June 18, 2024 • 27 mins
This episode is sprinkled with practical wisdom and tips that will help both the novice and seasoned baker to explore the sweet art of cake decorating. From the secrets of working with American buttercream to achieving the perfect cake moisture with simple syrup, Bre generously opens her kitchen to us, revealing the subtleties of her craft. We also get a glimpse into Bre's Instagram portfolio—a visual feast showcasing her exceptional talent. Whether you're tuning in to enhance your own baking skills or simply to savor the inspiring journey of a fellow creative spirit, Bre Vestal's story is a delightful blend of resilience, artistry, and the magic that happens when life hands you lemons, and you make a lemon buttercream frosted cake.
Find Bre on Instagram!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
This is the Kestrel Country Podcast, where we
discuss the people, places andevents all around Kestrel
(00:37):
Country.
Welcome to the cashflow countrypodcast.
We have brie vestal on today,which is really fun.
So, brie, tell us a little bitabout yourself, where you're
from and what brought you toMoscow.
Sweet.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Well, I'm Brie Vestal .
We moved here about two yearsago.
Originally, we're from Texas.
We went to New York City andthen we came here, so it's a big
jump around the country.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Almost coasts all sides.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Yes, we've experienced three corners.
We have one, one more, but Idon't really think we want to go
to southern california, sowe're gonna stay here.
We came out here for herhusband's work he does video
media, so we did that.
Um, I'm a stay-at-home mom ofthree.
While he does his thing, I getto do my thing and they're a
good time.
A little wild bunch, butthey're a happy wild bunch, so,
(01:22):
which is wonderful.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Yes, that's what we do.
Yeah, so you came out two yearsago and you have a very
talented ability with makingcakes.
Thank you.
Brie makes beautiful cakes, buthow did you get into that?
Speaker 1 (01:40):
So we were in New York City during the whole
pandemic.
Craziness, sorry.
Really quick to back it up,what year did you guys move to
New York 2018.
Okay, right, January 2018.
Okay.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
And what pulled you guys?
Speaker 1 (01:51):
to New York.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Husband's work?
Okay, yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
He was doing video out there for various different
companies Macy's, dr Oz, stufflike that so we moved out there
for him to do that.
And then we ended up thereduring 2020, whenever everything
was completely shut down, likewe had a friend um the weekend,
everything shut down.
She drove upstate and she drovethrough manhattan and she made
(02:15):
a video of it all and you didn'tsee anybody on the sidewalks,
which, if you know manhattan,that's really creepy like the
apocalypse happened.
Yeah, it was like is this likecloverfield?
the movie or something like that, like what's happening?
Um, so yeah, we were just likewell, we're staying inside, I
guess.
Apparently, yes, while we wereinside, I had already kind of
baked a little bit, but I didn'treally have the time because we
(02:38):
were out doing things.
So whenever I had the time, Iactually worked on honing the
skill and worked on decoratingmore, and that's whenever it
really started to take off.
So it was a.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
COVID inspiration.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Was this when your husband was doing cake by stuff
too, or was that not aninfluence?
Speaker 1 (02:56):
No, that actually he did not do that until 2021.
Okay, I think yes, because hewas furloughed during the
pandemic and then, whenever hecame back, he realized he didn't
need to be at that companyanymore, right, and so he was
looking for someone thatwouldn't compromise values, and
the cake boss would not do thatto him.
(03:17):
So he worked for the cake boss,but you'd already started
getting your cake skills.
Oh yes, there was a lot of cakeat that time, because he would
pictures of it and you can'tsell it once you cut into it.
So he would bring cake home andI would make a cake that day.
So you got to taste both.
Oh yeah, there was a lot ofcake at the time.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Yeah, and you still haven't gotten sick of it.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
No, which is good?
No, I haven't.
I don't know if anyone else has, but Well, you're still making
them, that's true, yeah, yeah,so you started doing it.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Then how did you get into all your palette knife work
and how did you teach yourself?
Speaker 1 (03:51):
I got it, I think.
I just saw pictures of it and Iwanted to do it, and so I
looked up how to do it, but atthe time there were no tutorials
on how to do it.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Really.
No, there is Okay, so therewasn't back then.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Then YouTube took off with how to do this yeah, at
the time, whenever I looked itup, there was only one person on
youtube who had like a somewhatfree tutorial, okay, and so I
watched what she did and thenjust took the basics of what she
had and morphed it into whatI'm doing now, um, but yeah,
there's a lot more people who doit on youtube now.
So if you want to learn, youcan actually look at YouTube now
(04:24):
.
Yeah Well that's super fun.
So tell me, do you have anartistic background besides
cakes?
No, no, no, not at all.
No, yeah, before I starteddoing that, before we got
married and stuff, I was workingretail like I wasn't doing
anything like that.
And in high school retail LikeI wasn't doing anything like
(04:46):
that.
And in high school I like Ikind of did watercolors and
stuff like that, but not really.
I was more athletic in highschool than anything, yeah.
So this is just very random butthen that's where we are.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Yeah, yeah, oh, that's really fun, I didn't know
.
Okay, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
I didn't know at the time either.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
So here we, yeah, and there's passion for it yeah, so
when you, when you um dive deepinto it, is it the baking part
that um the decorating part,both that you enjoy equally it's
both equally.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Yeah, I mean, I would say I lean more into the
decorating a little bit, becausesometimes when I turn on the
oven I'm like I have to makethis right now in order to make
this, so I mean they go together, but the decorating part is
obviously way more fun than thebaking part for me.
Yeah, there are like technicalbaking things like shoe pastry
and stuff that I do like to do,but I have yet to learn how to
(05:33):
make that like artisticallypretty.
It can look like culinarypretty, but I mean, that's not
that, that's not artistic but,you know, it's just different
right than what I do, yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
So what is your go to style like on recipes, because
I feel like the cake is actuallypretty important, yes, and if
it doesn't hold together, ifit's too soft, you get a
nightmare.
For you know when you're tryingto frost and you know, don't do
a creme, cote or whatever, eventrying that and everything's
just getting into the frosting.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
So what have you?
Speaker 2 (06:03):
learned what are?
Speaker 1 (06:05):
your tips and tricks Well for recipes, so I use.
I've told a lot of people aboutthis book, sorry no you're fine
, I use Tessa Huff.
She has two recipe books.
I have the second one, I haveyet to get the first one, but it
looks good too.
The one I have is called Icingon the Cake, and pretty much
(06:26):
every recipe that I've used fromher holds really well, and she
wrote the book to where it hasthe recipe and ideas for
decorating, so she has differenttips for how to decorate in
different recipes.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
And.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
I just kind of mix and match all of her recipes and
fillings to put together.
But every time I've madesomething of hers it's held
really well.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
So I just kind of blindly trust whatever recipe
she's written, yeah Well, if youfind someone good, it's kind of
like yes, stick with it, oh yes.
There's online.
One of the ones we found wasSally's Baking Addiction.
Yes, yeah, you've hit that onetoo.
