Friday, February 24, 2006

Martha is here and I'm missing it...*sigh!!!!


Martha Stewart is in town! She is signing her new book, Baking Handbook, today at the Williams Sonoma store in Union Square. I so wanted to be there:(((

There is a great write-up on the book at the Seattle Times :

"Baking Handbook" is a solid addition to the Stewart library and proves once again that when it comes to the home empire, it's in Martha we should trust."

I second that! This book was my Christmas gift for myself and I already tried several recipes like the angel food cake, rugelach, swiss-meringue buttercream and the one bowl chocolate cupcakes. All recipes are fantastic, easy to follow and the book is another must have for every baker.

Go already and don't tell me about it or I will cry:)

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Ozlem Cake and the Birthday Party!


It was a hard decision not to bake my own birthday cake, but I gave in to Sera's offer to bake for me on my 30th birthday! She created this super delicious Chocolate-Espresso cake and I took the liberty to name it Ozlem Cake! We were able to save only two slices by the end of the party:)

Sera used our bible, Williams and Sonoma Baking Essentials book for all the parts of the cake and sent me the steps to assemble it below. This is one book that you must add to your library if you bake more than once a year! Try it and email me if you need additional direction on any of the recipes, would love to help!



Here are the steps to make Ozlem Cake:

1) Bake 1 recipe of Classic Chocolate Genoise and cool completely.
2) Prepare 1 recipe of Espresso Buttercream.
3) Prepare raspberry sauce (made from raspberries, sugar, meyer lemon juice), you can outsource this task to a significant other (!)
4) Prepare the 1 recipe of Chocolate Glaze.
5) Slice genoise into three even layers.
6) Lay the first layer on a flat surface. Brush with raspberry sauce. Layer half the buttercream on top.
7) Lay the second layer on top of the first and repeat the raspberry sauce and buttercream.
8) Lay the third layer on top of the second and brush with raspberry sauce.
9) Ensure the glaze is a proper temperature and pour over the cake. Tilt the cake from side to side to evenly distribute the glaze. Refrigerate the cake until the glaze is set, about 30 minutes.
10) Pour additional glaze over the cake. Refrigerate the cake again until the glaze is set.
11) Decorate and enjoy! For an original Ozlem Cake, use Orchids in purple color:)



Brunch was a lot of fun, a little overwhelming to spend time with my close friends and family together, I already miss the attention:) I got the most beautiful flowers and very thoughtful gifts, including my first ever painting named "Seven Trees" from Rod! Thank you!!! Although I didn't bake the cake, I still had to bake something:) So, I made Chocolate Bread Pudding with Cranberries from Susan's Bible. It was super easy and yummy! I will have to reach out to her to publish the recipe here, so stay tuned!

Pictures of the party are on Flickr! (of course), the event had its own tag: "ozlem30th" he he he:)

Monday, February 13, 2006

I love you!


I love you!
Originally uploaded by Baking Fairy.
and I feel loved, not only today but every single day. Hugs and kisses to all my family, friends, random strangers and Jerrito! May you all be soooo happy!

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Happy Birthday!


DSCN0146
Originally uploaded by Seraphina.
Flickr turned 2, I baked "the cake", even took my parents and sister to the party! It was a lot of fun spending time with the Flickr team and the fans; almost everyone had a digital camera and we all modeled for each other all night:)

After a week of thinking, planning and reading, the cake turned out to be a white cake splashed with coffee and filled with dark chocolate mousse covered with mascarpone buttercream frosting-sounds fancier than it actually was:)

This cake was extra special, as I got extra help, imported right from Istanbul! My sister and mother spent hours with me to find an idea, bake 6 round cakes and the clean-up work...Not only that they were huge emotional support, only my sister knows what a mean baker I am:) And my dad, I had no cards to hand out but dad came up with the stickr idea that is on every cake picture on Flickr!

I love my family!

Friday, February 03, 2006

Sweetest Month of the Year


PICT0217.JPG
Originally uploaded by Baking Fairy.

I am just very happy it is February. It is the best month of the year, there is a reason why we waited to be reborn in this month:)

Happy Happy Birthday to Cenk, my best friend in the whole universe. I love you and miss you very much. I am sorry I am not there to bake your cake, I will make up for this, I promise.

I will post about there three cookies, chocolate kisses, oatmeal-cranberry and dark chocolate-ginger brownies, very soon, I baked these for my parents who are visiting for my birthday and they really liked them...

I am off to an amazing weekend packed with fun, may all beings be happy and enjoy real peace!