A dream come true

You know those bad dreams you have every once and awhile that stick in your head and make you act a little nutty? This was supposed to only be a 2-tier cake, but I woke up in a cold sweat after dreaming we ran out of cake at the party. I could have imagined I was being chased by angry, wine-drinking party people with giant dessert forks, but I can't honestly remember.

My friend from book club asked me to make the cake for her 30th birthday party, and I was so happy to do it! We sat down to talk about what she wanted, and our imaginations carried us away. The design was simple enough. I could handle that, but what stretched me was the new flavors we decided upon.

After a visit to a local restaurant and bakery, we decided I would try my hand at my version of their "Strawberry Wedding Cake." It's a moist, French vanilla-flavored cake with a whipped icing and strawberry slices in the filling. After a couple of test cakes I shared with the girls from work, I came pretty close. So good. I'm definitely going to do another one of those this summer.

The second flavor combo was a pink champagne cake with raspberry cheesecake mousse filling. It was awesome. Talking about that cake has me salivating like Pavlov's dogs. Never before have I had such a...I'm sorry. There aren't words that would do it justice.

(Side Note: I got to drink the leftover pink champagne during the baking and decorating process which made not getting any sleep almost worth it.)