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.