I got my new business cards in yesterday! They’re pretty! Remember to Stop by Austin Bakes for Bastrop (SoCo location) or the Gathering of the Tribes tomorrow to get some of my baked goods!

Hey y’all! Been busy ’round these parts, but I thought I’d post some much awaited news:

I GRADUATED! Yes, in May I completed my Certificate in Baking & Pastry Arts from Austin Community College. I received my diploma in the mail this week, which I still need to frame. So, what does this mean? Well, I’ve been baking professionally for three years now… so my day to day activities and work will not really change. However, since I do have aspirations to own my own vegan bakery one day… that means the focus of this blog will switch to even more recipe development and event pictures, with the addition of some business-y topics every so often. I’d also like to include more posts about Austin, & it’s amazing vegan community. :)

Another exciting announcement is that I will be attending the first Vida Vegan Con in Portland, Oregon this year! I hope to meet tons of awesome bloggers & eat amazing food in our nations vegan mecca! :) Holler at me if you’re going!

This year was the first year I’d even heard about That Takes the Cake, which is a cake show put on by the Capital Confectioners in Austin. This years theme for the showpiece cakes was “Caked Crusaders”. There are a variety of categories for cake decorating, and also a few categories for tasting. Well, this year, one of the tasting categories was “Vegan”. As a vegan baker, I knew I had to represent! Timing was tight; I worked a full shift that morning before the show, baked my cake, and showed up to register with minutes to spare.

I decided to make a vegan mud pie cake. I have seen mud pie as a flavor for many years (Oreos always get my attention), and we also sell a cupcake version at Sugar Mama’s. I chose this flavor because I really wanted to make a chocolate cake (it’s my favorite to make), and I wanted to incorporate Kohana Coffee’s iced coffee concentrate, because it tastes so rich and almost chocolatey. I figured it would be perfect to enhance the flavor. I used the concentrate in the cake itself, and then I made an espresso buttercream by using the concentrate and added a little kick with some instant espresso powder. I covered the outside in oreo crumbs, and garnished the top with vegan whipped cream, chocolate ganache, and an oreo wedge.

I really had no idea what I was getting myself into with deciding to compete, so I was a little unsure of the outcome. There are things I would change about my recipe, but overall I was happy with the final product. Waiting to hear the results was stressful, but I was really proud to hear them call my name for 1st Place!

The most rewarding part about it was that several people who have influenced me in baking were there during the awards ceremony- Pastry Chef & Instructor Stephanie Herrington being one of them. She has taught me a lot during my time as a student at ACC. I got to talk to one of the Judges, Heidi Swiderski for critique afterwards, and she was a blast to talk with. The best part about it all? The judges comments on my scoring sheet:

Hilarious! :)

Summer is my favorite season, but Fall is a close second. Pumpkins everywhere, the warm colors and flavors, and a few great holidays to go nuts over. A friend and I took a trip out to SweetBerry Farm, which is about an hour outside of Austin, to get some pumpkins. Sure, I could just buy a cheaper pumpkin from the grocery store 5 minutes from my apartment, but who doesnt want to drive long distances to pay more? :)

I also am working on a recipe for vegan petit fours currently (with legit frangipane), because I made some non-vegan ones in class recently… so I made some clementine marmalade to go in them.

 Last, but not least, every year I have a tradition of signing up for the vegan month of food (Vegan MoFo!) with good intentions, struggling to keep up with it, and then giving up half way through. The tradition lives on!

It’s possible to have a good work space in a teeny tiny apartment in the city, you just have to get creative and organized. My dad came up to help me put up some new shelving this past week (best dad ever!), and it’s made life a lot easier in the kitchen.

muuuuuuch better. :)