MBA: Master of Baking Art...(isn't that what it stands for?)

I'm supposed to be cleaning up the kitchen right now, but instead, I'm eating a piece of pizza and posting pictures of the cake I just made:). 

This is for a good friend of mine who is about to have her MBA - so to her, I say, congratulations!  And I hope my business benefits from your hard-earned, nearly-official knowledge of all things commerce:).

Now...for the CAKE!

6", lemon cake, vanilla butter cream

Double Plus Fail

Well...let's see...how many ways can you think of to fail at something? 

I'm pretty sure I hit them all today.  I just love learning things the hard way. 

Join me...let's find all the things that are WRONG with the following statement:

Me, my toddler and my overheated SUV transported the super cute Tangled Tower cake about two hours away to an outdoor birthday party. 

1. I can hardly go to Walmart alone with my awesome, but frequently hard-to-handle kid.  Why did I think I could deliver a cake with him in tow?  Several problems arise from this one point - but mostly, I couldn't get the car cooled down before I put the cake in - so before I even took off, there was unknown melting going on. 

2. I can never, ever, ever deliver a tiered cake without a partner - ever again.  Disaster would have been averted if there had just been someone back there to take care of poor Rapunzel.  I'm just sick that my neglect probably added to her already abused psyche...how much more counseling can one person go through???

Look at her!  She's totally depressed. 
I would be too if someone trashed my fortress of solitude.

3. The air wasn't getting cold enough, fast enough - like I said, I couldn't cool it down first.  Then half way there, I realized the blowers were turned off way in the back.  Are you kidding me?????

4.  It was crazy hot today!  It's so hot, I'm pretty sure you could get a date with the Snow Queen without any effort at all.

5.  I drove TWO HOURS???  Why did I do that?  The bottom line is that butter cream will not hold up to that duration in the car without refrigeration during transport - or being MUCH bigger...

6.  This maybe wasn't part of my original statement, but I think contributed to my delusion of a perfect delivery...I usually transport enormous mountains of cake.  The sheer mass of my cakes usually contributes to them holding at a better temperature in transit.  Mr. and Mrs. G had a perfectly cool and lovely cake upon delivery. 

But not so today...this was a single tier cake with a tower on top of it.  It heated up fast and by the time I arrived, I had to use the cake pops to prop up the tower.  It crashed into the side of the cake during transit and then I had to prop it up with my hand so the poor little girl could get her picture taken with it.  I'm not really sure she even got a good idea of how much work I put into the thing. 

What a frustrating failure.

I guess it was bound to happen sometime.  I'm just glad the birthday girl and her mom were understanding - and really glad they weren't paying full price.  Talk about embarrassing.  Hopefully the pictures of how it was supposed to look will make up for the melted mayhem I brought to the birthday party today. 

Blergity.

No wreck pictures, kids.  Just use your imagination and draw something for Cake Wrecks.  I'm going to go drown my sorrows in a Lifetime movie or something.

Rustic? Cake Pops

I am a fan of the fad.  I love cake pops.  I think they're cute - and for me - infinately practical, as I get to use yummy cake scraps to create something totally new.

Now...I've been playing today.  I had some candy coating in my stash of goodies over here, so I thought I'd make a few cake pops and start getting used to this new medium. 

I will soon master the smooth look, but today, I felt like a 10 year old again.  Dipping and striping and rolling - it was fun.  My finished product wasn't quite sellable, but it'll takes a few batches to get it right. 

I can't help it...no, not perfect.  But I think these
are still pretty cute.  Admitedly, I am biased.

I haven't decided if I should call these shabby chic or maybe...ahem...rustic? But one thing I know I can call them is tasty.  I have it on the best authority...as documented in the following super cute picture:).

"Deez are good!" ~ Andrew, Official Bake Lore Product Tester

So, here's to learning a new tool for the trade.  I'll be keeping you posted on my progress, as always:).

