Macarons...5.1 -- Finished product

Snowy Seattle!

Another snow day here in Seattle, so I finished my macarons! Two filling flavors - raspberry buttercream and lemon buttercream. The lemon ones are made with meyer lemon curd! They were delicious! Pictures below.

Lemon and Raspberry Buttercream filling.

I will make another batch of shells while I'm still house sitting (where the convection oven lives!). They can be filled another time. I just want to have the pleasure of another perfect batch of macaron shells!

Macarons...Part 5

Well, most of you missed "Macarons...parts 1 -4". Not to much to say about those except that they did not come out the way I wanted them too...perfect! Or at least almost perfect. So, today, with the snow and staying home, I decided to try again.  I found to some tips on the web, and decided to try and incorporate them into my recipe.  Also, I'm using a different oven, which has convection capabilities, so I decide to use that as well. I even spent 15 minutes drawing circles on the parchment so I could try to get each macaron the same size.  Lots of work...but worth it.

Piped and ready for the oven!

It was worth it because...THEY LOOK AMAZING!! Seriously, they are store quality! The have the frilly little feet at the bottom, no cracks in the top, and nicely shaped! I'm so happy! I will filled them tomorrow after they have cooled.

Look at the feet on those babies! :)

I really hope that it wasn't the oven that made them perfect. Cause when I get home to MY oven, things will not work out so well. We will see...More photos to come when they are filled!

The Baby Shower Cake

Batter in the pan 

I made my first specialty cake of the year. It was for my friend Meche's baby shower! The cake was great! She requested a simple cake -- yellow cake, soaked w/ vanilla simple syrup; white chocolate-marscapone whipped cream filling, and white chocolate butter cream frosting.  We garnished with raspberries. It was great, although a raspberry filling with the whipped cream would have taken it too another level!

As with all the cakes I make, I am always critical of myself.  For this cake, if I make it again, I will use a bit more white chocolate in the frosting. I will be sure to add more of the vanilla syrup to the layers. I am always concerned about over soaking the layers, which means I never use as much as I should. It resulted in layers that had a hint of the syrup, but it wasn't soaked all the way through. Next time, I will be way less conservative with the syrup.

Overall, I was please with the cake. It reminded me of my favorite cake at Extraordinary Desserts in San Diego, CA. The cake is the Ivoire Royale, and it is the most wonderful cake! This is the cake I want for my wedding! It is vanilla soaked pound cake, with a white chocolate mousse and seasonal berry filling.  It is my secret desire to be able to completely duplicate this cake! It will never be like the original, though!

Out of the oven. Leveling the cake and adding vanilla syrup.

Soaking in syrup

I have a few photos of the cake as it is being prepared, but none of the completed cake...yet. A wonderful friend of mine, Hollas, came over and took some professional pictures of the cake and me decorating it! I so appreciate her help, and I am already trying to figure out what to make her to say thank you!

Cake has been leveled, soaked w/ vanilla syrup, filling has been added.  Back in the fridge to set.

Crumb layer

Posted are my photos. I will get hers up as soon as I get them.

No cakes, but pie!

It has been a week since my first post. I imagined that I would post at least once a week in the beginning, so, I have to stick to that.  I haven't made any cakes in the last week, although one is coming up this weekend. A friend of mine is going to take some photos of me and my cakes so that I can build my portfolio! I'm really excited and I really appreciate her help (Thanks Hollas!). I will definitely have something to post when I bake that cake.

Over the last week, I have made two pies-- one dessert and one savory.  I made an apple pie last week. I was prepared to take photos of it and post it, and I did take photos. However at the end, I forgot to put pieces of butter in the pie before putting the top crust on. So, I had to stuff the butter pieces in the vent holes, which resulted in a very funny looking pie! It was DELICIOUS all the same and enjoyed by friends.

Tonight I made a veggie pie. My sister first made this pie for me in April of 2000...I remember, because she was living in Georgia at the time, and I was there for Easter. I remember thinking it was wonderful. So after many years of asking her for the recipe and finally getting if from her in the last year, I made the pie.  I used the crust recipe from the apple pie (Cooks Illustrated recipe; it is fabulous! It calls for vodka, and makes the crust absolutely amazing! http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2007/11/cooks-illustrated-foolproof-pie-dough-recipe.html). I did my best to follow the recipe for the contents of the pie, but I always modify savory recipes, as I did tonight. The pie contained -- potatoes, red onions, carrots, broccoli, chantrelle mushrooms, and a delicious creamy sauce, made of butter, flour, and cream (not low fat at all!).  My friends loved it! It was really good.  I will definitely make it again.

I will be back Friday to tell the tell of the vanilla scented cake w/ white chocolate frosting. Pictures of the cake will be up as well!

This is the beginning...

Welcome 2012! For the last 2 years I've been promising myself  and telling friends that I am going to start blogging about my pursuit to start a cake business. Well, here I am, on the 2nd day of January, 2012, entering my first blog post.

This blog is meant for me to record and share this journey I am embarking on this year. I have been baking cakes, in a meaningful way, for about 5 years now. I have always loved cooking, and baking was always secondary. But, the challenge of following a recipe exactly, which I do when baking, gives me a different kind of satisfaction than just cooking savory dishes. It is more challenging, and requires patience and allows me to become an artist, through decorating and creating combinations in flavors. Also, most people LOVE cake! And it makes me happy to see the smiles and excitement on the faces of those who enjoy my cakes.

This journey has been slow going. I have made a few wedding cakes, more specialty cakes, and now I'm venturing out to learn how to make some other baked specialty items (namely French Macarons, which are testing my sanity!). I am mostly self taught in the area of decorating, but have taken a few classes and had a lot of help initially from a good friend (thanks Cheryl!).  I am ready now to get moving a little faster.

This blog will also serve as portfolio of sorts, as I will be posting photos...probably more frequently than these long-winded, sometimes mushy, reflections!

Thanks for joining me on this ride! Let's see how it goes!