Kestrel Country Podcast
Bre Vestal's Palette Knife and the Art of Cake
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!
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!
This is the Kestrel Country Podcast, where we discuss the people, places and events all around Kestrel Country. Welcome to the cashflow country podcast. We have brie vestal on today, which is really fun. So, brie, tell us a little bit about yourself, where you're from and what brought you to Moscow. Sweet.
Speaker 1:Well, I'm Brie Vestal. We moved here about two years ago. Originally, we're from Texas. We went to New York City and then we came here, so it's a big jump around the country.
Speaker 2:Almost coasts all sides.
Speaker 1:Yes, we've experienced three corners. We have one, one more, but I don't really think we want to go to southern california, so we're gonna stay here. We came out here for her husband's work he does video media, so we did that. Um, I'm a stay-at-home mom of three. While he does his thing, I get to do my thing and they're a good time. A little wild bunch, but they're a happy wild bunch, so, which is wonderful.
Speaker 2:Yes, that's what we do. Yeah, so you came out two years ago and you have a very talented ability with making cakes. Thank you. Brie makes beautiful cakes, but how did you get into that?
Speaker 1: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:And what pulled you guys?
Speaker 1:to New York.
Speaker 2:Husband's work? Okay, yeah.
Speaker 1:He was doing video out there for various different companies Macy's, dr Oz, stuff like that so we moved out there for him to do that. And then we ended up there during 2020, whenever everything was completely shut down, like we had a friend um the weekend, everything shut down. She drove upstate and she drove through manhattan and she made a video of it all and you didn't see anybody on the sidewalks, which, if you know manhattan, that's really creepy like the apocalypse happened. Yeah, it was like is this like cloverfield?
Speaker 1:the movie or something like that, like what's happening? Um, so yeah, we were just like well, we're staying inside, I guess. Apparently, yes, while we were inside, I had already kind of baked a little bit, but I didn't really have the time because we were out doing things. So whenever I had the time, I actually worked on honing the skill and worked on decorating more, and that's whenever it really started to take off. So it was a.
Speaker 2:COVID inspiration.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Was this when your husband was doing cake by stuff too, or was that not an influence?
Speaker 1:No, that actually he did not do that until 2021. Okay, I think yes, because he was furloughed during the pandemic and then, whenever he came back, he realized he didn't need to be at that company anymore, right, and so he was looking for someone that wouldn't compromise values, and the cake boss would not do that to him. So he worked for the cake boss, but you'd already started getting your cake skills.
Speaker 1:Oh yes, there was a lot of cake at that time, because he would pictures of it and you can't sell it once you cut into it. So he would bring cake home and I would make a cake that day. So you got to taste both. Oh yeah, there was a lot of cake at the time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you still haven't gotten sick of it.
Speaker 1: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:Then how did you get into all your palette knife work and how did you teach yourself?
Speaker 1:I got it, I think. I just saw pictures of it and I wanted to do it, and so I looked up how to do it, but at the time there were no tutorials on how to do it.
Speaker 2:Really. No, there is Okay, so there wasn't back then.
Speaker 1:Then YouTube took off with how to do this yeah, at the time, whenever I looked it up, there was only one person on youtube who had like a somewhat free tutorial, okay, and so I watched what she did and then just took the basics of what she had and morphed it into what I'm doing now, um, but yeah, there's a lot more people who do it on youtube now. So if you want to learn, you can actually look at YouTube now.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well that's super fun. So tell me, do you have an artistic background besides cakes? No, no, no, not at all. No, yeah, before I started doing that, before we got married and stuff, I was working retail like I wasn't doing anything like that. And in high school retail Like I wasn't doing anything like that. And in high school I like I kind of did watercolors and stuff like that, but not really. I was more athletic in high school than anything, yeah. So this is just very random but then that's where we are.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, oh, that's really fun, I didn't know. Okay, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:I didn't know at the time either.
