Parshas Vayakhel-Pekudei

Explanation 

 לא תבערו אש בכל מושבותיכם - You shall not kindle a fire in all of your dwelling places.

On Shabbos - one may not light a fire or do any of the other 39 categories of work used to build the mishkan. 

Technique

The cake is made from Duncan Hines cake. I  split the batter into 2 8-inch tins

1. I used chocolate frosting between the cakes and on the side.
2. The top was covered with white frosting
3. The Fire is made out of red, yellow and blue fruit roll up cut and layered to look like a flame.
4. The no fire sign is made out of pull and peel twizzlers
5. The cup is white frosting mixed with 3 drops black food coloring,
6. The grape juice is made from crushed up Paskes purple lollipops.
7. The match is a pretzel stick topped with red fruit rollup

Parshas Ki Sisa

Parsha Cookies

Explanation each male 20 and up was required to give a half a shekel. It was collected in Adar to be used beginning in Nissan

Technique

Made from the Sugar Cookie Recipe from Susie Fishbein's Kids in the Kitchen.  rolled out some of the dough to write 1/2 on the cookies.  Made Glaze from confectioner's sugar, water, and corn syrup. Dissapointingly, the black food coloring turned purplish rather than silverish.

Parsha Cake

Explanation 


After Moshe spent 40 days and nights on Har Sinai, he came down and saw the egel hazahav, the golden calf. He took the egel, ground it and put it in water for the people to drink

יט וַיְהִי, כַּאֲשֶׁר קָרַב אֶל-הַמַּחֲנֶה, וַיַּרְא אֶת-הָעֵגֶל, וּמְחֹלֹת; וַיִּחַר-אַף מֹשֶׁה, וַיַּשְׁלֵךְ מִיָּדָו אֶת-הַלֻּחֹת, וַיְשַׁבֵּר אֹתָם, תַּחַת הָהָר.

19 And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing; and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mount.

כ וַיִּקַּח אֶת-הָעֵגֶל אֲשֶׁר עָשׂוּ, וַיִּשְׂרֹף בָּאֵשׁ, וַיִּטְחַן, עַד אֲשֶׁר-דָּק; וַיִּזֶר עַל-פְּנֵי הַמַּיִם, וַיַּשְׁקְ אֶת-בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל.

20 And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it with fire, and ground it to powder, and strewed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it

Technique

The cake is made from Duncan Hines cake. I  poured the  majority into 9x13 disposable tin and the remainder into a pyrex bowl and put both in the oven to bake.

After baking, both cakes were cooled in the freezer for over 45 minutes. I leveled the cake that was in the bowl with a knife.

The big cake was frosted with white frosting mixed with a spoonful of chocolate, a drop of yellow & 3 drops of green. 

The water was made with white frosting tinted with neon blue food coloring.  I sprinkled yellow sugar crystals on the water to make the ground up golden calf.

Har Sinai was made with white frosting colored with regular green frosting. I crumb coated it first and then did a final layer. I used a paper scraped against the cake to smooth the frosting. I sprinkled flower toppings on Har Sinai. The broken luchos were graham crackers covered with frosting and blue sugar. 

Purim Cake

Explanation

Purim Cake of the 10 sons of Haman and Haman hanging on the gallows. 

Designed by the boys (could have figured that one out). One son had wanted me to litter the bottom of the cake with the weapons of the ten sons that dropped out of their pockets but I couldn't figure it out in the 2 minutes we were decorating the cake.

Technique

Devils'Food Duncan Hines in a 9x 13 pan. Frosted with White Duncan Hines. piped the gallows with Chocolate Duncan Hines in a ziploc bag. 

Made thh stick figures with a can of black frosting that comes with tips.  My black frosting can went psychotic in the middle, probably drunk on Purim and wouldn't stop squirting the frosting. Hence the artistic license for some of the stick figures

Parshas Tetzave

This Parsha has the clothing of the Kohen Gadol. One of his most famous garments is the choshen and urim v'tumim which my children and I depicted in this weeks Parsha Cake 

Explanation

The Choshen was set on a fabric that was 1/2 an amah by 1/2 an amah (about 9 square inches) 

The fabric  was woven with a mix of red, purple, gold, and white and gold thread. Designs were woven into the fabric instead of being embroidered on top.

The stones were set in gold and mounted in four rows of three. 

Row 1: Reuven, Red, Shimon – deep Green, Levi - Red, White, and Black Striped

Row 2: Yehudah - Bluish-Green, Yissachar - Blue, Zevulun - ClearRow 3: Dan - Blue, Naftali - Purple, Gad - GreyRow 4:  Asher - Blue-Green, Yoseph - Black, Benyamin - A Stone Possessing All the Colors

The order  of the stones is a subject of dispute.

