It was a very short-notice order. A miniature 4-inch cake was intended exclusively for a birthday boy, and two dozen cupcakes decorated with easy Pokemon ball fondant cut-outs were baked for guests. I was lucky the boy’s favorite character was a tiny Piplup and not something like Reshiram, otherwise I wouldn’t have got any sleep at all.
I wish I had taken a shot of Piplup’s rear; it had a very cute behind.
Remember that half-can of pumpkin puree left over after the dinner rolls were baked? Well, I turned it into the waffles, really nice ones – light and crispy, and delicate inside. Another great thing about them is that the waffle batter is mixed in advance, and there are only eggs added right before baking (while the waffle maker is preheating) – quite convenient. The waffles can be served with maple syrup and/or maple syrup-flavoured whipped cream and toasted walnuts, or with a store-bought all natural Breyers Maple Walnut ice cream – delicious!
This is a quick and the only shot I’d taken before they were all gobbled up. And the waffles definitely should be eaten as soon as they’ve been baked.
These are very cheesy and pumpkiny yellow. The rolls are excellent slightly warm with soup, although I like them best split and turned into turkey sandwiches.
This perfect autumn cake is a result of my makeover of an old family recipe, the one from a huge collection of Russian recipes I’m planning to publish someday one way or another.
Feather-soft cardamom-spiced honey cake, sweet caramelized succulent pears, and crunchy walnuts sure make a memorable treat. The cake becomes out-of-this-world fantastic when served slightly warm with vanilla bean and honey ice cream.
It would have been easier for me to shape the cake as Thomas and be done with it at once, but the parents declined the idea since they were afraid that little Alex could refuse to cut the cake (he loves Thomas that much). I went with the plan B – to make the train from the gum paste as a cake topper for the boy to keep his favorite character. Although, Thomas is 100% edible.
Inside is a chocolate cake, soaked with rum syrup, and filled with dulce de leche buttercream.
For those who is interested, I’m putting together a detailed tutorial “How to make Thomas the Tank Engine”. It should be done within a month, or right after Christmas (in case I manage to produce some holiday-themed tutorial first).
Update: The Thomas the Tank Engine figure tutorial is available now.
Here’s a cross between a cake and cheesecake. The base is a moist soft pumpkin cake with added candied ginger for a little heat. The topping is a thin layer of creamy pumpkin cheesecake. The cake is baked just until a cake tester comes out clean, but not until the cake picks up color. Then it’s cooled briefly while the cheesecake batter is mixed. The latter is baked at reduced oven temperature just until softly set. The result is a perfect cheesecake texture and moist and tender cake interior.
