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.