Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Meringue Buttercream

This weekend was a busy one. One of my best friend's sister was in town and it was her birthday. She loves strawberries and even though it's the middle of winter, I decided to make her a strawberry vanilla birthday cake. But with only two hours to bake in between lunch dates and shopping with the hubby, I whipped this cake up.

The cake was inspired by Martha Stewart's strawberry cupcakes. I used the roses I made in my Wilton class this previous week. I used my favorite buttercream, Swiss Meringue buttercream! The Whisk Kid has a great step-by-step tutorial on how to make swiss meringue buttercream. It is daunting at first, but once you get the hang of it, it is a versatile frosting to work with. It pipes great on cupcakes and very easy to ice a cake with.

In the end, I was not very pleased with the rushed job, it could have looked prettier but the birthday girl was very happy and loved it!

Vanilla Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

After several weeks of trying vanilla cupcake recipes, I am happy to share that I have found the ONE. This recipe gives a flavorful vanilla cake that is moist but yet light and fluffy. It is simple and I love it. It will become my go-to vanilla cake. The recipe is from Glory of Glorious Treats.

I have been taking the Wilton decorating courses. In Course II, we are learning how to make flowers with royal icing and it is difficult. But I am sure with lots of practice I will get the hang of things.

Back to the star of this post, the vanilla cupcakes!! They are the best and I will be re-making them soon again.

Cranberry Orange Coffee Cake

This was an easy pleasure. The recipe is from Joy the Baker and I halved it because two loaves seemed like a lot for two people. Now I wish I made more. It was so good and it is going super fast.

The ingredients...it's always so easy when you lay them all out before starting.

The crumble coating was my favorite and it took the cake to a whole new level!

The finished product...yummm!! I was in such a hurry to have a piece that I didn't wait for the cake to completely cool before drizzling the glaze.

A cup of tea and a piece in hand made my morning very relaxing. I'm holding on to this recipe for a while.

End Of Year Reflections and New Year Cake

It is that time of the year to reflect on the past 365 days that have gone by. This year was a year of milestones for me. A year of firsts, a year of reunions, a year of dreams come true and an end to an era. It was a blessed year and I am beyond grateful for all that I received and experienced!

There was a first baking experience in February and the launch of a baking addiction. There was a wedding to plan, a dress to be bought and a dream shoe that showed up at my door step in July for the occasion. Friends from afar and near planned a wonderful bridal shower in May and reunions with college buddies! The biggest reunion of all was to see my sister, mom and my high school bestie . And of course there was a groundbreaking event, that ended the era of the single gyal...the wedding to the man beyond my dreams in September! I pray 2013 is filled with as many experiences!

For the new year eve celebrations, I attempted to bake a cake for the evening. I started with no decoration vision (first bad mistake) and didn't start looking until after the cake and layers turned out so good. A frosted cake and some frantic Pinterest searches lead to this mess.

I almost didn't share this picture but since this is my memoir of baking adventures, the failures need to be acknowledged. Second mistake was messing up the writing on cake and attempting to scrape it off (you see the patches on top?). But hey...that's what adventures are for. To learn from the mistakes.

The cake was cherry vanilla from Annie's Eats and I followed her recipe to the dot. It tasted great too!

Happy new year!!! I hope 2013 brings us all more happiness and love!!! I look forward to growing as a baker in this new year :))