American Baker in Germany

 This cake I wanted to make a cake that looks like a turtle. I started out with an 8-inch spice cake filled with French buttercream. Then I carved it into a turtle shell shape. And I frosted it with French buttercream. I covered the top and sides with kind of a muted dark green fondant. And I sculpted a head. And sea fins for the sides. I added a strip of lighter fondant around the edge of the turtle shell and added texture lines of the shell. And I added texture to the head, fins and tail. Finally, I painted over the whole cake with brown food coloring mixed with alcohol. Is this not an adorable turtle cake? It reminds me of a sea turtle. Watch us make this turtle cake on our YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/WbF_bJ8YhMQ Schaut zu wie wir diese Schildkröte Torte auf YouTube machen hier: https://youtu.be/8nWNfCTRPig

 A few years ago the style of painted buttercream became popular and kind of trendy. I thought I would try it myself today. So, I mixed up a batch of vegan American buttercream and colored them purple, turquoise, pink and green. And I frosted a cake dummy with white. Painted buttercream comes from actually, literally painting the buttercream onto the cake using paintbrushes. It is harder to paint with than actual paint or food coloring because typically you only have to leave behind the pigment from the paint, but the majority of the paint itself gets brushed off. When painting with buttercream, you have to leave a three-dimensional amount of buttercream behind to leave behind pigment, so it is more like sculpting than painting. Because of this, the images you make are more impressionistic than realistic. Just embrace your inner Monet. And I painted on flowers onto a vine. But honestly, I think it turned out cute. I mean, who doesn't love flowers? Watch us make this creative cake o...

 I've made American buttercream, I've made Swiss meringue buttercream, I've made Italian meringue buttercream and I've made German buttercream. Today, I'm making French buttercream. The difference here is that French buttercream is made from egg yolks instead of egg whites, like the Swiss and Italian buttercreams. So, it makes it have a richer flavor and isn't quite as light, but it's also less sweet than American and more stable than German. The recipe I got from my fellow YouTuber friend, Lorelie. Her channel is Cakes with Lorelie and she's amazing. Here's the link to her video on this recipe: https://youtu.be/kNO645YFB5A French Buttercream: 2 cups (500g) butter 1 generous cup (220g) sugar 1/4 tsp cream of tartar (optional) 1/2 cup (110mL) water 8 egg yolks 1 tsp vanilla extract or 1 tbsp vanilla sugar pinch of salt Similar to Italian meringue buttercream, start out by making sugar syrup by combining water, sugar and cream of tartar in a saucepan a...

 I decided to make a cookie cake that looks like pepperoni pizza. This must start out with a sugar cookie cutout recipe. Sugar Cookie Cutout: 1 cup (250g) butter 1 cup (200g) sugar 1 egg 1 tsp vanilla extract or 1 tbsp vanilla sugar pinch salt 1/4 tsp baking soda 3 cups (375g) flour Cream butter. Cream in sugar, egg and vanilla. Add dry ingredients. Beat until dough resembles coarse crumbs. Knead briefly until dough comes together. Roll out into a large circle and press into shape. Bake at 325°F or 160°C for about 15 minutes. Then I made a batch of American buttercream, leaving some white and coloring some with red and brown food coloring to make a sauce color. I frosted a thin layer of red onto the baked cookie. Then I piped some white buttercream and smoothed it. Then I piped on some red circles onto the white and smoothed them. I think this looks very much like a pepperoni pizza. It would be perfect for those who love cookies more than cake. And who love pizza more than anything...

I wanted to make this recipe as a filling for my niece's birthday cake, but pastry cream is a fabulous filling for cream puffs or eclairs, or whatever you fancy.  Pastry Cream (Crème Patissière): 2 cups (450mL) milk 1/3 cup (70g) sugar pinch salt 3 tbsp cornstarch 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste or 1 vanilla bean 3 egg yolks + 1 whole egg 3 tbsp (45g) butter Split vanilla bean and scrape out vanilla seeds and put seeds and pod in a saucepan with milk. Heat over medium high heat stirring frequently to a simmer (not quite a boil).  While the milk is heating, whisk sugar, salt, cornstarch and all eggs in a bowl until well combined.  Temper the egg mixture with about half a cup (100g) of hot milk mixture, whisking constantly until smooth. Then add egg mixture to the milk mixture (don't forget to remove the vanilla pod). Continue to heat while whisking constantly until mixture thickens. (About 1-2 minutes).  Allow to come to boil and boil for about 2 minutes, whisking constantl...