Dream Cake………
This is the cake that started it all.
At the time I moved away from home to California, this was my very favorite. I had just graduated from college and was off to a new adventure. It was mid-June when I arrived– from pleasant, balmy 85 degree days, to burning hot 100 degree scorchers. I was not prepared for such intense heat, and spent most of the next two months sitting in front of an old air conditioning wall unit in my little midtown apartment. What had I gotten myself into?
I missed my family, I missed my friends, I missed good weather………and……I missed the incredibly delicious cakes unique to Hawaii.
I yearned for cake and I yearned for home.
Guava Chiffon Cake……..
The cakes I had grown up with were nowhere to be found!
I would often daydream about the exquisite taste of a piece of guava chiffon cake……. and dreamcake…with those melt-in-your-mouth chocolate curls on top………….
Peach Bavarian Cake……..
I could just imagine the light custard frosting, filled with tiny bits of peaches, swirling atop my tongue, tantalizing my taste buds….
The dream would go on and on. Born and raised in the islands, I loved sweets like everyone else there.
Haupia Chiffon Cake……
Cakes from the bakery were a regular part of our lives. Special occasions and even not so special occasions meant I’d find a box at home filled with a sweet surprise.
A cake baked at home just couldn’t match the refined deliciousness of a bakery cake.
During my first years away from home, whenever I came back to visit my family, there would always be a bakery box waiting in the refrigerator for me, filled with one of my favorite cakes. In fact, several boxes would often make appearances during any one visit. =)
Chantilly Cake…..
King’s Bakery, Liliha Bakery, and Kapiolani Bakery were at the top of my favorite bakery list. Sadly only one of them is still around in Hawaii–Liliha Bakery, and King’s Bakery moved to Southern California long ago. Yay, for those who live near them, but boo for me as both are still so far away from me.
Over the years, I searched high and low for recipes for these cakes, but they were nowhere to be found. Occasionally I’d find a similar one, but they were never quite right, and to top it off, they would take hours and hours of work.
I love to cook and bake, but I don’t want to spend hours cleaning up and washing dishes. I like simple and easy, and as little clean up as possible.
After living in California for about ten years, I finally just started developing my own recipes and techniques. My family and friends loved them and requested them frequently. Soon I was making all my favorites easily using a simple recipe and technique to make the base cakes.
I’ve now had the pleasure of enjoying my favorites (pictured above), and creating other new variations and flavors here in California for almost fourteen years now. With the encouragement of my family and friends, I am pushing forward and working on “my cake book.”
And so, while I blog about other food and activities going on in my life, I’ll try give you little peeks and updates on my book project. You can also sign up for my book and receive an email when it’s ready.
