A baby shower, a devoted friend, and a fundraiser!!

The orders due by the end of the week will be baked quite joyfully.

First, there's a surprise cake from Shelley to Josephine, for being a world-class friend. Shelley was blown away by a lifetime of friendship, but most of all, by Josephine's devotion and support when Shelley's mother died. That day was Josephine's birthday. Shelley is so very grateful that Josephine insisted on staying by her side that night, regardless. Shelley wanted to say thank you and express her appreciation and gratitude for Jo's selflessness, and she's saying it in chocolate!

Next, there's the baby shower cake...a little girl is on the way! Per Mommy Beth's request, I'm doing a 2-tiered vanilla cake filled with chocolate buttercream. The lower tier will be iced in blackberry buttercream (with those juicy hunks of blackberry peeking through), and the top tier will be iced in raspberry buttercream. On the outside, there will be royal icing designs that will have the appearance of embroidery. Should be really pretty! Lavender, pink, and white! VERY girly!


I'm deciding on cupcake flavors for the Island Harvest bake sale fundraiser this Saturday. Of course, I have to do lemon - it's summertime! Then there will be chocolate, because there just has to be chocolate. I think I'll also do a peanut butter cupcake with peanut butter icing as well...the other flavors are still up in the air. Perhaps a mocha? Gingerbread? I'm inspired by my copy of Martha's newest cupcake cookbook that arrived in today's mail.


Marneycakes: The Foodie's Cakes. "There is always room for dessert!"

The hydrangea wedding cake

I had the most fabulous time making a wedding cake last week for Arielle and Ben's wedding! They chose a 3-tier cake for 200+. The bottom tier was vanilla cake, filled with a double-filling of marzipan and cherry-almond buttercream, iced in almond buttercream. The middle and top tiers were chocolate cake double-filled with chocolate ganache and raspberry buttercream, iced in almond buttercream.

The bride's chose hydrangeas for her flowers, which we incorporated into the cake. The florist, Felipe, supplied us with the fresh flowers at the venue, which we mounted between the tiers of the cake. Chloe and Chef Jason were there to help make it all happen, and Chloe also took photos of the process of the cake coming together.

Chloe and Jason cut the hydrangeas, and Chloe and I placed them on the cake. Once we were sure we'd completely covered the pillars, we knew we'd included all the flowers we possibly could. Then, with the flowers securely and densely in place, Jason and I piped the borders - I went around with the milk chocolate pearl border, and Jason followed me with the chocolate ganache.

Not long before the wedding, the bride's grandmother found her wedding cake topper. Naturally, it had to be on the cake! How amazing that she was able to see her cake topper reemerge on her granddaughter's wedding cake. I put a glass bowl on the top of the cake to elevate the small statue above the hydrangeas, then secured it with a dab of buttercream.







Not only was it exciting to assemble the cake while being able to catch glimpses of the bride and groom exchanging vows through the window, but it was also energizing to be part of something collaborative and creative...it always is! That night, I had a great sense of happiness and satisfaction from the opportunity to add even more beauty and sweetness to such a joyous event....

Our efforts paid off, as the mother of the bride relayed that both the coffee cakes for the morning of the wedding and the wedding cake were all beautiful and delicious.

Another happy cake ending!

Marneycakes: The Foodie's Cakes. "There is always room for dessert!"

I've found the Holy Grail of Chevre.

I was finally able to share the Holy Grail of Chevre with my Other Half and daughter last night.

Last December, David and I met Karen and Michael Catapano at some friends' holiday party. I had brought a spice cake, and the Catapanos brought three kinds of chevre: plain, chevre rolled in cracked black pepper, and chevre rolled in fresh herbs. Lacking the time to go out to Peconic since that party, I have not forgotten those amazing cheeses, but instead have fantasized about them regularly for the past 5 months.

A few days ago, I was out east seeing wineries, and took Karen Catapano up on her offer to stop in and say hi if ever I was in the area. Long story short, I left some cakes with her, and she sent me home with chevre and some gouda.

Elated that Chloe and David don't care for gouda, I devoured every molecule of it in the car over my two-hour journey home. Only because I love them and want them to share the things that give me pleasure, I was able to restrain myself and leave the chevre untouched!

David greatly enjoyed the chevre, as did Chloe. She understood why I call this cheese the Holy Grail of chevre. :) Forget the award for best cheese from the American Cheese Society's national competition - if you can impress the hell out of a picky teenager, you've really accomplished something! :)

Whoever is ever remotely close to Catapano Dairy Farm in Peconic HAS to be sure and stop in, tell Karen and Michael that Marney sent you, and get yourself some of their magical cheese.


Marneycakes: The Foodie's Cakes. "There is always room for dessert!"

The Rockin' Vineyard

I have found my first rockin' vineyard.

Yesterday, I met with Sharon of Baiting Hollow Farm & Vineyard in Baiting Hollow, near Calverton, on the North Fork. I arrived, and Susan and Janet made me feel at home while waiting for our meeting to begin. After I unpacked my sample cakes, Susan and Janet gathered around in anticipation of their samples, which I was happy to share with them. At the same time, Susan graciously poured me a tasting of two roses, as well as the vineyard's claim to fame: their reisling. (I couldn't leave without a bottle of that.) Susan also showed me around the tasting area, including their new construction to better accomodate events such as weddings, bridal showers, anniversary celebrations, etc.

