Picnic Bakery Hosts A Garden Party

Emily of Picnic Bakery

I spent the past month composing a playlist full of songs about sunshine and gardens.  This was my version of a prayer to the weather gods, and I am so pleased to report that it worked like a charm!  This past weekend, San Francisco had the VERY rare true summer weather.  I mean, it was actually hot enough for summer dresses.  You're welcome, San Francisco.  If anyone is interested in this magical musical cure for fog, you can play it here: Picnic Garden Party Playlist.  It's three hours of summery lyrical cheer.  

So, why was I so concerned with this weekend's weather?  Well, I had a garden party/photo-shoot planned for Picnic Bakery.  Thanks to the attendance and help of several beautiful, stylish, and hungry people, the party went off without a hitch.  

I spent two days of non-stop baking for this event.  I was actually in a baking trance.  I'm not kidding.  At the end of day two, I walked into the bathroom and realized I hadn't seen the room all day.  I slowly climbed into the shower to let the flour and sugar run off.  That's when, due to a pain on my foot, I discovered that not only had I developed a blister without noticing, but it had also popped.  It was like a spell had lifted and suddenly EVERYTHING hurt.  I proudly whined about all my hard work and battle wounds for the rest of the night as I made bunting with my very tolerant and very helpful boyfriend. 

The next morning,  Ralph and I loaded the car with boxes filled with desserts and glassware.  We headed to the Red Vic and set up two tables in a private garden behind the building.  It was a gorgeous morning to be in a flower garden:

Megan and Jenn were the first two people to arrive at the party. They had fascinators in their hair and an adorable vintage suitcase in tow. 

The fabulous Megan & Jenn

Of course, they were fabulous.  These ladies are always stylish, and I encourage you to check out their fashion and food blog, Pork Is The New Black.  They brought a suitcase filled with props for the photo-shoot, including the blue tablecloth in the above photograph and several pretty serving trays.  They kindly helped to hang tarps and bunting and set up tables.  

Soon, more people turned up and a party ensued.  There were lots of pretty floral dresses and lots of smiles:

To drink, we had champagne cocktails and Pimm's with lemonade and sliced fresh fruit:

I may have walked around with both.  At the same time.  Twice.  Don't worry, I switched to cucumber water after that.

Finally, let's talk about the desserts I made:

Chocolate Mousse Trifles~ Layers of chocolate mousse, chocolate cake, chocolate cookie crumbs, strawberries, and topped with whipped coconut cream:

Chocolate Mousse Trifles

Gingerbread tiny cakes~ spicy gingerbread with "cream cheese" frosting, topped with candied orange peel:

Gingerbread Tiny Cakes

Peach filled coffee cake~ a rich, "buttery" cake baked with sliced peaches and a cinnamon streusel:

Peach Filled Coffee Cake

Peanut butter pies~ Chocolate cookie crust filled with peanut butter mousse and topped with drizzled chocolate:

Peanut Butter Pies

Peppermint pandas~ Chocolate sandwich cookies with a peppermint filling:

Peppermint Pandas

The Spread

I also unveiled my new business cards at the party:

They (along with Picnic's logo) were designed by artist Laura Allen.  She does amazing work and I will be posting more info about her on a future date.  

The party has been over for two days and I'm still washing glasses and packing them away for the next big event.  I've still got six gallons of lemonade to drink.  I put the last of the leftover cake in the compost bin yesterday.  I don't think I'll try to get it back out.  

All of the photographs seen here are courtesy of Ralph Pyne.  Thanks, love!

Cake vs. Pie

Last night two of my friends hosted a Cake vs. Pie baking competition as a shared birthday party.  Everyone brought a cake or pie to enter in the competition.  I made a cake inspired by my favorite girl-scout cookie, the Samoa:

To make this cake, I layered the batters of half a yellow cake and half a chocolate cake into a glass pie dish and had a small round tart pan in the center to shape the cake with a hole in the middle.  It is frosted with a thick, sticky caramel glaze which I mixed with toasted coconut.  I used the remaining coconut to cover the top and make a crispy outer layer.  Finally, I carefully dressed the cake with a chocolate drizzle in the same style as its little cookie cousin.
Ralph decided to make a banoffee pie to bring to the party:

