[Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2016 – 2017)]

Rosemary Hazelnut Biscotti (with black pepper and orange) and Koulourakia (my Greek step-dad's favorite). Baked these off for our road trip to Vegas for Thanksgiving. 

[Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2016 – 2017)]

As of right now, this is the last wedding cake I have until February. Nice to have a little break with the holidays coming up. 

I love fall leaves and was excited someone finally asked for them. 

[Confections! What did we make? (2014 – 2016)]

I was asked to make chocolates and a six tier display cake (photo later) for the Salvador Dali opening party in Monterey last night. They specifically asked for Absinthe for the Absinthe bar, then the rest was up to me. I also played with some of the new colors I picked up at Chef Rubber on the last trip to Vegas. 

 

So, Absinthe, Salted Caramel, Black Rasberry, Vanilla Passion Fruit, Spearmint, Valrhona Dulcey. 

[Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2016 – 2017)]

Getting into fall desserts. Sweet Potato Tart with pecan shortbread crust, toasted maple vanilla marshmallow and red wine caramel.  

[Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2016 – 2017)]

Some friends asked me to make the cake for their wedding. It was an outdoor, rustic type deal.  The groom picked the cake flavors, the bride didn't care because she had a pie table, she just wanted a naked cake. 

Top tier-vanilla cake with salted caramel buttercream and toffee bits

middle-brown sugar cake with vanilla cream and bananas

bottom-chocolate cake with Nutella buttercream and hazelnuts

 

 

[King Arthur Double Dutch Dark Cocoa]

I've started using it in some cake experiments I've had going lately.  I felt it gave some of the best, really chocolate-y flavor that's been lacking.  I'm going to also try mixing my own black and Dutched to see what happens.  Of all the chocolate cakes I've tried, I've never felt there was enough oomph from either Dutched Cocoa or unsweetened chocolate.  But, the last cake was much better using the KA.  And, I've used it in a vegan cake and a gluten free cake  (both experiments for upcoming weddings) and they were good. 

[Troubleshooting Lemon Bars]

26 minutes ago, pastrygirl said:

 

I don't make a standard lemon bar either.  I top mine with lemon curd cooked stove-top and set with the help of white chocolate and gelatin.

Yeah, I do the gelatin and sometimes white chocolate thing in lemon curd for cake fillings. Makes sure that stuff isn't going anywhere

[Troubleshooting Lemon Bars]

I fought with lemon bars for a long time before I gave up on recipes and just made up my own.  I use a shortbread crust recipe I've had for years and I use my lemon curd recipe. I par bake the crust, make the lemon curd, strain it into the crust and then bake it for about 10 mins in a 300F convection oven.  Then chill them.  They cut very cleanly and hold their shape very well. So, maybe a pre cooked filling might help them hold their shape better?

[Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2015 – 2016)]

These chocolate chip cookies are so good! I used whole Valrhona Satilia Feves, whole pecans and Maldon sea salt sprinkled on top.  Took care of the chocolate fit for sure :).

 

 

[Confections! What did we make? (2014 – 2016)]

Peanut butter nougat and honey vanilla caramel with peanuts (sorta like a snickers). I made these to send to my dad for Father's Day/Birthday this weekend.  I used my usual caramel, and Greweling's peanut butter nougat, minus a lot of the molasses. Both his nougat and PB fudge has way too much, at least to me.

 

[Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2015 – 2016)]

Captain America: Civil War cake for my cosplayer friend. I put lights under the arc reactor :). She kept saying all night, "my cake lights up" :). 

[Galaktoboureko]

My recipe is from an old friend of my step-dad's (all Greek  ).  Her filling was made with farina (she used cream of wheat), butter, egg yolks, orange zest, grand mariner, whipped egg whites and sugar.  The syrup was steeped with more orange, cinnamon and cloves.   It's so good. I haven't made it in a while, but may have too :).

[Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2015 – 2016)]

Gum paste daisies for two birthday cakes.  One for Claragene's 80th and Tillie's 90th :).

 

[Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2015 – 2016)]

Mother's Day dessert-buttermilk panna cotta, vanilla roasted strawberries, honey almond praline and strawberry rhubarb sorbet

 

 

[Fondant ruffles]

1 hour ago, pastrygirl said:

It's going to be a half sheet, I wanted the ruffles on the top (horizontal) surface, and larger scale than the pic above - a looser wavy fold of "fabric" (see link below).  I was thinking today of going up to the cake store that has everything but traffic has been a nightmare lately so I didn't, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to get any specialty ingredients but maybe I can run to Michael's on Sunday.  Cake is to be picked up Tuesday morning. The shirt is kind of layered, so maybe I can pile layers of fondant on itself.  Hmm, thanks for the advice, I've never tried gumpaste or tylose but I'll see what I come up with!

