Sara Lime is a specialty cake designer based in San Francisco.
6/22/08
Wedding Cakes for Savvy Palates
Living in California means having access to some of the best ingredients around. Just at the corner market alone, you'll find perfectly ripe organic strawberries,champagne mangos by the bushel, sticky-sweet fresh pineapple and paper sacs overflowing with cherries. I won't even start on the transcendental hangar steak at Mustard’s and the delicate, well-balanced Pinots at Carneros.
With all of these top-quality ingredients, I figured what better way to put them to good use than in my cake recipes. So, this summer with a boom in wedding cake commissions, I have been experimenting with new flavor combinations for my food savvy San Francisco clients. Some have been great discoveries and others have been flops. The winners? Orange blossom honey buttercream, smooth mango cake, chocolate coriander ganache, Vietnamese cinnamon cream cheese icing. The losers were green tea pastry cream for its way too intense flavor and almond chiffon cake for its overly dry texture and bland flavor. I consider these my “works in progress”.
Finding a beautiful flavor combination gives me inspiration for the design of the cake, and in turn momentum for my next commission. When clients ask me what flavors I offer, I respond that each of my cakes is unique. I have great standard recipes, but no stock flavors. One client who wanted to know more asked me what my favorite dessert was. I answered that it always changes; however, since it's been a blistering 80 degrees lately in San Francisco, I am currently in love with the tropical popsicle made with real fruit pieces, coconut and fruit juice. Yum.
9/10/07
Aloha!
Two trips to Hawaii, a new day job working as Food Developer and several cake commissions have kept me very busy lately. Despite all of this, I have not forgotten about my Web site.
In keeping with a tropical theme, I recently designed a beautiful cake for a wedding at the Tonga Room at the Fairmont in San Francisco. Click on My Cakes to see pictures. For those of you who have not been to the Tonga Room, it is a really fun tikki bar that features a giant indoor pool and a pirate ship where it actually rains. On some nights, a band plays on a floating island in the center of the pool. However, after sipping my way through Maui and the Big Island, the drinks at the Tonga Room are second rate. That said, the kitsch factor makes this bar a San Francisco institution. Besides, after a few Singapore Slings it doesn't much matter anyway!
4/22/07

Sticky Toffee Goodness
From Jennifer Giblin of Blue Smoke
(Makes about 8servings)
1 cup stout beer (such as Guinness)
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 oz butter
8 oz sugar
3 medium eggs
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
8 oz flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and line with parchmenta 9 x 13” baking pan.
2. In a food processor, blend the dates until they cometogether in a ball. Transfer to a medium bowl.
3. Heat the beer until it begins to boil then add the bakingsoda and mix. Pour the beer mixture into the dates and whisk together. Setaside to cool.
4. Cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla extractuntil light and fluffy. Whisk together the eggs, and gradually add them to thebutter mixture. Make sure the scrape down the sides of the bowl after eachaddition of egg.
5. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamonand nutmeg. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture to the butter and beat untilincorporated, add one half of the date mixture and combine. Repeat with remainingflour and date mixture, ending with the dry ingredients.
6. Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan and bakefor 15 minutes. Rotate the pan and continue to bake for another 5 minutes oruntil a tester comes out clean and the cake is set on top.
Toffee Sauce
8 oz butter
8 oz dark brown sugar
1 vanilla bean (pulp scraped out of inside)
4 oz heavy cream
Pinch of salt
Dash of lemon juice
1. Place the butter, brown sugar and vanilla bean in asaucepan and cook over medium heat. Stir and continue cooking until mixture issmooth and just begins to boil.
2. Remove from heat and stir in the heavy cream, salt andlemon juice.
To Plate
Cut the cake into squares and cover each portion with warmtoffee sauce (about 2 oz of sauce per piece). Top each piece with toastedpecans and whipped crème fraîche.
4/18/07
Deliciously Metamorphic
As my site has matured, I have decided to reorganize it to better showcase both my writing and my specialty cakes. You will see that I have added the "My Cakes" page and updated "About Me". I will continue to add content to this blog and update the site with more pictures from my adventures. Stay tuned ...
4/1/07
Speaking of Cake
This was a two-tiered red velvet cake for a friend’s baby shower. It was filled with sweetened cream cheese, frosted with vanilla buttercream and finished with fresh flowers. On the top was a yellow rubber ducky that I sculpted out of sugar paste several weeks beforehand. As I was serving the cake, someone at the party asked me why vinegar was added to the traditional red velvet recipe. I didn’t know the answer at the time, but I have since learned that vinegar reacts with buttermilk and cocoa to produce a reddish hue. That said, you still need to add a bottle of fire-engine red food coloring to give this cake its’ characteristic tint.
This four-tiered cake was designed for a

