Perhaps we let the photos show how a few layers of chocolate cake and a dozen mini-cupcakes with peppermint frosting became the birthday cake for a sleepover party with 12 girls, all around the age of 11 years. I did the baking and shaping, frosted between the layers and applied a bit of crumb coat … More In the kitchen with juliyya: Octopus Birthday Cake
“Mummy, do we have any chocolate?” asked my daughter visiting for a few days from London. “Well, how about a quick batch of brownies? Do you want anything in them? Nuts? Fruit? Chocolate chips?” She suggested raisins and I said they’d have to be golden raisins since I reserve the Thompson’s for breakfast oatmeal, but … More Fudgy Frosted Chocolate Cherry Brownies, Recipes
I received an envelope with a card and a two-page story from the 8 year-old girl in whose honor the character of Pinky arose along with Pinky’s Grasshopper Cupcake. (If I didn’t mention it already, Pinky is attracted to frostings.) The young lady and her sister have created critters to join Lady Lolita VandenBug and … More When one gets a Mesij from Caryor Pishon, one makes Leftover Cake
Two things. First thing: I got ingredients to make a batch of my artisanal cookies, the Peppermint Cream Joneses* for my pregnant grandniece’s craving … a couple months ago. She lives some distance from me on the other side of the water and it seems that nobody could make it to Seattle to pick them … More Pinky Grasshopper Cupcakes
Maybe 30 years ago I made a 3-tiered version of this cake for the 50th birthday of the wife of the lawyer for whom I worked in Santa Monica at the time, along with the rest of the meal I catered for 50 guests, precisely. It was then, like now, Camp Fire mint season and … More Chocolate Mint Cake, Deluxe Edition
You’re looking at classic Jubilee Jumbles* and my Snicks with Hershey’s Dark Chocolate Mint Truffle Kisses.** I made them as a present for a couple out-of-town nieces who are visiting their cousin (also known as my daughter) today, as she returns to London tomorrow. One of my nieces has a birthday this weekend and her … More Spot the difference.
The 17th of January is the birthday of my youngest brother, 10 years younger than me (the oldest of six.) Since he lives in my mother’s home and helps to care for her and the property, she would have baked a cake for his birthday. However, she’s recovering from a surgery at a rehab facility … More Triple Chocolate Birthday Cake
The 22nd of December is the birthday of a friend who didn’t get a cake on her birthday last year (or even a dedicated post-birthday cake) not due to oversight but because my daughter took me to Las Vegas to satisfy my curiosity about the city at the same time as removing me from the … More Chocolate Sourdough Cherry Cake with Betty Christensen’s Fudge Frosting, and a joyous family surprise
That’s right. The brand new Dutch Potato Gingerbread Cake* has undergone its first variation. While the Snowman Family birthday cake was being made yesterday, I had a little chat with the missus about putting a lemon-lime icing on it in lieu of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream or making the gingerbread offering into a … More One cake leads to: New! Dutch Molasses Ginger Cake with Creamy Lemon Frosting
It was two years ago when the first Snowman birthday cake* made such an impression on the six-year old who enjoyed the creative process and result so much that she decided another must be made. Perhaps the theme might be repeated next year in some way. Maybe three starts a tradition. Who knows? (We’ve already … More In a kitchen with juliyya: Snowman birthday cake, Part Deux, with a family
Ms Chef in Seattle 