New Blog!

We have Moved!!! Check us out at www.shortcakessonoma.blogspot.com

Thanks!

XOXO
Amanda

SOLD!

I am waiting for a few better pictures but I wanted to post my "SOLD" cupcakes. Chocolate buttermilk cake was the basis of these cupcakes made for the newest member of the Pacific Union family in Sonoma, Cheryl! Handmade out of chocolate, I had a great time coming up with this idea. Not wanting to do my classic cakes, I wanted to show that PU was "SOLD" with their new Boss!

XOXO

Amanda

More Whoopie pies!!

Tested new flavors today! Butter Pecan Cream Cheese, Chocolate Peanut Butter and a Cinnamon spice with a Brown Sugar carmel cream. They were all so tasty!

xoxo

Amanda

Whoopie Pie!

A whoopie pie is a traditionally made of two small, chocolate, disk-shaped cakes with a sweet, creamy frosting sandwiched between them. For Valentines day, I decided to make red velvet whoopie pies! I first tasted a whoopie pie at the Tea Cake Bakery in Emeryville CA. My version is just as good! I love how the red coloring contrasts against the white frosting between. I made 20 of these for book club...only 11 made it..SO GOOD!!!

XOXO

Amanda

New Logo!

I got the new logo up!! How does it look???

XOXO
Amanda

Vanilla Chiffon

I tested out a new recipe last night and came up with a winner! The cake is light and airy with a delicate vanilla flavor. I topped it with with a creamy chocolate frosting. I've eaten 5 already...I need to get these out of the house! Come get them!

XOXO

Amanda

Magnolia Bakery!!

I spent a few days in New York with my childhood friends, Natalie and Janet, and had a blast! One of my had to stops, was the Magnolia Bakery to see where the cupcake craze started!! We didn't go to the original store front, but I was Ok with that.

Every time I do to a new cupcake place the first kind I try is always a very simple Vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting. Just a basic cupcake to get the idea of the bake shop. This one was very good. The cake had crunchy top, which I have not seen before. I liked it and am thinking of trying it myself. The frosting was good, not great, but a strong chocolate flavor, which I like and a creamy texture! I really like they way they frosted it. it was an "upside down" swirl. The frosting was built up on the outside instead of the inside and was topped with a sweet white flower. Overall a VERY good cupcake!

I was sad they didn't have any red velvet cakes made while I was there, but I guess that means I will just have to go back!!! :-)

Well I feel a baking day coming on so maybe there will be another post today or tomorrow!

XOXO

Amanda

The Basic!

So I spent my last trip coming up with ideas and names for the cupcakes I make. My friend Jessica had some great ideas and I owe her some credit for some of the ideas. The next few posts will be me testing out the names, flavors, and process for each cupcake! Here is the first one!

The Basic!

Its a Vanilla Cupcake topped with a creamy swirl of a chocolate ganche. Plain and simple. Just the Basic!

Enjoy!

XOXO,

Amanda

A Childhood Favorite...

I realised this afternoon that I haven't made cupcakes in awhile. So here is my childhood favorite, a good oldfashion chocolate cupcake with a vanilla buttercream. Making these I remember while I love making cupcakes. They are so much fun! Thanks to my sister who took these photos. They are beautiful. My goal for the next few days is to find my camera! The Iphone just isnt cutting it anymore!!

XOXO

Amanda

Disaster Strikes in the Shortcake Kitchen!!!

I decided I was in the mood to make some Shortcakes on a stick tonight. I wanted to try some new ideas. Mostly I was bored and wanted to keep my hands busy for a bit. When I am trying new ideas, I always use a box mix and frosting. I feel better about only spending 5 bucks for the cake then making a cake from scratch. When I went to the store, I couldn't find a boxed red velvet cake. I decided to use strawberry cake mix instead. I am gearing up for Valentines day and wanted everything red or pink. This was my first mistake. The boxed Strawberry cake is NOT good. My opinion. I shaped all my cake and into the fridge they went. Just because I don't like the taste doesn't mean I can't still use it.

I moved onto the chocolate. Most of the people I have seen make these, use Candy melts. I have a personal problem with that. Candy melts aren't chocolate. They are "chocolate flavor" made from corn seed oil and don't actually contain any chocolate. I use actual chocolate. It is hard to work with then the candy melts but the taste is worth it in the end. So I melted some white chocolate and got to work. Everything was fine until I wanted to color is red. I added gel coloring I have and it wasn't red enough for me, so I added a bit of red liquid food coloring. The chocolate seized up on me and turned into a big glop of chocolate. I tried to fix it by adding a bit of oil to it. Then I added water. The more oil. Then more water. I added more chocolate. I put it back on the heat, I stirred. And in the end I ruined the chocolate. We shall see what happens tomorrow with it. But I think I am out of luck with this batch. The cake balls kept falling off the sticks. The red chocolate, if I can call it that anymore, never really set up. The strawberry cake doesn't taste good. it was a bust all the way around!!

Anyway...lesson learned. Biggest lesson???? Strawberry cake is NO GOOD! Remember, its easy to make it look good. Its hard to make it taste good.

I think my next project will be Cheesecake on a stick!! I love cheesecake!!!