I got the idea for this simple, elegant dessert from a book called THE PERFECT WEDDING CAKE by Kate Manchester. The gateau was for a casual, summer, wedding rehearsal dinner in a suburb of Chicago. I decorated it with locally grown berries and mint leaves to create a cool, fresh look on what would inevitably be a warm day. The cake is chocolate, filled with raspberry jam and frosted with my absolute favorite icing - white chocolate buttercream. If I could frost every cake in white chocolate buttercream, I would. The texture is incredibly velvety.

The first wedding cake I ever made was in pastry school at the French Culinary Institute in
2/11/07
Black Cakes for Black Hearts
Let me start by saying that I don’t hate Valentine’s Day, but when given the opportunity to design a black wedding cake with a friend for the Black Hearts Party in
(For one 8” x 3”round cake)
1 cup boiling water
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 ½ cups cocoa powder, sifted
1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
3 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
6 (3 oz) tablespoons butter, melted
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter an 8” x 3” cake pan and place an 8” round piece of parchment paper into the bottom. Flour the pan.
2. Steep the tea in boiling water for at least three minutes, remove the tea bags and set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix with the paddle attachment on low until ingredients are thoroughly combined.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, eggs and vanilla bean paste. Add this to the dry ingredients in two additions. Scrape the bowl with a spatula.
5. Add the hot tea and butter in two additions. Mix on medium speed for 2-3 minutes or until just combined. The batter will be runny.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean.
7. Immediately unmold the cake onto a rack and let cool completely. Slice into three layers then fill and frost with Milk Chocolate Buttercream.
Milk Chocolate Buttercream
(Makes enough to fill & frost one 8”x3” round cake)
5 egg whites
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons corn syrup
4 sticks (1 lb) butter, cold and cut into small pieces
3 bars (10.5 oz) milk chocolate, cut into small pieces
1. Whisk the egg whites, sugar, water and corn syrup together in a medium, heatproof bowl. Set the bowl over a saucepan filled with 1-2 inches of simmering water. Do not let the bowl touch the water.
2. Whisking gently, cook over medium heat until a thermometer registers 160°F.
3. Remove the bowl from the heat and whip on high until medium peaks form. Let the meringue cool to room temperature.
4. Using the whisk attachment and mixing on medium-low, add the butter slowly. Make sure to let each piece of butter fully incorporate before adding the next. Scrape down the sides of the bowl at least once. Note: If the frosting is loose, the meringue was too warm when the butter was added. To correct this, simply chill the frosting in the fridge then whip until fluffy.
5. Melt the chocolate carefully in the microwave by heating it on high in 30 second intervals. Stir after each interval to ensure that it is not burning. The chocolate should be about body temperature (98°F).
6. Quickly fold the melted chocolate into the rest of the mixture.
1/15/07

