Valentine's Day 2011

Today I delivered the first Jillicious Desserts Wedding Cake of 2011 and also the first Valentine's Wedding Cake that I've ever created.  The clients planned a small, intimate, low-key wedding in their home and since it was on Valentine's Day, the bride said to incorporate the Valentine theme with the Chocolate Raspberry Wedding Cake she had seen on my website.

As appropriate as hearts are for this holiday, I find that there is a fine line that is often crossed from festive to tacky.  I try to stay away from the latter of the two.  I was really pleased with how this cake turned out. 

I created a double chocolate heart topper to display within the chocolate curls and raspberries.  Thanks to the pouring rain we had today here in Oregon and the lovely overcast skies, it was difficult to really show the topper in the dozens of pictures that I took.  The next picture was the first one I took and forgot to take off the flash--ironically, it shows the double chocolate hearts with the gold dust best in what was probably the worst photo I took today.

It almost has a sepia look to it, minus the washed out middle part of the cake.  But at least you get the idea of what it looked like.  I have to say, it looked better in person.

When I finished setting up the cake and decorating it, the bride exclaimed, "It is exactly how I envisioned it to look!"  That is always my favorite thing to hear, especially considering this cake was discussed through several emails and a phone call.  It's always good to be on the same page as the bride.

Happy Valentine's Day to you all!

Valentine Chocolate & Raspberry Wedding Cake Details:

• Both tiers ~ Dark Chocolate Cake w/Raspberry Filling & Vanilla Buttercream Icing
• Top tier = 6-inch  cake / bottom tier = 8-inch cake
• Dark chocolate curls & fresh raspberries
• Dark chocolate fondant heart details & decorations, w/sugar pearl accents

Catching Up & Cherry Blossom Flowers...

I can sum up my life over the past six months since my last post in one word...

WORK.

I finished up August, September, October & November with weddings--only to realize that Thanksgiving came quickly, then Christmas and now it's 2011.  Of course there are always more things going on in my life other than work, but I would have to say that the majority of my focus, time and energy has been spent on my passion and trying to figure out what the next step is for Jillicious Desserts. 

It's time to expand my business and I spent the greater part of last year (starting in March 2010) looking for the right space to open a Jillicious Desserts Bakeshop.  This has been a very long journey, and I'm still in the midst of this idea of creating a retail store front.  I'm a planner and if I had my way, I would have had my Bakeshop open last May or June, but alas, I have discovered that I don't have total control of these things.  So now that the holiday season is completed, I'm reviewing my ideas and options of what I want to do and where this should take place. 

Surprise Birthday Gift Cake (And Yes, A Little More Purple...)

I LOVE creating cakes that will be a BIG surprise for the recipient.

Three Purple Wedding Cakes

This past weekend, I created my third purple-themed wedding cake in a row.  I always find it interesting when brides who don't know each other pick a couple of features that on paper sound the same, but when the wedding cake is created, how different they all can be.  Purple was one of the common threads of each wedding cake and also, each bride wanted sugar pearls in the shape of flowers on each of their cakes, using the main color of purple with their respective other color choices. 

Mission Mill Wedding Cake

Over the Memorial Day weekend, I had a large wedding cake to create and this time it was for a client who was someone I've known since my junior high days.  I was excited to meet with her a few months ago and discuss the details of her wedding cake and to come up with a design. 

One of the advantages of making wedding cakes and delivering them, is I get to see many wedding venues that I wouldn't normally visit or even know about.  This was one of those venues.  The wedding was held at the Mission Mill Museum in Salem, Oregon, which is a historic woolen mill and other buildings on a 5-acre site.  The reception was held in the Thomas Kay Woolen Mill building on the third floor which was called the Spinning Room.  I was relieved to find out that there was an elevator--whew!

Baby Shower Cake

One of the cake orders I had over this past weekend included this sweet baby shower cake for a baby boy who will be named Wyatt.  They requested that the cake be done in soft blues and yellows and have elephants and giraffes on it.

Wedding Season Has Begun!

Wedding season has officially begun for Jillicious Desserts and last Saturday, May 15th I delivered a simple, yet elegant wedding cake and mini cupcakes for the bride's outdoor wedding.  The wedding was held at a venue that I hadn't been to before, called Dancing Deer Mountain.  Although I didn't actually see any deer, let alone a dancing one, it was a very beautiful location and I imagine that from time to time deer are probably seen in this area.

A Quick Recap of Chocolate Fantasy 2010

I'm tired. No wait, I'm EXHAUSTED.

