Mmmike's Cake Blog

The Park Thanksgiving Menu

Jennifer — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:52:27 +0000

Thanksgiving has easily become my favorite holiday over the years. With 30 relatives and friends expected to ring our doorbell over the next 24 hours, we’ve been thinking about our menu for the past two months. Of course, the best part of the holiday is hanging out with my ridiculously fun and ever-expanding family (babies… toddlers!). But with a chef in the kitchen, it’s always great to expect some delicious gourmet eats to accompany our rambunctious activities.

So I thought I’d share our Thanksgiving menu. Perhaps, it will give you some ideas… or throw some our way!

Meats

Superbly succulent Turkey!
Maple glazed Ham

Sides

Mmmike’s amazing specialty Mac ‘n’ Cheese
Stuffing with herbs, chestnut, sausage, onions, celery, & carrots
Old fashioned Mashed Potatoes
Whipped Sweet Potato Casserole with Sage (don’t forget the Marshmallows)
Brussel Sprouts and Broccoli sauteed with Bacon
Cranberry Sauce
Parsnip, Leek, Cauliflower Bread Pudding
Corn Kernels
Wild Rice Pilaf with almonds and berries
Butternut Squash soup

And for Dessert…

I guess that will be a surprise, but I’ll probably make a sweet potato pie with ice cream, since Mike is handling all of the above.

Posted in 1

Birthday wishes!

Jennifer — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:11:50 +0000

It’s Thanksgiving this week! And Mike has an amazing feast planned for the family. I will post the menu once I get the details from the chef.

In the meanwhile, here are some photos from a birthday party over the weekend for our nephew Aidan!

And the birthday cake!

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Happy Halloween!

Jennifer — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 16:45:22 +0000

Have a safe and fun Halloween day everyone!

It’s a busy day for the baker + family today, so this is just a quickie post on the cakes Mmmike did for Nancy’s Spooktacular Halloween party last night. Sorry they came out a tad fuzzy. I took them quickly on my iPhone.

Scary story about the cake: on the way to Nancy’s place, we were really afraid that the delicate chocolate cookie house would break or get damaged somewhere. Things were going ok, and then I heard something fall inside the cake box. The house broke in half! We mourned the death of the house for a few minutes, and thought of how Nancy would feel once we got there. Miracles do happen, though! Mike was able to repair the house with some added support (i.e. a chopstick) & bring it back to life…

Here’s a spookier version of the Haunted House cake:

Mike also did mummy and RIP gravestone cupcakes. (All ideas inspired by Martha Stewart Living magazine)

Better photos to be posted soon on our Flickr page!

Posted in Cupcakes, Events Tagged: cakes, Cupcakes, halloween

Wedding reception in Montauk

Mike — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 03:15:30 +0000

There was a wedding reception last weekend in Montauk, Long Island. I had the pleasure of making a few cupcakes for this special occasion. The cakes were ordered by our dear friend Nancy Hsu on behalf of the bride and groom, Dee and Alihan Polat, quite the handsome couple.

Vanilla cake w/ buttercream hydrangeas.

Sister Jenny did me a favor and quickly took these photos before we had box them up for delivery.

Also made a few dozen mini cupcakes for the reception.

Live consumption

Congrats to Dee and Alihan!

By the way, I’ll be cake catering Nancy’s Halloween Party. We’re going to get spooky with it so stay tuned.

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Coookies

Mike — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 21:19:39 +0000

My darling wife wanted chocolate chip cookies this past weekend so I wanted to experiment in creating an awesome recipe to satiate her craving. This recipe was inspired by Scharffen Berger’s ‘Best Chocolate Chip Cookie’. In addition to Callebaut dark chocolate, I also added oats and lots of love. While we love thick and chewy cookies, I wanted to try something different and create a thinner cookie that had the same properties. It turned out exactly how I wanted. Although it came out thin, it was nice and crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside bursting with dark chocolate and the oats added a nice texture in the flavor. My wife absolutely loved them! Mission accomplished.

