mango

Happy birthday to me! And my friends!

During a recent weekend getaway, I was lucky enough to celebrate my 30th birthday with some dear friends, a few of whom are also turning 30 this year, and a couple of whom share July birthdays with me. So, I made each one of us a cake.

I knew I would have very limited time to decorate, so I made a batch of Italian meringue buttercream, and brought some fondant and piping gel along to the getaway in case I was struck with inspiration. The idea of representing the growth of a long friendship over time came to mind during the drive. So here is our trio of cakes to celebrate old friends:

The first is a green tea chiffon cake with green tea pastry cream and puff pastry layers, requested after I posted about that flavor combination in a previous birthday cake project.

The second is a purple yam chiffon cake with mango Bavarian cream. This one was fluffy and light. Maybe a little too light on flavor in my rush to make it.

The third is a lemon pound cake with lemon curd pastry cream and fresh strawberries. Perfect for a hot summer day!

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Some of my happiest baking is for the office. To me, there’s an inherent joy in desserts, and to share that joy with others and make even just one person merrier (especially in the workplace) is what motivates me.

Amazon Lab126 just moved offices to a shiny new location in Sunnyvale, CA and to celebrate our last day in the old office, I made a cake! This is a 4-layer lemon chiffon cake with coconut pastry cream and a middle filling layer of mango bavarian cream and fresh slices of mango. The outside frosting is just a plain Swiss meringue buttercream, decorated with toasted coconut chips.

I left the cake out (in a mostly closed box) in the kitchenette to let it thaw a bit. By 11am, the cake was 90% gone and I hadn’t even announced its presence. I barely got to taste a bite and snap a photo of the inside before the cake was completely gone, the box thrown away and my knife rinsed off.

I guess hungry employees find joy in cake on Friday mornings!

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Birthday | Trio of Old Friends

Office Bytes | Moving Day!