The Fairytale Tower

I rented it.  I watched it.  I loved it.

I only wish I had the abilities to do justice to the hilarious horse in the cartoon movie, Tangled.  But I didn't have a lot of time or resources to expend on this one, so I went with what many bakers have done before. 

But I did it in my own special way.  Here are pictures of my interpretation of Tangled in cake form.  Enjoy! 

10" white/chocolate swirl with vanilla buttercream
tower is cereal treat,fondant and gum paste

Whole Grains: How to Love Them, Part Trois

Welcome to lesson three in my little series, Whole Grains: How to Love them!

To recap...

1.  There was an introductory post, about phytic acid.

2.  The next post gave you a snapshot of what phytic acid does in plants and whole grains.

3.  The latest post told you a little about what phytic acid does once it enters our digestive tract.

And today, I'm closing in on the finish with a few ideas on how to limit our consumption of phytic acid.

This is all stuff that was pretty common practice before the industrialization of baking and food.  I think there are pros and cons to large scale food production...but if you wanna talk about that, we can have coffee sometime.  For now, let's just remember that phytic acid is a naturally occuring enzyme inhibitor in whole grains, nuts, legumes and some veggies - a substance that is beneficial in small amounts but harmful in mass quantities.

When you buy a regular loaf of whole grain bread - unless it's real sourdough - you are buying it with its full phytic content intact.  Modern and commercial baking just takes the wheat berry, grinds it to flour and bakes it. 

Not moi.

I add another step.

I take that ground up goodness (aka flour) and soak it in some kind of acid medium for about 8-12 hours.  The acid and natually occuring lactobactria go to work on all those hard to process phytates and break them down.  So at the end of the process, I will have bread that is much more easily digested and has nutrition my body can access and use.

This is pretty much the way sourdough bread is made.  It just takes a lot longer.  You get the starter going for a few days, let it soak up the wild yeast and GOOD bacteria floating around in the air, and all that will break down phytates in whole grains very effectively.  And it tastes awesome. 

Did I mention I make great sourdough? 

So, that's the soaking method.  It's effective and, in my opinion, way easier than sprouting...which is another top notch way to neutralize phytic acid.

When you sprout a wheat berry, you are beginning the germination process.  That is nature's way of eliminating much of the harmful phytates for our sensitive tummies.  Sprouted flour is SUPER perishable...ie not something you can keep in a jar on your counter.  Ew.  It has to be in the fridge or the freezer...and frankly after my little ServSafe exam the other day, sprouts represent a foodborne illness risk I'm not willing to take on.  Others can try hatching those puppies on the kitchen counter, but until I've got a fool proof, non-hazardous method for that operation, I'll leave it to them.

You can buy sprouted bread commercially, by the way.  Ever see Eziekiel Bread? 

Sprouted Whole Grain Bread by Food for Life

It's in the freezer section for a reason - very perishable.  But it's handy to keep on hand if you're off your baking routine or I can't deliver one week:).  I think it's a little dry and crumbly...but I digress.   

So, if you're up for doing it right, sprouting a great way to get rid of phytates. 

But I'm a soaker. 

I love the final product, and I am building a base of customers who feel the same way. 

Stay tuned for the final installment in the series.  I'll give you a few of the many, many benefits of the soaking process.

BEST Review EVER

I just got an AMAZING review from the lovely couple who received the colossus of cake I made a few weeks ago.  I was very touched by the groom's praise, and I wanted to share! 

Here's what Mr. G. had to say:

It's hard to separate my review from the friendship I have with the baker and her husband, but please believe me when I say that this was the absolute best cake I've ever eaten.

The human brain is meant to react favorably to certain flavor profiles and certain devious and hack bakers would simply appeal to your base instincts with a brain blasting dose of sugar, fat and chocolate; all good things and certainly tasty but rather mundane and cloying. Yet, it is a true craftsman who can take the same ingredients and spin together a cake that is on one hand rich in flavor and texture and on the other delicate and artful...so it is with the wondrous creation that Amy Lore baked for us on our wedding day.

