Triple Berry Cake

For those of you who live in LA, you know a sweet tooth can easily by fixed by one of the many sweet shops near by. Cupcake shops and froyo joints have been opening up everywhere in this city, but by far one of my favorite bakeries in LA is Sweet Lady Jane. With one shop on Montana Avenue in Santa Monica and another on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood, their sinful desserts are sure to satisfy any craving you might have. I especially love their triple berry cake -- three layers of yellow cake, fresh whipped cream, and berries -- that is always guaranteed to be a crowd pleaser. So, I reserved Saturday morning to make this popular dessert, and despite the fact that I started my weekend by accidentally waking up at 6 am, I actually got a helpful head start and had the most perfect day.

Everything was made from scratch, which of course freaked me out at first because it only left more room to mess up! I used this Martha Stewart yellow cake recipe but it actually tasted beyond amazing and proved to me just how much better homemade cake is than store bought mixes. The recipe says it yields two 9-inch layers, but it works perfectly fine for three 8-inch ones instead if you choose to do so.

Layering on the goodness

I used this whipped cream recipe that instructed me to originally buy just 2 cups of heavy cream, but mid-way into the morning I noticed I barely had enough for one layer of the cake and made a quick trip to Trader Joe's for more. In the end, 6 cups of heavy cream whipped to perfection should be plenty for a cake of this size. And while the calorie intake of this cake is incredibly overwhelming, I assure you it is definitely worth it by the end.

But the best part in this entire process was when I visited PATH homeless shelter Saturday afternoon to drop off the cake. Even though I have stopped by multiple times in the past year to drop off desserts, it was over a year since I last saw Shanee, the receptionist at PATH and also a fellow baker, who had quickly become a dear friend. I half expected her to forget me by now but as soon as I walked in on Saturday afternoon she immediately recognized me, embraced me with a huge hug, and exclaimed how happy she was to see me again. It truly warmed my heart to see her, and while I try to think of the perfect words to describe our meeting again, there really are none. We caught up and chatted about what we've both been up to since we last saw each other. She explained that she only worked on weekends (which was why I never bumped into her since I went on weekdays) so if I happen to come by on Saturday mornings from now on I can definitely run into her there. Seeing her again after such a long time really made my weekend and has given me so much incentive to come back and visit.

This post was a big longer than usual, but I simply had to include that last part in. I first started The Blissful Baker three years ago back in January 2010 and it was probably one of the best decisions of my life. I hope you enjoyed reading the post today and have a good weekend :)