After a couple of intense days of baking and decorating about 375 mini chocolate cream pies, plus a regular size pie and on top of that my regular orders for clients, I happy to say that this big weekend event called Chocolate Fantasy is now behind me. It was another great year and as usual, my samples were one of the first to run out, in fact by 7:00 pm they were all gone! Keep in mind this event started at 6:00 pm, so from what I could tell people really loved them.

Chocolate Fantasy 2010

It's been a busy week and I've been getting ready for a wonderful event called Chocolate Fantasy.  The Arts Center in Corvallis hosts this event as part of their annual fundraiser. Click here for more information.  This year is the third year that Jillicious Desserts has been invited to be one of ten chocolatiers who provide 350 samples of a chocolate dessert.   I just wanted to give you a little sneak peak of what I've been creating and I'll post more pictures later in the weekend of how it goes.  Wish us luck!

*Due to February being a busy month, I had to pass on the Daring Bakers' Challenge, but be sure to check out our other members blogs to see their completed challenges!

The Bake Shop is OPEN!

Drum roll please...

After battling a 2-week cold and working many, many hours in figuring out website details and information, I'm pleased to announce that the Jillicious Desserts Online Bake Shop is now OPEN for business!!

QUESTION: Can you ship some of your Jillicious Desserts?

ANSWER: This is a question I've gotten quite often from family and friends over the last year or so and the answer is YES!

During this time of year, you can order Holiday Candies and Cookies to be shipped anywhere in the United States (sorry to those of you outside the U.S.) and everything is baked fresh to order.

And yes, as of now, I'm only selling Jillicious Candies and Cookies at the online Bake Shop.

QUESTION: What about Jillicious Cakes, Cupcakes and Cheesecakes?

ANSWER: That is another question I'm asked often and while I'd LOVE to be able to ship these items too, here is why I'm not able to do so.

Many of the cakes, cupcakes & cheesecakes are decorated with fresh fruits (during the spring & summer especially) and some with fresh whipped cream and elegant, yet fragile chocolate curls. Because of the delicate nature of these dessert decorations, freezing them is not an option and would ruin the integrity of the dessert.

It's very important to me that every dessert I create not only looks fabulous, but tastes even more delicious than it looks. I won't compromise either taste or decoration, as most of the decorations add to the overall flavor of the dessert. If and when I can figure out a way to keep both of these elements in tact and successfully ship them, then I will. In the meantime, I am focusing on shipping the desserts that will remain fresh and delicious when they arrive.

I hope this answers any questions about which desserts can be ordered online at the Jillicious Desserts Bake Shop.

I've really appreciated all the support and suggestions that everyone has given me over the last couple of years in making Jillicious Desserts even better.

THANK YOU so very much and enjoy the rest of this Christmas season!


*Visit the Jillicious Desserts Bake Shop website here.

Monday Must Have: Find your favorite kind of CAKE!

Let's talk CAKE.

I have a theory...there are two kinds of people:

Group #1) Those who like cake, and
Group #2) those who say they don't.

I find this interesting, especially the second group who claim that they are not cake people. To them I would say that they haven't had the opportunity to taste a really GOOD cake. I've been given this reason time and time again, when meeting with clients for a wedding cake tasting during a consultation. Actually, when I hear that, I have to hold back a grin, because I know that they are soon going to change their perception and move to the first group of those that like cake. I take them on as a challenge to help them open their eyes to the wonderful world of cake; quality cake that is.



I think there are several reasons why people say they don't like cake. Their experiences have included poor quality frosting or too much frosting, dry cake, or cake made with inferior ingredients. I know that some people love boxed cake mixes, but a box mix can't compete with a cake made from scratch, using quality ingredients.

Most celebrations revolve around the cake; weddings, birthdays, baby showers, office gatherings, and holidays. We have all had some kind of cake at one time or another. And on top of that, there are many flavors of cake to choose from--white, yellow, chocolate, marbled, cherry, red velvet, lemon, orange, strawberry, carrot, and on and on. Everyone has their preferred flavors and then you could really divide the cake people into chocolate lovers and the rest. But that is another topic for another post.



What makes a cake really GOOD?

I believe that there are three key aspects that make the difference between a "just OK" kind of cake and a "WOW, this cake is AMAZING". They are: ingredients, technique and the correct ratio of a QUALITY frosting to the amount of cake layers. All three of these attributes are very important and when they are done correctly, you will have a DELICIOUS cake. If even one of these are missing, then the cake is less than excellent and just becomes another cake that isn't memorable (or at least not memorable in a good way).