After trying a few different samples about 6 weeks before the wedding, Krista and I decided on the light scrumptious lemon cake that Amy had prepared for our tasting. Also, after giving her a few guidelines and ideas for what we wanted for... decoration, Amy giggled and scurried away into her lab of cakey goodness began forging our sweet masterpiece.

 

 

On the day of our wedding it was revealed that not only had she done what we asked, but she had far surpassed our expectations. The cake was a "simple" layer stack but with an offset tiered positioning with every color of the rainbow presented in a fun and beautiful arrangement of gum paste flowers. Forgoing a usual cake topper she sculpted us a letter "G" for Gant out of the gumpaste as well. The look was clean, colorful, beautiful and amazing.

 

 

Now a cake can look beautiful but the superficial can hide something unspectacular underneath. This was quite the opposite. The smooth white butter cream exterior and the ROYGBIV flower arrangement gave the eye a glimpse of what was to co...me.

 

 

The cake, as I say, was the best I've ever eaten. The butter cream was thick with a hint of being decadent but shied away from it by blending with the cake expertly. The cake itself was textured and thick (packed full of flavor) and stood up strongly to the frosting. It was everything you'd want from a cake; fork tender with a bit of chew, firm without being dry or crumbly, and almost juicy with the lemon flavor and OH MY the lemon flavor.

 

 

It was again, not harsh like a lemon drop or lemonade, but smooth,light and dare I say refreshing, which truly cut through the butter cream combining to create a truly GREAT cake experience. I hope Krista and I can order another one for our anniversaries and other special events. It was......marvelous.

Whole Grains: How to Love Them, Part the Second

For the tens of people who have been anxiously awaiting my next installment in this series on whole grains and how to love them - I write to you today!

This is by no means meant to be an exhaustive introduction to whole grains.  I want to keep it simple, so there won't be diagrams of molecules and mess like that.  This is just the basics - so you can get an idea of how to get the most from the food you're eating and why you should be buying bread from me!  Tada!

So...we learned what phytates are in my introductory post. 

Then, we learned what phytates do for the grains and plants they live in in the next post.

Now, we are going to look at what phytates do in our bodies. 

First, phytates are also known as enzyme inhibitors.  They...gasp...inhibit enzymes.  When we eat them, they sortof attach themselves to the minerals and vitamins in our food and lock them up, preventing our digestive systems from breaking them down and delivering them to our cells. 

When you read the nutrition info on a loaf of bread and it says it has like 30% of your niacin, iron, zinc or magnesium for the day - your body will only absorb a small fraction of that number.  It's virtually impossible to absorb all of it, even under ideal conditions, but with the full phytic content of whole wheat still intact, it's safe to say your body won't see a lot of the good stuff you're trying to give it.

Because they are essentially indigestible and  block so much of the nutrition we need, phytates make our bodies work way too hard to process whole grains.  Our digestive tract goes into hyper drive to do its job, and that's pretty hard on us. 

Now, phytates aren't all bad.  In fact, their mineral blocking powers are beneficial in small quantities.  It can help prevent an overabundance of iron, for example, and it can even work as a kind of cleanser. 

But when eaten in in large quantities, phytates can really tear up your gut.  They can also cause vitamin deficiencies, which can lead to a whole host of health problems. 

So, what do phytates do in our bodies?  They block the absorbtion of nutrients.  In large quantities, they are harmful to our bodies.  However, in small quanities, they are fine and even beneficial, acting as a kind of cleanser for us. 

Next up:  How can we limit the consumption of phytates?  *oooo, sounds interesting.*  *I'll have to keep logging in to Bake Lore EVERY DAY to find out!!!*

Questions?  Comments?  Snide remarks?  You know where I am!!

