That Chocolate Cake, and breaking the Baker's Curse with a Rosanna, Inc. Giveaway!

I suffer from a little something that I like to call 'The Baker's Curse.' (Don't worry--it's far from lethal. ;-P)  The Baker's Curse is when you're the designated baker in your circle of friends, and you make everyone birthday cakes for their birthdays (and wedding cakes for their weddings, and so on), but no one ever--and I mean ever--bakes *you* a cake for *your* birthday.  I'm sure many of you out there are familiar with this affliction.  Everyone seems to get so flustered and worked up with the misconceived insecurity that no cake they bake, they think, could ever possibly live up to your standards, but what they don't all realize is that it's not really the cake that counts as it is the thought.  To just have someone put in the time and energy and thought into wanting to make a cake for me and then spending the effort to decide on a type of cake, look up the recipe, go to the store for ingredients, turn on the oven, etc etc --I don't really care if the cake doesn't rise or I could use it to play frisbee; all I care about--and I'm sure that many who suffer from Baker's Curse would agree with me--is that you actually tried.

So this year, for my birthday, I'm determined to escape the Baker's Curse, and to do so, I've enlisted the help of the awesome, awesome folks at Rosanna, Inc.  Rosanna, Inc. is the tableware company behind my absolute favorite cake stands--the ones I've used on this blog over and over again.  I have quite the collection of their cake stands, and I can honestly say that they are downright gorgeous and whimsy and cute (otherwise I wouldn't be using up blog space to tell you about them!).  And now, the folks at Rosanna, Inc. have graciously donated this beautiful 8" La Gateau cake stand as incentive to you all for helping me cure the Baker's Curse this year.

Here's the deal.  This giveaway is now closed.  Thanks for participating, and stay tuned for the winner announcments! To enter this giveaway, leave a comment with your name, a way for me to get in touch with you (anonymous entries will be disqualified), and tell me:

What cake would you bake for me for my birthday?

If you have a link to the cake recipe, please include it in your comment, but even cake ideas/inspiration sans recipe are welcome.  I will review all of your submissions for awesome birthday cake ideas and pick the awesomest few to try out and then ultimately pick a most awesomest winner as the cake for my birthday coming up.  That winner will receive this 8" La Gateau cake stand from Rosanna, Inc.  (and let me tell you right now how jealous I am of you--even I don't own one like this!)


I'm also throwing in TWO! random drawing prizes: not one but two random winners will each get a white Rosanna, Inc. petit treat cupcake stand because I adore these stands so, so much and really want to share them with you (I use them for everything from mini cakes to cookies).


You have until 23:59 PST, Sunday, June 26, 2011 to enter your cake idea.  One cake idea entry per person, please.  I'll give you an extra entry in the random drawing if you tweet about this post, but in your tweet, you must mention me (@shihbakes) and include a link to this giveaway (http://bit.ly/dfbrosanna) so that I can track all of your entries!  This contest is open everywhere except where prohibited, but please note that I am not responsible for any import duties or taxes beyond shipping that may be charged by your country if you are overseas.  Winners will be announced on or before July 4, 2011 here on the blog, so please check back.

Oh yeah, and did I mention that Rosanna, Inc's stands always come packaged in the cutest hat boxes?!

In the meantime, here's one of my favorite, simplest, yet most delicious cake recipes to get you in the cake-y mood: *that* chocolate cake, from the Scharffenberger chocolate book.  This is an insanely easy cake to make, but it's so moist and light and yet rich with chocolate flavor and wrapped up with this delicious fudge-ganache-cross dark chocolate frosting.  It's one of those cake recipes that you have to just keep in your back pocket for whipping up at a moment's notice.

I am so looking forward reading everyone's cake ideas!  Please do go and check out Rosanna, Inc. (like them on facebook; follow them on twitter), because they make absolutely wonderful things.  :-)  And here's to ending the Baker's Curse this year!


Read on for recipe....

Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Pink Pie and Giveaway

I am so excited about today's post because desserts for breakfast is teaming up with CSN stores (purveyors of coffee tables, cookware, and oh-so-much-more) for an amazing cause: breast cancer awareness.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and, as I've mentioned on this blog before, it's a cause that's very near to me because close family members and friends of mine have had to fight and survive breast cancer.  So please.  Be aware.  Get tested.  Spread the word.

In commemoration of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, CSN stores and cookware.com have kindly agreed to give away to one awesomely lucky winner an Emile Henry "Bake for the Cause" 9-inch pink pie plate (Emile Henry donates 10% of the sale of each pie dish to breast cancer research!).  I myself am a huge (read: HUGE) fan of the Emile Henry pie plates (I own four of them!), so I'm uber-excited for one of you to receive one, too, and especially a pink, breast-cancer-research-benefiting one.  To sweeten the pot pie even further, my breast-cancer-surviving relative and I will together donate $50.00 to the American Cancer Society for breast cancer research in the winner's name!

Now, once you have the pie plate, you can make this pink pie I whipped up for the occasion, inspired by a mash-up of my favorite pie (lemon meringue) and one of my favorite pink drinks (strawberry lemonade--trust me, I'm addicted to the stuff): strawberry lemonade meringue pie.  Inside the pie is a mix of the classic, tart lemon curd filling and a sweeter strawberry-lemon curd filling, made from the super sweet late season strawberries that are still floating about the farmers' markets right now.  The combination of lemon and strawberry lends a particularly fun twist to the classic lemon meringue pie.  (And, of course, don't forget the massive amounts of cloud-like meringue on top--my favorite part of this pie!)

This giveaway is now closed. Thanks for participating, and please check back soon for the announcement of the winner!  To enter this giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment with your name, a way for me to get in touch with you (anonymous entries will be disqualified), and the answer to this question:

What is your favorite pie?

I'll also give you an extra entry in the drawing if you tweet about this post, but in your tweet, you must mention me (@shihbakes) and include a link to this giveaway (http://bit.ly/dfbCSN1) so that I can track all of your entries!  You have until 23:59 PST, Sunday, October 17th, 2010 to enter.  I'll pick the winner at random that night and make the announcement in next week's post, so be sure to check back then!  This contest is open in the U.S. and Canada only. (My apologies, international readers.) The pie plate portion of this giveaway is brought to you by the CSN stores and cookware.com.

Good luck on the giveaway, and remember to spread the word about Breast Cancer Awareness!


Read on for recipe...

Ooey Gooey Caramel Apple Blackout Cake, and Happy Blorgthday! and a Giveaway!

This is it, folks! It's desserts for breakfast's one year blorgthday! (blog-iversary?) Woohoo! Even though the blog itself has been live for longer than one year, I posted my first recipe around this time one year ago, which marked the beginning of this wild food-blogging adventure that I've been on.  As you may know, I'm a huge believer in celebrating birthdays in a big way, and so that's exactly what I'm gonna do for the blog, starting with exciting news, a delicious cake, and a fun giveaway in this post!

So first off, the exciting news: desserts for breakfast is now www.dessertsforbreakfast.com!  That's right--the ".blogspot.com" training wheels have now come off, so please make sure to update your bookmarks.  Your feed should transition automatically, but please double check and let me know if you experience any problems.  (And if you aren't subscribed, well--why aren't you?! --> subscribe at the top of that right hand sidebar.)

Now, onto dessert.  Birthdays, of course, necessitate cakes, and I really wanted to pay homage to my first recipe post ever: vegan chocolate pumpkin cupcakes.  I've also been itching to use the bushels of apples that have been populating every corner of every farmers' market, and so here it is--my way of saying "happy birthday" to this blog: ooey gooey caramel apple blackout cake.  (and yes, it's vegan, too!--I've included both vegan and non-vegan options in the recipe.)