Ingredients = Need to be fresh, of good quality and the amounts need to be measured accurately, so the cake will come out correctly every single time it's made.

Technique = A cake needs to be mixed using the correct method. Cake batter can be over mixed, under mixed, ingredients incorporated at the stage or at the wrong temperature--all of which can result in problems during the baking process and ultimately the final product.

Correct ratio of a QUALITY frosting to cake = More frosting is not necessarily better. The icing on the cake should compliment the cake or enhance the flavor, not take over completely. And a quality buttercream makes all the difference. Ever eat a cake with too much frosting and the taste leaves a lingering unappealing aftertaste on your tongue? You know the kind I'm talking about--this can ruin a potentially good cake. Picture a smooth, creamy buttercream that is so silky and is filled with a vanilla flavor that works with the moist cake, so that one bite is never enough. That is what GOOD cake should taste like.



I know I haven't mentioned the appearance of a cake. Yes, it should look appealing, because seeing the cake is the first of several senses we use and that first impression is important. My goal with every cake I make, is to make it beautifully delicious; which means it needs to look inviting and with that first look, you just know that the taste will match or exceed its appearance.

Back to those clients I have had over the past several years that have come in to taste wedding cake samples. I'm happy to have them come in and sit down to taste different flavors of cake to help them make a decision for their big day. I've even had the bride or the groom mention again, how although they really aren't cake people, that they just need to find something that will be suitable for their guests. I just smile and say, "It's OK if you don't eat the entire piece of cake, but just give it a try." I cut them a piece of the cake, made just hours before, and set it in front of them.

And then I watch and wait.

The bride loves cake and digs right in. The groom, tentatively cuts his with his fork and takes a small bite. I watch as a look of surprise passes over his face. He goes in for a second bite. Neither is saying anything, but I'm hearing sounds of enjoyment. And then it happens--the moment I've anticipated and enjoy every single time. The bride asks the groom, "So, what do you think?" The groom doesn't say anything, because he is on the last bite of cake and the plate is almost as clean as it was before the cake slice was laid on it. Finally, I hear "WOW, this cake was so GOOD! And I don't even like cake!"

And just like that, another non-cake person experiences a change and is open to moving up to the first group of those who like cake. I love watching this happen. It's just another perk to doing what I love and sharing it with others.



If you haven't enjoyed a really good slice of cake--keep looking. It's out there. Sometimes you have to taste many kinds of cakes from different sources, but you will find it. And if you happen to be in my area, try a Jillicious Cake--you might just become a member of group #1; those who like cake. I love a challenge.

What is your favorite kind of cake?



P.S. My current favorite is the Caramel Hazelnut Spice Cake (pictured in this post) & the latest edition to the completed 2009 Jillicious Holiday Menu found here.

A Little Preview...

I know, it's Tuesday already and no Monday Must Have. It's that time of year where I'm finalizing the Holiday Menu, updating my website, creating and printing the paper version of the menu and creating a few new desserts for the holidays. And on top of all that, I have orders to fill and meetings with clients to attend.

But in the meantime, here is a little preview of one of my favorite cakes and I'll be back in a couple of days with more information and hopefully (cross your fingers that all goes well) the 2009 Jillicious Holiday Menu.

Till then, I hope you all are having a great week!

Happy Halloween!

Daring Bakers: French Macarons

Boy oh boy, do I have experiences to share and pictures to show you this month with this challenge! But before I get into that, let me introduce our hostess of the October Daring Bakers' Challenge:

The 2009 October Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Ami S. She chose macarons from Claudia Fleming’s The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern as the challenge recipe.

Our hostess explains what french macarons are:

"In the United States, the term “macaroon” generally refers to a cookie made primarily of coconut. But European macaroons are based on either ground almonds or almond paste, combined with sugar and egg whites. The texture can run from chewy, crunchy or a combination of the two. Frequently, two macaroons are sandwiched together with ganache, buttercream or jam, which can cause the cookies to become more chewy. The flavor possibilities and combinations are nigh endless, allowing infinitely customizable permutations".

I found that the challenge recipe did not work as well as another one that I've been using almost weekly over the past six months. [If you would like to see the actual challenge recipe, click here.]

