More baking..

Yummy!

This gem is for a birthday girl. It's golden buttermilk cake filled with 60% dark chocolate ganache, topped with vanilla whipped cream, with Eclat reserve mendiants- http://www.eclatchocolate.com/ and Valrhona dark chocolate crunch pearls.

Thank goodness for pointy chopsticks so I could place those pearls on and around the cake, one by one by one....

Promise to be back soon!

Tis the season, and I'm back to baking this week for Thanksgiving. I have a few orders for the Cranberry Frangipane tarts and for a layer cake. Perhaps more cupcakes and a few other goodies. Just got back from LA, and spent some wonderful time with family and one on the way. Stay tuned, I'll be posting more goodies this week...

Oh, dear- time to catch up

It's been a while since I last posted and you can see the reason why. Let me introduce you to our newest addition to our family; this is Kirby Albert. We adopted him in June after meeting him at All 4 Paws Rescue in Chester Springs PA. He was found in a high kill shelter in Kentucky, where he had been for over a month.

He's a funny little guy. We think he's part wire haired doxie with some terrier in there. He has the cutest little overbite and keeps us laughing for sure. Needless to say, there has not been the flurry of
baking like in the past, since it's been interesting juggling doggie day
camp with a full time job and baking when I can.

I am looking for another new chapter as of Friday, when I was told of restructuring, etc.

Looking forward to baking and creating, and for a brighter future yet again.

Mother's Day weekend!

Yes, I am still baking!

I just looked at the date of the last time I was here! I have been remiss in keeping you posted as to my baking. Well, I am not baking as often since I am working again full time at a great studio near by, more on that in a minute.

This lovely is a deep, dark red velvet cake layered with semisweet chocolate ganache and more of the vanilla meringue buttercream. I really like this cake recipe since it uses full fat sour cream, rather than buttermilk or vinegar. It still uses a good amount of red coloring and I like using the gel coloring rather than the liquid. AND I tend to use more cocoa powder and cut back just a bit on the flour so have a stronger chocolate note in the cake that marries well with chocolate ganache. The cake is really moist and tender. I will need to make these into cupcakes soon, too.

SO I am not baking everyday anymore, more like once or twice a week. It's hard to juggle baking a layer cake during the work week, since everything is started and made from scratch. I find myself starting at 6 pm at the earliest -waiting for eggs, butter and liquids slowly coming to room temperature so I can begin to bake the cake. As the cake is baking, I can make the fillings what ever they maybe, citrus curd or chocolate ganache, and patiently wait for them to cool or chill. AND when the cake is cooling, working on the buttercream! Once all the components are cool and ready to go, I find myself layering about 10pm or so...waiting for 25 minutes for the "skim" coat to harden, now it's creeping up on 11pm and by the time I am wrapped up, it's midnight. AND time for bed.

I still really enjoy making my one of kind creations...and hope to find more time and balance in keeping this important time in my crazy schedule! It's 6:41 am and time to start my day...
Happy, sunny day!

Our new morning alarm...

It's finally Sunday, and it's been a long week for Eric and me! We were looking forward to a quiet Sunday morning, lingering in our jammies, sipping tea and coffee...but oh, no...we have a little, rather BIG fellow creating his own beat of a drum. Take a look....

See him? He looked like he was about 18" long with that red hat on top. He was just banging away at the tree, looking back and forth for creatures that would pop out with all the vibration he was generating.  There have been several family members in the trees lately...
Now if only they could get together and play percussion...with a beat.

Birthday baking!

It was my mother's in law birthday on St Pat's day! Now we don't eat green food but we do LOVE chocolate! I'm so glad that both of our families LOVE chocolate!

These yummy goodies are made of dark chocolate cake. The crazy recipe with tons of cocoa and buttermilk. I filled them with 60% dark chocolate ganache and topped them with chocolate meringue buttercream. You can also see some sparkling sugar and Dutch dark chocolate sprinkles for additional texture in the mouth. They were loved by all and devoured in minutes...next time I need my sister in law to take a picture when we slice it in half and you get to see the lovely pocket of filling inside wrapped around with cake on the bottom and buttercream on the top...delish!

oh, it's been a while...

Wow! It's been a while since I have been here. Things have changed. I am working again full time for a lovely jewelry design and production studio, AND I am trying to keep my little baking business going as well. Baking on the weekends seems to be working out. I am finding that it's a bit harder to be baking on a "school/ work" night. Sunday baking into a Monday seemed okay...the Thursday baking into Friday nearly killed me. Nothing was working. The carrot cake was sliding, the frosting was too loose, oh the calamity of it all- so much so that I had to make another batch of frosting ( or "spackle") in order to hold the cake in place and in shape! Let me tell you the fun I was having at 2 in the morning. I finally got to bed at 3am for that gem.

 Which leads me to my last cake, which is why I am still up and letting you see and updating you on what has been going on with JujyCakes.

