The very first time I ever cooked anything on my own was for my parent’s anniversary when I was still in high school. I decided to try cooking chicken. Touching raw chicken was probably the nastiest thing I had ever done, but the product of it all was tasty! Unlike the first time I ever baked, when I thought “tsp” meant tablespoon and my brownies ended up extraaa salty. Let’s just say after those first two times I only came into the kitchen ever so often. ;)

I’d like to think that over the years I’ve grown from my disgust from raw meat and my salty brownies. One summer, I challenged myself to cook as much as I could. While I had a lot of fun doing it (challenging myself with Pinterested recipes), my mom would always complain about how long it’d take me to actually serve the food. Probably because I always insisted on plating each dish carefully. Presentation is my favorite part!

What’s my favorite food group to cook, you might ask? Desserts–specifically cookies & cakes.

I’ve mentioned it before, but in case you didn’t know, I have an amazingly huge sweet tooth! It’s subsided a bit as I’ve gotten older, but I still have a weakness for cookies, ice cream, cake, anything chocolate and anything sweet. For years I’ve decorated and crafted my brothers’ cakes and I’ve dabbled in learning how to make homemade recipes instead of using Duncan Hines boxes. It’s become one of my greatest pleasures and craft times other than photography because I not only get to make it and decorate it to my own appeal, but I can eat it, too! :)

The past month and a half has been a baking month! I didn’t photograph all the things I baked, but I thought I’d share three cakes I baked that were my favorite so far! :)

For the fourth of July, I made an almond vanilla cake with vanilla frosting and some patriotic fruits on the top! I love the nude cake trend going around! I love how simple it looks! Unfortunately I can’t bake a cake perfectly like bakers, but it’s fun still! :)

 

 

 

Another cake I made was a chocolate overload cake for my dad’s special birthday! It was a chocolate layered cake with chocolate frosting and Heath bars crumbled up top! :)

 

 

 

 

 

This last cake I made for my mom’s birthday! I took this photo with my iphone becuase my camera wasn’t readily available! :( But this was quite tasty! I call it a Neapolitan cake! My mom didn’t know if she wanted a chocolate or vanilla based cake with the strawberry frosting I made, so I made both! :)

My only regret on the strawberry frosting, make sure you use unsalted butter! But it was still pretty good! John, who is often times my second shooter, also did a great job acting as my mixer for this cake! ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

What are your favorite desserts? I haven’t baked cookies in a while, so those might be coming up next! ;)

 

Happy Friday!