I've made a few of hers, yeah,and her stuff is good too been
(07:05):
very much getting into cakedecorating, yes and yeah, making
and all of that, but it is ifit doesn't turn out or if it's
too soft.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Oh, yeah, oh man, oh yeah.
There's one that I do make.
It's like an orange butter cakeand I've it's really good, but
I found if you don't mix itproperly, it has it has real
orange juice in it oh and so theorange juice gets really sticky
if it doesn't properly mix witheverything else, so it comes up
on the side and it makes itreally crumbly.
So there's some things that youjust have to actually make it
(07:29):
properly, because it's not thecake itself, but it's just the
way that you put it togetheryeah, there's a method to the
madness in terms of thestep-by-step yes and each cake
is different too.
Like it has, you mix it acertain way sometimes and not
other times, and well, see,that's fun.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Oh, I do well, and I find the science of that stuff
fascinating, so I find it it'sinteresting, really interesting.
Oh, I did not know it was athing.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
I was never a science person, so it's funny that this
is happening.
Well, that is not what I wasexpecting either I kind of love
that.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
For people you know it's when you're in school and
you're learning math or you'relearning all these things which,
disclosure, I do love math, ordisclaimer.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Right, so I you know, but.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
But when you get into the real world, you know,
because in elementary orwhatever you're like, when am I
going to use math?
Speaker 1 (08:14):
You know, you know how does it apply.
That's the thing and right.
You're like well, well, I useit every day.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
now, yeah, you're constantly using it in baking,
you know, in figuring things out.
And then the science is thesame way, where this
practicality of what's making itbrown, or what's making it flop
, or you know, acid affecting,like the onions, yes, you know
that kind of a thing right.
Where tomatoes, that wassomething I learned recently,
like tomatoes added into theonions will stop or slow the
(08:43):
cooking big time.
Oh, if I I learned recently,it's like tomatoes added into
the onions will stop or slow thecooking big time.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Oh, if I'm getting this right, I didn't know that
either.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
I think I'm getting it right, yeah, and I have to
double check.
Yeah, but.
But it was one of those thingswhere like, oh, that makes sense
.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
That makes sense.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
So you know if you're sauteing your onions before you
add in, if you're making chilior something like that you're
like oh, okay, that helps youunderstand.
Yeah, this step by step versuslike why isn't it working if we
just dump right?
Speaker 1 (09:05):
yeah, I know, I want to make chili again.
Yeah, test it out.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Yeah, yeah, I'll double check on it, but yeah, so
that science stuff behind it isactually fascinating and then
if your cake is not workingright, that's so cool, right?
Speaker 1 (09:17):
yeah, I had um.
In new york my old pastor'swife was like this cake keeps
falling apart and I don't knowwhy, and she had old baking
powder or baking soda one of thetwo.
I mean it wasn't, like you know, expired or anything, but it
just wasn't working properly.
And so she kept trying, andthen I told her to replace the
baking soda, and then it Workedright.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Magically.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
But it's things you might not even think to change
or check, right, yeah, exactly,that's really fun.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Yeah, okay, so it's Tessa Huff on the cookbook and
her last name is H-U-F-F.
Okay, like Huff and Puff.
Yes, yeah, yeah.
And her Instagram has a lot ofgood stuff too.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Oh, that's nice.
So she's a good one, and bothher frostings and her cakes you
found to be really effective.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Yes, Her frosting recipe I haven't memorized
because I do it so often, buther American buttercream recipe
is what I use almost all thetime.
I've done her Swiss meringuebefore too, and I like Swiss
meringue, but not everyone doesdoes, and it also doesn't hold
color as well.
So I've kind of leaned awayfrom that because butter and gel
food coloring going togetherdoes not work I mean you'll get
(10:26):
color, but it's really reallypale, and so you have to use a
lot of your food color to getany sort of saturation so?
Speaker 2 (10:33):
so what does um so her american buttercream?
Does it use butter?
Speaker 1 (10:37):
yes, it does yes, but the butter, the butter to
powdered sugar ratio is muchmore.
In a Swiss meringue it's butterand just a little bit of
granulated sugar and egg whites,so it's majority butter in the
Swiss meringue and gel.
Coloring and butter do not likeeach other.
Okay, but gel and powderedsugar do.
So if you are making a Swissmeringue, you would have to get
like a liquid candy.
(10:58):
Uh, food coloring okay, whichI'd prefer not to do that.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Do you notice a taste difference between?
Yes, you do major tastedifference.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Yeah, american buttercream is really sweet and
the texture um is just more likeyour classic kind of grocery
store.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
I mean, not gross but no, but we but it coats the
tongue, yes, yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
And then a Swiss meringue is like not as sweet,
and then it's whipped egg whitesand butter, so it's at all.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Yes, okay.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Yeah, yeah, you.
You get the egg whites andsugar and you get it over like a
double broiler and you whiskthe egg whites until sugar
dissolves it's like at 160 andthen you whisk in the room
temperature butter until itbecomes a buttercream okay and
that's and you add like vanillaor whatever flavor you want to
it and that's that, and so ithas a really buttery flavor.
(11:49):
Not nearly as sweet like it.
I actually prefer it, honestly,I like it better, but it just
does not decorate as well as theother one.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Does it have a time limit on how quickly you have to
apply it to the cake?
Speaker 1 (12:01):
no, no, it's okay, no , it's fine, yeah, yeah, the
sugar still preserves it, likeit does with regular buttercream
nice, but I also haven't leftit out for a long time.
I feel like it would melt a lotfaster.
Yeah, so that's another riskI'm not willing to take,
especially now that it's gettinghot outside.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Yeah, yeah don't want to do that.
Yeah, so you prefer theamerican buttercream, and do you
do anything special with yourgel colors or a special brand
that you recommend?
Yeah, I use americolor okaywhere do you?
Speaker 1 (12:29):
get that, uh, just from their website, americolor.
You can get it on amazon too,but it's a lot cheaper if you
get it from americolor directlyand they're close to our area.
So if you get it shipped it'sactually faster than amazon too.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
Oh, that's a win, it's a big win, which is sad
because amazon's supposed to befast, I know well I feel like
that the prime today has changedand being in moscow you know
especially, it's like, exactlyit's like three or four days
yeah, you have to be ready for,like, you have to prepare a
little bit, yes, but yeahamericolor.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Um, they have different sets.
You can buy like beginner setsand I think they prepare a
little bit.
Yes, but yeah, americolor, theyhave different sets you can buy
like beginner sets and I thinkthey're a little bit cheaper
than buying the individualcolors.
Okay, but the individual colorsI think.
I think in total they have 72.
Oh, wow, yeah, do you have allof them?
No, I have a good amount ofthem, but I don't have all of
them.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
But, yeah, it have all of them.
But, um, yeah, it's something,it's like something in the 60 70
range that they have.
But, yeah, wide range of color.
Some of them are duds, but someof them I mean most of them are
really really good and do theytaste weird at all?
or do you have to notice applylike a mass amount to get no, no
, you just use a little bit at atime and it saturates really
(13:36):
because it's a gel, so itsaturates really really well.
The only time that you have touse a lot is if you want a
really deep jewel tone, like anice navy blue, yeah, or kind of
a eggplant purple.