Posted in Cookies

Cupcake Winner Gets Her Cake (and eats it too)

Jennifer — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:18:28 +0000

This past weekend we had the pleasure of finally awarding our lovely cupcake contest winner, Janet and her husband, Wye.

We asked Janet how she came up with the winning name for the rich dark chocolate cake / dusted peppermint infused buttercream / homemade peppermint bark cupcakes we needed help naming, formerly known as ‘Sassy Sis’. She said that she wanted it to stay congruous to ‘Sassy Sis’ so she broke it down and really wanted to find something that also meant sassy and also keep in mind that it was named for my sister. This led her to be inspired by our daughter’s french name, Amelie. So she thought of what french words she knew…merci, bonjour, mademoiselle….wait, ‘Mad Moiselle’! Voila!

And for that, we sent them on their merry way with a fresh batch of our Southern Comforts and Mad Moiselles. (Sorry no photos of the Southern Comforts)

Stay tuned for more upcoming chances to win your free batch!

Posted in Contests, Cupcakes

Mad for Macarons…

Mike — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 21:00:34 +0000

pretty much describes Jenny (my sister) as of late. She’s apart of this new movement that involves this delicate little cookie called the french macaron; not macaroon, macaron. The french macaron is an almond meal based cookie that, when properly baked, creates a delicate egg shell-esque surface and yields a chewy interior, accompanied by a filling : such as a ganache, flavored buttercream, or jam. This cookie has caused a lot of tears, hair loss, and physical and emotional torment to professional and casual bakers alike. In all seriousness however, the success of this cookie depends on many different factors of timing and technique (so I’ve read). So, with the urging of my sister, I decided to try my hand in making a batch…chocolate french macarons with a hazelnut spread.

Our 5 1/2 month old daughter Amelie trying to get her paws on one of the chocolate macs.

Thanks to my wifey Shirley for the pics.

Posted in macaron

Fruits… and Flowers

Mike — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 02:26:08 +0000

Over the last few months, I’ve taken a few cake decorating classes at the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) in Manhattan. I was given this direction by our dear friend Rachel. Masterchef Toba Garrett, www.tobagarrett.com, has been the instructor for these classes. She’s pretty much a living legend in the world of classic cake design. Her classes are an investment of time and money, but are comprehensive and thorough as Chef Toba always makes sure to demo and explain each step of the decorating process very clearly. Still, the recreational cake decorating classes she teaches at ICE are considerably less expensive compared to the ones taught at other reputable schools in the New York City metro area.

I just completed a 2-day course, and here’s what I did in class…

Piped buttercream and royal icing flowers.

Marzipan raspberries and blackberries.

All boxed up and ready to go home.

Posted in Cupcakes Tagged: culinary, Cupcakes, decorating, Dessert, Fun

Congrats to Yuri & Kee!

Mike — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 18:26:12 +0000

When I met my wife Shirley for the first time back in 2006, she was living with two roommates, Jane and Yuri. Damian and Jane went off and got married, and then Shirley and I shortly thereafter in December of 2007. The girls are now coming full circle as Yuri prepares for her wedding day soon as well. A big congrats and best wishes to Yuri and Kee!

Southern Comfort cakes are definitely the most popular order. Here’s one I baked for Yuri’s bridal shower this weekend.

Posted in Events Tagged: bridal shower, Cake, Dessert, event, Food, Party

Happy B’s and Congrats…

Mike — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 02:38:09 +0000

Happy Birthday to Jomama! OMG Cupcakes in photos below: milk chocolate frosting with chocolate cake

Southern Comforts (classic red velvet) and Summer Comers for Rosemari’s bridal shower…

Summer Comers: pound cake with strawberry buttercream topped with white chocolate covered strawberry

Posted in Events Tagged: Birthday, bridal shower, Cupcakes, Dessert, event, Food, Fun, Party