Mission Wedding Cake: Initiating…

Let me tell you, friends… It has been one great summer for me! I am thoroughly enjoying being engaged to the love of my life and planning a wedding. What other period in one’s life allows you be 100% girly? I’m just drinking it all in! The only not-fun part, as you probably anticipate, is the budget.

As you can imagine, Austin and I are working our darndest to save as much as we can, but still throw a pretty rockin’ fete. For example, when we were researching cakes we were pretty astonished at the prices and wondered what in the world we could do… Enter MWC, Mission Wedding Cake!

You guessed it, for the next several months I will be using every opportunity to practice wedding cake making. Am I insane!? Maybe a little! Some wise people have advised me that it would add a lot of stress and it might be worth it to just shell out for a bakery-made cake. It’s not that I want to ignore them, but I’ve always been more of a “do it yourself” kind of person and I want to at least try it. Heck, I even love baking, so that should give me at least a boost in the odds of success, right!?

If worse comes to worst, and my test cakes turn out to be extremely time consuming, and/or terrible-tasting, and/or horrendous-looking, I might opt to get our cake professionally done, but until then it’s full steam ahead with MWC!

I’ll be chronicling my test cakes and learning process on this blog, are you excited?! I sure am! The best possible result would be that Austin and I get a homemade, delicious cake that adds a personal touch to our wedding, and that any of you readers out there might be encouraged to try this money-saving option for your big events and parties, too! That is pretty awesome to me, so I am ready to get this party started already. Hope y’all come along!

Let’s all say a little prayer that I at least have a bit more skill than the po0r soul who made this cake. More at the famed Cake Wrecks website. :)

Of course, I’m trying to be realistic here, too! Please don’t expect to learn how to make something like this:

You might be disappointed. Just maybe. ;)

The first test cake is coming up THIS WEEK! This is my To-Do List:

• Have a “consultation” (I get to pretend I’m a pro pastry chef) with Austin to see what flavors and fillings we think would be tasty for our guests.
• Research recipes, sizes, servings, and styles of cakes we like.
• Make a stop at a restaurant supply store to pick up some cheap pro tools! On the list is 2-3 new sizes of round cake pans, flower nails, cake boards, a leveler, and dowels.
• Bake, wrap, and freeze the cake layers.
• Make a filling and a Swiss Meringue Buttercream (this will only be my third attempt, hopefully my second success)!
• Assemble and frost.
• Present to the unknowing guinea pigs. :)

I predict that in the next few months, my family and friends will be inundated with cake! Birthdays, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Showers, parties, New Year… I will bake until either I master MWC or until MWC masters me.

*cue theme music*

– Ann

P.S. I have been reading Deb‘s wonderful series on a DIY wedding cake, and it has been enlightening! If any of you have experience in this arena, please leave a comment below! I would love to hear from you!

Advertisement

San Diego Food Blogger Bake Sale!

Hello, hello?

Anyone out there?!

I know it’s been ages since I’ve posted anything on this little blog of mine! I really hope there are still some subscribers or readers out there to hear these words I have for you today!

As some of you know from my last post almost ten weeks ago, I have been absent from At The Patisserie because I have been out of the country. In fact, I am posting this with spotty internet connection from a rural town in the Northern Region of Ghana! Here’s the link to my journal blog if you’re curious!

But something very important has brought me back, even as I am here (about three weeks to go in Saboba)! It’s called the San Diego Food Blogger Bake Sale, and it’s something I am WAY excited for.

I need to tell you all about this fabulous event happening in happenin’ Pacific Beach, San Diego on the 28^th of April at Great News! Discount Cookware and Cooking School, from 10am to 2pm. Yes, that is about 2 days after my plane touches down, but baking is one of the first things I would absolutely love to do as soon as I get back! It’s been a long (but awesome) nine weeks here, and I miss my mixing bowl and oven!

Here is why you should participate!

– One in five children in America struggles with hunger. The funds raised form this branch of the National Food Blogger Bake Sale will go to Share Our Strength to help combat childhood hunger in America!

– Deliciousness. Need I say more?

– Meet new people, socialize, and network with the food blogging community in San Diego

– Have fun experimenting in the kitchen

– Show off your culinary expertise

– Or just pick up some thoughtful treats for friends and family members!

Whether you want to contribute to this collection of tasty desserts or just stop by to sample and support, we would love to see you there! If you want to get more involved, or if you’re curious about more information, check out the website!

