Fling into Spring Watercolor Cake

Christos Anesti! Today was Greek Easter (I like to call it Greekster), and oh my god was it good to stuff my face and then sit in the sun! Everyone was just basking in it.... We literally haven't seen it in six months.. so glorious!!

I love Greek Easter because I love food.  Our table consisted of juicy lamb with garlic cloves, grilled chicken, spinach rice, corn, pastitiso (cheesy Greek lasagna), lemon oregano potatoes, Greek-style green beans, Greek sweet bread, salad with kalamata olives and feta, and wine of course!

We cracked eggs and laughed, as usual.. I love seeing my cousins who are like my siblings and reminiscing of our childhoods.. so much fun!

Then, we ate cake! 

Recently I found a blog post that showed how to watercolor fondant to use for cake stripes!  I thought it was really neat looking and so spring-like so I wanted to give it a try! I used gel-based food colors mixed with vodka as paints and just haphazardly painted all over rolled out fondant!  Then it took some measuring and cutting to make the strips which I then attached to the cake with a bit more vodka as glue.  You don't taste the vodka.. it dries odorless and tasteless!

I also created some of my own fondant flowers to add something special to the finished product! A ribbon around the bottom edges tied in all the colors.   This was a strawberry vanilla swirl cake with bourbon vanilla butter cream.

I really love the delicacy of this cake. The watercolor look is so different, and looks complicated even though this cake wasn't too hard to complete.  It definitely took some time though!

Cutting it is always the hardest part!!!! So happy everyone enjoyed it though!

I hope everyone enjoyed this beautiful weekend!! Tomorrow is going to be 70 degrees -- time for skirts and dresses at work! So excited! 

-Elena

Births & Birthdays [Featuring the Ribbon Cake]

This weekend's baked goods revolved around new birth and birthdays! 

One of the best things about food is that it unites people.  People come together to celebrate milestones such as birthdays, baby showers, weddings... and food is always involved.  That's why when someone asks me if I can make a personalized dessert for them to present at their event, I am so extremely flattered because I know the intimate role food plays at gatherings. 

My first project was for a friend from high school, Kristine, who is expecting her first baby girl!  She asked for cake pops and baby heads, but gave me the creative freedom to come up with the rest! I felt like with spring on the way, flower and pastels would be the perfect mix! 

I love putting little flower headbands on them! And the crying babies are always my favorite.. Just trying to keep it real, right? They aren't angelic all the time!

My second project of the weekend came on Sunday when my family and I celebrated my Yia Yia's 87th birthday! My Dad asked me if I could make a cake, so I decided on a tall, three layer chocolate-peanut butter cake with a butter pecan butter cream.  I absolutely love chocolate peanut butter and I've made this cake before, knowing how moist and decadent it always comes out! 

 I chose butter pecan as the butter cream flavor because I wanted the taste to be rich, and bring out the peanut butter flavor in the cake, which it did! I found a new butter cream recipe that said to add 1 tbsp of light corn syrup for every cup of frosting, and wow what a difference! This butter cream was soft, smooth and creamy while still holding it's shape for piping.

I had wanted to try vertical butter cream ruffles for a while, and decided that this would be the cake I could experiment on, it being a family cake and all.  I used a Wilton 125 flower petal tip, keeping the fat end dug into the cake as I piped back and forth to create a ribbon pattern.

It did not come out perfect, and not as straight up as I wanted, but I have to admit I think this is pretty good for my first attempt! 

For the top, I decided to pipe flower petals to make one giant flower-like pattern!  I then created a flower out of fondant that I kept folding and pieced together. I thought the design was very simple but elegant.  I chose pink butter cream only because I had this cake plate tucked away and have been dying to use it!  

My Yia Yia loved it!

I really love this picture because it represents me and the relationship I have with my Yia Yia. Growing up I'd sit in this kitchen with her and she would teach me how to make all types of food and mostly desserts, from sugar cookies to greek pastries, and even how to steam milk for hot chocolate! She never cared if I made a mess... that was half the fun! And even if the cookies were ugly, she said they were beautiful!  Her skills in the kitchen are amazing, and at 87 she still cooks every single day for her and my Papou.  I hope to still be cooking at her age! I know her love for food has been instilled in me, and I am forever grateful! 

Yes, I consumed this whole piece, ice cream and all.. how can you not!? Worked out all week, ate healthy, and avoided every drop of alcohol all week, knowing I was going to consume this baby!! 

-Elena

My Rosette Birthday Cake

What a weekend!  

I started the weekend by finishing up some Valentine's Day orders! Cupcakes and cake pops for people who love other people and what better way to show it!

My good friends Kyla and Danny came for the long weekend and stayed with Louis and I! We got snowed in and spent Valentine's Day together and had a blast! The guys played video games, and Kyla and I just snuggled on the couch, chatting and drinking wine and reminisced about college. It was so nice to have them here to do nothing but relax!

Sunday we celebrated me turning 26. I am officially closer to 30 than 20 now.. But I am not scared! The amount of fun things happening in my life right now, and the amount of even more amazing things to come make me so truly excited for this age! I really can't complain.

To celebrate, a bunch of people I love came over and we made our way to my favorite chinese restaurant where we drank and ate.. Then went back to the apartment where the drinking and eating continued mixed with some dancing and a ton of laughing.  It was a blast! 

I celebrated by making my own birthday cake. Odd I know.. But I really wanted a delicious cake and the best way to get that is to make it myself. 

