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

Oh, How Sweet it is To Be Loved

Love is in the air!

I LOVE this time of year. I know I am totally crazy for saying that right? Mother Nature has been pissed off for over three weeks, dumping snow on us every other day causing all types of chaos but I don’t really care because I still love the month of February!

Not only is it my birthday this coming weekend, but it’s Valentine’s Day! Louis and I don’t usually do too much for V-Day.. Last weekend we took a trip to NYC and spent two nights eating the finest foods and walking at least ten miles a day to sight-see and just revel in the excitement of the city!  That was supposed to be our Valentines Day gift to each other but this morning he impulsively told me to make reservations at Barcelona Wine Bar Saturday night for dinner.. What!! I am so spoiled! 

I love Valentine’s because it is the best time of year for baking! I have so much fun with cakes, cookies, cake pops all in lovely pinks and reds with decadent flavors such as red velvet cinnamon and chocolate raspberry.  I have many orders in the works for the next few months.. so I decided to get into the spirit a few days early by sharing some sugar cookies I did last weekend. 

These were for a Valentine’s Day themed baby shower! How adorable, right?  

The more I practice flooded cookies, the better I get for sure. I love doing it, but it certainly is labor intensive and requires so much patience! I don’t want to let them dry I just want to keep going!! 

Tonight I get to work on another fun order of cupcakes for a catering company who is putting on a Valentine’s Day beer tasting in Springfield, MA! Can’t wait to share!

Stay warm, people of New England! It may be snowy but love will keep you warm! 

-Elena

February Happenings

It has been an extremely relaxing but busy February so far.  How can something be relaxing but busy? Let’s just say I’ve had a lot going on, but also a lot of down time due to the crazy weather we have been having, along with events and fun things that have been really great! But also very exhausting! So there you have it, relaxing but busy.

I’ve been cooking a lot more lately and baking a little less. I am sort of gearing up for March which is filled with bridal and baby showers!  I just ordered lace fondant molds to add a delicate touch to the upcoming displays I have planned which is getting me quite excited!

Highlights of the month:

I made some Valentine’s Day Dino’s which came out a bit sloppy due to their size (way too big! I totally misjudged the size of the cookie cutters  I used, but they were yummy none-the-less).

It snowed. A lot.

Still moving into the apartment and making it feel like home. Our next project is shelves! Louis is building them from scratch, just like he did the bookcase!

I’ve been cooking a ton! Lots of warm veggie stir fries with wholesome ingredients! Delicious.

There was a knifing incident. I guess it was going to happen eventually, right?  I was rushing as I chopped ginger root. Bye bye thumb!

Valentine’s Day consisted of a red wine chicken and veggies, candles and lots of merlot! Louis surprised me with flowers and Julia Child’s “The Art of Mastering French Cooking” which I have been wanting! I can’t wait to dive in!

I made awesome chocolate crinkle cookies topped with edible cookie dough heaveness.

Louis bought a gorgeous Swarovski pendant and prep cart for my birthday, perfect for cake pop workspace!

My brother flew all the way from Florida for an overnight to surprise me for my birthday which was so exciting! Him and Marissa brought me a TV for my upstairs living room and it was so great to see them!

It was a blizzard but we all went out for Chinese food then back to my apartment for a party to ring in the big 2-5 and it was so much fun. I am so blessed with amazing people in my life!

So, the proof is in the pudding—crazy month so far! But so much fun and love in there, I really can’t complain J

Oh except it snowed, again. And again. It’s everywhere. It’s still snowing. Still in the forecast. Snow. Ugh.

Looking forward to spring!

-Elena