it's the middle of october already?

The past month and a half has seriously flown by...right into the pre-winter weather we all know...and hate. I'm already sleeping with hoodies and spaceheaters and extra blankets. The worst part is how the mornings are always dull and gray. I just want to see a couple more sunny days before the snow starts coming. That's all.

One good thing about the colder weather is that now when the oven is on, instead of it being painfully hot in the kitchen, it's quite comfortable and warm. And I have been doing a lot of baking.

I did my first wedding last week. It wasn't a big affair, but it feels good to have one under my belt. There was an eminent near disaster, when I realized that the giant cupcake cake was not done, and had to start over again. That's when I decided beer would come in handy. And everything else went swimmingly.

The next morning, I had to take the cake to the destination, which was an hour and a half away. I did have severe worries about the structural integrity of the cake stand, as it was comprised, from what I could tell, entirely of cardboard, and was definitely shifting as i was transferring the cake from the box to the stand. I'm not going to lie; once I realized that there was a possibility of collapse, I hauled ass on out of there. BUT! I did take a picture. I know it's totally not stunning or anything, but it was my first one, and it can only get better from there.

The big part of it and half of the cupcakes were lemon raspberry and the rest of the cupcakes were plain vanilla with vanilla buttercream. I'm going to have to pat myself on the back and say that it was the best buttercream I've ever made.

While I did worry that the cake was not going to make it until the reception, someone did post pictures. I was afraid that there would be some sort of cake disaster pictures, but yes, the cake did survive.

Luz's Birthday Cake

Or, my first successful attempt at a layer cake. The only other time before this weekend that I made a layer cake was a chocolate mint cake that I made a couple years ago. It was lopsided and the frosting was starting to melt, so I put it in the freezer. That was NOT a genius move. I wound up breaking the handle off a kitchen knife trying to cut it. But, this time i decided to do things right. I asked Luz what kind of cake she wanted for her birthday her only request that the cake be chocolate. I snagged a recipe out of an issue of Bon Appetit.

There was only one slight difference, and that was that I used regular cream cheese instead of mascarpone, because it did not require me making yet another trip to the grocery store. The cake was....delicious. In fact, when I came home inebriated from the bowling alley last night, I ate a cold chunk of it with my bare hands. Let it be known, that by sharing that little fact, I have almost no shame.