Saturday, May 19, 2012

A Party For Me, By Me

Yesterday I worked on so many things around the house... laundry, laundry room decor, master bedroom / bathroom decor, decluttering, organizing, and such and so on.  Then I got stung by a bee.  So not fun!  

So I decided today was going to be a better day.  So what's a girl to do?  Well, throw herself a party of course!  My daughter and I have sampled pretty much everything already, so we are {patiently} waiting for hubby and son to get home so they can get in on the sampling goodness.




On the Menu:

Meringue Stars and Roses



Vanilla Creme Patissiere Shots with Sweet Cream Caramel


Cream Puffs and Eclairs with Pastry Cream and Dulce de Leche


Rhubarb Cream Merigue Gateau


I think this whole throwing-yourself-a-party thing is fabulous!  Can't wait to eat do it again!

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Petal Cake

I love Mother's Day!  Partially because I get presents, partially because my hubby preps all the food all day and changes every single diaper all day (which doesn't matter now, but a few years ago it sure did!), plus I can take a 3 hour bath if I feel so inclined.  Haha!  Really though, I always feel very cherished and appreciated on Mother's Day by my hubby and children, and that is the best gift of all.  I hope I make my mother feel the same way.


My hubby announced that this year we would be going over to my parents' home in the afternoon, and he and my brother would be taking care of the meal.  I offered to make dessert since I have been lusting after all the fabulous cakes I have been seeing (and pinning!) on Pinterest.  

{Check out my food Pinterest board here.}

I had a plain fondant cake in mind with a lovely ruffly flower perched on the very top.  The sides were going to be super smooth and crisp looking with a ribbon tied around the base.  Of course, I decided to try a new fondant recipe.  Usually I make the traditional, over-the-stove with tons of crazy sounding ingredients fondant which tastes okay but not spectacular.  I decided to try marshmallow fondant instead.  It was great up until it came out of the fridge.  The fondant got an attitude and started cracking like nobody's business.  I had already created 14 ruffled flowers for the top "flower mound" that I was envisioning.  So the rest of the scrap fondant became ruffled petals that I stuck all over the sides of the cake.  I thought it looked pretty decent although still too plain.


Then out came my wonderful gold luster spray!  A hit of spray in the middle of each petal, plus a general misting all over, and voila!  I think it looks great!  I can't wait to taste it!  It has 4 alternating layers of french vanilla and lemon cake.  I filled it with lemon curd and vanilla buttercream.  Yummy!

Special thanks to my hubby who rearranged the fridge to fit the cake inside!  Love you baby!!  :)

Happy Mother's Day!