11.24.2009
Cake Thursday: November 12th
Was a Pumpkin-Walnut-Chocolate-Chip Bundt Cake in celebration of National Bundt Day (11/15)...
11.06.2009
Cake Thursday: October 29th
Lost in the Woods Cake
Three layers of Devil's Food Cake filled and frosted with Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache.
For the invitation, I altered the original poster from the must-see, wonderfully creepy film, The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane.
And for the decorations, I whipped out my trusty miniatures to create the a "Lost in the Woods" vignette.
The little house is a bittersweet chocolate I hand-molded, then painted a light in the window with powdered food color.
Three layers of Devil's Food Cake filled and frosted with Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache.
For the invitation, I altered the original poster from the must-see, wonderfully creepy film, The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane.
And for the decorations, I whipped out my trusty miniatures to create the a "Lost in the Woods" vignette.
The little house is a bittersweet chocolate I hand-molded, then painted a light in the window with powdered food color.
10.26.2009
Cake Thursday, Oct. 8th
(Image source: John Singer Sargent Virtual Gallery)
The painting in the invite is Spanish Dancer (Woman) by John Singer Sargent. As for the cake, it was tasty, but I do not have any pictures to show. If you're curious, I got the recipe from the wonderful new book, All Cakes Considered.
10.14.2009
10.06.2009
9.17.2009
The King of Pop...
cake that I made for the opening of my close friend's new gallery show.
The cake: two layers of devil's food cake with a glaze of raspberry preserves and chocolate ganache between them. The whole lot was frosted in more ganache and decorated with a silhouette of MJ hand-painted in gold luster dust as well as a single star of gold sanding sugar.
The show is brilliant*, and will up through October at Figureworks Gallery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Alas, all of the cake is long digested.
Check out his facebook page for more info and pictures.
*and I'm not just saying that since he's a friend of mine. Even Spike Lee payed an appreciative, lengthy visit!
The cake: two layers of devil's food cake with a glaze of raspberry preserves and chocolate ganache between them. The whole lot was frosted in more ganache and decorated with a silhouette of MJ hand-painted in gold luster dust as well as a single star of gold sanding sugar.
The show is brilliant*, and will up through October at Figureworks Gallery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Alas, all of the cake is long digested.
Check out his facebook page for more info and pictures.
*and I'm not just saying that since he's a friend of mine. Even Spike Lee payed an appreciative, lengthy visit!
9.15.2009
Cake Thursday: September 8th
(which was actually a Tuesday. For assorted reasons, I had to re-schedule the first Cake Thursday following the August break to a one-time Tuesday slot.)
The invitation:
The Cake (inspired by this):
The invitation:
The Cake (inspired by this):
9.14.2009
9.10.2009
Keeping it Local
This past Sunday, I was finally able to make it to Rooftop Farms. Given that I live right around the corner (!), it's positively nuts so many summer Sunday's passed me by.
Amongst rows of chili's and tomatoes, I faced The Empire State Building to the west, and, when I turned around, my apartment building literally a stones throw to the east. It was amazing and inspiring (and made me grateful for privacy curtains).
Indoors, just beneath the farm, I picked up loot you see below, chatted with others who were there to volunteer their time, buy from the farm stand, or show off locally made goods using produce pulled from Rooftop Farm soil. Gives new meaning to Greenpoint's nickname, The Garden Spot of the World.
In other Garden Spot food news, this Saturday, the 12th, is the opening of the weekly Greenpoint Food Market. I'll be there from 12-2 selling my baked goods with Sweet Tooth of the Tiger. If you're in the neighborhood, stop by and say hello!
Amongst rows of chili's and tomatoes, I faced The Empire State Building to the west, and, when I turned around, my apartment building literally a stones throw to the east. It was amazing and inspiring (and made me grateful for privacy curtains).
Indoors, just beneath the farm, I picked up loot you see below, chatted with others who were there to volunteer their time, buy from the farm stand, or show off locally made goods using produce pulled from Rooftop Farm soil. Gives new meaning to Greenpoint's nickname, The Garden Spot of the World.
In other Garden Spot food news, this Saturday, the 12th, is the opening of the weekly Greenpoint Food Market. I'll be there from 12-2 selling my baked goods with Sweet Tooth of the Tiger. If you're in the neighborhood, stop by and say hello!
8.25.2009
The Art of Cake
On Design Sponge, Wayne Thiebaud-inspired cakes by the über talented Caitlin Williams:
photo credit: charles villyard
And on The Kitchen:
A beautiful ROYGBIV cake from Whisk Kid.
photo credit: charles villyard
And on The Kitchen:
A beautiful ROYGBIV cake from Whisk Kid.
8.23.2009
8.18.2009
Update from the Home Front
Contrary to those who hunker down and curse my beloved late-winter, August is the month when I scowl at the temperatures and hibernate, turning my brain to stand-by and seeking out cool air like a thirsty man in the desert. It's the useless month where I expect little more than a sunburn and mealy peaches.
So imagine my surprise when, looking back on the past few weeks, I realized that this particular August has proved to be, well, useful.