You kind of have to add alittle bit more, but not the
whole bottle okay, you know,probably just like three or four
more drops more than you wouldother colors.
Okay, so it's not drastic.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
No, were you thinking about?
You know, like bakery stufffrom the grocery store.
You know the red roses wherethat taste is like yes, yeah, no
, I have.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
I do know that with food colorings, red tastes worse
than all the other ones.
Okay, and red food coloring is.
Red is the hardest color to getwhenever you're coloring icing
or anything like that, so peopletend to dump red in it to get
an overly saturated red, and sothat might be why it tastes so
bad because red actually doestaste worse than all the other
(14:27):
ones.
Oh, that's interesting.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
So just avoid red yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
Well, and also another thing people don't
really know is that colors takelonger to develop.
Really so, if you mix yourcolor into your buttercream,
royal icing, whatever.
If you let it sit out for likean hour or so which you don't
really want to do because youwant to do right now, Right, but
if you let it sit for some time, it'll develop and it'll become
(14:52):
more saturated.
So, whenever you're making a redor a blue or a black, people
are like why is it not like thecolor I want it to be?
It has to develop for some time.
Another thing that you can doto get the color if you're not
getting it and you want to do itfast, you can take probably a
few spoonfuls of your mix andput it in the microwave or on
the stovetop if you don't wantto use a microwave and you can
(15:14):
zap it until it's melted andwarm, and then you can mix it in
with the remainder of what youhave and it'll actually make it
the color that you're wanting itto be, because it's just
speeding up the process.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Yeah, oh, that's really fascinating, yeah don't
know why.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
I don't know the science behind that I know it
works.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Yeah, that's really cool.
Yeah, um, so the frostingworking well is another one
where I bet you could mess thatup too, because Because when
you're whipping it or anythinglike that, is it possible to
overwhip, to have thingsseparate.
What are the failure pointsthat happen in the frosting?
It's possible.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
I know for Swiss meringue buttercream that one's
a lot trickier because thebutter has to be a perfect
temperature for you to be ableto whip it right.
That one separates reallyeasily the American buttercream.
Oh man, I feel like it's not asdifficult.
You just have to make sure yourbutter is room temperature.
Sometimes I even have it alittle bit melted.
(16:12):
Okay, so pretty soft.
Yeah, you want it really soft.
But if it's soft you whip thebutter first and then I add half
of my powdered sugar in andthen the liquid, and then I whip
it some more and then add therest of the powdered sugar, and
I've never really had a problemwith it.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Well, and what about with palette knife decorating
versus piping?
In terms of your consistency,your thickness, I don't like
piping.
That's just me, though I knowso many people are really good
at piping.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
I've tried it so many times and it is not for me.
No, it is not.
Maybe I just need to try more,but that's not for me.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
So with the palette knife, though does it need to be
thicker?
The frosting consistency?
Speaker 1 (16:52):
You know when you're holding a piping bag your hands
are warming it up, but that canbe frustrating too, where it
starts to.
That's probably why I don'tlike it.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
Well, because if it starts too cold and then you're
like squeezing, so hard.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Well.
So piping with tips is what Idon't like, but I do pipe um
like if I'm making a design orsomething, or I'm drawing a
character on a cake.
I will use a piping bag to pipeit on, so I definitely get like
the hands warming it up.
That's not fun.
No, but uh, with uh, thepalette knives, you don't have
to worry about that.
Yeah, at all.
So whatever texture you have,it is the texture is going to be
(17:23):
the whole time.
It doesn't get too warm oranything like that, which is
another reason why to prefer Ilike it a lot yeah yeah, yeah,
that makes complete sense.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Um so, how do you, how long does it take you, would
you say, to decorate withpalette knives, you know, to
complete a whole cake?
Speaker 1 (17:39):
um, so if I'm doing a floral arrangement, it usually
takes me, uh, 45 minutes to anhour.
Okay, to finish, just just thepalette knife part yeah um, the
crumb coat.
You know, you crumb coat it andthen you let it sit for 30
minutes and then you do the basecoat and then I let that sit
for 30 minutes.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Okay, so really quick .
So when you've done your crumbcoat, you're doing two coats,
basically on the bottom here,okay.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
So crumb coat do you just let it sit out, or do you
put it in the fridge?
I usually put it in the fridge.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Just keep it away from everything.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Yes, and I think it speeds it up a little bit too.
Just to get it really firm.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
And then you put a base coat, yeah, and that is
just another layer.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Yes, that's a.
I mean it's a thicker layer towhere you don't see the cake
through it, and that a base coat.
For me to put it on usuallytakes me 20 to 30 minutes too,
so putting that on and then Iput it back in the fridge until
I'm ready to decorate.
I usually decorate at nightwhen everyone's in bed, just so
I can actually focus on it.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
Makes sense.
Yeah, so do you do the otherparts, like when do you fit this
all in Cause?
Obviously you've got a lot ofsteps the baking, the cooling.
Yeah, so how do you work it inthe day?
Yes, with the kids, right.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
So baking I usually do whenever, because we have a
deep freeze and cakes freezereally well Nice, so I'll just
bake it and then freeze it untillike the day before.
I'm going to decorate it andthen I'll decorate it.
Do a crumb coat in the morningand then do the base coat, like
sometime in the afternoon, andjust let it sit in the fridge
until I'm ready to decorate itat night.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
So you try to do it the day before you're going to
eat it.
Yes, so that way it's like atleast fresh and not gross.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
I know Dry cake is the worst.
No, it is.
And the good thing aboutfreezing it too is, if you bake
it and then you wrap it wheneverit's still slightly warm, it
actually traps the moistureinside, and so it's frozen.
Whenever you thaw it out, it'sstill maintaining that, yeah,
moisture, yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Um, what about, like the syrup coat or whatever
people do?
Simple syrup, yeah.
What is your thought on that?
Like a cheap, a cheap method?
No, I don't think it's a cheat.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
I mean it might be too sweet.
I've only done it.
Oh, maybe two times.
Yeah, I just.
It feels like a littleunnecessary to me, and it also
makes your cake, uh, reallymoist.
So it would really fall apartif something goes wrong go wrong
, but yeah, I mean, I'm notagainst simple syrups, I've done
.
Uh, it's lilac season yeah solast year I made lilac simple
(20:02):
syrup, oh yeah, and I, like youknow, water bath, canned it and
stuff, and I used that for mydaughter's cake last year and it
was good, but it was also justlike barely noticeable okay so
for the extra effort.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
It was kind of like yeah, yeah you didn't eat it, no
okay, yeah, are you?
Do you?
Are you particular about yourflour or anything on that front
too?
Speaker 1 (20:23):
not really.
I mean, I definitely preferlike unbleached all-purpose
flour.
Cake flour is really nice ifyou want to buy it all the time.
Yeah it's on it, it is but yeah, if you want a really nice cake
, cake flour is great and then Ihave before gotten, uh, the
european butter, which you knowhas a higher fat content, and
that is really nice, but I alsodon't even know where to find
(20:46):
that here.
