giants squids and pirate chefs

Arr, mateys! Here is a cake made for a lovely client, Marina. I can hardly remember the flavor of the cake, as I have waited WEEKS for the following shot to be developed (yes, its film)!

This is either a Milky Way Cake OR a Guinness Bailey's Cake.

The cake was designed after a mental snap shot of a Pirates-of-the-Caribbean-esque giant squid breaking a ship in half. The design had a meaning I'm sure but I dared not ask!

Much ♡

D

P.s. Oh yeah, Happy Birthday Erik!

I wanna be the girl with the most cake.

Just recently I had an unusual request to create a red velvet cake complete with a disheveled Courtney Love and baby doll limbs for an awesome dude- Jake of Humphrey Slocombe. But after a friend helped decipher the concept, and listening to Doll Parts, this cake makes perfect sense, kind of.

Jake's pictures from the gathering and thereafter via Jake's Instagram  =)

XO <3

Oh man! Where the heck have I been? MIA for sure, and I must apologize for that. A pastry chef turned sugar orchestrator has only so much energy to write (am I right, Abby?)

 Well, since my last post much has changed and much has stayed the same. I am still making cakes, but in a different capacity and style. Not many crazy cool custom ones but I have gotten a lot faster at baking, stacking, frosting and decorating cakes. Have developed a new found love of laminated doughs... more specifically croissant. It amazes me every time I have one. As Chad Robertson of Tartine says, "A well made croissant will give one pause, a moment to reflect on the petit engineering marvel set before you."I can only wish to be so eloquent ;)

Pain au Chocolat a la Daniel!

Anywho, dahhhhling (is it working?) I took a quick but much needed escape to NYC on my 24th birthday weekend with an old friend where I imagined new things for myself and set new goals... and that was the most refreshing and well-timed gift from God yet.

Summer in SoHo

Enough about me... lets get back to the reason we are all (meh?) here... CAKE! The following cake made for a wedding reception at the Clift hotel. It was a really chic/intimate gathering. I hope the cake found a beautiful spot somewhere besides the stainless steel counters it was assembled on.

Magenta Velvet with Cream Cheese Frosting
Guiness Chocolate Cake with Baileys Buttercream

Well, now that I've lost my coffee buzz, I must say 'till next time! But sooner this time!

XO,

Daniel

Red and White Wedding

Been holding on to this photo for a while now. Here is a Vanilla Cake with Vanilla Bean Custard and Sliced Strawberries that I made for one of my very favorite clients. Marie, you are always a pleasure to work with!

Blessings to the newlyweds!

=) Daniel

Junia Lane

Have you heard of Brazilian Photog Junia Lane? She took this gorgeous photo of my (pretty) cake before its (not so pretty) tumble. =D

Make your way to her website or check out

her awesome photography blog right hurrr...

www.junialane.squarespace.com

Jose and Tatiane's Wedding

Did this really happen? Or did I, and everyone who attended the wedding, imagine it? And no I'm not talking about the bride and groom getting hitched... I'm referring to the cake table toppling over mid-cutting!

top: Vanilla Bean and Chocolate Cake Layers with Espresso Buttercream

middle: Caramel Swirl Vanilla Bean Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and Organic Raspberries

bottom: Toasted Coconut Cake with Pineapple Curd

This day was filled with love, celebration, champagne, and lots of happy family members but most of the guests went without the sweetest part of the day (the damn cake) thanks to some careless servers. Now no one is playing the blame game but either the cake table was improperly set up or the servers shouldn't have loaded up the small table with almost 100 heavy plates.

groom's cake: Marble Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and Bananas

(Anyway) Luckily my sister-in-law and brother had a chance to get the traditional cake-cutting photos!.. and some happy guests got cake.

Way to cut diagonally into the cake, Joe! =P

Congrats Taty & Joe!!!

Much love & blessings,

Danny

-Jose and Tatiane's Wedding Cakes created June.27th.2010

The Coulson Wedding

Creating a cake can sometimes be a non-fussy, organic process and sometimes it requires lots of thought and design editing. But they all require hours of work, fine attention to detail and if you already have a full-time job, sleep deprivation.

