PSR Goes International (kinda)

Sometimes the baking business is the pits.  Dishes to wash, invoices to write, budgets to magically budget.  If you think our lives are some magical fantasy episode of Ace of Cakes or something, that's very far from the truth.

But for every ugly dish we have to wash and dry long after we want to crawl into bed, we have moments that are fun and special and remind us why we got into this business in the first place.  Moments like this weekend, when we completed our first international order.

An international order for PSR is like the Pittsburgh International Airport claiming it's an international airport.  Sure, they have a daily flight to Toronto and Cozumel, but most people don't think of the PIA as an international travel destination.  Same with a bakery in Pittsburgh.  International orders?  What?

Here's what happened, though.  A woman contacted us from the UK to let us know her son's birthday was coming up, and he was now living in Pittsburgh.  She was hoping we could bake and deliver him a cake.  It took some planning, since most of our customers pay with cash or check on delivery (thanks, PayPal!), but once the logistics were worked out, we decided to make a cake with a Welsh dragon on top.  And write "Happy Birthday" in Welsh on top.  Because, you know, we majored in languages in college (nope, we didn't).

The cake turned out fantastically, though.  Take a look at some of the photos below of the prep work and finished results!  And stay tuned, we still have another wedding cake and birthday cake coming up soon that you'll want to see (no, really, you will!)

The head and neck of the dragon were molded from rice krispie treats.  It's a light-weight replacement for cake that's easy to sculpt)

Also, if you're like us and didn't know the difference between Great Britain and the United Kingdom, we found this handy dandy map for you.  This isn't just a baking blog, you guys, we're here to educate!!

Hidden Treasures!

Man, what a rainy day in Pittsburgh!  A little part of us wants to bake up a storm, but we're on a new "eat healthy" regiment, and if we have nothing to bake for we're going to sit here and eat all of the goodies.  So maybe we'll wait to cook up some amazing new goodies.

Last year when we started toying around with the idea of opening a bakery, so many people asked "Why baking?  Why cupcakes?  Why now?"  And we could spend all Sunday breaking these questions down on our blog, but the simple answer is that we love to bake.  Cupcakes are fun and whimsical, and in the beginning of this adventure we might have told you that cupcake baking is what really made our day (and it certainly does), but if we're completely honest with you, any kind of baking makes our day.  The sweeter it is, the more we love it.

That being said, PSR is always looking for new techniques to try, recipes to bake, and random books to read to educate ourselves more on the art of baking.  Remember, we've never taken a baking class in our life, so the self-taught handbook is what we depend on to learn all our secrets.  We blog hop, and recipe search, and Food Network watch, but sometimes the best secrets we find in the most unexpected places.

This is a book we found yesterday at Ikea.  For those who don't know us well (or who have sudden memory loss) we LOVE Ikea.  We would live there if they'd allow it (and maybe if they installed a few showers too).  Hmmm...maybe we could work out a deal...free baked good for a permanent home within those wonderful blue and yellow walls.

Anyway....while shopping yesterday for new furniture, we stumbled across this cookbook.  For those of you who can't read the tiny print, the cover says "Fika: 30 Classic Swedish Baking Recipes.  From Bite-sized Cookies to Festive Cakes"  And when we saw it, and the beautiful artwork on the cover, we knew we had found a gem of a book.  And so well priced too at only $7.99.

The wonderful thing about baking is there are so many different things to learn.  International recipes and baking secrets help make anyone a more well-rounded baker, and this book, though found in an international furniture giant, is no exception.  Have YOU ever baked with cardamom?  Better yet, do you even know what cardamom is?  If you don't, it's ok, it's not a super common ingredient in Mrs. Field's warehouse.  In Swedish baking, however, it is often used.  And we're going to figure out the best way to use and bake with cardamom.

Sweden has given us so much to be thankful for...Ace of Base....Ikea......the Muppet's Swedish Chef...and now Swedish baked goods.  

Can life get any better than eating Swedish baked goods in Ikea while listening to Ace of Base?  Seriously, anything??

We might be embarking on an international baking kick that knows no bounds.  How great will this summer be if we bake from around the world and perfect all sorts of awesome pastries and cakes?  Anyone interested in gaining 20lbs?? :-)

For now, we're going to take notes on this book, watch the rain, and grill out on the the grill.  Helllllllllloooooooo summer, it's like you're almost here!!

Have a great Sunday!  We're so close to May you can smell it!!