Any fans of Dinner Impossible out there? Chef Robert Irvine is challenged to create a banquet under extreme conditions. Often, a client pops in to wage a special request and really shakes up the kitchen. On the Sesame Place episode, our dear little friend Elmo declares “I Like Shapes” and viola— all of the foods is served as circles, squares and triangles. This challenge was transferred to my kitchen.
Here we have a circle cake decorated with a parade of friends and some magical geometry. The cupcakes (more circles!) create a shape explosion! The birthday boy isn’t quite old enough to recognize them all yet, but soon, he will be able to comtmplate the magic too.
Elmo, Big Bird and Cookie lead the party parade
For now, he will just have to contemplate why his afternoon snack was on fire. So weird.
Smash Cake
We didn’t have smash cakes when I was a kid and I am kind of jealous. This little treat is given to the baby for smashing, smearing, dropping, and generally going crazy.
Step 1: finger in the frosting.
Step 2: frosting to mouth
Step 3: clap
Step 4: two handed cake grab
Step 5: smear cake on face and ingest as much cake as possible before being assaulted with a wet washcloth
When properly executed, it should look something like this.
How to eat cake
Posted in Celebration Cake.
Tagged with birthday, smash cake.
By Queen Bee
– January 22, 2010
Please join me at Ebenezers Coffeehouse on Capitol Hill (205 F Street, NE) for an art gallery themed “In the Beginnings”. There will be music, poetry, visual arts and edible art (read: cake!) by local artists.
The event opens at 7pm and is free to all.
Click here to see the event poster!
In the Beginnings
Can you read that little text? I can’t deny anyone a daily dose of William James.
Close-up of the poster
Posted in Announcements.
By Queen Bee
– January 19, 2010
Hi Friends-
A move to a new kitchen, some internet issues, and general holiday mayhem (yippee!) distracted me from my posting schedule in November and December. Excuses, excuses, excuses! However, we’ve got is sorted out now and I am psyched to get 2010 rolling with some very exciting projects to share in January. 
I hope you and your families enjoyed a wonderful Christmas season and are ready to ring in a new year overflowing with joy and celebration.
Let’s raise a toast to great expectations!
Hugs,
Melissa (aka The Queen Bee)
Posted in Announcements.
By Queen Bee
– December 30, 2009
Jackie celebrated her 6th birthday at the zoo, so she needed a cake that was a little wild.
Happy Birthday Jackie
A collection of zoo animals, cut from fondant march around the cake. Chocolate fondant flowers add a youthful, touch.
I love this zebra. His stripes are painted on with cocoa brown food coloring. When I googled for pictures of zebras I saw that thier coloring even extends up into the hair of their mane. Crazy!
Zebra
The giraffe is made of gumpaste, which dries into a stiffer material than the fondant used for the other animals. This allows him to hold his head up above the cake.
- Giraffe
When fondant is stretched after it dries out on the surface it crackles in a process known as elephant skin. It is frustrating when you are covering a cake, but wonderful when you are making elephants.
- Elephant
This hippo looks really happy to be hanging out with his friends.
Hippo
Mr. Lion has a mane of painted chocolate. Cute and yummy.
Lion
Cake Details
Cake: Chocolate birthday cake
Filling: Chocolate ganache filling
Decoration: Purple buttercream with fondant animals and flowers. The giraffe is gumpaste so that his head stood above the cake.
Yes Suzanne, these were Cricut animals.
Posted in Celebration Cake.
Tagged with animals, birthday, purple.
By Queen Bee
– October 2, 2009
My appreciation for many types of tea leaves has grown through my friendships with Melanie and Laura who are tea (and cupcake!) aficionados. Although I enjoy a good cup of Earl Grey, my favorite flavor profile is strong matcha green tea. In honor of these lovely ladies’ birthdays this week I made some green tea macarons (aka french macaroons).
I am in awe of the macaron. The chemistry and physics of starting with egg whites, fluffed just right, and mingled with sugar to form the perfect meringue. Into this goes almond meal, ground finely, which introduces oils to the party– danger! When mixed perfectly you get a crispy, light, tender cookie. If the scales tip… disaster in the form of a chewy cracked mess. And you won’t even know for an hour after mixing is complete. Sweet agony! So why bother? If you have ever had a perfect macaron, you know that they are bliss. Light, airy, crunchy, creamy. Yum.
The base of this recipe is from Tartlette’s blog– Matcha And Peach Pate de Fruit Macarons. Her macaron combinations are mouthwatering. I adjusted the recipe a bit and switched up the filling. Half of the batch got chocolate Bavarian cream filling and half got cream cheese frosting. My cookies were being served along side of a cake that was filled with (3 guesses!) chocolate Bavarian cream and iced with cream cheese frosting. So the flavors all tied together.
Here is how it went down in my kitchen.
