Kathy and Jason - ParaVi Vineyards

Kathy and Jason came to me about six weeks ago with their wedding on the very near horizon. As Kathy's sister said on wedding day, "You are perfect for Kathy and Jason, they LOVE dessert and Kathy loves little desserts." To which I responded, "Everything big is better small." Kathy was all about the pies, Jason, being from the East Coast, was all about canolis and pasticiotti (more on this in a minute). They had no interest in cake and loved the idea of feeding each other canolis. Who says you can't take the parts of the traditions you like and leave the rest behind? Pies I can handle, but I'd never made canolis even though I knew about them and had a rough, general idea of how they were supposed to taste and look. The pasticiotti however were a total new experience! I ordered specific pans for them and wound up getting the recipe from the Jason's aunt. Pasticiotti is a cakey/cookie like crusted tart baked in a fluted pan and filled with a vanilla or lemon scented custard. (In this case we went with vanilla.)The wedding was at the amazing ParaVi Vineyards. The venue is basically divided into three tiers. The upper grassy tier was where the ceremony took place. The next tier down was a large grassy lawn where a long kings table was set up. The bottom tier was where the barrel room (in this case, the dance floor and desserts), the tasting room (aka, the bar) and a lovely outside deck area that is perfect for cocktail hour. If you are having a smaller wedding you HAVE to check it out!

I don't have a ton of pictures because we've got all sorts of fun plans for it to be published, but I did want to share a little bit with everyone! A HUGE thanks to Chris Shepard for being the dedicated machine that he is... I still can't believe that he got these sneak peek pictures turned around so amazingly fast! Of course I also can't wait to see MORE! This wedding has also been blogged about (don't you just love the enthusiasm for beautiful weddings!) on our buddy Shannon's Fancy Pants Weddings blog.


I almost forgot! A special thank you to Ellie my new intern, she took care of doing the set up and all of the dessert tags. Simple, Clean, Perfect. I also wanted to thank Sunny and his team with Exquisite Events and Entertainment for going with the flow and adding lighting to the dessert. (Nobody puts Baby in the corner!) Without it the desserts would have been entirely dark, with it the plates just shone! And last, but not least, a HUGE thanks to Francie of Bocca Catering, without her I never would have met Kathy and Jason!

It's a Boy's Life: Motorcross Birthday!

This just goes to show that regardless of age or sex... EVERYONE loves a dessert bar!

Jennifer is the fabulous gal that embroiders all of my chef coats and she wanted to do something special for her boyfriend Sam's birthday.

We stuck with all his favorites and since the two of them are totally into motorcross I stenciled a motorcycle onto some cookies (trust me, it took a little creative thinking to get that one figured out!).

Desserts included: Pecan pie, lemon meringue pie, hummingbird cupcakes, palmiers and butter cookies.


I just love how the pecan pies look like gears when they are off-set like this! (Really, I get excited about the silliest things!)

One of our darling couples has been featured!

San Francisco Style Unveiled is just the most gorgeous online magazine ever! I'm not quite to stalking regularity, but the weddings they feature really are outstanding! Yesterday I got a Facebook message from Martha that John and Nicole's beautiful Capitola wedding was featured. YEA! I'm thrilled to share a little snippet with you all, but to read the entire article (some good advice in addition to some amazing Memory Journalists photography!)take a look at their site!

Bella Donna 2010 Spring Launch Party

I LOVE SHANNON!

Shannon of Flourish brought her camera and took the following amazing pictures of the desserts that were served at the Bella Donna launch party. Lots of fun, pretty dessert options, perfect for January!

As a pastry chef I've always found it difficult to sell panna cotta. Anytime you mention "milk jello" people wig. It's an excellent dessert, but after years of playing around with different ways of describing it, I've come up with the following... just call it cream! Peaches and Cream, Strawberries and Cream, Creamsicle... you get the idea! In addition to being striking, it's yummy too (everyone who at this version gobbled it up and had nothing but good things to say!).
(Vanilla Panna Cotta with Pink Grapefruit Gelee and Candied Grapefruit & Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee with Fresh Raspberries)

In addition to getting the attendees to venture out of their comfort zone, I provided the ubiquitous creme brulee. An amazing custard is a must for any decent pastry chef, and I have to confess, even though I've made over 10,000 of these puppies, they are pretty dang good!