Speaker 2:So here we, yeah, and there's passion for it yeah, so when you, when you um dive deep into it, is it the baking part that um the decorating part, both that you enjoy equally it's both equally.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, I would say I lean more into the decorating a little bit, because sometimes when I turn on the oven I'm like I have to make this right now in order to make this, so I mean they go together, but the decorating part is obviously way more fun than the baking part for me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there are like technical baking things like shoe pastry and stuff that I do like to do, but I have yet to learn how to make that like artistically pretty. It can look like culinary pretty, 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:So what is your go to style like on recipes, because I feel like the cake is actually pretty important, yes, and if it doesn't hold together, if it's too soft, you get a nightmare. For you know when you're trying to frost and you know, don't do a creme, cote or whatever, even trying that and everything's just getting into the frosting.
Speaker 1:So what have you?
Speaker 2:learned what are?
Speaker 1:your tips and tricks Well for recipes, so I use. I've told a lot of people about this book, sorry no you're fine, I use Tessa Huff. She has two recipe books. I have the second one, I have yet to get the first one, but it looks good too. The one I have is called Icing on the Cake, and pretty much every recipe that I've used from her holds really well, and she wrote the book to where it has the recipe and ideas for decorating, so she has different tips for how to decorate in different recipes.
Speaker 2:And.
Speaker 1:I just kind of mix and match all of her recipes and fillings to put together. But every time I've made something of hers it's held really well.
Speaker 2:So I just kind of blindly trust whatever recipe she's written, yeah Well, if you find someone good, it's kind of like yes, stick with it, oh yes. There's online. One of the ones we found was Sally's Baking Addiction. Yes, yeah, you've hit that one too. I've made a few of hers, yeah, and her stuff is good too been very much getting into cake decorating, yes and yeah, making and all of that, but it is if it doesn't turn out or if it's too soft.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, oh man, oh yeah. There's one that I do make. It's like an orange butter cake and I've it's really good, but I found if you don't mix it properly, it has it has real orange juice in it oh and so the orange juice gets really sticky if it doesn't properly mix with everything else, so it comes up on the side and it makes it really crumbly.
Speaker 1:So there's some things that you just have to actually make it properly, because it's not the cake itself, but it's just the way that you put it together yeah, there's a method to the madness in terms of the step-by-step yes and each cake is different too. Like it has, you mix it a certain way sometimes and not other times, and well, see, that's fun.
Speaker 2:Oh, I do well, and I find the science of that stuff fascinating, so I find it it's interesting, really interesting. Oh, I did not know it was a thing.
Speaker 1:I was never a science person, so it's funny that this is happening. Well, that is not what I was expecting either I kind of love that.
Speaker 2:For people you know it's when you're in school and you're learning math or you're learning all these things which, disclosure, I do love math, or disclaimer.
Speaker 1:Right, so I you know, but.
Speaker 2:But when you get into the real world, you know, because in elementary or whatever you're like, when am I going to use math?
Speaker 1:You know, you know how does it apply. That's the thing and right. You're like well, well, I use it every day.
Speaker 2:now, yeah, you're constantly using it in baking, you know, in figuring things out. And then the science is the same way, where this practicality of what's making it brown, 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 was something I learned recently, like tomatoes added into the onions will stop or slow the cooking big time. Oh, if I I learned recently, it's like tomatoes added into the onions will stop or slow the cooking big time.
Speaker 1:Oh, if I'm getting this right, I didn't know that either.
Speaker 2:I think I'm getting it right, yeah, and I have to double check. Yeah, but. But it was one of those things where like, oh, that makes sense.
Speaker 1:That makes sense.
Speaker 2:So you know if you're sauteing your onions before you add in, if you're making chili or something like that you're like oh, okay, that helps you understand. Yeah, this step by step versus like why isn't it working if we just dump right?
Speaker 1:yeah, I know, I want to make chili again. Yeah, test it out.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I'll double check on it, but yeah, so that science stuff behind it is actually fascinating and then if your cake is not working right, that's so cool, right?
