Taste-Testing Cake Flavors

I forgot my camera, but Dinah got some pictures of the wedding cake taste testing. Yes, I numbered the cakes and I had a chart to remind me what was what. None of them were exactly bad, but there were a few clear favorites. Also, oranges? Difficult to slice thin and candy. I can't really recommend it. Limes were a snap.

Trying Out Wedding Cake Components

Dinah and Eli requested something light, summery, and citrusy for their wedding cake and we talked about a few flavor options. I've spent the last couple weeks making (and freezing) all sorts of possible components. A couple spice cakes, a white chocolate cake, a plain white cake, buttercreams from four different books, lime curd, lemon curd, two blood orange curd recipes. Oh, and candied slices of lime. It got to be kind of a lot to keep track of. I had a chart at one point. Ended up assembling 5 different cakes, each with a unique combination of components. Stay tuned for pictures of the taste testing.

Chocolate Muffins

Made these for Mother's Day, from Harold Friberg's Professional Pastry Chef book. They actually have beets grated into the batter and I had some beets to use up. Portioning with the ice cream scoop is the only way to go with muffin pans. I've never had them come out so uniformly sized. Will did a burnt caramel ganache for the glaze. Brought them to a family party. Positively received.