Wedding 'Party' Cake

Two weeks ago and girl from my work came to me about a cake. She explained that her friend was getting married, but it was going to be small so her a bunch of her girlfriends were throwing her a reception before to celebrate. She told me they wanted a two-tiered cake that could pass as a wedding cake, but without all the frills. I told her I could do it and asked her to give me a little direction in terms of color and flavor, but she let me take the reigns when it cake to the design.

Chocolate Cake for 26 years!

One of the newest members of our creative assistant team, Allison, had her birthday on Friday. When she first started I was introduced to her as the baker. She immediately mentioned her birthday, so I marked it in my mental calendar to make sure I made something for her. When the week of her birthday finally came around I was pretty clueless as to what kind of cake I wanted to make. I asked her what flavors she likes, to which she answered 'everything.' Although that gave me free reign as to the flavor combinations, it almost gave me a little too much freedom.

Strawberry Cream Pie

My dessert-a-week order has been going on for about 3 months now. It's been a lot of fun, but it's also been a little difficult coming up with new, creative desserts that will please the family. I've found out the they LOVE key lime pie, aren't that into cheesecake, and might get duel citizenship just to get more Nanaimo Bars. Since it is summer time, I've been trying to incorporate seasonal fruit desserts, which is why I decided on this next dessert.

Fluffy and Light Biscuits

The search is over!!! After almost a year of searching for the perfect biscuit recipe, (which included a lot of failed attempts) I have found what I think is the BEST recipe. These biscuits remind you of the ones you get at your favorite hole-in-the-wall diner, but could never figure out how to recreate at home. There are a few people I have to thank for this accomplishment. My dad, who found the recipe while rifling through the King Arthur Flour catalog, my mom for braving the local Food Lion to find White Lily self-rising flour, and my family for being my guinea pigs throughout this entire process.

Turtle Pie

AKA Caramel-Chocolate-Whipped Cream heaven. I wish I had made this dessert 5 years ago, so I could've made one every month since then. I got the idea from my brother, so I have to give him MAD props for bringing this delicious dessert into my life. He had a version of this pie at one of his favorite restaurants (which is now closed) and had been asking me for a while to make it. Actually, the pie at the restaurant was banoffee pie, which he asked the waiter if the bananas could be removed and replaced with candied pecans (I know, that sounds like an excellent trade!!) So finally, after a couple months of not so subtle hints from my brother, I decided to make it.

I found a recipe for Banoffee Pie and then went from there. The layer of toffee is thick and gooey, followed by a thin layer of homemade chocolate sauce (which is a lot easier to make than you might think) and a sprinkling of salted pecans. All topped with a mound of whipped cream and drizzles of more chocolate and caramel sauce. This dessert definitely isn't for the faint of heart! Make sure you have room for the sweet, sweet goodness because you will not want to stop once you start. Funny enough, my brother wasn't there to enjoy the final product, but I'm sure he's kicking himself for missing out on this!

Turtle Pie (adapted from Saveur)

2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 stick butter, melted

1 stick butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/4 cup chocolate sauce
caramel sauce
 2-3 cups whipped cream

1. Preheat oven to 350. Combine graham cracker crumbs and melted butter. Press into a greased 9" pie pan. Bake for 13 minutes. Take pie out and cool completely.

2. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add the sugar and allow to melt. Add the condensed milk and bring to a boil. The mixture should darken slightly. Cook for 5 minutes and then pour into cooled pie shell.

3. Chill pie at least 1 hour, or until toffee is firm. Pour the chocolate sauce over the toffee layer. Top with the whipped cream and then drizzle more chocolate and caramel sauce over the top.