Here are the pictures from my sad night of baking!!

XOXO

Amanda

Almond Tart!

This tart is going to be the death of me or the death of most of my clothes, which ever comes first!! It is to die for! Perfectly sweet and balanced, you get a nice crunch from the almonds that top it. I am in the process in trying other flavors! Other nuts, candies and fruits! They are all pretty good but the almond is my favorite!!!

XOXO

Amanda

Shortcakes on a Stick!!

I got this idea from the Bakerella blog and thought it was really cute! These "Shortcakes on a Stick" were fun to make and SUPER tasty! I made Christmas trees and cupcakes and am working on other ideas right now! These were made for a cookie party I had and were a BIG hit. They are perfect size for a child's birthday party or for the "big girls" who only want a bite!

Watch for more ideas, shapes and colors to come!!! Or let me know ideas of yours!!! I'll up for it all!!

XOXO

Amanda

What I want for Christmas!

Christmas is coming up and here is a list of things I want!

1. A food scale
2. A set of silver mixing bowls
3. Food Processor
4. A new car
5. A commercial kitchen to use!

I am hoping to get into the farmers markets here in town. I want to make and sell cheesecakes, cupcakes and tarts. I am working on my recipes and perfecting them BUT you need a commercial kitchen to sell to the public. Anyone know of one here in Sonoma???

Well Off to the kitchen!

XOXO
Amanda

Luna the Cat

This is my Cat Luna. She LOVES hanging out with me while I bake. Right now I am up to my eyeballs in COOKIES!! Tomorrow, Nicole and I are having a cookie party at our house. I have baked 3 different kinds, Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip, Chocolate Quickies, and Amaretti cookies! I am also trying a new recipe that I am calling Cupcake Kisses. I got the idea and recipe from the Bakerella blog. Its a GREAT idea! Pictures will be up soon!!!

XOXO

Luna and Amanda

Cookies Cookies and more Cookies!!!! American Style!

American cookies are hearty cookies. Chocolate chip, Oatmeal Raisin, Peanut Butter are all examples of these hearty "meal" cookies. To me they are a Dessert instead of a garnish or snack. These cookies are a mixture of all different kinds of American style cookies I made. The cool thing about these cookies is they can be frozen in the dough stage of the game. SO the next time you are making a batch of your favorite chocolate chip cookie, double or triple the recipe, and scoop out all of the dough. Then freeze it. Once they are frozen, you can wrap them up and whenever you want cookies just pop one out of the freezer and bake them off! Its a great time saver. They are great for an easy dessert. Just put them in the over just as you are sitting down to dinner and by the time you are done, you will have warm cookies out of the oven!! YUM!!

Cupcake and kisses!!

Amanda

Chocolate Boxes!!!

In my chocolate class, I was assinged to make a chocolate box. This box is 100% made from chocolate that has been tempered. Tempering chocolate is the process of heating the chocolate up and then cooling it down correctly so the chocolate stays solid and shiny while at room temp. While making my box, I wanted something very victorian and elegant looking. The box was filled with beautiful chocolates filled with all sorts of yummy flavors.

Gingerbread!!!!

Its Christmas time! That means Gingerbread! These little houses were made for Lola's holiday party. They turned out chewy, flavorful and sweet! We wrapped them in plastic and attached business cards Lola made for me. She said they were a BIG hit.

Chocolate Souffles!!!

These are some of my favorite dessert's. Chocolate souffle!!! YUM!!! Chocolate is folded into whipped egg whites and then baked in ramakins the result is a light, warm dessert that is the perfect end to any meal!!! My "volcano plate" is just a fallen souffle floated in a coffee chocolate sauce with white chocolate swirled in. The other plate is a blackberry chocolate souffle. Frozen blackberries and baked in the bottem of the souffle dish and it produces a sweet sauce which is a nice suprise for the rich chocolate souffle. Everyone loves chocolate and berries!!!

Devils food cake!!!

My all time favorite cake is a yellow butter cake with chocolate frosting. My second favorite cake is this devils food cake. Its moist, with rich buttery chocolate flavor. The frosting is a basic Ganache that was whipped up with butter. Its thick, creamy and YUMMY! Making a cake is a funny thing. You would be amazed how forgiving a basic butter cake it. The top layer of this cake fell apart on me but you would never know by the finished product. Lola & Jeff, Melissa & Bart and my parents all enjoyed this cake and deemed it a winner! I topped the cake with white chocolate curls and a dusting of cocca powder.

Cupcake and kisses!

Amanda

Torte de chocolatta ala sanna

Here is my Mom's Chocolate torte! Its a flourless chocolate cake flavored lightly with espresso. Its a dense, rich cake that in the words of Melissa "I could only eat 3 bites!!!" The cake was then glazed with more chocolate, banded and topped with White chocolate leaves and a chocolate rose. This chocolate torte is really best a few days after baking and alone, but I needed to glaze and decorate it for class so really this is OVER the top. The band is a mixture of white chocolate and dark chocolate, cooled down, and then places around the glazed cake. The leaves on top were molded with white chocolate on the back of real leaves from my garden and left to set up. The chocolate rose was hand shaped out of chocolate fondant.