Pumpkin Paradise

One of my friends from college recently had a pumpkin-themed baby shower to celebrate her impending bundle of joy. Everything was very autumnal down to the adorable doughnut hole "acorns". Super fun. I added this pumpkin-shaped Apple Spice Cake to round out the theme.


A light brown sugar meringue buttercream covered the outside and fondant was used for the leaves and stem.

Yum. The season of comfort food has officially begun.

Pretty Little Co-ed Wedding Showers

Happy nearly wedding to Dan and Lindsay B. I hope you enjoyed your elegant co-ed wedding shower sugar cookies on what may have been the most major downpour of the year in west central Fort Worth.

My husband and I surely enjoyed the leftovers!

Mascarpone, will you marry me?

Or just come live with me every day? I promise to treat you right. Alright, alright. Really, this tart is very simple. Delightfully sweet and spicy gingersnap crust. Luscious, rich cream cheese and mascarpone filling. Perfectly ripe nectarines sliced thinly and layered on top. Perfect and refreshing for a warm summer day.

The only complaint came from my husband who thinks nectarines look too much like peaches and the tart made him long for a peach and mascarpone tart. Which would also have been delightful. This beautiful 11" tart is even better the second day. You know, if there's anything left.

It's a... CAKE!

A good friend of mine asked me a few months ago to make a cake that would reveal their little baby's gender to she and her husband and a room full of curious guests. And I thought time passed slowly for the expectant mother! It sure was tough on the expectant baker, too. I couldn't wait! And neither could Cassie and her husband; they found out the day before. It's a boy! The cake turned out beautifully on the inside and I was grateful to have cleaned all the blue dye off my hands before I delivered the cake to the party. No one was any the wiser until the moment of truth. The cake, by the way, is the yummy and perfectly moist Vanilla Buttermilk cake and is filled with Strawberries and Cream. Cassie's mother cut the cake and sure was excited! This will be her third grandson. Time to party.

The Big Number 2

My little one turned two this past Saturday and I made him a cake featuring one of his very favorite words, "bird". I've been experimenting with a new homemade fondant. It's delicious, but I still have some finer tweeks to work out with it. Here it is in action for the first time.
The cake is the Pure White cake mentioned in the sidebar. It's very light with a hint of lemon. The buttercream is wonderfully light and not too sweet. Perfect to garnish the cake without adding too much sugar.
Yum. Happy 2nd birthday.

The World is Eaten

No, no, you're not looking at the earth from space, this is an incredibly delicious vanilla bean cake layered with tart lemon cream. Perfect for a "We Think the World of You" party to send off beloved teachers not returning to Covenant Classical School.
I was grateful for my new skills in paper cutting for this cake, and I'm pretty sure I made my ex-geography teacher mother proud. Below is a 12-inch double chocolate birthday party cake.

Here's a sneak peek into the behind-the-scenes action. This is the bowl of velvety ganache that I have to turn around every time I make the double chocolate cake. Delicious.

Finally, don't forget to celebrate your 2010 graduates! Buy a sweet treat to feed a party or a 6" cake to celebrate simply. It's always a good time for dessert!

Catching Up

I've been slow to download pictures lately, but here's a small taste of what I've been up to in the past few weeks.

Happy Birthday to the drum loving Mason. When I delivered this cake, he was happily and appropriately drumming away in the garage. I hope you enjoyed the cake!
Here is Covenant's April Birthday Cake. It's a light, but wonderfully delicious vanilla bean cake with lemon cream filling. In honor of springtime, I added these cream chocolate butterflies.

Easter Never Gets Old

And neither do Easter cookies, really, though it's possible that is because they are never given the opportunity. I know the leftovers of this order were gobbled up by my family pretty quickly. I received an order for 4 dozen Easter cookies and immediately knew I would enjoy making these. Since I was without my in-house photographer, the pictures are scarce, much like the cookies by the following afternoon.

These sugar cookies are delicious and soft, covered in perfectly sweet royal icing decorations. Indeed, stacks and stacks of chicks, butterflies, tulips, and at least a dozen Easter eggs are a really fun way to celebrate the arrival of spring and salvation.

Cake Balls

Someone, who shall remain nameless, has long requested that I make cake balls. So, here they are in all their small-bite-of-heaven glory.

Represented here are vanilla bean with lemon curd cake balls dressed in a sweet white chocolate and red velvet with cream cheese mascarpone icing in a bittersweet chocolate coating. I'm sure more variations will come, but for now, I think these turned out successfully.
The only unsuccessful attempt during cake ball madness was coloring the red velvet cake green to honor spring. Instead of a beautiful spring green, they honored the good ol' Grinch. That is why the chocolate cake balls have a nice green drizzle. I could tell you were curious.

Though small, these cake balls are hearty and I wouldn't serve more than two or three per person. Unless you have a houseful of college-aged boys playing Settlers of Catan, in which case they might gobble them all up pretty quickly.

