Book cakes!

 What are the odds that during National Library Week (April 15-20, 2013) that I would have the pleasure of making 2 book cakes? The styles are completely different and each presented it's own challenges, but in the end they both worked out. The open book cake is chocolate cake with raspberry mousse filling, one of my fav's! And the Harry Potter cake is lime cake with cherry filling, think cherry limeade.

Open book cake

Horcrux Cake, for Harry Potter fans.

Healthy Fruit and Grain Bars

I have never been against things like white flour, sugar, or real butter. In fact, I love them and use them quite frequently. I have, however, always been against processed foods. The reason is simple, most people don't know what they are actually eating. Even if you can pronounce the obscure names on the backs of  nutrition labels that doesn't mean it should be consumed. I won't bore you with every little ingredient and how your body processes them.

One of my youngest daughter's favorite snack items is the jelly filled grain bars from the supermarket. I personally despise them. They are overly sweet and unappetizing. With that said, I decided that I need to see what I was actually feeding her. Aside from the obvious use of white flour and high fructose corn syrup, did you know that they use dyes derived from petroleum  to "enhance" the color of the filling? I wasn't aware that yummy fruit needed enhancing. I'm silly that way. I don't want to lecture anyone on what they eat, or what they choose to feed their kids, I just want you to know the facts. You are more than capable of deciding for yourself.

I digress. Next I contemplated the components of these bars and realized they are very similar to Raspberry Oatmeal Squares. I just knew that I could tweak the recipe to make it more healthful. So I used whole grains, real fruit, used healthy fat, and decreased the sugar. So here you go.

Fruit and Grain Bars

1-16 oz pkg of frozen strawberries, nothing added (use fresh or frozen berries or applesauce)

1/4 cup honey (you can sub brown rice syrup, agave, or any sweetener you choose) 

Cook this down to 1 cup and mash or puree to desired consistency. Let cool.

1-1/2 cups whole wheat flour (you could use AP flour, but my attempt was to get wholesome foods into my daughter)

1-1/4 cups rolled oats (again, instant oats are fine too, so are steel cut)

1/2 cup wheat germ (this can be flax seed or nuts if you want more crunch) 

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup of a healthy oil, I used canola (sub coconut or olive oil or butter if you are cool like that)

Mix the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir in oil. Pat 2/3 of the grain mixture into a 9" square pan. Make sure you pack in and don't leave gaps. Bake this at 350 degrees until it just starts to brown which was 15 minutes in my oven. Then spread the fruit on top of the warm crust. Next sprinkle the remaining grain mixture on top of the fruit. Bake again until the fruit bubbles around the edges, which was about 20 minutes. Let cool completely on the counter before you cut the bars and remove them from the pan.

I will admit to eating a few of these this afternoon. At least I wasn't ingesting harmful chemicals!

 

Thanks for hanging in there

This will we short and sweet. I took a hiatus because I was working in a professional bakery and I didn't want to post their cakes on my blog. Rest assured I am back with Tiffany's Cake and I'm expanding to other bakes as well. Stay tuned for an updated menu and prices. Thank you for your patience.

My final WHCC cakes

My last few months in Salem were very busy, cake wise. I know this isn't all of them, but they are the only pics I could find. The top photo is a cake celebrating a 100th birthday. What an amazing thing to celebrate. For the big day, I made a cake with handmade gum paste roses...they seem to be my specialty now. The bottom cake was for a graduation party. He is a fantastic drummer and all around great kid...guy. Thanks for bearing with me for a few months of not posting.

Another year older

Both of my daughter's are now in elementary school. I have a 5th grader and a 1st grader. They are aging faster than I can count. Everyone tells you, when you are pregnant with your first child, how fast those years go by. During the first year of that child's life you think, "Yeah right!" I am here to attest that it is true. I am almost the mother of a middle schooler. AAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

Anyway, my oldest (top photo) had a Harry Potter party. We had magic tricks (science experiments), played authentic HP games (quidditch), and of course had cake! Chloe read all of the books, so I fashioned a book cake.

My youngest is obsessed with the movie "Tangled." Anytime we ask her what she wants to watch, that's her choice. So for her party we took a trip to Focus on the Family, which has rooms to rent for FREE! The kids played in the children's play area and I didn't have to clean up!! Perfect! Her cake is a replica of Rapunzel's tower in the flowery field.

My new job!

I got a new job at a bakery. After years of working for myself, following my own rules, and using my own recipes I am working for someone else. I like not having to put a price on my cakes, or cleaning up my kitchen. It is nice to have a place to enjoy my craft and have people to talk to while I do it. Below are cakes that I have at work. If you like them check out www.marvelscakes.com .

My mom's wedding

I am running a bit behind on updates. It has been a whirlwind over the past 4 or 5 months. We had a family vacation, relocated, started new jobs, and are trying to settle into life. This cake is from my very own mother's wedding reception, which was in May. It was a lovely small ceremony in a park. It was great to bring all of the family together to celebrate together.

My mom gave me free reign on her cake design. So I started gathering intel. Her cake combined the flowers used in her bouquet, lace details matching her mother's anniversary dress, and pearls which she wore. I wanted to duplicate my grandmother's wedding dress, but it turns out that her and my grandfather eloped.

The flowers are all handmade from gum paste. The middle photo shows my flowers next to my mom's bouquet. The sotas on the top layer are meant to replicate the lace and there is also a fondant lace detail on the middle layer. The bottom layer has a faux fabric swag and gold broach.