Cherry Flower Power Cake

ingredients

• 3/4
  cup butter (1-1/2 sticks)
• 6
  egg whites
• 3
  cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2
  teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4
  teaspoon salt
• 1/2
  teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/4
  cups buttermilk
• 1/2
  cup maraschino cherry juice
• 2 1/4
  cups sugar
• 1 1/2
  teaspoons vanilla
• 3/4
  teaspoon almond extract
• 1
  recipe Cherry Frosting
• 1
  recipe Candy Clay (optional)

 

directions1.Allow butter and egg whites to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, grease a 13x9x2-inch baking pan with butter; line bottom of pan with parchment. Grease paper. Flour pan with all-purpose flour; set aside. In medium bowl stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. In 2-cup glass measuring cup combine buttermilk and cherry juice; set aside.2.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In large mixing bowl beat butter with mixer on medium to high for 30 seconds. Add sugar, vanilla, and almond extract; beat until combined. Add egg whites, a little at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk mixture, beating on low after each addition just until combined.

3.Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake for 45 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

4.Meanwhile, prepare Cherry Frosting and Candy Clay (if using). With a long serrated knife, cut cake in half crosswise. Place one half on a serving plate. Frost top with about 1 cup of frosting. Stack second half of cake. Thinly frost sides with a crumb coat. Chill cake for 10 minutes. Frost sides then top of cake with remaining frosting.

5.To decorate with Candy Clay, roll about two-thirds of the clay to 1/8-inch thickness. With sharp knife, cut a 7×11-inch rectangle. Cut scallop edges with 1-inch round cutter. Place across frosted cake, leaving 1-inch frosting border. For flowers, tint Candy Clay. Roll to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut 1/4×1-3/4-inch strips. Press narrow ends together to shape petals. Press into Candy Clay sheet using a dot of water to adhere. For centers, roll then coil thin strips of clay; attach with dot of water.

from the test kitchen*

• To make 1 1/4 cups sour milk, place 4 teaspoons lemon juice or vinegar in a glass measuring cup. Add enough milk to make 1 1/4 cup liquid; stir. Let the mixture stand for 5 minutes before using.

• Flowers can be made in advance and stored in an airtight container until ready to use.

Candy Clay

 

ingredients

• 1
  12 ounce package white chocolate baking pieces or candy melts
• 1/3
  cup light-color corn syrup
• Food coloring
• Powdered sugar

directions1.In medium-size microwave-safe bowl, melt candy at 100% power (high) for about 1 minute total, stopping to stir every 20 seconds, until melted and smooth. Do not overheat pieces.2.Stir in corn syrup with a rubber spatula until well-combined; mixture will look grainy. Tightly cover clay with plastic wrap. Let stand at room temperature at least 1 hour to firm. (Let semisweet chocolate clay stand at least 2 hours to firm.)

3.To roll firm clay, lightly dust a clean work surface with powdered sugar. Knead the clay until smooth. (To soften candy clay that was made several days ahead and has become firm, warm in a microwave for 5 to 10 seconds.)

4.Tint white candy clay with food coloring, kneading clay thoroughly to distribute color. Divide candy clay in small portions. To form shapes, work candy clay to resemble characters or designs. To roll clay, roll portions between sheets of waxed paper to 1/8-inch or less thickness. Cut shapes with cookie cutters, a small knife, or clean scissors. To keep clay pliable (or shapes from drying) while working with it, place clay and/or shapes on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Cover with plastic wrap.

from the test kitchen

• Use this delicious, easy-to-shape white chocolate candy clay as you would fondant.

Paper Flower Key Holder

Here’s how:

1. Cut out a circle in the cardboard that is a bit larger than a quarter.

2. Cut your wire hanger in a section that is about 10î long.

3. Bend it like you see in the photo. It should have a hook and an area where you can glue it down. Each end should have a tiny loop. The tiny loop at the top is for the nail.

4. Hot glue the wire on top of the circle of cardboard.

5. Cut out 6 layers of book pages in a flower pattern provided using straight edge scissors and pinking shears so that your flower has texture.

6. Staple the layers together in the middle in an X (this is my big flower making secret)

7. Fold up the top layer to cover the staples and continue folding up the layers to make your flower come to life.

8. Lightly spray with the Krylon Clear Coat and let dry.

9. Give it several more coats of the Krylon Clear Coat but only a little at a time. Do this until the flower is nice and sturdy.

10. Hot glue the flower on top of the wire and disk and hang it with a nail.

DIY Paper Flower Wreath

Brace yourselves for paper flowers galore! Hillary created tissue paper flower wreaths to be used for one of her brides’ wedding as centerpieces. We’re in awe of the color burst of paper craftiness.

Paper Rose Tutorial:
Step 1. Take six or seven layers of tissue paper and cut about 4 different sizes of petal shapes into the paper, giving you about 25 individual “petals”. You can make round petals or pointed petals depending on your taste.
Step 2. Pick up each petal and twist the bottom of it, creating a base
Step 3. Grab your stamen on floral wire, (these can be hard to find, Hilary found hers at a craft and party supply in San Francisco, check your local craft or floral shop) and your floral tape and your first petal. Place the base of the petal next to the base of the stamen and wrap floral tape around it to secure it.
Step 4. Petal by petal, secure them to the wire with floral tape, creating a rose shape.
Step 5. When you have a full flower, wrap the floral tape around the base one more time to secure it.
Step 6. Cut the base of the wire to about 1.5″ and push it into the Styrofoam ring adjacent to the next flower.

Paper Lily Tutorial:
Step 1. Cut a square out of about ten layers of tissue paper and fold it into quarters.
Step 2. Cut a petal shape (with a round or pointed tip) into the folded paper, being sure to leave an uncut piece at the base.
Step 3. Unfold the paper into a four pointed “clover” type shape. Fold again lengthwise from tip to tip to give the shape a little substance.
Step 4. Fold the shape up so all four points are facing upwards and the points are going in different directions.
Step 5. Grab a corsage pin and pierce the tissue paper at the bottom
Step 6. Repeat the folding and piercing process until you have multiple layers on the pin, with multiple points facing upward.
Step 7. Place the pin into the Styrofoam, making sure the end of the pin isn’t visible (Hilary likes to use these flowers to fill space in the middle of the ring.

Paper Dahlia Tutorial
This is the most commonly made tissue paper flower and you can find tutorials all over the web (you may have made them in elementary school as well).
Step 1. Grab four sheets of tissue paper and cut them into a strip about 3″ wide by 8″ long.
Step 2. Take the short end of the paper and begin folding it accordion style until you have an accordion about 1/3″ by 3″.
Step 3. Cut a small piece of floral wire and wrap it around the center of the folded paper, twist the wire at the bottom to secure it.
Step 4. Cut the ends of each side of the paper into a rounded or triangle shape, depending on how you want the edges to look (round or spiky).
Step 5. Beginning with the center sheet, pull each layer of paper up towards the center, fluffing as you go.
Step 6. Move side to side and downwards, separating the layers until you create a purty flower.
Step 7. Push the wire end into the styrofoam ring adjacent to the next closest flower.

Paper Daisy Tutorial
Step 1. Repeat steps 1-3 of the lily tutorial by grabbing 10 or so sheets of tissue paper, folding them into quarters and cutting a petal shape. Unfold them so you have a four leaf clover type shape and fold the centers in from tip to tip.
Step 2. Pierce the center of the flower with a corsage pin. This will be the center of your flower.
Step 3. Fan out each of the layers of tissue paper, making sure each layer isn’t right on top of the last layer, filling out the flower.
Step 4. Insert the corsage pin into the styrofoam adjacent to the last flower.

You may remember those orange carnations from this tissue paper pomander project from back in the day. These centerpieces are fairly easy to create, but also fairly time consuming, so be warned before you, say, decide to create 26 of them for your wedding (like Hilary did). A single wreath would look beautiful as a centerpiece for your dining room table however, or a few of them would be perfect for a shower or dinner party. You could even hang them up on the walls like a traditional wreath.

Wreath Instructions:

Start with a 12″ or comparable white Styrofoam ring. This will be your base. Begin creating flowers and inserting the floral wire stems into the base next to each other, slowly building out the ring.

Hilary decided to build the wreath by creating the flower and then inserting it into the Styrofoam ring based on what color and style of flower she needed at the time, but you could also create a bunch flowers and then insert them into the base all at once. As you build out the wreath, try to make sure that no two styles of flower or colors of paper are next to each other.

Continue building out your wreath flower by flower until you have a full ring. Be sure to go all the way to the base on the outside so no styrofoam shows, Hilary wasn’t as careful on the inside of the ring because she plans on inserting the lantern into the center of the ring to complete the centerpiece.

She plans on putting these centerpieces on top of lake blue taffeta linens in the centers of her dinner tables at her wedding next June. As she finishes the centerpieces she is storing them in wreath boxes, available on Uline.

Enjoy

I found this at http://ruffledblog.com/diy-tissue-paper-flower-garland/