 

http://static.rogerebert.com/redactor_assets/pictures/53a1ff52e3f95f4455000011/Purple-Rain.jpg

OK, the visual helps. I would form them and use cotton to hold the shape while it dries.  

[Fondant ruffles]

Are you making it with ruffles like this? Or where the ruffles point downward?  If down, as you ruffle the strips and put them on, you can prop up parts of it with toothpicks.  As it dries, it would give you more fluff I guess :).  Then remove the toothpicks. Mixing in CMC or a mix of gum paste and fondant will make them stiffer.  

 

[Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2015 – 2016)]

Pies are another thing I don't do very much. My step father's 79th birthday is in a couple of weeks, but we're all going to Las Vegas that weekend, so I made him strawberry rhubarb pie instead of a cake a little early. He is crazy about rhubarb, and complains he never gets it. 

 

[Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2015 – 2016)]

Spring Dessert Sampler for a chef group that came in for a luncheon. 

Rustic almond cake, roasted strawberries, olive oil ice cream with brown butter crumble, chilled vanilla rhubarb soup with creme fraiche panna cotta, candied pistachios and strawberry tuile, strawberry, white chocolate and rose water macaron and strawberry basil pate de fruit.

 

[Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2015 – 2016)]

Two cakes this past weekend. I wasn't that crazy about the bling-y one, but most people have seemed to like it. And the other, I don't quiet get why a banana slug would be a school mascot :). But, that's UC Santa Cruz. The owner of the restaurant came to me on Wednesday and wanted this theme for a cake on Saturday. Suuuurrre, last minute, have no idea what to do. Aye!

 

 

[Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2015 – 2016)]

On April 1, 2016 at 5:00 PM, Patrick S said:

Shain, that babka looks delicious!

 

Franci, I've never seen cornetti before - they look super.

 

RWood, I adore the combination of peanut butter and chocolate, so I'm lusting for some of that Easter cake. Everything you post is so well-executed and artfully plated.

 

jmacnaughtan, excellent glaze on your Easter entremet.

 

After the caloric excesses of my own Easter weekend (I regret nothing), I had planned on adhering to a lower-calorie diet for the remainder of the week. But I had some pate de croissant left over from the Ispahan, and some chocolate glaze left over from the doughnuts, and both were at the point of freeze-it-or-waste-it. And since the freezer was full and I hate to waste things, I made chocolate-glazed cronuts on Tuesday night. I atoned the next day by eating a kale salad and extending my workout by 30 minutes.

 

 

 

Thanks so much Patrick.  Just saw your post. You do some beautiful work with doughs that I wish I had more of an interest in doing more of myself.  Your Nutella flower is beautiful (and Nutella and anything hazelnut is one of my weaknesses.) I'm more of a cake, chocolate and dessert girl.  While I don't mind occasionally making something dough related at home, I couldn't stand it as a job. The last time I ventured into croissant dough, I made these orange hazelnut rolls. One of my favorites :). And I thought my dough layers were pretty good. 

 

[Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2015 – 2016)]

I didn't go traditional Easter, but this is the special for this weekend: Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Cake.

Brownie base, chocolate cremeaux, peanut butter mousse and salted peanut brittle.

 

[Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2015 – 2016)]

12 minutes ago, Shelby said:

*faint*  LadyHawke...my all-time favorite movie.  No one, I mean NO ONE ever knows that movie!  I love this cake!

I know! Our wedding coordinator had never heard of it either. So, I took her my DVD :). I loved this list of titles the bride sent for this cake.

[Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2015 – 2016)]

Medieval theme book wedding cake. 

[Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2015 – 2016)]

That time of year for me to make my birthday cake :). I decided to just use it to try something new or experiment. So, BB-8. That little bugger has way too much detail on him.  I had too much to do this past week so he didn't get everything. But, it was fun and now I know what to do differently if there's a next time. The cake is chocolate marbled raspberry with sour cream raspberry ganache. 

 

[Your Daily Sweets: What Are You Making and Baking? (2015 – 2016)]

Yeesh, I'm beginning to hate holidays from working in a restaurant.Two wedding cakes, extra production, Valentine's special, and we'll probably do 1800 covers from Friday-Sunday with extended hours. 

Anyway :), here's the special-Chocolate Raspberry Mousse Cake