Raspberry White cake with Chocolate Shavings

During our bakery days, our french style cakes were the most popular. We made french cakes for all kinds of occasions, from birthdays to anniversaries to weddings and just parties. Making french style cakes has always been my favorite part of the bakery days and I truly enjoy the experience and results.

Today was my friend Anthony's birthday party. I decided to make a white cake with raspberry whip cream filling for him. I always like to decorate with chocolate, so I'll top it off with some chocolate shavings. There is an art to making french style cakes. The difference is not only in the recipe but also the process. My father taught me one of his secrets to making cakes spungy and moist. We never use oil or butter in our cakes. Surprised??? Yes, for all the years that we have been making cakes, we never used oil or butter to make the cake soft and moist. It is a secret that has made our cakes so popular. It is healthly, all natural, and tastes so great! So have an extra slice without worrying too much about the fat :)

Here it is! A white cake with raspberry whip cream filling and chocolate shavings on top and on the sides and decorated with raspberries on top.

Why blog about french baking?

Wow! I have finally started my blog. Been thinking and talking about this for some time now and decided to start blogging :) Why? Well, for quite some time now, friends and customers have been telling me how much they love my work, how great it tastes, whether I sell my recipes or books, give lessons, and to share with them my work. So here it is...

A little about me. My family and I ran a very successful french bakery in Santa Barbara, CA called Le Chateau French Bakery for about 12 years. Then I moved to San Diego and worked as a school teacher and real estate agent for a number of years. Recently my passion for baking was re-ignited by my husband (who kept asking me how come he doesn't get to taste those delicious desserts that he has heard so much about). After baking a few french cakes and pastries whenever family or friends came over for dinner, I realized how much I missed baking. Slowly I got the word out that I was baking again and orders started to come in from friends and referrals. The thing I enjoy most about baking is to see the expression on people's faces when they see my work of art and to hear their delight when they taste it. Yes, the art of gourmet desserts! It is such a rewarding experience for me.

What I hope to achieve is to share with my readers the experience of making french baked cakes and desserts! The process (yes, its hard and labor intensive), share some pictures, and eventually put my work together for a book (that might take some time). If you have any ideas, questions, comments, please share them with me.