We often get questions about cake/cupcake recipes. We have posted a few recipes in our Recipe section, but as you may have figured out, this is not our blog’s main focus. There are some wonderful recipe focused blogs/sites that do an excellent job posting all sorts of recipes. Here are two specific ones that I like:

- Bakespace – a social networking site whose main focus is food recipes.
- Food Blog Search – I found food blog search through the Baking Project blog. It has over 2000 high quality food blogs available to search through. Food Blog Search is maintained by food bloggers Elise Bauer, Kalyn Denny, and Alanna Kellogg.

Helen from the U.K. asked the following about our new flavor Pink Velvet –

Hi, Just to say I love this wedding cake – It is soooo neat! Can I ask what is a red (or pink) velvet cake? – We don’t have that flavor here in the UK but it sounds fabulous! Thanks! Helen.

Our new Pink Velvet flavor is a moist buttermilk cake with a touch of cocco and rich pink color. It goes swimmingly with cream cheese frosting or classic vanilla buttercream. Some even enjoy it with our raspberry chambord buttercream.

Kim from Flickr.com asked the following:

I’m curious – how do people usually cut and serve such vertical cakes? I had a tall cake (castle turret) and wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. We ended up cutting it in half and then cutting the halves like a regular cake.

When cutting a vertical cake, I usually suggest putting it on its side and cutting from there. If the cake is very tall, I usually stack 2 cakes on top of each other and separate with a board, so you can cut each layer like a regular cake.

Anne

Hi, you make the most beautiful flowers! As someone new to this, can I ask – what’s the difference between fondant flowers, sugar paste and gum paste? I think you’ve mentioned each when referencing your flowers and I’m very confused. Thanks for any help you can give me, you truly are an artist!

Thanks for your interest! Sorry to have confused you! Gumpaste and Sugarpaste are basically the same thing. It is a edible sugar dough that is made with gum known as Gum Tragacanth which makes it easy to shape like modeling clay. It is stronger than fondant, and also dries more quickly. It is used for sugar flowers and decorations. Fondant is also a sugar dough but remains softer for longer -and is used mostly to cover cakes and for some decoration.

Hope this helps!

Anne

How do you feel about printing onto a frosting sheet? I think you did it with the cake for your brother. (The 007 cake). Do you use a regular printer, or is your made for use with food? The idea of using a printer that is not made for food use scares me. Should I worry? What do you think?

HI Chris – thanks for your interest. I use a Canon Pixma iP3000 printer which is setup ONLY for food purposes. It uses food coloring instead of ink and frosting sheets instead of paper. It is perfectly safe and eater friendly. So there’s no reason to worry. You can read more about my frosting printer here.

I recently got this question from Michelle:

I love to bake and i think i have tried every cake and cupcake recipe out there. Do you have a good cupcake recipe you can send me? Also, my cupcakes never get that dome pretty look. How do you do that? Mine get all crispy on the edges and are flat. Do you have any suggestions? And finally, do you use foil cups or paper cups? Which one is better? Thanks soo much..

Hi Michelle,
Thanks for your email! I recommend getting Rose Levy Beranbaum’s Cake Bible. It’s a great book – and explains a lot about the science of baking. My initial reaction to your problem is possibly that your recipe has too much baking powder in it – try reducing the recipe by 1/2 tsp to 1 tsp. Often sunken cakes are a result of too much baking powder. Also it’s possible the cupcakes are overbaking or you may be overmixing your batter.

The Cake Bible is a really good asset because it explains a lot about why these factors affect your outcome. I hope this helps! Also, to answer your last question, I use paper cups. I like the way they look and I don’t think the cake sticks to the paper as much as it sticks to the aluminum foil.
Good Luck!
Anne

UPDATE: We now offer private classes for small groups and individuals. Head over to our cake decorating schedule page or inquire about creating your own custom group class.

Several people have asked us if Pink Cake Box runs any pastry classes:

I am very interested in learning how to decorate cakes.
Have you thought about offering classes? I’m a few towns over from you. And can’t even figure out how to properly seal the fondant to the cupcake so it looks seamless.

Yes we are definitely planning on offering classes! Enter your name and email address below to be notified when classes are available. We are tentatively planning on offering the classes in the fall of 2007 at our store in Denville, NJ.

Enter your name and email below to be notified of upcoming classes:

I often get questions similar to this one regarding the difference between fondant & buttercream:

Which one do you recommend (fondant vs buttercream) based on appearance plus taste? I’m not sure what the difference is between fondant & buttercream. I believe the fondant looks better. Does it taste better too? I think buttercream might be really sweet. Also, what would you do with the inside of the cake? Would there be a filling?

Fondant tastes sort of like marshmallows – it’s sweet. I always cover my cakes in vanilla buttercream first, and then put the rolled fondant on top – so you get the best of both worlds ! Fondant looks really smooth which is why we use it a lot. Some people really like the taste, and those who don’t generally peel it off.

My cakes are two layers of cake with a thick layer of filling in the middle. For fillings we can do vanilla, hazelnut, chocolate, raspberry, peanut butter, oreos and cream… just to name a few!

Sandra posted the following question recently:

Dear Anne,
I think your cakes are just the most gorgeous things! They look too good to eat–but that wouldn’t stop me! LOL I wonder if you could give me some advice. I’ve been interested in baking for many years now. I tried to sell “cookie trays” for showers and weddings about ten years ago or so, but didn’t do too well. Some people did not appreciate that I used real butter & quality ingredients, and I got pretty discouraged.
Now, after a visit to the CIA in Hyde Park, I am inspired again to take up baking once more. I’ve never really done cakes. What advice would you give someone who might want to do the sort of work you do? How did you get started? Are you able to do this full time? Do you miss advertising? I am in public relations myself, and was formerly a reporter. Anything you can tell me would be very helpful. Thanks!

Hi Sandra,

Thanks so much for your kind words! The best advice I can give you is to follow your dream. I would sign up for some pastry classes to see if you really could see yourself doing this as a career. I know FCI has some ‘amateur’ classes as they call them that introduce you to all sorts of baking basics. I’m sure CIA has many courses as well, but I’m not familiar with their curriculum. Also, we are planning on running our own baking classes starting in ‘07. Sign up here to be notified when the classes are available.

After I started at FCI, I apprenticed with Ron-Ben Israel Cakes in New York City. This type of internship was wonderful experience for me, and solidified my determination to start my own cake business.

At first I had to work at a restaurant until I started getting more business. But now I’m doing this full-time, and no I don’t miss advertising Of course I miss my co-workers and sometimes long for a meeting that I could sit-down in for hours . But the best part of advertising for me was using my creativity …. which is definitely being utilized now! I hope this helps…and best of luck! Keep in touch, I’d love to hear about your ‘pastry’ journey!
Anne

See our video on CNN about how we started our business