Holy hell, was it good! I took some maraschino cherries and chopped them up and along with their juice I mixed them into a 3 layer chocolate cake. YUM! Topped that off with cinnamon butter cream and it was truly heaven.  I had been wanting to do a rosette cake for a while! The difference with this style of piping is I used a closed star tip as opposed to an open star tip like I did with my original rose cake. The result was a more romantic rose with more whimsy. I like whimsy! 

I think these fun party plates and tablecloth from Target was the perfect addition to the cake! 

All in all it was a beautiful weekend! Louis completed it for me by having me open my gifts which were a gorgeous pair of  6-diamond stud earrings, and a new UE portable blue tooth speaker for my private dance parties! 

26 is so much fun already!  

-Elena

Romantic Saccharine

Any man reading this post right now – grab a pen and take notes.

When you want to impress a woman, you don’t need to buy her fancy, expensive gifts.

You don’t need to plan an extravagant weekend getaway to be spontaneous.

You don’t need to spend $500 on a dinner to prove your love for her. 

I mean yes, those things are NICE. And we won’t say no. Noooo we definitely won’t say no.. but thoughtfulness goes further.

A LOT further.

Here is some advice.. We love chocolate. We love cake. We love flowers and roses. We love gifts that are thoughtful. We love unique things made ONLY for us. A single creation. A single copy.  Only one made in the whole world, made with only one person in mind.

So to all you gentlemen out there who are looking for a way into that special lady’s heart, get there the way my coworker recently did, with a custom, romantic cake.

I swear, I wouldn't lead you in the wrong direction.  I am not sure of a single woman in this world who would hate this gift of luscious chocolate cake iced in French vanilla butter cream roses.

So just show up after work, with this pale pink cake a pretty little box, and let it speak for itself.  Maybe include a card too..

It’s a win. This one certainly was. It’s guaranteed. I promise :)

-Elena 

Congratulations! You're Half Way to 50! Have a Cupcake..

There is a trend among my friends and peers right now.. and it's, dare I say it... turning twenty five. 25. Two-Five. A quarter of a century.  Half way to 50. What?? Yup. It's happening.

I have to say, this "milestone" number doesn't have me too worked up.. I actually feel like I am in my prime! I feel healthier, happier, stronger, smarter and more confident now than I did when I was 18, or 21.  Things are happening! Life is getting exciting! There is no slowing down, and the only way to go is up! So, a word for all my twenty something friends and readers out there-- don't fear the joining of these two numbers... the best is yet to come!

I made some cupcakes for a high school peer who was celebrating her sister-in-law's 25th birthday this weekend.. They came out all sorts of glizty and glam with some flowers and fondant accents.  Let me tell you, butter cream comes out AMAZING in the winter, when the house is hot! This butter cream was out of this world.. I'm tempted to go in my fridge and get one of the leftovers I have in there just thinking about that damn butter cream. YUM. It's all I can say.  These cupcakes were fun, I played with different tips like closed star, open star, rose tip, and an open coupler.  I am not a cupcake master yet, but I think these turned out cute!

So here are the pretty cupcakes.

Also, my friend&coworker Becky celebrated her 25th on Saturday!  We drank wine and took shots of whiskey and shared bites of cake pops. It was raining and humid out and it didn't matter that the cherry chocolate cake pops were melting, it was chocolate, and cherries. Maraschino cherries.. fresh, with juice and all..baked in cake and mixed with that awesome amazing butter cream I just went on and on about above..  Not sure what it was this weekend, but my baking was just on and I was loving it!

Happy Birthday Becky!!

And there are still more 25th to celebrate soon!  My best friend Maureen is at the end of the month, then mine shortly after that.  I think I'll have to bake for myself? How does that work!?

I hope everyone had a great weekend, mine was amazing and relaxing--and I got to visit my cousin aka sister Anastasia today which was lovely!  Time to finish up these boring Golden Globes before hitting the hay, another week is upon us, people! Make it a good one :)

-Elena

Superheroes to the Rescue!

Superheroes!! Yes! There's not much to say about this cake, other than it was a blast to make. Who doesn't love superheros?  Most of us grew up with them--I know my brother was obsessed! If we hadn't thought about superheros lately, watching The Big Bang Theory has certainly brought them back to us, along with the Marvel superheros movie that comes out what seems like every month. We all love them, at any age! This cake was made for a young boy turning 11 who loved Spider-man and Batman.

First I made traditional cake pops with fondant pieces. Every single bat symbol is cut by hand with a pairing knife. Sometimes my patience astounds me!

My favorite was the batman cape! I wanted to add a lot of dimension to the cake that would seem "interactive" to the consumer.

Then came the Spiderman cake pops. I piped webs on them to make Spiderman's mask.   I also made spiders from molding chocolate-- nice and interactive!

The cake was a marble of vanilla and chocolate and frosted with butter cream, with a lot of fondant accents.   I wasn't sure how to take two superheros and represent them on a one layer cake. So I decided to give the sides of the cake to Batman with the city at night, lights on in the buildings and the bat symbol overhead, beckoning the Dark Knight.  The cake was placed on a cardboard I created with a Spiderman comic--modgepodged and covered in plastic so the youngster could unwrap it when the cake was gone and keep it!

The top was for Spiderman.  The vibrant red really played well with the dark colors, and made the web pop!

Finished cake!

But wait.. what about those cake pops???

There we are!  Pops added, and cake completed!

Such a fun way to celebrate a birthday! It was fun to do, because it really allowed me to be as creative as I wanted.  It was a good way to "warm up" for the holiday season!

-Elena