Disney Cakes and Sweets Review | Issue 4

I was so excited this morning to go get the next issue of Disney Cakes and Sweets Issue 5 and then I remembered I completely forgot to do my review on Issue 4!

So my apologies that this is late and you probably won’t be able to pick up Issue 4 anymore (unless you get it online) but I wanted to go ahead with the review anyways because I really enjoyed this Issue.

Issue 4 featured Piglet on the cover, and with the magazine, you were given an adorable 3D Piglet mould.

It is hard to tell from this picture but this is actually a pretty big mould.

It is about the size of a small child’s head.

The magazine gives a recipe for blancmange which you can make using this mould, and also suggest baking a sponge cake in it.

I didn’t use the Piglet mould yet but it could potentially come in handy for making a small cake in the future.

So the seven character related recipes given in this issue were as follows:

Piglet’s Blancmange and Sponge

So as I mentioned above, you can use the Piglet silicone mould to create either a blancmange (which is basically a creamy fruity jelly) or bake a sponge cake in it.

If you would prefer, you can also make regular jelly in it or even if you made your own homemade ice-cream and let it set in the mould I think could work.

Cruella’s Peppermint Creams

Cruella is the first Disney villain to be featured in this magazine series which I was very excited about. I love Cruella, and also loved her peppermint creams.

So these peppermint creams are basically like eating a minty sugar cube, but they are really good!

The recipe called for a lot of sugar, so I decided to half the recipe and it still made 12 peppermint creams.

I won’t give away the actual recipe because that wouldn’t be fair to those to paid money to buy this magazine, but the ingredients are basically cream, icing sugar, peppermint extract and chocolate. So definitely not a healthy recipe, but it was nice as a little treat. And they didn’t last very long in the house!

One tip I will give you if you are making these is to make them just before going to bed, this way you don’t feel like you have to wait as long for them to set. It says they take about 12 hours to set. And I know that I get very impatient when I have to wait for things to set so I made them at night then the next morning when I woke up they were ready to put the chocolate on and eat.

Eeyore’s Crunchy Nut Cookies

When I read that this recipe had pecans I knew I had to try them because I freaking love pecan cookies.

Something I found odd with this recipe was that instead of mixing the sugar and butter together with a mixer (like you would in most cookie recipes), the first step was to add the butter in cubes and rub into the flour (which is what you do when making pastry or bread).

So even though this was odd, I went with it and the cookies came out more like mini heavy cakes but it still tasted good so hey can’t complain.

I did however tweak the recipe a little bit. For instance the recipe never says to toast the pecans before adding them to the mixture, but I know from past experience that toasted pecans are WAY nicer in cookies and brownies than raw pecans. So I toasted my pecans in the oven before making these cookies.

Also I added a lot more flour than stated in the recipe because the mixture was far too wet for a cookie dough.

Other than that the cookies were nice – but having said that I think I will stick to my own Pecan Cookie recipe from now on.

Jungle Book Party Pavlova

Pavlova is basically a meringue with fruit on it so this recipe would be perfect for a party or even a birthday if someone doesn’t like cake.

On this particular pavlova it had fruit like mango, kiwi, pineapple even banana. If I were making it I would probably go with berries but you can pretty much make it to taste.

Thumper’s Cute Carrot Cake

Well you can either look at this as either very sneaky or very clever.

This ‘carrot cake’ is not actually a carrot cake. It is a madeira cake in the shape of a carrot!

Now I can see why they made a madeira instead of a carrot cake, because a carrot cake is so moist that it wouldn’t really hold the shape of a carrot and the whole thing just wouldn’t look as good as it would if you made a madeira. Having said that you can still make an actual carrot cake too.

I didn’t make this cake (but I might do it for a future birthday cake!) but it did have an adorable 3D sugarpaste Thumper on top which is too cute not to show you.

Mater’s Really Rocky Road

I had a good long laugh at this title – probably longer than I should have, but if you have seen Cars then you will get the joke.

I had never made Rocky Road before but I have made biscuit cake and they are very similar.

This recipe was so simple to make. It would be perfect to make and bring to a friends house, or perfect if you have little kiddies who really want to make something.

Instead of the cherries that were called for in the ingredients, I put in raisins but you can pretty much add in anything you like – raisins, nuts, etc.

I didn’t actually have any of this seeing as there were marshmallows in this and I am a vegetarian, but my brother really seemed to like it which is good because I made it for him specifically.

Peter Pan’s Treasure Chest: Part 1

This issue gives part 1 (of 2) how to make a treasure chest cake.

I had no reason to make this cake but it would be perfect for a little boys birthday cake or any kind of novelty cake for a specific occasion.

 

 

Also included in this issue was a step by step guide on how to model a thumper for the top of the ‘carrot cake’ and six different meringue recipes (I didn’t even know there were six different types of meringue!)

