Special cakes for a special couple!

    So last weekend my dear friends, who are getting hitched in November had a co-ed wedding shower.  At first I thought the concept was rather weird.  Isn't the point of having a wedding shower really just an excuse to have all of your female friends and family members congregate to share their relationship experiences, give you lingerie (a.k.a. make you feel awkward!), and drink some champagne? I was a bit judgemental I have to admit, but then I thought about it and realized why should the men be excluded from the festivities?  After all it is a celebration of the union of two people.

   Everything came together wonderfully, and I was fully convinced co-ed wedding showers are maybe the new hip thing?  That Maura, she is quite the trend setter in every way possible!

   Anyways, as a bridesmaid I was given the choice of helping out with decorations, flowers, food, games or dessert.  Of course I chose dessert!  Erich and I crafted five cakes.  Not all turned out aesthetically beautiful, but they were delicious! (phew!)

 Zucchini Cake with Chocolate Ganache

 Chocolate Torte with Smoked Sea Salt and Raspberries

 (adapted from The Newlyweds Cookbook)

 Olive Oil Cake with Rosemary and Orange Marmalade
(also adapted from the Newlyweds Cookbook)

Carrot Cake with Coconut Icing and Hazelnut Brittle

   Erich made this special cake for my birthday and it literally is one of the best cakes I've ever had!  So it was no surprise when Maura asked for it to be made for the shower.  The icing needs a little bit of work, but other than that it is a great celebration cake.  The icing recipe can be found at My New Roots, and the hazelnut brittle was inspired by one of Giada's cake recipes.

  Our last cake, seen in the far corner of the first picture, did not qualify as picture worthy, however, it did taste pretty good.  The cake recipe was adapted from Roost's brown butter strawberry cake with swiss meringue icing.  The icing was very difficult to make for some reason and certainly did not look as beautiful as the one on the roost blog. C'est la vie... Perhaps we'll try again.

Hope you all treat yourself to something delicious this weekend!  Happy Friday!