I followed the directions for the challenge recipe exactly and the results were a disappointing FAIL (see pictures below):

Against my better judgement and previous experience, the parchment paper did not remotely help these poor things. I even baked them on Silpats, just to be sure. This is how they turned out:



And here is a close up of the failed macarons:



Now this is how macarons SHOULD look (notice the ruffled edges at the bottom of the macaron, these are called feet and you want them for a successful macaron):



I'm not sure if it was because it was a rainy, high-in-moisture Oregon day and this recipe didn't have as much powdered sugar and almonds to the egg white ratio. Also, I have found that parchment paper does NOT work as well as Silpats for my macarons. I did try the double pan technique that was mentioned, and that really didn't help them either. Although, this wasn't a successful first run, I'm glad I tried all the tips and the recipe, if only to know what doesn't work.

As I mentioned above, I've been making French Macarons for the past six months as a collaboration with a local chocolate shop owner and we sell them from his store each Saturday. So I've worked through many recipes over this time and I will share the one that I adapted from a basic recipe found at Tartelette's website. If you haven't visited her website, I highly recommend you do--she is an expert macaron baker and she gives clear and helpful directions and her macarons are beautifully done.

The one aspect I really enjoyed from this challenge was creating a new flavor that I hadn't tried before and I was excited to use some Oregon Hazelnuts that I just purchased here locally from Hazelnut Hill in Corvallis, Oregon.

I've included my own thoughts and notes from things that I've found to work really well in making French Macarons.

*Jillicious notes in this color.

Pumpkin Spice Hazelnut French Macarons

Adapted from Tartelette's Recipe found here.

For the macaron shells:

90 grams egg whites (aged 2-3 days)
1 tsp. lemon juice
30 grams granulated sugar
200 grams powdered sugar
55 grams almond flour
55 grams hazelnut flour
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
3 to 5 drops of orange food coloring

Prepare the macarons:

1) In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to a foam, gradually add the sugar until you obtain a glossy meringue. While the egg whites are still at a soft peak, add the food color. Do not over beat your meringue or it will be too dry.

2) Place the almonds, hazelnuts, powdered sugar, and pumpkin pie spice in a food processor and give them a good pulse until the nuts are finely ground.



*After grinding the mixture, it should be fine and look like this:



3) Add them to the meringue, give it a quick fold to break some of the air and then fold the mass carefully until you obtain a batter that falls back on itself after counting to 10. Give quick strokes at first to break the mass and slow down. The whole process should not take more than 50 strokes. Test a small amount on a plate: if the tops flattens on its own you are good to go. If there is a small beak, give the batter a couple of turns.

4) Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip (Ateco #807 or #809) with the batter and pipe small rounds (1.5 inches in diameter) onto silicone mats lined baking sheets. *I usually use a smaller tip Ateco #806--just a preference.



*Because the batter will spread slightly, it's best to pipe macarons in alternating rows as pictured:



5) Preheat the oven to 280F. Let the macarons sit out for 30 minutes to an hour to harden their shells a bit and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on their size. *I have a convection oven and I bake mine for 8-9 minutes, then turn the pans and switch racks and continue to bake for another 8-9 minutes.

6) Let cool. If you have trouble removing the shells, pour a couple of drops of water under the parchment paper while the sheet is still a bit warm and the macarons will lift up more easily do to the moisture. (*This is another reason I use Silpats; once the macarons cool, they come off very easily.) Don't let them sit there in it too long or they will become soggy.

7) Once baked and if you are not using them right away, store them in an airtight container out of the fridge for a couple of days or in the freezer.



Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Ganache

4 oz. dark Belgian chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup Nutella

1) Chop chocolate into small pieces and transfer to bowl; set aside.

2) Heat cream over medium-high heat. When it reaches scalding point, remove from heat and pour over chocolate.

3) Stir chocolate and cream until combined. Add vanilla and Nutella and stir until incorporated and smooth. Let ganache cool and is firm enough to pipe on macarons.

4) Pipe ganache on macaron (bottom side facing up) and sandwich carefully with second macaron (top side facing down).



I was very happy with how this version of French Macarons turned out. I really liked the addition of the hazelnut flour to the macaron and the pumpkin pie spice was a nice flavor with it.

The reason I choose to use a dark chocolate and mix it will the Nutella, was because although I like the strong hazelnut flavor of the Nutella, I didn't want it to take over the ganache flavor completely.

In the end, both components complimented each other and I would say that this macaron challenge was a SUCCESS!

October is the Month of Birthdays

It's all about the birthday cakes this month. Most of the orders for October so far have been birthday cakes. A favorite cake design that many people love to order is the Gift Cake. I think that the idea of cake all wrapped up like a present is very appealing (like getting two for the price of one). I have to admit, it is one of my favorites to make and today's might be my favorite to date. The client ordered it for her friends that were both turning 50 and there was a surprise party being given for them.

