All in Cakes & Bakes
As much as I love a great cake I really, really love a great cookie. And the holidays always make me want to bake all the cookies and share them with anyone who’ll take them. Read on for my favorite recipes and gluten free, dairy free and vegan adaptations.
Looking for something other than pumpkin or pecan pie for the Thanksgiving / Friendsgiving table? All of the warm fall flavor of a moist apple cider donut in an easy to make showstopper of a bundt cake finished with a rich dairy free brown butter and cinnamon sugar topping. This recipe is gluten free, dairy free and nut free and can easily be made vegan.
Honored to be asked to make a cake for our town's Juneteenth celebration this weekend. There were great speakers, a presentation on the work being done by many to preserve and memorialize Altadena's rich Black history and significance, poetry reading, song and an appearance from Assemblyman Chris Holden.
Loved making this superfood rainbow cake to share with our community at the first annual Altadena LGBTQ+ Pride Walkabout and Festival this weekend! This vanilla bean cake is made of two six layer tiers - a 6” cake on top of an 8” cake and finished with vanilla bean buttercream, wafer paper butterflies and a peony flower.
Custom 4” three layer black sesame cake - gluten, dairy and refined sugar free, of course – finished with Matcha Swiss Buttercream. Had put put a peony on it. And a couple of matcha macarons too!
Still munching on one of last weekend's paleo carrot cake jars because they're that delicious. And because I'm really into carrot cake. These are this week’s Cake of the Week – Paleo Carrot Cake + Maple Tahini Buttercream Cake Jars finished with Toasted Coconut & Pecans.
All of the bells and whistles of a full size cake – moist gluten, dairy and junk free cake, rich grass fed dairy or vegan buttercream, plus toppings and fillings (and sometimes, sprinkles!) – in a 16oz sustainable mason jar you can keep and reuse.
This week’s Cake of the Week is here! Cinnamon Cake + Churro Buttercream + Mexican Spiced Chocolate Ganache.
We spent my birthday week in Corona del Mar at a friend's beautiful beach house soaking up the sun and sea air. Our rescue poodle Spike has been living his best life here and is convinced he now lives at the beach... without our cats! Of course I had to make a cake inspired by the late winter sea…
Spring has sprung! Lots of spring themed cakes went out this week including this 4” three layer Raspberry White Chocolate Cake – Berry Cake + Raspberry Buttercream + White Chocolate Buttercream + White Chocolate. Finished with a layer of vanilla bean buttercream colored robin's egg blue with butterfly pea flower and a black cocoa and vanilla speckle.
So, what is red velvet? Red velvet cake is a light vanilla and cocoa based cake (it’s not a chocolate! cake) that became popular in the south where it was originally made with a type of non-Dutched cocoa that was rich in anthocyanin – the natural pigment that gives many plants their black, blue, purple or red color – that when mixed with vinegar in this cake creates a natural brownish red color. In the decades since, the cake has been most often colored using lots (and lots) of artificial red food coloring aka petroleum based FD&C Red 40. That aftertaste after you eat something artificially colored red? That’s the FD&C Red 40 talking. Yuck. Ours uses organic beet…
One of my favorite flavors is Nutella but if you’ve read the ingredient label lately, well, once you know, it’s hard to un-know! Enter my Notella. I wanted to use this rich chocolate and hazelnut flavor in my cakes but I didn’t want the junk in Nutella, so I had to figure out how to make my own.
You have questions – we have answers! Check out our FAQ for answers to our most often asked cake questions.
My humble cake raffle last month to benefit World Central Kitchen generated more than $1600 in donations so I'm doing it again this month to benefit Voices of Children. Read on for details on how to enter and what you can win. Deadline to enter is Friday, April 15!
You asked and the answer is – YES! You can now order your own Clean Made Bakes bespoke cakes and more!
Modern cakes and bakes made in a dedicated gluten free kitchen with the most thoughtfully sourced ingredients. Organic whenever possible. Always celiac safe.
The Bake Shop is currently closed but we do periodically accept custom orders.
What to do when someone asks if you can make a cake you’ve never made before that’s also a bit out of your comfort zone? Get creative and make a cake! As important as it is to know when to say no (for real) it’s also key to know when to take the plunge and say yes. And this was one of those times.
What’s a Snack Cake? The Snack Cake was born when I had an extra 6” layer of cake and some buttercream leftover and I torted the layer to make a simple sandwich of a cake and told Mr Beer there was a little cake in the fridge for “snacking” if he was in the mood. I mean, when is anyone not in the mood for a little cake?
