My sister's pregnant! Well, it's not new news, but her baby shower was on Saturday. Janie, a good friend of hers, offered to help me plan it, and I took her up on the offer. She is a FANTASTIC event designer, so we decided to split the shower with her doing the set up, decor, and games, and I would take care of the food, and OF COURSE, the cake and desserts! It was at Big Leaf picnic area in Tilden Park in Berkeley. I will DEFINITELY use that space again. It had a HUGE grill, big picnic tables that were gorgeously laquered, and a grassy area that was used for quite the intense game of wiffle ball!

So, back to the sweet stuff! My sister loves my lemon bars, so I knew I was making that, no-brainer. And I decided the cake was going to be a yellow cake with lemon curd. I was anticipating about 50 people, so I was going to make a two tiered cake, but less people RSVP'd, and I opted for one tier, but a regular two layer cake didn't have the pop factor I wanted, so I ended up making a tall cake instead (which is a same sized two tiered cake). Since both of those were lemon-y, I made some chocolately red velvet cake truffles coated in yellow candy coating...

There were several techniques and things that I was trying out with this cake:

1. tall cake (8" tall!)
2. fondant fabric roses
3. lemon buttercream
4. lemon curd as filling
5. individual ruffles

Hmm, until I typed that out, I didn't realize how many firsts there were on this cake and there were only a couple of snafu's, which makes me REALLY REALLY happy with this cake! the one BIG thing that I really messed up on, was not kneading the fondant before rolling it out to cover the cake. It ended up making the fondant really thick, and it tore really easily, and created air pockets between the fondant and the cake. Also, since it was such a tall cake, i didn't put it in a box, which, in hindsight, I probably should have. It would have been easier to keep the cake from slipping around on the car seat. So in holding on to the cake board (while trying not to flatten the ruffles), the cake shifted during the car ride so that it was off to one side, no longer centered on the board, which explains all the yellow Easter grass on the platter to hide the slippage!

Here are more photos from the shower, most of which are from other people. I wish I thought to take more pictures, and one of the grillllll... i was so proud of my bbq ribs, homemade bbq sauce, and gourmet condiment spread!!! This lil baker can do some cooking too!

In the midst of preparing for my sister's baby shower, a baker friend of mine who makes the best cupcakes I've ever had, commissioned some fondant work from me: fondant camera cupcake toppers for a photographer's birthday. I've never done cupcake toppers before, so I was happy to do them! She wanted DSLR type cameras, so I did some research and looked at the different DSLR cameras on the market these days (specifically CANON) plus, other ways folks have done them. This was also the first time I timed myself working on things, because it was getting late and I really needed to get some sleep! These 4 little cameras took just a little under 3 hours, and i started to rush it at the end too. Here are the toppers themselves, and a picture of them on the chocolate peanut butter cupcakes!

On another note: I got an Oakland Fire Department apron! They came in red, white, and black. I think eventually, I will have all three, but in the meantime, i went for the red one! It looks great, don't you think?

My "Royal Darkness" Dark Chocolate velvet cake with purple cream cheese frosting... need I say more? Happy Birthday Willow!

I'm trying to find my gluten free flour.

I found Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour at $5/5lb bag. The price is very reasonable! on the top, it says, "Cakes, cookies, waffles...." 1:1 ratio with two different recipes on the back for waffles, and etc. It does say that some recipes will need xantham Gum (which i don't have any lying around the house), so I made my lemon bars as per my usual recipe (which I get really good feedback about), and let it cool completely.

VERDICT: It probably could have used some x-gum, but then it's not REALLY 1:1! The crust was grainy and it fell apart. The curd on top was still really good, so I would suggest using this for things that don't need to be held together, or that don't require a good crunch, like curd, or gravies and sauces. I will have to try a cake recipe to see how it works!