Showing posts with label birthday cake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label birthday cake. Show all posts

5.21.2012

Pretty In Pink


Alright party people...6 weeks, 6 weeks and we will be Texans! Wowza! I can't believe how fast it is coming so I am going to do some rapid succession posts so I can show you all the fun things I have been doing recently! I just don't have time to woo you with my witty charm ;) 
 This is a cake I did for a dear friend who orders some of the most fun projects I have done. I made this for her 40th birthday celebration. I decided to just have fun with monochrome! Hope you all have a great Monday! Happy baking, happier eating!

3.21.2012

The SA & The Birthday Cake

Yep, that's what I'm sayin since we're movin to the SA, from the LA. That's just how I roll, I'm a lazy talker. I like abbreviations it makes talking easier. Now don't think just because I'm a lazy talker that I don't talk much...highly the opposite, I have jabber jaws pretty much. Especially in the morning and especially after a few sips of Joe, and basically it is this feature alone that makes my hubby love me so.
Quick tangent...why do they call a cup of coffee a cup of Joe? Okay, and since we are on the topic of tangents, did y'all know that tangental thinking/talking is part of a psychiatric evaluation? Yep, that's right, I remember learning that when I was a wee little medical student, and now I catch myself tangenting (likely not a word) ALL the time! So I am thinking I likely have some sort of disorder, but I will unlikely abandon my tangental talking, it's sorta just there.
Okay, where were we...yes, yes talking about the SA. So we recently visited the SA to get a grip on the place and figure out where in the world we are gonna live when we move. We did a lot of looking and can I just say, where the heck has Texas been all of our life! First off, it's March and 80 degrees, secondly, there are amazing places to live that are oh like 60% less than LA, and lastly, the people are so dang nice! Since we were there during my hubby's bday, I wanted to get him a sweet treat to celebrate with. So I ordered some cupcakes from this doll's bakery...Kate's Frosting! Her cupcakes...YUMMY!!! Her service...AMAZING! Her bakery...ADORABLE! She was so sweet and had the cupcakes delivered to our hotel so my hubby had a tasty surprise waiting his arrival. In case I haven't mentioned it, I must emphasize, the baking world is INCREDIBLE! It never ceases to amaze me just how nice and thoughtful everyone is. So if you guys are ever in San Antonio...stop by Kate's Frosting, you won't be sorry you did!
The other highlight of our trip...our hotel. I hesitate to give our hotel a shout out in fear that the next time I go, it will get super busy, but I have to share them. Havana Hotel. It will seriously transport you to Havana circa 1950 or whenever it was cool and hip and vintage (oh and safe). Not only is the hotel cool, but they have this delicioso restaurant called Ocho (we may have eaten there 3 times in 4 days), that has a simple yet complex menu featuring a Latin twist on American favorites. Well atleast that is my interpretation :) I'm no foodie! Finally, they have this hip cigar & cocktail lounge in the basement that is super dark and has these great couches and lounge chairs scattered about. Love this place! Oh and did I mention it's on the Riverwalk? Not the touristy Riverwalk part but the cool calm Riverwalk part. Seriously peeps, stay there!
They had so many cool chairs there as well!
 My fave! Bull horns are really strong apparently, I won't lie, I was a little scared to sit on it for fear that the horns would break and I would be on my a**!
So other than eating, drinking and sleeping, we did a lot of apartment searching which although we think it is exciting, it is unlikely exciting to you all.
This is us, thinking about eating! This is our standard, "we are trying to take a picture of ourselves on vacation and look natural while trying to push the camera button." Trust me, same look every photo!
 This may have been what the hubbs ate 3 times in 4 days...
 This may have been what I ate 3 times in 4 days...Pollo Tinga Torta! Everything about it was delectable!
 I only had one of these, as our server said, this cocktail is heavy on the rum, light on the mixers...agreed! I ordered it solely for the fact that there was coconut milk and nutmeg in it! So creative!

Oh one more shout out before I go. Boxcar Creamery, you must go. It is (as the name suggests) in a boxcar and the surrounding area is so cute!

