A Valentine’s Day Table with Chocolate Raspberry Heart Cakes

by Helen Kain | Feb 9, 2021 | Cakes, Desserts, Valentine's Day, Winter Recipes

Chocolate and roses are traditional Valentine’s Day fare. Combining them in a cake is the best of all possible worlds – served with tea, and augmented with pink champagne, of course! Add in pretty pink china and we have a lovely (albeit chilly) setting for...

A Festive Chocolate Orange Cake

by Helen Kain | Dec 13, 2020 | Cakes, Christmas, Desserts, Winter Recipes

This cake is the result of a happy collision of ideas. First, the plates (as so often happens around here). They’re Woodland Berry by Williams Sonoma – a combined gift from daughter Lauren and daughter-in-law Annie for Christmas last year. I’ve been...

Gingerbread Village Spice Cake

by Helen Kain | Dec 4, 2020 | Cakes, Christmas, Desserts, Winter Recipes, Winter Tablescapes

When I was little, a crisp, spicy gingerbread cookie adorned with crunchy icing was the tantalizing reward to encourage exemplary behaviour while Christmas shopping with my Mum. Trailing around after her, scarf dragging and winter boots clumping, my thoughts would run...

Chocolate Cupcakes with Silky Peanut Butter Frosting

by Helen Kain | Oct 31, 2020 | Cakes, Fall Recipes, Halloween

I had completely forgotten about the package of Halloween cupcake liners and toppers that had followed me home last year. Well, we couldn’t let another year go by with them languishing in the drawer, now could we? Hmmm – orange and black – not my...

Lemon Honeycomb Cake

by Helen Kain | May 15, 2020 | Cakes, Desserts, Holiday, Spring Recipes, Summer Recipes

The honeycomb pan for this cake has been lurking in my cake pan cupboard for a couple of years, waiting for its debut. Once the Bee plate table started to percolate, out it came. But first I had to do some research on the ultimate cake batter for this tricky pan. My...

Cherry Blossom Cake

by Helen Kain | May 9, 2020 | Cakes, Desserts, Recipes By Season, Spring Recipes

Our neighbour’s flowering cherry tree is just breaking into bloom. For a few glorious days, its graceful branches festooned with pink blossoms toss in the wind, beguiling us with their beauty. (I will skip over the subsequent unholy mess of disintegrating petals...