86-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 19, 1998 Sam Decorates Happy Cakes To Relieve Stress JINNY WILT Adams Co. Correspondent If you’re looking for a cake with a bit of whimsy you want to talk to' Sue Ann “Sam” Seiple about her hobby. “I dan’t do a serious cake,” said Sue Ann, who says people won’t know who she is unless she’s re ferred to as Sam, as she stood by a table loaded with cake forms, in structions, catalogs, and cupcakes she had made as samples. After all her marriage to Ster ling Seiple the couple lives in Red Lion on Halloween prompted a wedding cake of black and orange. Describing herself as “hyperac tive” Sam explains that baking a cake is her way of dealing with life’s stresses. “Just give me my oven,” she ex claims. Sam got interested in decorat ing cakes about nine years ago af ter friends first became involved. Today she has 90 percent of the Wilton forms. A storage shed holds much of her collection. Grabbing a box from a nearby table, she is delighted to tell all that she has just gotten a Winnie the Pooh cake form for which she waited 3'A months. “My grandson, Darien Seiple, almost 5, is a Mickey baby, Gram my had to make everything Mick ey Mouse. My granddaughter, De siree McKensey, 2, is Winnie the Pooh,” she said “Winnie the Pooh will be baked for my granddaughter for Christ mas. but he’ll be dressed as Santa Claus. Instead of holding his Sue Ann Seiple of Red Lion displays her most recent cake form of Winnie the Pooh. She plans to bake the cake for her granddaughter for Christmas, dressing the bear as Santa Claus. She has about 90 percent of the cake forms available from Wilton Enterprises of Woodridge, 111. honeypot, he’s going to have a Christmas bag of presents.” In many cases the cake figures can be interchanged and decorated to fit whatever the event Instruc tions often show the various cakes that can be made from one form, but the baker still has the option to be creative. The oldest Wilton cake form Sam has is of a sneaker and dates back to 1967. She found it at a yard sale in Ocean City. The new est of course, is Winnie the Pooh, a 1998 pan. Each pan is dated. Hie pans are made either in the United States or Korea but all are licensed by Wilton Enterprises of Woodridge, 111., she said, and most of hers come from yard sales. “I collect them because they’re just a pleasure. I buy them because I collect them. I don’t know what ever got me liking a cake pan,” she said, stroking an aluminum cake pan of a rabbit “I can’t do serious cakes, ’cause I can’t get serious enough to do them. If it’s happy I can do it” she said. She prefers baking her cakes for children because they’re not as critical as adults. And children get to pick colors and flavors because it’s their cake. She’s quick to point out that cakes made from “scratch” work best in the pans. While she does use pre-mixed cakes, she said they will often fall, where the ones from “scratch” don’t The length of time it takes to decorate one of the cakes depends on the amount of detail, but be cause of her experience, Sam said Home «< «c» t. Cake baking and decorating are a hobby that relaxes Sue Ann Seiple of Red Lion. The snowman, house and cupcakes are just a few of the desserts she makes using cake batter made from “scratch.” Pre-mixed cakes tend to fall, she said. she can finish a cake in about one half hour. “The secret to decorating a Wil ton Cake is they use a star design and the closer you get the stars the bigger the tip the fester it goes, the smaller the tip, the lon ger it goes. I use all different sizes of tips to do every cake for a rea son. It gives the cake dimension.” The cake most often requested from Sam is Hershey’s Cocoa Cake. The recipe for it follows. Sue Ann Seiple, a Wilton cake form collector, puts icing on a cake shaped like a house. It is one of the many cake designs she bakes. Baking cakes is a hobby she’s been involved in for the past nine years. BANANA CAKE 1 box yellow cake mix 1 box instant banana pudding 4 eggs H cup vegetable oil ‘A cup milk plus 1 teaspoon vinegar 1 teaspoon baking soda 3 large bananas mashed (use very ripe bananas) Mix ingredients and pour into ungreased tube pan. Bake at 350 degrees. Test in about 40 minutes. CARROT CAKE 2 cups sugar 1 cup vegetable oil 4 eggs Combine sugar and oil. Add 1 egg at a time mixing well in be tween. Then add next ingredients one at a time to above mixture. 1 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons soda 1 teaspoon cinnamon 2V* cups all-purpose flour 3 cups grated carrots After mixing all ingredients bake at 3SO degrees for 4S min utes. HERSHEY’S COCOA CAKE VA cups all-purpose flour 2 cups sugar V* cup Hershey’s cocoa—not Nestle 154 teaspoons baking soda .1% teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 2 eggs 1 cup milk Vt cup vegetable oil 2 teaspoons vanilla (Watkins white double strength is the only vanilla Sam will use) Mix all ingredients well. Then add 1 cup boiling water. Mix well again. Bake 350 degrees for 30 minutes. •Test cupcakes after 20 min utes. Following is the frosting recipe she uses on most cakes. WILTON SNOW WHITE BUTTERCREAM ICING % cup water 12 cups confectioners’ sugar VA cups white vegetable shortening V* teaspoon salt ‘A teaspoon white vanilla V* teaspoon butter extract •You can add 2 tablespoons meringue powder if you’re plan ning to make icing flowers for de corations. Following are some of her “scratch” cake recipes.
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