Engagement Cookies

I was pleasantly surprised by a sweet lady who ordered sugar cookies for an engagement party a few weeks back. She had clearly done her research into cookie ordering and I think these turned out just as she was hoping. We also recalled a good lesson when you're party-planning with the male species, Be Flexible! These little darlings went through a few changes before they finally got gussied up for the big night.

Packed up for their cross-town trip

By the way, these are made with a delicious and lightly sweet sugar cookie dough that takes a lot of a baker's self-control not to eat right out of the bowl. They are decorated with royal icing and marshmallow fondant.

Cowboys Don't Take Showers

Here's a large double chocolate cake I made for a little boy's baby shower a few weeks ago. The hostesses requested that it not be "too baby", but I couldn't help adding a few feminine flowers for the women who would be devouring the cake.

Welcome Baby Boy Cook!

Well Done Cupcakes!

The next time you need a little incentive or treat for your staff or co-workers, your kids' teachers, or hey, just for yourself, consider cupcakes! These red velvet cupcakes with mascarpone cream cheese icing do the trick very nicely.

At $1.50 a cupcake, you can enjoy a box of these delicious minis and barely dent the petty cash. Now, that's a way to celebrate!

Baby Shower Pink

Last weekend, I made two 9" cakes to take part in a dessert shower (the very best kind of party, I think) for a coming baby girl. The first, with a vines and leaves pattern, is a light vanilla bean cake with the wonderfully rich and tart lemon cream filling, iced in a light lemon buttercream.

The second cake is a deep dark double chocolate cake iced and filled with a rich chocolate ganache.

Boys might be great fun, but I will always love the sweet and delicate touches that accompany treats for little girls. Now, who wants a full tray of petit fours?

Romantical Considerations

I guess it's all due to the month of love, because I have been really busy whipping up love-themed cakes. Of course, it never hurts that the celebration of the many forms of love is a great reason for dessert.

Congratulations, Maggie and Mark, on your impending nuptuals!

February Birthdays...

at Covenant Classical School require vanilla buttermilk cakes with espresso pastry cream, mocha buttercream, and chocolate-covered espresso beans, just for fun.

Happy Valentine's Day!

"There is no remedy for love but to love more."

- Henry David Thoreau

The Big Tumblebus, It Is'a Comin' Down The Street

And it's for Isaac. All a brand new four-year-old needs is chocolate cake with orange frosting and a travling gymnastics bus. Pretty exciting.

A few weeks ago, I began working on what I will entitle "Adrian's Baking Projects". ABP #1, individual pavlovas. They were perfect. Lightly sweetened and crisp meringue cups filled with chantilly cream and topped with sugared fruit. Mmm, the sweet taste of success.

You can certainly order any of the baking projects I'm working on this spring, or if you'd like, feel inspired to go out and make your own. There's no time like the present for creating delicious dishes in the kitchen that everyone will enjoy!

Hoping for an Early Spring

For a few weeks in December and January, us North Texans had some unusually cold weather. I believe it had most of us hoping for an early spring. We had a hint of spring last week, just in time to be enjoyed with a light, but flavorful Vanilla Bean cake with smooth and tart luscious lemon cream filling and light lemon buttercream.
Simple and fresh, this cake can truly be enjoyed any time of year. It is an especially delicious cake and perfect for anyone looking for a change from chocolate.

Pregnant Mommies Love Cake

And so do their friends and co-workers who come together to celebrate with rattles, blankies, and pretty food. I feel like showers are some of the best opportunities to serve the kind of treats we used to admire at tea parties. If only we still had tea parties...

This is the 12-inch, very popular, double chocolate cake with ganache. The flowers and carriage are made with fondant.

There has been a lot of deep, dark chocolate to keep us happy during the holidays, but next week I'm baking up a hint of spring with a vanilla bean cake with luscious lemon cream filling. I'm also working on some new recipes and offerings and will, hopefully, be posting those here as well in the near future. Feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you would like to see!

Merry January Seventh!

Since I took a couple of weeks away from the computer for the holidays, I'll post two of the cakes I made in December. If your New Year's resolution is to celebrate Christmas all year long, these cakes might just help!

First, a festive red and green Christmas Eve cake perfectly fit for a grand celebration. Underneath the decoration, this is the very popular double chocolate cake with rich chocolate ganache. Who could resist?

Secondly, I have a rich and creamy flourless chocolate torte. Perfect alongside a cup of tea or espresso, you'll try to say no to this cake, but just continue to put it in your mouth anyway. Trust me.

If you haven't made a resolution for the new year, I think a great choice would be to celebrate more. Maybe you shouldn't eat a whole cake by yourself, but I'm sure you can think of a few reasons to gather your friends and family around the table to celebrate and enjoy a piece or two of something sweet. It's sure to be a yummy year.