The one thing I really wanted to do was to ice a cake smoothly in buttercream. I googled that and it led me to a video on YouTube by Sharon at SugarEd Productions called "Perfecting the Art of Buttercream". Needless to say, I was so excited because it's exactly what I was looking for! I immediately ordered her buttercream DVD and subsquently all of her other DVD's as well. I can honestly say that those DVD's have changed my life! Thanks to SugarEd Productions, I was able to take my "KAKES" to the next level. Buttercream is now my "thing", and I take so much pride in being able to get my buttercream so smooth that people frequently mistake it for fondant.
In the past 6 years, I've sent numerous people to this site because there's so much wonderful information on here and I wholeheartedly believe in the techniques and systems that I'm more than happy to spread the word! I've watched this company turn into a successful (and awesome) online school which I highly recommend to everyone!
The way I conduct my business mostly comes from what I learned from Sharon. Be nice to people! Especially fellow cake decorators. Don't bash your competition, befriend them! It's so nice to have a group of people to rely on for advice and help when you need it. I have a group of cake buddies that are all so nice and supportive and I'm so thankful for them! Running my own cake business has been the most difficult and challenging thing I've ever done. But it's also the most rewarding! There's nothing like getting a picture of people with their "KAKES" with smiles on their faces. That's why I do what I do, I love to make people happy!
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake Bars
1cup Whole Milk
2 Tbsp Melted Butter
4 Eggs
2 cups Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla
2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
16 oz. Peanut Butter (I like Jif Creamy)
16 oz. Hershey Milk chocolate bars
Preheat your oven to 350.
In a saucepan, add the milk and butter and put on medium heat.
In a bowl, mix (in order) the eggs, then add the sugar, then vanilla, flour and baking powder.
Turn off the mixer after it is all incorporated and turn the heat up on the milk / butter saucepan until it just boils (if it hasn't already.)
As soon as it boils, immediately remove the saucepan from the stovetop and pour that into your mixing bowl.
Turn mixer on low to incorporate it into the mixture, using a scraper if necessary to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
I use a 1/2 sheet pan, prepared with pan grease. Or you can use Wilton's Bake Easy Spray.
I brush the pan grease all over the inside of the cake pan, then wet some baking strips and wrap them around the outside of the pan so the edges don't burn. (You can omit that step if you want, you just may have to cut some crisp edges off, no biggie!)
Pour the mixture (it will be runny!) into the 1/2 sheet pan and bake at 350 for between 20-30 minutes. It is done when a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean and it's light golden brown in color.
Remove the pan from the oven and immediately spread the peanut butter over the cake, keeping the cake in the pan. The heat from the cake will help the peanut butter melt. Using a slanted spatula, spread the peanut butter all over the cake from edge to edge, covering the whole cake.
Place a towel or a cookie rack on a shelf in the refrigerator and place the pan on that and refrigerate for 2 hours or until the peanut butter is hard.
Then, break up the milk chocolate bars and melt them in the microwave carefully, I do 20 second intervals and stir in between.
Once all of the chocolate is melted, take the pan out of the fridge and pour the chocolate over the peanut butter, spreading it from edge to edge with the angled spatula like you did with the peanut butter.
Place in fridge for about 10 minutes.
Then take it out and take a knife and score the cuts for the bars. If you don't do it until the chocolate is totally set, then it will crack when you are cutting it. So I cut them into squares when the chocolate is a little cool, but solid enough to hold its shape. Place back in fridge until hard (about 30 minutes).
These are so delicious, I frequently bring them to parties!!
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Thank you, Karolyn, for sharing your recipe and photos with us!
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My name is Karolyn from Karolyn's Kakes, LLC in Philly. I've always had an interest in baking since I was little. In 2002, I was shopping at a local craft store and saw that they were offering the Wilton Cake Decorating courses, so I decided to give it a try. And that got me hooked! I only took 2 out of the 4 courses that they offered. Then I got online and did my own research. This was before the whole cake craze on TV began, so there was a lot less information out there. 
