Adam's Pistachio Poker Cake

We threw Adam a surprise Las Vegas birthday party this year. Everyone dressed up like they were in Vegas and there were themed games and decorations all around.

Last year, I made Adam a Pistachio Mudkip cake, but no one could tell the cake was pistachio because the buttercream icing was overpowering. This year, I was determined to make sure everyone knew it was pistachio flavored. I learned from Amy's Lemon-Blueberry cake that the filling is the key to getting a specific flavor across.

• Cake: I used the same recipe that I did last year. It was so simple and actually tasted very good.

• Icing: I sort of made this up. Using this recipe as inspiration, I combined a package of pistachio pudding mix with a container of vanilla Cool-Whip (it was a seasonal thing, so it was on sale) and some (maybe a half a cup? I don't usually measure.) confectioner's sugar to thicken it up.

• Filling: For the pistachio filling, I simply made a packet of instant pudding mix. Easy peasy.

Now for the fun part! How the heck do you make cards and poker chips? I used white chocolate, a little bit of icing and, of course, food coloring. Melting chips are the best for this. They melt smoothly. I used a double boiler, wax paper, cookie sheets, a rolling pin, and a sharp knife. I poured the melted chocolate on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. I put another sheet of wax paper on top and then used a rolling pin to flatten the top. Once they were cooled, I cut rectangles for the cards and cleaned up the edges of the chips.

My helper

Making the chips

Making the cards

The cards look like American cheese!

Pudding for the filling

Layer one

Filling

Layer two

All iced! This spread surprising well for an easy icing

I made some colored chips

Decorating the cards (while sitting on the kitchen floor and watching The Office)

The cards

I added some chips underneath the cards for support. You can kind of see it under the Ace here

The birthday boy got a highly unlikely hand

Me with the cake

A collaboration :)

Birthday boy looking sharp with his cake

Justin enjoying the cards

I think Tim liked it...

Happy birthday, Adam!

Eli's Raspberry-Mango Cheesecake with a Walnut Crust

Mango cheesecake with raspberry puree and a walnut crust

For Eli's 23rd birthday, I decided to drive to Waltham to wish him a proper birthday. The week before, I had an incredibly packed schedule. Luckily, I had been planning his birthday cake for weeks, so I didn't have to quickly figure something out. The night before I left, I decided to bake the cake and then drive it to his house instead of baking it when I got there. It was my first time making a cheesecake! It was a good decision to make it the night before, though, because cheesecake needs to be refrigerated overnight anyway.  

I knew I had to incorporate mango into Eli's cake no matter what. It's his favorite fruit! I had a list of things that I knew he'd like, most of which were fruit. I finally decided on a mango cheesecake when I found recipes online with great reviews. 

I went to the Rochester Public Market and picked up some raspberries and mangoes. I knew they wouldn't last until I was ready for them almost a week later, so I threw them in the blender separately and pureed away. I then stuck them in the freezer. This worked out great, and it has encouraged me to puree and freeze the fruit I have that might be going bad soon. 

I adapted my recipe from epicurious. In the crust, I added finely chopped walnuts (done in my blender). Walnuts are one of Eli's favorite things, and I had been making maple-honey walnuts for him.  I also had a deeper pan, so I added to the baking time. To make the cake taste a little bit more like mango, I poured the extra puree over the top of the cake before baking it and swirled it in. The swirl really helped add a mango flavor to the cheesecake. After the cake had baked and cooled (and traveled 400 miles in my trunk), I poured raspberry puree over the top. It was pure raspberry, so it added just the right amount of sweetness without giving it too much! After a night of sitting on the cake, the raspberry puree soaked in a little, increasing the flavor and moisture of the cake.

Graham cracker crust with crushed walnuts

After baking the crust

Lots of cream cheese! I actually only used three of these, but they came in a club pack at Wegmans for a deal!

Mango puree

The cheesecake batter

Mango swirl added to the cheesecake

The final product

Not bad for my first, right?

Make a wish, Eli!

The birthday boy (wearing the shirt I got him)

Hopefully he was pondering his birthday wish

Attempting to make a clean cut

How's that for a slice?

Cheesecake is up there on my list now! Yum!

This cake was one of my favorites. The walnuts, raspberry, and mango swirl all made it so delicious! Pure fruit seems to bring any cake up a notch!