That is it for this weeks Issue (Well I guess it was last weeks, whoops!)

I’ll be back in a few days to review Issue number 5!

– Bee

Disney Cakes and Sweets Review | Issue 2 & 3

I was so busy last week that I have had to combine Issue 2 and 3 in the same post, I do apologise!

Let’s start with Issue 2 (The Winnie The Pooh cover)

The utensils given with this issue were two Winnie The Pooh moulds.

In the magazine it shows how you can use these moulds to make a cute Winnie the Pooh cake.

I however did not have any need to make this cake but I did use these moulds this week. I had a few cupcakes to make for a little girls second birthday who, luckily for me, really likes Winnie The Pooh.

Instead of using the moulds as suggested in the magazine, I took a different approach.

In one batch I simply melted milk chocolate and made the characters this way. But for the cupcake toppers I used coloured candy melts that you can buy from a cake supply shop. I used yellow for Winnie, Pink for Piglet, Orange for Tigger, and for Eeyore, I used the pink and added some blue to get that indigo colour eeyore has which worked perfectly. Unfortunately I was in such a hurry with the cupcakes I forgot to take a picture of them but here is what the chocolate moulds looked like.

 

Also in this issue there was a recipe for fudge, and seeing as both my brother and father like fudge, I thought I would give it a go. I followed the recipe exactly but the fudge never set, which is quite annoying but it worked fine as a fudge ice-cream sauce. Still though, fudge is supposed to be fudge so I’m not sure if there is a problem with the recipe, or one of the ingredients I used, who knows.

On to Issue 3 which gifts were as follows: Minnie Mouse Cookie Cutter, Modelling Tool, and 10 Disney Characters to stick into your Castle Cake (Part 3 of 3 was in this issue)

Now I never made any cookies with my new cookie cutter, but it is actually the exact same cookie recipe as in Issue 1 which I was a little annoyed at because it’s only issue 3. It’s a bit early to start repeating recipes (not that they should be repeating recipes at all!) But oh well. Overall I was still pleased with this issue.

The only thing I had time to make though was Piglet’s Snuffle Truffles, and boy was I glad I did. This is a delicious recipe and makes really nice truffles which are great for treats for yourself and family, but would also make great little presents for your friends etc.

To the left is the recipe from the magazine and to the right is the truffles I made. And let me tell you they went down a treat! I don’t think they lasted more than a few hours! But they are very rich and filling.

 

Again both magazines had extras in the back. In Issue 2 it gave 6 different pastry recipes which will come in very handy, and in Issue 3 they gave 6 different icing recipes, again very handy.

The magazine has now gone up to €5.99 and will stay at this price for the duration of the subscription. I know this may seem steep to some of you, but honestly it is well worth it. It would cost that much to buy the giant Minnie Mouse cookie cutter, or Winnie the Pooh moulds alone, and each recipe gives 7 different Disney related recipes, as well as tips on how to decorate cakes, and as I said various standard recipes (like pastry or icing).

3 Issues in and I am still a very happy camper.

Sorry I didn’t get chance to try out too many of the recipes, but hopefully after next week I’ll have a bit more time.

Hope you have enjoyed, and get busy baking!

– Bee

Disney Cakes and Sweets Review| Issue 1

I have been baking for quite a few years now, and I have been a disney fan for all my 21 years of exsistance, so you can only imagine my uncontrollable excitement when I learned of this magazine!

For those of you who don’t know, a new weekly magazine has been published entitled Disney Cakes and Sweets which gives various recipes and tips for baking in relation to different disney characters. The first issue was released on the 5th of September as far as I know as is still available in your local newsagents (providing you live in Ireland/UK that it).

So if you live outside of Ireland/UK and are dying to see more of the magazine, I hope this blog post will help somewhat. Also if you are contemplating buying the magazine but are unsure, hopefully this review will help.

So the first issue will be available for 2 weeks. I imagine this is so to give people plenty of time to get it. Otherwise, it is a weekly magazine, with the next issue available this thursay, the 19th.

So without further ado, let’s get to the review.

First thing’s first, here is what the magazine looks like.

If you are looking for it in a shop though, this is what the packaging looks like…

My first reaction to the magazine was that I was plesantly surprised my how many recipes were given. From the advertisement on tv, I was expecting maybe 3-4 recipes in each magazine, but in reality, the first issue gave a surprising 7 recipes (as well as giving 4 basic cake recipes at the end of the magazine!)

So what are these 7 recipes?

• Giant Mickey Mouse Cookies
• Winnie the Pooh’s Honey Cupcakes
• Sleeping Beauty’s Marshmallow Pillows
• Patch’s Dalmatian Paw Print Cake
• Bullseye’s Best Ever Brownies
• Minnie’s Fruity Chocolate Chunks
• Castle Cake

The magazine itself is very well laid, with very clear instructions on how to creat these cakes and sweets. I feel a lot of people may think it is orientated toward children but this is not the case. I would say it is more for adults, however there are boxes on different pages of the magazine which suggest which parts your children can help you make so they can definitely get involved.

