Bakery Rant

Dear local bakers: You CANNOT just put a flavoring oil or extract in your white cake and call it THAT flavor. I.e: white cake + lemon extract = "lemon cake" or white cake + banana flavoring oil = "banana cake" ... PLEASE do everyone's palette a favor and start using fresh ingredients.

Thank you,

Weekend Wrap Up

SUCCESS! The best word to describe this weekend's baking adventures!

I can't believe this is the first chance I have had to share with the world the whirlwind of new experiences and layers of flavor I have endured this weekend! First of all, this was the quince anos cake delivery for Angelica Iraheta. Her ceremony was something that I had never experienced before. In fact, I found myself in tears at several points during her family and friends' speeches. Okay, okay... back to the cake!!!! To my absolute horror, after all the prep work that had been done to ensure my cakes' safe arrival, I was none to please when I opened each of the 6 boxes and EVERY SINGLE CAKE was damaged. Nothing I couldn't handle, right? WRONG! I was frantically adjusting each cake to attempt to restore the once beautiful outer structure, and in a mere 4 hours, all things wrong in the world seemed to be right!

The birthday girl, Angelica...



And the cake!







Despite all the chaos surrounding Angelica's cake, I still managed to produce a few other tasty concoctions!

"Just Because" cupcakes...


Red Velvet cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting


Until next time, I shall leave your mouth salivating.... :)

Quince Progress Report

3 days and counting!! I am so excited! I have been locked up in my house for the past two days (and will be for the next 3 days) cranking out cakes, but hard work shall prevail!

Monday - Bake 4 - 10" Cakes (cool, level, refrigerate)
Tuesday - Bake 4 - 10" Cakes (cool, level, refrigerate)
Wednes - Bake 2 - 12" Cakes, 1 - 8" Cake (cool, level, refrigerate). Make pastry cream.
Thurs - BUTTERCREAM DAY!!! 5 batches!
Friday - Fill, frost, smooth and decorate ALL cakes. Go to reception site for setup prep.
Saturday - Deliver and assemble cakes and attach ribbon! Then it's time to cut loose and party!

After all the planning and prep it will be a bittersweet delivery! This has been a challenging cake, but the payoff will be the sparkle in Angelica's eyes when she sees the dazzling creation that she had only dreamed of before turned into a delicious reality!

Angelica's Quinceanera Cake Plan

Well, we're really getting down to the wire with Angelica's 15 Cake! It's been a long process and the day is FINALLY about to be here! So, if ANYONE plans to contact me next week to see if I can hang out, watch a movie, grab a drink... I will have to decline. My week is booked full with baking prep, and honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way! I am accounting for any and everything that can go wrong!

The cake consists of:
8 - 10" Cakes
2 - 12" Cakes
4 - Batches of Buttercream
4 - Pounds of fresh strawberries
2 - Pounds of fruit cocktail
2 - Pounds of almond pastry cream
2 - Sets of stairs to attach
1 - GIGANTIC water fountain
5 - Satin ribbons to adhere to cake
1 - Dazzling Crown (to adorn top tier)
Hundreds of fresh flowers
And all the boring stuff such as cake stands, pillars, serving instruments, and blah blah blah!

Below is a rough sketch (ok, a VERY rough sketch!) of the cake that will be presented next to her Last Doll at the reception site. The cakes will be white and accented with Coral piping, satin ribbon, and white/coral fresh flowers. The top tier as well as the front tiers will be filled with fresh strawberries and strawberry filling. The middle two cakes will be filled with fruit cocktail in an almond pastry cream.





As mentioned before, it is truly an honor to be asked to provide a cake for this type of event. This is what baking is all about people! Doing what you LOVE and having people LOVE what you do!

Deanna's 23rd Birthday Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Well, the good new is: if you're looking for a cake you can prep in under 15 minutes - This is the cake! I wish I could say the same for the baking time. After 25 minutes baking, I began to smell the brown sugar caramelizing -but no cake smell. I opened the oven to test the cake and to my HORROR the cake still had a completely liquid center. The sides were browning nicely, but the center had a LONG way to go. So naturally, the panic set in!

Now, the cake baking unevenly could be one of two factors:
A.) My oven may need to be calibrated. I have misplaced my oven thermometer, so there is a chance that my oven didn't reach the proper cooking temperature.
B.) The cake yielded ALOT of batter. In addition to to the bottom (later to be the top) of pineapple and brown sugar/butter mixture (1/2") the cake filled the 10" pan almost to the brim!

All in all, the cake turned out extremely well, and even though I had my doubts due to the baking woes, this cake was very well received! It was very moist, exploding with flavor, and definitely a crowd pleaser!

I can't say this was one of the most challenging cakes I have ever baked but it's something I would definitely do again if someone requests one... (AKA: Cassie!)

