Finally, A Chance to Bake

I have not had the opportunity to bake cakes lately, but alas, I found a good reason.  A co-worker is about deploy to Iraq for 6 months and we are giving him a little send-off.  So I thought it would be great to make him a cake as a thank you and best wishes.  Here it is...  I am so happy with the way my drawing came out of the Agency logo. 

A little bit of history...

I'm once again on the road again and of course that prevents me from attempting new creations, but since I have some time I thought I would begin to add some pictures of cakes that got me started.  These are my first attempts at cake decorating.  I have since began more extravagant style cakes and creative cakes, but you have to start somewhere.

Just to share a little history first, I started baking as a kid and have always loved it, but never made a career out of it.  Actually my degree is Accounting and my work is centered around numbers, but just like accounting, baking is very precise so it really doesn't surprise me that I enjoy both so much.  My only issue is coming up with the creative part of what to decorate, then I go to family and friends for suggestions.  I have some great critics and creative minds that love to share and my cousin is always sharing the most interesting cake ideas with me that she finds.

My Mom always baked cakes and she got that from my Nana who baked wedding cakes for family and friends.  My passion for decorating comes from my Mom and throughout my life it has always been an outlet for stress relief for me. Cake decorating oddly is very relaxing to me. 

I learned the basics from my Mom and have taken many classes from the local Wilton courses, to the Culinary Institute of America in NY, Johnson and Whales, and local classes held by some very talented folks.  I enjoy it so much that I try to take as many classes as possible all over on weekends and week nights just to learn new techniques.  Now I am in the stage of practicing and still learning (I will always be learning).  So I encourage anyone looking for a cake to let me know, I am always looking for an excuse to try something.

Keep checking out the blog because I have some ideas that I plan to try and will definitely be posting pictures.  In the meantime, here are some pictures of cakes that I did in the beginning.  Enjoy!

A 1st birthday cake for my good friend's little boy. 

This one was my attempt at a shoe cake for a friend who is the ultimate shoe and accessory queen.  My first time using gum paste.

This cake was so much fun to create.  My niece and I did this together for my Mom.  My Mom is a tea drinker and for Mother's Day, my niece and I wanted to try and be creative.  I am so happy to see that she shares the same liking for decorating.

Another cake for my Mom.  This was my 1st attempt at making people.  I tried to make each of children and their families. 

This was what I call in-class homework from one of my courses. 

This is one of my favorites because I was very proud of my attempt at covering a cake with fondant and the the fish on top were free hand. 

Success!!!

The Bake for Hope was an amazing success.  The truffles that I made and the chocolate chip cookies by David raised $812.  Amazing!!!  Today we held a celebration for the winning bidders and added some extra good stuff.  It was a great opportunity for more baking.  In addition to the chocolate truffles I had also baked some cupcakes with a butter cream frosting.  That was nothing compared to the brownies, cookies, and cupcakes that David made.  Here are some pictures from this great event to celebrate the generosity of some great people.

Chocolate Chip Cookies To Die For

I have to write about these amazing chocolate chip cookies.  These are not my creation, but a good friend with a great talent for baking.  All of us love the famous Toll House chocolate chip cookies, but these are much more than a basic cookie recipe.  Straight from David's kitchen, they are described as old school Toll House chocolate chip cookies with high chocolate chip to dough ratio and loaded with fresh walnuts.  They are crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside - who can resist!

I am a huge fan.  One bite of these cookies and I was sold.  Absolutely delicious, they taste just as good as they look.  I know you are all drooling at the mouth.  Best part, you can bid on them and support a great cause.   These delicious cookies are up for bid as part of a bake for hope campaign to raise money for Susan G. Komen for the Cure.  Check it out and be sure to bid on 5 dozen of these fantatic cookies at Bloggers Bake for Hope.

Dark Chocolate Truffles

A variety of truffles for the true chocoholics.   I discovered a recipe for Ghiradelli chocolate truffles which was fantastic, but I wanted to change it up a bit.  Rather than just plain truffles, I added some sea salt (a definite favorite of mine).  I prefer using a sea salt that is small, but flaky.  In my last adventure in baking I used Bela Mandil Flor De Sal, Algarve-Portugal.  It turned out spectacular.  This became a quest for more and perfectly timed by a suggestion from a great friend and fellow blogger Local Lisa to participate in Bloggers Bake for Hope.  I was beyond excited to participate; baking (which I love) and for a great cause!!!  So it was an instant light that turned on when she suggested participating and these truffles won my heart. 

I decided to use Callebaut bittersweet chocolate and in true truffle fashion some heavy cream and butter (yummy).  But I wanted to make them stand out.  I didn't want small truffle balls so I made them slightly bigger using a silicone mold for square bites that I had.  Then to create a look that matched the theme, I put pink ribbons on them.  But wait there is more!  I added a few different flavors.  A lot of folks love the chocolate and raspberry combination and some love coconut so I opted to add those, but I wanted something different in addition to the sea salt and standard flavors.  Then it came to me, banana creme.  I was skeptical at first, but surprisingly it added a small, but sufficient difference that was yummy. 

These truffles will melt in your mouth. Be sure to watch the blog for Bloggers Bake For Hope and if you love chocolate you should bid on these.  If you are not the biggest chocolate fan you should still bid on what looks like some fantastic desserts.