Personally, I am 21 years old with no kids, but I still find it a great magazine, whether you are making a cake for a child’s birthday or just making treats for yourself.

One aspect of this magazine I really liked was at the back it gave four standard cake recipes which I found very helpful.

And it also gave the different units of measurement which is fanatsic because depending where you get your recipes from, they can sometimes have different methods of measuring ingredients and you can easily get confused, especially if you are a beginner in baking.

Of course this review wouldn’t be a review if I did not try out some of the recipes.

I was most interested in trying out the recipes that needed the ‘free gifts’ you get with the magazine.

In this issue, the magazine came with a giant Mickey Mouse cookie cutter, and two Winnie the Pooh stencils.

Mickey Mouse Cookies

I followed the cookie recipe given in this magazine and made some Mickey Mouse Cookies.

One thing I learned from using it is not to press to hard on the embossing part of the cutter. This just cuts the dough and makes the cookie difficult to move and it falls apart easily. You just have to play around with it until you find a techique that works for you.

Here is what the cookies looked like.

They held their shape well which I am quite pleased with, but like all cookies they do expand a little bit.

Left plain as they are, I found them a bit dry. I would recommend melting some chocolate and covering them or something similar.

I also covered one with some coloured roll out fondant which was quite fun but very time consuming (which is why I only did one). But this would be very cute for a little boys birthday party (and for a girl you could make some Minnie Mouse ones, a cutter of Minnie Mouse will be coming with Issue 3 I believe!).

Winnie the Pooh Honey Buns

I was very intruiged when I read the ingredients for this recipe because I noticed there was no sugar! Also it is made using whole wheat flour, so in actual fact these buns are reasonably healthy.

Honey is used as a substitute for sugar and surprisingly, despite the fact this recipe calls for 7oz of honey, the taste of honey from the bun is not too strong.

When I was a kid, I loved Winnie the Pooh so much that I use to force myself to eat honey, despite the fact that I hated it! So naturally I was unsure as to whether or not I would actually like these buns considering there was a lot of honey involved. But they actually turned out okay.

I can see why the magazine suggests covering them with fondant though because it does need that extra bit of sweetness, but if you do not have a sweet tooth then perhaps this recipe is perfect for you!

The stencils that came with the magazine were designed for this recipe so naturally I had to give it a go.

I rolled out the fondant and tried several different methods of using the stencil.

First I mixed yellow food colour powder (yellow) with vodka. I know what you are thinking vodka on a cake? But what happens is the vodka mixes with the powder creating a sort of food paint. Then as the ‘paint’ dries, the vodka evaporates and I promise you, you can not taste the vodka!

I tried this method but the ‘paint’ was too runny for the stencil, which resulted in a smudged mess as you can see below

I also tried using edible glue and edible glitter. This method actually worked surprisingly well, despite the fact I forgot to cover Winnie’s eyebrows – whoops!

Finally I accidentally discovered my next method. I pushed down too hard on the stencil against the fondant and it came out as a reverse embossed effect and it worked so that is an alternative method you could use.

Another great thing about the magazine is it actually gives you instructions as to how to use the stencils, which is great for beginners.

It also gives more hints and tips, like how to cover a cake with roll-out icing (or fondant)

So, since this was the first issue, it only cost €1.99 (£0.99), and I believe the next issue will cost €3.99 (£2.50) but then from Issue 3 onwards it will cost the regular price of €5.99 (£3.99).

I honestly think you get your moneys worth. The way I always look at it is, if you were to go on a night out in Ireland, one drink would cost you roughly €5, which is gone in minutes, whereas this magazine will only cost €6 and you get to keep it for life, not to mention the gifts that come with it each week. So am I happy I purchased it? Absolutely!

Now if you are wanting to go that extra step, you can always subscribe to this magazine by going to http://www.eaglemoss.com/disney-cakes

This will cost the exact same as shipping is free, plus you get 5 free gifts worth up to £80!

I was going to subscribe, but the thing that put me off is you get one delivery of 4 magazines per month, whereas I could just go down to the shop weekly to purchase the magazine. I am very impatient so I don’t think I could wait once a month knowing other people already have their copies.

One reason I was tempted to subscribing was the binders you get to hold all your magazines. BUT alas, I read that once their online shop is set up (which they said could be a while) you can buy the binders from here, so I think that is what I will do.

So I think that pretty much covers everything, but if you have any questions about the magazine, please feel free to ask me. If anyone is interested I would definitely be willing to do these posts every week when the magazine comes out trying out the recipes etc.

– Bee