Steve came down, in the middle of taking care of the construction project, and made sure I was being taken care of. Sharon and Steve are the owners of the farm & vineyard. He was also quite gracious.

What was so obvious and different about being in this space was the great music: I walked in to Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion", which was followed by a string of favorite classic rock. How cool!

Sharon arrived, and she and Steve sampled two cakes: the chocolate with apricot-Grand Marnier buttercream filling & almond buttercream icing, and the yellow cake with a double-layered filling of chocolate ganache and blackberry buttercream, iced in milk chocolate buttercream and accented in ganache. The cakes were a hit. She said they'd be happy to recommend me as a wedding cake vendor to their brides! Sharon wants to work with me on designing a signture cake with a farm theme for children's birthday parties - something with "a look all its own", as she so aptly put it.

That's what I'll be doing over the next couple of days...coming up with the concept and getting her a sketch, if not a sample.

















From there, I visited The Old Field Vineyard. Perri was good enough to see me, as she and Alex sampled my cakes. I missed Roz, who had to run out before I got there. Their house is charming and historic, as the family has owned the farm for 5 generations in that location. Their barrel chardonnay was delightful, and they said they'd be happy to refer me to their brides for wedding cakes. Welcome to Alex, who just arrived from PA! Yesterday was his fourth day on the job at The Old Field.


Marneycakes: The Foodie's Cakes. "There is always room for dessert!"

Fun morning at the vineyards!

I went out east today to see Kerry, the Events Coordinator at Duck Walk Vineyards. What a great morning it turned out to be! I brought 3 cakes for her to sample: lemon cake filled with blackberry buttercream and iced in lemon buttercream, chocolate cake filled with apricot-Grand Marnier buttercream and iced in almond buttercream, and yellow cake filled with raspberry buttecream, iced in milk chocolate buttercream and accented in chocolate ganache. She was there to sample the cakes, as were Michael and Gina of Duck Walk as well. To my delight, the cakes went over quite well!

Kerry generously bestowed a handful of bottles of wine on me: the Duck Walk Windmill Blush, the sauvignon blanc, the blueberry port, and a boysenberry dessert wine. Frankly the latter two beg to be incorporated into an icing or filling, and tested on a new variety of cake!





Tonight, I tried the Windmill Blush at home, after trying it and falling in love with it in the tasting room today. Mmmmm! It's wonderful chilled, and can see how it would be especially refreshing and satisfying on a hot summer day. Leslie, the owner of Rita's Ices in Oceanside, sent me on a quest for Pindar Summer Blush. Although Summer Blush and Windmill blush are both made from the same single grape, they're made by different winemakers. Thank you, Leslie, for my new discovery!

I'm very excited to have been included in Duck Walk's preferred vendor list for wedding cakes, and am eager to work with Duck Walk's staff, as well as their brides and grooms. This is going to be great fun!

Next time, I'll blog about Barbara at Macari Vineyards. But for now, it's off to sleep for me!


Marneycakes: The Foodie's Cakes. "There is always room for dessert!"

Teapot bridal shower cake

I had a fun assignment this past weekend. A colleague was organizing a bridal shower for her daughter, and asked me to create the cake. I asked her what she had in mind, and when she said it was going to be a tea party-themed shower, I told her I knew exactly what I was going to do for her: a teapot cake! My colleague introduced me to her other daughter, who was also in on the planning for this event. We decided on yellow cake with pomegranate filling and Madagascar vanilla bean icing, decorated in flowers. The edible mini pansies that I had hoped to crystallize weren't to be found, so I got the ok to do flowers in icing. Knowing the bride lives in Vermont, and according to her family, is very much the hippie chick, I decided to go a bit "mod" with the flower design. I chose chocolate ganache, chocolate ganache buttercream, raspberry buttercream and pomegranate buttercream for the flowers, and wrote the sentiment in chocolate ganache. The handle, spout and lid, of course, just had to be marzipan. The finishing touch was this adorable ribbon I found with which I trimmed the cake board: it was chocolate brown satin, with a pink embroidery floss thredded through it...very sweet.

Not only was this cake a blast to make, but evidently it was the hit of the bridal shower, both in appearance and taste. Knowing that couldn't please me more! When people take the time to give me feedback like that, it positively makes my day.

I've gotta say it again: I looooooooooove my job. Nobody ever orders a cake for a sad occasion! It's all for life-enhancing events where special memories are made for people.

Marneycakes: The Foodie's Cakes. "There is always room for dessert!"

A very talented jewelry maker

A friend of ours, Karen Himelfarb, has a custom jewelry business - Earrings by Karen. She makes earrings, necklaces, and bracelets and uses quality materials like pewter, Czech glass and Swarovsky crystals. Anyway, she's got some wonderful variety, and I love her work! Here's the link to her site:


http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6311899, and I've posted a picture of a bracelet I'm absolutely in love with! She calls it the "Earth and Sky" bracelet. Cool, no?



She also makes adorable cell phone charms. Check out her work, and support woman-owned local small business!



For weddings, she makes a very elegant necklace that is also beautifully creative in design: the Something Blue necklace. I've posted one view of it here, but go to her site to see more views. It's very cool, and would be great for a bride, or even as bridesmaids' gifts!



Marneycakes: The Foodie's Cakes. "There is always room for dessert!"