Sugar & Spice Layer Cake with Peaches & Cream

Donut peaches are so much cuter than normal peaches. First of all the name just makes them better. Secondly they kinda look like alien fruit, a flat fruit? its strange. Lastly, they cut into such nice small slices. Don't get me wrong, use a normal peach for this recipe and its no problem. I love them just as much as anyone else, but the weird little donut peach just have a special place in my heart.

This is one of the first cakes I have made that didn't have frosting on the sides. Figures that the minutes I buy a proper rotating cake stand, I make a cake where I don't need to use it. But this cake is perfect for summer. It is not heavy, not very sweet at all and versatile because the peaches can be swapped out for pretty much any other fruit. The 'frosting' on the cake, well if you want to call it that is such a change from what I am used to. Frosting to me is normally super sweet and thick as heck. This mascarpone/whip cream hybrid is a lovely light topping that doesn't take away the spotlight from the peaches. 

There was a bit of 'frosting' left over so I just served it with the extra peaches. And maybe just by itself... Hey, its not like I was eating a bowl full of buttercream, right? This 'frosting' is the kind where you don't feel so guilty about just eating it on it's own.

I think I use a different recipe format for everyone post lately. I just my utensil garland recipe cards for a while but I just get too bored with doing the same thing for every post. Its so much of the fun to hunt for new fonts that fit the recipe, figure out how to do the layout so that it is pretty but still easily readable and to challenge myself to come up with something new to surprise you guys. I sometimes think that I put a lot of effort into something that I don't get paid to do at all, but all your comments or nice emails make it worth it most of the time. I love to hear people's responses to what I do, because I generally get stuck in that self deprecating, I hate everything I do mode. I'm not fishing for compliments, I liked it most in school when people wouldn't say "Oh I love that" but "I think doing 'so and so' would make it so much better." 

I think this quote describes exactly my way of talking and writing: Sometimes I'll start a sentence, and I don't even know where it is going. I just hope to find it along the way. :)

Is anyone on Pinterest? I just started on the site recently and it is so addicting! There is such inspirational photos on there from design, to food, to style, quotes, everything you can think of. 

The quote ones are the best to me, it is just an incredible feeling when you see a quote that completely describes the exact emotion you have.

Come visit The Figgy. Print and Things Shop!

 recipe variation of a Martha cake

flags from Creature Comforts... I think? Will get you the link in a sec.

Blueberry Preserves & Blueberry Cupcakes with Honey Buttercream

Two recipes in one post. Blueberry extravangaza.

Ever since my first jar of Bonne Maman Blueberry Preserves, I have wanted to make my own. That magical little jar with the check top is so fresh & tasty, like it came straight from the farm. So when blueberries went on sale, I knew it was time to venture into preserve making. 

Only blueberries and sugar, and you can even add less sugar if you want because blueberries are sweet all by themselves. 

Hey its me! I made the bread too, it was sometype of molasses oatmeal bread or something. It was not my favorite ever, a bit too dry, so not worth giving you the recipe. I think the bread machine recipes are all a bit wonky because most that I have tried all come out too dry. I'll have to research some good recipes and let you in on the secret. 

The tray I made too, not the cutest thing ever with the two big boards at the bottom for bracing it, but good for a quick project. Just cut two pieces of wood, the same size obviously, to however large you want it, nail them to two pieces at the bottom then add some door handles on the sides or top. I have plans to make a proper serving tray, maybe painted and everything, once I can find some wood I think would be perfect. But I also want to make a table and a little shelf, but all in time, I always have so many things I want to make.

On to the cupcakes. 

The cake on this is really soft and try to bake it until it is just set, not browned around the edges at all. When I found this recipe I thought, gosh the blueberries are just going to sink to the bottom of the cup like they did in my muffins. The recipe said to freeze the fresh berries but I still doubted that it would actually work. But alas it worked really amazing and now it's not just blueberry bottom cupcakes, the are scattered throughout the cupcake and even some still stayed at the top of the cake, so nice! It didn't affect the taste at all either, it still tastes like a fresh blueberry cupcake and not like when you use frozen ones it of the bag that get all mushy and dye the whole cupcake purply. 

Try to get out just the juicy parts of the preserves, putting the whole or crushed berries on top of the cupcakes looks too lumpy. 

Is there anyone in San Francisco that knows of a good... cheap..., place to get 120 film developed? When I lived in Sacramento I could get it done for 4$ a roll and could pick it up in less than an hour. I haven't seem to have found anyplace in the city, everyone I have looked up online wants about 8$ or more a roll and take pays to get developed. Let me in on your secret spots so I can keep using my old Kiev. I miss the big square negative. In school I used that camera a lot and one of my teachers said she was surprised I liked it so much because the square was so hard for her to compose in. I think it is so much easier than a rectangle! Whenever I do a vertical it just looks so long or the rectangle just seems so have extra bits on the side that aren't necessary. I would love to shoot with the mamiya 645afd, which I would check out at the beginning of the school year and hoard until I was forced to give of back. If you have the money and love film that was one ofthe best cameras I have ever shot with. It is big, clunky and heavy but so entirely worth it. I could somehow handle light with that camera that I jut can't do with digital. Even shooting worst, no brand, high saturation film I had, the photos would come out amazing. I always seriously consider saving up for that camera rather than a 5D, even though it is so much less practical, professionally speaking. And that would mean saving up for digital back for it which seems like 10 grand that would never happen for me. I can still dream.

Now back to a cupcake work week, which I am actually looking forward to. After a drama relationship ending weekend, which has left me broken, I'm need to get back to baking so I can put my mind on something.

Have a good week everyone!

Recipe from here

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

Who's birthday is it?

No ones.

Well, then why did you put a candle in the cake?

Because its cute. So have a Happy Unbirthday!

So this cake is very tasty. Refreshing, summery, a light moist cake with a not too sweet frosting. But I totally messed up with stacking it. I of course tried to make it in as many layers as possible. And the second to bottom layer was a bit rugged, not very solid, must have been a bit thinner than the rest of the layers. So when I finally stacked the sixth and final layer, that second layer was already starting to buckle. It was pretty much the shape of a wine barrel. So I chilled it as quickly as possible to harden up the frosting. So after a bit, I started to frost the outside, thinking that I could compensate the buckling sides with a ton of frosting. It did not go as planned.

Cherry Morning Rolls

Happy Mothers Day!