More to come about the juggling of JujyCakes with my new full time job, I am getting too old to be burning the candle at both ends---time for bed for now...

I guess you really shouldn't put 52 candles on a cupcake?

 

Look at these delicious goodies!
These are dark chocolate cake with chocolate mousse, topped with vanilla meringue buttercream, sparkling sugar and chocolate filagree hearts.

My sisters in law celebrated their birthday a week late since the snow storm tossed a wrench into everyone's plans. AND my in laws also were uprooted from their home since their heating system went as well. We were finally able to celebrate in a toasty warm house with a roaring fire, a delicious lunch and good times spent with our family.

Still baking...

Friends and family have been asking IF I am still baking and working on JujyCakes...the answer is YES! This has been an interesting couple of weeks with the snow, and getting re-adjusted to being back in a full time job, especially since this "forever" home is Monday through Friday. I can't remember what it felt like since it was a long time ago when I was a buyer. Even that was not Monday thru Friday, since there were trade shows to go to and traveling across the country and across continents.

BUT here we go, more chocolate...

 

  

These goodies are dark chocolate cake brushed with mocha Kahlua, filled with dark chocolate mousse, topped with whipped cream, shaved orange dark chocolate and Valrhona crunch pearls...

A birthday gift for Elaine at the design studio. Do you think she likes or loves dark chocolate, like me???

Grateful...

It's been 2 weeks since I last posted. I have a new "forever" ( I hope! ) home with a wonderful jewelry studio close to home. I joined the team and my newest family on Monday, 8 feb 2010; and have been enjoying the fun, new friends and creativity everyday. It is a wonderful change from retail.

I am still baking, not to worry...but on a more limited production schedule. I guess I should update my profile soon.

The blizzard has tossed a wrench in everything, but more yummy pictures are coming real soon. Till then, try and find our Weber grill, fondly called "mr. Minty"...he's looking more like a s'more these days and so much for our winter grill fests.

MANY thanks!

I am so lucky to have Rachel at the Cupcakes Take the Cake as a fan of my baking FUN-employment!
Please take a look since the Valentine's Day cuppies made the spotlight again!

http://cupcakestakethecake.blogspot.com/2010/01/valentines-day-cookies-on-cupcakes.html

Valentine's Day ideas

I have been so busy juggling baking and working at the Jewelry studio, that I completely forgot to update for the Holidays...specifically Valentine's Day. It's already a busy weekend- my brother and niece share the 13th as their birthday, and it's New Year's on the 14th- Year of the TIger. So here's what I came up with in the last few hours...

These are red velvet cakes filled with dark chocolate custard, topped with vanilla meringue buttercream, accented with sables
with royal icing,



red sanding sugar and sugar pearls...for those who want the red and white theme.

I also was inspired by Martha Stewart Living Feb 2010 issue, and love the sophistication of the dark chocolate filagree hearts. It is suggested that you trace a heart shaped cookie cutter on parchment and trace...BUT I love the free handed "drawing" I can do with the chocolate and have some asymmetric hearts.

It's 21 days to Valentine's Day...enjoy the view!

Thinking spring and summertime...

I was thinking it's time to think about Spring even though it's like 18 degrees outside with a wind chill of something cold and crazy!

These are "pina colada" cupcakes- coconut cake filled with pineapple/rum (just a tad) filling topped with vanilla coconut meringue buttercream with toasted coconut. I still didn't recreate the photo set that my brother was kind to do for me. With all the Holiday stuff, I had to take it down- so the photos are needing some tweaking.

Finally, I can show the finished one, the "peel" and what the insides look like. Of course I had to taste it! It's nice not too sweet, slightly chunky with the pineapple and pleasantly chewy and crunchy with the toasted coconut, and creamy buttercream and nice crumbs in the coconut cake. The only ingredient I forgot to add in, was some lime zest...oh well, maybe next time, but where? in the filling or with the frosting? Do you have any thoughts?

A time it was, and what a time it was, a time of...

You wondering what kind of title is that?...Actually it's the first few lines of the Bookends lyrics by Simon and Garfunkel. This delightful gift box of goodies went to the Bookend Cafe as a "test". Test to see if the clientele would like a dessert like this and a test to see what they would pay for such goodness.

These gems are dark chocolate cakes made with sour cream and cocoa, filled with dark chocolate mousse and raspberry puree, topped with vanilla meringue buttercream, sparkling sanding sugar with a Valrhona crunch pearl. The Valrhona pearls are "crunch" covered in Valrhona dark chocolate that my daughter, Erika sent to me from LA, la land!

She is able to shop this WONDERFUL store that used to be Surfas aka Culinary District, which is a chef, gourmet cook and baker's delight. I really wish there was something out here that was like it. Everything out here wants your license number, tax number, etc, etc, etc...but for those of us just getting started- we have lots of desire, appreciate all the wonderful ingredients, have some monies, but can't get pass the gatekeepers. What a poor business mistake!

Anyhow, keep warm- rumor has it there is more snow on its way!