Birthday Babies!

My in-laws were visiting this past week and since both of my daughters' birthdays are coming up soon, I decided to try a couple new recipes and make them a birthday cake and cupcakes. I stuck with a very simple design because there wasn't much time to work on it with company and all. The cake was Chocolate Fudge and the cupcakes were Golden Butter Cream. I was more satisfide with this frosting recipe than others I had tried previously, except it was so yellow, that it looked like actual butter. I will have to keep working on it.

“Act as if you'll live forever. Plan as if you would die tomorrow.”

-Unknown

Yum Yum Yum

I found a fantastic recipe online one day last week and two nights ago, I gave it a try. It is a Sour Cream Vanilla Cake. It was absolutely delicious! I didn't frost it, but it doesn't need any. I can imagine how delicious it will be with a fruit filling and buttercream or whipped cream frosting. Yum!

“It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it.”

-Unknown

Still Here...

Since class let out, I haven't had much new to put up here. I have been trying out recipes, trying to find that perfect chocolate cake. I have tried a few but so far no winners. I know it's out there. Chocolate cake, chocolate cake, where are you? Haha. I am planning on doing another cake next week so I will put it up when I do. Til' then, eat lots of yummies and keep yourself (and your stomach) busy!

“Where we love is truly home; home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.”

-Unknown

Red Rover, Red Rover, Send An A+ Right Over!

All done! Cake Class ended tonight with our final project, a four-tiered cake. We did a very ornate but simple and elegant wedding cake. My team came up with so many good ideas, it was hard to choose just one so we blended them together and came up with this gorgeous cake. We got an A+ and if we had maybe one more day, I know we could have added more (though I don't think it needed it). We each took turns piping, and covering the tiers in fondant and my team did a fabulous job of finishing the cake while I spent most of the class trying to get the roses done on time. I will miss getting to bring home cake every week but I am proud of how it ended. I think we went out with a bang! P.S. I totally STOLE this pic from Jenny because as you can see below, her pic on her camera turned out 10 times better than mine from my cell phone. Sorry Jenny!

Here are a few of the other cakes made by the rest of the class. There is one missing but they wouldn't all fit on one table or in one picture.
Here we are! Team 1 and our cake. I forgot to take off my hat so I look silly.

“The best place to find a helping hand is at the end of your own arm.”

-Unknown

Sugar Sculpture Final

Well, that time of the semester was definitely here this week. I had two finals due today! My Sugar Class final project was finished and we got an A. Woohoo! This scultpure took many hours with all six of my team members constantly busy doing something but it paid off. Here are a few pictures of our Turtle Pond.
At the end of class my team (Team 2) took a pic with our sculpture. What a fabulous looking team!

“Happiness is often the result of being too busy to be miserable.”

-Unknown

Work In Progress

My cake class is coming to an end and we have started our final project, constructing and decorating a dummy wedding cake. My team ended up with the only square cake in the class and even though it was more of a pain to cover with fondant, it looks considerably better than if it were a round cake. Here is a picture of the cake before we started adding more decorations to it. The only thing done to it so far is red ribbon was wrapped around it. We are piping designs onto the sides and making red gum paste roses to put on it as well. My team all came up with a really beautiful and elegant design so I am very excited to see how it turns out.

The final project for sugar class is due next week and while I don't have any pictures of it because nothing is assembled as of yet, I can tell you a little about it. We are creating a 3-D pond with a turtle, two fish, lily pads and a water lily. I will post photos as soon as it is finished.

“Never mistake activity for progress.”

-Unknown

Lady In Red

UPDATE: Here they are! The hat desserts for the Red Hat Society are finally done. The luncheon will be this Saturday but we finished the desserts today. The dome is filled with white chocolate mousse and cherries with a slice of cake and all of that is sitting on a large shortbread cookie. The entire thing was then sprayed with red-colored white chocolate and piped with purple buttercream frosting for the ribbon and bow (I was the one responsible for the piping and other classmates did everything else.) We were there until almost 4 this afternoon finishing them and I think they turned out great. I am so excited for the Red Hat Ladies to see them.

“Remember, people will judge you by your actions, not your intentions. You may have a heart of gold — but so does a hard-boiled egg.”

-Unknown

Order Up!

Last night was our last week of finals in my cooking class and my team was responsible for salad and soups. We did really good and worked so well together. Our chef had nothing but great things to say about my team and he absolutely loved our soup.

This is a California Strawberry & Feta Cheese Salad. We fried the wontons on top and made a lemon vinaigrette dressing.

Up next was soup, and we made an asparagus soup and served it with three slices of crostinis covered in a cream cheese and herb spread. I was the one who drew the "A" for asparagus. We knocked it out of the park. Woohoo!

“A good marriage is like a casserole, only those responsible for it really know what goes in it.”

-Unknown

Daring Baker's Challenge: April

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

Here are the cheesecake bites I made, original and chocolate. I am not a fan of baking cheesecake, in fact I hate it. But I made it through.

I had a hard time getting good pictures because my trusty digital camera is starting to lose it's mind. 

“Beware of the half truth. You may have gotten hold of the wrong half.”

-Unknown

Sugar Sculpture Number Three

Here is the newest sugar sculpture from sugar class. I am not as happy with the way this one turned out but here it is anyway.

“Whenever I get the energy to exercise, I sit down until it passes.”

-Unknown