Coconut Cupcakes

We provided some goods for an event for PS89 this past week.  Since the event was Hawaiian-themed, we thought coconut cupcakes would be entirely appropriate.

These were made of coconut cake, filled with coconut pastry cream, and topped with a pillowy Italian meringue frosting.

A very personal wedding cake

My little brother, the baby of the family, got married this past weekend.  (They grow up so fast!)

This half of PattyCake had one of the most nerve-wracking culinary experiences imaginable - I was charged with making and transporting his wedding cake from New York to Monterey, California.  And when you spend hours baking and assembling a cake for the most important day of your little brother's life, it is VERY difficult to watch the tightly packed, icepack-stuffed box of buttercreamed cakes roll down the checked luggage conveyer belt into the bowels of JFK.

Luckily, everything turned out okay - the cakes survived, including the extra sheet cakes made for the indeterminate amount of wedding guests (turned out there were about 30), and despite some last-minute nervousness and quick scrambling, the cake was still pretty.  And delicious.  And perhaps most importantly, the bride was happy.

*Chocolate cake with vanilla custard and vanilla buttercream
*Vanilla cake with raspberry mousse and vanilla buttercream

Anniversary Cake, part II

Last year my lovely fiance's coworker, An Inspired Husband, requested my assistance in recreating their wedding cake for his wife as a surprise for their fifth anniversary. This year, similarly inspired, another coworker, let's call him Thoughtful Hubby, asked for us to do the same for his wife.

The cake below is a vanilla-vanilla cake, with raspberry buttercream filling, a la the original from Sweet Lisa's in Connecticut.

Their wedding cake was a massive tower of hexagonal and circular tiers, and despite being much smaller (it was meant for only two people after all), it was a little more challenging and time-consuming to cut and cover the hexagonal layer without the aid of a shaped pan. Nevertheless, it turned out well - Thoughtful Hubby told J. that his wife thought he'd gone back to the original bakery!