Banana Bread

Chloe and I made banana bread. It was rich and tasty because it uses butter. The butter makes the top of the loaf really dark.

Matcha Chocolate

I've always wanted to make chocolate pave like the ones they sell in the cups at La Palme D'or. Instead of dark chocolate, I used white chocolate. This recipe has very few ingredients. White chocolate, matcha powder, butter and heavy cream. Fool proof right? Wrong. I put the heat on too high and my cream almost boiled over, which caused the chocolate to separate and have a runny yet clumpy texture. I whisked in more heavy cream and rescued it. Although it was better, it did have a swirly pattern when I poured it into the pan. After dusting it with more matcha powder, I thought the swirly effect was pretty cool. The chocolates were smooth, earthy and delicious. Perfect for an after dinner treat. Chloe helped chop all of the white chocolate. It's great having a sous chef around.

Loafy Turns 11

Sage (a.k.a. Loafy) requested a chocolate chantilly cake for his birthday. He wanted a cute bread design on it. I went a little overboard on the airbrushing. Let's just say this bread is dark like the European style breads. Loafy was so excited for his birthday to get other bread shaped presents- a tortilla blanket, French bread pillow, and small and medium bread stuffed animals. His Aunty Brooke presented him with a yummy loaf from Brug Bakery.

Peach Almond Scones

Chloe came to visit for three weeks. She and I have a lot in common. We love art, dancing, reading, playing the piano and baking! We made these peach almond scones for breakfast one morning. They were crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. We used some sour cream and heavy cream for a tender crumb. I am so excited to be using vintage Japanese plates in my photographs. We found them at my dad's uncle's house. So many cool colors and patterns.

Cakes at Work

Cornbread

I was so thrilled to make this recipe again. It is from the CIA cookbook. Yes, the Culinary Institute of America, not the other CIA. This cornbread came out moist, light and cakey. Although the color is pretty pale, I've got to say that this is my favorite cornbread. I made chili to go with it for the 4th of July.

Mocha Cheesecake

Grandpa loves cheesecake. Grandpa loves coffee. I made this for his birthday. It has an Oreo crust layered with a coffee cheesecake and topped with a chocolate ganache infused with coffee. Adorning the fresh whipped cream is a chocolate covered coffee bean.

Vanilla Panna Cotta with Blackberry Coulis

Panna cotta was one of August's favorite desserts. We made it to celebrate his birthday. The silky creaminess of the custard is juxtaposed with the tart freshness of the berries.

Chocolate Macaroon Nests

We brought these cute little nests to Aunty Lily's Easter party. The nest is made from oats, shredded coconut and cocoa powder. The shimmer eggs are held in place with coating chocolate. Happy Easter!

Dream Cake for Uncle Randy's Birthday

Zucchini Bread

These zucchini breads only look huge because I overfilled the pans. They are actually minis!

Chocolate Cake Pops

We made these cake pops for the boys' soccer team. Their uniform colors were brown and gold. The boys helped to make these and bag them. Sage's hands were gold from putting on the sprinkles.

Butter Rolls

Rustic rolls? When I think of butter rolls, I think of the kind you get in Hawaii bakeries which are light and fluffy, dripping with butter and look like muffins wearing poofy baker's hats. These are mainland style butter rolls, crusty on the outside but soft on the inside. These rolls were hard to...roll. There was a lot of butter in them making the dough slippery. Next time I want to try parker house rolls and fold them in half like little clams.

Matcha Chocolate Loaf Cake

I was looking for something green to make for St. Patrick's Day and found some matcha powder in the cupboard. This loaf turned out moist with the earthiness of green tea and the decadence of chocolate. We ate it with fresh strawberries for breakfast.

Chocolate Mousse Torte

White, milk and dark chocolate mousse with an Oreo crust topped with fresh raspberries for Valentine's Day.

Dagan's Turns 12

Happy Birthday Dagan! We had a great day playing laser tag, eating pizza and hanging out with Dagan's friend Logan. We ate chocolate chantilly cake and chocolate dipped strawberries.

Butter Mochi

Sweet, sticky and coconutty. A local favorite!

Lemon Scones

Sunday morning baking- lemon scones with a lemon glaze. In the background is Dagan's special scrambled eggs with sriracha sauce.

Holiday Baking

Banana Muffins in Fall Shapes

Apple Custard Tarts

Strawberry Custard Tart

Strawberry and Pineapple Guri Guri

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip, Snowballs, Oatmeal White Chocolate Chip Cranberry

Ninja Bread Men 

Sugar Cookies

Chantilly Chocolate Cake

Chocolate Cake

The holidays went by in a frenzy. Wes and his family visited for Christmas. Work was very busy. So many holiday cakes! We went to parties, ate way too much, shopped like crazy and opened a ton of presents. I feel so grateful to have spent time with my favorite people, especially baking together.