I found it in new york?
Okay, but I have not found ithere.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
At any of the grocery stores.
I wonder if Safeway carries it,maybe, maybe I have not found
that, but that is really nice ifyou can find it.
It is also just that much moreexpensive.
Do you use it both in the cakeand the frosting, or is that
higher fat content?
Speaker 1 (21:03):
in the frosting.
I would do both.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Yeah, I would be okay .
Yeah, for sure, that's reallyfun.
So with your cake stuff, you'vebeen doing some of it.
Is it something that you havestarted doing for other people
or is it just right now?
Hobby.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Oh no, this is for a bit.
No, I've definitely done it forother people.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
I mean, if people ask me to make them something, I'll
make them something.
It's not, I'm not'll make themfor other people.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
Yeah, that's really fun.
Have you done wedding cakes atall, or is that a zone where
it's like, no, I have, okay,yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
Yeah, I did one back in December, which was really
fun.
I did like a three tieredwedding cake and then she wanted
some sheet cake to have in theback, so I did the wedding cake
and then six sheet cakes in theback for her and then I have
another wedding actually at theend of june that I'm gonna be
doing okay, so still yet todetermine what we're actually
doing for that, but it will be,it'll be fun and you take a lot
(21:58):
of pictures of your cakes too,so if people want to see them,
where should they go?
Uh, just my instagram.
Okay, uh, which is my name?
Speaker 2 (22:05):
brie underscore vestal, but yeah, and brie is
with one e yes, one e yes quiteconfusing.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
There's either an I or an e, but I don't have either
of those yes, it's just brieyeah and then.
Yeah, I do, I mostly do cakesand then I do, you know, sugar
cookies and pies and stuff likethat too.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
So that's sprinkled on your sugar cookies?
Do you palette knife too, I can.
Or do you pipe, or what's your?
Speaker 1 (22:27):
decorating for sugar cookies.
Normally I do royal icing.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Oh, okay.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Yeah, so you're doing the fill and yeah.
Okay, yeah, the fill andeverything like that, and either
I do it straight with royalicing for the design or I
watercolor on top of the royalicing.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
So then you're pulling back that watercolor bit
.
I know yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
That one little stint in high school is coming back
for cookies have you?
Speaker 2 (22:49):
has it inspired you at all to try watercoloring on
paper, or is it just you love alittle bit actually?
Speaker 1 (22:55):
no, I've.
I've done a few watercolorssince then and then um, I
actually started to get intoacrylic painting again.
At Easter time I did um acrylicpainted eggs, oh so that was
okay.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
So how do you do acrylic painted eggs?
Speaker 1 (23:10):
um, so I got wooden egg?
Well, not like actually, yeah,that's confusing.
No, I got actual, like woodeneggs.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Well, the benefit is, then you can reuse them.
Yes, okay, yeah, they're morelike an heirloom thing.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Yes, and so, yeah, wooden eggs, just uh, do a base
coat of acrylic paint on it andthen paint your design and then
modge, podge over it so it sealsit.
That's really fun.
Yeah, those are fun.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
Yeah, that would be really fun.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
I did.
I did the same thing withornaments too.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Oh, at Christmas time , yeah, oh, ok, so the artistic
elements are, it's broadening alittle bit yeah.
That's really fun.
Well, as we wind down, anyfinal tips and tricks on getting
into cake decorating you know,as a fun hobby or a side thing.
Yeah, and we talked about thetiming, on how to squeeze it in
(23:56):
with people and family and kids.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
Oh yeah, you can definitely work around your
schedule, however you need it tobe.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
It should definitely like fit into your life instead
of just trying to like force it,you know, but to enjoy the cake
baking process, like birthdaybaking, you know.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
So it doesn't flop or you're not dealing with the
cake that's just ripped apart orcomes out of the pan with half
of it, right, right.
So actually my daughter'sbirthday is tomorrow.
Oh, is it really?
Yeah, well, tell us what you'redoing.
Yes, so well, what I'm doingfor.
So I'm doing an outdoor teaparty for her.
She requested jemima puddleduck and chocolate cakes oh yes.
so like what I would do forsomething like this is last week
I made her cake and it's beenin the freezer and I'll pull it
(24:38):
out today and I'll do a crumbcoat on it because this is her
birthday.
So I'm not just doing a cake,I'm doing more, yeah.
So I'm gonna do the crumb coattoday, I'm gonna decorate it
tomorrow, and then today andtomorrow I'm gonna bake all the
other things for her party.
So we're doing scones and Imade little miniature pots of
strawberry jam.
Oh cute, I made strawberry jamyesterday and I keep asking to
(25:00):
eat the jam.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Like do you have to wait for your birthday?
Speaker 1 (25:03):
Yeah, and then I'm going to make other, like
appetizer things tomorrow andstuff like that.
So there's a lot of stuff goingon.
Cake is already made, so Idon't have to worry about that,
I just have to get it decorated.
But if you just space it outover time, that'll help with
scheduling.
And then if you're just gettingstarted making cakes, you just
have to do it.
Yeah, like, if you don't do it,you won't get into it and your
(25:26):
first ones are going to behorrible.
They're going to be so bad.
Do those as the birthday cakeand you might be pleasantly
surprised.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
I mean, they might be really good, but my first few
were not good.
When you do, you have a go-tolike do you always line with
parchment paper or do you do anykind of special thing to
insulate the pan when it bakes,you do anything.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
I actually don't do parchment paper because it
annoys me.
Okay, just cutting a perfectcircle every time.
Every time it bothers me, so Iget the cake pan.
I uh cover the whole thing withbutter just like room
temperature butter.
Yes, real butter.
I don't use the sprays andstuff because they let me down
too many times okay so I do realbutter, and then on top of the
(26:05):
butter you put flour and justmake sure it's coated in butter,
then then flour, and then itcomes out beautifully every time
.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
Yeah, what if you're doing one of those naked cakes?
Does that change that process,or does the flour end up showing
up at all?
No, no.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
If it does, you can just like kind of brush it off
but it usually doesn't.
The only place where it wouldshow up is on the bottom rim of
the cake which is going to be.
Yeah yeah, no, the actual cakeitself.
You won't notice.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Yeah, yeah, okay, so those are.
Those are good tips and tricksand it sounds like a really
yummy tea party yes, yeah, I'msure they will have a good time.
Oh yes all the all the treatsyes, yes well, brie.
Thank you so much for coming on, and it's really fun, it's?
We could talk a lot about cakeyeah, we could.
Thanks for having me yes, well,go take a look at her work at
(26:53):
uh.
Remind us of your instagram onemore time bre underscore vestal
v-e-s-t-a-l and then, hopefully, we'll get to see pictures of
the birthday cake.
Oh yeah, maybe by the time thisdrops we'll see, maybe.
Yeah, it'd be pretty fun.
Yeah, well, thanks brie.
Yeah, thank you, katherinethanks for joining us.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Like, share, subscribe.
We'll see you next week.
That'd be pretty fun, yeah,well thanks Bree.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Yeah, Thank you, Catherine.
Thanks for joining us.
Like, share, subscribe.
