Sushi Night and a Really Pink Cake

I've had a great week in the world of cooking and baking! On Wednesday, I took the day off from my real job and baked a very large, very pink cake for a Salt and Pine Bakery client's birthday. It came out great and I received a text from her the other night that said:

"That cake is the best, richest, vegan vanilla cake I've ever tasted IN MY LIFE! Thank you sooo much! My mom says you should go to NYC!"

Very flattering :) My client was actually vegan, which is doesn't actually happen all that often. The cake was 5 layers of vanilla cake dyed various shades of pink and purple, and in between each layer, raspberry and a light almond no-buttercream. The outside was decorated with no-buttercream roses in varying shades of pink. Here's a few photos - please excuse the ones from my cell phone; J will have nicer ones from his camera once he has time to edit them:

Cake layers

Last night my back was aching from a day of baking and a little fender bender on Thursday (my friend's car not mine, and we're both okay!) and I started getting really scared that it was going back to the bad place it was in a year ago. It's still aching today, but a little better I think. Positive thoughts! Positive thoughts! 

At dinner time, to brighten my mood, J and I thought it would be fun to make sushi. We had picked up some sushi rice at Whole Foods and I followed the instructions on Cooking Cute for preparation and seasoning. Meanwhile, J prepared some long cut pieces of sweet potato by frying them briefly in a skillet, some long strips of tofu by try frying, sautéed cremini mushrooms, and raw carrot, sprouts, and zucchini. 

I was concerned that our dinner did not have enough protein, so I prepared a salad with spinach, yellow & red bell pepper, radish, carrot, and chickpeas, dressed with a wasabi vinaigrette (1 Tbsp wasabi powder, 3 Tbsp rice wine vinegar, 2 Tbsp water, pinch of salt, pinch of sugar). 

Dinner was delicious and so much fun to prepare! I had never rolled my own sushi before, so J taught me how and I have to say, it's not super easy, but it is super fun! The hardest part was how much the rice stuck to our hands! We had a little sticky rice left over so we made two little rice balls and served them with the salad. 

I've got to get baking - I'm planning to make a French Apple Tart for a little New Years Eve gathering we're having this evening. And guess what, everyone? Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of going vegan! Post to follow! 

Have a happy, fun, and safe New Years Eve, everyone!