a humble thanks...

I had a bride call to thank me this weekend. It was so humbling. I hung up and felt overwhelmed by it because the whole time I was thinking "I want to thank YOU." I said it to her, but I wanted to tell you as well.

We live in such a self centered world. Everything in our culture seems to point to our wants, our opinions, agendas and what we need at the moment. In such self focus, we often lose appreciation for others and gratefulness is rare.

Thank You. Just two little words, but they mean a lot. When was the last time you thanked someone?

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I wonder if it would be a good idea to take these coming weeks and reflect on all we are thankful for. Maybe try to change our perspective. See the good and positive things in our life and stop taking people we say we love for granted.

When this bride called me, it took me by surprise. I didn't expect it. After all, I was a vendor. She hired me. But she said thanks. It spoke a lot to her character and it reminded me of the importance of a thank you.

So I wanted to make sure that I don't take you all for granted.

I get to work. I get to have the distinct privilege of working from home, and still pursue a passion of mine.





I love what I do and I am humbled every day that God has given me the opportunity to do it. Therefore, my first Thank you goes to Him.

Also, a huge thank you to my husband of 15 years and best friend, Phil. Without his support and help, Frosted wouldn't be possible.

To all my customers who have ordered cakes, allowed me to have a part in your wedding day or special occasion, to my friends and family who have supported me and helped me in this cake venture... THANK YOU. I will be forever grateful.

I can't wait to see what the future holds in store for Frosted.

Cupcake Bling!

Stumbled across cupcake jewelry today by designer A. Jaron.

This ring was designed wtih antique sterling silver and an 18k gold flower atop a 30mm Labrodorite stone:



This collector's piece comes at a price tag of $595.00.

Craving Chocolate?



Donella's Closet featured this Jaron Chocolate Cupcake Ring. It's sterling silver setting frames a clear checkerboard cut quartz gem which covers a dark chocolate enamel. Beautifully priced at $59.99





For those who love to have their cake... why not wear it too? ;)

Cake Comedy

Eat Cake

Yes, another book review.

Yes, another book review on a work of fiction.

Yes, another book review on a work of fiction that includes cake in it's story line.

Hungry yet? ;)

Eat Cake, A Novel by Jeanne Ray was sitting on a shelf at my local library. It beconed me with the name and the strange picture of a woman hiding behind beautiful hat boxes.

Looking for another good summer read, I decided to try it out.

Also, on the inside flap was a card that had been inserted. It read: In Memory of Doris Winters. Given by Sonia and Carroll. I love that. If a park bench has a plaque on it that reads "In Memory of..." I will often pause for a moment as I pass it by. I took the book in part because of the "In Memory of".

But I digress...

Eat Cake began with a wonderful chapter. I was pulled in right away.
"Cakes have gotten a bad rap. People equate virtue with turning down dessert. there is always one person at the table who holds up her hand when I serve the cake. No, really, I couldn't, she says, and then gives her flat stomach a conspiratorial little pat. Everyone who is pressing a fork into that first tender layer looks at the person who declined the plate, and they all think, That person is better is than I am. That person has discipline. But that isn't a person whtih discipline, that is a person who has competely lost touch with joy."

It is the story of how the main character "Ruth" had her life saved by cake. Ruth finds herself surrounded by dysfunctional family members and needs to save her family and herself.

The first few chapers were well written and I liked the way the author created each character so independently yet each relying on the other characters to be able to come alive to us, the reader. One negative thing I have to say, is that the book hits a lull in the middle chapters as page upon page contains dialogue between dysfunctional family members.
I was so over it, I almost quit the book.
Not only did i find those portions un-funny, I found it to compound my own stress about my real life dysfunctional family.
Really people, isn't fiction supposed to be an escape for us from real life? But the writing was still well done and characters are colorful and varied. If you get a kick out of watching an old lady spew out bitterness against an injured old man who can't even pee himself, then by all means, go right out and get a copy.

All that being said, I found that when I had about had it and was going to quit reading 3/4 of the way through, the book suddenly redeemed itself. With the introduction of a new character, the story line takes a turn for the better. I really enjoyed the last several chapters and was glad for the happy ending.

Best of all, the cake includes recipes!! Throughout the story, the main character, Ruth, bakes cakes. Several of her recipes are included in the back of the book. (score!)

One of the cakes she makes is called The Scarlet Empress. I was intrigued. It sounds A-MAZING. Unfortunately, the recipe was not included, but I found it easily online. It appeared in Rose Levey Bernenbaum's The Cake Bible. I can't wait to create my own Scarlett Empress!

Nicely done, Ms. Ray! I think Eat Cake is a great read.

Now, I think I may be on a fiction kick after all (but only if cake is in the pages some how). ;)

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

I never imagined that I would be writing a book review on my Frosted blog, but since I read a book that involved food I am thinking that it is fine and you will bear with me.

I have always loved to read. I don't have time for it as much as I used to, so I have found myself limited to my priority reading. This includes the bible, cook books and baking how to books, food magazines, books on parenting, marriage and other books that help or enhance where I am at in life. Fiction, although entertaining, had fallen off my radar and with no time to devote to escaping in the pages to some made up place or fall in love with made up characters, I had neglected any and all fiction for years.

Until...

I spotted this book by Aimee Bender at the local Borders.



I opened it up and read the first chapter.

"The room filled with the smell of warming butter and sugar and lemon and eggs, and at five, the timer buzzed and I pulled out the cake and placed it on the stove top. The house was quiet. The bowl of icing was right there on the counter, ready to go, and cakes are best when just out of the oven, and I really couldn't possibly wait, so I reached to the side of the cake pan, to the least obvious part, and pulled off a small warm spongy chunk of deep gold. Iced it all over with chocolate. Popped the whole thing into my mouth."