Purple Lilies...Plebe Photographer

So, it turns out that using this camera is going to be a learning process!  I took nine hundred shots using all the different gadgets and buttons and flaps and traps on this thing and I got...two decent shots!

HA!

Anyway, as the photographer catches up with her new instrument, here are a few purple lilies I made this weekend for a custom order I received from my Etsy site - that's right, someone PAID me!  Woohoo! 

So here they are...I promise I'll get the hang of this fancy camera soon. 

Dear "Admirers:" THANK YOU!

Know what this is??

This is an awesome camera.

It's also MINE! 

Someone out there, who reads my blog, who knows my camera permanently died on me right before my last enormous wedding cake, who supports my business concept and who is just downright generous - that someone - bought me a camera.

Did you catch that?  Someone bought me a camera!  EEEEEEEEEEE!

It arrived at my house today, and I'm stunned.  I just can't believe someone would buy me such a wonderful - and might I add, completely perfect - gift, without so much as a return address.  There was just a printed note from my "admirers" inside the box. 

I've been drooling over cameras for a while, knowing full well I wouldn't be getting one any time soon.   Good quality cameras aren't cheap, and I was guiltily devising a plan to save for one.

This is such an important tool for me as I build my business, slowly and surely.  Being able to show brides or party planners what I'm capable of is what this stage is all about.  Now I can do that so much more confidently and so much easier!

So, whoever you are...a reader...a friend...Thank you.  From the bottom of my heart...thank you.  Your gift is deeply encouraging to me.  Knowing that someone else out there believes in what I'm trying to achieve - that is priceless. 

So stay tuned.  High-res photos of awesome cake and bread coming to Bake Lore soon!

Summery Lemony Lemon Curd

I love lemon desserts.  My lemon cake is hands-down the most popular flavor I make.

But there's one sweet lemon concoction I've been trying to get right for a while: Lemon Curd.

Fresh Lemon Curd with Blueberries

Let me just say...I definitely got it right. 

You can spread it on toast.  You can eat it with fresh fruit.  You can dip your finger in it or lap it right out of the bowl with your tongue.  I mean...I guess you could...I haven't PERSONALLY tried that...I mean...ahem.

It's one of those tricky recipes that requires cooking egg yolks over low heat, lots of beating and stirring and careful attention.  But when you put in the effort, there is a tremendous payoff.  I love it.  I can't wait to serve it to other lemon-fans.
I especially can't wait to fill a cake with this lovely stuff!  So, so, so good!

Whole Grains: How to Love Them Part UNO

Hi gang!

As promised, I'm bringing you more (hopefully) helpful information about whole grain eating.  Everything I bring up in this four part series is reflective of the way I bake.  I'm not just rewording old wikipedia articles here!

A post or two ago, I introduced the concept of phytates and phytic acid.  Today, I'm going to give you a super fast, super simple explanation of why phytates exist. 

The super fast, super simple reason:  Plants need them. 

Now, for a slightly less fast, slightly more complex explanation...read on!

Phytic acid is an enzyme inhibitor - we'll talk more about that soon - it's also an insect inhibitor. 

That's right!  Plants grow stuff that keeps the bugs away, leaving them to grow another day.  So phytates are a survival tool...and when you're alive but inanimate and non-sentient, it's important to have something fighting for you!

Phytates are also what keeps seeds and such from going to sprout prematurely.  When phytic acid is neutralized, wheat berries sprout.  Without it, it would be like the plant version of 16 and Pregnant. 

Phytates help seeds know when the time is right.  (You know, like a guidance counselor or a helpful parent or Dr. Phil.)  A seed wouldn't sprout in a drought, right?  It would never survive to plant-adulthood and have sprouts of it's own if it did that! 

WHEAT BABIES!
photo credit

So the phytates keep things under control until the environment is right - nice and warm and a little damp.  That's the nuclear-family version of wheat berry reproduction...ideal! 

So...that's lesson one:  What phytates do in whole grains.

