Birch Wedding Cake

I love wedding cakes! I love the endless options you have for decorating them - the themes, the styles, the shapes - just everything about them! So picking one is a pretty challenging task with these endless options at hand.

As we went for a pretty rustic and casual wedding, the cake had to match that theme and I ended up with this simple birch tree design with soft pink ranunculus and peonies. Nothing too fancy.
I have seen beautiful birch cakes covered in fondant and I love the endless cake decorating options fondant gives you. However, I don't enjoy eating it and I have noticed that most people feel the same way. So I decided to use a white chocolate cream cheese frosting, gave it some texture using a spatula and accentuated these textures with darker frosting using a fine brush.

The venue for the reception was a beautiful, rustic yet elegant barn with a very warm and inviting atmosphere, which needs basically no decorations at all. So we just used some simple white and light pink flowers in different vases, and white candles on slabs of birch wood. Very simple but everything matched - the cake, the decorations, the bridal bouquet...

And here's a picture of the family ;-)

Cotton Candy Cake

This week I made a really cute cake for a very dear friend and I would like to share my design with you. It is very girly and perfect for any girl's birthday, regardless of her age ;)

It is basically a chocolate drip cake with a cloud of pink cotton candy on top, decorated with fondant butterflies and flowers on skewers. Totally simple but effective!
Of course you could cover the cake in buttercream before drizzling on the chocolate, but I am not a fan of overly rich cakes...

Date & Nut Balls

I am trying to eat more healthily (once again...). There is just one major problem: I love sweets and I just can't do without them.

So I was looking for a compromise and after lengthy experimenting I have come up with these Date & Nut Balls. Dark cocoa powder makes them really chocolate-y and they are sweetened by dates with an addition of nuts for extra energy.

They are vegan, raw, gluten-free and there is no sugar or fat added. Actually that doesn't sound satisfying but I promise they taste awesome!

For about 20 balls you will need:

• 150g mixed nuts (I like almonds, peanuts and cashews)
• 100g soft dates
• 10g puffed quinoa
• 1 tbsp dark cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 clementine

1. In a food processor, coarsely grind the nuts. Tip them onto a flat plate.

2. Process the dates and juice of one clementine into a sticky puree. Add the cocoa powder, cinnamon, quinoa and two thirds of the ground nuts and blitz once more to combine.

3. Roll one tablespoon of the mixture between your wet hands to get a dime-sized ball. Roll in the rest of the ground nuts to coat it. Proceed with the rest of the mixture.

Store in an airtight container and refridgerate.

Dattelbällchen

Im Moment versuche ich (mal wieder...), mich gesünder zu ernähren. Das Problem ist nur, dass ich unglaublich auf ungesunden Süßkram stehe und es überhaupt keine Option ist, darauf zu verzichten.

Also musste ein Kompromiss her und das Ergebnis langer Versuche sind diese Dattelbällchen. Sie schmecken durch das Kakaopulver sehr schokoladig, sind durch Datteln natürlich gesüßt und Nüsse geben zusätzlich Energie.

Sie sind vegan, roh, ohne Zucker- und Fettzusatz und glutenfrei. Klingt als könnte das nicht lecker sein; täuscht aber gewaltig ;)

Für etwa 20 Bällchen benötigt man:

• 150g gemischte Nüsse (Ich verwende gerne Mandeln, Cashews und Erdnüsse)
• 100g weiche Datteln
• 10g gepuffter Quinoa
• 1 EL Kakaopulver 
• 1/4 TL Zimtpulver
• 1 Clementine (Saft)

1. Die Nüsse in der Küchenmaschine zu sehr grobem Mehl zerkleinern. In einen flachen Teller geben.

2. Die Datteln zusammen mit dem Clementinensaft in der Küchenmaschine zu einem zähen Püree verarbeiten. Kakaopulver, Zimtpulver, Quinoa und 2/3 der grob gemahlenen Nüsse hinzufügen und nochmals kurz mixen.

3. Jeweils etwa einen Esslöffel der Masse zwischen mit Wasser angefeuchteten Händen zu einem Bällchen rollen und in dem verbliebenen Drittel der Nüsse wälzen.

Am besten luftdicht verschlossen im Kühlschrank aufbewahren.