Sunday Sweets Celebrates International Chocolate Day

Sometimes you don't just want your cake to BE chocolate, you want it to LOOK chocolate. So for International Chocolate Day, I'm serving up 10 chocolate-drenched Sweets, like this:

(Sugar And Slice, New York)

Mmmmm. Did anyone else think those roses were carved strawberries at first?

This one comes with fresh figs and gold-dusted blackberries:

(Beth Haxby Cakes, England)

Yes, please. That feathery piping is so delicate!

Here's a more modern version of the classic tree stump cake:

(The Little Vintage Baking Company, Online)

Don't you want to grab a piece of that "bark" and chomp into it? Ditto for the little meringue mushroom.

Chocolate is all about texture for me. From velvety smooth:

(Hayley's Cake Studio, England)

 To a mirror glaze shine:

(Baker unknown. Anyone have a source?)

Now check out the incredible chocolate-piped cage-work on these top and bottom tiers:

(Marcela Sanchez, Brazil)

Jaw: dropped. I'm honestly stumped on how they did this. You can see there are smaller cakes inside the fretwork, but... HOW?

I'm pretty sure EVERY color looks great with chocolate, but pairing it with a delicate copper and minty-teal is downright inspired:

(Jim Smeal, South Carolina)
Stunning.

Ohhh, and look at this darker chocolate with THESE colors:

(Jonathan Caleb, South Carolina)

Is that a whole peach tucked in with the flowers? I've never seen that done before, and I like it.

From peaches to pears:

(Mishelle Handy Cakes, Oklahoma)

If British Bake-Off taught me anything, it's that chocolate collars are nearly impossible to do well. So, dang. Plus this design is fantastic with the cake peeking through, love the different texture underneath.

And finally, let's end our ode to chocolate with a little drama.

No, scratch that.

Let's end our ode to chocolate with ALL the drama:

(The Frostery, England)

 Sha-POW.

The ruffles, the roses, the gold leaf! Now that's a show-stopper. Or at least a post-stopper.

Have a great week, friends, and when you can, remember to make someone's day extra Sweet.

*****

P.S. This seems like a good time to mention John's favorite scented candle... of all time:

Bath & Body Works' Hot Coca and Cream

This smells exactly like hot chocolate, not artificial at all, and it's strong enough that you only need one to fill your house with a delicious chocolate-and-mini-marshmallows smell. We used this during our last two Christmas parties, and have to keep buying more since John would burn it every night if he could, haha. It's nice to know we can get one on Amazon now, in case B&BW doesn't have more in stock this year.

*****

And from my other blog, Epbot:

Just My Stripe

I know I just talked about zebras last week, minions - or rather, the abject hatred wreckerators have for zebras, which prevents them from ever looking at zebras before they make zebra-striped cakes - but it turns out last week was only the tip of the icing 'berg.

Now, I know what you're thinking: "SURELY it can't be that hard for this many bakers to make simple zebra stripes."

To which I say:

And don't call me Shirley.

BEHOLD!

And... BEHOLD!

KEEP BEHOLDING!

Now, BE BEHELD!

See, because it's looking at you? 

Eh? 

Janine here really lucked out, though she didn't know it at the time. See, she also ordered a zebra print cake, but the baker misunderstood. So instead, she got this:

Aha! So THIS is the answer, everybody: just start ordering actual ZEBRA cakes. Go, quick! Before Wreckerators catch on!

Oh, wait. Hang on...

Too late.
Sorry, Jannae. We hope you enjoyed your... sock puppet?

Thanks to Julia S., Beth M., Melissa M., Stephanie, Janine B., & Jannae for keeping this issue black-and-white.
*****

I was going to link an actual zebra sock puppet, but this thing is the stuff of nightmares. (Bahaha!) So instead, how about just some cute zebra socks:

K. Bell Women's Zoo Animal Socks

You can also choose from skunks, meer cats, sloths, or giraffes wearing glasses. Score.

*****

And from my other blog, Epbot: