I Love Mom

Red Velvet Rum Cake ft. Cream Cheese Sea Salt Frosting

We're going a little off the beaten track for Mother's Day this year, eschewing the typical floral patterns that usually characterize this spring holiday. Aside from a beautiful flower arrangement and a delicious breakfast in bed, Slate says it best - "a tattoo dedicated to Mom is in fact one of the most iconic American maternal tributes."

When I thought of doing this graphic design for Mother's Day, I had no idea what flavor combinations were appropriate for a tattoo cake. Until I did my research: this cake is an ode to both mothers around the world and the man who is said to have originated the first Mom heart tattoo - a man named Norman Keith Collins but more famously known and remembered as Sailor Jerry.

He was born in California, enlisted in the merchant marines, and traveled through Southeast Asia, the Philippines, and Japan where he was influenced by several high-concept tattoo artists. Collins settled in Hawaii where he opened his own shop - an 'upscale operation somewhere between a hair stylist and a dentist.' By the 1960s, clients flew to Honolulu to acquire a 'Sailor Jerry' the way that they bought a 'Warhol."

Many of his tattoos played on nautical and Americana themes, including flags, ships, anchors, Civil War battles, and allegedly the famous ribbon-wrapped 'MOM' tattoo. These tattoos became popular with sailors during World War II as both trophies of achievements and travels, and also as momentos and keepsakes from home.

So this cake is flavored with rum and sea salt as an homage to the Sailor Jerry and the sailors that brought the MOM tattoo to life - and to the mothers that brought all of us into life as well.

Discover Paper

French Vanilla Crepe Cake ft. Cappuccino Mousse + Edible Confetti

This remix is all about the paper. And birthdays. To celebrate Discover Paper's 2nd year of existence on the World Wide Web, blog owner Donaville reached out to see if I would like to collaborate on a remix. Discover Paper spotlights digital and hand-crafted paper products, as well as artists creating beautiful works of art including paper jewelry, upcycled books, and unique alphabets. Donaville also spends a good deal of time compiling an impressive holiday gift guide every year and has been kind enough to feature some of my diptych calendars in the past.

Anyways, it just so happens that Cake Remix is about to celebrate a birthday of its own - numero uno baby! My first Thai Curry remix was posted on April 30, 2012 and here we are - 23 remixes later and I haven't run out of ideas yet. So with paper as the inspiration and without further ado, I am so happy to present the Discover Paper remix:

I decided right away that this would be a crepe cake, also dubbed mille (French for 'thousand') crepe cake. Consisting of alternating layers of crepes and frosting/filling, this cake actually resembles a stack of flaky papers and when sliced, the interior looks like the pages of a book. The cake is relatively easy to make - though, time-consuming to pour and flip all of the crepes. A bit more work than just popping a cake in the oven for 45 minutes but this one looks impressive and hand-crafted, if you will. You can use those valuable seconds in between crepes to be productive - I did push-ups, put away dishes, and then caught up on my celebrity gossip.

Sticking with the theme of good books and curling up with a cup of coffee, I chose a cappuccino mousse to sandwich in between each crepe layer. I used brewed coffee and heavy cream in the recipe, but you could substitute a tablespoon or two of cappuccino or other flavored drink mixes for the coffee instead.

And what would a paper remix be without the paper? I had fun experimenting with edible rice paper for some decorative accents, and scroll down for mini crepe-cupcake versions as well. Happy Birthday Discover Paper - here's for many more to come!

Rice Paper - Two Ways
Edible rice paper or wafer paper is used as a wrapper in Asian dishes, such as spring rolls, and more recently in confectionery sweets such as the one you are currently reading about. Rice paper is not necessarily tasty (think dry and starchy like a Communion wafer), but it is edible so you can use it in a food dish and not have to worry about removing before eating.

The paper is fragile and usually comes wrapped in cellophane to prevent breakage. The paper will also shrivel and crinkle when it gets wet, so be sure to keep it as dry as possible while working.

Santa Fe

Pepperjack Cheesecake ft. Tequila Tortilla Crust + Candied Jalapenos + Honey Chili Frosting

Like last month's Holi cake, I've been meaning to do this remix for quite some time. Since last March to be specific, when I made John's Santa Fe sandwich birthday cake. But this one is fancy, and savory and sweet and spicy. It's a pepperjack cheese-cake. It even required the purchase of a new baking vessel - the springform cake pan. With a collar that detaches the bottom from the sides, it allows you to remove the cake without performing any acrobatics to flip it out.

I had never made a cheesecake before so after investing in the proper equipment, I then turned to Martha for the perfect basic cheesecake recipe. I halved the recipe, modified the ingredients, and also cut out some of the cream cheese - the end result is a bit lighter and mousse-ier than your typical cheesecake, by replacing some of the cream cheese with sour cream and heavy cream. In order to ensure even cooking and prevent cracking, you will be baking the cheesecake in a hot water bath in the oven.

My favorite part is the jalapeno syrup. You don't even have to put the actual jalapeno peppers into the cake if you don't want to (though that is what makes it resemble actual pepperjack cheese and the peppers aren't as intimidating once you remove the seeds), but replacing the 'sugar' of the typical cheesecake recipe with the jalapeno syrup ensures a kick with each bite. Like a friend (read: taste tester) said - 'it tastes like a jalapeno popper.' YUM. That's what I'll call the cupcake versions - poppers.

The springform-less trial version had the flavor but not the appearance I was going for, so I was much happier when I popped the collar of my second attempt - not bad for a cheesecake n00b. Drawing from my favorite desert color palette, the cake graphic is meant to convey the chevron and triangle patterns found in many a southwestern quilt. Though I totally meant to put a cactus on it as well....