My daughter was off to London this week for an MBA program and will, again this year, miss her birthday at home. Nevermind, I covered both events with one cake, making use of more neighborhood rhubarb and the occasion of the annual Block Watch Party to share a moist, unexpected, non-chocolate cake* on a hot … More WordPress forces early Birthday Wish
The mother of a neighbor child asked me to make her daughter’s birthday cake again this year. She wanted a three-layer cake with two white layers, top and bottom, a chocolate layer in the middle and with vanilla buttercream filling, top and sides, to provide cake for 18-20 people. I said that a 9″ cake … More Feliz Cumpleanos, otherwise Happy Birthday without the tilde
Sponge cakes require more attention than I gave this one today. It was intended for a belated birthday event. However, the phone rang just as the batter was finished and it was five plus minutes later when it was duly poured into pans. Result? Chocolate cake sunk in the middle because the dry and wet … More Sink. Sank. Sunk. Salvaged.
Sunday was Mark’s 65th birthday so I invited a few of his close friends over for a casual lunch and chat and cake. One of the attendees had a birthday two days prior, so we sang the song to both and they both blew out a candle. Someone asked how this cake is made. “Easy. … More Pineapple Upside Down Cake, 2 Methods, 1 by Navy Seal
Leftovers and small bits of possibilities along with an occasion led to a cake I’ve not made in a few years. There was leftover fudge candy icing in fridge from the last cake. On Monday night, facing a lipid panel on Tuesday, I made a bowl of old-fashioned oatmeal thinking “soluble fiber, anti-cholesterol.” After I’d … More Cocoa-Oatmeal-Apple-Pecan Cake
There was much fun and mixing in my kitchen this week in preparation for the birthday party of a young girl who will be six. She wanted a snowman cake, the description of which changed several times over the course of several days and, indeed, right up to the last moment when she decided that … More In the kitchen with juliyya: Adorable Snowman Cake for a birthday
Earlier this summer while walking home from the Ballard Viking Days with some neighbors, I picked up a party cookbook at one of the pick-up/drop-off free book bins. There was a recipe for a chocolate party cake featuring three layers, lots of butter and chocolate, lots of work and plenty of time to get ingredients … More Chocolate Party Cake. No party.
Last week one of my nieces put up a wee Facebook post about Wednesday cake. It set off my make-cake-bells and I went to the crisper to retrieve some bananas that I’d put there to ripen slowly for some baking purpose. Sadly, overripe, so the banana-nut cake that I had in mind? Nope. Substitute cake? … More Sunday Cake: Banana Nut with Creamy Nut Icing. No nuts.
Two brothers, one is 9, and the other, 12, have been visiting for a few days in the neighborhood. The 12 year-old likes to bake and, with his younger brother’s birthday upcoming, I thought it might be a good time to teach him how to make a cake that he will be able to bake … More In the kitchen with juliyya: Passing on a Favorite to a new generation of bakers: Crazy Cake
The sweet little girl who lives next door to me had her 5th birthday on the 8th of this month, but the BIG party is today. My contribution is the cake, not nearly as pretty as those decorated in every grocery store, but full of homemade goodness, real butter and not whatever grease it is … More Vanilla Vanilla Birthday
Ms Chef in Seattle 