You see, this cake is supposed to be crooked. I’ve actually made this cake before and The Jackster promptly asked me if I had messed up because it was all tilted. I appreciate the confidence, Mom!
I quite like this cake. It’s fun and pretty and full of whimsy and class (black, white, and pink is just a classy color combo, don’t ya think?).
And I think this is my best piping job so far, if I do say so myself.
Congratulations Jes on your graduation!
While the Celtics handle the Magic, the Lakers are playing the Suns. That’s about the extent of my knowledge and interest in NBA basketball.
Ok, that’s a lie. I know that Steve Nash looks really short on TV, but he’s actually quite tall when standing next to regular people. I know the Celtics beat the Lakers for the NBA Championship in 2008. And I know that basketball was invented in Springfield, MA because I drove by the Basketball Hall of Fame many many times as a child and then even more when driving to college. And yet somehow I’ve never been inside. (Probably due to my lack of enthusiasm for the sport of basketball in general.)
See, look at all of that basketball knowledge I’ve just dropped on you.
And on top of that, you get to see this sweet cake I made. Even though it’s Kobe Bryant’s number (who I apparently inexplicably dislike). Even though it’s a Lakers cake. The Lakers! (Apparently the Lakers-Celtics rivalry was once something akin to the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry which is something I can understand). So as a non-committal-apathetic-yet-obligated-Celtics fan, it was a tough sell. Look what I do for you lovely people.
The cake was chocolate cake with chocolate icing, except the basketball, which for obvious reasons was vanilla icing. Hope you had a happy birthday Aren!
I have a problem. A strawberry problem.
Remember how I said I bought 4 pounds of strawberries the other day? So I made strawberry ice cream? Well, I couldn’t help myself…I bought another 4 pounds of strawberries. I’m not even kidding. I have been eating strawberries for breakfast, strawberries for snacks, strawberries for dessert…and the funny thing is, I’m not even sick of strawberries.
While I was swimming in strawberries, I figured I might as well throw together a quick little strawberry treat. So I flipped open my cookbook and this recipe had both “strawberry” and “quick” in the title which somehow seemed just right.
This bread reminds me of banana bread…except with strawberries. It’s not too sweet, but super moist and easy to grab a slice as you head out the door in the morning.
Strawberry Quick Bread
adapted from The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion
In a large bowl, wisk together the lemon zest/oil, eggs, mashed strawberries and vegetable oil. You will have a not that tasty looking mixture, but it will smell awesome. Strawberries and lemon make a delicious aroma.
In a medium bowl, sift together all of the dry ingredients. Then add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan and bake for 35 minutes at 350ยบ.
I have a lot of friends named Jen. It gets confusing. I have High-School-Jen, College-Jen (a.k.a Blanket-Jen), Pre-frosh-Jen, and Work-Jen, who is now known as Jen-Formally-Known-As-Jennifer.
Well Jen-Formally-Known-As-Jennifer had the most adorable baby boy a couple of months ago. He’s got a little head of blond hair, giant blue eyes, and is just the chillest dude ever. I can’t wait to get him some tiny shoes.
To celebrate the occasion, I made this baby block cake. I have a history of making baby blocks that turn out…well, not so blockish. Slowly but surely I’m learning and improving and this cake has the distinction of being mostly square. Plus it has a tiny purple elephant.
I’ve had some interesting cake requests in the short time I’ve been doing this. I had the snowblower with the bloody finger, the music playing boxing gloves, a now defunct military satellite, and a Christmas octopus, but this was by far the weirdest cake request I’ve had yet.
A pair of thumbs up? Thumbs up? Two thumbs up? I’m not sure exactly how to describe it. Let’s put it this way…two hands giving thumbs up. Approval for all. Or one confused game of 7-UP.
I must admit, I wasn’t really sure how to approach making a thumbs up cake. So, I basically free-handed (har har) it. Basically, I stood there giving myself the a thumb(s) up and carved the cake accordingly. Then I repeated for the other hand (which was decidedly more complicated given that I am not cake-carving ambidextrous).
Some buttercreme icing and a layer of fondant was all it took to finish up this handy cake (ok, that one was really bad).
Happy Birthday! I’m sorry I missed it!
Remember that last post I did about this ginormous cake? Well, this is what it turned out to be:
Yup, a First Communion cake! I really enjoyed making this cake. The concept was fairly simple, but I thought the design was quite elegant. The hardest part about this cake for me was the piping. I always get so nervous piping on letters because I’m worried that the letters are going to be too big, or the spacing is going to be off, or I’m going to make a spelling mistake, or the writing will be crooked. Slowly but surely my piping skills are improving though.
The little girl also really wanted a butterfly on the cake. This one was made my pressing fondant into a silicone mold. It was super easy to make, but came out quite nice if I do say so myself.
I made two other cakes this weekend which I will be posting soon…as soon as I stop falling asleep.
Congratulations Valarie on your First Communion!