Banoffee pie is a graham cracker (biscuit) crust layered with sliced bananas, filled with thick caramel (toffee), topped with freshly whipped cream and a sprinkle of shaved chocolate.  Unfortunately, he accidentally bought regular condensed milk instead of the sweetened variety; and, after several hours of boiling, he opened the cans to find boiled milk instead of thick caramel.  It was very disappointing because he didn't have time for a do-over before the party.  Fortunately for me, he decided to make it today instead and I finally got to try the English delicacy.  I may or may not have eaten two slices and called it dinner.  This pie is amazing, but sadly not vegan.  I would like to say here that I will make a vegan banoffee pie one day; but, I'm truly doubtful that I could ever come up with a replacement for the creamy caramel center.
As for the rest of the competitors at the party, I have to say it was a very talented crowd.  Everyone brought something beautiful and delicious to the table:



It was a gorgeous spread.  There was even cake vodka:

Incidentally, it is an English vodka.  If you've read my previous post about the English calling everything either biscuit or cake, you will know why this is funny.
My Samoa cake was the only vegan entry and it was being judged against rich cheese cakes, so I didn't expect it to make it to anyone's top three list.  There were three awards:  best cake, best pie, and best over-all.  The best pie award went to the yellow-crusted pie at the bottom of the above photograph.  It was a chicken curry pie and people were raving about it.  Obviously, being vegetarian, I couldn't try it; but, I'm going to ask for the recipe to see if I can convert it.  Here is the sour cream cheesecake that (deservingly) won best over-all:

It was made from a secret family recipe that has been passed down through generations.  I wished my sister was there to try it.  She loves cheesecake more than I love dogs.  And that's a LOT.  Finally, the best cake award went to my Samoa cake!!!  It is now called Emily's award-winning Samoa cake.   It was very exciting to place in the top three when there were so many good things on the table to choose from.  Here's my cheesy grin and adorable hand-made ribbon (which will be going on the wall of my bakery when it opens):

Candied Orange Peel and a Lostness Monster

I have not posted anything for awhile because
A.  I've been very busy.
and
B. I've been suffering from a misadventure I will call "Lostness Monster"
First things first.  My birthday and the holidays came and went.  My boyfriend and I got very excited about Christmas after decking the halls and decorating our tree.  We wanted to share our spirit with friends and so hosted our first annual Christmas cocktail party.  I took advantage of the opportunity to share some of my vegan desserts with some new people.  In addition to a several batches of regular old Christmas sugar cookies, I made:
peppermint pandas (chocolate sandwich cookies with peppermint filling and covered with chocolate ganache)  This is a classic recipe from the baby year of picnic and is not sharable (sorry).
gingerbread tiny cakes with vanilla cream cheese frosting and candied orange peel:

This was my first time trying this recipe.  It turned out far better than I had ever expected and was the star of the dessert table.  I made the candied orange peel from scratch.  There is still some left over in a mason jar and it looks very beautiful hanging out in there, mingling with extra sugar.
mini peanut butter mousse pies: This is a mini version of my original peanut butter mousse pie.  I think it's my boyfriend's favorite.
Sadly, there aren't many good photos from our party because we were very busy cooking, serving, and hosting.  Here are a few we took after the celebration:




Ralph came down with an unfortunate head cold the next day that lasted through Christmas Eve & day.  Then I caught it and spent my time in bed through New Year's Eve.  I've been trying to catch up with life ever since.
Second things second.  In the midst of all of this adventure, I've been suffering from a rather unsettling misadventure which I have named "lostness monster."  I should explain the history of this lostness.  When I first began to think about starting a west coast wing of picnic, I was very excited.  I began to eagerly do the necessary research into the costs of food, which vendors I would use, which recipes to start with.  I was baking often, much to the pleasure of my boyfriend and the dissatisfaction of my waistline.  Then, I reached a familiar wall.  I felt stuck.  This is the wall where Kate and I became stuck once before, and was the beginning of an end for us.

Here is the sticky situation from which the Lostness Monster was born:  I can't seem to find a certified kitchen to operate from that can be available during the god-awful early early early mornings (and whenever else I may need to be baking).
Without this certified kitchen, I can not move forward.   Stuck.  What a terrible misadventure.  I started to do what I always do when I encounter monsters- back up slowly and quietly.  This is the other reason I haven't posted anything in my blog for awhile.  Behind all the excitement of holidays and head colds, I have been stewing in discouragement and doubt.
The good news is, this is where my story takes a turn.  A new adventure is about to begin.  A different approach has been dreamed up.  Oh, it's a good one :D
I am going to be coy and not elaborate more until my next post.
Hooray for a new year and new beginnings!