Chocolate Indulgence

This is the first cake I was commissioned to make. One of my coworker's asked me to make a chocolate birthday cake for his wife - and so here it is. Thanks for giving me this opportunity, and I hope you enjoyed it! Happy Birthday, Joanne!

This is a four layer, chocolate fudge cake with alternating layers of fluffy chocolate mousse and dark chocolate ganache.

If you want to know the layering specifically, this is how I built the cake (from top to bottom):

1. chocolate ganache
2. fudge cake
3. chocolate mousse
4. fudge cake
5. chocolate ganache
6. fudge cake
7. chocolate mousse
8. fudge cake

I decorated with 11 handcrafted, buttercream icing, white roses. (These are so fun to make!)

For the remaining border I did a simple, yet elegant, pearl chain out of buttercream icing.

Since it was also Father's Day weekend, I made two of these cakes at the same time - one for my coworker's wife, and the other for my Dad. Unfortunately, during transportation, the one for my Dad experienced a little trauma and ultimately did not look as good as the one pictured above. (Sorry, Dad!) But judging by how quickly my family devoured it, I can say with confidence that this was a pretty awesome tasting cake.

Norwegian Apple Cake

I grew up having my mom bake this for us and it was one of my favorites. The cake is dense in texture with a hint of almond flavoring. On top apple slices are arranged in a flower pattern with slivered almonds wedged in between the apple slices.

This can be served with a dusting of powdered sugar. (Tastes great with vanilla ice cream!)


Or it can be served plain (as seen in the picture below).

Norwegian Bløtkake

This weekend was my Mom’s birthday. She is 100% Norwegian and so in celebration of her birth and her heritage I decided to make Bløtkake – which is a Norwegian Birthday Cake. “Bløtkake” actually means "moist cake" if you translate the word directly to English.

This is one of my favorites!

This double layer sponge cake has a layer of boysenberry syrup, crushed pineapple, mandarin orange juice and lightly whipped cream. This juicy layer soaks into the layers of cake making it moist and flavorful (this soaking technique is very similar to how one makes Tres Leches [milk cake]). Next the Bløtkake is spread with whipped cream and the sides are covered with slivered almonds. Finally, the cake is topped with fresh fruit – in this case: strawberries, mandarin oranges, and kiwi.

I’ve done some research and apparently in Norway the toppings are often reflective of the region of the country you are in or the season. My Mom’s favorite is Bløtkake with a marzipan lid, which is the same as described above with the addition of a thin sheet of marzipan draped over the cream layer on the outside of the cake. YUMMY!

Happy Birthday Mom! I love you.

White Rose Cake

This double layer chocolate cake with an almond buttercream icing features twelve handcrafted white roses and a shell border. The white-on-white icing whispers simple elegance. A classic anniversary cake.

1st Cake - Blue Bird

I made this during my 1st cake decorating class that I took last year ('07).

This is the one that got it all started. It is a double layered dark chocolate cake with a buttercream icing. I wanted to do something that was appropriate for Spring and ended up doing this cute little blue bird.

Melanie's Baby Shower

This is a cake I made for my friend's baby shower. As you can tell by the cake, she is expecting a baby boy! I had a lot of fun with this one and it received a very warm response at the shower. This is a double layer white cake with a chocolate buttercream frosting (so yummy!). I loved fusing the traditional stork image with the more modern blue and brown color pallet. Good luck with the new baby, Melanie!

"The Velveteen Rabbit"

Pictures from Lela's first birthday. Lela's pink and brown bunny invitations were the inspiration for this cake, as well as the story "The Velveteen Rabbit", a childhood favorite of mine. Happy birthday Lela, it was a great day and I'm very happy with how the cake turned out as well.