So as you can see, we are so happy with our upcoming move and we can't wait to explore the rest of the SA! Now I leave you with the photos of the birthday cake I made for my hubby. I was going for a simple yet modern white on white design with little sayings or dates that are important between the two of us. I know we are sooo sorta that couple that loves to use pet names and celebrate all sorts of special dates, its just fun like that! So this year for his birthday instead of me thinking I will be super creative and do some crazy sweet rich elaborate cake for just us two, I decided, hey why don't I allow Barry to choose the cake he wants (novel idea I know)! So he got out a bunch of my books and searched through the recipes until he had it narrowed down and came to the conclusion that the "Aunt Sassy Cake" from Baked Explorations (you simply must buy the Baked books...AHHH-MAZING!) would be his 2012 birthday cake. It is a pistachio cake with honey buttercream...YUM! Anyway, I hope you enjoy and thanks for following along! Happy baking, happier eating!
my initial canvas
 

 Many of these were cracked...like I say, baking is a true labor of love ;)

3.01.2012

Red

What is that expression..."red with envy" hmmm...no that is not it..."green with envy!" Let's face it people I am green with envy and it's driving me bonkers! Why you may ask am I a deep shade of envious green??? Because there are so many talented freakin bakers out there, that's why! As many of us are, I am A-ddicted to reading, scanning, searching other baker-blogs, but it is like torture because as I said, there are so many talented freakin bakers out there! It seems like everywhere I turn I see yet another totally talented gal whipping up some sweet treats! But don't get me wrong, I am not envious that there are crazy talented people everywhere, I am just jealous because every time I read a new blog post it makes me want to run out of work, hit the road and start baking! I only wish I had more time, (and lately more energy) to bake more and more and more!
So what does being GREEN have to do with RED you may wonder? Well nothing actually, but since I wanted to write this post that is all about red velvet treats in February which is a red month (would you agree) and now instead I am writing it in March which is definitely not a red month, I was just trying to think of some way to tie red back in to my post, but I am pretty sure I have now just successfully confused you all! Right? Right! As a side note, am I the only one who thinks months are color specific (please say no)? You know like February=red, June=yellow, on and on and on?
Okay so what did I do with all of this red velvet cake? Made pretty things for pretty parties that is! The first one I made was a birthday cake for a gent named Eric Garcetti. He is a guy who is running for mayor of LA. His interests surround the whole green living, green energy so I thought how fun would it be to tie this into his cake. Now please note that the windmills on top were totally my hubby's idea, he is awesome isn't he! For those of you not familiar with California, we love those windmills! Apparently they produce energy and they are all over the rural areas of CA so Barry figured they were a key component of any green living cake!
 yes, those are sugar cookies :)

The other red velvet beauty I made was another birthday cake for a husband of a girl I work with. She pretty much said do what you like, so I went ahead and had a little creative fun with it. I realize, decorating for adult males is kinda tricky! You can't be all cute-sy, you gotta be all manly and sophisticated. So here is what I came up with...
Finally, you know I did those Valentine day cupcake treats that were of course red velvet as well, and I made some cute little red velvet heart cake truffles for a dear friend who just had a baby and also happens to be a fabulous referral service for me!
YUMMMMY!
Happy baking & happier eating!

2.18.2012

Ombre Cake Tutorial

Sorry gals and guys, I told you all I would give you a little tutorial on the Koi fish cake I did a while back and looks like I am just now getting to it. This whole ombre thing pops up everywhere, from ombre hair to ombre cakes, and I have been dying to try my hand at the ole ombre.
So when I googled images and tutorials on ombre technique, I found a couple of ways to do it, but the all pretty much were the same. Haphazardly put different colors on the sides of your cake and then smooth it out. Huh? This didn't work for me! No way was I going to just put an ascending color scale on my cake and hope it all turned out and looked somewhat neat. So what did I do instead? I got to thinking...how could I get the ombre look while still maintaining my need for neatness. Parchment paper!
Parchment paper, what?
Yes, parchment paper, cut into 2 inch strip then wrapped around the cake to get nice, neat, even layers of ascending hue to create the OMBRE!
What will you need:
one cake (preferably 4" or taller) crumb coated in buttercream
4 or more colors of buttercream all in the same hue
parchment paper cut in 2" strips
off-set spatula

I think my technique is better displayed in picture format, so go ahead and feast your eyes!
 Remember this guy...your crumb coated cake
Step 1: take the darkest buttercream and spread it around the bottom half of the cake (sorry forgot to take a picture of step 1). Then place it in the refrigerator to set 20 mins.
Step 2: take one piece of parchment paper and wrap it around the cake, covering the area of dark colored buttercream.
Step 3: spread on your next darkest buttercream with slight overlap of the parchment paper. Refrigerate to set.
Step 4: remove parchment paper.
Step 5: smooth your line with your offset spatula just enough to soften your line.

