Sunday, March 25, 2012
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
daily inspiration. marimekko.
i love this pattern from marimekko, but it's $60.96 for 1.27 yards. so sad.
Siirtolapuutarha fabric
Code:063267
Pattern:Siirtolapuutarha
Pattern Designer:Maija Louekari
Material: 100 % heavyweight cotton
Repeat: 116 cm
daily inspiration.
Diane Von Furstenberg in her studio wearing her signature wrap dress
photo by photographer Ron Galella
Vanilla Cake Confessions: Attempt 1.
So as I mentioned earlier I am on a bit of a quest for the perfect white or yellow cake recipe. I am sad to say there was no breakthrough last week when I used this recipe from sweetapolita. sad face. The cake itself was dense and not especially tasty. It's highly likely that I over folded the egg whites but even so the cake just had no taste and was just as biscuit-ish as the other recipes I've tried. The cake was not prefect but it was not as much of a disappointment as the frosting. I suppose I should have read the recipe ahead of time but in any case I was not expecting a whip cream like frosting and 2 tablespoons of vanilla extract is never a good idea, never ever. It was grainy after almost 15 minutes of mixing and the whipping cream left that gross coating on the inside of my mouth and all I could taste was vanilla extract. total failure. I'm thinking of trying some kind of swiss meringue buttercream next time and maybe a yellow cake.
The cake did not turn out spectacularly but I did have some fun with some fondant decoration. I also learned I do not have a future in food photography so bear with me.
fondant daisy-ish flowers made with wilton cutters, next time I think I'll try making one that looks more like a daisy.
I tried out my butterfly cutters too, even though I didn't really have a plan for them.
I'm a bit of a sucker for pink icing and originally planed on leaving some out to make yellow dots in the center of the daisies but I was in a rush to finish before my date and completely forgot.
The design for the top looked better on my cutting board but I really love the swag motif.
more to come!
Monday, March 19, 2012
Thursday, March 8, 2012
daily inspiration.
presumably tim walker for w. ... sorry no source just found this one saved on my desktop
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Happy Birthday Lilly Grace!
My niece just turned 4 and I didn't get to make her cake this year. sad face. It reminded me to share her 2nd birthday cake with you. I made a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting, chocolate espresso filling, and chocolate ganache using Ina Garten's recipe (my favorite chocolate cake recipe, it comes out perfectly every time). In hindsight it probably wasn't most peoples idea of a toddler's birthday cake but she was only allowed to have a few bites anyway (which she loved) and all of the other attendees were adults. Now when I make this cake I leave out the espresso frosting/filling that Ina used because everyone found it to be a bit strong even if it was only between the layers rather than all over the cake, but the recipe works great sans the espresso powder.
this is me again, makeup free and exhausted from trying to balance baking this cake for the first time and babysitting a very curious toddler.
I think whipped cream might be her favorite thing to make.especially since I got one of the clear glass bowls for my kitchen aid mixer.
I try to bake with her every time she comes to our house. She even has her own apron.
I think whipped cream might be her favorite thing to make.especially since I got one of the clear glass bowls for my kitchen aid mixer.
We are Fashion, Inc, we have cupcakes!
These are the cupcakes I made for Get on Board Day for Fashion, Inc. (I was the VP at the time). I baked 200 mini cupcakes and meticulously frosted and placed sprinkles all in one afternoon. It was crazy but they turned out great.
yes, you do see a Pillsbury can in the background. I'm slightly ashamed but I ran out of frosting and it was just more cost effective to buy a $1.50 can of frosting than more confectioners sugar and butter.
yes, you do see a Pillsbury can in the background. I'm slightly ashamed but I ran out of frosting and it was just more cost effective to buy a $1.50 can of frosting than more confectioners sugar and butter.
Fondant
When I was a freshman (I feel so old saying that) I made this cake for my sister in law and covered it in fondant. It was really fun but fondant is expensive and tastes terrible so I haven't covered any cakes since. Maybe I'll try to make my own marshmallow fondant, I keep seeing it topping cupcakes and cookies. It sounds like it would taste better and be more cost effective.
(that's me nearly 4 years ago, gosh I was so blonde then, I kinda miss it)
... but I have made decorations a few times. These cupcakes were for a BamaGram sale (well, also for my sister- in-law but it was a paid gig). This was after I drove them all the way downtown through university traffic so they are a bit melted but I thought they turned out pretty well.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Vanilla Cake Confessions
I love to bake but there are some things I just can't seem to master, like cookies or candy thermometers, but I am determined to find a good vanilla cake recipe. I have a few great chocolate cake recipes, which I'll share with you eventually, but I just haven't found a great vanilla/white/yellow/butter cake. My plan is to go through all the recipes the internet tells me to until I find the perfect one. I have tried the Magnolia bakery one and the Hummingbird bakery one (they are basically the same) and they both yielded dry cupcakes that tasted too much like a biscuit or cornbread and I tried one from allrecipes that was just an oily mess. Today I'm working on this one from sweetapolita. Any suggestions would be appreciated!
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