Now, originally this cake was to be named the "caramel apple whole wheat chocolate cake," but the moment I turned the cake out of its pan and saw the caramel juices run down its sides and soak into the deep, dark, rich chocolate cake underneath, I knew that the only way to describe this cake was "ooey gooey."  And let me tell you, even though it might not look like the prettiest cake ever, what it lacks in good looks, it makes up for in incredible yum.  The chocolate cake is dense and textured from the whole wheat, and it's perfect for soaking up all of the juices and caramel sauce from the apples on top.  The caramel itself has a generous sprinkling of coarse sea salt in it, and it makes the dark cake underneath the perfect sweetness for devouring and never getting tired of.  (yes, it's quite dangerous for just that reason.)  Digging your fork into this cake is like eating ultra-moist and robust chocolate pudding with baked apples and just enough cinnamon spice inside.  And did I mention it might actually be, um, (somewhat) good for you?  After all, it has fruit and whole wheat in it!  *smiles innocently*

Lastly, for my blog's blorgthday, I wanted to do something to thank all of you wonderful readers and new foodie friends out there who have helped make this year amazing.  Before I started this blog, I was being torn apart at the seams in two directions.  On one side, I had my studies, which I absolutely love, but at the same time, I felt this incredible need and hunger coming from inside to express my creativity through food and photography (though not food photography--that came later).  Without a proper and regular outlet for my food and artistic interests, I was just constantly unhappy and unfocused and questioning what the right path for me was.  After all, every artist needs an audience, no?

So I am so, so incredibly thankful for this community that you all have provided me in my small corner of the world wide internets.  It's been wonderful to have a space I can come to and be able to actually share my creations and passions.  Food photography, even, has allowed me to blend both of my artistic interests into one.  I've had so much fun "meeting" all of you virtually (and in person for some!), and finding like-minded, food- and sugar- and art-obsessed people has been such a godsend.

All that said, here's a little giveaway that I put together to celebrate the blorgthday!  One of my favorite quotes that I try to live by comes from my academic great-great?-grandfather (that would be my advisor's advisor's advisor's advisor): "Life consists of the little things: the important matter is to see them largely."  This lesson is so perfect and applicable when it comes to food, so I've put together a small collection of a few of my favorite little things that make me happy to pass on to you!

I am giving away to one awesomely lucky winner three things:

1. a set of 4 mini latte bowls from anthropologie {because they're so adorable, and I love to use them for, like, everything!)
2. a 12" stainless steel balloon whisk from Sur la Table {because I'm known around these parts as the whipping queen--I insist on whipping all creams and most meringues by hand because it builds the bubbles properly and because it, you know, builds character. :-P There's also something about the rhythmic clack-clacking from whisking that is just so therapeutic for me.}
3. a set of 6 custom 4x6" prints--of your choice!--from the desserts for breakfast archives {because if I can't send you actual desserts, this will be the next best thing!}

The giveaway is now closed. Thanks for participating, and please check back soon for the announcement of the winner!  To enter this giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment with your name, a way for me to get in touch with you (anonymous entries will be disqualified), and the answer to this question:

What is one little thing in your daily life that makes you happy?

I'll also give you an extra entry in the drawing if you tweet about this post, but in your tweet, you must mention me (@shihbakes) and include a link to this giveaway (http://bit.ly/dfbbirthday1) so that I can track all of your entries!  You have until 23:59 PST, Sunday, October 3, 2010 to enter. I'll pick the winner at random that night and make the announcement in next week's post, so be sure to check back then!  This contest is open everywhere except where prohibited, but please note that I am not responsible for any import duties or taxes beyond shipping that may be charged by your country if you are overseas.  This giveaway is in no way affiliated or sponsored by anthropologie or Sur la Table.


So, thank you all so, so much for your loyal readership and friendship!  And, this is definitely *not* the end to all of the excitement--I have plenty of things planned for October and the coming months, so here's looking forward to another year of sugar highs and nom-licious desserts!


Read on for recipe....

the Blackest Forest Gateau and a Giveaway!

OMG, I am giddy with excitement over this post, because I've been planning it for so long!  At last I can unveil it!

I'm the kind of person who really likes to share happy moments with others--I think this is probably why I enjoy food so much, because it's an experience that you're meant to share.  So I'm so excited to share the news that I had my first photography exhibit and showing of my first collection this past weekend, and, to celebrate, I'm doing my first giveaway EVER on this blog!  Read on for details...

