A Cake Taken Apart

You didn't think the little one on the top got cut first, did you? I've been working on some edits, updates and newness here on my baking portfolio site. A little bit at a time.

Summer Wedding in Leopard Print

I've been working, on really cool stuff. Here's a sneak peek of wedding cake from early July. The leopard print tiers are chocolate cake with peanut butter filling. The white and black tiers are coconut cake with lemon frosting. Cupcakes in gold and leopard print wrappers to match. Better photos will be posted on my website at some point in the indefinite future. In the mean time, more cake.

A winter baking recap.

Experimental VD cake in technicolor. Vanilla bean cake stacked in 7 colors and filled with cream cheese frosting for my annual Valentine box.

Strawberry rhubarb party pie. Used up the last of last years rhubarb on a few lattice pies before chopping and freezing about 20lbs from this year's harvest.

Lemon, coconut, and vanilla bean wedding samples. I often make cupcakes in different flavor combinations to help betrothed couples choose their favorite :)

Poison cake for the opening of my friend josh's show Compliance. A vanilla bean cake filled with toxic green colored pastry cream. Thanks for the opportunity Josh!

Mother's day order - a carrot cake in purple and blue. 

Weddings, funerals, cookies and an emotional readjustment

Last week I traveled to South Carolina to spend time with my amazing family and attend an amazing wedding with them in North Carolina. While I was there I made a wedding cake for 100 people, had the opportunity to drive through a beautiful mountain range in the Nantahala National Forest, and ate a few too many of my Uncle David's pecan chocolate chip cookies.

Life has been showing up in extremes the past few weeks (a wedding, a death, a pregnancy, an illness, and lots of transition) and after the wedding last weekend my extended family traveled back to Ithaca with my mother and I to spend some unexpectedly extended time together. Friday afternoon when the last of my family left I was feeling sad and lonely.

I decided this morning to try my hand at some pecan chocolate chip cookies. Partly because baking relaxes me and partly because thinking about these cookies is a fond reminder of how much I enjoy my family and am grateful for them no matter what the circumstance. My cookies were good but not nearly as good as my Uncle David's. What can I say, I think I'm at a pecan disadvantage up here in NY, plus he's had a lot more practice.

Hoping for easy like Sunday morning

I spent my early Friday morning hours finishing a sheet cake (and a few bonus cupcakes) for a lunch time party at a school in my neighborhood. Chocolate congratulations.

Waiting for butter cream to set at an ungodly morning hour gave my head a little time to run back through last weekend's projects. And y'know what? My mornings last weekend were absolutely lovely. Baking in early light, coffee break and dog walk around 8am, frost-finish-deliver by 10. Accomplishment. Whatever happens the rest of the doesn't even matter. What a luxury.

I already posted some photos and information about Saturday here. Sunday's cake was a raspberry filled vanilla bean cake, modeled to look after a cake from the year the bride and groom were wed - 1950.

A 60th anniversary!

I'm imagining this weekend will involve less cake, more soup, lots of music and at least one special all-out breakfast. Hopefully some quality studio time too.

Oh Baby Baby

My Saturday morning assignment was a woodland themed baby shower cake to serve 50 plus people.

Woodland themed? ...Yes!

Baking is a glorious way to spend any morning and I had so much fun making this cake.

Inside, the hexagon was a vanilla bean butter cake filled with mocha buttercreme. The outside was covered in espresso and semi-sweet chocolate ganache (and woodland critters, of course).

C'mon. Those little critters are CUTE.

Tiki Birthday Mayhem!!!!!

My friend ordered this for her husband's birthday and I had an absolute blast making it. The cake is chocolate and coffee.


There have been many sweet things since my last post. More photos coming soon. More cupcakes baking tomorrow.

85th Birthday Celebration

This was a vanilla bean cake with alternating layers of chocolate ganache and cherry conserve. Charlotte, the fun, beautiful, energetic woman celebrating 85 years (!), loves to be outside. A simple cake inspired by her flowers was requested.

Somewhat Hazelnut Cake Makes It's Way To New Jersey

I made a cake for a birthday party in the garden state. Cake remnants, accompanied by champagne, are probably being eaten as I write this.
Or at least I'd like to hope.


On the outside - a wood grain desk with an open notebook and a tea cup on it. On the inside - alternating layers of: vanilla bean butter cake, bittersweet chocolate ganache, chocolate hazelnut butter cream, and hazelnut and almond meringue.

Red Velvet, Take 2: Four Layer Cake

My friends Chris and M'lissa are to be married in March. There will be a red velvet cake (or maybe cupcakes?) present to witness the ceremony. Until March 14th, when I have a spare moment to bake, or a head full of snow - it'll be all red velvet all the time.

This recipe is slightly different than the cupcake recipe, which came from Chris. I used a different mixing method, and a heavy cream and mascarpone cream cheese frosting in lieu of the cream cheese buttercream. I think I preferred the cup cakes, but maybe it was because they were pink. I'm not sure.

No, it wasn't because they were pink. The frosting was a little sweeter and a much nicer consistency. I think this cake was equally as good, but I'm going to make Chris' recipe one more time just to be sure. The next incarnation will be an 8" round cake with chocolate sprinkles. Some people call sprinkles jimmies. It makes me uncomfortable. Probably because I don't understand.