I’m so excited we made over $5,000. This was the goal my co-chair, Jo Anne, and I set for ourselves and the sponsors, bakers, and attendees made it happen. You all rock!

Are you curious about the cakes? I would be from the teaser photo above (by the enormously talented Leila Hauck…wait till you see the rest!). You may view Leila’s photos on her website: http://leilahauck.com/flash/index.html (click the Clients button, then go to the Cake4Kids Fundraising Event gallery).

By the way, the cake above was submitted by my husband, Paul. He did not win the “Ultimate Chocolate” category but scored major style points with the judges (and his wife) by donning a thrift-store tuxedo and setting up a vignette that included 30+ year old single-malt scotch. The slightly unbuttoned shirt I suggested may also have had something to do with his popularity!

But seriously, it was his generous heart that really won people over. You’d think he’d be a shoo-in for the “Fan Favorite” category since we had over 80 friends in attendance. As it was, he tied exactly with one of the kid bakers, Allison Clark. Jo Anne and I weren’t sure how to award the prize but Paul swept the envelope from my hand into Allison’s, insisting she enjoy the full amount ($100). “That’s why I married him!” was all I could get out (I was pretty emotional by this point).

Our sons made me really proud, too. Dane and his pal, Kyle, served as door hosts, handing out napkin-wrapped forks and plates. The compliments we received on his politeness made my heart swell. And, Tate? Well, he literally took the cake. Not only was he an adorable and thoughtful “Kids Category” judge, he had excellent insights into the strengths of many other cakes, much to the bemusement of my friend, Tanya, and her foodie friend visiting from Seattle. They followed Tate and his mini entourage around the room, noting his amazingly accurate appraisals and tasting accordingly.

I want to give a shout out to my darling family who came to support me in this endeavor. Thank you very much, Mom, Dad, Lori, David, C.C., Jackson and Alexa and family friends, Denise and Sandy, for giving us so much positive feedback. You made Paul, Dane, Tate and me feel great! And to our friends who entered cakes or bought tickets just because I was doing this: THANK YOU SO, SO MUCH!

I am knocked out by the creativity and support of my amazing co-chair, Jo Anne Alvarado-Dominguez. Jo Anne, I can’t wait to do another event with you in the future!

Our sponsors and judges deserve extra special attention. Not only did they help fund such a fun, seemingly effortless event, they threw themselves wholeheartedly behind Cake4Kids and pitched in wherever they could.

First of all, the event would not have happened without the generosity of The Domain Hotel, who provided the perfect venue. Tina Walters and Tania Bain were absolutely incredible to work with (they thought of everything!!) and the hotel is a gorgeous gem right here in Sunnyvale. I highly encourage you to take advantage of a location like this for your next corporate or private event.

My sincerest thanks to Dr. Michael Leong, (Kids Category Sponsor) and his darling daughters, Head Judge, Michele, and co-judge, Sarah; Mike Klein of State Farm Insurance (Ultimate Chocolate Sponsor and Head Judge), and co-judges, Silicon Valley Leadership Group CEO, Carl Guardino and Ultimate Muay Thai Kickboxing Champion, Jenna Castillo; Marie Kuykendall of Kuykendall’s Auto Repair (Best Decorated Sponsor) and her granddaughter, Head Judge Kelli, along with co-judges, S.J. Councilmember Sam Liccardo and Terry Doyle, CFO of Unity Care; Benito and Kirstin Solorzano of Benito’s Cleaning Service (Gluten-free Category Sponsor), Domain Hotel General Manager, Erin Gilchrist (Head Judge) and co-judges, Deborah Olson (of C.J. Olson Cherries) and Susan Hamilton (Perfect Balance); and Kathleen DeManti of A Spoonful of Sugar (Best Tasting Sponsor and Head Judge) and co-judges, food blogger and author, Anita Chu and French Culinary Institute chef, Stephany Buswell plus our amazing in-kind sponsors: Pine Press Printing, Nothing Bundt Cakes/Sunnyvale, K’s Crepes and Cafe and Alice Rapcencu, illustrator extraordinaire (creator of the darling Cake-Off event logo).

