Where I started.

 My very first decorating job was at Cashwise Bakery in Waite Park, MN. Honestly, this seems like forever ago. I can't even remember exactly when I started there, but I do know I learned a lot. Above is one of the first cakes I ever did.

Tres Leches

Has anyone ever sampled this cake before? Up until last week I had never even really heard of it. However, I was set to do a stage at a restaurant where this was one of their main desserts, so I wanted to take a crack at it to see what I was up against. Oh PS It means, "3 milks". Clearly I need to learn Spanish.

Fruit Tart

There is a reason I look so happy in this picture. Fruit tart may just be one of my favorite desserts. I can never get sick of it or eat too much of it. Trust me, I have tried. You may recall that I am making it a goal to bake something at least once a week. My blog is sick of being abandoned and I am sick of not baking! So to kick start this week, I baked dessert for a dinner party last night. 

So excited I could burst!

Oh my gosh you guys. I said earlier I was going to decorate my first cake this weekend, and I did. Yesterday I finished decorating it and I have been all smiles since. It was SO much fun to do and it's just so so great.

I said I needed a purpose for a cake, and thanks to my boyfriend Josh, I had one. One of his buddies had a baby last week, so I made them a cake. I have never met these friends, so I am going to be the weird girl who gives them a cake, haha. Poor them, having to be the guinea pigs for my first cake.

Be prepared...this entry is going to be pretty photo heavy.

Chocolate + Baileys could never be a bad combination

After a few batches of chocolate chip cookies, I was ready to try something new. So I browsed through some ideas, and I came across chocolate truffles. They seemed pretty simple to make, and candy was something I had never attempted before.

 Chopped up semi sweet baking chocolate

All of the chocolate with the butter

I had to temper the chocolate with a double boiler (which I obviously don't have) so I had to get crafty and and use a pan and a glass bowl. (it actually wasn't crafty, it was a tip in the recipe)

Once it was all nice and smooth, it was time to add the Baileys (I used one of the small "airplane" bottles)

All poured out and ready to get firm in the fridge (1 batch was with Baileys, the other was just chocolate)

I covered the Baileys truffles with a pinch of sea salt instead of rolling them in coco powder, and I topped the regular truffles with a little powdered sugar

I have to say, my first truffle attempt turned out pretty well. I was a bigger fan of the Baileys than the regular chocolate (weird) but both were good. The biggest complaint I have about making these is scooping them into the cupcake liners. The chocolate is pretty messy to work with - my hands were totally covered by the time I was done. Also, I got tired of scooping all that melted chocolate pretty quickly. However, they were easy and pretty tasty. If I would have felt more motivated, I could have coated them in another layer of chocolate to give them that nice hard shell on the outside. Maybe next time :)

Thanks to "My Baking Addiction" for the recipe. 
Click here for the recipe!