Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Did you say 6 layers?!

This year was my brother's 30th birthday and I thought I should make something really special.  For months, Danny has been talking about a Coconut Passion Fruit Cake.  He loved the idea of a sweet fluffy cake that had a tangy bite.  After much research, I found a recipe and modified it to his liking, minus the coconut sorbet  (sorry Danny).

I made this gigantic over the top cake that had 6, yes I said 6, layers of coconut cake with a delicious, creamy passion fruit filling.  I frosted the entire cake with vanilla meringue and coated it with toasted unsweetened coconut flakes.  I then made another batch of meringue and tried to make it look extra fancy by torching it (the best part).  Did I mention this was supposed to feed 7 people? Let's just say it was a mutual agreement that we should share with the rest of the building after barely eating half. Check out the pics below!



Here's to Danny and the start of a new decade! <3

xo,

Daniella :)

Monday, November 28, 2011

Thanksgiving madness

I am still recovering from our Thanksgiving gathering.  There was so much of everything that we easily had leftovers for days.  I, of course, was in charge of desserts and let me just say, it was a week long affair of prepping.  I made 4 pies, a mini wedding cake, 2 types of cookies (around 75), cupcakes, biscuits and sweet potato mash.  I unfortunately don't have any pictures of the biscuits and mash since we devoured it before I could snap a shot.

I enjoyed every second of it and I especially had such an awesome time with all of my loved ones! :)

Check out the pics below with their descriptions!


Salted Caramel Apple Crumble Pie (I made two of these from scratch, crust included).


Orange Bourbon Pecan Pie ( two of these too!)


White Chocolate, Cranberry, Pecan Cookies and Chocolate, Chocolate Chip, Walnut Cookies


Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting topped with Walnuts


Vanilla Bean Meringue Wedding Cake



I hope everyone had a fabulous holiday! 

xo,

Daniella :)

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

White and Dark Chocolate Cranberry Cookies

Last weekend, I decided to make some cookies at my grandmas house for the family. I followed a basic chocolate chip cookie recipe and added some white and dark chocolate chips and tart dried cranberries to the mix.  They were perfectly crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside.  Talk about delicious! Check out the pics below courtesy of my cellphone!



xo,

Daniella :)

Monday, November 14, 2011

Blue Velvet

My friend Toyin (who is an amazing model...duh) asked me to bake blue velvet cupcakes a while ago.  I had no idea what she was talking about.  I've obviously baked red velvet cupcakes but blue velvet?! I guess it was worth a shot!

After a little research, I found a recipe I then modified with a little more chocolate.  I decorated them with a vanilla bean cream cheese buttercream frosting by making tiny swirls.  The patter kind of reminds me of Thai architecture. 

The end result was a fun cupcake that was tender, delicious and left your whole mouth blue! Check out the pics below!






xo,

Daniella :)

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Forgotten

Since Jeff takes pictures of virtually everything I bake, I tend to forget a few images since I want to blog about something in the moment.  Lucky for me, I found them! The first image is blueberry streusel muffin.  If you aren't familiar with streusel, it's a mixture of brown or white sugar, flour and butter.  I made mine with brown sugar, cinnamon, flour, butter and a pinch of salt. Let's just say there is only one on the plate because everyone inhaled them!


Lastly, I made these adorable little star shaped sugar cookies for work.  They are filled with a white chocolate fresh strawberry ganache and dusted with a little powdered sugar!


Hopefully I wont forget anymore pics! :)

xo,

Daniella