"the Guardian"

My collection is called in Una Selva Luminosa and is a set of eight black and white photographs that I took last summer.  You can view the entire collection here.  The collection was really somewhat of a labor of love for me, since I also matted all of the custom-sized photographs myself--hence all of the tweets from a few weeks ago that my kitchen table had devolved into a framer's workshop!

"Descent"

The photographs were taken in Taiwan, though I really like the fact that they're sort of non-specific in their forest-ness.  I was just so incredibly lucky to be where I was at the right time, during the summer when the humid heat from the valleys met the cold mountain air and produced this amazing mist all around.  The collection is dedicated to my maternal grandmother, for whom the hike on which these photos were taken was her last.  A few short months after going on this climb, she suffered a debilitating stroke and now cannot speak or use the right side of her body.

"Light, with Dark"

For me, art should be a mulit-media experience, so naturally, I had the perfect dessert planned to go with my exhibit: "the Blackest Forest Gateau."

Made with black cocoa powder, this "Blackest Forest Gateau" has layers of deep and moist black chocolate cake, dark chocolate ganache, and sweet dark cherry filling, all wrapped up in generous mounds of light and airy mascarpone whipped cream.  This cake is a perfect transformation of my photography collection into dessert form, with the balance and interplay of light, frothy cream and rich, dense dark chocolate.

And, after tasting this cake, I have to say that it's hands-down one of the BEST chocolate cakes I have ever made.  I'm dead serious, and I absolutely do not say this lightly.  The black cocoa makes the chocolate cake layers so much richer and deeper in chocolate flavor--the cake is barely sweet at all and makes for a perfect counterpoint to the sweetness of the cherries and cream.  Then, just to up the chocolate ante a bit, I added a layer of dark chocolate ganache on top of each cake layer--you know, just because I can.  (and because hidden chocolate ganache seems to be a recurring theme of this blog.)  The dark cherries really help make the cake, adding a sweet hint of dark, rich berry goodness to offset the incredible chocolaty-ness that you would otherwise have.  Finally, I whipped up a whipped cream with mascarpone cheese, which really helped to make the cream more substantial and add more flavor (and, again, just because mascarpone cheese is awesome).  The outcome is ... well, it leaves me a bit speechless because I'm busy gobbling it all up.

"Ascent"

So, onto the giveaway!  The giveaway is now closed.  Thanks for participating!  I am giving away to one awesomely lucky winner two things: (1) an 8 x 12" professionally matted print from Aspen Creek Photo of one of the photos from my collection that I have featured here in this post (total-size = 12 x 16")--your choice, and (2) a 16-oz. bag of black cocoa powder from King Arthur Flour so that you can recreate this Blackest Forest Gateau at home!  I've been experimenting myself with black cocoa powder for some time now, and having made various cakes and ice creams with it, it is an incredibly versatile ingredient for really enhancing the dark chocolate flavor in your desserts.


[Disclaimer: This giveaway is by no way affiliated or sponsored by Aspen Creek Photo or King Arthur Flour.]


To enter this giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment with your name, a way for me to get in touch with you, and answers to these two questions:

1. Tell me what you would make with black cocoa.
2. Tell me which one of the four photographs featured in this post from my collection ("the Guardian," "Ascent," "Light, with Dark," "Descent") you would like if you win!

I'll also give you an extra entry into the drawing if you tweet about this post, but in your tweet you must mention me (@shihbakes) and include a link to this giveaway (http://bit.ly/blackcocoa) so that I can track all of the entries.


You have until 23:59 PST next Monday, April 26, 2010 to enter!  I'll pick the winner at random that night and make the announcement in next Tuesday's post.  Because I am a poor graduate student and am running this contest with no sponsorship whatsoever, if you are not in the United States, you are only eligible to win the 16 oz. black cocoa, not the photograph.  That's the compromise that I must make so that everyone can enter--I hope you understand!  [EDIT: some of you have commented that you'd rather have a print, either for personal or country import law reasons, so if you are overseas and win, I will let you pick--cocoa or print!]

Oh man, I hope you are all as excited as I am.  Make this cake--you won't regret it, and don't forget to drop by and check out my entire collection HERE.


Read on for recipe...