A place to report on my adventures with cakes and baking
Since I broke my wrist at the end of last year, I have been on cake rest. I haven’t been able to bake a thing, let alone decorate anything. With Valentine’s Day coming up, I decided to try to make something but it had to be simple. I settled on brownie hearts, each decorated a bit differently. Pretty simple stuff but effective.
They reminded me of Pop artist Jim Dine, who spent much of his career using hearts as subject matter for his paintings.
I’ve made some really fun cupcakes to celebrate Cheryl’s birthday in previous years so this time I decided to “think spring.” Roses, hydrangea and calendula conjure up thoughts of warmer days. Happy birthday Cheryl.
My co-worker’s mum loves her pussycat Ramsay. He’s a marmalade cat with a freckled nose. Jenna asked me to make a cat cake that looked like her mum’s favourite cat, and to make it chocolate. So I did and Jenna’s mum loved it. Meow!
Wishing everyone out there in Cakeland a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Thanks for the follows and the comments. Here’s to a new year full of cake adventures.
A potluck lunch at work to celebrate the holidays and I opted to bring dessert. I figured cupcakes would be easiest for a crowd.
I’d seen green chocolate Christmas trees supported by pretzel trunks on Pinterest and I was up for the challenge. Working with chocolate and making squiggles that are roughly the shape of a Christmas tree is fun. And the results are satisfying. A few sprinkle baubles and you’re good to go!
Chocolate cupcakes with a snowy buttercream swirl, covered in coconut, reminiscent of snow and voila! The Christmas tree has a perfect spot to rest.
A colleague at work wanted six cupcakes for her family’s gathering to celebrate her father’s birthday.
Jenna told me that her dad is crazy for golf and he loves his nightly walks with their dog Zoe. So here are six cupcakes celebrating Dad’s special day.
I’ve always wanted to make “cat’s tongue” cookies also known as “langues de chats.” Today was the day.
Last year I received a copy of Sweet (Ottolenghi and Goh) but the recipes kinda freaked me out. Today I decided to look again and when I saw this recipe, with its few ingredients (I actually had them all in the house!), I decided to give it a try. The recipe was pretty straightforward. The only trick was piping the batter and getting all the cookies the same size.
I suppose practice makes perfect. Next time I’ll decide on one size and try to stick to it. In the meantime, I hauled out an old cookie tin my mum and dad gave me years ago. The cookies from it are long gone but those smiling cat faces still remain. And now I know how to refill that box!