Speaker 1:yeah, I had um. In new york my old pastor's wife was like this cake keeps falling apart and I don't know why, and she had old baking powder or baking soda one of the two. I mean it wasn't, like you know, expired or anything, but it just wasn't working properly. And so she kept trying, and then I told her to replace the baking soda, and then it Worked right.
Speaker 2:Magically.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:But it's things you might not even think to change or check, right, yeah, exactly, that's really fun.
Speaker 1: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 of good stuff too.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's nice. So she's a good one, and both her frostings and her cakes you found to be really effective.
Speaker 1:Yes, Her frosting recipe I haven't memorized because I do it so often, but her American buttercream recipe is what I use almost all the time. I've done her Swiss meringue before too, and I like Swiss meringue, but not everyone does does, and it also doesn't hold color as well. So I've kind of leaned away from that because butter and gel food coloring going together does not work I mean you'll get color, but it's really really pale, and so you have to use a lot of your food color to get any sort of saturation so?
Speaker 2:so what does um so her american buttercream? Does it use butter?
Speaker 1:yes, it does yes, but the butter, the butter to powdered sugar ratio is much more. In a Swiss meringue it's butter and 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 like each other. Okay, but gel and powdered sugar do. So if you are making a Swiss meringue, you would have to get like a liquid candy. Uh, food coloring okay, which I'd prefer not to do that.
Speaker 2:Do you notice a taste difference between? Yes, you do major taste difference.
Speaker 1:Yeah, american buttercream is really sweet and the texture um is just more like your classic kind of grocery store.
Speaker 2:I mean, not gross but no, but we but it coats the tongue, yes, yeah.
Speaker 1:And then a Swiss meringue is like not as sweet, and then it's whipped egg whites and butter, so it's at all.
Speaker 2:Yes, okay.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, you. You get the egg whites and sugar and you get it over like a double broiler and you whisk the egg whites until sugar dissolves it's like at 160 and then you whisk in the room temperature butter until it becomes a buttercream okay and that's and you add like vanilla or whatever flavor you want to it and that's that, and so it has a really buttery flavor. Not nearly as sweet like it. I actually prefer it, honestly, I like it better, but it just does not decorate as well as the other one.
Speaker 2:Does it have a time limit on how quickly you have to apply it to the cake?
Speaker 1:no, no, it's okay, no, it's fine, yeah, yeah, the sugar still preserves it, like it does with regular buttercream nice, but I also haven't left it out for a long time. I feel like it would melt a lot faster. Yeah, so that's another risk I'm not willing to take, especially now that it's getting hot outside.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah don't want to do that. Yeah, so you prefer the american buttercream, and do you do anything special with your gel colors or a special brand that you recommend? Yeah, I use americolor okay where do you?
Speaker 1: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 directly and they're close to our area. So if you get it shipped it's actually faster than amazon too.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's a win, it's a big win, which is sad because amazon's supposed to be fast, I know well I feel like that the prime today has changed and being in moscow you know especially, it's like, exactly it's like three or four days yeah, you have to be ready for, like, you have to prepare a little bit, yes, but yeah americolor.
Speaker 1:Um, they have different sets. You can buy like beginner sets and I think they prepare a little bit. Yes, but yeah, americolor, they have different sets you can buy like beginner sets and I think they're a little bit cheaper than buying the individual colors. Okay, but the individual colors I think. I think in total they have 72. Oh, wow, yeah, do you have all of them? No, I have a good amount of them, but I don't have all of them.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 1: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 some of them I mean most of them are really really good and do they taste weird at all?
Speaker 1:or do you have to notice apply like a mass amount to get no, no, you just use a little bit at a time and it saturates really because it's a gel, so it saturates really really well. The only time that you have to use a lot is if you want a really deep jewel tone, like a nice navy blue, yeah, or kind of a eggplant purple. You kind of have to add a little bit more, but not the whole bottle okay, you know, probably just like three or four more drops more than you would other colors.
Speaker 1:Okay, so it's not drastic.
