Smooth Creamy American Buttercream Recipe

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This is my favorite recipe for american buttercream. It is creamy, not gritty and not overtly sweet. People confuse it for swiss meringue buttercream because of the gloss and shine  and velvet like texture it has and also the taste. Its the only american buttercream recipe I use.

American Buttercream recipe

Over the weekend, I hosted my first ever food styling and photography workshop in Chandigarh. When I started food photography I never thought that I would reach a stage where someone would like to learn from me. It has taken years of practice and even now there is so much to learn, but since so many people kept asking me to do a workshop, I decided it was time. With the help of my friends at Eighty.Tribe and Madras Prop Store, I set Saturday April 7th, 2018 as the date for the workshop.

As soon as I posted about the workshop on my instagram page, panic struck as to would any one even register. Luckily, people did and we had a full house. While I think everything went smoothly, there is always room for improvement especially if its the first time you are doing anything. For one, I should have taken more photographs of the space, the behind the scenes and should have at least taken one group shot with everyone! Well, that was a learning.

Another learning was I should not take on everything. There is so much work for a workshop. Between planning for the presentation and live styling sessions, I also decided to make the treats that would be served for the participants. Which meant staying up till late, the night before the workshop baking cupcakes, cookies, sandwiches and pound cake. And also, wrapping the small takeaways I had made for everyone attending the workshop (a hand painted board and napkins)

All that effort did pay off, since everyone loved the treats and the gesture at the end. A few people asked if the recipe for the buttercream frosting I used on the chocolate cupcakes was in the blog archives. That’s when I realized I hadn’t posted it.

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Eggless Brownie Cake

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Eggless Brownie Cake

When I was working on The Pink CakeBox, my home based baking venture, I got a request for a brownie cake. An eggless brownie cake. I have a great brownie recipe and I have made it several times but that is one with eggs. I also have a great eggless chocolate cake recipe, but the person who wanted the cake was very specific she wanted it more like a brownie, less like a cake.

I had never made eggless brownies before, let alone a brownie cake. Since I had a bit of time I started looking for recipes. I was looking for something which would be a cross between a brownie and cake. Cake-like to be eaten with ganache, yet fudge like a brownie. I found a recipe, tried it, it was a failure. I made some variations and tried again, the cake failed this time too. By this time I had started panicking and didn’t know what I would do if I can’t get the recipe right. Thankfully third time’s a charm and I got the perfect eggless brownie cake- slightly gooey, chocolatey, fudgy- just about everything I want in a brownie but still leaning towards a cake. The client loved the cake, and I got an eggless recipe for a brownie cake now in my repertoire.

I am going through all my tried and tested recipes from my TPC days. These recipes went through a number of trials and every feedback was noted. I have decided to share the ones that I used most frequently and became a favorite with my customers here on the blog. I have previously shared my red velvet cake recipe.Today I am sharing my eggless brownie recipe.

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A review: Katy Sue Design Moulds

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Review of Katy Sue Design Moulds

As most of you who have been following my page know that few months back I started my home based baking business in India by the name of The Pink CakeBox (yes I know there is a fairly famous Pink Cake Box in the US, and honestly it did not strike me till only after it was too late to change, but we are not related – I wish we were but we are not).

Baking and decorating for TPC is the reason why I have been away from blogging these days. I try my best to post as often as I can, but this place still keeps getting neglected. I do miss blogging immensely, and while I enjoy baking for others (especially when you receive wonderful feedback), I do miss baking and cooking for myself. I also do miss styling and shooting the food I make. And truly wish I could do it more often.

To keep the blog more active, I did mention that I will post about my cakes and bakes here once in a while. So today I am sharing a review of these new Katy Sue Design moulds I bought from a local store in Chandigarh, Chef’s Gateway.

Though not many, but I do have a few silicon moulds for my cake decorating- you know the cheap ones- some bought off ebay or amazon, or a local craft shop that carries stuff that is made in china. For the price, they do get the job done fairly fine, but after spending a good deal on these katy sue moulds, I realize that quality does come with the price. And while the katy sue moulds are more expensive, they do deliver a good quality product and I am sold.

Generally I have to fairly dust the mould with corn starch to get the desired shape out and even then it does not always come out perfect, but when I used these moulds to make the pots, I didn’t use any dusting and the shapes came out fine. The same held true for the frame mould (the final product shown in the picture above). To be on the safer side, a light dusting will not hurt.

I am including a step by step process of using these molds, but in case this is not as helpful, there is a video tutorial on youtube which should explain the process better.

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