Let's Not Forget ----

I was so busy with the summer and really doing nothing but enjoying the warmest summer on record for Long Island. With that said, I didn't get around to posting some of the cakes I did. The first one was for a 10 year old birthday party on the Fourth of July and the others were for my niece and nephew. I had anticipated spending a lot of time for the family cakes but as my other blog entries indicated --- I just didn't have the time for anything. I have to at least post it on my blog since I won't be posting it on my website. There was quite a few flaws but as with all my cakes - they tasted delicious. My first chocolate fudge cake with a peanut butter filling took me back to my childhood and a fun snack I used to eat - a Drakes cake Funny Bone. If you've ever had one you know what I'm talking about. For those who haven't, best get to the nearest 7-11 and pick one up. You won't regret it.

The Daring Bakers - August

The August 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Elissa of 17 and

Baking. For the first time, The Daring Bakers partnered with Sugar High Fridays for a co-event and

Elissa was the gracious hostess of both. Using the theme of beurre noisette, or browned butter, Elissa

chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make a pound cake to be used in either a Baked Alasa or in Ice

Cream Petit Fours. The sources for Elissa’s challenge were Gourmet magazine and David Lebovitz’s

“The Perfect Scoop”.

Once again - where did the time go? Actually, the question should be - where did the summer go? I completed my challenge for August in a rush but it was delicious. The petite four consisted of a brown butter cake with butterscotch ice cream and a dark chocolate glaze. It tasted like an ice cream sandwich and on the hot day of August with 11 kids running around my yard it was a perfect treat to be served. Would love to chat to right now but I'm in the middle of making Toy Story figures for an upcoming cake order. Check back soon for photos on that. Happy Labor Day!!

The Daring Bakers July 2010

The July 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita’s world – life and food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream filled Swiss roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home. To see the details visit: http://thedaringkitchen.com/.

I'm not usually a fan of this type of dessert but it definitely turned out to be a hit as the weather here on Long Island has been hot. My inspiration for the flavor profiles of this dessert stems from my all time favorite pastry - the cannoli. It probably be one of those foods that when asked what one food item I could take with me to a deserted island to live off of. Anyway, I made a chiffon cake and infused it with vanilla cinnamon sugar. The filling was my home-made cannoli cream; something I've been trying to perfect for quite some time. I have come to realize that the only way to achieve that Italian pastry shop consistency (which my mother believes comes from artificial ingredients) is to make my own ricotta cheese. It is so easy to make and really quite delicious that I just had to make it for this challenge. See my last post for the details. My two ice cream flavors were (home-made of course) pistachio and amaretto. For a filling in-between I used a chocolate ganache. Did it come out tasting like the dessert that makes me grin from ear-to-ear? Well, not really but it was very good and everyone here at home loved it.

I can't seem to get the photos right so I'm going to do next months challenge early and put a little more effort into. Looking forward to another challenge. Check back at the end of August for the details.

It's All About The Cheese

The dog daze of summer are here. The kids actually want a break from the pool so I have decided to make cheese. I'm preparing for my next Daring Baker's challenge for July which I will incorporate this cheese. Homemade ricotta! Yum!! Besides it being part of my challenge recipe it is also for my challenged eating baby who is 15 months. He just doesn't enjoy eating much but I know he loves ricotta cheese. So, what better way to spend my day than by hearing the older kids actually getting along with each other as they watch TV, not hearing the baby as he takes his afternoon nap and me making some cheese.

Look for my updated photos with my challenge for July.......

More Busy Days from May & June

On my last post I added a few photos of cakes I had done for a few communions and a graduation. Here are some more photos of a variety of events going on - from soccer, to lacrosse, to a hockey birthday and a couple cookie orders.

Busy June

June was a busy month - I had a bunch of catering jobs and cakes as well. Because it was the end of the school year I was extremely busy with the kids. I didn't have a chance to post my cakes so I'll put them all here. Some of the photo's are down-right bad. Between being rushed to a party and not having a camera available, sometimes a cell phone camera had to do. We also had a very warm June which made cakes look a little droopy by the time I got around to taking a picture.

The Daring Bakers

I joined this online cooking club called The Daring Bakers. This is a way for me to keep cooking creatively in a way I used to when I worked at the restaurant. Each month a new challenge is given where you have to use the recipes provided, bake the challenge recipe and then post your results. I'm a bit late with posting for June since life just gets crazy with the end of the school year for the kids. In addition to keeping up on the cooking this will be a way for me to experiment with food photography. Unfortunately I will not be buying some fancy camera anytime soon but I will make an attempt to learn how to utilize my digital camera in a way I never have before. Finally, I have started up my own website for my cake decorating business. Please go to http://www.sweetsatlast.com and check it out. I will be working on it this summer and hope to have it finalized soon.

The June 2010 Daring Bakers' Challenge was the following: Chocolate Pavlovas with Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse. It was hosted by Dawn of Doable and Delicious. The challenge was based on a recipe from the book Chocolate Epiphany by Francois Payard.