The Adventures of a Frustrated Baker

A few weeks ago, it was my birthday and true control freak and avid baker that I am, I made my own cake.  Now I'm sure there is some rule out there, just as my family tried to say, that states you are not to make your own birthday cake if you have family around that can do it, but I wanted this cake...and I wanted it to be pretty...and well see above comment about me being a control freak.  Sorry, its just who I am LOL!  So I stayed up late on the day before my birthday so that I could bake this most delicious cake!  (It is super moist and not too rich and very flavorful, seriously I love this chocolate cake...beats boxed cake mix by like 10,000!)  Then when I got home from work on my birthday I quickly decorated it...so quickly in fact I plopped the top layer of cake on top of the bottom before I put in the raspberries.  I was irked, let me tell you, but no worries I worked with it and by layering them on the sides and in between roses on top it...

Today's post begins with a story.  A few days ago I had a customer come in looking for a tall cup of espresso. Not just a doppio (that's 2 espresso shots for those of you who don't speak Starbucks)...no he wanted 12 ounces of espresso, something that would normally cost him a pretty penny.  One store had told him it would be $15, another said $10.  Well, we decided to be nice and only charge him for part of his drink and send him on his merry way, end of story.  Well, until he walked into our store on Sunday with yummy looking slice of tiramisu that he brought for us.  Now, normally I would not eat something that a stranger brought in for me, but seeing as this was kind of one of those paying it forward nice gestures, I decided to take a chance and try it.  It was amazing and when it was gone I was sad and wanted more.  Now one of the classes at my other job was having an end of the quarter potluck and I had planned on bringing cupcakes...but I was cr...