Nothing says winter dessert to me more than poached pears. mmmmmm and the creamy champagne sabayon was bliss. Just a little bite, but just sweet enough and just boozie enough to be satisfying. Also, is there anything cuter than a Seckle pear? I don't think so, and when they are poached they are even more amazing!



Last, but not least were the peanut butter truffles (and in the distance you can see the salted caramel tartlets, which, if you've been following this blog, you've probably seen before!). I used a food spray to make them a shiny silver. How fun! I also placed them on a bed of Valrhona crunchy chocolate pearls. Fun, different and tasty!

I also wanted to point out the dessert tags... how cute are these little guys. I shamelessly stole the logo from Bella Donna and used it to personalize the tags. I just love their pretty French blue color!

Purple and Black - January 9

Tiffany and Tanner had their very dramatic purple and black wedding at Sequoia Restaurant in Placerville. This really is an example of the little details making a big impact!

I'm forever telling my couples to be creative with their cake toppers. Tiffany received the Corpse Bride and Groom as a Christmas present... they are ornaments! Keep in mind that when you get creative with cake toppers you may need to take into account support. There is NO WAY that adorable little groom would have stood up without those flowers... as it is you can barely see his shoes!

The decoration for this cake was a quilted pattern with black dragees at every intersection point. Clean, simple, beautiful!

mmmmm Salted Caramel Tartlets (I do LOVE that pink Hawaiian sea salt!)

I love elevating the simple cream puff. These little guys had white chocolate "hats" that had the same pattern as the name cards and the "Sweet Treats" sign. I'm tellin' you, it really is those little details that show up in the pictures, and, although they might not be noticed at the time that everyone is eating them, really does contribute to a sense of continuity when you look at the entire display.

Fruit Tartlet... enough said!

This is only the second time I've make butterscotch pudding for a wedding, but how fun are these! I particularly like the rough shards of toffee sticking out of the glasses.

Strawberry Mousse, I just LOVED the tiny quanelles of whipped cream on top.

Lemon Mousse... I'm forever hearing that these look like high healed shoes. The cookie on the back is a ladyfinger, and nothing goes better with lemon than blueberries!

Dynamite Weddings Bridal Mixer

I have been so enjoying this down time (December and part of January) that I've gotten complacent about writing the blog. Back to work SLACKER!

January has been shaping up to be surprisingly busy. I usually have one to two days of tasting appointments per month, January I had to add a third! YEA!

As some of you know I am a member of Dynamite Weddings. It's a great resource for brides, or soon to be brides. This past week we had our inaugural Bridal Mixer at the Citizen Hotel. I do love that place! So dramatic!

Here are a few pictures that Jennifer of Memory Journalists took... yes, that's me in the chef coat (boy do I need to get a tailored coat for these events!). I stuck with the general color and feel of the Dynamite Wedding website... just like I do with weddings.

Rehearsal Dinner - Dessert Bar

It was another busy weekend. Thursday rehearsal dinner dessert bar at the Citizen Hotel downtown, sculpted shoe cake on Friday, and INSANE detail wedding cake at the Sutter Club.

Yesterday was also family picture day... Mom and Dad with the boys, Mike and I, and our goddaughter's three month pictures. Those pictures will come soon, but you'll just have to wait!

For now I only have pictures from Thursday, but I promise more to come from the other events!

Let me begin by saying that I like to think I play well with others, well, a girl has to draw a line SOMEWHERE... I do not EVER again want to share my dessert table with the coffee station. It looks, well, not to put too fine of a point on it... LIKE CRAP! Of course the desserts were still tasty and my couple did like them, it just wasn't the look I was going for. Dang.

Special thanks go out to Brandy Sommer Photography for coming at a moments notice to take pictures! I'll also be getting pictures from Allison Stahl Photography, but we'll have to be patient on those.

The close ups are so much more picturesque!

Chocolate Eclairs... with the cutsie white chocolate hearts!

Ubiquitous vanilla bean creme brulee... how can you argue when it's so good and sooo popular!??

Fresh fruit tart... all berries this time... Aren't those golden raspberries to DIE for???

If you haven't figured it out by this point, I ADORE gold... leaf, dust, flecks... all of it. I'm a glitter girl, I can't help it. Everything in my nature screams MORE, MORE, MORE! I have to intentionally put my instincts in check some times!