Repeat Steps 1-5 as many times as necessary to cover your entire cake.
 You like? Simple as that! Hope this helps you all with a new technique! Happy baking, happier eating!

1.19.2012

A day in the life...

So you've learned recently that I'm a little crazy neurotic. So since we are past the honeymoon phase in our relationship here, I guess I can confess to you all that I'm also weird, more like funny weird, and definitely not creepy weird, but weird all the same.

10.03.2011

Final Catch-up!

I am so proud of myself, 4 posts this week and yet it is only Monday! This is big for me ;) Sadly, I wouldn't count on this being the norm; however, I am going to try my best to be more on top of it than I have been the last few months! Okay, so remember these guys...

9.13.2011

Almost Sugar-Free Cake

I know what you are thinking, seriously, what could be good without sugar...yeah yeah, I hear ya! But for some of us, the processing of sugar is not quite so easy and unfortunately if you are born with a sweet tooth yet don't process sugar well, you are well...in between a rock and a hard place. But...I have a little bit of a solution, baking sugar-free!

8.02.2011

Happy August!

Hi all! So I have been busy busy with lots-o-baking but I wanted to post this to kick of the month and also I wanted to send out a happy happy birthday to my little brother, my brother-in-law to be, and my best friend-in-law to be (hmm...what does that mean you wonder? My best friends fiance of course), and what better way than to show off a birthday cake I made this past weekend!

6.08.2011

Teddy Bear 1st Birthday!

Wow, where is time going. Ya know, I know I say that a lot, but seriously...where is it going. It's like I blink and suddenly it is almost the middle of June and more importantly almost our first wedding anniversary! Can you believe a year already, ummm...I cannot! And where better to celebrate you ask? Yep, that's right...we're headin' to Texas and I cannot wait! I have always been a southern gal at heart, even though I was raised in the sticks of Northern Nevada, and I am looking so forward to checking out all that Texas has to offer!

3.13.2011

Happy Birthday Hubby!

Just wondering...does cake and coffee constitute a balanced meal? Hope so because I think I had it for at least two meals today. Don't judge because I know if you were at my house with this cake lying around, you too would convince yourself it is totally a balanced addition to any beverage, wine anyone?

3.09.2011

Henna Cake

Party people, we are at 100 followers! Way to go...only 25 more until I can give those lucky people the adorable cupcake luggage tags! If you have no idea what I am talking about, check out my on-going giveaway!

1.20.2011

Keeping With The Theme Of Birthdays!

So as you all read it was my blog birthday yesterday and it was my birthday over the weekend. How old you ask...the big 3-0! Yay for getting older, I love it, I feel like every year it gets better and better! So what was a gal to do on her 30th birthday...have a party filled with lots of food, family, & friends! And that is exactly what I did! It was so much fun, I have not done much in terms of celebrating for my birthday in the last 8 or so years (I blame it on med-school and residency) and let me tell you, I had so much fun! My hunny planned the menu, my wonderful mom and sister executed the menu to a tee, let me tell you the food was amazing! I of course had to make a couple of sweets (big surprise)! I thought I would post a couple of pics, please forgive me as they are not the best of quality given that I was taking them at night with artificial light, 5 minutes before the party started ;)

Snickerdoodle Cake with Marshmallow Creme Frosting
decorated with silver disco dust
 The most delicious Chocolate Marble Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
decorated with gold disco dust
Red Velvet Cake Pops with White Chocolate Coating dipped in yellow sanding sugar. 
Can I just say these were gone in about an hour!
 Lemon Poppy Seed Sandwich Cookies... recipe post & credit to Callye to follow!
Yellow & White Sugar Cookies
Happy Baking, Happier Eating!