I've seen interesting things:
Visited interesting places:
Eaten my share of summer's spoils:
and, best of all, met some wonderful, talented, and inspiring new people including Asya Palatova, Aran Goyoaga, and Karen Mordechai, Casey Solomon and Allison Grove.
All of these factors have contributed to a renewed excitement in the projects that I am currently working on as well as those that are momentarily just blueprints.
Presently, I am making plans (and buying props!) for more arts & crafts cakes, new Cake Thursday adventures, and am working on a major overhaul to this very blog. You can expect to see a new design and new content that expands upon my interest in the history, art, and culture of cake. If all goes well, the new Pictures of Cake should go live in early September...
Stay tuned!
So imagine my surprise when, looking back on the past few weeks, I realized that this particular August has proved to be, well, useful.
I've seen interesting things:
Visited interesting places:
Eaten my share of summer's spoils:
and, best of all, met some wonderful, talented, and inspiring new people including Asya Palatova, Aran Goyoaga, and Karen Mordechai, Casey Solomon and Allison Grove.
All of these factors have contributed to a renewed excitement in the projects that I am currently working on as well as those that are momentarily just blueprints.
Presently, I am making plans (and buying props!) for more arts & crafts cakes, new Cake Thursday adventures, and am working on a major overhaul to this very blog. You can expect to see a new design and new content that expands upon my interest in the history, art, and culture of cake. If all goes well, the new Pictures of Cake should go live in early September...
Stay tuned!
8.08.2009
7.29.2009
Arts and Crafts Baking...
for The Parlour Brooklyn Salon party a few weekends ago...
A Lemon Drop sheet cake decorated with sugar paste curlers, comb, and mirror, as well as a sixties hairstyle cutout mounted (front and back) on foam core. The cake was served with a tart raspberry "cake color" that could be dripped onto a piece with the accompanying hair color brush.
I also brought chocolate ice box cookies, "colored" and "highlighted."
Though I had to leave before the goods were offered up, I'm told both the look and the taste were enjoyed by all.
A Lemon Drop sheet cake decorated with sugar paste curlers, comb, and mirror, as well as a sixties hairstyle cutout mounted (front and back) on foam core. The cake was served with a tart raspberry "cake color" that could be dripped onto a piece with the accompanying hair color brush.
I also brought chocolate ice box cookies, "colored" and "highlighted."
Though I had to leave before the goods were offered up, I'm told both the look and the taste were enjoyed by all.
7.27.2009
7.16.2009
If you live in the NYC area...
Stop by and say hello at The Parlour Brooklyn salon in Greenpoint!
I (Arts and Crafts Baking) will be there (off-and-on) with a special occasion cake.
I (Arts and Crafts Baking) will be there (off-and-on) with a special occasion cake.
7.09.2009
This is Just to Say...
There are words piling up in my head and pictures crowding my desktop, yet lately I don't really know how to put it all together. I want to write more, to post more, yet I find myself being pulled in so many baking directions, many that do not involve cake at all.
When I started the blog, my only intention was to have a place to catalog lovely (and/or interesting) pictures of cake. The happiness that came to me instantaneously upon looking at the images was wonderful and weird, and I relished having the archive.
All of this posting coincided with an interest in baking that grew at a feverish pace until I was turning on my oven three or four times a week—occasionally every day. Cake Thursday was born from this, and it has served me well as both a testing ground for recipes and ideas as well as fulfilling one of my greatest joys: giving things I've made to people I care about.
The purpose of all of this rambling? I just wanted to let any readers out there floating in the ether of the Internet that my posts may be erratic for a time while I figure out where to take all of this. You can expect random, unexplained images, the occasional mumble, maybe a paragraph or two, but I expect to be all over the place for a little while.
Thank you so much for visiting this little piece of the world. I hope that, thus far, it has given you some happiness as well.
More to come in words. For now, I'll leave you with a random selection of recent images, Cake Thursday and otherwise.
CT invite: 6/18
CT invite: 7/2
And the cake:
July 4th 2009 along the East River, Brooklyn
Plum in a Bowl
When I started the blog, my only intention was to have a place to catalog lovely (and/or interesting) pictures of cake. The happiness that came to me instantaneously upon looking at the images was wonderful and weird, and I relished having the archive.
All of this posting coincided with an interest in baking that grew at a feverish pace until I was turning on my oven three or four times a week—occasionally every day. Cake Thursday was born from this, and it has served me well as both a testing ground for recipes and ideas as well as fulfilling one of my greatest joys: giving things I've made to people I care about.
The purpose of all of this rambling? I just wanted to let any readers out there floating in the ether of the Internet that my posts may be erratic for a time while I figure out where to take all of this. You can expect random, unexplained images, the occasional mumble, maybe a paragraph or two, but I expect to be all over the place for a little while.
Thank you so much for visiting this little piece of the world. I hope that, thus far, it has given you some happiness as well.
More to come in words. For now, I'll leave you with a random selection of recent images, Cake Thursday and otherwise.
CT invite: 6/18
CT invite: 7/2
And the cake:
July 4th 2009 along the East River, Brooklyn
Plum in a Bowl
7.01.2009
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