Baking is one of my all time favorite hobbies.

It all started the summer after my freshman year – it was probably the week before school started again, and I was so bored. Back then, I was too young to work, and too young to drive, so I basically spent every day stuck at home by myself, which, though peaceful and relaxing, was hardly exciting.

Anyway, I had just started to learn to cook things from scratch (on account of the Food Network being one of the only good channels on at 2pm on a weekday), and I was looking for a new recipe to try on Pinterest. Lo and behold, as I was searching through the #food tags, I came across one of those beautiful cake designs from a baking blog.

 I remember thinking it was beautiful  but that there as no way I could possibly do it myself. Still, I followed the link through to check the directions, and they seemed doable – mix some ingredients together into cake batter, separate into tins, tint them different shades of pink, and then coat with icing. Seemed simple enough.

In a sense, I guess, it was. I completed the cake, and though some sides were definitely more attractive than others, it wasn’t a far shot from the image I saw on Pinterest. Plus, it was a ton of fun following the directions and having them turn out into a beautiful, tasty creation.

 Flash forward to today, and I’ve made cake baking a little hobby of mine. It still takes me almost a half day to complete one, start to finish, so I usually only do it a couple times of year  – during winter break, summer break, and maybe fall or spring break.

Today’s cake, which I mentioned baking back a few days ago , was inspired by a recipe on The Cake Blog. Their version was arguably more beautiful than mine, and I kinda wish I’d made mine tall like theirs, but I think mine has a creative spin to it. In addition to the birch “bark,” which circles the cake, made from Ghirardelli melting squares, I melted some extra candy and swirled it around on some parchment paper to create the flourishes on top. I really do love working with chocolate; it’s really easy to shape into forms to make pretty, if delicate, designs.

J As for the cake itself,  it’s a walnut and cinnamon flavor with buttercream frosting. I didn’t try to be creative with that; I find that while in cooking, they’re plenty of room to add your own flair, in baking, it’s more of an exact science.

 Anyway, that’s it for today. I’ve got some work to do (always) if I’m going to have some time to celebrate Father’s Day tomorrow. Don’t forget to check me out on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr! For business inquiries, shoot me an email at lensembledujour@gmail.com