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Sunday, October 11, 2009

Heavenly Cake Baker - a new baking group

I've recently joined a new baking group called Heavenly Cake Bakers, organized by Marie. Once a week we bake a recipe from Rose's Heavenly Cakes. This is Rose Levy Beranbaum's newest book, published about 2 weeks ago. As many of you know, Rose is the famed author of The Cake Bible.


The publisher, Wiley & Sons, gave away 10 signed copies to the first 10 people who sign up for this bake along. Guess who made it to that top 10? Moi! Yay! I received my signed copy last Friday. It read: "For Hanaa, charter member of the bake along. Blissful baking. Love, Rose". How cool is that?! For one thing, hardly anybody spells my name right :o)


So a big thank you to Rose, for writing yet another beautiful book with stunning color photos, and to Wiley & Sons. Last but not least, a big thanks to Marie for organizing this bake along.

If you would like to join the Heavenly Cake Bakers baking group, here are the rules:
  • You must own, or have easy access to, a copy of Rose's Heavenly Cakes.
  • You must have a blog.
  • At the beginning of each month Marie will post the recipes that will be featured for that month. Marie will bake one per week, but you only have to agree to bake two of the selections. Of course you can bake more often if you like.
  • Blog posts should be made within a 24 hour period on Mondays.
  • If you run out of steam or feel you can’t keep baking, let Marie know so she can remove you from the list of Heavenly Cake Bakers - that way, readers will know that only active bakers are on the list of bloggers.
  • Recipes will not be posted on your blogs since everyone will have a copy of the book and we want to encourage sales of Rose's Heavenly Cakes.
  • Don't forget to have fun!
This week's recipe was for the Barcelona brownie bars. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to participate this week as I'm in the middle of a kitchen remodeling project. If you would like to give these deliciously fudgy and nutty brownies a try, you can find the recipe on Rose's blog (click HERE for the recipe).

For your entertainment, here's a picture of my very first cake from The Cake Bible, about 4 years ago. I made a white butter cake, with a lightly whipped white chocolate ganache filling, topped with lemon curd. The frosting consisted of the same whipped white chocolate ganache. My inspiration for the laced "chocolate band" came from Rose's Strawberry Cloud Cake. I had also just learned how to temper chocolate and needed an excuse to practice (my birthday couldn't have come at a better time!).

I couldn't believe I was able to pull off the lattice band without any problems!

It tasted as good as it looked and I never went back to store bought cakes ever again!

11 comments:

  1. Hello my dear!

    Thank you so much for both of your messages- I really needed them, and hearing from you brightened my day. When you have a chance, please send along an email and let me know how you're doing and catch me up on everything you've been up to. Okay, can I just say I am so super jealous of your kitchen remodel... I'm in need of one BAAAAAADLY- seriously, my kitchen is an embarrassment! I can't wait to see how yours comes out- I'd love to see some pictures of the completed project.

    I LOVE LOVE LOVE your GORGEOUS cake- it's a true show stopper. You HAVE to teach me how to do that chocolate lattice work. It is absolutely killer! I'm baking a German Chocolate Cake for my Grammy's 89th birthday next week, and I'd love to incorporate that technique. Oh, guess where I'm going this morning? My very first Wilton Cake Decorating Class at Michael's!... I've been trying to take it for months now, but they didn't have enough people sign up for the class, so they kept canceling. But I'm REALLY excited to get started today, and it's all thanks to you! I really appreciated your suggestion to take the class- that was when I first recognized what a truly special friend you are with a huge, kind heart- you went out of your way to get me the info about classes in my area, and it was just so sweet of you! Thanks for sharing this opportunity with me, and I'll definitely know how things are going as the weeks progress.

    I miss you, Hanaâ, and hope you're doing well. I've been going through some difficult times lately with some family stuff, but it's really helpful to have a wonderful friend like you. Can't wait to hear from you again soon!

    Sending you much love from Boston (By the way, I never told you- turn your head sideways and you'll see what <3 means... it's a heart! I use it to replace the word love when I write <3 always),

    Joy

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  2. What a beauty! Extremely well done. I'm very impressed!!

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  3. Thanks for visiting my blog with the TWD Allspice Crumb Muffin post. I am checking out all the great stuff on your blog and so so so so so so tempted to join the Heavenly Bakers...it all sounds wonderful, and while I prob could not get 1x week done, I did see at least two I could fall in love with immediately. I'm thinking....
    Your food all looks great!

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  4. Hi Hanaa - thanks for your nice comments about my sister's wedding cake. To answer your question - Yes, I used Rose's new Deep Chocolate Passion Cake with Amaretto Mousseline flavored buttercream. It was SOOOOO good!

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  5. thank you hanaa--your frist cake does us both proud! it's quite simply stunning.

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  6. Hanaa, Wow! How exciting that your beautiful cake got a comment from the real Rose herself! That's pretty neat, I must say. The new baking group sounds wonderful. You're so lucky you got one of the free autographed copies of her new book! I haven't seen the book yet, but look forward to getting my hands on a copy soon.

    Love your blog, as always, always, always!


    :) Jane

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  7. what an AMAZING cake!!! great job!!

    I wish I could join this group!! I drool looking at this book. BUT I don't have the funds to buy this book for myself, as I am trying to save up for Christmas gifts. :(

    But happy baking to you and the rest of the group.

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  8. Hanaa,
    You are a gem! Thanks so much for looking at my blog, and for answering my question! I studied that chapter very thoroughly (or so I thought) before posting my question, but missed the level 6 part with the 9x13. I really appreciate your help.
    Anat

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  9. Hanaa this is a true show stopper, I love that elegant lattice! A signed copy ánd a comment from Rosy...you must be glowing!

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  10. Just gorgeous....Hanaa it's awesome!! I love the lattice. A perfect cake!

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