Baking for birthdays

It has been a slow lurch trying to get my baking groove back. With travels, work, and the summer heat, it's difficult to get back into a non-air-conditioned kitchen. But what am I complaining about, at least I have one to bake in!

The problem with being able to bake treats that are moderately palatable (yes, my attempt at modesty), is that before you know it, you're inundated with requests. Usually I ignore most, unless its for a birthday. Who doesn't love birthdays? Well I can think of a few people, but heck who doesn't like birthday cake? Really?? Unless it's that cardboard tasting Safeway stuff with gritty icing. I'll pass, thanks.

I love love love making cakes with Italian meringue frosting. However, I've realized that though it pipes up quite prettily, most kids prefer whipped cream or butter cream. I think it's just a tad big sugary for their pallets. My favorite part about making the meringue, is piping the leftovers and baking them into crisp meringues or pavlovas.

For the baked meringues, I usually pop them in the oven at a low temperature (200 degrees Fahrenheit), and let them bake until crunchy.

Perhaps next time, I'll reserve some of the meringue frosting to bake, and add some butter to the rest to make Italian butter cream. What's Italian butter cream you ask? No, it's not the American atrocity of butter + powdered sugar + vanilla = frosting. Such as there are Italian, French, and Swiss meringues, there are also Italian, French, and Swiss butter creams. More on that later.

I topped my cupcakes with glazed strawberries, though I'm sure sprinkles are also generally acceptable. Cupcakes are always a hit at birthday parties, but when in doubt lemon macarons are a sure-fire crowd pleaser!