Tune in next time, when you'll hear Cousin Amy say:

"What do phytates do in our bodies???"

Sourdough Success

I started with this:

It grew into this:

I mixed some of it up with flour to make this:

Then I baked it, and it became this:

And when it cooled, I sliced it, so it looked like this:

And now I'm gonna eat it, and I'm pretty sure you don't need to see a picture of that!

What's a Phytate? What's a What, Now?

A PHYTATE, my friends...say it with me "FY-tate."

Good! 

What is it?  So glad you asked!  A phytate - or rather, phytic acid - a little something that has a big, important job in the food we eat, but it never gets treated quite right and causes all sorts of problems when left unattended.

Think of it like a diva.  You gotta treat her right or she'll just claw your eyes out - or in this case, your digestive tract - with her acrylic nails.

Your average cereal grains - wheat, spelt, rice, oats, most nuts, several fruits and veggies and the queen mother of all phytic content: the soybean - they all have phytates.  These are essentially enzyme inhibitors.

Can you see the phytates?  No?  Look closer...
*snicker...gotcha...they're kinda invisible:)*

Very good and important things! 

What do they do?   Are they good?  Are they Bad?  What do you do with them??? 
 
My friends...you've come to the right place.  I am a baker of extremely nutritious breads and cookies and other things.  By way of explaining why I bake the way I do, I'm gonna fill you in on the many reasons why you should be eating the stuff I am baking.

Stay tuned and send me questions.  I'm digging in to a series on Whole Grains and How to Love Them!

Sourdough Away!

I mixed up my sourdough...um...dough...today.

It's in the fridge, where it will be resting and rising for the next 14 hours or so. 

In the meantime, if you're interested in why sourdough is so dang good for you, here are a few things to chew on (and be grateful for, since it is Graituesday!):

1.  It lasts longer!  That's right - the combo of bacteria and yeast make the grain in your bread more resistant to mold and stale-ification (I made that word up.)

2.  It's easy to digest!  Be honest...do whole grains make you...um...*gassy?*  Yeah.  You're not alone.  That's cuz it's HARD to digest when it hasn't been broken down a little.  Again...bacteria and yeast double up to break down the hard to process stuff in wheat and even make white flour better for your bod.

3.  It's cheap.  That's right...the bacteria and yeast in sourdough starters are pulled directly from the air around it.  So you won't have to spend any yen on yeast.  It's like pulling money right out of the air!

4.  It's easy.  All you have to do to catch those yummy yeasts and bubbly bacteria is mix up some water and flour and leave it on your counter.  It requires a little planning, sure.  But that ain't hard.

Got any more reasons why you LOVE sourdough???  Post 'em!


Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

Can I Get a "B?"

B: second letter in the alphabet, first letter in the official name of my bakery dream.

That's right kids, I've given this a lot of thought (and agonizing, OCD-style, flip-flopping, second-guessing consideration).

There is going to be an official name change. 

Cake Lore is SO MUCH MORE than cake. 

My dream is big and as it slowly materializes, I realize I need a name that is going to let me explore more than cake.  I am a baker - of fantastic cakes, yes - but also of bread and rock-your-world pastries. 

I make a serious cream puff, my friends. 

So this is it.  I'm announcing an official name change.  Cake Lore is getting married.  She is marrying bread, and her new initials start with "B!!"

BAKE Lore: Beautiful Cakes, Nourishing Breads, Decadent Pastries

C'est moi:). 

I'll be migrating this whole kit and kabboodle soon. 

STAY TUNED!

Bubbly, Lovely Sourdough Goodness

I have been learning some COOL stuff about bread this week.

Sourdough bread - for example - is incredibly cool stuff.  The starter - which is just flour and water in a mason jar - literally pulls the yeast and good bacteria out of the air around it and creates a  bubbling ball of nourishing life after just 12 hours on the kitchen counter.

See da bubbles?

All that life makes your insides SO happy when you eat it.

Bubbles = Life!

