Happy Christmas!

I would like to wish all of you cake lovers out there a 

very Happy, Fat, Safe & Sweet Holiday.

p.s. Thank you for your continued support, encouragement and comments!!! You guys are the best!

This is why Santa loves me....

I love baking Christmas cookies. Round ones, tree-shaped ones, ornament ones...the list goes on.

I usually make decorated spiced sugar cookies like these....(yes that is a Chip 'n Dale Gingerbread man)

Circa 2007: Pre-Pastry School

But this year I went with some non-sugar cookies for a bit more variety in flavor.

Like these pecan bars. Gooey, rich and buttery.

These are Lemon Ricotta Cookies. And I heart them.

I received this recipe from my 7th Grade Home Economics class - seriously!

Half cake and half cookie, they are a family favorite.

Now these uglies were an experiment. And an amazing one at that!

Chocolate Chip PepperMINT cookies. 

They have peppermint candies and green mint folded in. 

The fact they are red and green are just an added bonus!

(They spread a little when baking so I took a pastry cutter and rounded them out so they were a bit more uniform. This appeased my baking OCD)

Last, but certainly not least, Ginger Spice Cookies.

Look at the gorgeous sugar cracks.

No...really LOOK!

They are so chewy and spicy. 

And fun to stack.

I hope my family and friends enjoy these yummy cookies even though they aren't as colorful as my normal sugar batch.

Beige is the new black you know.

(Well, not really. But these cookies are still delicious.)

I can give you these recipes if you wish...just let me know!

What are you baking this holiday season? 

Or more importantly, what's your favorite cookie to eat??

Happy Baking!

Tis' the Season for Gingerbread Houses

Last weekend, I was asked to compete in a Live Gingerbread House Decorating Contest hosted by the flagship Bloomingdale's store in New York City.

Even though I only got a few days notice, I didn't panic. We were allowed to bring only royal icing and an open mind -- so how much prep could I really do anyway? They supplied us with all of the materials, including the candy from their amazing holiday selection of sweets.

I realized all too late that it had been years since I've actually built a real gingerbread house. Not just decorated. BUILT.  Oh well, too late now.

As I started setting up in the Bloomies Culinary Kitchen on 6, my French competitor arrived but he wasn't alone. He had an assistant. 

I was instantly the underdog. 

(It's intimidating enough that Pierre works here)

We were then given sheets of thick homemade gingerbread, which I rarely see. It wasn't the thin hard variety that is wildely used, but rather a moist thick heavy bread. Delish! 

But would it stand on its own??

(I only have this small blurry post-competition photo of the gingerbread. Sorry!) 

Turns out...building gingerbread houses is like riding a bike.

A delicious spicy bike.

I got my house to stand up first - so one point for me!

But Pierre is French. So two points for him. 

(One for the accent and one for his lady assistant.)

We had an hour and a half to build and decorate our houses from top to bottom.

It was getting so hot in the kitchen with the lights and all the crazy shoppers standing right next to us (seriously, boundaries anyone?) so the royal icing was starting to melt which was challenging.

But, alas, I finished.

Mine was totally sloppy and not up to The Hudson Cakery standards. 

I didn't even complete the sides of the house!

But at least I used a lot of Bloomies candy within that *dramatic hour of competition.

Oh wait! I added icicles to the roof right before our time was up.

Cashews for the windows, gum drops for the trees and bushes, jellybeans for the front cobbled path, powdered sugar for snow and some red licorice for the "string of lights" on the roof.

I wish I had more pictures of the roof since it was detailed with royal icing lights and fun scalloped patterns. Sad Face.

Here are the houses side by side.

They were actually similar in style but his house was much cleaner-looking than mine. 

(I'm totally bringing a heard of interns next time)

Here are the judges carefully.....judging.

I won points for stability, use of product and creativity. 

They won points for size, design and creativity.

So it was declared.....a tie!

Which I'll gladly take. It was so much fun and I got to talk to a lot of friendly holiday shoppers, employees and friends. 

And thanks to my man for being the official Hudson Cakery photographer that day.

But I'll be back next year Bloomies...to go for a Gingerbread win! 

(Cue evil laugh)

*Dramatic = Actually quite friendly and overall stress-free. You were a great competitor Pierre!

Happy Holidays!!!

NYC "Just Married" Checkered Cab Wedding Cake

Even though the official holiday season kicked off last week, let's not forget we are technically still in Fall, my favorite season (which is why I capitalized it, you see).

Last month, we created this cake for a NYC couple who love New York, almost as much as they love each other. Awwwww.

It took tons of man hours to create -- or should I say "lady" hours -- but the sugar yellow taxi cab was worth it!

We added some sugar red apples around the cake to tie in their modern 

NYC theme of Black, White, Red and Yellow.

The black bow, sugar ribbon and tin cans are all sugar.

I just LOVE the look of the sugar piped "Just Married" sign on the back of the car.

The happy couple later saved the checkered cab cake topper for sentimental value.

(Most sugar decorations will last when kept in a dry and cool place)

I'm not normally a lover of wedding cake toppers but this is a sweet exception!

I feel like a traitor...

Not that I've done anything illegal...it's just business, but still...let me explain...

I live in a very Pro-Yankee household and when word got out that I had to create a Boston Red Sox 50th Birthday cake last week, it caused some tension.

While creating Red Sox retired jerseys and the logo out of sugar,
I felt likeI was cheating on my NY Yankees.

I felt so dirty. So wrong.

But nonetheless, the cake turned out pretty cool.

The ballpark peanuts, bat, logo, baseball and hat are all edible.

In the end, I was happy the client was happy and thus worth any awkward rivalry on the home front.

One of the nice things our client said: "Thank you soooo much for the beautiful, artistic, magnificent, wonderful and tasty cake. It was Phenomenal!!!"We didn't want to cut it!! You are so talented. Cannot thank you enough!!!!"

That review is what we at The Hudson Cakery call a home run!

Toy Robots + Wedding Cake = Amazing Choice

Last month, we created a unique wedding cake for a couple who love the designer collectable toys by Kidrobot. According to the Kidrobot website, "The products sold at Kidrobot are the centerpieces of a global movement that exemplifies the cutting edge of both pop art and mass culture."

They have a huge cult following of collectors and artists -- here are some of the toys they sell online:

Our super-fun couple customized their own "bots" to look like themselves.
The topper was a caricature of the groom as "Zombie Groom" and his fiance, was a "Monkey Bride". 

(I cannot make this up folks!)

In fact, they wanted a separate smaller cake just to showcase the toppers!

The colors and geometric pattern of their cake was copied exactly from their wedding invitation. 

It was delivered to The Chart House in Weehawken, NJ.

Thanks to Kamila Harris for the great photos!

Congrats to John and Dana on their happy day!

 That must've been the coolest wedding ever...

Sesame...My Favorite Street!

We recently created cupcakes and small cake for Elias, a lucky birthday boy who enjoyed a modern Sesame Street Party.

His mother, Stefanie, owns Petite Soriee, a boutique event planning company in NJ. She threw an amazing party for her son and luckily posted everything on her blog for all of you party-obsessed readers out there. 

Check out more photos from the party here. Enjoy!