Lastly, to all the folks at Cake4Kids, particularly the incredible bakers who came out to support at-risk youth, it’s been a pleasure working with you this year and I wish you all the success in years to come!

P.S. If you like this idea and want to put on your own version, please contact me. I am happy to provide “how to” guidance as needed.

Here is the cake I made to surprise our friend, Angela, for her 40th birthday celebration on Saturday. Everything was AMAZING and we had a blast mingling with Angela, Mitch and all their friends. The day-long party was held at the Hayes Mansion (Dolce hotel) in San Jose. All I can say is, what a gorgeous location for an event and overnight stay. If you’re looking for a beautiful and very reasonable venue for a big event, this is the place. Hotel rooms are $88 a night… fantastic!

I want to give a shout out to my hero, Alex, who let me know his mom’s favorite cake was NOT chocolate; this allowed me to switch to red velvet on Friday evening and make a little cake to honor our love and respect for Angela. I used the Cupcake Project’s chocolate cream cheese frosting as a thick filling layer, then made the vanilla cream cheese frosting recipe from Mariposa’s cake to cover (minus the hot, hot pink). Angela is a lovely, elegant person and I wanted the decorations to reflect her sense of style. What do you think, did I manage it?

I can’t believe what a fun, creative outlet cake baking is. I wish I’d known this was years ago. But, maybe it is for the best; it is too hard to resist tasting frostings every time I make them. Thank goodness I don’t do this every day; my blood sugar would be off the charts. Do any of you like to bake? I would love to see some of your creations and hear your stories!

Responding to Friday’s emergency cake request from Cake4kids, I whipped up two layers of chocolate cake for a boy named Raymond last night. I had posted a Facebook request for chocolate frosting recipes and got great suggestions from friends Jill, Ricardo and Puja (thanks all!). However, I was busy and stressed this morning and wasn’t sure I could pull off any of their directions in my super-short time frame: 45 minutes to make frosting AND decorate cake.

Since my last frosting attempt – vanilla cream cheese – was so tasty, I decided to Google “chocolate cream cheese frosting” in the hope of finding a fast, easy recipe.

Voila! I found the Cupcake Project (beautiful photography, great ideas and clever writing to boot) and Stefani Pollack.

Guess what her all-time favorite frosting is? Yep. Chocolate cream cheese. It couldn’t be easier and it was SO good! I followed the directions to sift the powdered sugar and (yeah!) no lumps this time. It was also the right shade of light brown to go with my desert/succulent/lizard theme. If you want her recipe, please go to:

http://www.cupcakeproject.com/2008/04/my-favorite-chocolate-cream-cheese.html

I highly encourage you to check out her ten favorite frosting recipes… I will be working my way through them one way or another!

*Flower arranging always makes me feel like a French girl; I used my Le Jacquard Français dishtowels to wrap his ‘n hers Valentine’s flowers (photos tomorrow), then enjoyed a quiet cappuccino with the newspaper, did some brisk walking at the park with Scout, then put an EmersonMade beige fabric flower on my black cotton cardigan and headed to the Farmer’s Market with Paul, Tate and my chic black Reisenthel tote (gift from Gabriele).

UPDATE: Here is the feedback I got from the social worker about the chocolate cake I baked for a 12-year old named Raymond.

Thank you so much for being able to provide a cake for one of my families at such short notice. I had informed the family that it may not happen. I met with them on February 15. Raymond was present and he was soooo excited about having the cake delivered.  According to Mom and Raymond, the decorations were great, the cake was the ” best he ever tasted.” The other children are looking forward to receiving their cakes. Thanks again for making this birthday a very special one for Raymond.

It doesn’t get any better than that, does it?

To make a difference in the life of a child is truly a gift for the giver.

Doesn’t this make YOU want to bake for a child who needs a little extra love? Check out the cake4kids website at http://cake4kids.org/Home.html – be sure to tell Libby I sent you!