Toasted Almond Cake with Lemon Curd

L and G's wedding cake was no exception. In fact, and I am aware that the following analogy might stir some controversy among mothers, I can only compare the holistic act of creating cake sculptures to birthing a child. By the end of the week and design process, your head throbs, your body aches, and it takes a substantial amount of energy to form a coherent thought... and conjure the strength to utter it loud enough for others to hear. Okay so maybe I'm exaggerating but once finished, you feel joy that is difficult to express. Seeing something that once was only a concept in your mind manifested before your eyes is a magical thing. Creating is a magical thing. Creating is a gift. Creating is one of the things we were designed to do.

Vanilla Bean Caramel Swirl Cake with Vanilla Bean Buttercream

After seeing photos of L's wedding dress and color scheme we collaborated on a design inspired by the embroidery on the front and the way in which the fabric wraps around the silhouette. Here is what we came up with:

The Coulsons opted to offer three different flavors to their guests, choosing a different one for each tier (the last tier being Vanilla Bean Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting and Organic Raspberries... my fav!)

Congrats L & G! Many blessings!!!

♡,

D

-The Coulson's Wedding Cake was created June.10th.2010

Jerry's Black Widow

Since Im busy baking some red velvet cake for Maribel (that actually tastes like chocolate!), I thought it might be a good time to update this thing!

Last Saturday was a dear friend's birthday so although I was only instructed to make a simple bowling ball-shaped cake I thought it was time to take it to the next step and create something really special.

Apparently Jerry is an avid bowler and just recently purchased his newest baby, the "Black Widow."

Chocolate Cake, Dark Chocolate Ganache, Milk Chocolate Buttercream

Happy Birthday Jer!

Jerry's B-day Cake created May.15.2010

♡,

D

fabrics

Last time I attempted this fabric-like design was for Debbie's birthday cake about 2 years ago. Although that cake was well received, it did not match up to the vision in my mind. I think its safe to say my second attempt at the frilly ruffles was a success.

Top tier: Caramel Swirled Vanilla Bean Cake with Vanilla Bean Buttercream

Bottom tier: Toasted Almond Cake with Lemon Curd and Vanilla Bean Buttercream

The Coulson's 25th anniversary cake created February.26th.2010

♡,

D

Piping hot!

My hand is still sore... and this cake was made 4 days ago... okay maybe I'm exaggerating just a tad. I don't think I've piped this much EVER and it was only an 8-inch anniversary cake! I can only imagine how stunning (and tiring) this would be on a 5-tier square wedding cake (yeee boooy)!

How's the cliche go? No pain no fame? (bwahahaha).

Xoxox

Daniel

Jen's Baby Shower

What do you get when you mix Marbled Vanilla Bean and Dark Chocolate Cake, Sliced Bananas...

...Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting...

...and a cute baby lion?

Jen's baby shower cake!

ROOOAAAR!

hehehe ;)

xoxox

Daniel

No way!

So after making a new friend and reading her awesome blog for a minute, (FogCitySparkle) I realized I haven't blogged since July 09... SORRY! I usually won't publish an article unless I'm crazy about it which has led to many unpublished articles in my drafts folder... anyway.

Since July I have been busy in the restaurant trying to get through the holiday season without freaking out, making cakes sporadically and taking tons of pictures... of everything. You see, I've become kind of photography obsessed recently after purchasing my first DSLR a few months ago. And don't even get me started on my vintage Canon FTb! Anyway!

2010 seems chock-full of new blessings and WEDDING CAKES!.. Lisa's and Lety's specifically. Stay tuned.

Opening one of two books this Christmas, Alinea!

Oh yeah, happy new year Cakemongers!!!

♡

Daniel

SF Strawberry Week 2009

Earlier this year I had the opportunity of participating in the SF Strawberry Week- a week-long event in which participating San Francisco restaurants submit a recipe to a strawberry dish to be published in a small cookbook and feature the dish on their menus.

