Pastries by Kate: March 2011

Sakura

On March 27, 1912 Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo donated hundreds of Japanese Cherry Trees to Washington DC. The trees were an effort to enhance and celebrate the growing friendship between the United States and Japan. Today the National Cherry Blossom Festival began and swarms of people found their way to the tidal basin next to the Jefferson Memorial here in DC to take part in this annual display of natural splendor. Today I also got to make this cake patterned after a cherry blossom invitation..

Tiffany and Johnathan

I was delighted when Tiffany and Johnathan asked me to do their wedding cake. They are a beautiful pairing of timeless beauty and lust for life, of practicality and style, and of adventure and vibrancy. The 3 of us brainstormed their cake for weeks and made the final changes just days before the wedding. For flavors they chose almond/almond, chocolate/chocolate hazelnut, and vanilla/vanilla. The cake was topped with sugared cranberries.

So first off I must apologize for the crude photos, I left the camera at home and after dropping off the cake at the venue I snapped a few shots with my phone. The gold on the cake is created using Luster Dust, a favorite medium of mine. Used dry it provides a light shimmer of color but when mixed with a little lemon extract or vodka -I prefer vodka because if you don't use all your mixture you can allow it to dry out and you can reuse it later- it provides an edible paint that is wonderful!!

2

2 is my favorite age for littles. They stumble around jumping and singing familiar songs recognizable only by tune because they can remember all the words, they repeat everything: names, games, wants, they try so hard but only get about 30% of the food actually in their mouths-the remainder on their shirts-, and while they are so "independent" they still need to be held and snuggled and loved. Speaking of love, I loved Elsie's cake.

Monkey Business...

Just a little baby shower cake complete with keys, shoes, and some monkey business

Strawberry Shortcake

Now for many of you when you here Strawberry Shortcake you may picture this.... well today I would like to discuss another type...

If you are like me you grew up on Grandma's Shortcake. Every grandma has their own flare, their own "secret" and everyone's grandma's is the best! My Grandma Lil's shortcake is baked to perfection every time, organic in shape but oh so flakey with a hint of nutmeg. This week with the first day of spring and friends coming for Sunday dinner I thought an ode to Lil's strawberry shortcake would be just the ticket. . .

1. you need a little of this (I allow the strawberries to macerate with a little sugar in the fridge for at least 30 min. before I use them.

2. and a little of this. There are hundreds of recipes out of there but one thing that makes them all just a little better is a pinch of nutmeg. Also when you are mixing the shortbread remember not to overmix and when possible allow it to sit in the fridge for an hour or so before rolling it.