Thank you all for the lovely comments on Claudia’s cake. It was so much fun to make. Now I will show you how to make the flowers. I used rolled fondant, but you can also use pastillage/gum paste, which will dry faster and harder. They are used in exactly the same way, but the pastillage/gum paste can be rolled much thinner and will hold up better.
What you will need:
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My neighbors Cynthia and Trent asked me to make a cake for their mom’s birthday party. Of course I wanted to do it, but as they described the style of cake she wanted I got downright giddy about it. “Something bright, colorful and wildly whimsical” were the words they used to describe her taste. Immediately I thought fondant! It isn’t my favorite thing in the world to eat, but it allows so much creativity with color, shapes and dimensions that you can’t always get with buttercream or other icings. Not to mention they were driving this cake about an hour away and in the heat of summer fondant is a great traveler.
There are a few things to know about fondant, but it really isn’t difficult to work with. I’m going to show you step by step how I put this cake together. You may want to start with something slightly less over-the-top, but maybe not!
What you will need:
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My friend Michelle, pastry chef extraordinaire (more on that later!), and I went to Porter & Frye for a little late night bite to eat. This was a spontaneous get together, a stolen moment between work and mothering. I’ve been wanting to try Porter & Frye because the executive chef, Steven Brown, is my ex-boss and one of the most talented men I have ever had the good fortune to meet. He, unfortunately had already put in his 12 hour day and wasn’t there when we arrived at nearly 10:00pm. But, his sous chef and pastry chef were still working and willing to whip something together for us.
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This time of year the rhubarb is popping out of the ground and I am impatient to eat those first tender stalks with their natural sweet partner, the strawberry. But, there are no strawberries yet, at least not in my garden. In order to satisfy my craving I go against my desire to use only the freshest ingredients from local sources. It is a philosophy I adhere to as much as possible. However, I live in MN and that means I am VERY limited as to what I can eat during the 8 months of the year when nothing grows. I am determined to learn home-canning this year, then I’ll have summer fruits in February. Until then I do buy fruit that is not grown here, or anywhere near here.
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Here in Minneapolis, otherwise known as gardening Zone 4, we jump for joy when we see ramps and rhubarb. Rhubarb is the first thing to come up in my garden and it gives me tremendous joy! A sign of life, hope for warm weather and it just happens to be delicious. I love the tartness, combined with a bit of sugar and vanilla it is near perfection, which is why I made this rhubarb and vanilla bean compote.
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Elizabeth wrote and asked me about assembling the Blueberry Lemon Curd Ring from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day (page 228). I already had the Brioche dough, in my mini dorm fridge filled with buckets, and I had just made the lemon curd for mother’s day so it was simple to throw this together. Read More
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