Keeping in mind how perfect a ripe strawberry is at its peak, I created Roasted Strawberry Gelato Profiteroles.

This recipe creates a dense and intensely flavored strawberry gelato.

The best part of participating in Strawberry Week is having my recipe published alongside the recipes of legendary chefs, such as Emily Luchetti and Elizabeth Falkner.

Here are some shots I took for blogging purposes :)

The photographer caught off guard

-Roasted Strawberry Gelato Profiteroles created the week of March.9th.2009.

Anais Communion

I don't know how this one got away! Apparently I overlooked posting this cake.

This cake was made for Conny's (adorable) niece's communion. Conny asked me to create a bible made up of Vanilla Bean Cake with Vanilla Bean Frosting but left the minutiae up to me. I chose a chapter from Romans I thought was appropriate and used that as the script.

Congrats Anais =)

-Bible Cake created April.26.2009

Jeff & Santiago

I love it when a couple knows exactly what they like (and dislike) when it comes to the design and flavor of a wedding cake. Thats what occurred when working with Jeff and Ago in creating their wedding cake last month.

Both Jeff and Ago love lemon cake but were willing to provide an option for the chocolate lovers in their wedding party so they opted for both flavors.

Here is a picture of the cake on location:

-Jeff & Santiago's Wedding Cake created on April.25.2009

AIDS LIFECYCLE 2009

Just last month, the Homeboys organized an awesome event to raise funds for their participation in the AIDS LIFECYCLE 2009 cycling event.

AIDS LIFECYCLE is a 7-day, 545 mile bike ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles designed to raise funds to support the HIV/AIDS services of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center.

Many vendors participated in this even by donating drinks, gift cards and merchandise for raffling purposes and of course I donated cake!

To donate to Team HomeBoys, click Erik (team captain) or Clemmy (mid-speech) :

Thanks for the great pics Alice Lee!

-AIDS LIFECYCLE cake created March.24th.2009.

Denise in Gucci

Denise and Gio are like family so when Gio asked me to make an extra special cake for his wife's birthday, I had this in mind.

Since we are all a little more conscious about how we spend our money nowadays, I thought an over-priced-designer-label cake would scratch the itch of the compulsive shopper... in this case, me! Not that I would buy a purse for myself (set myself up for that one).

Anyway... beneath the hand embossed exterior is the delicious Red Velvet Cake and Cream Cheese Frosting interior. Unfortunately I don't have a photo of the cake being demolished but as soon as I get one I will be posting that!

Happy Birthday D!

-Denise's Gucci Bag created February.25.2009

Cakemonger on Flickr!

I've set up a FLICKR account as an online portfolio- please feel free to share the link and add me! Click the pic:

2008 ---> 2009

2008 has marked a year of personal and professional growth like no other. Many of my wildest dreams have become reality and there are many more to come! I wish blessings for all my friends + readers and (cliche goes here) dare to dream, yo!

--Daniel

____________________________________________

The Habers

Where to start on this one? This was the cake(s) of the year! Jason and Lindsey had a non-traditional (and may I say awesome) approach to what they wanted for their wedding cake. As soon as they found my site and saw Franks Donut Cake, they emailed me. They both were set on having 6 separate donut cakes as their wedding cake. We collaborated for a few months on designs and flavors and this is what resulted.

First up is my favorite Simpson's-Movie-inspired donut. Lets name it the homer. The Homer consists of Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.

This Choco-sprinkles donut consists of Chocolate Fudge Cake with Vanilla Buttercream.

This WALL-E caramel iced donut consists of Caramel Swirled Vanilla Cake with Vanilla Buttercream.

A shot of all six cakes- at left center is the jelly donut consisting of Vanilla Bean Cake with Raspberry Preserves and Organic Raspberries. To the right is the EVA chocolate iced donut consisting of Chocolate Fudge Cake with Milk Chocolate Buttercream and Organic Raspberries.

This donut consists of Toasted Coconut Cake with Lemon Curd.

Many blessings Jason & Lindsey!

The Haber's Wedding Donuts created September.26.2008

Photos courtesy of Erin Beach Photography.