Speaker 2:No, were you thinking about? You know, like bakery stuff from the grocery store. You know the red roses where that taste is like yes, yeah, no, I have.
Speaker 1: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 get whenever you're coloring icing or anything like that, so people tend to dump red in it to get an overly saturated red, and so that might be why it tastes so bad because red actually does taste worse than all the other ones. Oh, that's interesting.
Speaker 2:So just avoid red yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, and also another thing people don't really know is that colors take longer to develop. Really so, if you mix your color into your buttercream, royal icing, whatever. If you let it sit out for like an hour or so which you don't really want to do because you want to do right now, Right, but if you let it sit for some time, it'll develop and it'll become more saturated.
Speaker 1:So, whenever you're making a red or a blue or a black, people are like why is it not like the color I want it to be? It has to develop for some time. Another thing that you can do to get the color if you're not getting it and you want to do it fast, you can take probably a few spoonfuls of your mix and put it in the microwave or on the stovetop if you don't want to use a microwave and you can zap it until it's melted and warm, and then you can mix it in with the remainder of what you have and it'll actually make it the color that you're wanting it to be, because it's just speeding up the process.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh, that's really fascinating, yeah don't know why.
Speaker 1:I don't know the science behind that I know it works.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's really cool. Yeah, um, so the frosting working well is another one where I bet you could mess that up too, because Because when you're whipping it or anything like that, is it possible to overwhip, to have things separate. What are the failure points that happen in the frosting? It's possible.
Speaker 1:I know for Swiss meringue buttercream that one's a lot trickier because the butter has to be a perfect temperature for you to be able to whip it right. That one separates really easily the American buttercream. Oh man, I feel like it's not as difficult. You just have to make sure your butter is room temperature. Sometimes I even have it a little bit melted. Okay, so pretty soft. Yeah, you want it really soft. But if it's soft you whip the butter first and then I add half of my powdered sugar in and then the liquid, and then I whip it some more and then add the rest of the powdered sugar, and I've never really had a problem with it.
Speaker 2: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 know so many people are really good at piping.
Speaker 1: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:So with the palette knife, though does it need to be thicker? The frosting consistency?
Speaker 1:You know when you're holding a piping bag your hands are warming it up, but that can be frustrating too, where it starts to. That's probably why I don't like it.
Speaker 2:Well, because if it starts too cold and then you're like squeezing, so hard.
Speaker 1:Well. So piping with tips is what I don't like, but I do pipe um like if I'm making a design or something, or I'm drawing a character on a cake.
Speaker 1:I will use a piping bag to pipe it on, so I definitely get like the hands warming it up. That's not fun. No, but uh, with uh, the palette 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 the whole time. It doesn't get too warm or anything like that, which is another reason why to prefer I like it a lot yeah yeah, yeah, that makes complete sense.
Speaker 2:Um so, how do you, how long does it take you, would you say, to decorate with palette knives, you know, to complete a whole cake?
Speaker 1:um, so if I'm doing a floral arrangement, it usually takes me, uh, 45 minutes to an hour. Okay, to finish, just just the palette knife part yeah um, the crumb coat. You know, you crumb coat it and then you let it sit for 30 minutes and then you do the base coat and then I let that sit for 30 minutes.
Speaker 2:Okay, so really quick. So when you've done your crumb coat, you're doing two coats, basically on the bottom here, okay.
Speaker 1: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:Just keep it away from everything.
Speaker 1:Yes, and I think it speeds it up a little bit too. Just to get it really firm.
Speaker 2:And then you put a base coat, yeah, and that is just another layer.
Speaker 1:Yes, that's a. I mean it's a thicker layer to where you don't see the cake through it, and that a base coat. For me to put it on usually takes me 20 to 30 minutes too, so putting that on and then I put it back in the fridge until I'm ready to decorate. I usually decorate at night when everyone's in bed, just so I can actually focus on it.
