My Latest Baking Ventures

My baking obsession has continued at a feverish pace. As I mentioned in my last post we have 'The Great British Bake Off' to blame for that. Can't stop, won't stop.

The above is the birthday cake I made for my mom - every element from scratch. Bar the sprinkles of course. A rich chocolate sponge layered with strawberry mousse and covered with strawberry buttercream (made from real strawberries!).

Happy Birthday Mom! I love ya.

Then with leftover pastry I had from the week before I made a strawberry tart. The ganache turned out suuuper runny but I'm not claiming to be a professional here.

My skills are a work in progress.

Then it was my grandma's birthday so I had to make a treat to take over there! Banana fudge brownies, peeps. YUM. So good and different. My ganache was the right consistency finally but my piping work left much to be desired. I can hear Paul Hollywood now saying "It's a bit of a mess..."

But guess what Paul it tasted great. I've just got to work on my finesse.

Happy Birthday Grandma! Couldn't ask for a better grandma. You are the best and I love you!

I was getting sick and tired of all the sweets so I decided on an asparagus and mushroom quiche for my next bake. This turned out SO good. The crust was soft and buttery and the insides bursting with flavors. I might actually add this one to my 'bake again' list.

Then I started feeling ambitious and decided to try out the ol' macaron. Above was my first batch, I felt like it wasn't too shabby for a very first try. Particularly since they're quite infamous for their difficulty.

I was feeling so good about them I decided I'd try my hand at a second batch to see if I could get them even better.

Here's the second attempt, awaiting the oven. 

I set my timer for seven minutes, nervously awaiting the moment where I'd open the oven to rotate these delicate little things.

However what awaited me was not perfection but rather the biggest disaster to occur in my oven to date.

Ahhh! No idea what went wrong. They totally spilled their guts out. I would've been kicked off of 'Bake Off' for sure with this presentation.

Ah well, not every bake turns out. Better get back to practicing!