She wanted the colors from the invitation to be incorporated in the design on the cake, so we decided on making the main color the apple green from the invitation.

I colored the fondant into the three colors; apple green, sky blue and navy blue and then cut out various sizes of circles.

Since the colors were bright and cheery, I wanted to only add small accents of black and that was in the slightly pearlized black sugar pearl details.

Around the base, I added the three colors (apple green, sky blue & navy blue) to accent the piping with sugar pearls colored to match the fondant circles.

I choose the gold cake board, since it was a nice contrast to the colors and because the recipient's were turning 50, which is usually denoted as the "golden years."

Gift Cake Details:

12-inch square cake is a Dark Chocolate Cake w/White Chocolate Cream Cheese Filling & Vanilla Buttercream Icing.

Last, but not least, here's a little shout out to my sister who also has a birthday today--Happy Birthday Sandi Rae!! I hope you have a great one!

The Last of the Summer Fruits

Ahhh...fresh seasonal fruits.

It's that time of year when I get ready to change my summer menu to a fall menu. Some desserts are taken off and replaced with more seasonal items. This morning I had to pick up some ingredients for a few cakes I'm making over the next couple of days and I found some beautiful strawberries, raspberries and blackberries that I needed to decorate a white chocolate cheesecake. I think this will probably be one of the last cheesecakes decorated with fresh seasonal fruit until next spring--it almost makes me a little sad, like having to say good-bye to a good friend. But then I think about all the great fall desserts that will be coming back on the menu and it's OK.

I've had to push back the bread baking for a couple of days and once I finish up the cake orders I have, then I will be able to bake some yummy bread (I have a couple of recipes from the BBA book in mind).

White Chocolate Cheesecake

On top of the cheesecake is a layer of sweetened whipped cream and decorated with fresh fruits; champagne grapes, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, green & red grapes.

M.I.A. and the Lack of Posts.

Dear Readers of the Jillicious Discoveries Blog,

I have MISSED you all these past two weeks!!

I can't believe that it really has been nearly two weeks since my last post. I've missed being able to read all those wonderful blogs that I follow (and I will be spending this relaxing afternoon to read and comment on many of those) and I've missed updating my own blog. I even thought that it really wasn't that long since I had posted anything, until I received an email from a fellow blogger wondering if all was well with me and where I had been (thank you for that kind email Jenny) and comments on Facebook noting that I had been silent. Things are good, I'm fine--it was just a busy week and it seemed to have flown by way too fast. I've caught up on other areas of my life and I know can focus on blogging once again (woo-hoo!)

Let me explain how last week began and seemed to set the flow of the rest of the week.

Mondays are my day off (Jillicious Desserts is closed), but this just means I need to work to get everything else done, before the "work week" begins. I was cleaning the house on Monday and decided to use this really great vacuum attachment that dusts and cleans in small areas and I used it on my desk area and really cleaned my computer and keyboard. I cleaned them so well, that later in the day, when I had a few minutes to check some emails, I discovered that I had somehow disconnected my wireless keyboard and wasn't able to type.

Do you know how frustrating it is to see the Internet, emails and other work items, but you can't really access them? I think it's worse than not having the Internet--it was just teasing me and I felt like my computer was laughing at me saying, "Ha ha, you can't get anything done right now!" And of course, one of those to-do items on my list was the Monday Must Have.

Finally I had time late that night and with the help of tech support (which is my way of saying I called my friend that is super smart about these types of things--thanks Nick!) I figured out how to re-connect the wireless keyboard to respond to typing. By then, it was late and I had to postpone blogging for another day.

The rest of the week included driving up to Portland for a friend's wedding, picking up supplies in Newport (on the coast), setting up appointments, creating dessert orders, delivering several dessert orders in two different towns and preparing ingredients and plans for a wedding cake, baking and decorating wedding cake, attending some church meetings and catching a few hours of sleep here and there.



The best part of delivering this weeks wedding cake, was that the location is literally only 3 miles from my house, so it was a nice, quick drive (no traffic) and everything with the set up went smoothly. Plus, it's always a nice way to end a busy week; to create something that I love to do and that will make someones special day more memorable.

Romantic White Floral & Blue Dot Wedding Cake Details

• Top tier (6-inch round) - Dark Chocolate Cake w/Raspberry Filling
• Bottom tier (10-inch round) - Dark Chocolate Cake w/White Chocolate Cream Cheese Filling
  

• Sheet Cake - White-Vanilla Cake w/Raspberry Filling & Vanilla Buttercream

P.S. I will see you tomorrow with the Monday Must Have!