Speaker 2:Makes sense. Yeah, so do you do the other parts, like when do you fit this all in Cause? Obviously you've got a lot of steps the baking, the cooling. Yeah, so how do you work it in the day? Yes, with the kids, right.
Speaker 1:So baking I usually do whenever, because we have a deep freeze and cakes freeze really well Nice, so I'll just bake it and then freeze it until like the day before. I'm going to decorate it and then I'll decorate it. Do a crumb coat in the morning and then do the base coat, like sometime in the afternoon, and just let it sit in the fridge until I'm ready to decorate it at night.
Speaker 2:So you try to do it the day before you're going to eat it. Yes, so that way it's like at least fresh and not gross.
Speaker 1:I know Dry cake is the worst. No, it is. And the good thing about freezing it too is, if you bake it and then you wrap it whenever it's still slightly warm, it actually traps the moisture inside, and so it's frozen. Whenever you thaw it out, it's still maintaining that, yeah, moisture, yeah.
Speaker 2: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:I mean it might be too sweet. I've only done it. Oh, maybe two times. Yeah, I just. It feels like a little unnecessary to me, and it also makes your cake, uh, really moist. So it would really fall apart if something goes wrong go wrong, but yeah, I mean, I'm not against simple syrups, I've done. Uh, it's lilac season yeah so last year I made lilac simple syrup, oh yeah, and I, like you know, water bath, canned it and stuff, and I used that for my daughter's cake last year and it was good, but it was also just like barely noticeable okay so for the extra effort.
Speaker 2:It was kind of like yeah, yeah you didn't eat it, no okay, yeah, are you? Do you? Are you particular about your flour or anything on that front too?
Speaker 1:not really. I mean, I definitely prefer like unbleached all-purpose flour. Cake flour is really nice if you 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 I have before gotten, uh, the european butter, which you know has a higher fat content, and that is really nice, but I also don't even know where to find that here. I found it in new york? Okay, but I have not found it here.
Speaker 2:At any of the grocery stores. I wonder if Safeway carries it, maybe, maybe I have not found that, but that is really nice if you can find it. It is also just that much more expensive. Do you use it both in the cake and the frosting, or is that higher fat content?
Speaker 1:in the frosting. I would do both.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would be okay. Yeah, for sure, that's really fun. So with your cake stuff, you've been doing some of it. Is it something that you have started doing for other people or is it just right now? Hobby.
Speaker 1:Oh no, this is for a bit. No, I've definitely done it for other people.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I mean, if people ask me to make them something, I'll make them something. It's not, I'm not'll make them for other people.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's really fun. Have you done wedding cakes at all, or is that a zone where it's like, no, I have, okay, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I did one back in December, which was really fun.
Speaker 1:I did like a three tiered wedding cake and then she wanted some sheet cake to have in the back, so I did the wedding cake and then six sheet cakes in the back for her and then I have another wedding actually at the end of june that I'm gonna be doing okay, so still yet to determine what we're actually doing for that, but it will be, it'll be fun and you take a lot 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:brie underscore vestal, but yeah, and brie is with one e yes, one e yes quite confusing.
Speaker 1:There's either an I or an e, but I don't have either of those yes, it's just brie yeah and then. Yeah, I do, I mostly do cakes and then I do, you know, sugar cookies and pies and stuff like that too.
Speaker 2: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:decorating for sugar cookies. Normally I do royal icing.
Speaker 2:Oh, okay.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so you're doing the fill and yeah. Okay, yeah, the fill and everything like that, and either I do it straight with royal icing for the design or I watercolor on top of the royal icing.
Speaker 2:So then you're pulling back that watercolor bit. I know yeah.
Speaker 1:That one little stint in high school is coming back for cookies have you?
Speaker 2:has it inspired you at all to try watercoloring on paper, or is it just you love a little bit actually?
Speaker 1:no, I've. I've done a few watercolors since then and then um, I actually started to get into acrylic painting again. At Easter time I did um acrylic painted eggs, oh so that was okay.
