what a gift today has been.

wide awake at six am, egg and i found ourselves en route to darcy's for a little breakfast date. darcy's is where the farmers go for breakfast. it's the kind of place with a counter and bottomless coffee and usuals, who are welcomed by first name and served without ordering.

we had diner eggs and diner potatoes. we indulged in buttery diner toast, which is one of the best kinds of toast, if you ask me. we took our sweet time and talked about sugar beets, just like the other farmers... and then when a farmer friend came in, we talked about china and mooncakes. it was perfect. i think darcy's is my new favorite.

i took eggboy to the farm as the sun rose, and after i dropped him off, i stopped at the market for berries and herbs to make a very special cake.

a few months ago, i donated some cakes as donor gifts for wolftree's kickstarter. wolftree met their goal (yay!), so a few people received vouchers for a custom cake. one man gave me the freedom to make any cake and to deliver it at any time.

i am sort of in love with the idea of a spontaneous cake appearing at a moment's notice. perhaps he'll invite friends over to eat it, perhaps he'll eat it all himself! who knows!

so for this friday cake, i made a cake that i have been desperately wanting to try: a tahini cake. i used my favorite chocolate cake recipe and with the help of my friend jenna, found a good way to incorporate tahini: rather than using the 1/2 cup of oil, i used six tablespoons of tahini and two tablespoons of oil. i also always use coconut milk instead of cow milk with this recipe. it gives it an extra somethin somethin and then also makes it dairy free. the results were so moist and delicious.

for the buttercream, i infused two sticks of butter with rosemary by boiling it for a few minutes with a handful of rosemary sprigs and then covering it and letting it sit out overnight. today, i melted it back down, strained out the rosemary sprigs, and then stuck it in the fridge for a bit to firm up. once it was firm but not too hard, i whipped it up with some more softened butter, added a splash of vanilla and powdered sugar to taste, a few pinches of salt, and a few tablespoons of milk. literal. perfection.

frosty frost frost, in the naked fashion (don't you love naked cakes??), and then this cake got some fresh raspberries, pearl sugar, powdered sugar annnnd candied rosemary a la carey from reclaiming provincial. that girl is a genius.

boy, i had fun with this cake! i wanna do it again! i wanna do it again!

happy friday, all! i am off to fargo to deliver this cake and for a little wolftree* party... and then a halloween celebration! i am going to dress as a garden. i think.

-yeh!

*speaking of wolftree. if you live in the midwest, you should come to this wolftree cooking workshop lead by yours truly!! i am nervous. it is my first cooking workshop. i've taught paradiddles and marimba songs and other music things to big groups. but i've never taught pies and soups and bread before. eeeek! i promise not to poison you, i promise it will be funnnn!!!!

update from three minutes after i originally posted this: how the fock am i going to get this cake to fargo?