Party on!!!

The best part of my job as a Cake Designer, is definitely having the opportunity of taking part in so many special days in people's life.. Couples promising eternal love to eachother, kids growing up, babies being born.. it's such a blessing to be able to collaborate in making all these events a bit sweeter.

These are some of the cakes I've been working on..

...Have a sweet week.. and Party on!!!

let's dance..

Sometimes I feel like I'm constantly waiting for something to happen..

..to get that bigger house I've dreamed of
..for our winter vacations
..for my big project to finally develop

I'm just waiting.. waiting.. and waiting some more..

I just tend to think that when I get everything I'm waiting for, then I will finally get the life I want..

but..

..what would happen if I just LIVED this second, when I have so much, but appreciate so little..

My son Marco, is 4, and is the most sensitive, romantic, and sweet boy I have ever met.. really, he is just this little person that enjoys with extreme pleasure my wedding video, and he could watch it over and over.. and even shed a tear, or two..

He loves dinosaurs, and dragons, rockets, minions, and the "wreck it Ralph" character, like any other kid; but whenever he has the opportunity, he would as well play some love stories with his playmobil knight and princess..

So, just this past Sunday, we were playing a board game, and it came to a point where we had to dance.  He immediately ran to me, made a reverence, and said "would you dance with me?".. my 4 year old.. asking me to dance..

..that was just pure gold!

I gave him my hand {and my all, for that matter!} ..and we started dancing..  when the song ended, he kissed my hand, and said: "you are my princess", with the greatest love in his eyes..

That's a moment I will treasure in my heart for the rest of my live..

..and the second when I realized that the amazing life I've been waiting for is already here..

Let's all start appreciating, be thankful.. and dance!

playing by the rules..

I have two big rules when designing a cake..


The first one is: "Flavor comes first".. You see, it's very easy to get all wrapped up in "design-world".  Not to give flavor the importance it has, is the same as sentencing the cake to be forgettable.. I know that first impressions always last, but insight beauty is a deal sealer!

...and the second one is: "less is DEFINITELY more".. For me, a cake should make a statement, but be subtle and delicate at the same time.. I love fireworks, but in the sky, not on a cake.

Have a sweet weekend!!

a spoonful of cake..

Although I absolutely love and treasure my Mom's recipes, and I even find them charming, they kind of unsettle me, since they are so "flexible".. a spoonful of this {and it can be any spoon that is closer to her at the moment}, a pinch of that {man, how I hate that!}, and a little bit of those... I mean, for me, that kind of recipes are like the "dark side" of the culinary world.. and that's the reason why I feel so comfortable baking, because it is so precise.  There is very little room for spontaneity, I mean, don't get me wrong, of course I can always improvise a bit, but any variation must be well calculated, so the recipe is not negatively affected.. because, at the end of the day, pastry is purely chemical.. that's where I find its beauty..

So there!.. one big difference between savory and sweet, is that people who enjoy cooking savory dishes, have this easiness to change any recipe however they feel like at that very second, I like to call this "freestyle-cooking".

I have this very dear friend, Sole, and she is for sure another perfect example of a "freestyle-chef", she does not only have this easiness to manipulate any recipe that lands in her hands, and I mean, ANY recipe... {she has even changed a lot of pastry recipes.. I still can't get over it!}, but she lives a totally freestyle life.. For her, there's no rush... EVER!!.. She doesn't plan almost anything.  Her days, just flow.. and what I love the most about her, is that this way of living her life, gives her an "everything's-alright" aura..

So, her birthday is here, {yes, freestyle Sole's b-day}, and I wanted to make her a cake, that was not only beautiful, and delicious, but also fun, since we love so much laughing together.. and that's how I came up with this.. I hope you find it fun too!!

She came up with this idea {of course it was HER  idea}, of eating the cake directly with a spoon.. yeap.. cake by the spoonful!!

Happy Birthday Sole de mi corazon!!!

For the cupcake case, I tempered dark chocolate, and molded it using the same pan where I baked the cake.. so it'd be a perfect fit..

That's a wrap... or an "unwrap" I guess...


Have a sweet weekend!!

the elephant in the room..

there's a big elephant in the room, and boy is it cute!!.. this has been one of my favorite projects to work on, and definitely the cutest!!

have a sweet week,

let the party begin..

there have been some birthdays going on lately, and i haven't been able to share some of the pictures of the cakes i've made to sweeten the celebrations of grown ups, and little ones... here are some of them...

have a sweet week!!

