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 Cakes.
Tagged with birthday, cake, 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
