Pastel de Tres Leches (Daring Bakers' Challenge)

Pastel de Tres Leches...this is one of those cakes that's been on my cake backlog forever even though I'd never eaten it before and I had no idea whether or not it was any good. The concept of this cake - which involves soaking sponge cake in milk - is so novel and interesting. When I saw that this was the subject of the September Daring Bakers', I was beyond excited.

Inma of la Galletika was our Sept. 2013 Daring Bakers’ hostess and WOW did she bring us something decadent and delicious! Pastel de Tres Leches or Three Milk Cake, creamy yet airy, super moist but not soggy.. just plain delish!

Lotus Paste & Peach Candy Mooncakes

Thursday is the Mid-Autumn Festival...that means it's time to make mooncakes! Last year, I made mooncakes for the first time and filled them with an easy, pre-made red bean paste filling. This year, I was determined to make lotus seed paste for the filling. Then, because my new mooncake mold was peach-shaped, I decided to add a non-traditional twist and place a homemade peach gelée candy at the very center of my mooncake.

How to Make Gum Paste Lilies (Tutorial)

Shortly after returning from China, some good friends asked me to make a wedding cake for their August wedding. I agreed to take this on, and the rest of my summer weekends were dedicated to practicing, preparing, and practicing. I'll post more about the wedding cake later (in the rush to deliver the cake I forgot my camera, so I'm waiting on the pictures from the professionals), but in the meantime I wanted to post a tutorial on something I got pretty good at over the course of making the cake - gum paste lilies. The couple had asked for yellow "lily-ish" gum paste flowers, so I decided to make bright yellow (with a hint of pink) Asiatic Lilies.