Party of One

Last Saturday we hosted a little get-together at our place in honor of two very special guys: our baby Graham was turning the big 1 and his cousin Colt was turning 11. Needless to say, we had to commemorate these very auspicious occasions with three big number 1 balloons and personal cakes for each birthday boy. As promised, I thought I'd share some of the photos I took before the party was in full swing, i.e. before my beautiful cakes were demolished by little fingers. 

This was the garland I was most proud of. I loooved the icy blue, turquoise, and gray strung up together on baker's twine. Maybe we'll keep it up all year?

And the snowflakes! I had never made six-pointed snowflakes before, so the party was a great excuse to cut it up. I trimmed them from a bunch of coffee filters and pale blue tissue paper. The blue streamers were twisted from a simple tutorial I found here. 

Mini cakes! Such a cute and easy way to make a special occasion even special-er!

I followed the recipe on the back of the chocolate cake mix box and baked them in three (empty and clean) 28-oz tin cans according to the time and temperature I found here. P.S. Maybe it was our oven, but the cakes took about 10-15 minutes longer to cook than they said. Oh! And you'll need more than one can of icing to make these look nice and frosty. 

For Graham's first birthday cake, I wanted to go light on the sugar, so I followed the recipe for a homemade banana apple cake I found here. The icing was a little runny and the cake itself turned out a bit gummy, but he ate almost half of it! The chocolate chip cookies were from a recipe I found here. (Which I later discovered is the very same famous NYTimes recipe.) I've made them for a couple of parties now, and while they are a bit more labor intensive than the ol' dependable Tollhouse, everyone raves over them. 

The number 1 balloons were a big hit with the little guy. I think mostly because he can see his own reflection in them and loves to kiss himself in the mirror these days. Seriously, those two really need to get a room. 

All in all, I think the party was super fun! And even though he won't remember any of it, I think Graham did too. Happy birthday, buddy! 

- Cathleen 

The Perfect Dessert

It probably comes as no surprise that we love cake around here. So I think this book is right up our alley:

The author, Caitlin Freeman, creates gorgeous pastry versions of art masterpieces.

Theibaud Cakes

Lichtenstein Cake

Avedon Parfait

Art and cake? Seems like a pretty sweet combination to me!

Happy Weekend, Friends!

-Alissa

Searching...

So, I’m still on the search for a great cake for a certain little girl’s birthday that is (rapidly) approaching but luckily I’ve located the perfect cake plate.

Enter Jadeite:

Jadeite Cake Stand

There might not be a cake to go on it, but this baby is so pretty that I think my little birthday girl would totally understand... Right?

Happy Weekend, Friends!

-Alissa

PS A huge congratulations to Grace who is finishing up another year of amazing hard work and dedication with her Week of the Arts. Way to go, Grace!

Kashigata Molds

Sparrow, $35 via VintageFromJapan on Etsy

Kashigata are Japanese hand-carved cake molds used to make traditional edible gifts. These beautiful molds, from VintageFromJapan on Etsy, can still be used to make small sweets of your own, or paperclay ornaments, or would even look quite lovely up on a kitchen shelf. The origin story from their site: 

"Often made of sakura (cherry wood) and seasoned for about 3 years before carving, kashigata were used to make dried confectionery made of rice flour and sugar called rakugan. Earliest records show that this practice dates back to the mid-17th century. These confections were used as offerings and snacks for celebratory occasions and even unfortunate events. For example when a person died, it was expensive to give flowers or fresh food so, people made these sweets in the form of flowers, fish etc. These items were then placed on the "butsudan" (family shrine found in the house) for the dead person. Kashigata were also used in the making of wagashi (nama-gashi or freshly made cake and hi-gashi or dried confectionery) for tea ceremonies."

Clam Chestnut, $55 via VintageFromJapan on Etsy

Chrysanthemum Kiku Flower, $55 via VintageFromJapan on Etsy

Square, $45 via VintageFromJapan on Etsy

Pine Tree, $55 via VintageFromJapan on Etsy

Lotus Leaf, $55 via VintageFronJapan on Etsy

- Cathleen

Edible Art

Just added to the list of things I want to do/eat before I move away from New York (one day): 

order some edible art from KUROIWA patisserie of Brooklyn, NY. 

Aren't these confections absolutely stunning? Created by owner/chef/pastry sculptress Ayako Kurokawa, her website also features some really gorgeous minimalist cakes, but the 'one of a kind' section is what truly took my breath away. As far as I can tell there is not a brick-and-mortar space that I can visit, unfortunately, but she does have a bigcartel shop where you can buy various tea cakes and commission portrait cookies. You have to go to www.ayakokurokawa.com to see more of what I'm talking about. You must! 

- Cathleen 

[Images found on Pinterest, courtesy of the artist, I think.]