Desserts for a Graduation party

No time for bloggin’ this weekend! Too much cookin’! Yesterday was the celebration for my SIL’s college graduation and I was asked to make a cake and some fruit tarts. The cake was a three layer sheet cake - two layers of the CI German chocolate and one of plain white cake w/ vanilla bean. The frosting was my Fudgy Chocolate Buttercream – a combination of a fudge frosting and a buttercream. I think that it’s the perfect mixture of deep chocolate flavor and a good consistency for piping. For decorations, I made little mortar boards with mini white Reeses cups, white chocolate squares, Twizzler pull-off tassels and M&Ms all stuck together with melted candy coating. They were really cute, but I’d like to find something better for the tassels and I wish I’d had time to get colored candy coating. The finished cake (I haven't the slightest idea why all of this is underlined and a link to my picture below, but it shouldn't be):






Inside:

I was really pleased with the cake. The flavor was good, everyone really seemed to love it. My decorating skills are amateur and the evenness of the layers of cake and frosting isn’t great, but it was cute and it was GOOD and I’m happy with that.

The fruit tarts were so easy. I was very lucky to find this recipe, because when she requested fruit tarts, I was envisioning those little pastry tarts, brushed with chocolate, filled with custard, topped with sliced fruit and glazed with jelly. I only got the request on Tuesday, so I had no time and was freaking out a little about being able to do them properly and on time. So when the recipe I used turned up on an internet search, I was so happy!

They start with a shortbread crust that you bake and fill with a mixture of cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice and lemon zest:

And top with whatever fruit you like:

I chose blackberries and blueberries. Crispy, creamy, tart, sweet. These were wonderful!

Today is getting the Christmas decorations down - at least a good start. I feel so unbelievably trashy with them still up. But we just haven’t had time – we’ve been too busy getting The Child into her house – moving, painting, shopping, etc. BUT we’re having everyone over here next Sunday for cupcakes to celebrate her 26th birthday, so it HAS to be done or I will Die of Embarrassment. I have died of embarrassment many times in the past and it is NOT pretty.