I've got a starter going, one which I hope will be the mother of countless loaves of yummy, chewy bread - and yes, even CAKE.  And I'm just fascinated by how this works.

I've downloaded the introduction to sourdough from an great site I frequent, Gnowflgins - weird name, awesome site - and it has just made me giddy with new information.

I'll be keeping you posted on how I progress with my sourdough.  I hope to master it and perfect it in the coming weeks.

I'd Like to Say This Is About Cake, but...

Here's a personality glitch for you.

The go-getting, dream-chasing, ambitious woman with a plan is also the neurotic, painfully shy, self-doubter. 

I'm not sure what it is about me.  I've never had small dreams.  I never wanted to learn to play the piano.  I wanted to be a concert pianist.  I never wanted to be an intern.  I wanted to run Capitol Hill. 

Not that I'm saying I ever made it past Fur Elise or being the pion clerk everyone got to yell at - but it's just part of my make up.  I can see myself achieving things. 

I guess some people call that vision.

But in the waiting and reaching and grasping and hoping, there is a well of self-doubt and fear that can all but sink my efforts to move forward.

I find myself home tonight, baking bread and wondering where I get off thinking I can run my own bakery.  I never went to pastry school!  I've never owned a business! 

What makes me think I can do this???????

Answer: I have NO idea. 

But deep down, past that sour well of disbelief, there's a spring of confidence and it just keeps bubbling up.


photo credit

I cannot shake this sense of purpose I have. 

So, yeah, I've never baked for my own livlihood.  I've never operated a business myself.  But there's a stack of pictures that tell me I've got something going on here.  And there's a lot of people who can tell you my work is worth the money...(I wish they'd post comments, but hey...you can't have it all!). 

So I will keep searching, searching, searching for the next safe place to put my flour-covered foot. 

I suppose the uncertainty is part of the process. 

Portrait of a Cake Build

Piping something for the purple hydrangea to hang onto

Do it yourself floral arranging!

Almost there!

 

Cake Euphoria!  Oh the bliss!

My favorite shot.  I just love the straight
back and the stairstep of the florals.

The reason the effort is so, so worth it:)



Eight Reasons to be GRATEFUL!

So, you might be wondering...where are the rest of the cake pictures??  Well, here's the thing...my digital camera took a poop and it is officially in the land of dead electronic things.

My awesome sister-in-law, who is a regular guest-blogger here:), and, by the way, is doing a great job on her own blog,  took many, many pictures on her phone, and they are being downloaded and sent.  So, they're on their way...and I am trying to be patient.

Til then I will give you my Gratituesday list born of last weekend's cake euphoria!

I am grateful for:

1. MY HUSBAND:  What can I say?  I married an amazing man.  As I was about to stack the cake the night before, I realized the fridge wasn't level and would destroy my cake if it sat in there overnight.  This precipitated a complete melt down in the kitchen.  As I cried and breathed into a paper bag, this man single-handedly leveled the fridge all while whistling and telling me I'm good at what I do. 

He even took a large metal level to the head and kept his cool!  Forget John Wanye, I'll take a Lennon Lore ANY day!!

Amazing Cake Muscles...my husband...and his cartoon doppelganger:).

2. My car:  The new-to-us SUV is a GREAT cake mobile!  all the seats fold down and the A/C works great in the back to keep all that lucious butter cream cold!

3. My husband:  Yup, he gets two separate numbers.  Aside from the appliance leveling, he also put his huge muscles to work to move my 75 pound cake from fridge to car, from car to reception hall and did it without so much as an eye-roll or stumble!  He also DROVE and did an amazing job of warning me about bumps and slowing down to almost a crawl for railroad tracks.  Could not have done this without him!

4. My sister-in-law:  She was there when we arrived, and boy did we work well together.  She kept me calm, helped me get things set up and helped me serve.  What a great encourager!  I love my husband's family...scratch that...I love MY family:).

