mauve and peach were now officially anathema to me.
Then, almost overnight, I love gold and pastels again. I’m not sure when it happened or how, but I took a look at my cakespiration pinboard, and the majority of my pins were pastels and gold. Check these out and you’ll see what I mean.
And then it’s full speed ahead, with a new pair of gold earrings, a pastel duvet cover, and this cake with a gold chevron and pastel sugar flowers inspired by my Pinterest boards.
Special thanks to Brooke Allison for the photos. Damn, she’s good.
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