Off into the sunset

I heard it through the grapevine first..... and then one of my favourite clients SMS'd me, she was finally engaged! After almost 10 happy years together her man had popped the question. Even though in this day and age, traditional marriage is not as important or an indication of happiness shared between two people, it is nevertheless still pretty exciting to know that another couple is bravely riding off into the sunset together!

A low key engagement party required cake, and I of course was more than happy to bake for the occassion! After much deliberation, the delighted pair chose a girl vs boy mentality theme.

As you can see, its pretty accurate and shows the sense of humour of the couple......

A pair of hot pink hearts for the girls....


and a ball and chain for the boys.......

I guess, boys will be boys! Congratulations to Charmaine and Alister, may you always hold the keys to each others hearts and live long and happily ever after!!

Whilst the kitchen was all warm from the baking, I thought that I'd attempt quelling my fear of that active little thing called yeast. I have a morbid fear of yeast, it doesn't like me, and I don't like it...... apart from one successful attempt back in primary school - making hot cross buns, I haven't had much luck with it. If the mix is too cold, it dies, if its too hot it dies, if you don't feed it, it dies.... you get the idea.

Anyhow, after sitting glued to the TV watching Cake Boss for 3 days ..... the larger than life Buddy, star of the show - really grows on you. The passion he has for his bakery, his family and life in general is hard to resist after a season or two.... :p

More about cake boss some other time...... so, in one episode of Cake Boss, Buddy makes a Crumb cake for a customer who has travelled 3 hours for it, only to find that the cake has been sold. Imagine driving 3 hours for a cake - that would definately have to be a heck of a cake. So, what is a girl to do?? Bake it of course!!

Photo shoot with Carlos Bakery crumb cake.

On the show, Buddy says that the recipe came with the bakery way, way back when his Dad bought it. So a search through my trusted cookbooks came up with a variety of crumb cakes, mostly of German origins, but nothing that seemed like the yeast dough that Buddy obviously made on the series. (Yes... I notice these things..) So, finally, after some serious searching, I found a recipe from cakedesire in California on Cakecentral. The internet is a lovely place! Stueselkuchen, here we go!

Here is the attempt with the crumbs ready to go in the oven.

After about 20 minutes the crazy mouthwatering smell of butter and sugar started whafting from the oven......

And finally, it was ready. Well, it was pretty delicious.... next time, there will be more crumb, it'll be higher and more people will be gathered to share it, because it really was only delicious for that first day it came out of the oven. It's a strange combination of textures, with the spongey breadlike base and crisp, buttery crumble. A hint of lemon zest in the dough comes through with a lovely scent making it seem lighter, I think, if I was allowed free reign, I would've happily eaten half the cake!