A Bella Cake

Another day in the kitchen…

I’ve been preparing some ingredients for the next cake… and so I decided to bake some layer cakes and put them in the freezer.  I like to use this method (baking and then freezing cake layers) bcz I’ve found that the cakes are much more dense and moist this way.  Could be, however, that such is not the case at all and all I really need to do is learn to bake the perfect cake.  Thus, this journey.

I researched recipes for making “homemade” Nutella.  If you’ve never bought or tasted Nutella, you’re in for a tremendous treat the first opportunity you have to get some and dip a spoon into a jar!  There are many ways to eat Nutella — but right from a spoon is my favourite.  Or on vanilla wafers or between layers of cake!  So, since we have hazelnut trees here and have access to chocolate!, I will attempt to make Nutella at home.  The recipes vary somewhat — but most call for the same ingredients: Hazelnuts (toasted and finely ground), rich chocolate, some sweetener (honey, sugar or maple syrup) and some sort of oil (olive, coconut, hazelnut or vegetable).   So… I’ll tell you how this works out.

I also made up some Ganache.  Love it.  I make mine using the 50%/50% ratio of dark chocolate chips and heavy whipping cream.  I bring the cream just up to boiling and then, using my KitchenAid or my Bosch mixer, I slowly begin to blend and then whip the Ganache till smooth.  I use standard Nestle’s dark chocolate chips bcz they’re easy for me to keep on hand and don’t cost as much as fine dark chocolate.  But in the case of making a very-very special cake, I will go the “extra mile” so to speak and buy the ‘better’ chocolate.

So, the Ganache is nice and firm now in the fridge and I will have it all ready for the cake I’m planning to assemble next week!!

♥ love.

my inspiration

I cannot say this often enough… and so I want to begin this series of letters in my ABellaCake journey by reiterating that I’m so grateful to the Lord for the great blessing of His love and for the opportunity of my life — and I’m so grateful to and for my husband and family.   They are so dear to me.  I hope they’ll always look back and remember the sweet things — that I loved them.  O, yes, there have been many hard days — and, I’m sorry to say, my distractions and misguided meanderings have sure had things out of balance sometimes.  Even still, I wouldn’t change a thing for the joy I have today.  I’ve been so blessed to be a wife and mother — so blessed by each one of them.

That said, they are my inspiration.   More also comes from the love and support I receive from my husband… who has been my ‘cheerleader’ whenever I say I’d like to do something, try something or learn a new skill.

And then… aside from years of admiring cakes as well as working in my own kitchen trying new recipes, making different types of cakes, frostings and fillings, I love to delight people with a new taste or some creation.  Imagine:  you take a bag of flour, some butter, eggs, sugar and a few other ingredients and they magically turn into a delectable dessert!!  Amazing, isn’t it?!?!

I’d be remiss if I began this new blog-journey without acknowledging these things… and, of course, I must mention two books that have been both instructional and inspirational to me… The Cake Bible and Rose’s Heavenly Cakes.   I intend to bake my way through these books on my quest to bake the perfect cake.

♥ love.

at long last…

I’m smiling as I sit here typing about my journey… and seeing this blog & cake site is FINALLY becoming a reality is one of the first steps on this journey!!   This is such an important thing to me… and, as with most things, in my life, I can’t seem to do something until everything’s lined up and ready to go!  I’ve been talking about this journey for a long time — I’ve been planning it, dreaming about it, and wishing I could just tackle it head on.  This journey is sort of a parallel road to my life journey — so I’ve been working at getting other things in my life in order so that I can add this journey without losing ground or getting my priorities out of line.

I keep referring to this as the journey to bake the perfect cake – and that’s just what I intend to do!!  Now, I know this is pretty subjective as taste is such a personal thing and unless you know the heart behind this quest, you might think I’m being arrogant — but, no, far from it!   I just want to do something I’ve been longing to do for a long time!

I will be using a few different sources, but mainly I will be baking my way through two of Rose Beranbaum’s beautiful books: Rose’s Heavenly Cakes and The Cake Bible.

So, thank you, whoever you are, for joining me on this journey to bake the perfect cake… I think it’s going to be fun & tasty.  And… fattening.

♥ love.

Welcome to A Bella Cake

Thank you for coming by today!  I hope you’ll enjoy this site I’ve dedicated to *Cake!*
I love to bake cakes and cookies and treats of all kinds and am on a journey to bake the perfect cake.

Along the way, it’s been such a delight to make desserts and cakes for people I love.

And in recent years it’s been an especial honour for me
to have the great privilege of making wedding cakes
for family & friends and friends of friends.

♥ love.