Easiest frosting recipe EVER: 2 ingredients, three minutes needed

So it's summer time.  Swimming lessons, soccer games, moving in to our new house, starting a new job, the months feel like minutes.  But you know, you got a family and you can't paint rooms forever so I took a break and made a chocolate cake.

Not having the time to whip up my favorite butter cream frosting, I quickly had to improvise and came up with the slickest little frosting recipe ever.  So simple, ready?

Easy Chocolate Peanut Butter Frosting

Ingredients
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup creamy peanut butter

Directions
Put into a microwave safe bowl.  Cover bowl with a small plate or paper towel.  Microwave on high for one minute.  Stir thoroughly and spread on cake.  I then sprinkled the top with a few more chocolate chips and put it in the fridge for five minutes so it could set.  Took it out, served it up, and got compliments galore.  Enjoy!

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Wedding Cakes: Volume 1

Wedding cakes are one of those "holy crap!" expenses.  At least it was for me.  I could NOT believe the cost of a wedding cake.  I had literally spent less on my wedding dress than the price estimate on the cake.  Luckily I found a friend whose mother was willing to make us one.

I would highly recommend having someone you trust make a cake for you.  There are lots of easy and fun ideas out there and if you're cake doesn't look exactly like something out of a traditional bakery, that's ok!  It's ok because that also means that it won't look like every other wedding cake you've seen and it's cool to be different and make your own way.  Here's a great cake idea I found from the Spearmint Wedding.  I'd probably change the cake toppers but hey, it's your day, if you like the eggs, go for it.  They are cute!

Have an idea? Share it here by posting a comment below. Let's all help each other out.
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Top 5 Feature: The Lovely Residence

Welcome to the new feature, the Top 5 Feature where fellow bloggers and budget-watchers share their top five tips on how to save money on a wedding or home remodel.

To debut this new feature, I called on my very good friend Nikki.  She is always working on a fun new project and her blog is full of inspiration.  She has great taste but is always looking for a good deal so everything she does with her new house feels like something that a person on a budget could do too.

Her wedding is one of my all time favorites.  It was so warm and comfortable, lots of friends and family talking and dancing all night, with a little wedding and romance mixed in.  She had some really fun and budget-friendly ideas and I asked if she'd share some of her clever ideas and pics.  You have to check out her blog too, she is so funny and creative.

http://thelovelyresidence.blogspot.com/

Here's Nikki and her Top 5...

Our 5 best money saving ideas

1. Program and Menu- We bagged the printed program. We figured the only thing it was good for was to distract our guests from the Bride and Groom show. Find an old board, slap on some chalkboard paint and put your inner artist to work. One of your friends must have an easel laying around and if not prop up your program on a table or shelf. The local printer wasn't getting a dime out of us, we did the same thing for the menu. Save the table space for the food!

That wheelbarrow you see in the corner
is holding quilts.  Guests grabbed a quilt
and spread it out on the beach to sit on during
the wedding.  Genius!

2. Wishing Tree- A white book with bells on it wasn't for us. We cut up some paper, tied on some ribbon and identified the resident plant as our "wishing tree." We keep all of our wishes in jar at home on the
shelf.

3. Hired Helped- Hire some students in your community to run the operation. We payed them cash and threw in some super cutie t shirts. It was a huge deal for us and them!

4. Pizza- We served pizza! We ordered from a local Gourmet Pizza place. We classied it up with a white table cloth and that's about it. Not one complaint about tough chicken or cold beans. It cost us a
whopping 3.00/person plus people could nibble all night- who doesn't like cold pizza?

5. Center Pieces- I am not a cake girl, doughnut please! We bought 20 terracotta pots for 1.05 each, slapped on some paint and decoupaged some photo copied pics of ourselves on the sides. The topper: charger plates on Christmas Clearance for 1.00/ each and piled on the dessert. 

A very important P.S. 18 Dozen Doughnuts from a local bakery cost us 117.00 or .60/person.
________

Thanks Nikki!  Cute stuff isn't it?  She's the best.  Don't forget to stop by her blog and see the pics of her new house remodel ideas. http://thelovelyresidence.blogspot.com/ 

Want to be featured as the next Top 5 Feature?  Come up with your five best tips for saving money on a wedding or home remodel and email them to me.  Don't forget the pictures!

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Have an idea? Share it here by posting a comment below. Let's all help each other out.

SUPER easy wedding cake

You might be interested in reading some recent information I stumbled on from projectwedding.com, good info!

Average cost of wedding cake:

Wedding cake prices on the ultra-elaborately decorated wedding cakes seen on reality television shows or in photos from celebrity wedding can run into thousands of dollars. But according to The Bridal Association of America, the average cost for a wedding cake is $543 (this is based on 2006 figures and most likely is somewhat higher by now).