Back in the game!!

It's been a long time since my last post, and for that reason I have to apologize..

After my great chicagoan adventure, and the big opportunity I had to study in one of the most prestigious pastry schools on earth {no kidding!!}, I must say I am super happy to be back home.  Not only because I counted the weeks, days, and hours to reunite with my husband and kids again; but because I really missed working in my place; and the luxury of writing {believe me, I had such busy days in Chicago between school and internship, that I never could sit, cool down, and write... it was a total luxury!}

So, this time I have the urge to write about girls.. Oh yeah.. cute, pink, sassy, and sometimes over-dramatic girls..

As some of you know, I have two boys of my own, whom I love to pieces... and of course, they like Star wars, hot wheels, super heroes, dinosaurs, and all that stuff... and they are as simple and practical as a boy can be..  No fuss, no drama...

On the other hand, I have lots of nieces {because my friends are my family as well, and they all have girls}, and these girls are like little delicate flowers.  They scream of happiness; they bounce when they get excited; they cry because another girl didn't say hi; and they even come to me to play hairdresser... OMG, how cute is that??..

That's why, when a friend of mine came to me a few weeks ago, and asked if I could design a cake for her little princess, I didn't even think about it!!... because, these are the opportunities I have to escape from cars; swords; trains; and extinct creatures, to overindulge with pinks, flowers, and cuteness... lots of cuteness!!


Enjoy the pics and have a sweet one!!

Family affair

Today is my favorite day of the week... IT'S POST DAY!!, and as the title of this post implies, it is all about family...


I'll fill you in...


My Mom is more of a cook than a baker {in fact, she is a great cook!}, and even though she doesn't bake that often, she got the best chocolate cake recipe EVER.  When I was a child she used to make this particular cake quite often because my brothers and I loved it. I must say, with no doubt, that this cake can be counted as the begining of my chocolate obsession.

I remember it as the most over-indulgent chocolate cake ever. It was a super moist and spongy, and it literally had a cloud-like texture.. It was chocolate heaven, almost a forbiden pleasure...


So, I managed to get a recipe almost identical to that of my Mom's... And this is the result...





























Now, back to the family part...



My brother finally came to town!!


I have been waiting for this visit for so long... We spent the most wonderful two weeks together. Having him around was the greatest pleasure ever, the kids enjoyed him so much, and we got to have the longest and delicious conversations... I'm so looking forward to his next visit!!

So, I decided to bake this cake to kind of welcome him... and in the second he took the first bite, he recalled vividly all the childhood memories we shared around this special cake. We remembered the countless occasions when my Mom made it... To celebrate birthdays; to treat us on special Sundays; to have picnics at the beach... The list goes on and on... The motive could always change, but the sweet would be invariably the same... Chocolate fudge cake...












The kids were over excited to have my brother as a guest in this photo shoot... They didn't even fight over the fudgiest piece of cake {as usual}, they only wanted to play around with uncle Sami!




























There's nothing like enjoying the most simple things with family... Although, I must admit, there's nothing simple about this cake...













...time for some milk...














My family is the biggest treasure I have.. Brother, please come back soon... We miss you!!


Have a sweet week ya'll!!

More about firsts...

When I made my very first cake to order, I was sooooo nervous! ...I felt such a great responsibility, I mean, the words of my client were: "I want your cake to be the surprise I give my husband first time in the morning of his birthday".... Like, for real???... I felt so honored to know that something made by me, was going to be the gift for this man from his lovely wife... Wow!

{...btw, that first cake was a chocolate one, covered with ganache, simple, but enough to have me worried for days...}

Now, this time around {and the inspiration for this post}, is the first cake I made to order for a wedding.... A REAL ONE!!! In fact, to be more specific, an Italian summer wedding in San Pietro in Cerro; and I felt all over again the same nervousness that I got that first time one year ago. It is certainly overwhelming to think that a cake I made will be part of such a big celebration; an important element in a reunion where two souls will promise love forever... Oh Gosh!... What an honor!

It was a Summer Cake, as I love to call it... the flavor was banoffe, and it was meant to be placed on top of a tower of cupcakes made by the mother of the groom with a family recipe.

Congratulations Marco & Karine!!