Harold loves unicorns. What else is there to say.
The unicorn’s mane flowing down its back…. So elegantly, yes?
There was also Unicorn Kisses fizzy water from Polar. Of course.
Spiked Lemon Basil Sorbet
Fresh meyer lemon and basil sorbet, spiked with gin. It was the second best sorbet I’ve ever made. I’d make this again, and again. The kids hated it (I made them some without the gin), kids do not seem to like herb infused fruit desserts.
Yes, that’s a mint garnish. I ran out of basil.
Strawberry Rhubarb Sorbet
Fresh from the garden. Need I say more?
Cardamom Grapefruit Layer Cake
On a random Thursday I decided it would be a great idea to make a cake - and invite people over to help eat it. Of course.
I am not sure why I thought a chocolate cardamom cake with fresh grapefruit buttercream frosting sounded like an AMAZING combination, but it was not. It was fine, don’t get me wrong. The cake was good. The frosting was good. It was just an odd combination. But it stands true that if you text 10 people saying “I made a cake, come help me eat it” everyone will show up.
Christmas Bundt Cake
I am definitely making this cake an annual tradition. It was a chocolate-black pepper bundt cake with spiced glaze and candied cranberries. I should have made two of them.
It didn’t even get stuck in the pan, which was basically a Christmas miracle.
Fall Apple-Basket Slab Pie
This was a really stinking good pie. I made it in the week of pie-fest, right around Thanksgiving where I made about 6 pies in a row. I LOVE PIE.
Valentine's Pie
There isn’t much I love more than pie. So for Valentine’s Day of course I woke the boys up with a berry-valentine’s-day-breakfast pie.
Fresh berries - strawberry, raspberry, and blueberry - in my favorite crust. I was so in love with the pattern of hearts that I made as decoration that it was hard to put in the oven. The oven always ruins the pattern. But it was oh-so-delicious and it was oh-so-gone before the end of the day.
Henry's un-birthday cake
Henry wanted a birthday party in June - at the park - rather than in January in the rain. His cake: chocolate layers, apricot filling with a firm chocolate ganache coating - and the chocolate fondant logs were amazing! Campfire flames are sugar work with orange coloring.
The sugar work turned out better than any I’ve done it the past - or probably ever will again.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Today we're celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. And for the first time in our family we're making it a true holiday, not just a long weekend. We make big celebrations of Thanksgiving, even though we have to sidestep the real history behind the day; we celebrate Christmas and Easter, yet we don't believe in God. What of the holidays we actually do believe in?
We believe in the message of Martin Luther King Jr. and from this year on we will celebrate it with the same fanfare we provide these other days: tradition, family dinner, friends, service to community, and dedication to civil rights in history and present.
Easter Cake
For early spring celebrations I decided to make a cake. Daryl made fun of me because I chose to copy a picture that I found online. No recipe, no flavor plan, just a picture.
It worked.
Lemon layer cake with rhubarb curd filling and lemon buttercream frosting. Garnished with fresh berries and easter egg chocolates.
Buche de Noel
For Christmas dessert, Henry and I wanted to make a Buche de Noel. The double feature here, is that we could take pictures throughout the whole process and he could use them for his upcoming show and tell presentation at school.
Henry's show and tell is not like I remember. There is no bringing in your favourite toy and saying why you love it, or talking about what your sibling did to you last weekend. Show and tell in Henry's class means interactive or multimedia presentations in front of the class. There has to be sequence, flow and clear command of the subject.
So Henry made a cake. And we took pictures. And then we ate it.
It was my favourite show and tell ever. Spiced chocolate sponge with chocolate buttercream, wrapped in chocolate ganache.
Our finished Buche