BUCHE DE NOEL

I love to make Buche de Noel's.  This one was made from a chocolate roll cake and filled with hazelnut buttercream.  I frosted it first with ganache then made it look like a log with chocolate buttercream that I combed with a combing tool.  The holly leaves and berries are made from gumpaste and the mushrooms are meringue.  The santa and trees are molded chocolates.

Merry Christmas!!

DOUBLE LAYER CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

This recipe is for Rae and Cheryl and anyone else that wants a super brownie bite.

These make great gifts for any holiday and the leftover bits that you will have after cutting them out with a biscuit cutter will be perfect for serving over or in ice cream.

Enjoy!!

For the bottom layer

115g Unsalted Butter

70g Semisweet Chocolate (chopped)

1 1/2 Teaspoons Vanilla

1 Teaspoon Instant Espresso Powder

Pinch of Salt

207g Sugar

2 Large Eggs

70g Unbleached All Purpose Flour

170g Toasted Walnuts (chopped)

For the top layer
225g Semisweet Chocolate (chopped)
115g Unsalted Butter
2 Tablespoons Sugar
1/2 Cup Heavy Cream
Pinch of Salt
1 Teaspoon Espresso Powder
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
1 Large Egg
4 Large Egg Yolks

METHOD
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

For the bottom layer:
2. Melt the butter and chocolate together over a double boiler. Whisk & remove from heat
3. Stir in the vanilla, espresso powder, & salt.
4. Whisk in the sugar.
5. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking after each addition.

6. Stir in the flour and nuts.

7. Scrape into a 13" X 9" pan that has been lined with parchment paper.

For the top layer:

1. Melt the chocolate and butter together over a double boiler. Whisk & remove from heat.

2. Whisk in the sugar, cream, salt, espresso powder and vanilla.

3. Add the egg and egg yolks one at a time, whisking well after each addition. Stir until smooth.

4. Spread evenly with an offset spatula over the bottom layer.

5. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center should have a bit of moist batter clinging to it. Do not over bake.

6. Cool to room temperature then cover and refrigerate to make cutting easier.

WHITE LILLY WEDDING CAKE

This cake is very similar to the Yellow Rose Wedding Cake.

The two top tiers were red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. The third tier was chocolate cake with chocolate mousse, fresh strawberries, ganache with crunchy pearls and the fourth tier was white butter cake with pastry cream and fresh strawberries.

I highlighted with pearl luster dust the lacy icing work on the second and fourth tiers. The light caught it and really made it pop.

This cake was really heavy but I lifted it myself into my VW, delivered it to the venue and it made it there in one piece. Whew!! It is always nerve racking delivering wedding cakes.

HOLIDAY PARTY GOODIES

CHRISTMAS COOKIES

DOUBLE LAYER TRUFFLE BROWNIES

MINI APPLE PIES

These are a few of the items people have been ordering for holiday parties. I love this time of year even though it gets crazy busy.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE.

QUINCEANERA CAKE

This cake was done for a Quinceanera which is a party for a girl turning 15 in the Hispanic community.

Her colors were gold and pink and when I delivered the cake the birthday girl had on the most gorgeous gold gown.

The flavors of two of the cakes were chocolate with chocolate mousse and fresh raspberries and the other two were lemon cakes with raspberry mousse and fresh raspberries.

The party was outside at night so the cake was delivered when the party was in full swing. They were having a great time and I got to see the reaction of all the guests when they saw the cake. It was really fun.