Natalie and Curtis' Wedding November 28th, 2010

It was a joy to be a part of Natalie and Curtis' special day. It all began at the Hotel Andra in Seattle where the bridal party got ready for the day. Pictures were taken as we strolled through downtown Seattle. It was a perfectly, gorgeous clear day! Unusual for us Seattlites. The wedding site was at the Lake Union Cafe, a beautiful venue with art deco embellishments throughout. They served red velvet and pumpkin cupcakes with a hummingbird bride and groom cake. Catered by Delicately Sweet.

Pictures courtesy of Lucid Captures Photography

French Macarons

French Macrons are quickly becoming the next greatest thing to have at weddings and parties. They are sweet and elegant for such the affair. My friend Tiffany told me about a class at Sur la Table all on making these elegant sweets so, of course I had to sign up. We learned the 'dos and don'ts' of making these dainty cookies and surprisingly found them not so complicated to make. These are pictures from our class. Enjoy and Bon Appetit!

Coconut Rum Macarons

Step 1 - Beginning to whisk the eggs to their

stiff peaks consistency.

Step 2 - Gently fold in sugar and almond meal

being careful to keep the batter light and fluffy.

Step 3 - Folding until it becomes like the

consistency of 'magma'.

Step 4 - Pipe batter from a pastry bag onto

parchment lined baking sheets. We used a

template underneath to practice just the perfect

sizing.

Step 5 - Let the macarons stand for 15 minutes

before baking.

Step 6 - Beginning the Rum Cream filling

- heat and whisk egg whites and sugar to 141 degrees.

I'm using the infrared thermometer to check

periodically.

Step 7 - Take egg whites off heat and whisk on

high till stiff peaks. Then gradually add the butter.

Step 8 - Mix in flavoring (we used rum for ours,

but you can try almost anything).

Step 9 - Bake macarons for about 8 minutes

in a double pan until the top has 'popped'.

Step 10 - Now they are ready to be filled!

In this pic my friend Tiffany trying her

hand at the piping.

Here are a few pics of our classes finished products.

We made Coconut Rum, Green Tea, Chocolate Cream

and Raspberry.

Happy with our sweet and dainty

macarons :)

They can make cute favors for a wedding or party.

Package them in clear plastic bags and tie with

a fun ribbon.

Whoopie Pies

My newest love... Whoopie Pies! I've been hearing about this craze for awhile now and decided it was time to try it out. If you haven't heard of a whoopie pie before they are a cake like cookie with a marshmellow cream sandwiched in between. The one pictured here is Chocolate with Blackberry Cream. One word... delish :)

Weddings

I did my first wedding this Summer. The bride and groom had an outdoor wedding on the water near Port Angeles. It turned out to be a beautiful day for the happy couple. They decided on apple pies and mini mixed berry tarts.

Summer Happenings

It was such a busy Summer with vacations, weddings, Farmers Markets which left only a few lazy days. This summer I wanted to bring my sweets out into the public so, I tried out bringing cupcakes to a couple local Farmer's Markets. I have to say that it was a lot of work, but so fun! I think the best part of the whole experience was seeing the smiles on all the patrons faces, old and young, as they enjoyed their cupcakes. :) Here are a few pics from the days at the market...

My mom... faithful helper.

My nieces and sister came to help out at one of the

last markets.

Bon Vivant Baking Class all about Cakes

Last night I attended a Bon Vivant baking class all about cakes taught be chef Suzanne Hunter. If you know anything about me I LOVE anything having to do with cakes so, this was right up my alley! I learned many new techniques including the French way of making Vanilla Buttercream. I had such a great time and look forward to taking another class through Bon Vivant. If you love cooking or baking I would highly suggest taking a class from them. Check them out at bon-vivant.com.

All the ingredients lined up to make the Pineapple

Coconut cake.

Vanilla Raspberry cupcakes

The sugar syrup that will be the base

of the Pineapple Buttercream. It was

very sensitive. We had to make two

batches... the first one got too brown.

Now, the cupcakes are ready to be frosted with

the Pineapple Buttercream and dipped in coconut.

Red Velvet cupcakes

We made Marzipan carrots to go atop the mini

carrot cakes. So fun!

Our finished masterpieces! We made eight different

cakes with nine different frostings.

Carrot with Cream Cheese frosting

Vanilla Raspberry with Almond Buttercream

Pineapple Coconut with Pineapple Buttercream

Red Velvet with Vanilla Buttercream

Chocolate with Salted Carmel filling and Chocolate Buttercream

Chocolate Hazelnut with Chocolate Ganache

Lemon with Lemon Meringue

Banana Rum with Currants and Chocolate Banana Buttercream/ Chocolate Banana Whip cream

Independence Day

Mixed Berry Tarts decked out in

their Red, White and Blue to

celebrate this special day.