Layer Cakes

Layer cakes are great for any occasion.  This cake is a chocolate sponge cake with cream filling and Italian butter cream (my new favorite frosting, by the way).

Chocolate Sponge Layer Cake

Layer cake cost - $30 (serves 12-16)

Looking for a reason to bake...

OK, so really I never need a reason, but if I bake for no particular reason, then we will eat a lot of cake in our house (gain weight), and waste a lot because we will not be able to finish it.

I have two ideas in my head that I want to try out.  One is for a girly-girl cake.  I need a sweet sixteen, quineanera, bridal shower, frilly baby shower....  any type of girly occasion!

The other idea is a "surprise inside" cake.  This one would be great for a gender reveal party or a fabulous alternative to the "engagement ring in the champagne glass" proposal.

If anybody has any of these occasions coming up (or any other for that matter), let me know!

Sometimes it pays to know your audience...

I found a cake that screamed my brother when I was looking for ideas of what to make for Easter.  Since I was spending Easter with my in-laws instead of my brother, I went with a slightly more traditional design.

I sent the link to the cake to my sister-in-law, but she did not end up making it.  So, I bought some candy after Easter and held on to it for 2 months until my family came to visit (sadly, my brother likes stale Peeps).  My brother and all of the kids were super excited about their cake.  Only a couple of kids were unable to eat all of the candy on their cake.

Triple Chocolate Kahlua Cake

After making the Double Chocolate Kahlua Cake, I had to see what else I could do with it. I have a heart-shaped tart pan, so I decided to fill the top with some Kahlua chocolate whipped filling and use the not-so-fluffy frosting to glaze the cake.  The first time I made this cake, the frosting was a total glaze.  As I predicted (because I wanted it to be a glaze this time instead of a frosting), the frosting was thicker this time, but still glaze-like.  It definitely ended up as a delightfully wonderful cake!  My sister-in-law made me cut her a piece out of the center so that she did not have a single bite without the "cream" filling.

Triple Chocolate Kahlua Cake

Heart-shaped Triple Chocolate Kahlua Cake cost: $35.00

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

My husband loves oatmeal raising cookies.  They are his absolute favorite.  I am not the biggest fan of raisins in my cookies, but these were really good.  When I ate the last one that I had made at school, I had to make him some more.  We didn't have any raisins at home though, so the batch I made at home were just plain oatmeal.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Raisin-less Oatmeal Cookies

Getting all of my ingredients ready before starting to mix:

The final product:

Small Cookies (approximately 1/2 ounce): $0.25 each, or $2.50 per dozen
Medium Cookies (approximately 1 ounce):  $0.50 each, or $5.00 per dozen
Large Cookies (approximately 1.8 ounces): $1.00 each, or $10.00 per dozen

My textbook has a recipe called "Chocolate Indulgence Cookie."  I am looking forward to having some free time to try it out!

Cream Filling

My favorite cream filling is the cheesecake mousse filling inside a Costco cake.  I was trying to recreate that a while back, and I found a recipe that said it was identical.  It wasn't.  The biggest problem that I had with it was that it tended to soak into the cake itself, so you did not get that distinction between cake and filling.  In addition, I cannot use it in cakes for sale because it contains ingredients that are not allowed under the Arizona cottage food law (which is probably just as well now that the temperature is above 110 again)!

As I was searching for recipes for shelf-stable (not requiring refrigeration) fillings, I found one that I am currently loving.  My favorite part - when I cut into the cake there is a distinction between the cake and filling.

Scones

I am officially a culinary student, and this week in class we made scones.  I love scones, and I had only attempted to make them once before.  We made two difference types of scones, and they were both great!  I am looking forward to making more!

Cranberry Orange Butter Scones

Scones - $2 each

Cinnamon Raisin Cream Scones

Scones - $2 each

Polka Dots and Bows

This cake was made for a monthly birthday celebration.  It is a 10-inch round, four layer white almond sour cream cake with chocolate whipped filling, buttercream frosting, and lots of fondant decorations.

Custom cake cost: $100                    Photo credit: Rhythm Photography

The fondant decorations really drive up the price on this cake, because there is just so much there.  Here are some possible variations:
Same cake without the bow (buttercream swirls and dots all the way around the top): $70
Replace all fondant (10-inch round, four layer cake with buttercream or whipped frosting): $40

Surf's Up

The other graduation cake that I made last weekend was for a girl who loves to surf and is planning on studying marine biology in college.  Her cake was a hexagon-shaped, two layer, strawberry cake with strawberry filling and whipped frosting.  The wave is made from rice krispy treats, and the surfboard is fondant.

Custom cake cost: $35                        Photo credit: Rhythm Photography

The girls that these graduation cakes went to were actually cousins having a combined party, so here are their cakes, ready to be boxed up for delivery:

Photo credit: Rhythm Photography

Bon Voyage!

Last weekend I made a couple of graduation cakes.  The first one was for a very fortunate girl whose grandmother is sending her to Italy for a graduation trip/ gift.  I was asked to make a cake that looked like the Coliseum.  At first I thought, you have to be kidding me.  Fortunately I had plenty of notice and time to think about how to make it happen.  The end result was not Cake Boss quality, but I still think it looked good!
This cake is an 8-inch round, two layer white cake (with part of another cake to produce the ruins effect) with chocolate whipped filling, buttercream and fondant.

Custom cake cost: $60                 Photo credit: Rhythm Photography