Cake decorating made easy:writing with frosting (a bit of a cheat)

those blue things are the message stamps

I used a toothpick to trace "Chris"

So here's my son's birthday cake. It's very simple, but I think it passes. Anyways, what I wanted to tell you about are 2 ways to simplify the message part done in frosting.  

Several years ago, I bought this set of frosting "stamps" -- the Script Message Press Set, made by Wilton. You press them into the cake's frosting, and a message is stamped. Next, you trace this stamped message with your lettering frosting using a small round piping tip. Lacking a stamp with the right words (such as a name), I use a toothpick to trace the word(s), then follow up with the frosting for the lettering.

The stamp kit that I bought came with the following words: Happy, Birthday, Anniversary, Congratulations, Best, Wishes. I can put them together for many different sentiments. Last I checked, this particular set was retailing for under $5 USD. 

But I also want to point out that a toothpick and a steady hand can create a nice message, as well. If you trace your message into soft and fresh frosting, any mistakes can be smoothed over and you can try with the toothpick again.

I find it best to do my message first, then any edge trim after, just in case I need to start over on the toothpick message, by smoothing the frosting.

For bags, tips and couplers (the couplers are the pieces that attach the tip to the bag, one part goes inside the bag, the other secures the tip from the outside), I've had the same basic set of tips, round, medium star, small star, and leaf, for about 21 years. My original bags wore out years ago (split the seams), so now I use washed-out freezer bags, whose zip no longer works very well. I snip a bit off the corner, fit in the coupler and tip, fill the bag with frosting, then roll the top edge down as I go.

Thanksgiving menu: substitute for oven-roasting bags

Many folks like to use those special oven-roasting bags for their Thanksgiving turkeys. They do speed up the cooking process (which will save not just time, but electricity, as well). And they leave you with a succulent roasted bird. But I have a substitute for those bags that I use, that I usually have on hand and is quite a bit cheaper. Aluminum foil.

From the Reynolds Kitchens, "the taste of tender, juicy turkey, quick roasted in your oven. Loosely wrap your turkey, sprinkled with seasoned salt and pepper (or other favorite seasonings), in heavy duty aluminum foil." (For more details, go to reynoldskitchens.com, and in the search bar, enter the search terms "foil wrapped roasted turkey". Their links have changed since this post was published, but you can find the technique for wrapping and roasting through a search in their site. )

Bake the turkey at a high temperature (450 degrees), until the final temp of the breast meat is 170 degrees F or thigh meat is 180 degrees F.  Your turkey should roast in 2  1/2 to 3  1/2 hours.

In the last 30 minutes, it is recommended you carefully open the foil and fold back. This allows the turkey to brown.

And what about frequent basting? According to Norbest, frequent basting is unnecessary in modern birds, as most have been pre-basted. Frequent basting will only prolong the roasting time, as the oven will cool every time it is opened. However, I find putting a glaze over the top of the turkey before roasting gives the finished surface a lovely color and delicious flavor. And the gravy tastes gourmet, truly not your usual turkey gravy. I use a modified version of a Southern Living turkey glaze. My version uses some orange zest, orange juice, jelly (either crabapple or red currant), sage, butter, salt and pepper. (The Southern Living version calls for orange marmalade, sage, butter, salt and pepper).