Signature Brands – Baking a Better Dessert (Giveaway)

I cannot bake to save my life. Sadly I am missing the “baking gene”. I can cook perfectly fine but for some odd reason I can’t bake well. My sister on the other hand is a gifted baker. I guess she took all the baking DNA that was earmarked for me. Ha Ha.

I shouldn’t say I can’t bake. I can bake to some degree. Mostly scones and boxed cake mix. Anything more then that and I’m pushing my luck. Decorating a cake is a whole other story. I think I was “scared” due to a tragic accident when I was a young adult that made me lose the ability to decorate beautiful cakes.

When I was a young adult my friends and I gathered to have a Christmas party. I was in charge of the cake. I made a huge cake (two layered sheet cakes side by side). I created a Winter scene using ice cream cones as trees and Teddy Grahams (I even went so far as to pipe outfits on them). It took me two days to prepare and decorate this cake. I put my heart and soul into it and it turned out amazing. I was so proud of myself.

At the holiday party someone accidentally bumped the florescent light bulb above the sink and it fall down, exploding into a million pieces when it hit the sink. My cake was on the counter next to the sink. Tiny shards of glass got ALL OVER THE CAKE! I think I was traumatized! All that time and effort to create the perfect cake and it was ruined before anyone had a chance to even sample it.

Great big sigh…

Since then I stopped decorating cakes and cupcakes. I let my husband do it instead. I find that I no longer have the time, patience or talent to do stuff like that.

About a month ago I was asked if I wanted to try out some Signature Brand products including cake mix, frosting and frosting tips. Even though I’m not an expert baker I figured it would be fun to give it a try.

Signature Brands sent me a box full of goodies including these really handy squeezable frosting tubes. They are called Dessert Icings. They are available in Chocolate Cinnamon, Oreo and S’mores.

What I love best about the Dessert Icings is that there is virtually no mess and clean up is as easy as throwing out the empty tube.

Each Dessert Icing package comes with a special “neck” that allows you to easily screw on one of the special icing tips to create different shapes and designs on your cake or cupcake, from thin lines to rosettes (if you know how). You can purchase “tips” for the Dessert Icing tubes that screw on perfectly. You can either toss the tip out when you are done or you can rinse it out and save it for another time. There are several tips in each package and a special “wheel” (for lack of a better description) that you can use to create the rosettes/flowers on. The tips really help you to create the perfect design.

The Dessert Icing is soft and squeezable, allowing you to have complete control over your frosting or design. The flavors are amazing too. I LOVE the Oreo flavor. That is my favorite. It’s great to keep on hand so you can add a little somethign special to dessert. You can use the Dessert Icing on cake, cookies, cupcakes and more.

Keep in mind that I don’t know how to frost very well. When I help my hubby frost cupcakes they look like a total mess. My kids don’t mind since they gobble them up as quick as we make them.

Check out the wonderful job I did frosting these cupcakes using the Dessert Icings from Signature Brands.

WOW!!!! I even impressed myself! Just using one of the Signature Brands tips attached to one of the Dessert Icings squeeze tubes allowed me to make cupcakes like this. I would actually be proud to send these to school with my kids for a class party or bring to a family get together.

Do you notice the swirly design on top? All I did was squeeze the Dessert Icing in a “coil” around the top of the cupcake to create this look. Then I sprinkled on some crushed Oreos.

These were really easy to make. They are actually brownies that I made in cupcake cups. When I was preparing the batter I added crushed Oreo cookies. After they were done baking I frosted them with Oreo Dessert Icing and topped them with more crushed Oreos. It was quick, easy and very delicious.

My kids begged me to let them make a cake or cupcakes and decorate them with the Dessert Icings. Since it was easy for me to do I knew my kids would have an easy time with it as well.

My kids opted to make brownies again, but this time they used a Bundt cake pan. For the record brownies don’t work out well in a Bundt cake pan. They don’t really rise much so you are left with a flat, round brownie that sort of resembled a giant donut. My kids REALLY wanted to do this on their own so I bite my tongue and didn’t utter a word.

Originally the kids wanted to cover the entire brownie with Chocolate Cinnamon Dessert Icing. Then they realized it was too much to do with one tube so they decided to create a design on the brownie “cake” instead. Unfortunately they didn’t want until the brownie was completely cooled. The Dessert Icing ended up melting and making a bit of a mess.

Oh well. They tried. The main thing is that they had a fun time doing it and they still enjoyed the brownie “cake” even if it wasn’t the most visually appealing dessert.

My kids did do another tasty thing with the Dessert Icing. They took two chocolate chip cookies and squeezed some S’mores Dessert Icing on one of the cookies and made it into a “sandwich”. I’m sorry I don’t have a picture of those. It was a spontaneous thing. The only downside is that the kids put the left over Dessert Icing in the fridge which made it hard. We had to leave it out for a bit to warm up before they could use it again.

Signature Brand products are found at grocery stores and other retail locations across the country. You might know them better as Cake Mate, Betty Crocker and Marble Mixins. Signature Brands offers icings, cupcake liners, cupcake sticks, licensed character products, sprinkles, decorations and so much more. Check out all of their products at www.SignatureBrands.com.

While you are there check out their “Inspiration” section. There you can find MANY amazing recipes and decorating ideas for every day, seasonal, holidays and more. Here are just a few ideas you’ll find there (I L♥VE the cupcake ice cream cones!).

The pictures above are from the Forth of July inspirations section. With the holiday less then a month away I thought my readers would enjoy the ideas.

I am so impressed by all the wonderful ideas found on their site. It’s going to be my “go to” site the next time I need some inspiration.

Signature Brands has generously offered to give a lucky reader a box full of Signature Brand goodies including Dessert Icingings, Tips, Brownie mix and more! Thank you Signature Brands.

To enter please visit the Signature Brands website (SignatureBrands.com) and check out their inspirations and products. Then come back here and comment on something from the Inspiration section you would love to make – or – a specific product you would love to have.

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This giveaway is open to US residents only and will end on June 18, 2011 at 11:59 PM (EST). The winner will be chosen at random using the random number generator from all eligible entries. The winner will be notified via e-mail and will have three days to reply with a name and mailing address (no PO Box) or a new winner will be chosen.

Other awesome giveaways can be found on the right side bar under “Win It”.

Kimberly

*I received free product samples in order to do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own. Signature Brands will be providing the prize.

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