For a traditional two- or three-tiered cake with butter cream frosting, wedding cake prices generally range from about $5-6 per slice. Fancy fillings, ganache, marzipan and cream cheese icings will also increase wedding cake prices. And wedding cake prices go up when rolled fondant icing and decorations are used - handmade rolled fondant decorations, which have become very popular features on wedding cakes, are labor intensive and can add at least $1 or more per slice to the cost. Other decorations - sugar or fresh flowers, wedding cake toppers, etc. - are less expensive but also add to wedding cake prices. All of this doesn't include cake-cutting fees, which is sometimes an additional charge as well.

Keep in mind that wedding cake prices naturally rise along with the tiers or layers on the cake. As the cake gets higher, so does the price. Again, this is largely because of the time it takes to decorate a large cake and, importantly, to make sure that a multi-tiered cake will stay upright throughout the reception. Wedding cake prices usually include a separate charge for delivery and assembly, which can be up to $100 or more, depending on the size of the cake and the distance from the bakery to the reception site.

The cake you see in the picture is so easy and it really wouldn't take that much time or effort (or cost you over $500!)  You think I'm crazy for saying that I'm sure, but hear me out.  First, if you're sticking to the small wedding plan, you're looking at doing maybe eight of these cakes.  They can be single layer, placed on a platter, and serve as the centerpiece for each table.  You can do this, it's easy!

Think about the bragging rights you'll earn by boasting to everyone that you made your own cakes (and maybe your dress, the centerpieces, the programs and invites, your floral arrangement, and so on, and so on...)

Click here for the easy instructions.

Have an idea? Share it here by posting a comment below. Let's all help each other out.

Create a Wedding Cookie Table

Are you bored with wedding cakes? Try the Wedding Cookie table! On a budget, you could ask a few family members to make two dozen of their favorite kind of cookies and bring them to the reception. Have platters and napkins set aside for a nice presentation, some big bowls with bows or tiered platters would be perfect. Ahead of time, print the recipes on paper that matches your wedding colors and set them next to the cookies. People can grab a cookie and the recipe too!

Create a Wedding Cookie Table

Have an idea? Share it here by posting a comment below. Let's all help each other out.

Valentine's Day Wedding!

Don't judge, my husband and I did this.  Here's why it worked, we needed to bump up our wedding date and everything was booked.  Looking at the calendar, we noticed Valentine's Day was a Saturday and we thought it would be booked for sure at the church and hotel we were looking at.  Turns out, everything was wide open.  I'm guessing it was because everyone thought it would be way too cheesy to get married on Valentine's Day.  Hey, maybe so, but my husband never forgets our anniversary!

Here's an example of a $500 Valentine's Day wedding:

Location: Anywhere with a cozy romantic atmosphere. A party room at a nice restaurant, a rooftop, someone's home- just some place out in the open where the stars can be seen in all their glory.

Bride and bridal party: The bride in a simple evening dress and if the weather is cold, add a velvet or silk wrap. I think a formal gown (think prom) would be better than a traditional wedding dress although traditional would be beautiful too.

Groom and groomsmen: The groom in a classic black suit would be perfect and the groomsmen in formal white button down shirts with black pants. If it’s cold, have hem throw on the matching jackets.

Ceremony: For seating arrangements, rent or borrow folding chairs and set them up in two blocks thus forming a center isle. Arrange for white Christmas lights to be strung around any bushes or pillars and dig out the artificial green Christmas trees, keep them plain green with only white lights. Using lots of candles will also add atmosphere, use as many red/pink/purple accents as possible. The bride should carry a small bouquet of flowers and find someone to serenade you with a saxophone. Depending where you're putting most of your money- maybe some standards and jazz on the iPod speakers would be perfect!

Reception: Visualize candles on all of the tables with cake, bottles of champagne, fruit, and crackers and cheese. Some jazz music in the background and your set.

Final thoughts: Music is a very inexpensive way to set the mood, especially being outside, you’re also going to want to drown out any traffic or other outdoor noises. Have CD players placed all over your reception area, some suggestions: Anything by Norah Jones, Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and Tony Bennett.