We'll see you next week.
This is the Kestrel Country Podcast, where we
discuss the people, places andevents all around Kestrel
(00:37):
Country.
Welcome to the cashflow countrypodcast.
We have brie vestal on today,which is really fun.
So, brie, tell us a little bitabout yourself, where you're
from and what brought you toMoscow.
Sweet.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
Well, I'm Brie Vestal .
We moved here about two yearsago.
Originally, we're from Texas.
We went to New York City andthen we came here, so it's a big
jump around the country.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
Almost coasts all sides.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Yes, we've experienced three corners.
We have one, one more, but Idon't really think we want to go
to southern california, sowe're gonna stay here.
We came out here for herhusband's work he does video
media, so we did that.
Um, I'm a stay-at-home mom ofthree.
While he does his thing, I getto do my thing and they're a
good time.
A little wild bunch, butthey're a happy wild bunch, so,
(01:22):
which is wonderful.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Yes, that's what we do.
Yeah, so you came out two yearsago and you have a very
talented ability with makingcakes.
Thank you.
Brie makes beautiful cakes, buthow did you get into that?
Speaker 1 (01:40):
So we were in New York City during the whole
pandemic.
Craziness, sorry.
Really quick to back it up,what year did you guys move to
New York 2018.
Okay, right, January 2018.
Okay.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
And what pulled you guys?
Speaker 1 (01:51):
to New York.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Husband's work?
Okay, yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
He was doing video out there for various different
companies Macy's, dr Oz, stufflike that so we moved out there
for him to do that.
And then we ended up thereduring 2020, whenever everything
was completely shut down, likewe had a friend um the weekend,
everything shut down.
She drove upstate and she drovethrough manhattan and she made
(02:15):
a video of it all and you didn'tsee anybody on the sidewalks,
which, if you know manhattan,that's really creepy like the
apocalypse happened.
Yeah, it was like is this likecloverfield?
the movie or something like that, like what's happening?
Um, so yeah, we were just likewell, we're staying inside, I
guess.
Apparently, yes, while we wereinside, I had already kind of
baked a little bit, but I didn'treally have the time because we
(02:38):
were out doing things.
So whenever I had the time, Iactually worked on honing the
skill and worked on decoratingmore, and that's whenever it
really started to take off.
So it was a.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
COVID inspiration.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Was this when your husband was doing cake by stuff
too, or was that not aninfluence?
Speaker 1 (02:56):
No, that actually he did not do that until 2021.
Okay, I think yes, because hewas furloughed during the
pandemic and then, whenever hecame back, he realized he didn't
need to be at that companyanymore, right, and so he was
looking for someone thatwouldn't compromise values, and
the cake boss would not do thatto him.
(03:17):
So he worked for the cake boss,but you'd already started
getting your cake skills.
Oh yes, there was a lot of cakeat that time, because he would
pictures of it and you can'tsell it once you cut into it.
So he would bring cake home andI would make a cake that day.
So you got to taste both.
Oh yeah, there was a lot ofcake at the time.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Yeah, and you still haven't gotten sick of it.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
No, which is good?
No, I haven't.
I don't know if anyone else has, but Well, you're still making
them, that's true, yeah, yeah,so you started doing it.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Then how did you get into all your palette knife work
and how did you teach yourself?
Speaker 1 (03:51):
I got it, I think.
I just saw pictures of it and Iwanted to do it, and so I
looked up how to do it, but atthe time there were no tutorials
on how to do it.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
Really.
No, there is Okay, so therewasn't back then.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Then YouTube took off with how to do this yeah, at
the time, whenever I looked itup, there was only one person on
youtube who had like a somewhatfree tutorial, okay, and so I
watched what she did and thenjust took the basics of what she
had and morphed it into whatI'm doing now, um, but yeah,
there's a lot more people who doit on youtube now.
So if you want to learn, youcan actually look at YouTube now
(04:24):
.
Yeah Well that's super fun.
So tell me, do you have anartistic background besides
cakes?
No, no, no, not at all.
No, yeah, before I starteddoing that, before we got
married and stuff, I was workingretail like I wasn't doing
anything like that.
And in high school retail LikeI wasn't doing anything like
(04:46):
that.
And in high school I like Ikind of did watercolors and
stuff like that, but not really.
I was more athletic in highschool than anything, yeah.
So this is just very random butthen that's where we are.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
Yeah, yeah, oh, that's really fun, I didn't know
.
Okay, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
I didn't know at the time either.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
So here we, yeah, and there's passion for it yeah, so
when you, when you um dive deepinto it, is it the baking part
that um the decorating part,both that you enjoy equally it's
both equally.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Yeah, I mean, I would say I lean more into the
decorating a little bit, becausesometimes when I turn on the
oven I'm like I have to makethis right now in order to make
this, so I mean they go together, but the decorating part is
obviously way more fun than thebaking part for me.
Yeah, there are like technicalbaking things like shoe pastry
and stuff that I do like to do,but I have yet to learn how to
(05:33):
make that like artisticallypretty.
It can look like culinarypretty, but I mean, that's not
that, that's not artistic but,you know, it's just different
right than what I do, yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
So what is your go to style like on recipes, because
I feel like the cake is actuallypretty important, yes, and if
it doesn't hold together, ifit's too soft, you get a
nightmare.
For you know when you're tryingto frost and you know, don't do
a creme, cote or whatever, eventrying that and everything's
just getting into the frosting.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
So what have you?
Speaker 2 (06:03):
learned what are?
Speaker 1 (06:05):
your tips and tricks Well for recipes, so I use.
I've told a lot of people aboutthis book, sorry no you're fine
, I use Tessa Huff.
She has two recipe books.
I have the second one, I haveyet to get the first one, but it
looks good too.
The one I have is called Icingon the Cake, and pretty much
(06:26):
every recipe that I've used fromher holds really well, and she
wrote the book to where it hasthe recipe and ideas for
decorating, so she has differenttips for how to decorate in
different recipes.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
And.
Speaker 1 (06:36):
I just kind of mix and match all of her recipes and
fillings to put together.
But every time I've madesomething of hers it's held
really well.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
So I just kind of blindly trust whatever recipe
she's written, yeah Well, if youfind someone good, it's kind of
like yes, stick with it, oh yes.
There's online.
One of the ones we found wasSally's Baking Addiction.
Yes, yeah, you've hit that onetoo.
I've made a few of hers, yeah,and her stuff is good too been
(07:05):
very much getting into cakedecorating, yes and yeah, making
and all of that, but it is ifit doesn't turn out or if it's
too soft.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Oh, yeah, oh man, oh yeah.
There's one that I do make.
It's like an orange butter cakeand I've it's really good, but
I found if you don't mix itproperly, it has it has real
orange juice in it oh and so theorange juice gets really sticky
if it doesn't properly mix witheverything else, so it comes up
on the side and it makes itreally crumbly.
So there's some things that youjust have to actually make it
(07:29):
properly, because it's not thecake itself, but it's just the
way that you put it togetheryeah, there's a method to the
madness in terms of thestep-by-step yes and each cake
is different too.
