Friend of a Friend's Baby Shower

It was the first time I was making a cake for a family event and the family wasn't mine. I was so nervous. What if they don't like the flavor? What if they don't like the flowers? What if the colors are not what they were hoping for? Thoughts of what could go wrong were abundant in the weeks leading up to the actual baking and decorating of the cake. The host of the baby shower requested "Congratulations!" be written on the top of the cake. I practiced piping/writing congratulations for days. I was not making a progress on getting the letters small enough to fit on an 8" cake. The idea had to be abandoned. The flowers worked out just fine.

The cake was chocolate. The texture was soft and moist. The frosting not too sweet. I was pleased with the final product. My hope was that "my customer" was pleased. Well, she was more than pleased! As a matter of fact, the host of the baby shower was so pleased with the cake she wrote about in her blog http://www.zomppa.com

I have not had the opportunity to make a cake for any other family than my own and that's ok. There is nothing more special than baking my mom and dad's favorite lemon angel food cupcakes or have my 11 year old niece ask to have the first piece of the lavender pound cake. I will be making a few special desserts for our Thanksgiving celebration. I haven't chosen what exactly I will make. But I can guarantee the first ingredient will be love.

Pumpkin Inspiration from Paris

A recent blog entry on Jenni Does Dessert about welcoming fall with pumpkin cheesecake got me to thinking about the recipes I have on file that include pumpkin in the list of ingredients.

The first "pumpkin" recipe I made this fall was Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bars; a Martha Stewart recipe. I was introduced to this recipe when I worked at a gluten free bakery. Boy were they good! This time around I substituted chocolate chucks for the chocolate chips. What a fabulous substitution! The delicious pumpkin bars were now divine. Moist and chocolatey; what more could one ask for?

The second recipe that included pumpkin was another recipe from Martha Stewart; Pumpkin Cookies with Brown Butter Frosting. The cookie is cake like; the frosting is amazing! The frosted cookie is rich but not in a sugar high way. No lingering sweetness. Just a nice nutty, pumpkin flavor. If you have never had the occasion to use brown butter I highly recommend you either try this recipe or find some other recipe that has brown butter as an ingredient. It adds a wonderful nutty flavor to what ever it is you are making.

Once Thanksgiving preparations start, the canned pumpkin will be flying off the shelves. I have several cans in my cabinet for use in the next few weeks. I haven't decided what I will make with it. Pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin macarons, the possibilities are endless. What is your favorite "pumpkin" recipe?

In case you are wondering about the "from Paris" bit in the title of this post, Jenni, of Jenni Does Dessert, lives in Paris.