Cakes...

I have been making decorated cakes as a hobby this past couple years. Some I have posted here already and today while trying to organize my food pictures I found these and decided to share here too.
I love working with fondant, it is sort of therapeutic and lots of fun to me. Hope you enjoy looking at the cakes as much as I enjoyed making them!
Ana

Purse Cake I made for my sister 21st birthday this year when she came to visit us!









Monkey and Frog Cake, for a friend's 1 year old boy












Cake I made as a gift for my friend Jeanne on her 4oth birthday









Elmo Cake, for a 2-year old boy









Dora Cake, for my friend's Andrea daughter









This one I made with my friend Barbara, we wanted to try making a whimsical cake... took us some good hours but it was fun!!












Cars cake, for another friend's child

The "blogversary" cake!

After the 4 year celebration post I knew I had to come back here and share the recipe for the cake pictured there as soon as I could. Then Brisa asked me about it... how could I say no?!!
I am most happy to do so as this was a cake that we liked a lot. It is a Flourless Honey Almond Cake, and it came from the Eating Well magazine.
I made this a while back and found it to be special in a way so I wanted to post about it when something came up. Nothing better than the "blogversary"!
When you are not used to baking with almond flour a recipe like this can turn out to be an edible experience by itself. This is a light and airy cake, very flavorful and with a delicious texture. It is so different than your usual concept of how "cake" should feel like that I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of both making and eating it.
The secret here, as noted in the magazine, is not to overbeat the egg whites. You don't need your beaten whites to be stiff or hold a peak here, just beat them enough to get them foamy. The whites is what ensures good part of the structure of the cake, as there is no flour here to help the eggs in support.
It is easy to make and a perfect cake to eat in the afternoon with some tea, which we did. And then had leftovers for breakfast the next day... yum!
Ana

Ps: notice that there should have been a lot more toasted almonds on the top of the cake but Matheus and I got carried away and munched on too many of them while I made the cake... oops! By the way, I didn't have sliced almonds and used the slivered ones, and they worked out well (roasted almonds sooooo good, aren't they?!?!?!)










Flourless Honey-Almond Cake
(Adapted from Eating Well)

1 3/4 cups almond flour
4 large eggs, at room temperature, separated
1/2 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Topping:
2 tablespoons honey
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Preheat oven and lightly grease (or use cooking spray) an 9-inch springform pan (the one with removable sides), line the bottom with parchment paper and lightly grease the top of the paper as well.
Using an electric mixer beat 4 egg yolks, 1/2 cup honey, vanilla, baking soda and salt until well mixed. Add the almond meal and beat on low until all combined.
In another bowl beat the 4 egg whites on medium speed until they are foamy and doubled in volume (for about 2 minutes).
Using a spatula, gently fold the whites on the almond batter just until combined. Pour batter on prepared pan and bake until cake is golden and toothpick inserted on center comes out clean, about 25-28 minutes.
Let cool in pan about 10 minutes, run a knife around the edges, remove side ring and cool completely.
Serve drizzled with honey and sprikled with the toasted almonds.

Notes:
1) If you don't have the almond meal but have whole almonds you can do the following: measure 1 1/2 cups almonds, spread them on a baking sheet and roast at 350F for about 7 to 9 nine minutes, stirring once halfway. Let them cool completely, then process in the food processor or blender until finely ground - this should yield about the 1 3/4 cups almond meal asked for the recipe.

2) The sliced almonds for the top are toasted on a dry skillet over medium heat. Stir them constantly and toast until golden, about 2 to 4 minutes at most.

4 Years of Kitchenspace!!!

I have not been good with the blog this past year but I simply could not let this date go by without notice, I had to come here and post about these 4 years of my lovely kitchen space, as this blog means much more than any of you that follow me can ever imagine.
Through this blog I was able to share my passion for food and cooking/baking, and to express myself like in no other place. It was also here that I got to know many wonderful and fun people, some who I even got to meet in person, and created friendships that I want to keep forever, and as long as possibly can.
I started this blog, four years ago, when I was going through the worse phase of my life. A period when I was feeling very lonely and left apart.
The one thing that kept me up and going on those days was my son, Matheus (who is the sunshine of my life and until today motivates me to be who I am), and cooking. Sometimes, when you feel like you cannot handle things, taking a small break is all you need. So you go to the kitchen, bake a cake see it rise and come up to life, then you take it out of the oven and share a slice with your child... once you see the smile on his face the feeling you get is amazing, it shows you instantly that just like that cake you too can be great no matter what is to come, and the best moments are always there, around the corner, just waiting for you to help create them.
With all that was going on with my life the kitchen was my favorite place to be, and there was no point in being here if I could not share my happiness in this space with those who wanted to be my friend.
It ended up that writing this blog made me feel special, made me feel worthy and loved, and that I indeed had some talents that some of those close to me never stopped to pay attention to. Coming here, sharing my food and reading all those comments was, and still is today, a wonderful feeling to me. It feels great to know that there are people out there that share your interests, that get excited about something that you are doing and that are super nice to you even though they have never met you in person.
This blog helped me overcome a lot, in silence, through my cooking, in my favorite place of all, the kitchen.
Today I am definitely having one of the best phases of my life, I am happy with most aspects of it all (even being 30!), and am learning to work on those areas I am not completely satisfied with.
I figured that life is like a recipe, as you grow up you collect the ingredients, but it takes a little time and patience to put everything together in order to get the best of it.
This blog helped me a lot in figuring myself out (which I am still working on), and I know it will keep me company on the years to come, in my journey to create from the life recipe my perfect personal dish!
Thanks everyone for coming and checking on me even when I was not posting frequently. I love all my readers and friends, and this blog (and myself) would be nothing without you all!
Happy Blogversary Kitchen Space!
Ana