Last but not least are these yummy triffles. This one is similar to the ones I did last weekend for the bridal shower, except that they have raspberries inside! White Chocolate Mousse, Passionfruit Curd, Red Raspberries and White Chocolate shavings all layered together with vanilla bean butter cake. So many textures and flavors, and so so yummy!

L & D: It's all in the {French} details

Elegant events are about the details, and this wedding had them in spades! The colors were sapphire blue and white, but there were fleur de lis details dotted throughout the wedding and reception.

As soon as the bride heard that there was a dessert bar option she got very excited. She was all about the chocolate.

The wedding cake was a clean lined and elegant chocolate cake with layers of vanilla bean buttercream and fresh strawberries. These beautiful tags were made by Stephanie J Designs... THIS is what I was saying about the details. So nice, elegant, and really appreciated.

I absolutely adored these chocolates. This is another example of the little details really shining! This is also a great example of how the extremely popular salted caramel tartlet was transformed into a salted caramel truffle.

Even the fruit tarts got special attention. The groom specifically chose the fruits to be used. I heard several comments from guests about how pretty these little guys were. All of the serving pieces were lined with cream paper that had gold fleur de lis' on them. So pretty.

A nice top down shot, that shows off the symmetry and the crème brûlée!

Thanks to Memory Journalists for the pictures and A Day to Remember for referring me. I really do like doing dessert bars, they are fun and challenging and really let me flex my creative muscles!

Briday Shower Saturday!

Saturday was a super busy day... three events, two with dessert bars, two were weddings. YIKES! More pictures will follow, but in the mean time, here is something to ruin your lunch!Thanks to my darling intern, Cearra, for all her help, I couldn't have done it without her help! (I'd love to clone myself on days like this!)

Below are pictures of some of the desserts that Brandy of Brandy Sommer Photography took. Make sure you eat a little something before you look though these!

White Chocolate and Passion Fruit Trifle

The bride's favorite dessert is red velvet cake... so we made some lollipops. How fun!

More details of these will come from the pictures that Memory Journalists took because I made these truffles for two events (Can't wait for those pictures!). Salted Caramel Truffles... YUM! (This is a good example of how I can take our VERY popular salted caramel tartlet and translate it into a truffle... easy peasy!

Next up, and I think based on dirty dishes, the most popular, Lemon Raspberry Creme Brulee... the raspberry was a thick layer of tart coulis at the bottom with the lemon custard on top... so good and refreshing after a big lunch.

Last, but not least, we've got milk chocolate mousse. Anytime mousse is served with breakfast or lunch I like to lighten it up with layers of whipped cream, otherwise it's just too rich for most guests.

Sean and Ashley - August 22, 2009 Part 1

Hot August Nights!

Sean and Ashley have both been so much fun to work with while we were creating their wedding desserts. They were so excited about the prospect of doing little desserts with the cake. It was beautiful and the colors really let me go crazy with some fun techniques that I've been DYING to try.

Don't worry, yes, that is an ax in Sean's hand, yes, they did cut the cake with said ax, and yes, Sean IS a fireman! This was a sweet, very funny, surprise for his darling bride... I so wanted to say something, but it was hilarious and the pictures are priceless.This photo will need some retouching to make it magazine worthy (mostly the drapery) but I was thrilled with how this turned out. There are little things that bug me, but I'm not going to share them with everyone... it's just me. Enjoy the pictures!

In order from left to right: Dulce De Leche Creme Brulee, Pecan Pie, Black Forest Petit Fours, Raspberry Lemonade Marshmallows, Strawberry Chocolate Mousse, Lemon Berry Pavlovas, Salted Caramel Tartlets, Decorated Butter Cookies

Special thanks go out to: Lora Ward with A Day To Remember Wedding Consultants for recommending me to her clients. As always she was a force to recon with and was so great about staying on top of everything. Katie Edwards of Ambience Floral Design was wonderful. She made the floral balls that are shown in this picture and she created the backdrop. Thank goodness... if I'd had to do it I think I would have lost my mind! Jordan Zink of Jordan's Portraits took these and many more amazing pictures! Last but not least, Stephanie of Stephanie J Designs made the lovely name cards. I just pointed her in a direction and she went and the end product was LOVELY!