This branch was started by Gaby of What’s Gaby Cooking? And is headed this year by Marie of Meandering Eats. They have worked so hard on this even in the past years, and I am sure that with our contribution from San Diego this year, we can double the amount of donations raised from $25,000 to $50,000 nationwide!

If you feel called to add to this campaign, but don’t have the time (all of us get super busy sometimes!), there is also the option to donate directly online via this link! Click on the “DONATE” button to send support to the San Diego branch efforts. Every little bit counts! Together we could help a lot of hungry children! J If you’re in the San Diego area at the time, we would LOVE to see you there, and I would especially love to meet you all!

Love from Saboba, Ghana

Ann

P.S. More on what I am baking later! I want to make it really good, but I really only have one day to prep everything!

I’LL BE BACK…

Greetings y’all,

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has put up with my month-long hiatus and supported me during my MCAT cramming time. Your patience has been much appreciated :)

Well, the big day is TOMORROW at 1pm! I am so excited to have time to finally post something delicious after this exam (epic birthday cake and a lot of other treats coming up), to get all this testing stress over and done with, and to pretty much finalize all the things I am preparing for my application… except for one thing!

As many of you know, I’ll be jetting off to Ghana on February 7 for a medical mission! This plan has been in the works for quite a long time, and if I really reflect, even to the point of four years back! God is good all the time. I am so grateful for your prayers and other means of support and will continue to be throughout the trip.

I promise that in between Sunday and when I leave, there will be lots of yummy things up on this blog to ogle/drool over (or is it just me?). There will also be a personal blog devoted to sharing my experiences in Ghana with you, if you are at all interested. :) I will link up as soon as it’s created!

And when I’m back in San Diego I will have even more than 10 days to bake, take photos, EAT and write!

Me da wa se (as they say in Twi)!

or Thank You :)

Quick Update!

Here’s a lightning-fast update!

• I’ve added a few new awesome blogs to my blogroll! Be sure to check them out!
• The About ATP section is now actually about me, and not a copy of my first post (haha). It includes this site’s new email address, atthepatisserie@gmail.com! If you have a question or comment that you don’t want to address in the comment section, shoot me an email!
• I’ve discovered how to add the RSS feed link in the menu bar! Now you can subscribe via whichever feed you’re using. :)
• Made some other small tweaks
• The promised inspired recipe from my week up and down CA is not forgotten! I’m working on it, and it’s taking a long time because I procrastinate, and also because this is the first time I’ve ever made my own original recipe!

Meanwhile, here’s a photo from said trip!

at the Japanese Tea Gardens in Golden Gate Park

At long last…!

Why, hello there! So nice of you to join me on this little project I call my blog. As many of you who are reading this may know, I have been wondering about starting a blog about baking for a very long time. A long time as in more than 2 years!

And for those of you who don’t know me, my name is Ann, I’m a recent college graduate and an adamant lover of biology. Oh, and shoes. Here’s a picture of me scarfing down the largest breakfast ever, easy.—>

Also, I love to bake even though I for sure am quite the amateur! There’s something amazing about gathering a group of random simple ingredients, and throwing them together with a little folding here or some kneading there, and finally creating a scrumptious treat! So amazing in fact, that it makes me want to share it with the world. Or at least the few random web surfers that happen upon this blog. :)

But here comes the special part (in my opinion!)… Admittedly, I would bake for myself and my own sugary pleasure without any excuse whatsoever, and have on more than a few occasions! But what makes baking million times more fulfilling and worthwhile for me is to bring the treats over to a friend’s house, or your study group, or your workplace, or tucked in your mailbox for the postman (anywhere!), and say, “Here, I want you to have this! I hope it brings you happiness!”

Maybe I love doing this because breaking bread together has always been known to create strong bonds between people. Maybe the gift of food is special because it fulfills a simple human need. Maybe it’s the homemade aspect of the gift that makes it special to me. Maybe people just love sugar! Who knows? All I know is that baking makes me happy, and sharing my baking makes me even happier.

So I hope you find this blog useful to you in any sense of the word–I’ll include recipes, links, photos (really bad ones, sorry), tips from what I’ve learned, and definitely some “How Not To Bake” pointers from my many failed attempts! Maybe you’ll even be entertained by my blundering ineptitude. :) Whatever the case may be, I’m so glad you’re coming along for the ride.

– ATP