A Piece of Cake

I'm finally getting around to this, the thought of turning on the oven to actually bake something is so off-putting, but I agreed in June to participate in this Modern Baker Blog in connection with a new cookbook coming out sometime in the coming weeks. I have an aunt who works for the publisher, and she forwarded me the information. I, in turn, passed it along to my loopy girls, I think Juli decided to go for it, maybe she'll blog about her creations.

Ok, back in June I turned 30, and I really, really, really wanted a yellow cake with chocolate frosting, but nobody freaking makes those, unless you order it in advance and nobody ordered one for me in advance. Yes, yes, yes, I KNOW I could have picked up the phone and called the bakery, or better yet, made my own darn birthday cake, but come on, I turned 30. I expected the masses to fall prostrate and kiss my feet (which were freshly pedicured that day).

Yesterday, while the kids were at Day # 3 of Science Camp, I quickly whipped together a yellow cake with chocolate frosting, killing two birds with one stone, since there just happened to be a yellow cake with chocolate frosting recipe in the copy of the manuscript I was sent and thusly satisfying my craving for cake. Unfortunately, I am unable to share the recipe with you (you'll have to buy the book), but I certainly can share pics. Enjoy!

She Sells Seashells by the Seashore

Ha ha!
I was hired by a friend of my sister to make a cake for a bridal shower that she (the friend) was throwing this weekend. They wanted a beach-themed cake, and after googling for ideas, this is what I came up with.



The cake is lemon-buttermilk with fillings of lemon curd & raspberry jam. I iced the two tiers in vanilla buttercream and then covered that with the blue fondant. I made the seashells out of chocolate (dark, milk & white) and there are some pearls on there, also made out of fondant and then dusted with pearlized powder-glittery stuff.

The flowers on the top of the cake are coxcomb, which aren't really in season, but I wanted something that looked like coral. I was kind of afraid that they'd be ugly, but I think that the color of them lends a lot of naturalness to the cake.