Turning Japanese.

My dear friend Emillama and I share a birthday week and a love for delicious baked goods. To honor the day she was expelled from a uterus, I decided to try my hand at an ambitions cake decorating project. Emily loves green tea and all things Japanese, so I wanted to go with a Japanese/sushi theme for her cake. The cake is a vegan green tea mini cake (recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World). The cherry blossoms are made of marzipan and the "sushi" is made from halved marshmallows which I frosted and rolled in green sugar. They're topped with white buttercream and coconut "rice", and the center of the sushi rolls is just some organic dried papaya pieces. I initially intended to make the entire cake vegan, but the marshmallows worked too well to pass up. The cake and frosting are 100% vegan.

Inspired by emillama, The Vapors, and the Wilton mini-cake pan that I've been dying to use.

Goat Cheese Salad

Goat cheese salad with cranberries, roasted walnuts, and rasberry vinaigrette for big Pete's birthday.

Gratuitous Chickpeep Show

I'm pretty sure I could survive solely on chickpeas and chickpea based products. I mean seriously, chickpeas are by far the most kickass off all legumes. Here we have some chickpea walnut salad with lemon vinaigrette and hummus in a baby spinach bowl. Throw in some falafel and I'm sold.

Inspired by chickpeas, The Lunachicks, and mon pere.