Too Much Cake
so i doubt anyone actually reads this blog. but if you do, do you have any advice on scaling down for wedding cake tastings?? i made 3 kinds of cake for my July bride, but ended up making 1/2 recipes of each, which still ends up being a lot of cake.
flavors the happy couple is trying: vanilla, chocolate, and kahlua cakes, with combinations of vanilla buttercream, chocolate buttercream, and raspberry jam.
Filed under Cake, Wedding | Comments (2)No Willpower
The bad thing about being a grownup is you can eat whatever you want and no one will tell you differently. Especially when you’re feeling sick and shouldn’t eat whatever you want.
I had a big craving for chocolate chip cookies this weekend having been under the weather for awhile. So I made some. And have eaten most of them with the help of hubby and friends. Sorry, no gratuitous pictures of the cookies available. But you know what a cookie looks like, don’t you? If not, I feelfor you and will gladly eat more in your honor. 
I also started working on a pretty pricing menu for my various goods. That way people don’t have to come up to me and order something, then stop being my friend after they find out how much it’s going to cost them. No more charging based on my mood for that day.
Filed under Cookies | Comment (0)Wind Back the Clock
My obsession for crafty baking, cooking, and other stuff started in college, but didn’t really start getting to an unreasonably warped level until senior year. I ended up with only one class spring semester, so let’s just say I had a decent amount of time on my hands. And let’s just say I had ”ambition” to throw a formal dinner party for 25 of my closest friends at the house I was renting. With formal invitations. And a choice of entree and dessert. With filet mignon, chicken marsala, chocolate mousse cake, and trifle. Renting all of the china and purchasing white restaurant-style linens. Plating each individual plate and thinking I could do it all myself. Why my boyfriend, now husband stayed with me I have no idea.
Now, in no way am I going to compare myself to some of the ladies on Weddingbee (even though I got married almost a year ago and shouldn’t be looking at wedding stuff anymore) or Etsy (crafty goodness), two sites I am absolutely obsessed with. In fact, I’m going to add them to my blogroll, so you can obsess, too.
Just did!
Right now my primary crafting loves are gingerbread, cake decorating, and pastries. Note that I’m long overdue for a physical to see how far along I am to going into diabetic coma.
Here’s some old eye candy for you.
Clockwise from top:
Vanilla cake with chocolate ganache and vanilla buttercream icing; fresh fruit tart with pastry cream; chocolate cake filled with chocolate mousse covered in fondant; chocolate cake filled with chocolate mousse and raspberry jam, topped with poured chocolate ganache wrapped in chocolate transfer; vanilla cake with pastry cream and fondant; gingerbread carousel (my 1st gingerbread competition piece); vanilla cake with chocolate buttercream; picture of the local County Theater; gingerbread reproduction of the County Theater (my 1st gingerbread piece ever); vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream and fondant (Wilton course final)
Filed under Cake, Cookies, Party | Comment (0)I Love You, Mom
Yesterday was Mother’s Day and my mom and my new mother-in-law both suggested celebrating together since we all live relatively close to one another. Yay…FANCY LUNCHEON! Time to break out the fine china – thanks baby for handwashing all of the dishes afterward. 
The menu actually came out very well-balanced – miso-marinated grilled pork tenderloin (adapted from Epicurious), grilled corn and edamame salad (Epicurious), grilled tomatoes stuffed with crabmeat (my recipe), and goat cheese and ricotta with lemon and basil on grilled crostini (Giada DeLaurentis). Served with some peach bellinis that were a little thick but tasty. Of course I only took two sips because life doesn’t want me to enjoy much alcohol without spending time afterward on our comfy couch.
Dessert featured some fresh berries (courtesy of my sister-in-law) and a semolina custard cake covered in phyllo dough, with honey syrup and honeyed pine nuts (Martha Stewart):
Rubber Ducky, You’re the One
So my hubby thought it would be a good idea for me to start blogging about baking (title of this post is for him, he’s been singing that ever since I started planning this cake). I think he likes bragging about me, so of course I have to do all the work! 
But I love him dearly. Here’s my first blog entry. Over the last 3 years, I have developed a pet peeve: crumbs in my icing. I’ve learned for the most part how to avoid this – chill the cake, crumbcoat, etc. Every once in awhile though, a few of those little crumbs like to show themselves (particularly when I’m moving too slowly and the cake starts getting warm) and IT MAKES ME MAD!
Ok, not really. It’s really not that big of a deal. But it is a cute play on words.
Anyway, here’s one of my more recent cakes, a “rubber” ducky cake for a baby shower:
Vanilla cake filled with fresh lemon curd and covered in cream cheese icing. The duckies, faucet, and tile dots are made of fondant.
Challenge of the day: realizing the top tier was too heavy and having to maneuver it off to stick in straw dowels. And poor little ducky’s head fell off prior to leaving the house. He got a neck brace.
Filed under Baby Shower | Comment (1)