Parties and Pies

Wow, where did August go?  I baked my way through a whole month without stopping for a breath!  It's time for us to catch up.  Here's what I've been doing:

I joined a new kitchen in Oakland aptly named Kitchener Oakland.  This is the certified kitchen from which I will be doing all of my baking.  It is such a great space!  The lovely owner/operator Sophia (on the left in the photo below),  kindly held a party in the Kitchener for all of the new bakers and chefs who rent space there to sample out their fare.

Sophia of Kitchener Oakland (left)

Setting up

I brought peanut butter pies with chocolate chambord ganache:

Peanut butter pie with a chocolate cookie crust, peanut butter mousse, and chocolate ganache with a hint of chambord

It was such a great time and we had an estimated turn-out of over 400 guests!  It was packed with hungry munchers for hours and hours:

The cake in the far right corner was infused with tobacco.  No joke.  It was addictive.  

Isn't it a cute kitchen?!  I love the pink walls :) 

This is one of very few good shots of me from the night.  According to the camera, I spent the entire evening hunched over peanut butter pies, drinking wine, and making horrid faces at everyone.  

At times it was hard to move through the crowd

There were so many options to choose from!  There were several cakes, muffins, jams, cold-brewed coffee, baked cheese balls, fresh juices, mock tuna salad (vegan!), gluten free cookies, and even some hot foods.  

The Kitchener will be having many more events in the future!  Please stay tuned here and here to be sure to get an invite to the next event.

I had to leave the party early because the very next day, I was entering a pie contest at Omnivore Books.  I got up super early and baked several more pies to give out as samples:

The pie contest was pretty fun up until the part where I didn't win.  I lost to a s'mores pie, which I didn't think was that exciting.  I thought the potato and cheese one was the best.  It tied for second place with an apricot plum pie.  There were something like 45 entries and mine was the only vegan one.  

1st prize s'mores pie: middle right

It was a very crowded affair.  Once again, Ralph and I found ourselves packed like sardines into a small room with lots of hungry people.  

The potato cheese pie

As I was leaving, there were several women hovering over my remaining samples, so I know it was going down well, even if it didn't win.  I scowled the whole way home.  I am obviously not as good at losing as I am at winning.  

The entire following week was spent in preparation for yet another weekend of baking.  I spent two days straight in the Kitchener, baking and decorating 250 cupcakes of 5 different flavors for a commitment ceremony.  

250 Cupcakes

Ready for the run-down?  Red velvet cake with vanilla "cream cheese" frosting, vanilla cake with coconut-lime frosting and a mango garnish, gluten-free chocolate cake with vanilla "cream cheese" frosting a strawberry garnish with chocolate drizzle, chocolate cake with caramel glaze and toasted coconut with chocolate drizzle, ginger cake with vanilla "cream cheese" frosting and candied orange peel.  Stop drooling for a minute and consider how much work each of those words implies.  Because I sure didn't.  

Not the best picture, but you get the idea

Since these were for my first real (non-friend) customers, I grossly undercharged for them.  Lesson learned!  When you don't break even after a week of planning and two high-stress days in the kitchen (no matter how lovely the kitchen is), you have to choose between laughing and crying.  Fortunately, it was all a very good learning experience and I was able to laugh about losing money on it.  I learned a lot about how long it takes to complete a project like this, and how useful it is to have a good natured and calm helper (or preferably a slave boyfriend because they are free) to wash dishes and bring you things.  Possibly the biggest lesson I learned is that more flavors = a LOT more work.  I'll be sure to remember this when taking orders in the future.   

I'm so glad we got the cupcakes to the venue on time.  I was scrambling to beat the clock; and, I was still covered in flour and sugar when we delivered them.  Another lesson learned: Don't wear black on decorating day, even if you think it will make you look more professional during delivery.