Pineapple Express

Sorry, I just couldn't resist the urge to use that in a sentence! Anyways, on to the matter at hand! PINEAPPLE UPSIDE DOWN CAKE!. I have very mixed feelings about this. I like to do things a little more "outside the box", creative, and whimsical.. But I guess you can't tell a friend "Your perfect birthday cake idea isn't MY idea of a wonderful cake, therefore I'm not going to make it. Oh yeah, Happy Birthday!" Never in a million years! Whatever the client wants, is what the client gets. It doesn't matter if your a friend of mine, family, or a complete stranger. I am in the business of making YOU happy! So, Deanna -this one is for you!

I'll post pictures this weekend once the cake is complete; along with a detailed report of the outcome! Will I succeed at a classic cake that is loved by many? Or will I fail because I scoffed at the simplicity of such a cake? Let's hope for Deanna and her family's sake that I succeed!

Soupy Frosting

I am almost ready to give up on baking in the summer. It is entirely too hot. Cakes don't bake correctly, frosting's don't stay firm as they should, and transportation: forget about it.

I was baking all morning, with no anticipation that anything would go wrong, after all this is my go-to: red velvet w/ cream cheese frosting. The cupcakes baked correctly (maybe slightly more dense than usual) and the frosting whipped up beautifully, it wasn't until I arrived at Gern's for the Fourth Festivities that things started to veer slightly off path!

I let the frosting firm up after the car ride and by the time I went to fill my piping bag, my worst fear had come true. It wasn't firm enough yet. And by not firm enough I really mean it was almost like a thick cake batter consistency. Horrified doesn't quite describe the feeling that had overcome me. The refrigerator I had left the bowl of frosting in was the refrigerator that was being used for most of the other dishes that were being served, so it was being opened and closed and things were being taken out every 2 minutes, so a proper cooling temperature could never be reached.



After I rallied up a few people to help me, we sifted a few things in the freezer and my frosting was saved! Well, almost! After I remembered that this was a family affair and they understood the dramatic weather conditions were conspiring against me; I relaxed a bit! Even though the cupcakes were very well received and raved about, I was still disappointed with the presentation. You win some, you lose some... All things considered this was a success!

You cant really go wrong with food, fun, friends and family... even if you have soupy frosting!

Angelica 15 - Shopping

Other than getting off early and having a 3 day weekend, today was awesome for another reason. I met with Jessica again for the next phase of Angelica's Quinceneara cake(s) preparation: shopping. This is a VERY elaborate and exciting production that I am honored to be a part of! After only 2 meetings with the family I have already learned so many things about Mexican culture, traditions, and symbolism.

This cake will challenge my abilities as a cake decorator and I couldn't be more excited! Possible hardships: Texas heat/humidity, long distance transportation, difficult assembly, unusual fillings, buttercream (enough said! LOL), and did I mention I'm doing all this alone?!?! Haha. I've always had an assistant in previous large scale projects, but no one was available for this time slot! (If you're interested please Email Me!!!!!.

Chocolate Frosting

I'm not a fan of chocolate...THERE, I said it. Yes, I know, to utter such words is considered a sin by many, but my palette has refused to be open minded. Chocolate candy bars, chocolate ice cream, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate fondue, chocolate cake... none of these things have ever sat well with me.

I decided to give in and give myself a nudge, after all... if I am going to pursue this little baking dream of mine, then I might as well bite the bullet and start making some badass chocolate pastries.

I started small; baby steps, you know! Today's mission: chocolate frosting. I wanted a creamy, buttery, but not too rich frosting... boy did I hit the nail on the head. The frosting tastes like chocolate cake batter but with a buttercream texture. It's incredible!

Chocolate Frosting
6 tbsp butter
5-6 tbsp milk
6 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

The only drawback: To reach the desire texture, you have to whip for 2-3 minutes and this causes the frosting to lose some of it's rich chocolatey color. (I guess I could always cheat and use some brown food color!)



That's all for tonight! Someone please come over and eat these damn things. I've already had 3... =/

Gern's 72nd Birthday

It turns out June 25th was not only my grandmother's birthday, but it was the day that Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett passed away. I heard of the news of Michael's passing as I was filling these cupcakes with strawberry preserves and I was in utter shock.

Anyhow, these cupcakes barely withstood a 30minute car ride in 100* weather, even though I used my "sturdy" buttercream recipe. Notice that the strawberries are melting a bit as well as sliding off the icing.

These cupcakes consist of:
Strawberry cake, strawberry fruit preserve filling, strawberry buttercream, and fresh strawberries on top.

Welcome

Well, I have finally created a web home for my baking adventures. Feel free to browse around my Flickr and Twitter pages and please contact me if you have any questions.

So, a few exciting things are happening this that have been getting me inspired to bake! KaboomTown is happening Friday and after a long night of watching fireworks and celebrating what's a girl to do...? Pull an all-night'er baking cupcakes for the celebration at Gern's as well as a birthday! Lots to do!