Winnie the Pooh Cake

As I had mentioned earlier, this turned out to be a busy month for me (baking), considering that I do it in my spare time. I have been baking pretty much every weekend and sometimes during the week also. However, it is a pleasure to put a smile on someone's face, not to mention sweeten their day too.

This past week a little boy for whom I made my first big cake turned one and based on some clues from the family, I came up with a design for a Winnie the Pooh cake (may be I can get away with showing this cake to my niece also).



My idea was to model the grown up boy Niki from fondant as a continuation of the theme from the baby shower cake and create a scene where he interacts with the characters from the movie (I always have bigger ideas than I can create).


First, it took me a lot longer than I thought it would to make the fondant figurines (with some being made twice), and then, fondant was just not sticking as I wanted it to. I ran out of time and couldn't finish the details that I wanted to put on the figurines, which of course changed some of my plans. My perfectionism was killing me at this point (this quality of mine doesn't always work in my favor), but I guess I got the idea across. I was pretty pleased with the way the colors turned out, and was lucky enough to  have my daughter help with adding color details and shades.

The cake consisted of vanilla layers with Raffaello filling. I usually read a number of recipes and at the end take several ideas to come up with a recipe that I think will taste delicious. People haven't told me that they hated any of the cakes I made, and I hope it is not because "it's a cake after all" type of thing...

This experiment turned out to be quite tasty. The filling was a creamy coconut filling, light and fluffy with almond and waffle crunch.

I have interesting ideas for the upcoming cake orders, I hope I can re-create them to look and taste as interesting as they are in my head.

Thank you for looking at my sweets!

My Niece's Birthday

Well, I have to admit, I was thinking I would be much more regular on my blog, but once my 10+ hrs work day at work is over, it is really hard to concentrate on putting something together for the blog. Not to mention that I have to bake it first before I brag about it. I think this is enough of complaining and time to share my weekend baking with you....

Today, thousands of miles away, my 3 yr old niece celebrated her birthday! Since I can't celebrate with her, I decided to make her a cake, and not just a cake, but one, decorated based on her favorite movie - the "101 Dalmatians". I made chocolate cake with creme brule filling and of course covered with fondant. Cake was moistened with squeezed fresh orange juice to give the chocolatey layers fresh and fruity flavor.

I had made the cake in advance and was hoping to decorate on the weekend, but a friend of mine invited us for Saturday night dinner, and I had to take the cake there (otherwise, we would have ended up eating the whole thing :)). That meant that I had to decorate it in a very short time. While not exactly what I expected, it turned out ok. My idea was to have many more dalmatians interacting, but couldn't make them fast enough.

Let me tell you how the birthday girl liked it....

When I saw her today to wish her "Happy Birthday" and showed her a picture of the cake, she (very tired after a day filled with lots of emotions, lack of sleep, and a big party) said: "Mommy....I wanted a Winnie the Pooh cake :((((" How did auntie not know??? I love her!

Now, only if I can find the time to take my pictures during the day... For now, please excuse the quality, as not only I can only take them at night and using artificial light, but also don't know enough about how to take good pictures either. 

Happy Birthday Geri!

Happy Valentine's Day and Честит Трифон Зарезан!

I hope your day is filled with love and happiness!

Happy Trifon Zarezan to those Bulgarians who celebrate the wine holiday and those named Valentin, Valia, etc.!!!

February 1st - Trifon Zarezan

Trifon Zarezan - This Bulgarian holiday of vine-growers and wine-makers is one of the most popular holidays celebrated both in accordance with the old and the new calendar (on Feb 1st and usually repeated on Feb 14th).

The festivities on the day of Trifon Zarezan mark the end of winter and the onset of spring. The transition between the two seasons is the transition between the dead winter season and the invigorating power of the following seasons. 

Old tradition dictates that the woman in the household wakes early and bakes a ritual loaf of bread, decorated with a vine-leaf (definitely not in line with the lifestyle of the today's emancipated woman!). Back in the years, chicken was also prepared along with a bottle of the best wine available. They were all placed inside a colorful sack, which was taken by the man to the vineyard. Men were gathered at the vineyard to work on it. Turned to the East, they used to greet the sun and started work by pruning three vine trees,  and decorating their hats with the vine branches. The vines were blessed for a fruitful year. The ritual consisted (as it does today too) of festive songs and dances, accompanied by a ritual table laid in between the vineyards. The first three pruned vine sticks were wreathed into a crown for the best vine-grower in the village. Then wine was poured over the vines and a blessing was being pronounced so that there was rich harvest of grapes during the year. 

The best wine grower was proclaimed the "Wine King" of the year. Other men used to carry the wine king on their hands, or drive him in a cart around the village. Everyone typically wanted to be blessed by the "Wine King", so they treated him with the best wine they had produced. The more wine was poured ("drank" that is) on that day, the more fruitful the next harvest would be. Today, many of the old customs are still in place, however, changes in lifestyle lead to changes in the rituals, mainly shortening them to pruning of the vineyards and drinking wine, for the majority of the Bulgarians. 

In Bulgaria many religious holidays are dedicated to the Saint they celebrate, and today (I personally believe that most Bulgarians celebrate this on the old date, February 14th), everyone named Valentin, Valentina, Valia, Lozan (meaning "vine") celebrate their "name" day. 

Raspberry Delight

Here is one of my cakes in celebration of Trifon Zarezan! (I apologize for the bad quality of the picture). 


Happy Name Day to all who celebrate today!