Step 1: mix the batter (recipe from link above)
Step 2: pipe circles and let set 30-50 minutes (yes, really)
Step 3: pray like crazy, possibly laying hands on the oven if you roll like that (do not skip this step)
Step 4: bake
Hot from the oven
Step 5: remove from sheet and cool
Step 6: fill with creamy deliciousness
Fill 'er up
Step 7: plate*
Green tea macarons and chocolate bavarian cream tarts
Step 8: enjoy!
* the leftover chocolate went into puff pastry shells
Posted in Cookies.
Tagged with cookie, green.
By Queen Bee
– September 28, 2009
Frangipani (also known as plumeria) have a delicious scent that wafts through the tropics of SE Asia. When I toured Singapore and Malaysia I fell in love with the delicate velvety blooms and knew they would be a perfect pairing on this orchid cake.
Happy Birthday!
The cake is “pink velvet”, because who says it has to be red? Clearly I am not from the south, and perhaps there is now a sweet old woman shedding a tear with only her sweet tea to comfort her.
Pink velvet cake
Moving on… Even I respect that velvet cake should have cream cheese frosting, but I filled the layers with both cream cheese and chocolate bavarian cream. Once the cake was filled and iced it was ready for decoration. My workspace looks something like this when I am building the cake. The cake, extra icing, my flowers, food coloring dusts for highlights and fixes, and all the necessary tools.
Ready to assemble
Finally, the cake it done and it is time to party.
Make a Wish
Cake Details
Cake: Pink velvet
Filling:Chocolate Bavarian cream
Icing: Cream cheese frosting
Decorations: Frangipani and orchids made from modelling chocolate
Posted in Celebration Cake.
Tagged with birthday, flowers, orchid, pink.
By Queen Bee
– September 27, 2009
little boy blue
Brown and blue baby bunting. Easier to eat than to say! Maybe I’ll skip the tongue twisters and go with more traditional nursery rhymes.
Little Boy Blue come blow your horn,
The sheep’s in the meadow the cow’s in the corn.
But where is the boy who looks after the sheep?
He’s under a haystack fast asleep.
Will you wake him? No, not I - for if I do, he’s sure to cry.
I’m sure he’d stop crying if you gave him a cookie. With a field full of cows there is plenty of milk, right?
What were we talking about? Oh yes, these sugar cookies are iced with rolled buttercream and then decorated with chocolate fondant. These little guys were served at a baby shower tea, but they would also make cute favors.
Posted in Cookies.
Tagged with baby, blue, cookie.
By Queen Bee
– September 25, 2009
Every year my family, and many of our friends head to the big apple for the US Open. Tennis, tennis, and tennis for days.
As great as the National Tennis Center is (not that I am partial to my dad’s design or anything!), we always try to carve out some time to roam the city while shopping, eatting, and enjoying the grand circus that is New York.
This year Carrie and I were fortunate enought to run into this sporty oreo and pick up some tips on finding the best treats in the city.
Every time I go to NYC I try and hit a few more cupcake places. Last year I had a delicious bite from the Crumbs site at Macy’s Herald Square. So Erin and I headed to one of thier stores to try it at the source.
We deliberated over thier extensive menu (Crumbs). At the stores they offer a tasting box of the 12 current flavors that is a delicious way to sample all of the flavors. We took a few full sized cupcakes back to meet up with friends since we were also eager to try the smores [delicious chocolate cake with marshmallow cream filling, chocolate- chocolate chip frosting and a grahm cracker square] and strawberry [vanilla with fresh strawberry frosting].
We took our goodies to meet up with Laura who arrived with a box from Buttercup Bakeshop. Now there was a dilema… so many cupcakes, so few hours.
Red velvet, devil dog, and a variety of vanilla and chocolate with sprinkles. The cupcakes were starting to add up.
So we went on full attack with plastic forks and lots of napkins. By the end of our taste test we had a big pile of schrapnel and a few favorites. Topping our list was the red velvet from Buttercup and the strawberry frosting from Crumbs.
I’ve heard about the growing “cupcake wars” in New York, but I have to admit that if everyone uses great ingredients and appealing flavors, I don’t see how this can be anything but a great trend!
Posted in Travel.
By Queen Bee
– September 13, 2009
OK, I have decided to stop baking entirely and now make treats constructed only from Jell-O. Of course I’m not serious (or am I?) but I had fun collecting the bizarre baked-bacon tidbits last week, so this week I am going for it again.
Look at all the pretty colors in the rainbow blocks. Pretty!
Rainbow Jell-O Blocks
And by combining it with sweetened condensed milk you can add opacity and make even more designs. Check out The Food Librarian’s many creations called broken glass jell-o. It actually reminds me more of glycerin soap than broken glass though. Is that better or worse?
Broken Glass Jell-O
Want even more art with your sugar? Liz Hickok is an artist recreating places and landmarks in Jell-o. Check out the photos and videos on her website. I am partial to the sculpture of the White House.
I could go on all day, but I will just leave you with this fun fact– Jell-O is the official state snack of Utah. Don’t you wish you lived in Utah today?
Posted in Musings and Inspiration.
By Queen Bee
– September 6, 2009
