the great cake challenge continued...

as i had previously mentioned last year in november i have a GREAT CAKE CHALLENGE on my hands. my older sister, corie, is getting married to her long time boyfriend, andrew in september of this year. she has "lovingly" asked me to make all of her dessert table, which consists of seven different types of cakes and two types of cookies...so far:-p i agreed to this "challenge" of sorts, for one because I have never made a wedding cake and i live for the challenge, and two because, well, amidst all the teasing and nick names(ie. corie nori and lisa pizza, still valid even to this day), i love my sister and i would bake her cake even if she hadn't asked me^_~. well, as i have been searching the web looking for different recipes, since her list has drastically ventured off the original plan, before it was more of a random hodgepodge of cakes, now we have decided to go with a theme focused on the fruits available in hawaii. well, minus this one...i know my sister has ALWAYS and i mean ALWAYS loved tiramisu, so when i stumbled upon this lovely recipe on smitten kitchen i couldn't wait to try it out!!

the lovely vanilla cakes! the recipe called for two 9 in. rounds, but my 8 in. ones worked just fine and i had no excess batter to put in my mini tester pan...

doused with with espresso syrup and waiting for the...

MASCARPONE FROSTING...i will admit it, i kept "taste testing" (which basically means devouring whole spoonfuls) this frosting to make sure it tasted just right^_^

the bittersweet chocolate that almost gave me a hand cramp...i micro planed two bars of ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate to place between the heavenly layers of cake and in the end i had excess, maybe i will stick with just one bar next time...totally worth the hand cramp...

the second layer was brushed on both sides with the espresso syrup. i love the taste of the coffee contrasted with the sweet mascarpone frosting...mmmm

the final step: mixing the last of the mascarpone frosting with some of the espresso, and trust me i put A LOT of espresso. i loooove the taste of coffee, and yes, i couldn't stop myself from "taste testing" that too...all in all it came out beautifully and i sent a picture to corie. she can't wait to taste it in april when she visits^_^

other items on the dessert table include "double sexual chocolate cookies" courtesy of my friend jordan. when i was talking with corie on the phone i was baking these and she liked the name so much she wanted them on her dessert table as well, chocolate as an aphrodisiac^_~...

this beauty was courtesy of martha, a banana foster's type cake equally yummy and will match well once i swap out the regular bananas for apple bananas...

macarons, i'm thinking of taking these in the direction of maybe a passion fruit flavor. i love passion fruits and guava...both delicious!

finally the classic red velvet...everyone has to have this at their wedding...cake form coming soon!!

also on my to do list: mango curd vanilla cake and cheesecake with guava swirl...we will see how this all goes:-p happy baking!!^_^