Like it has, you mix it acertain way sometimes and not
other times, and well, see,that's fun.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Oh, I do well, and I find the science of that stuff
fascinating, so I find it it'sinteresting, really interesting.
Oh, I did not know it was athing.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
I was never a science person, so it's funny that this
is happening.
Well, that is not what I wasexpecting either I kind of love
that.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
For people you know it's when you're in school and
you're learning math or you'relearning all these things which,
disclosure, I do love math, ordisclaimer.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Right, so I you know, but.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
But when you get into the real world, you know,
because in elementary orwhatever you're like, when am I
going to use math?
Speaker 1 (08:14):
You know, you know how does it apply.
That's the thing and right.
You're like well, well, I useit every day.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
now, yeah, you're constantly using it in baking,
you know, in figuring things out.
And then the science is thesame way, where this
practicality of what's making itbrown, or what's making it flop
, or you know, acid affecting,like the onions, yes, you know
that kind of a thing right.
Where tomatoes, that wassomething I learned recently,
like tomatoes added into theonions will stop or slow the
(08:43):
cooking big time.
Oh, if I I learned recently,it's like tomatoes added into
the onions will stop or slow thecooking big time.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Oh, if I'm getting this right, I didn't know that
either.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
I think I'm getting it right, yeah, and I have to
double check.
Yeah, but.
But it was one of those thingswhere like, oh, that makes sense
.
Speaker 1 (08:53):
That makes sense.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
So you know if you're sauteing your onions before you
add in, if you're making chilior something like that you're
like oh, okay, that helps youunderstand.
Yeah, this step by step versuslike why isn't it working if we
just dump right?
Speaker 1 (09:05):
yeah, I know, I want to make chili again.
Yeah, test it out.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Yeah, yeah, I'll double check on it, but yeah, so
that science stuff behind it isactually fascinating and then
if your cake is not workingright, that's so cool, right?
Speaker 1 (09:17):
yeah, I had um.
In new york my old pastor'swife was like this cake keeps
falling apart and I don't knowwhy, and she had old baking
powder or baking soda one of thetwo.
I mean it wasn't, like you know, expired or anything, but it
just wasn't working properly.
And so she kept trying, andthen I told her to replace the
baking soda, and then it Workedright.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Magically.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
But it's things you might not even think to change
or check, right, yeah, exactly,that's really fun.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Yeah, okay, so it's Tessa Huff on the cookbook and
her last name is H-U-F-F.
Okay, like Huff and Puff.
Yes, yeah, yeah.
And her Instagram has a lot ofgood stuff too.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Oh, that's nice.
So she's a good one, and bothher frostings and her cakes you
found to be really effective.
Speaker 1 (10:05):
Yes, Her frosting recipe I haven't memorized
because I do it so often, buther American buttercream recipe
is what I use almost all thetime.
I've done her Swiss meringuebefore too, and I like Swiss
meringue, but not everyone doesdoes, and it also doesn't hold
color as well.
So I've kind of leaned awayfrom that because butter and gel
food coloring going togetherdoes not work I mean you'll get
(10:26):
color, but it's really reallypale, and so you have to use a
lot of your food color to getany sort of saturation so?
Speaker 2 (10:33):
so what does um so her american buttercream?
Does it use butter?
Speaker 1 (10:37):
yes, it does yes, but the butter, the butter to
powdered sugar ratio is muchmore.
In a Swiss meringue it's butterand just a little bit of
granulated sugar and egg whites,so it's majority butter in the
Swiss meringue and gel.
Coloring and butter do not likeeach other.
Okay, but gel and powderedsugar do.
So if you are making a Swissmeringue, you would have to get
like a liquid candy.
(10:58):
Uh, food coloring okay, whichI'd prefer not to do that.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
Do you notice a taste difference between?
Yes, you do major tastedifference.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Yeah, american buttercream is really sweet and
the texture um is just more likeyour classic kind of grocery
store.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
I mean, not gross but no, but we but it coats the
tongue, yes, yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
And then a Swiss meringue is like not as sweet,
and then it's whipped egg whitesand butter, so it's at all.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Yes, okay.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
Yeah, yeah, you.
You get the egg whites andsugar and you get it over like a
double broiler and you whiskthe egg whites until sugar
dissolves it's like at 160 andthen you whisk in the room
temperature butter until itbecomes a buttercream okay and
that's and you add like vanillaor whatever flavor you want to
it and that's that, and so ithas a really buttery flavor.
(11:49):
Not nearly as sweet like it.
I actually prefer it, honestly,I like it better, but it just
does not decorate as well as theother one.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Does it have a time limit on how quickly you have to
apply it to the cake?
Speaker 1 (12:01):
no, no, it's okay, no , it's fine, yeah, yeah, the
sugar still preserves it, likeit does with regular buttercream
nice, but I also haven't leftit out for a long time.
I feel like it would melt a lotfaster.
Yeah, so that's another riskI'm not willing to take,
especially now that it's gettinghot outside.
Speaker 2 (12:17):
Yeah, yeah don't want to do that.
Yeah, so you prefer theamerican buttercream, and do you
do anything special with yourgel colors or a special brand
that you recommend?
Yeah, I use americolor okaywhere do you?
Speaker 1 (12:29):
get that, uh, just from their website, americolor.
You can get it on amazon too,but it's a lot cheaper if you
get it from americolor directlyand they're close to our area.
So if you get it shipped it'sactually faster than amazon too.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
Oh, that's a win, it's a big win, which is sad
because amazon's supposed to befast, I know well I feel like
that the prime today has changedand being in moscow you know
especially, it's like, exactlyit's like three or four days
yeah, you have to be ready for,like, you have to prepare a
little bit, yes, but yeahamericolor.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Um, they have different sets.
You can buy like beginner setsand I think they prepare a
little bit.
Yes, but yeah, americolor, theyhave different sets you can buy
like beginner sets and I thinkthey're a little bit cheaper
than buying the individualcolors.
Okay, but the individual colorsI think.
I think in total they have 72.
Oh, wow, yeah, do you have allof them?
No, I have a good amount ofthem, but I don't have all of
them.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
But, yeah, it have all of them.
But, um, yeah, it's something,it's like something in the 60 70
range that they have.
But, yeah, wide range of color.
Some of them are duds, but someof them I mean most of them are
really really good and do theytaste weird at all?
or do you have to notice applylike a mass amount to get no, no
, you just use a little bit at atime and it saturates really
(13:36):
because it's a gel, so itsaturates really really well.
The only time that you have touse a lot is if you want a
really deep jewel tone, like anice navy blue, yeah, or kind of
a eggplant purple.
You kind of have to add alittle bit more, but not the
whole bottle okay, you know,probably just like three or four
more drops more than you wouldother colors.
Okay, so it's not drastic.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
No, were you thinking about?
You know, like bakery stufffrom the grocery store.
You know the red roses wherethat taste is like yes, yeah, no
, I have.
Speaker 1 (14:05):
I do know that with food colorings, red tastes worse
than all the other ones.
Okay, and red food coloring is.
