Super Bowl, Sister, Sunday...CAKE!

Well, Super Bowl Sunday was more eventful for me than some because it was also my sister's birthday. It's funny how I bake all the birthday cakes for my family these days, including myself. Everyone gives me their request and I magically whip it every time. This is not to say that it's good every time but it's edible. Ice cream cakes are typical requests but this year my sister opted for something more traditional. She wanted a simple cake with marzipan. I decided instead of going through the hassle of making marzipan and rolling it out to cover the cake, I'd opt for an almond filling which is a mixture of almond, sugar, and a few other ingredients that can easily spread on cakes while still getting the pungent almond flavor from marzipan. So, how'd the cake turn out?

Overall, successful! The cake was moist, the almond filling was delicious, and the strawberries added a nice decorative touch to the cake. After all, they are my sister's favorite fruit. To make it more decorate, I used sugared pecans to decorate the side of the cake even though sliced almonds would have made more sense to use. I honestly don't believe it makes a big difference.

The Sushi Cupcake Journey

These are the absolute most cutest things I have ever seen. I have looked at different blogs and pictures of sushi cupcakes for awhile and I am finally making it myself!  Also, I was inspired to make these cupcakes by my trip to Japan this past Thanksgiving. I am a fan of Japanese culture and food but sushi has always been a food item I do not desire. Even though I did not have much sushi in Japan, I was open to the idea of going to a sushi restaurant, Teharu's, with my friend and it was really good. It was a conveyor belt sushi restaurant where we selected our items off of a conveyor. Not only was the food good but it was a fun atmosphere! Not to say that I am a huge sushi fan now but I am growing to be one. However, I would eat a cute sushi cupcake over real sushi any day!

This was two day process because I wanted to make sure all my prep work was done on one day and assembly the next day. Here is my mise en place!

This post is not so much about the recipes used but the assembly of the sushi cupcakes. Feel free to use any cake and frosting recipes you like. To reduce my time, I used boxed cake and canned frosting. Here's how they turned out!

The sashimi, while looks easier, was more time consuming to make. I used half of the cupcakes I made to make the California rolls (see image above) and I used the other half to make the sashimi. I took all remaining cupcakes and mashed it up and stirred in frosting to make a ball of dough that I could mold the beds of rice for the sashimi. Then, I melted frosting and dipped each "rice bed" into the frosting and covered with coconut. I dyed fondant black so I could cut strips of seaweed to lay over the fish gummy.