Chocolate Cake for a Rainy Day

Rain was pouring down for a couple of hours this afternoon; and, I have been craving a piece of chocolate cake. So, no better time to bake a chocolate cake than on a rainy afternoon.

Ok, so first let's get the chocolate cake batter going, I love my Kitchen Aid :-)

Second, someone has to lick the cake batter .... LOL! Not me, not this time ;-)

Oh yeah, the dogs are in the kitchen too... probably thinking I am going to drop some chocolate cake batter and they will get same of it. Nope, not this time. But, they also took a nap while waiting.

So, I also made some chocolate ganache to smear over the cake along with some fresh raspberries and homemade whipped cream... Yummy!!! Voila! The cake is done ... it's a very rustic looking cake, nothing fancy but it's delicious ;-)

And finally, I had my piece of chocolate cake... with fresh made Nespresso coffee!

Kai Lan Cake

Kai Lan theme cake for Mackenzie's 2nd birthday. It's a Kai Lan chocolate cake with purple buttercream icing. The Kai Lan cake was decorated with fondant; fondant flowers, sun, and birthday sign. The Kai Lan dragon boat is a plastic toy.

Birthday girl and me

Baking Party Rocks is Born!

I am very excited to announce my new business Baking Party Rocks! Baking parties are deliciously fun for kids and adults of any age. Baking Party Rocks will come to your kids baking party and entertain the crowd with some yummy baking. Baking Party Rocks also offers newlywed baking party, mom and daughter baking parties and more. We'll show everyone how to bake delicious cakes and cupcakes; decorate and have fun! Party members will help with the baking and decorating of all the baked goods. Visit Baking Party Rocks for more information.

Birthday Cupcake Rose Vase

I made this cupcake vase for a birthday celebration. These are low-fat Chocolate cupcakes with not so low-fat butter cream icing! For the chocolate cupcakes, I used low-fat milk and unsweetened apple sauce. When you use apple sauce to replace the butter the cake comes out very moist and dense. So, keep that in mind. If you don't like a more dense moist cake, you might want to stick to the more conventional ingredients.

I got the metal vase at a local craft store. It looks very cute! Great presentation for the most delicious roses you will ever get!

View a similar post about a cupcake planter I made.

Baking with Kids!

Last weekend was super busy, with personal chores and some fun baking party, with kids of So, last Saturday I went to my girl-friend’s place, btw right on the beach! Can’t have a better view! So, I went there to help her bake some cupcakes and a cake with her grandchildren, for their Easter Sunday.

I was all equipped with my cake decoration tool box, a cupcake pan, and design cookie cutters for the fondant just in case; yes, I brought some colored fondant too, but we ended up not using. The kids had plenty of other decorations to finish up the cupcakes and cake. I even wore my fun and fancy cupcake baking apron that lights up – I was in style LOL!






We first made some vanilla cupcakes, from scratch but Val, my g/f only had salted butter- so, that’s what we used. It tasted good, but the icing was little different for my taste – but who cares? The kids loved all the way! When the cupcakes were in the oven, we made the green color vanilla icing, which was used to pipe the grass on top of the cupcakes and then topped with peeps, jelly beans, marshmallow eggs, and some M&Ms! Can you imagine the sugar rush!

Then, we made two other small cakes, a vanilla and a chocolate one. Baked the cakes, stacked them with the vanilla on the bottom. We made cream cheese icing with the salted butter LOL! And again they loved! We added blue color to the cream cheese icing.

It all turned out great and they were able to celebrate their Easter with some fun Easter decorated cakes and cupcakes. And, I even got a cute thank you card from the kids because they had so much fun. Their parents said I need to open a business for kids parties; baking with kids. They said parents are always looking for what to do for their kid’s parties, theme etc. So, I am considering as a side job.

"The children enjoyed this soooo much! Thank you." Val Palermo

Restaurante Yakisoba, enjoy fresh pasta and more

Yokisoba Chinese Restaurant in Liberdade, Sao Paulo, Brasil. Here you can eat tasty Chinese food and enjoy fresh pasta made right in front of your eyes. I had lunch there two days ago with my uncle. It was great! The video shows the chef making some fresh pasta ...

Cup of cold rich delicious chocolate

I just had to stop by the chocolate store during my vacation, Kopenhagen Besides getting a bunch of chocolate and easter chocolate eggs, I also had a cup of cold and rich delicious chocolate .... A shot of heven!