Snowflake cake

Brrr... It's cold outside!

Here in KS God has answered my prayer for snow- and with that comes snow days. Having 4 kids in the house 24/7 can get crazy on these snow days, especially when they have already been home for a few weeks for Christmas break.

I broke the craziness with a Playdough Ice Cream Shop toy. Not a grand idea on my part as now I will be scraping dried playdough out of the rug for hours.

Along with the snow have come record breaking lows- meaning it's also too cold t go outside and play in all this snow. I'll remember to be more specific in my prayers from now on.

This cake today was done a couple of years ago and was my first experience with patchwork cutters. Please note: These cutters are very different then normal cutters or cookie cutters, and I had to learn the hard way. Patchwork cutters can be GREAT and they have so many cute ones out there, but they must be used properly or they will leave you sitting in a pool of tears (I know from experience.) So here are some tips for you:
#1- They MUST be used with gumpaste. Not a mix and not fondant.
#2- You must let your gumpaste sit for a minute or two before pressing your cutter into it!
#3- You will want to grease you surface then lay your gumpaste on it to cutout your shapes.
The ideal is that the piece stays ON your surface and not in your cutter. If you find yourself having to peel out of the cutter then let your stuff set up longer before cutting.
#4- Be prepared to clean up edges using a toothpick or another very small thing. These don't cut super clean most of the time.
#5- Have fun! There are so many of these available, and you can do so many things with them. I don't recommend using snowflakes on your first try!
Here's a few links to places that I like to buy from: Patty Cakes in IL, and Global Sugar Art

There's no better way to stay warm then baking!