Cuties

I've mentioned these a few times and a few nights ago, I think I finally 'perfected' my Cuties. They're small two bite truffle like chocolates. They're filled with a special cake filling, then covered in a delicious milk chocolate. I'm looking forward to making these for the holidays and experimenting with flavors, like maybe Mint Chocolate, or peanut butter, or maybe Bailey's? Yum yum yum. I have a feeling I'll be gifting these!

 

Chocolate wrapped, chocolate fudge, Rocky Road cake

I love receiving different request for cakes. Characters, themes, sizes, etc. It's all a challenge for me and some of my most favorite cakes were ones that I would have never done, had I not received the order. That said, from time to time, I enjoy getting a "do what you wish" kind of order. In this case, it was for my husband to bring to a coworker for her birthday. Even better, since that gang is willing to try anything I do, good or bad. So, I thought about different creations I've had on my mind and came up with this idea:

Pink and brown cake (sophisticated girly since it was for a woman's birthday)
fondant flowers
chocolate wrap
New filling

With all of that in mind, I baked a chocolate fudge cake, filled it with Rocky Road filling, covered it in Pink buttercream and then attemted the 'chocolate wrap'. It actually worked fairly well. Yes, I was surprised. I then made fondant flowers and used chocolate chips for their centers. :) The only thing I wish I did differently was added a ribbon around the bottom of the cake. I could have done that with fondant. All that said, for trying a few new things, I was quite pleased. Hopefully it tasted just as good!!!

From my cakes

Healthy Brownies...

While I'm in the works of trying to include 100% Organic cakes on my list of available "flavours", I've been experimenting with "low fat" or hidden ingredient mixes as well. I've been reading the recipe book, "Deceptively Delicious" by Jessica Seinfield, and while I consider 2 of the recipes I've tried from the book as flops, I do intend on trying a few more. That said I came across a fantastic blog the other day. It's a weight watchers recipe blog, but essentially it's healthy, yummy recipes for anyone to try.

http://weight-watchers-points-recipes.blogspot.com/

I tried the Black bean brownie recipe found here:

Black Bean Brownies

I know it totally sounds weird, and I was completely skeptical myself. But OH MY GAWSH. These are pretty darn good. I think I could taste a hint of the bean while they were still warm, but this morning I had some with my vanilla yogurt for breakfast and they were delicious. They're fudgy and gooey and chocolaty and yummy yummy yummy! I highly recommend trying these as a healthy dessert. I think I might try a triffle with these. Imagine, low fat whip cream, berries and these brownies. Who can go wrong with that???

Slow...

So far, November appears to be a slow month for cakes. I'm not complaining, in fact, I'm going to use that time to finalize a few things. First off, I'd like to circulate a quarterly newsletter to my customers. The newsletter will include anything newsworthy, and I think I'll include a contest for customers to receive discounts. Secondly, I'd like to make some changes to the website to include new products. Third, I'd like to perfect those products, mainly my "Cuties". Finally, I'm going to take some time to prepare for Christmas orders: cookies, truffles and Cuties. They were a huge hit last year and I intend on providing the same great deals. So while it may be quiet on the blog, I'll still be busy at work preparing for the holidays and perfecting my creations for you!

Kenzie's first Birthday

A pink and brown cake for a little girls first birthday. The birthday girl got her very own caterpillar cake, while the guests were served the pink and brown cake. Hope they liked it!