Tim Shank's Independence Day Cones

The man of many names was born on the Fourth of July. Tim/Chris/Tom/Jim had his 22nd birthday celebration on Sunday. Tim always has great cake compliments. His generous servings say more than any words could. He is not a picky eater, so I had a lot of freedom with his cake. I knew exactly what kind of a design I wanted to do, but I was unsure of the flavor. It may have been a little too much freedom!

After some long thought and discussion, I realized I had been missing an obvious obsession of Tim's. He is obsessed with Mountain Dew! He is also a recent fan of whiskey sour. Ah ha!

After the recent lemon-blueberry cake for Amy, I was worried that a lemon-lime cake would be too similar. I pulled out my Susan Branch recipe book in search of ideas. Eli suggested that kiwi would taste a lot like Mountain Dew. I had never done a kiwi cake before, so that sounded like a good plan. After a trip to Wegmans, I had several options for flavors.

For the cake, I pureed two kiwis and juiced one lime and one half of a lemon and substituted that in for water in a white cake mix. I had strawberies, and I couldn't pass up adding another fruit to this cake, so I sliced some up and placed them in the batter before baking.

I came across this ice cream cone cake idea. The recipe called for buttercream frosting, but I thought that might be a bit heavy. It was also a hot day, so something lighter seemed more appetizing. I did a quick google search for Cool Whip frosting, found a basic recipe and worked with that. I bought two 16 oz tubs of Cool Whip, and used about 3/4 of it. I added one packet of lemon pudding mix, an unknown amount of confectioner's sugar, lemon juice, lime juice, and a packet of whiskey sour mix. Then I put it in the freezer so it would stiffen up. I also added three packets of Pop Rocks (which I had to make a special trip to Jo-Ann Fabrics for. They always have the best candy there!). I thought they would remind everyone of fireworks, but they had all popped in the icing before anyone could notice. Next time, I would sprinkle them on top.

Step one: put flat-bottom ice cream cones in muffin tin

Step two: pour in cake batter and add strawberries. Yes, you bake the cake IN the cones!

Fresh out of the oven! Note: add cooking time when baking in cones.

I had originally planned on piping swirls on the cones, but my bags kept bursting. Instead, I used an ice cream scoop.

I added some red, white & blue sprinkles for a little more festivity. Looks like ice cream to me!

See what I mean about the complimenting without words? He had two of these heavy cones! (It was a costume party. This is not his normal look!)

Happy birthday, Tim!

Amy Rae Furnare's Lemon-Blueberry Birthday Cake

When was the last time I made a cake for a girl? When was the last time I iced flowers? Too long ago. What a pleasure it was being able to make a regular ol' iced cake with flowers on it. Of course, that would be boring, so I had to snazz it up somehow. Since Amy's birthday is in the summertime, I decided to do a fruity cake.

I came across a recipe for lemon-blueberry cupcakes. I have since lost the link and had to search for a new one. I found this one and this one and decided to combine the two. I didn't follow the recipes exactly except for the filling. I originally was not planning to make a filling, but I thought the cake needed a little more lemon flavoring, so I found this recipe by Martha Stewart for Lemon Curd which I followed.

After a trip to the public market, I was armed with eight lemons and three pints of blueberries. Instead of following the cake recipe, I bought a box of white cake (I know, I know) and added lemon juice and zest. I substituted half of the water for lemon juice and zested one or two lemons.

Of course I had to use buttercream frosting if I wanted to ice flowers. This time, though, it would be blueberry flavored. I threw a few handfuls of blueberries in the blender and mixed in a splash of water. That substituted the water for the buttercream frosting. It gave the frosting a great pink color that was perfect for Amy. I mixed in a little purple and green food coloring for the flowers and leaves. Then I got to decorating. The result is nothing like the sketches I had made, but I am still pleased with the outcome.

Lemons and blueberries

Looks like a muffin!

Food coloring always stains my fingers

Adding the lemon curd and blueberries

I got a little carried away with the lemons...

Yummy blueberry icing!

First round of piping

Remembering how to make roses after, what, eight years?

I wanted to write "Happy birthday, Amy" but had a lack of space. I like this better anyhow.

The final product

Top view

Happy birthday, Amy!!

Alex (Amy's boyfriend) made this adorable and delicious cookie cake

The cake was practically on fire

They were trick candles!