How can I clear the slate?

by Yvette van Niekerk

Ezekiel 18: 31 MSG “Clean house. No more rebellions, please. Get a new heart! Get a new spirit! Why would you choose to die, Israel?” When we are unable to confess our wrongs and sins, our countenance changes. We have darkness over our faces, and it may seem we are sad. Then we experience condemnation. We fail to repent and ask for forgiveness of my sin, our countenance changes. Psalm 34: 5 MSG “They looked to Him and were radiant; their faces will never blush in shame or confusion.” Confession is good for my soul. I need to repent of things I may have said or done. I do not want to build a wall between myself and God. I am honest when I confess anything I did and I receive God's forgiveness. I want a direct line to God and I can only achieve it by confessing my sins. Repentance: means "turning away and deciding not to do it again." I am saying "Yes, I did this, I am sorry and won't do this again." Ezekiel 20: 43 "Then you will look back at all your sins and loathe yourselves because of the evil you have done." Yes, it's true I struggle with self-loathing when I know I have been doing something wrong. I cannot move past it and it makes me feel miserable and I am frustrated. My self-esteem is down the drain, condemnation trails behind me. Life looks bleak and miserable. I seem to be going down the road of destruction in my life and only when I confess my sins, there is a relief. I realize that I cannot do this on my own, I have and always ask the Holy Spirit to reveal anything I should be confessing. God is faithful and He does show me my iniquities, giving me a chance to confess and repent. The experience is my heart feels lighter, freedom and joy come to me. God knows the secrets of my heart Psalm 44 verses 21. Prayer Father, Lord as King David prayed, "Wash me from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation." Psalm 51. Please show me anything I am hiding and help me to see it and confess it to you, so that I may repent and receive Your forgiveness. Psalm 31 says "blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered." Please help me to always confess my sinfulness so that I am able to say "see if there are any wicked ways in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Please forgive me, in the name of Jesus Christ. Father God today I want to be obedient and accept the gift that You have given me. I am trading my tired and worn-out life for a new one today with Jesus Christ. Today I surrender all my faulty plans for Your perfect plan. Lord, please help me to abide in you so that you can abide in me. Father today I am embracing the new life available to me. I don’t know how things will work but I beg You hear my call. I accept the Lord Jesus Christ to renew my life today. Amen

My Vanilla Buttercream Recipe

by Yvette van Niekerk

I am sure you will enjoy this simple recipe, it’s nothing special a really basic recipe but it sure make my cakes pop, I use this on my cakes and also my cupcakes. I use a good quality vanilla extract to make my buttercream taste delicious. So something to keep in mind room temperature is important when making my buttercream. Now lets get started: Vanilla Buttercream Icing This is a rich flavoured vanilla buttercream that is so easy to make which tastes like you made something delicious. Prep Time: 20 minutes Servings: 3 cups Ingredients: 1 cup of Wooden spoon margarine or unsalted butter, room temperature. 3 ½ cups of icing sugar (powdered sugar), sifted. 2 tsp vanilla extract 2 tbsp whole milk of heavy whipping cream, room temperature ¼ tsp salt, to taste Method: With a hand mixer or paddle attachment on your stand mixer, cream the butter on medium high until its creamy and light for approximately 6 minutes. With the mixer on low, add your sifted icing sugar one cup at a time remember to scrape the sides of the bowl after adding the icing sugar. Keep on incorporating the icing sugar to the mix. Now add your vanilla, milk and salt and mix to incorporate in the icing sugar. You are ready to cover your cake. Do enjoy.

How I fill and stack a cake.

by Yvette van Niekerk

I have had such a fiasco with filling and stacking cakes. I thought I would share some of my own experiences with you today. My cakes have bulged out between layers and are straight up oozing off the sides. An expensive lesson especially when I am baking for my clients. What was my problem? I realised this after a lot of tears and frustration. That many times I didn’t put enough icing on and the cake was cumber covered. I also came to the realisation that I didn’t build a wall on my cake when placing a filling inside of the cake. I soon realised the essential part of building your cake. Starts with the basics, your icing needs to be thick enough so that your foundation is sturdy. I have baked cakes and on delivery, my cakes started pulling to the left and going lopsided.

Now I have been baking for over a decade and it has been an experience. There are two kinds of fillings and a trick to stacking a cake. One: is the stable filling which is straightforward buttercream icing. Two are other less stable fillings. Such as soft consistency chocolate ganache, salted caramel, jam, lemon cured etc. I am going to show a stable filling today and next time we will explore the filling of ganache or chocolate. Starting point. Going straight to my board, I place a dash of buttercream on the surface. I place my first layer of cake on the board. This swipe of buttercream acts as “glue” to keep my bottom layer in place. This cake board method; I find makes life a lot easier. To place my cake on my turntable and then straight into the box for transportation.

Filling and stacking my cake with buttercream icing.

I find filling and stacking my cake with buttercream icing, it’s very straightforward. I know that consistency is very important. I will share my vanilla buttercream icing recipe with you. In South Africa; we have different kinds of margarine and butter.

I find that you should stick to the margarine or butter made for baking. To thicken the buttercream I add more powdered sugar. I find the thicker the icing consistency the better the cake.

I take some of my icing mixtures and place them in a piping bag, then I pip the icing on the base of my cake. I then place the icing on top and start covering the first layer. Here you can decide the thickness of the icing for the cake. I like it about 1 cm for the filling. I then place my next layer on the cake and do the same.

I have learned; through experience that I need to ensure my first layer of icing is as level as possible. Otherwise, my cake isn’t as even as I want it to be. Stacking cake layers As mentioned above; it's important to place a dash of icing on the bottom of the cake board. To secure the first layer of your cake. I then proceed to place my cake on my board. I don’t cake anything off my cakes, as you can see they are straight and no bulging on the top of the cake. I place my icing over the top and then the next layer and carry it onto the next layer.

I find that it is important to first crumb protect my cake. and I place my cake in the fridge for 20 minutes. I then start with the base cover. Plain white buttercream icing and then I pipe my colours for the finale stage.

I use a scraper to level my cake out and then I start with decoration. On this cake, I printed Masha and Bear on rice paper placing it on a biscuit for a nice touch. I then sprinkled some sprinkles on the cake.