Speaker 2:So how do you do acrylic painted eggs?
Speaker 1:um, so I got wooden egg? Well, not like actually, yeah, that's confusing. No, I got actual, like wooden eggs.
Speaker 2:Well, the benefit is, then you can reuse them. Yes, okay, yeah, they're more like an heirloom thing.
Speaker 1:Yes, and so, yeah, wooden eggs, just uh, do a base coat of acrylic paint on it and then paint your design and then modge, podge over it so it seals it. That's really fun. Yeah, those are fun.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that would be really fun.
Speaker 1:I did. I did the same thing with ornaments too.
Speaker 2:Oh, at Christmas time, yeah, oh, ok, so the artistic elements are, it's broadening a little bit yeah. That's really fun. Well, as we wind down, any final tips and tricks on getting into cake decorating you know, as a fun hobby or a side thing. Yeah, and we talked about the timing, on how to squeeze it in with people and family and kids.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, you can definitely work around your schedule, however you need it to be.
Speaker 2: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 birthday baking, you know.
Speaker 1:So it doesn't flop or you're not dealing with the cake that's just ripped apart or comes out of the pan with half of it, right, right. So actually my daughter's birthday is tomorrow. Oh, is it really? Yeah, well, tell us what you're doing. Yes, so well, what I'm doing for. So I'm doing an outdoor tea party for her. She requested jemima puddle duck and chocolate cakes oh yes.
Speaker 1:so like what I would do for something like this is last week I made her cake and it's been in the freezer and I'll pull it out today and I'll do a crumb coat 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 coat today, I'm gonna decorate it tomorrow, and then today and tomorrow I'm gonna bake all the other things for her party. So we're doing scones and I made little miniature pots of strawberry jam. Oh cute, I made strawberry jam yesterday and I keep asking to eat the jam.
Speaker 2:Like do you have to wait for your birthday?
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then I'm going to make other, like appetizer things tomorrow and stuff like that. So there's a lot of stuff going on. Cake is already made, so I don't have to worry about that, I just have to get it decorated. But if you just space it out over time, that'll help with scheduling. And then if you're just getting started making cakes, you just have to do it. Yeah, like, if you don't do it, you won't get into it and your first ones are going to be horrible. They're going to be so bad. Do those as the birthday cake and you might be pleasantly surprised.
Speaker 2:I mean, they might be really good, but my first few were not good. When you do, you have a go-to like do you always line with parchment paper or do you do any kind of special thing to insulate the pan when it bakes, you do anything.
Speaker 1:I actually don't do parchment paper because it annoys me. Okay, just cutting a perfect circle every time. Every time it bothers me, so I get the cake pan. I uh cover the whole thing with butter just like room temperature butter. Yes, real butter. I don't use the sprays and stuff because they let me down too many times okay so I do real butter, and then on top of the butter you put flour and just make sure it's coated in butter, then then flour, and then it comes out beautifully every time.
Speaker 2: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:If it does, you can just like kind of brush it off but it usually doesn't. The only place where it would show up is on the bottom rim of the cake which is going to be. Yeah yeah, no, the actual cake itself. You won't notice.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, okay, so those are. Those are good tips and tricks and it sounds like a really yummy tea party yes, yeah, I'm sure they will have a good time. Oh yes all the all the treats yes, yes well, brie. Thank you so much for coming on, and it's really fun, it's? We could talk a lot about cake yeah, we could. Thanks for having me yes, well, go take a look at her work at uh. Remind us of your instagram one more time bre underscore vestal v-e-s-t-a-l and then, hopefully, we'll get to see pictures of the birthday cake.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, maybe by the time this drops we'll see, maybe. Yeah, it'd be pretty fun. Yeah, well, thanks brie. Yeah, thank you, katherine thanks for joining us.
Speaker 1:Like, share, subscribe. We'll see you next week. That'd be pretty fun, yeah, well thanks Bree.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Thank you, Catherine. Thanks for joining us. Like, share, subscribe. We'll see you next week.