Hi All!  Sorry I have been off-line for a while, but life has taken over!  Last week I did a baby shower for a friend of mine.  It was super fun to make, and was as pretty inside as it was out, with alternating layers of chocolate and strawberry cake.  It was a great shower, Dianne! 

I say this every year (well, almost every year) but this was hands down, the Best Christmas Ever!  It was a very busy season, as I had a couple of orders, but it was also the first Christmas that my son was (kind of) aware of what was going on, so we wanted to make it special.  Hubs and I decorated the tree after baby boy went to bed so that we could minimize the time we would have to spend pulling him away from the ornaments.  We put out all the presents and set our alarms (the last time we will have to do that on Christmas Eve).

The morning was magical.  He opened his presents (and some of ours as well) one at a time and played with each one.  We had to coax him into opening more.  By the end of the morning he was getting the hang of it and LOVING the broom we got him (the kid loves nothing more than sweeping).

I got hubs some techie things and he got me cookbooks.  Did I mention that I have the most perfect husband in the Universe.  He knows how much I love new cookbooks!  We sat around in the morning, all took a nap in the afternoon, and spent the rest of the day with our friends, who also didn't have any family around.  It was a perfect day, and I hope you all had the same!  Above is a cake I did for a get-together with my mommies, and below are some cupcakes I did for a Christmas Tea

I have a confession to make.  I am perhaps the meanest blogger to ever live.  No, really.  I will tell you the whole story, from the beginning, but you can't judge me.  You promise?  Ok, I will tell you. 

So a few months ago, when business really started to pick up, I was in desperate need of a Kitchenaid Mixer.  I looked at them in every store and pretty much drooled over them any time I got the chance.  I checked out craigslist pretty much daily trying to not have to spend a solid $500 on the Professional 6 Qt that I REALLY wanted.

Then, my entire world changed one day when a friend told me about the Kitchenaid Outlet Store online.  They sell all their refurbished models for HUGE discounts (the one I was looking for was $239).  Sometimes I would think twice about buying a refurbished model of almost anything, but these things are absolute tanks (my grandmother still has hers from the 60s), so I figured I would be okay.  Occasionally they run out of colors (or, at one point, their entire stock), but I have found that if you keep checking back, they come in pretty regularly. 

But, you ask, why does this make me a mean blogger?  Well, because I waited to tell you all about it until after I had placed my order.  I really couldn't bear the thought of (1), you getting one before me, and (2), that you would get one before me and then they would run out forever.

If you don't have one of the mixers and you do any quantity of baking, go out and get one, it is wonderful!  They sell every size at the outlet if you don't want the big mama.

In every craft store with a cake decorating section, you are dominated by the ginourmous line of Wilton products, and that is totally fine.  I have many items of that particular brand and I am pretty happy with any of them.  When I was primarily a home-baker, those were the products I used and I certainly got by.  As I got more serious about my baking, and knew more what I was looking for in products, I discovered the Ateco brand.

My 10" Ateco Flex Deocorating bag is absolutely my favorite decorating bag that I have in my house.  I use it for EVERYTHING, even though it has a tip that is stuck in it with a coupler that I haven't ever been able to get out.  If I can get away with using that bag (and tip), I will.  A good decorating bag is like a good pair of warn blue jeans; it's just soft and comfy and makes you feel good when you put it on.  The thing that I love the most about it is that it cost me less than $2 and that it has been worn in like no Wilton bag I have used. 

Ateco has an online store, but I would definitely recommend finding somewhere that sells their products and picking up a variety so you can try them out and see how you like them.  I have many of their products and really haven't found any that I'm not wild about.  I feel like when I buy Wilton products, they are never quite exactly what I want, but I have never had that problem with any of the Ateco things I've tried.  There really may be no difference between the two, but I definitely like my Atecos more.

A couple weeks ago, I was invited to a Mediterranean themed dinner party, and I was asked to bring, you guessed it, dessert, spesifically, baklava.  I was totally intimidated, but then I looked up a recipe and realized, that it would be pretty easy, and that is perhaps over-exaggerating; it was one of the easiest deserts I have ever made, but people were very impressed.  I wish I had pictures of the ones I made that night, because, with some super simple touches, they were spectacular (if I do say so myself).  That night, I used some bright red cherry honey someone brought me back from a trip and dipped fig quarters in the sauce and popped them on the finished pieces.  Quartered figs make everything much more beautiful.  Try this desert, you will not regret it!

* This recipe will yield one 9"x13" pan of baklava but if you want to use all the phyllo dough that will come in the package, you can double it up pretty easily, just don't buy extra phyllo, you will have plenty.

Ingredients:
Sauce:
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
the rind of 1 lemon (in a strip or strips not zest)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup honey

Baklava:
1 package phyllo dough
1 lb pecans
1 cup butter, melted
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (you could also use cinnamon)
1 tbl sugar

Method:
The Sauce:
You are going to want to make the sauce first and then start the baklava, you want to have plenty of time to cool the sauce before the baklava comes out of the oven
* Heat your water, sugar and lemon in a sauce pan over medium heat until all the sugar dissolves and you have a simple syrup.  Add the vanilla and honey and boil for 20-25 minutes, keeping an eye on it to make sure it doesn't burn. 
*Chill in the fridge or freezer (but make sure it doesn't freeze) until the baklava comes out of the oven.