Technique

I made one yellow cake mix and divided into 5 bags and dyed blue, purple, red, yellow and left one blain. I piped the mix into the pans and then used a fork and toothpick to make the pattern. 

The squares were made with yellow Duncan Hines frosting.

For the stones, we used jelly bellys for some. For other colors we didn't have in jelly belly we crushed dum dums. To make the black and gray stones we added black food coloring to the clear dum dums. 

Parshas Mishpatim

This Parsha has in it לא תבשל גדי בחלב אמו. Do not cook a goat in the milk of its mother. From this pasuk we learn the prohibition of eating, cooking or benefiting from meat and milk cooked together.

Technique


I made one Chocolate cake mix and one brownie mix. I split the chocolate cake batter into an oven safe bowl, and 2 8" round tins. I split the brownies into 2 8" round tins.

I mixed 2 TBSP of chocolate frosting, a few drops of yellow and a lot of white to make the bun.  I mixed some of the bun color with red to make the tomato.

To make the lettuce and cheese I used fondant. I mixed yellow food coloring with a drop of orange to get the right shade for the cheese. For the lettuce, I colored the fondant neon green. When I had mixed it in evenly I added some regular green to make the streaks. I rolled out the fondant.

To assemble:
1. Crumb coated the cakes. This means to first chill the cake and then put on a layer of frosting to seal in the crumbs. Put back in the freezer.

2. Started assembling from the bottom up.
3. I cut the fondant after it was put on the cake
4. I rolled out a thin layer of red fondant to wrap around the tomato layer.
5. I used the edge of a cake smoother/decorator to put in the sesame seed indentations on top.

Reaction
"It tastes as good as it looks"

I wouldn't use the brownie layer again since it made it very hard to serve.

Parshas Yisro

Tu B'Shvat cake

Parshas Beshalach

An Egyptian getting stuck in the much before the water comes down on him after the Jews crossed on dry land. Chariot wheels are coming off like it says in the pasuk.


chariot is made out of parve chocolate bar and choc cookies, mud is pudding, dry land is graham crackers and as always cake is duncan hines

Parshas Bo

and the locusts ate the rice.

darkness wasn't fun

and the last one was the death of every first born son.

Parshas Va'era

Ten Makkos, Makkos Ten - the Mitzrim were punished again and again

water turned to blood

Frogs were everywhere

Lice that came from mud

Wild animals were a scare

A plague that left them dead

Boils that spread and spread

Hail with fire & ice 

(to be continued)

Parshas Shmos

Explanation 

Technique

Parshas Vayechi

Explanation


 Yaakov's casket in Goren Atad.


This is based on the following Rashi from the Medrash

Our rabbis explained that the place Goren Atad was named for an event. Every king of Canaan and the princes of Yishmaal came for war and when they saw the crown of Joseph hanging on the casket of Yaakov, they all stood and hung their crowns. The casket was surround with crowns like a threshing floor that is surround with thorns:

רש"י על בראשית פרק נ פסוק י 
ור"ד (סוטה יג) על שם המאורע שבאו כל מלכי כנען ונשיאי ישמעאל למלחמה וכיון שראו כתרו של יוסף תלוי בארונו של יעקב עמדו כולן ותלו בו כתריהם והקיפוהו כתרים כגורן המוקף סייג של קוצים:


Technique
Bottom - chocolate pudding frozen with crushed graham crackers on top.
Cake - baked in a loaf pan. Frosted with chocolate mixed with white to give it wood like grain. 

Parshas Vayigash

Explanation 

Technique

Parshas Miketz

Explanation 

Technique

Parshas Vayeishev

Parshas Vayishlach

Explanation 

Technique

Parshas Vayetzei

Explanation 


Yaakov marries 4 wives, Leah, Rachel, Bilha & Zilpa. This cake is a wedding cake with the groom under the chuppah and each of his four wives.

Technique

Parsha Cupcakes


Explanation 
After 14 years, Yaakov was ready to leave. Lavan negotiated for him to stay. Yaakov agreed that any sheep that were born that were spotted and speckled would be his salary. Lavan switched his salary 10 times, but Hashem still allowed him to become wealthy.

Technique

Parshas Toldos

Explanation 


Yaakov & Esav were born in this week's Parsha. Yaakov was born holding on to Esav's heel. They were twins. Esav was red and liked to fight whle Yaakov grew up and liked to learn Torah.

Technique

I split the cake into two loaf pans and trimmed the sides to make the legs & arms.

The heads, hands and feet came from dolls from the dollar store. I carved into the cake to force the head in and then sealed it with frosting.

Explanation 

Esav asks Yaakov to give him from the red stuff - lentils. We tried making lentil soup out of red lentils but the color came out yellow. I tried adding red food coloring which turned it orange. Perhaps Yaakov used brown lentils which could be considered red?

Parshas Chayei Sara

Parshas Vayera