Castle and Princesses Birthday Cake

Here is another Disney Princess-themed birthday cake (kindly ignore the background?!?)

And in case anyone is wondering... we rarely, if ever, use fondant...

Queen's Favorite

It is wonder that these cupcakes made an appearance only now... seeing as I love peanut butter!  But I guess my only excuse is that I often indulged by eating peanut butter... cookies!

What's even more amazing is the overwhelmingly wonderful response by everyone who took a bite out of these cupcakes!!!

The tops look like cookies, right?

The dark chocolate buttercream is the perfect frosting to complement the cupcake!!!

Super duper yummy!!!

I could eat this the whole day!

Bouchon au Chocolat

This was dessert for Valentine's Day dinner...  Yes, bouchons!

These were baked not in bouchon or timbale molds, but in Ikea's DRÖMMAR muffin pan!

A bouchon, by the way, based on what I've read, is so named because it is shaped like a cork.  The word "bouchon" is French for cork!


The recipe is from Bouchon Bakery by Keller and Rouxiel.

Take a look inside -

Oops.  We forgot to dust the bouchons with powdered sugar!

Apple Cake

When I was a little girl, I loved apples.  I remember eating at least one each day.  And I loved the tart green apple best of all.

But my love for apples were only for the fresh chilled fruit.  I distinctly disliked apples in any other form except fresh, chilled and without the skin!  So while my mom's apple pie was possibly the best, I ate little of it (although to be fair, it was the only apple pie I would eat).    I did not like apple cake at all, except (recently) this apple upside-down cake.  

As I grew older, I grew less fond of apples.  But this did not mean that I did not try to use them for baking!  Especially since I (usually) get a lot of apples in December, so I baked a lot of apple desserts... mommy's apple pie (at least trying it), apple tarts, apple muffins, apple cakes... all of which everyone else would eat.

Then last week, as I was browsing Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table, I discovered her recipe for Marie-Helene's Apple Cake.

And, as usual I made little changes... like using a mandolin to slice the apples instead of slicing them into chunks (it was really faster to use the mandolin!)... adding apple pie spice...  reducing the sugar (just a bit) and using light brown sugar (and then sprinkling the top with more light brown sugar and more apple pie spice)... and finally, using 2 6-inch Springform pans instead of a single 9-inch.

I used a mix of Fuji apples and Gala apples, although I think I might have overdone the apples.  Dorie Greenspan's recipe called for 4 apples (varying kinds).  What I had was 1 medium Fuji apple and about 6 small Gala apples.  I thought 2 small apples would be equivalent to a medium one...

I love, love, love this cake!!!  It's more apple than cake, I would say, and I really like the the apple slices still have a crunch to it!

Hubby had his cake with vanilla ice cream and he was so happy with the cake that he got a second and a third helping!

More Fruit than Cake Fruitcake

Yup, one could say that my focus this season is ... yet again... fruitcake.  Considering that I am NOT a fan of fruitcake, I keep making them!  Well, first of all because hubby is such a fruitcake lover, and then, I am (still) on a quest to find a fruitcake that I really like, if not love.

This particular recipe, I have to admit, is pretty close.  I like it, to be honest.  But what I really, really like about this recipe is its fast and easy procedure!

There's no overnight soaking, no simmering, no waiting!  It's almost a one-bowl recipe!

And the best part?  It is loaded, really loaded, with fruits, nuts and chocolate chips!

It has... dates, kiwi, pineapple, blueberries, cranberries, cherries, mangoes, sultanas, apricots, citron, cashews, walnuts and bittersweet chocolate chips!