The Baklava:
* Preheat your oven to 350
* Toast your pecans in a dry frying pan over low to medium heat until they brown (they will go from brown to burnt very quickly so keep a close eye on them).  Chop the nuts into small pieces and, while they're still hot, put them in a bowl with the pumpkin pie spice and sugar. 
* Slice the whole stack of phyllo dough in half (so it will fit in the bottom of your pan) and keep a damp towel handy, so they don't dry out (if the towel is sticking to the dough, put a piece of cellophane in-between the two)
* Brush the bottom and sides of your pan with the butter and lay-down two sheets  of phyllo.  Brush those with butter and sprinkle with the nuts.  You don't need to totally cover the phyllo in nuts because there will be many, many layers.  Continue layering phyllo, butter, and nuts (and make sure to cover your phyllo EVERY time) until you run out of nuts. The top layer is simply 8-10 sheets of phyllo (I butter every 2-3 sheets) with the top brushed with butter.
* Cut into wedges (I usually use a pizza cutter and a sharp knife for the edges) Bake for 50 minutes, or until the top is brown.
* As soon as you remove it from the oven, spoon the sugar mixture over it.  The cool of the sugar mixer and the hot of the baked baklava will make the top crispy.  (If both were warm it would get soggy.)

Over the past year of heavy baking, I have found some amazing deals on amazing products at unexpected places, and I thought that I would share them with you in a new series of posts.  I will try to keep this list as national as possible, although I definitely love my local places (Party Warehouse on Park St in Alameda and Spun Sugar on University in Berkeley)!

My two favorite places for baking pans really couldn't be more opposite!  My favorite extra large muffin pans come from Sur La Table, and my favorite mini-muffin pans come from Walmart, although they aren't listed on the website they are $4.50 (I know, I wish they came from somewhere nicer).  Both pans are extremely affordable, and I couldn't be happier with their quality.  I am also LOVING the silicone muffin liners available at Cost Plus World Market stores (also not showing up online, but they are $2.50 for either 6 regular sized or 12 minis).
*photo courtesy of Sur La Table

This coming weekend will be the first weekend in several that I wont have ANY baking to do, and I'm not going to lie, I am a little excited about the idea, but am also about 98% sure that it wont happen.  Last Sunday was Cupcake Camp in San Francisco, and I had a blast participating.  This awesome, free event, was held at Automattic on Pier 38 (by AT&T Park, not by Fisherman's Warf), on one of the most beautiful days of the year.

The format was a new one for me, but it worked out really well.  Cupcake vendors ssigned up ahead of time with what they wanted to bring, and were given a time slot and a table.  The schedule was posted, and, at the allotted time, your cupcakes were brought out to the tables while everyone who wanted to get some were lined up and ready to pounce.  It was all very civilized and organized and sooo much fun.   You can find a handful of my hubbs best pics here

The event was crowded (I heard about 730 people came) but had a great area outside so you could have all the room you needed.  All in all it was a super event and I can't wait to step up my game next year, now that I know a little more about how things work.  I was more than impressed with the quality of cupcakes, although some flavors were a little experimental for my tastes (although everything I had was wonderful)!

I was in the mood for fall, so I decided to make pumpkin and red velvet cupcakes, both of which I was super happy with how they came out.  I have been re-working my red-velvet recipe and I think I have finally gotten them to a perfect place.  Hubby was WAY into the new pumpkin ones (pictured), which were pretty good if I do say so my-self.   All-in-all, it was a great day (thanks Case and Glen for watching the wee-one) and I couldn't have been happier with how everything came out!

I currently have 4 different posts saved and written, yet awaiting pictures.  I haven't wanted to publish them without, but they really should be published.  This is a recipe I felt had to go out today.  As all my Bay Area friends know, this was the first weekend of rain in months around here, and I love nothing more than sitting around lazily on a rainy weekend with a cup of hot chocolate.


I am a confessed choco-holic, but I am very picky.  I don't like milk chocolate at all, and I like my chocolate to be dark, rich, and as close to savory as possible.  This hot chocolate fits the bill.  This makes one mug full.


Ingredients:
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped (or as light or dark as you like)
10 ounces of milk (I use whole, because thats what we have around the house for the kiddo)
Splash of heavy cream (if you want, but totally not required)
Splash of good vanilla
Splash of fresh orange zest.


Directions:
Warm the milk and cream over low/medium heat, and add in the vanilla and orange (make sure not to use any of the orange's juice as it will make the milk curdle).  You want the milk to be pretty warm, but be careful not to burn it.  When the milk gets warm enough (it should be hot to dip your finger in, but not burning), remove it from the heat and add the chocolate.  Wisk the mixture until the chocolate is melted, and return it to the burner to heat it back up to drinking temperature.

If you LOVE cake, frosting, and chocolate, you will really love our new chocolate covered cake balls.   They are balls of cake and frosting, covered in dark chocolate.  These are very rich, and very yummy!  You can get these in any cake and frosting flavor (lemon cake and cream cheese frosting is pictured) and work great as a treat for just about any event!  $15 per dozen.