Wedding Reception Fun!

Last night I catered my first wedding reception! It was hard work but also lots of fun. It went great considering I only met with the Bride and Groom last Sunday to plan the menu! It was a busy week pricing ingredients, prepping food, and putting it all together yesterday. I recruited some help and to them I am very greatful! A big THANK YOU goes out to my Mom, Scott, and Natasha! Here's the final product!

I didn't make the cake for this wedding, but I didn't make some sweet treats to go along with the cake that someone else made.  Yes, more cake balls!   

Cake Balls!

In case you were wondering, this is what 200 cake balls looks like!  What are cake balls?  They are bite-size bits of moist cake blended with rich frosting, surrounded in a deliciously beautiful chocolate coating.  The flavor combinations are endless, but this weekend I made carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, red velvet with cream cheese frosting, orange cake with orange buttercream, and white cake with chocolate buttercream.  My favorite is carrot cake.  I made this large batch of cake balls for my boyfriend to give to his employees, and yes he did help make them!  Forget about cupcakes, cake balls take the cake in my opinion.

1st Birthday Bash!

The past couple of months I have helped two girls celebrate their first birthdays.  It was fun to see Elmo come to life in my hands!

Rumor has it Ava hugged this little cake.  I'll take that as a compliment!



Thomas and friends

I learned a few new things this weekend.  First, I learned that making espresso is an art.  I took an espresso fundamentals class at the local community college and now have a new admiration for baristas who can pull the perfect shot of espresso.  Maybe after my next class in a couple of weeks I will be able to pull a better shot!  I also learned that three shots of espresso before noon is way too much for my body to handle!  I also learned what Thomas and his friends Percy and James look like.  Some church friends asked me to make cupcakes for their son's 3rd birthday and I was happy to do so.  So, Thomas is the blue train and has triangle eye brows. 

James is red and has crows feet under his eys.  James is green and doesn't have any facial marks that stick out.  It's always fun to try new designs.  I also don't many cupcakes but I see why people like to make them more than cake.  They are easier, but making 40 faces took a little time and a lot of patience!

 

All in a days work

Today I completed my 3rd half marathon and delivered a wedding cake!  Maybe I did too much in 24 hours, but I am thankful that my body allows me to work hard.  Here's my latest creation!

Life

Pecan Raisin Bread

I'm in love with the Pecan Raisin Bread from Zingerman's Bakehouse in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  It's dense with pecans and raisins and so full of flavor.  This past weekend I tried duplicating the bread at home with some success.  I tried this recipe from the New York Times http://events.nytimes.com/recipes/11723/2000/04/23/Raisin-Pecan-Bread/recipe.html.  First, I made a poolish Saturday night and let it ferment overnight to build flavor.  On Sunday I mixed the dough which was extremely dry.  Fear not, just a little more water and all was good.  I let the dough rise 2 hours and then shaped the dough into 3 loaves and let it rise another 30 minutes.  It's hard to duplicate artisan bread at home, but I tried using a spray bottle the create steam during the first 5 minutes of baking.  The result was 3 beautiful loaves of Pecan Raisin bread which had a nice soft texture and tasted great.

  While it wasn't as dense and chewy as the bread from Zingerman's, I definitely plan to make this bread again.  I can also make this bread for you!  Can you imagine making french toast out of this bread?  I can assure you it makes a pretty mean ham, fresh fig, and brie sandwich.  Yum!