I'm Leavin' On A Jet Plane!

Hey Everyone... I hope you ALL had a wonderful Thanksgiving! You are probably wondering where I am...?.....

I am visitng my Mother-in-Law and hubby grandparents in Sofia, Bulgaria, my adorable (sometimes...) hubby's homeland. We brought the kiddies along with us. It is such a wonderful country- mountains, culture, great food, wonderful traditions. It is one of my MOST favorite places in the world. If only I could speak the language!! LOL...

Also, last week I was in Jersey, visiting my BEST girlie, Liz and her FAB family. Liz and I partnered with our buddy from the 5th grade, Milly, to go see Madonna live in Philadelphia!! I only have one word for that- AMAZING!! Madonna was absolutely UNBELIEVEABLE!! I filmed a minute of it and will post it later!

I will be back in a few weeks and will try to post when I can. I have SO much to show all of you- my crazy cakes, Madonna, Jersey pastries (*YUM*), Bulgarian cuisine (*YUMMY in my tummy*)

I really miss all of this blogging stuff. AND, of course, all of my wonderful blogging buddies! Talk to you soon, Peeps!! Chaio!

TWD: Florida Pie Rewind

Hey Gang! Hope everyone is enjoying life to the fullest! I have been SO busy. SO knee deep in fondant that I truly can't find the end of this sugary tunnel. I have had a serious flurry of cake orders: a doggie birthday cake, black belt graduation, my signature "cheese" cake, bridal shower AND my daughter's 5-tier Fancy Nancy monster for this weekend. (Help, I'm drowning.... *Gurgle*) AND, to my surprise, the Seminole Chronicle came out to interview me regarding my cakes yesterday! How exciting!!

So, here it is, folks. An old post, I know. Please forgive me. I promise, I will be back next week. However, this week's selection of Kugelhopf, located on pages 61-63. was chosen by Yolanda of The All-Purpose Girl. What is kugelhopf, you ask?? Beats me. I know it needed a dough hook which scared ME half to death. I'm sure it was easy as pie! Hee, hee...

Florida Pie happen to be my very first first post for Tuesday's With Dorie. Hope you enjoy!!

A new day, a new challenge! I just joined Tuesdays With Dorie , a great group of bloggers that LOVE to bake. All of the members are given a recipe from the book, "Baking, From My Home To Yours", by Dorie Greenspan. This week selection, Florida Pie, was chosen from fellow blogger, Dianne's Dishes. I have to say, I was a bit concerned with pie selection. I think I didn't realize exactly WHAT I was getting my self into. PIES? Oh boy...

Hey, you guys know I like a challenge!! Bring it on and a bag of chips! Or something like that! I got over the fear quickly and was excited. I live in Florida... Could this be a coincidence? Or did I just step into the Twilight Zone of baking? I am a true Jersey girl and never was daring enough to actually try Key Lime Pies, until now. NOW, I had no choice. And I don't give up easily.

What the H***!! NO graham cracker crust after Mother's Day?? Can you believe it? Did every one make a cheesecake last weekend or what?? I was surprised. I had to use a store bought pie crust, which I brushed with egg whites and baked at 350 degrees for 5 minutes, to harden the crust. I also substituted whipped cream instead of the meringue and toasted the coconut for the top, which totally brought out the flavor. I also could help myself, making a cake-ish sort of thing without busting out the pastry bag and tyring to make it look nice nice.

My hubby and I absolutely loved this pie. It came out SO good. The sweetness of the coconut kicks the tangy flavor down just enough. Yummy!! And EASY as pie, no pun intended.

Feel like having a stab at it? Please visit Dianne's Dishes.

Happy cakin', kids!!

Cheese & Wine Anyone??

Hey, who spilled the wine?? Hee, hee... This is a cake I made as a surprise for my husband's clients, John and Lisa. They were having a housewarming party for their new place. All of Lisa's relatives were down from NYC. Made me miss being back home for a second....

The cake was two flavors. The cheese was chocolate butter cake with cookies and cream filling and the big loaf of bread was coconut butter cake, filled with strawberries, pineapple, and Italian meringue buttercream. Each layer had a Malibu rum soak. I was doing everything I could NOT to put a little in my glass! (It was 5 o'clock somewhere!)

These were some of the fun details.... The wine glass was made from gumpaste and all of the details were fondant.

The cake board was covered with fondant and hand painted to look like wood.

I made the bottle using rice krispie treats, covered in chocolate fondant. I airbrushed it with antique green luster dust to give it a nice green glimmer. I never used rice krispie treats before and have a LOT more to learn about it!

And, of course, one of my biggest cake fans!!

Today is my daugther Sophia's birthday! Happy Birthday to my little sweetheart!! We are celebrating it in a couple of weeks. She has already placed an order for her cake!! Stay tuned!!