OMG! A Naked Cake....

Here's another cake I made for the board meeting (aka, my guinea pigs!).  It's a lemon butter cake with a lemon curd/apricot and buttercream filling and a buttercream icing.  I didn't have time to put any decorations on it so it went out into the cold December night quite naked.  The buttercream was smooth and creamy when I put it on the cake but became hard by the time I arrived at the meeting because of the chilly night.  Buttercream loses much of it's appeal when it's cold.   

It's been a busy time of year so I haven'y done as much cooking or baking as I planned so the posts are scarce.  Hopefully things will slow down in the new year. 

 

Last summer....

Here is a wedding cake I did for my daughter-in-law's niece.  It was western-style wedding and I tried to make the cake reflect that but keeping it simple and elegant.  The bride-to-be bought a cake topper that she wanted to use but it was too large to put on the top of the cake so I put it on the bottom tier to create more of a scene.  It barely fit. Instead of smooth sides I textured them and used fresh flowers to resemble wildflowers.  It was all to create a country feel.  The bottom and top tiers are chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling and the middle tier is lemon butter cake with a lemon curd filling.  I also did two sheet cakes since there were about 350 guests. This is the picture I took and it wasn't the best angle or lighting but you'll get the idea.  I often forget to take pictures of the many of projects I do.

I love to make cakes!

This is a cake I made recently for a community theater board meeting.  It's a three layer hazelnut cake with mocha icing.  I was intrigued with the combination after reading about it in a cookbook called "Nantucket Open-House Cookbook" by Sarah Leah Chase.  It's a great book I originally got after reading about it in the LA Times.  I used a Swiss Meringue icing with a mocha flavored paste I ordered from Qzina in South SF.  I ordered the hazelnut meal from Pastry Chef Central.  I wasn't thrilled with the flavor of the icing because there was an odd aftertaste due to the mocha paste.  Next time I'll use the recipe in the book.  Anyway, it got raves from those who indulged.

First post....

Here is my very first post!  I was making some cookies to send to a friend so I took a picture of the lumps of dough.  I'm trying to learn to take decent pictures even though I don't have a very sophisticated camera.  I think it (the picture) turned out ok.  The cookies are wonderful.  They are standard chocolate chip cookies with a twist.  More on that later.  I sell these cookies at the local farmer's market during the summer months and they have been very successful.

So, here is the before picture....

And here is the after picture....

 

Below are some great BIG chocolate cookies that are very popular.  These cookies are about 3-4 inches wide.  They are crunchy on the outside and soft inside.  If you are a chocolate lover these will give you a fix for a day!