Budget

The dress $60 - Prom dress bought on sale, borrowed a wrap from aunt

Groom’s attire $30 - Bought white dress shirt, used own tie and suit

Accessories $10 - No necklace, bought earrings on sale

Flowers $10 - Bride walked down the aisle with single red rose, groom had rose boutonniere (flowers bought that afternoon)

Pictures $50 - Hired college student, used three friends as well, uncle taped wedding

Music $10 - Recorded jazz music playing during dinner and reception

Food and drinks $250 (this is a perfect reception for Italian food!)  It’s a late night wedding so just desserts, wine, crackers, cheese and wedding cake are served

Decorations $30 - Rose petals scattered on tables, tea light candles and silver dessert platters on all the tables, tables had white tablecloths, chairs each had a red ribbon tied to them

Invitations $30 Made on groom’s computer

Miscellaneous $20 Always a good idea to have a little left over for the unexpected expense


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DIY Rose Wedding Cake

Need another cake recipe? I love this idea because this cake is smaller and simple. Would make a perfect centerpiece. Start practicing those roses!

DIY Rose Wedding Cake - DIY Rose Wedding Cake - Project Wedding

Know someone who is planning a wedding and on a tight budget? Let them know about us! Our blog is dedicated to saving brides money. Follow us on Twitter or Facebook and instantly qualify to win a copy of the book.

Have an idea? Share it here by posting a comment below. Let's all help each other out.

How to make a wedding cake

I have a large family so there are very few months where we aren't gathered around a large birthday cake.  We recently just celebrated my husband's birthday and I've got delicious cake on my mind.  In fact, I nearly finished half of the sheet cake myself.  I have zero willpower when it comes to cake.  Maybe that's what motivated me to look up cake recipes this morning!

One of the biggest ways to save money on your wedding is to embrace the idea that buying something is a last resort.  Make or borrow anything you can.  Cake is a huge expense, even the small sheet cake we bought for my husband was $22 and that fed about twelve people.  If you've got fifty people coming to your wedding and reception, that cost will rise to over $100.  So let's see if we can't figure out a way to make our own wedding cake.

I haven't tried this personally yet, but I think I will.  Why not?  I'm not planning a wedding right now but I could adjust the decorations and make it a fun birthday or holiday cake right?  Hey, I'm always ready for an excuse to eat cake.  

Here's an idea I found from TLC.

How to Make a Wedding Cake

Why pay big money for an expensive, bakery-made wedding cake when you can easily build your own romantic creation at home? Though the prospect of creating a tiered cake may seem daunting, it is based on some pretty simple elements of architectural support. Like all sound construction, a tiered cake begins with a good foundation. 

First the cake- here's a simple recipe:

INGREDIENTS

3 1/3	cups cake flour
3/4	cups unsalted butter
2 1/4	cups sugar
3	large eggs
1	tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2	tsp salt
1 1/2	cups buttermilk
1 1/2	tsp baking soda

PREPARATION:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease three 9- x 2-inch pans
2. In small bowl, sift flour and set aside. In large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Add eggs, mix well.
4. Stir salt into buttermilk, then alternate with flour and add to batter. Do not overbeat into mixture.
5. Pour into prepared pans and bake approximately 35-40 minutes.

Medina, Richard.  "Simply Cakes"  09 February 2010.  HowStuffWorks.com. 01 February 2011.

Ok, now when the cake is baked and cooled, the fun begins!  I would try making a couple of these before you dive into your final masterpiece.  At least practice the decorating techniques on a shoe box or something so you'll be more confident when it comes time to make the actual wedding cake for your reception.

Foundation

For bottom cake tier, fill and frost the two largest cake layers in the center of a covered cake board that is about 4 inches larger than the cake, being sure to smooth frosting on top and sides. Use a sturdy cake board, such as 1/2-inch-thick plywood.

Support

Trim two circles of corrugated cardboard sized to fit under the cake layers for each additional tier (total of 4 cardboard circles). Tape the two pieces for each tier together for a double thickness of cardboard.

Cover the double-thick cardboard circles with foil that has been cut into a circle 1 to 2 inches larger than the cardboard. Center the cardboard on the foil. Cut slashes into the foil, spaced approximately an inch apart, around the entire circle. Fold each 1-inch tab of foil over the cardboard and tape into place.

Wrap the foil around the edges of our cardboard circle.

Structure

To mark the correct position for the next tier, gently hold the foil-covered cardboard just above the center of the frosted bottom tier. Using a ruler as a guide, center the cardboard and gently lower it onto the frosted surface. Use a toothpick to lightly mark around the cardboard. Remove cardboard.

Gently lower your foil-wrapped circle onto the bottom layer.

To make dowel supports for this tier, carefully push a 1/4-inch-thick dowel into the center of the bottom tier and mark the height of the cake on the dowel. Remove the dowel and use clean pruning or other heavy-duty shears to cut the dowel on the mark. Cut seven more dowel pieces the same length. Push dowel pieces into the bottom tier, evenly spacing pieces within the area marked for the next tier and trimming the dowel pieces, if needed, to get them just level with the cake.