I loved Bender's descriptions. Her words came alive and I was there in the kitchen with the nine year old character. I bought the book and have looked forward to my moments of reading before bed time.

My own days are filled with baking, so a book with a story about food enchanted me. I found the book to be relatively clean. That is to say, no sordid sex tales or violence. No horrific human behavior. I felt myself pulled into the tale woven in the pages and hanging on to find out if the mystery of the main character would be revealed.

But, I will warn any would-be readers that you may get sucked into a seemingly normal story with a normal family who just happens to have some abnormal abilities. And then *Bam* 3/4 of the way through the book the author hits you with a scene like something out of a sci-fi film. I have to say, that if I had read that chapter in the beginning I wouldn't have finished the story, because I would have been too weirded out. (I prefer more realistic or idealistic interpretations of life in fiction.) But because I was already engrossed in the character and the story itself and because of an unquenchable curiosity to see how the story would find resolution on the pages ahead, I pushed past my uncomfortable shock and read on.

The last few chapters of the book offered some resolution. But it didn't have the ending I would have liked. I analyzed this for a bit after I finished the book. Perhaps I would not be happy with any ending. I guess I don't like endings.

Cakes come to an end. A rather swift end, I must add. At least with Frosted, I do my best to offer a happy ending...

Deep Fried Cake

There I was minding my own business... just perusing some favorite blogs.

Maybe it was the picture that got me. The crumbly cake texture with a flaky sugary coating.

Maybe it was the recipe. It seemed easy enough and I had all the ingredients.

But whatever the reason, I began to have a sudden craving for chocolate glazed donut holes. And who said donuts had to be for breakfast anyway? They are just deep fried cake, ya know. ;)

I usually don't need an excuse to bake. I love it so much, that the concept of just getting in the car to drive to dunkin donuts' never crossed my mind.

I rallied my favorite miniature baking assistant (She has some MAD stirring skills and is an accomplished taste tester) and we got to work.

After a short and easy mixing of the ingredients, we rolled out the dough and my little four year old assistant helped make the donut holes.





One, by one, they dropped into the deep fryer. A small while later, we coated them in the sugar glaze and let them set.

If you have yourself a deep fryer, try the recipe:
(found at smittenkitchen.com)

Chocolate Donut Holes

Yield: 4 dozen 1.5-inch holes. You can half the recipe and used a 1.25-inch cutter to make a little over 2 dozen.

2 3/4 cups (12 3/8 ounces or 352 grams) all-purpose flour
1 cup (3 ounces or 90 grams) unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa
2 teaspoons (about 3/8 ounce or 10 grams) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon (about 1/8 ounces or 4 grams) salt
4 large eggs
1 1/2 (10 5/8 ounces or 300 grams) cups sugar
1/3 cup (2 7/8 ounce or 84 grams) sour cream or buttermilk (what I used)
3 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces or 42 grams) butter, melted and cooled a bit
Your fat of choice for frying (solid vegetable shortening or canola, peanut or vegetable oil are popular choices)

Whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl. In a medium one, whisk eggs, sugar, sour cream or buttermilk and butter. Stir wet ingredients into dry until well blended. Chill batter until cold, at least 1 hour and up to 3. (I put it in the freezer for 20-30 minutes and it worked just fine.)

Flour your counter generously and scrape dough onto it. Flour dough. Flour your hands. Gently pat or roll dough out until it is 1/2-inch thick. Dip a 1 1/4 to 1 1/2-inch round cutter into a dish of flour and cut rounds from dough. Pat scraps of dough together and roll or smooth with floured hands to a 1/2 inch thickness and cut them again. If your dough or doughnut holes have gotten too soft to easily pick up, put them on a floured or parchment or waxed paper-lined tray and put them in the freezer for a few minutes, until they’re firm enough to gently handle again.

Prepare your fryer or fill a 5 to 6-quart with 4 inches of oil. Heat to 375°F (190°C). You can fry 6 to 12 doughnut holes at a time, about one full minute on each side. The trickiest parts will be visualizing when the doughnuts are done — since they’re chocolate, the color change will be subtle; I suggest practicing with scraps of extra dough first — and keeping your oil at an even temperature, if you’re not using a deep-fryer. Make sure you bring the oil back to 375°F after each batch.

Drain doughnut holes on a stack of paper towels. Once cool, roll in glaze (below) and let drain and dry on cooling racks.

8 ounces powdered sugar
3 tablespoons water, milk or buttermilk (what I used, highly recommended)
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract




I'll admit that I have eaten three by the time this photo was taken.

I'm eyeing a fourth.

Guilt may set in tomorrow, but for now I'm happy that I got my baking fix for the day and never had to turn on the oven, this hot summer day.

Time to rest outside in the hammock with a good book, a cool glass of milk and another one (or two) of these chocolate goodies.

Cake Batter, Batter, Batter...

In a discussion about ice cream this morning with my friend Heather, I explained that I preferred frozen yogurt because of the low calories. We talked about favorite brands and then I made a confession.

I have a new weakness for ice cream that is definitely NOT of the low calorie kind. My dear husband brought home a tempting treat from a local Cold Stone Creamery recently and I knew he was thinking of me when I saw the flavor: Cake Batter, Batter, Batter.



Yuuummmmmm!

check it out HERE.

The fact that it also has chocolate brownies and cookie dough inside was just enough to push me over the edge. I dug right in!

Sometimes, you have to just live life and worry about the baggage later. (In this case- the many pounds I most certainly gained in that little tub of rich-n-creamy goodness).

But I will run it off... and run right over to Cold Stone again the next time I get a craving.

...

Which is about NOW. See ya!