5. It was work - yes, it is HARD work.  But I had FUN.

6. The Bride and Groom: They were thrilled with the final product.  I added it up...this cake and the service I provided would have cost a littl over 800 smackers.  And if that sounds horrendously expensive to you, I'll do another post about all the labor and fine ingredients that produced this beautiful cake...whew!  By far the nicest wedding gift I've ever given...and it was well-received, giving me the satisfaction of knowing my love was accepted.  Cuz I show love with gifts...among other things:). 

7. I just loved seeing Scott and Krista get married.  I smiled so much my face hurt.  What a glorious, joyful wedding!  I'm SO grateful I could add something special to their big day. 

8. Confirmation of growing skill:  I KNOW I can do this.  Bakery...business...the Lord is opening doors and gently, firmly pressing his hand to my back and ushering me through them.  I feel confident.  I'm ready to move forward.  I'm excited about what the next year and a half will bring!!



Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

Mr. and Mrs. Gant

Mr. and Mrs. Gant cut this six tiered, lemon cake this afternoon.  Oh what a wonderful thing!  I will  have more to say about this later, after the cake euphoria has died down.  For now, a picture is worth MUCH more than my words...

Fat Daddio, Oh, How I love Ya!

Imelda Marcos had something like 5,400 pairs of shoes when she died. 

The likes of modern shoe-queens, a la Carrie whats-her-name from Sex and the City (never watched that one much, because, among other reasons, Sarah Jessica Parker reminds me of a coyote...sorry, but I just couldn't get into her...) - they just don't come close.

Me?  When I die, someone is going to write a Wikipedia article about the number of Fat Daddio pans I have stored on my back porch.  Not that I want to be remembered as a cake pan hoarder, but I would rather spend money on a new cake pan than a new pair of shoes ANY day. 

Yes, my name is Amy, and I'm a huge nerd.  But you love me, right? 

Don't answer that. 

I would love to include bake ware for purchase in my much-dreamed-of bakery.  Up front, next to the place where you order your awesome baked goods and gorgeous cakes, you'll also be able to peruse a full line of Fat Daddio products. 

I just can't say enough good things about the quality and consistent results I get when I use my Fat Daddio pans.  They are simply wonderful, and I would highly recommend investing in a few even if all you are doing is baking the odd birthday cake or taking cupcakes to school for your kids.  Their stuff is affordable and durable. 

Love me some Fat Daddio.  I use their stuff pretty much exclusively when I bake. 

So if you are in the market for new bakeware - check them out!  You'll be glad you did!

Ding Dong? DANG!

I will soon be revealing my latest wedding masterpiece, here at Cake Lore.  It'll be delivered and photographed adnosium next weekend, so set your iphone alarms and make sure you tell your friends:).

In the meantime, I have to ask you a question.  WHO is googling "giant ding dong cake" every day? 

Are you a Giant Ding Dong Cake googler??

I really love checking the stats on this blog - love meaning "completely obsess over" in my own personal lexicon - and I especially love the feature that tells me search queries that lead people here.  It never fails - almost daily - someone, somewhere, is googling "giant ding dong cake."  I always scratch my head at that.

Well, I mean, I know why.  Becase ding dongs are amazing.  And nothing's better than amazing except for...GIANT amazing. 

The Cake Lore Giant Ding Dong Cake is a whole lotta amazing - super rich, double chocolate cake, filled with fresh vanilla whipped cream, covered in ganache. 

Mmmmmmmmmmmm...Ding Dong Dang. 

But you gotta admit, it's kind of a strange thing to see multiple people googling every day.  Kind of like the odds of hearing the right sentence at the end of a game of "Telephone."  Ever play that?  Yeah...anyway...So if you've been googling Giant Ding Dong Cake, I gotta say, thank you!  And...um...don't stop:). 

I'll be pricing this one soon and adding it to ye olde price list - because far be it from me to overlook what could be the single most popular thing I make.