Push the dowel pieces into the bottom tier, evenly spacing pieces within the area marked for the next tier.

Since dowels are difficult to cut, you may use plastic straws to support each layer, if you stabilize the tiers with one large dowel as described.

Fill and frost cake layers for this tier positioned on the appropriately sized foil-covered cardboard circle; smooth frosting on top and sides of cake. Carefully place tier in position on bottom tier. Repeat for all tiers, supporting each layer with dowels.

To stabilize tiers, sharpen one end of a 1/4-inch-thick dowel with a knife. Push sharp end of dowel into center of top tier and carefully push down through all tiers and cardboard circles. Trim dowel level with cake top. Carefully smooth frosting on cake top to cover dowel. Remove dowel pieces before cutting cake.

Push the sharp end of the dowel into center of top tier and carefully push down through all tiers and cardboard circles.

Decorations

Add your own creative touches with the decorations of your choice. Use a decorating bag to pipe on frosting borders and flowers, or apply premade decorations purchased from a cake decorating supply store or craft store. One of the simplest and most elegant ways to decorate a wedding cake is to use real fresh flowers. Be careful that the flowers don't have pesticides on them. Clean, fresh flowers should be placed on the cake right before it is displayed.

Another option is the basket weaving technique.

"Basket" Cake Trick

By frosting the side of a layer cake with a basketweave pattern and adding fresh berries on the top, you can turn a common cake into an elegant "fruit basket."

1. Spread top of layer cake with a thin layer of apricot preserves or caramel topping.
2. Spoon buttercream frosting into a decorating bag fitted with a ridged basketweave decorator tip. Pipe vertical strips at 2-inch intervals around side of cake.

Work from the bottom of the cake up toward top.

3. Make horizontal strip around side of cake, just below top edge. Repeat halfway down side of cake.

Use left hand to rotate cake plate as you pipe on horizontal strips.

4. Pipe more vertical strips halfway between each of the strips made in Step 1. Refill decorating bag as necessary.

Space second set of vertical strips as evenly as possible.

5. Pipe short horizontal strips between the horizontal strips made in Step 2 and along the bottom of cake. Each short strip starts at the edge of one vertical strip, crosses over next vertical strip and ends at edge of next vertical strip.

Try to lift tip precisely at the edge of the next vertical strip.

6. Replace basketweave tip with star tip. Pipe a star border around top of cake. Pile mixed fresh berries on top of cake to look like fruit in a basket.

Need a really good and really easy butter cream frosting recipe?  Click here!

Courtesy of the Editors of Easy Home Cooking Magazine.  "How to Make a Wedding Cake"  24 April 2007.  HowStuffWorks.com. 01 February 2011.

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How to make your own butter cream frosting

This is seriously easy and DELICIOUS!  Tastes just like the bakery frosting they use on their sheet cakes.  I would highly recommend using this recipe to make your own wedding cake and investing a little cash into some cake decorating tools.  You don't need anything too fancy, but making your own cake will save you a lot of money.

How to make delicious butter-cream frosting

This butter-cream frosting recipe is similar to a recipe I found on the back of a bag of sugar but after making several batches of this frosting, I have made some improvements.  First of all you’ll absolutely need a mixer, this frosting is thick and creamy and tastes just like the stuff at the bakery instead of those small containers you can buy in the cake mix aisle.  This stuff is very delicious and rich, perfect for decorating a wedding cake!

Ingredients: 

(Makes enough frosting for one large sheet cake)

2 lbs. Powdered Sugar

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup water (room temperature)

2 ½ teaspoon vanilla

2/3 cup of butter (must be actual butter, no margarine, works best of butter is room temperature)

Food coloring (if necessary)

Put all ingredients into a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric beater or mixer (will be too thick for a spoon and won’t mix evenly).  Beat until smooth and creamy, this can take awhile.  If the frosting is too thick and stiff to stir properly, try adding a few drops of water.  Just a few drops at a time though, this frosting will not hold up if it’s too thin.

Cover your bowl and use as soon as cake is ready.  After the cake is frosted, keep cake in the refrigerator so the frosting will keep its design.  Take out an hour before serving for frosting and cake to thaw completely.  Remember to make another batch if you want to decorate with more than one color of frosting.


 

Want something besides white?  Of course you can mix in some food coloring, but what about color swirls?  For that, you'll need a color paste- regular food coloring liquid won't work- and line your frosting bag with stripes.  Four long vertical stripes along the inside of the bag with your colors and boom, you look like the Cake Boss.  Click on the pictures for more detail.

Enjoy!  

Heather Henry Kraabel

http://500dollarwedding.blogspot.com

Have an idea? Share it here! Let's all help each other out.