Before we get started, I’d just like to take a moment to remind everyone that, as I said last time, I have tons of photos for blog posts in the works due to recent bouts of baking.  I am not– I repeat, not– stuffing my face with Nutella scones a mere four days after Thanksgiving. That said, with Thanksgiving in the rearview mirror, it’s time for Christmas baking!!  It’s the perfect season to crank out ridiculous amounts of cookies, cakes, and muffins, and you don’t even have to worry about putting on weight, because you’re practically expected to give all your…

So I turn my back for two seconds, and suddenly it’s Thanksgiving. Here’s a (not-so) little-known fact: food retail is absolutely NUTS during the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving.  I don’t even know how many wedges of Stilton and Brie I must have sold in the last two days alone, and the fatigue I feel must be nothing next to that of the butchers who have been slinging turkeys since Monday morning.  Let’s all take a moment to be thankful for the people who make Thanksgiving dinner possible, all the way from the farm to the fork (pardon the phrase)….

Every once in a while, I like to mix it up and share a cooking adventure that didn’t turn out as planned.  I have a weird dream of turning “Notes on Sugar’s Big Fat Failure” into a recurring segment, but to be honest, this cake wasn’t bad enough to qualify as a big fat failure– or a failure at all, come to think of it.  This cake was delicious, and every bite was eaten.  It just happened that the process of making the cake was no picnic, and the final result was (obviously) not all that photogenic. I’m convinced that…