Whoa!! Hope everyone's survived without me these past few months!!! Ha! Sorry!

Boy does time fly and unfortunately it's not always for a good reason. Though the summer has been generally lots of fun, my heart goes out to everyone that has been effected by Hurricane Irene and all the flooding that's occurred since then. I couldn't imagine that type of devistation.

On a lighter note, even though I haven't written in awhile, I've still been baking! That never stops, although it does get pretty darn hot in my house when I do!!!  As usual, we hosted my mother's birthday party at our house this year so I decided to do all retro cakes for her. I first made a pineapple upside down cake (oh my God it was sooo good..... and pretty too!!!) and then I made a chocolate coconut cake. I regret not taking a picture of it. By the time I thought of it, the entire cake was gone!!!   One thing I did different with this cake was I used fresh shaved coconut, not the sweetened store bought kind.  What a HUGE difference that made. I highly reccomend going out of your way to find it (generally at most Asian markets). It had a great texture and just the right amount of sweetness!  I also iced it with a cream cheese whipped cream, once again, cutting down on the sweetness. Being the chocolate cake was very sweet, the lightness in flavor of the whipped cream and coconut made an excellent balance. I will make this again and I will get pictures!!!

We also celebrated a few other birthdays.  My daughter wanted a very simple cake. Go figure. I told her she could have whatever she wanted  and she chose vanilla with vanilla custard and vanilla buttercream, Not very exciting, but OK. So here's how that came out...........

We also celebrated my father-in-law's birthday.  Being that he's a true Italian, what better to make than a cannoli cake!!  I wasn't sure if he liked chocolate or vanilla cake so I went with both. One layer chocolate, one layer vanilla, and a thick layer of cannoli filling. I topped it all off with a vanilla almond buttercream and sliced almonds.  All I have to say is all the old school Italians went nuts for it (and they're a hard crowd to please).  The cake itself has a very simple presentation, but the flavor was superb... I know..... patting myself on the back again!!!! But I'm honest, and I do say when something I make is not so good or ugly!!! Anyway, here's a picture of that cake..........

So hopefully I've made up for lost time and I'll be back soon!!! See ya! And remember................................

                                   There's always room for dessert!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!