The Moss Kids bake and take the cake!

We had guest bakers again today and this time it was some youthful aficionados of baking. Jacob and Tasha showed up and assembled a chocolaty, nutellaey, strawberry, raspberry and whipped cream extravaganza. Inspired by the entry of the big T for student cake month, they decided to go with a cake stacked high and filled with all sorts of goodness. It was quite impressive and easily surpassed some of the offerings of the usual participants. The cake looked great and tasted really good. It was not too sweet and really moist. When you added extra whipped cream it was top notch!!  These kids even received suggestions that they should open a bakery but I think that is a little unrealistic with their school schedules so we will have to just settle for them coming back and making another creation. As you can see from the pictures the crowd went wild for this treat and of course we took the left over pieces and created some cake art.

The extravaganza! Eat your heart out Big T!

Like a work of art!

Ta da!!

Gee, now they're going to eat it and we won't see it again!

The cake looks like it's talking!

I said smile you sillies!

The crowd goes wild especially Princess!

Doling out the whipped! Extra whipped cream anyone?

Yes...pile it on!

Bunny ears for all!

The cake becomes a logo!

Our latest cake art creations!!

The wedding of Yat Yee and Waihong

A Hong Kong wedding!! Our own cakemaster decided to tie the knot and returned to his home town to do so. (That's how we got all those pictures of the bakeries over there.) He was gone a month but we suspect it was not a month long affair but rather he got stuck having to prepare for the whole thing. It was quite a banquet as far as we can tell and he gave us some insight as to how these functions are in Hong Kong. There were also a ton of people. Upon his return he provided us a nice spread of traditional Chinese treats to celebrate the event at the day's cake hour. It was quite a smattering of Chinese goodies as you can tell by the pictures.

Some of the round cakes had interesting stuff on the inside including, if I remember correctly, a petrified egg yolk or something like that. The coolest part, though, was the 3D pictures that they took. You had to view them through a special lens but they were really outstanding!  I'll let the groom comment further on what he fed us!

Here we go again..

I guess we're on a bit of a roll when it comes to the featured item. Friday it was a fruit tart from one of our favorite places and today it is....a fruit tart from one of our favorite places. This time it is from Pastiche on Federal Hill in Providence.  They have been around for awhile and are another place that produces high quality products that look good and taste great.  In the picture you can see the similarities in the product.  The outer ring is even supposed to be mango but we're suspecting it is peach. This one is certainly very colorful and the fruit is all fresh.  There appears to be a glaze on this one but it is light and barely noticeable. It does serve to hold the fruit together so the berries don't go rolling off when you slice it. The pastry cream layer is a little thicker here but regardless these are great tarts and we are always happy to see one from http://www.pastichefinedesserts.com/home.html.  Check it out...more competition for those showy Hong Kong places!

Pastiche logo

Colorful Creation

Well designed!

The inner fixin's

Tomorrow is the pathobiology retreat. The sheer joy of having to participate is being amplified by the monsoon weather. Since the retreat takes place in a park it is looking like this is going to be memorable not just for the science. We can't wait to see who shows up since it is being pushed by those in the know here. 

Side view

It's going fast...

Tropical Treat??

Doesn't the title sound enticing? The treat for today was indeed but the title reflect not so much the origin or tradition of the fruit tart served but more the fact that it had not frequently seen pineapples and mangoes on it.  It was a nice touch. Mangoes are usually mush so to see them so firm and neatly sliced was impressive. (Not as impressive as the mango cheesecake in the Hong Kong Bakery but hey.) The tart came from the Vienna Bakery in Barrington, RI which is always a favorite. You will never complain about the quality or the taste. We did think it interesting that they used whole strawberries with the leaves still attached and the blueberries were partly cooked which actually strengthens the flavor. It is a classic fruit tart with a thick crust, a layer of pastry cream or custard and then the fruit.  Sometimes is covered with a layer of clear gelatin but the Vienna does not usually do that. Since it can make the crust soggy we rather it without anyway.  Check out the website of the Vienna Bakery. The case rivals those Hong Kong places.  http://www.viennabakeryri.com/. Their pear tart is one of our favorite cake hour specialties.

There was a lot of buzz about the upcoming pathobiology retreat coming up. Folks were busy preparing posters and waiting for the day to arrive so they can get it over with. Apparently the retreat does not go down as one of the most fun things to do. But we would never dispute the educational benefit of attending. It will be interesting to see who shows up.

CAKE HOUR ALERT!!

CAKE HOUR ALERT!!

There's a rumor going around that the Moss children are looking to wow us at a cake hour in the next week or so!  Can this be true! If so that would be wicked awesome and we can't wait to see what they may come up with.  I'm sure it'll be good but now that we know the pressure is on!

Unexpected Birthday...in advance

We showed up for cake time opened the box from Gregg's (yeah) and read the unexpected inscription on the cake. "Happy Birthday! Teresa!" Who knew!  But we love birthdays so we sang that old refrain many times. That is every time someone joined the group we would sing it again. Teresa must have been sick of it after the fifth time but it was all well intended. But then we learn it isn't her birthday yet. Well! It turns out it's coming on Saturday but since she did not expect to be here again before then she wanted to share a cake. ......Good for her! Thanks for thinking of us and we'll celebrate your birthday any time especially if you're providing the cake!

It was pretty yellow

A well constructed cake

Our birthday girl!

Can't go wrong with four layers

Somehow it always looks interesting when you lay out the slices

Gregg's does it again. This was a lemon cake as if you couldn't tell by the electric yellow frosting. As is usually the case the cake was very fresh, moist and somewhat light for the type that it was. The lemon filling was not overwhelming in quantity and was just sweet enough. The yellow frosting was also surprisingly good and not like so many of those commercial frostings that are almost inedible. We really like what Gregg's does but with the student's gone and some other people off for the end of the summer we might have to downsize some of these cakes...really!

We marveled at our new microwave which was actually a used one.  As it turns out some of the enamel is wearing off exposing the metal under the glass plate.  Let's hope that glass plate shields it well otherwise we'll all try to get front row seats for the lightning show that may occur. 

It wasn't over yet...

One last hurrah for student cake month. It seems there was someone in the program who did not understand the significance of the month of July being the month for student's to bring the goods. Being the sport that he was, however, he agreed to a makeup and who are we to say no.  It was a four star effort also.  He came up with a great looking cheesecake from the Meeting Street Cafe...someplace we have not tried before. It turns out it was not made by the folks at the Cafe but came from a commercial bakery calle MD Bakery.  We hadn't heard of it so quickly checked it out as a possible source for the future. Since they don't sell retail themselves we'll have to check for other places that feature their products. 

No longer delinquent

Great look

A hearty thing for sure

And so it disappears...

This was a great looking cake and though we didn't get an official name we will call it a caramel pecan cheesecake.  Oreo cookie crust, good solid New York style cheesecake filling with a caramel coating and of course the decorative pecan whipped cream swirls at the top. It tasted good but was one of those things you had to eat a small amount of lest you remain feeling full for the next two days. It was a big cake for a smaller crowd then usual. Since most of the student have left for the summer a distinct quietude has settled upon the lab somewhat.  It's always good to have those summer students part of the gang but also quite fine when things return to normal.  This year's group was not the most outgoing but we'll just assume it was because they were serious scientists! Let's see how many of them come back in the fall!