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Here’s a cake I just worked on this past Sunday for a 4yr old birthday.
I picked a vintage barbie cameo instead of sticking an actual doll in the middle. This is more my style. Hope you like it.

In the up coming weeks, I have a few cake orders. One of them, for an intimate wedding in May. The bride picked “wisteria” for her colors. Here are my thoughts and ideas on what I see the cake looking like:

Today I baked banana whoopie pies with my kids (students). I taught them never to be shy with smearing on the cream cheese frosting.
These cookies were great in flavor but slightly delicate in texture. I would pipe out the frosting next time, as some cookies broke and frosting got on my hands.

Banana Whoopie Pies with Cream Cheese Filling

2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup mashed banana
1/2 cup greek yogurt
3/4 stick butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
16 ounces cream cheese
1 1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

1. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in one bowl, set aside.
2. Beat butter and both sugars until light in color.
3. Add in sour cream, banana, egg, and vanilla extract.
4. Pour flour mixture into banana mixture. With a rubbber spatula, gently stir just until combined.
5. Drop batter by the heaping teaspoonful onto parchment. Leave about one inch of space between cookies.
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cool and pipe cream cheese filling onto half of the cookies. Top with remaining cookies…Enjoy!

Lemon mascarpone tarts were yummy and simple to make. Although, I wish the filling was more of a custard texture than cheesecake.

Photo: Danielle Bilton

I usually have a lot of success with any/all of Sherry Yard’s recipes, this was not one of them. For this post, I chose to make her “Homemade Twix Cookies”. It all sounded and looked great. But when I got down to actually biting into one of these, it was not what I had expected. There was way too much caramel and too much chocolate (a mistake on my part). So, the recipe I am going to give you is a full shortbread recipe, and half of the caramel recipe. I would also recommend skipping the ganache layer, as it was just too sweet. Also, to give the cookie an extra layer of texture, try adding chopped toasted peanuts to the caramel.

Source: Sherry Yard’s Desserts by the Yard

SHORTBREAD:
51/2 ounces (1 stick plus 3 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups cake flour
2 tablespoons ground rice (regular rice processed until ground, then passed through a sifter to get rid of chunks) (optional, I think. I didn’t use rice)

FOR THE CARAMEL TOPPING:
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons Lyle’s Golden Syrup (available at most supermarkets and at whole foods stores)
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup chopped toasted nuts

FOR THE CHOCOLATE GLAZE:
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1. MAKE THE SHORTBREAD: Place a rack in the lowest position of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9-X-13-inch baking pan with pan spray and line with parchment paper. Spray the parchment.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar at medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Gradually add the flour and ground rice and allow the dough to come together.
3. Remove from the bowl and press the dough evenly into the bottom of the pan. Place in the oven and bake for 12 minutes. Rotate the pan from front to back and bake for another 8 minutes, until the shortbread is a deep golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a rack to room temperature.
4. MAKE THE CARAMEL: In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, golden syrup, water, and lemon juice. Brush down the inside of the pan with a little water, using your hand to feel for stray granules of sugar. Cover the saucepan and place it over medium heat for 4 minutes. After 4 minutes, remove the lid, increase the heat, and bring to a boil. Do not stir from this point on. Keep an eye on the pan. The mixture will be very bubbly. When stray sugar crystals appear on the sides of the pan, brush them down with a clean wet pastry brush. As the sugar cooks, the bubbles will get larger.
5. In a small saucepan, bring the heavy cream to a boil. Remove from the heat and set aside.
6. After 5 to 6 minutes, the sugar will turn golden brown. Insert a candy thermometer and when the temperature reaches 300°F, remove the pan from the heat and let it sit for 1minute, or until the bubbles subside. Carefully whisk in the heavy cream. Stir until smooth, then whisk in the condensed milk. Whisk until smooth.
7. Return the pan to the heat and stir constantly over medium heat until the caramel reaches 240°F. Remove from the heat and pour over the shortbread. Allow to set.
8. MAKE THE CHOCOLATE GLAZE: Melt the chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl at 50 percent power for 2 to 3 minutes or in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir with a rubber spatula until smooth. Pour over the caramel and smear evenly. Let sit at room temperature or in the refrigerator until set.
9. Cut into the desired size and serve. (The cookies will keep, stored airtight, for 1 day.)

Hello all! Happy 2010! I have been away due to staging and writing classes and the holidays. I hope you all will join me in my food adventures.
Below, is a photo of my eggs benedict. Which consists of a parmesan lemon pepper biscuit, thick cut bacon, dippy egg, and homemade hollandaise sauce (do they even sell pre-made hollandaise?) Yes, I know what your thinking, “Holy FAT with a side of FAT?!” But we don’t eat like this everyday, this is our weekend brunch. Although, I may have leftovers for breakfast today….I know…don’t judge! OK, see you all later on in the week!

The first cake was for my husband’s birthday. So, I didn’t have time to get a great shot of it. It was a chocolate cake with chocolate pastry cream filling, vanilla bean butter cream, and topped off with chocolate ganache, served with a fresh raspberry coulis. The best part in making this cake was the pouring the ganache. As I was pouring the ganache, I looked up and about 20 of our friends were circled around me watching the chocolate drip off the sides in hopes I would offer them a swig.

The next cake was for a sweet 16. I was told by my client, the birthday girl loved oreo cookies. Wanting to surprise the birthday girl, I chopped up some oreos and baked them into the chocolate cake layers.

The zebra print is hand cut fondont on buttercream and brushed with edible silver glitter.

PHOTOS: Danielle Bilton

With all the this summer heat, I like to keep my time in the kitchen short. And my time in the kitchen with a hot oven, shorter. Lately this summer I’ve been drawn to crisps. No letting pie dough chill, then rolling it out, letting it rest, and so on. Just get your hands in there to mix up the topping, toss the fruit mixture, and into the oven it goes.PHOTOS: Danielle Bilton

CRISP:
1 3/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup sliced almonds
3/4 cup flour
1 lb. brown sugar
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, cubed, and chilled

FRUIT FILLING :
2 1/2 lbs stone fruit, pitted, and quartered into bite sized pieces
1/2 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Rub the butter into topping dry ingredients with fingers, until there is no more dry mixture.
3. Stir all filling ingredients together, and pour into a 2 quart oven save dish.
4. Cover fruit filling with topping. Place baking dish on a cookie sheet, as the crisp will bubble over when done. Bake for 30-40 minutes until top is golden and filling is bubbling through.

A 2-layer chocolate cake, with fresh banana pastry cream filling, and covered in vanilla bean buttercream, I think that’s a pretty unforgettable 1st birthday cake. Friends of ours commissioned me to make their adorable daughter’s 1st birthday cake. It was a luau themed party. So as requested, I made orange hibiscus flowers and scattered hibiscus petals around the cake. I was very happy with the outcome, as was little Miss Aysa. PHOTOS: Danielle Bilton