Red is the hardest color to getwhenever you're coloring icing
or anything like that, so peopletend to dump red in it to get
an overly saturated red, and sothat might be why it tastes so
bad because red actually doestaste worse than all the other
(14:27):
ones.
Oh, that's interesting.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
So just avoid red yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
Well, and also another thing people don't
really know is that colors takelonger to develop.
Really so, if you mix yourcolor into your buttercream,
royal icing, whatever.
If you let it sit out for likean hour or so which you don't
really want to do because youwant to do right now, Right, but
if you let it sit for some time, it'll develop and it'll become
(14:52):
more saturated.
So, whenever you're making a redor a blue or a black, people
are like why is it not like thecolor I want it to be?
It has to develop for some time.
Another thing that you can doto get the color if you're not
getting it and you want to do itfast, you can take probably a
few spoonfuls of your mix andput it in the microwave or on
the stovetop if you don't wantto use a microwave and you can
(15:14):
zap it until it's melted andwarm, and then you can mix it in
with the remainder of what youhave and it'll actually make it
the color that you're wanting itto be, because it's just
speeding up the process.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Yeah, oh, that's really fascinating, yeah don't
know why.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
I don't know the science behind that I know it
works.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
Yeah, that's really cool.
Yeah, um, so the frostingworking well is another one
where I bet you could mess thatup too, because Because when
you're whipping it or anythinglike that, is it possible to
overwhip, to have thingsseparate.
What are the failure pointsthat happen in the frosting?
It's possible.
Speaker 1 (15:50):
I know for Swiss meringue buttercream that one's
a lot trickier because thebutter has to be a perfect
temperature for you to be ableto whip it right.
That one separates reallyeasily the American buttercream.
Oh man, I feel like it's not asdifficult.
You just have to make sure yourbutter is room temperature.
Sometimes I even have it alittle bit melted.
(16:12):
Okay, so pretty soft.
Yeah, you want it really soft.
But if it's soft you whip thebutter first and then I add half
of my powdered sugar in andthen the liquid, and then I whip
it some more and then add therest of the powdered sugar, and
I've never really had a problemwith it.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
Well, and what about with palette knife decorating
versus piping?
In terms of your consistency,your thickness, I don't like
piping.
That's just me, though I knowso many people are really good
at piping.
Speaker 1 (16:39):
I've tried it so many times and it is not for me.
No, it is not.
Maybe I just need to try more,but that's not for me.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
So with the palette knife, though does it need to be
thicker?
The frosting consistency?
Speaker 1 (16:52):
You know when you're holding a piping bag your hands
are warming it up, but that canbe frustrating too, where it
starts to.
That's probably why I don'tlike it.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
Well, because if it starts too cold and then you're
like squeezing, so hard.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Well.
So piping with tips is what Idon't like, but I do pipe um
like if I'm making a design orsomething, or I'm drawing a
character on a cake.
I will use a piping bag to pipeit on, so I definitely get like
the hands warming it up.
That's not fun.
No, but uh, with uh, thepalette knives, you don't have
to worry about that.
Yeah, at all.
So whatever texture you have,it is the texture is going to be
(17:23):
the whole time.
It doesn't get too warm oranything like that, which is
another reason why to prefer Ilike it a lot yeah yeah, yeah,
that makes complete sense.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Um so, how do you, how long does it take you, would
you say, to decorate withpalette knives, you know, to
complete a whole cake?
Speaker 1 (17:39):
um, so if I'm doing a floral arrangement, it usually
takes me, uh, 45 minutes to anhour.
Okay, to finish, just just thepalette knife part yeah um, the
crumb coat.
You know, you crumb coat it andthen you let it sit for 30
minutes and then you do the basecoat and then I let that sit
for 30 minutes.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Okay, so really quick .
So when you've done your crumbcoat, you're doing two coats,
basically on the bottom here,okay.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
So crumb coat do you just let it sit out, or do you
put it in the fridge?
I usually put it in the fridge.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Just keep it away from everything.
Speaker 1 (18:12):
Yes, and I think it speeds it up a little bit too.
Just to get it really firm.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
And then you put a base coat, yeah, and that is
just another layer.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Yes, that's a.
I mean it's a thicker layer towhere you don't see the cake
through it, and that a base coat.
For me to put it on usuallytakes me 20 to 30 minutes too,
so putting that on and then Iput it back in the fridge until
I'm ready to decorate.
I usually decorate at nightwhen everyone's in bed, just so
I can actually focus on it.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
Makes sense.
Yeah, so do you do the otherparts, like when do you fit this
all in Cause?
Obviously you've got a lot ofsteps the baking, the cooling.
Yeah, so how do you work it inthe day?
Yes, with the kids, right.
Speaker 1 (18:47):
So baking I usually do whenever, because we have a
deep freeze and cakes freezereally well Nice, so I'll just
bake it and then freeze it untillike the day before.
I'm going to decorate it andthen I'll decorate it.
Do a crumb coat in the morningand then do the base coat, like
sometime in the afternoon, andjust let it sit in the fridge
until I'm ready to decorate itat night.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
So you try to do it the day before you're going to
eat it.
Yes, so that way it's like atleast fresh and not gross.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
I know Dry cake is the worst.
No, it is.
And the good thing aboutfreezing it too is, if you bake
it and then you wrap it wheneverit's still slightly warm, it
actually traps the moistureinside, and so it's frozen.
Whenever you thaw it out, it'sstill maintaining that, yeah,
moisture, yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Um, what about, like the syrup coat or whatever
people do?
Simple syrup, yeah.
What is your thought on that?
Like a cheap, a cheap method?
No, I don't think it's a cheat.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
I mean it might be too sweet.
I've only done it.
Oh, maybe two times.
Yeah, I just.
It feels like a littleunnecessary to me, and it also
makes your cake, uh, reallymoist.
So it would really fall apartif something goes wrong go wrong
, but yeah, I mean, I'm notagainst simple syrups, I've done
.
Uh, it's lilac season yeah solast year I made lilac simple
(20:02):
syrup, oh yeah, and I, like youknow, water bath, canned it and
stuff, and I used that for mydaughter's cake last year and it
was good, but it was also justlike barely noticeable okay so
for the extra effort.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
It was kind of like yeah, yeah you didn't eat it, no
okay, yeah, are you?
Do you?
Are you particular about yourflour or anything on that front
too?
Speaker 1 (20:23):
not really.
I mean, I definitely preferlike unbleached all-purpose
flour.
Cake flour is really nice ifyou want to buy it all the time.
Yeah it's on it, it is but yeah, if you want a really nice cake
, cake flour is great and then Ihave before gotten, uh, the
european butter, which you knowhas a higher fat content, and
that is really nice, but I alsodon't even know where to find
(20:46):
that here.
I found it in new york?
Okay, but I have not found ithere.
Speaker 2 (20:49):
At any of the grocery stores.
I wonder if Safeway carries it,maybe, maybe I have not found
that, but that is really nice ifyou can find it.
It is also just that much moreexpensive.
Do you use it both in the cakeand the frosting, or is that
higher fat content?
Speaker 1 (21:03):
in the frosting.
