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!