I would do both.
Speaker 2 (21:04):
Yeah, I would be okay .
Yeah, for sure, that's reallyfun.
So with your cake stuff, you'vebeen doing some of it.
Is it something that you havestarted doing for other people
or is it just right now?
Hobby.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Oh no, this is for a bit.
No, I've definitely done it forother people.
Speaker 2 (21:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
I mean, if people ask me to make them something, I'll
make them something.
It's not, I'm not'll make themfor other people.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
Yeah, that's really fun.
Have you done wedding cakes atall, or is that a zone where
it's like, no, I have, okay,yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
Yeah, I did one back in December, which was really
fun.
I did like a three tieredwedding cake and then she wanted
some sheet cake to have in theback, so I did the wedding cake
and then six sheet cakes in theback for her and then I have
another wedding actually at theend of june that I'm gonna be
doing okay, so still yet todetermine what we're actually
doing for that, but it will be,it'll be fun and you take a lot
(21:58):
of pictures of your cakes too,so if people want to see them,
where should they go?
Uh, just my instagram.
Okay, uh, which is my name?
Speaker 2 (22:05):
brie underscore vestal, but yeah, and brie is
with one e yes, one e yes quiteconfusing.
Speaker 1 (22:10):
There's either an I or an e, but I don't have either
of those yes, it's just brieyeah and then.
Yeah, I do, I mostly do cakesand then I do, you know, sugar
cookies and pies and stuff likethat too.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
So that's sprinkled on your sugar cookies?
Do you palette knife too, I can.
Or do you pipe, or what's your?
Speaker 1 (22:27):
decorating for sugar cookies.
Normally I do royal icing.
Speaker 2 (22:30):
Oh, okay.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Yeah, so you're doing the fill and yeah.
Okay, yeah, the fill andeverything like that, and either
I do it straight with royalicing for the design or I
watercolor on top of the royalicing.
Speaker 2 (22:40):
So then you're pulling back that watercolor bit
.
I know yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
That one little stint in high school is coming back
for cookies have you?
Speaker 2 (22:49):
has it inspired you at all to try watercoloring on
paper, or is it just you love alittle bit actually?
Speaker 1 (22:55):
no, I've.
I've done a few watercolorssince then and then um, I
actually started to get intoacrylic painting again.
At Easter time I did um acrylicpainted eggs, oh so that was
okay.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
So how do you do acrylic painted eggs?
Speaker 1 (23:10):
um, so I got wooden egg?
Well, not like actually, yeah,that's confusing.
No, I got actual, like woodeneggs.
Speaker 2 (23:17):
Well, the benefit is, then you can reuse them.
Yes, okay, yeah, they're morelike an heirloom thing.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
Yes, and so, yeah, wooden eggs, just uh, do a base
coat of acrylic paint on it andthen paint your design and then
modge, podge over it so it sealsit.
That's really fun.
Yeah, those are fun.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
Yeah, that would be really fun.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
I did.
I did the same thing withornaments too.
Speaker 2 (23:35):
Oh, at Christmas time , yeah, oh, ok, so the artistic
elements are, it's broadening alittle bit yeah.
That's really fun.
Well, as we wind down, anyfinal tips and tricks on getting
into cake decorating you know,as a fun hobby or a side thing.
Yeah, and we talked about thetiming, on how to squeeze it in
(23:56):
with people and family and kids.
Speaker 1 (23:58):
Oh yeah, you can definitely work around your
schedule, however you need it tobe.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
It should definitely like fit into your life instead
of just trying to like force it,you know, but to enjoy the cake
baking process, like birthdaybaking, you know.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
So it doesn't flop or you're not dealing with the
cake that's just ripped apart orcomes out of the pan with half
of it, right, right.
So actually my daughter'sbirthday is tomorrow.
Oh, is it really?
Yeah, well, tell us what you'redoing.
Yes, so well, what I'm doingfor.
So I'm doing an outdoor teaparty for her.
She requested jemima puddleduck and chocolate cakes oh yes.
so like what I would do forsomething like this is last week
I made her cake and it's beenin the freezer and I'll pull it
(24:38):
out today and I'll do a crumbcoat on it because this is her
birthday.
So I'm not just doing a cake,I'm doing more, yeah.
So I'm gonna do the crumb coattoday, I'm gonna decorate it
tomorrow, and then today andtomorrow I'm gonna bake all the
other things for her party.
So we're doing scones and Imade little miniature pots of
strawberry jam.
Oh cute, I made strawberry jamyesterday and I keep asking to
(25:00):
eat the jam.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
Like do you have to wait for your birthday?
Speaker 1 (25:03):
Yeah, and then I'm going to make other, like
appetizer things tomorrow andstuff like that.
So there's a lot of stuff goingon.
Cake is already made, so Idon't have to worry about that,
I just have to get it decorated.
But if you just space it outover time, that'll help with
scheduling.
And then if you're just gettingstarted making cakes, you just
have to do it.
Yeah, like, if you don't do it,you won't get into it and your
(25:26):
first ones are going to behorrible.
They're going to be so bad.
Do those as the birthday cakeand you might be pleasantly
surprised.
Speaker 2 (25:36):
I mean, they might be really good, but my first few
were not good.
When you do, you have a go-tolike do you always line with
parchment paper or do you do anykind of special thing to
insulate the pan when it bakes,you do anything.
Speaker 1 (25:44):
I actually don't do parchment paper because it
annoys me.
Okay, just cutting a perfectcircle every time.
Every time it bothers me, so Iget the cake pan.
I uh cover the whole thing withbutter just like room
temperature butter.
Yes, real butter.
I don't use the sprays andstuff because they let me down
too many times okay so I do realbutter, and then on top of the
(26:05):
butter you put flour and justmake sure it's coated in butter,
then then flour, and then itcomes out beautifully every time
.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
Yeah, what if you're doing one of those naked cakes?
Does that change that process,or does the flour end up showing
up at all?
No, no.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
If it does, you can just like kind of brush it off
but it usually doesn't.
The only place where it wouldshow up is on the bottom rim of
the cake which is going to be.
Yeah yeah, no, the actual cakeitself.
You won't notice.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Yeah, yeah, okay, so those are.
Those are good tips and tricksand it sounds like a really
yummy tea party yes, yeah, I'msure they will have a good time.
Oh yes all the all the treatsyes, yes well, brie.
Thank you so much for coming on, and it's really fun, it's?
We could talk a lot about cakeyeah, we could.
Thanks for having me yes, well,go take a look at her work at
(26:53):
uh.
Remind us of your instagram onemore time bre underscore vestal
v-e-s-t-a-l and then, hopefully, we'll get to see pictures of
the birthday cake.
Oh yeah, maybe by the time thisdrops we'll see, maybe.
Yeah, it'd be pretty fun.
Yeah, well, thanks brie.
Yeah, thank you, katherinethanks for joining us.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Like, share, subscribe.
We'll see you next week.
That'd be pretty fun, yeah,well thanks Bree.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Yeah, Thank you, Catherine.
Thanks for joining us.
Like, share, subscribe.
We'll see you next week.
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