(Makes approximately 1 ½ dozen cookies)
1 large whole egg
1 large egg yolk
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 stick (4 oz) unsalted butter, melted
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla bean paste
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 ¼ cups (approximately 5 oz) chocolate chips
1. Preheat oven to 350°F and line a sheet pan with a non-stick baking mat or parchment paper.
2. In an electric mixer combine the white sugar and eggs. Mix on medium until pale yellow and fluffy.
3. Add the brown sugar, melted butter and vanilla bean paste then scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula. Continue to mix.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Add these dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
5. Stir in the chocolate chips.
6. Shape the cookies into two-inch balls by rolling them between the palms of your hands. Arrange them on the cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes, or until light golden brown. Once the cookies have cooled, store them in an airtight container.
7. Alternatively, you can freeze the two-inch balls for up to two months by placing them on a plate or in a container and wrapping with plastic wrap. If using this method, let the cookies thaw for about 10 minutes before baking.
1/1/07
Though cardamom is typically associated with Indian dishes, it is one of my favorite spices for baking. Its subtle, unusual flavor pairs well with orange for an updated twist on the classic icebox cookie. However, cardamom is not just an adult flavor; children will love it too. The flavors complement each other so well that kids will never suspect anything out of the ordinary, yet grown-ups will appreciate the sophisticated taste.

Makes 1-2 dozen depending on the size of the cookie cutter
2 sticks (1/2 lb) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
Zest of 1 orange
1 ½ teaspoons orange extract
2 large eggs
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
4 cups powdered sugar
4 tablespoons hot water
1 teaspoon orange extract
1. Cream the butter, sugar, zest and orange extract until pale and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.
2. Whisk eggs gently with a fork then pour them slowly into the sugar mixture in three stages, letting the eggs fully incorporate before adding more.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, salt and ground cardamom.
4. Add the flour mixture in three stages, stopping the machine when all ingredients are just combined and taking care not to over-mix.
5. Divide the dough into two patties and chill covered in plastic wrap for at least one hour. Alternatively, you can freeze one or both of the patties to use later.
6. When dough is sufficiently chilled, heat the oven to 350°F then cut a patty in half and roll it out between two sheets of plastic wrap to ¼ inch thickness. The dough should remain very cold, so work in smaller batches if need be. Using a cookie cutter of your choice, cut the dough into shapes and bake on a parchment lined sheet pan for 10 – 12 minutes or until lightly golden around the edges.
7. You can decorate these cookies with colored sprinkles, sugar or icing. If decorating with sprinkles or sugar, press them gently into the raw, cut-out cookie dough and bake. If decorating with icing let the baked cookies cool completely then combine the powdered sugar with very hot water and orange extract in an electric mixer. Add dye if you wish. The icing dries really quickly, so cover the icing with plastic wrap right away. Pipe the icing onto the cookie using a pastry bag and small, round tip. You can halve the icing recipe if you only need a little bit.
12/25/06
After working on this recipe for the past few weeks, the final version remains true to traditional Kugelhopf, although it is modified slightly to suit my own tastes. This includes a lighter texture and yeasty flavor. I also prefer cognac soaked golden raisins and lemon zest, although you could really use any kind of flavoring that you like.

1 package of active dry yeast
1 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup milk, warm (105-115°F)
½ cup golden raisins
¼ cup cognac or brandy
½ cup water
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 ½ cup powdered sugar
10 tablespoons butter (1 ¼ sticks)
Zest of 1 lemon
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
2 cups bread flour
Pinch of fresh nutmeg
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Extra melted butter for glazing
Powdered sugar
2. Prepare the starter by dissolving the yeast into the warm milk. Add the all-purpose flour and let rest in a warm area until nearly doubled in volume.
3. Meanwhile, reconstitute the raisins by heating them in a small saucepan with the cognac and water. When the liquid comes to a rolling boil, remove the pan from the heat and let the raisins rest, submerged in the liquid, for 20 minutes. Drain and cool.
4. In a large bowl, cream the granulated sugar, powdered sugar, butter and zest until pale and fluffy.
5. Crack eggs into a small bowl and whisk loosely with a fork. With the mixer on low, pour the eggs into the whipped sugar in a slow, steady stream, letting the eggs fully incorporate before adding more.
6. Add the starter in a single addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and continue mixing on low speed.
7. In a separate bowl, combine the bread flour, salt and nutmeg. Add these dry ingredients in three additions. Mix on medium speed until dough is smooth and elastic, 10-12 minutes. Note that the dough will be extremely sticky.
8. Reduce mixer to low and add the raisins. Be careful not to mix the dough too much in this step, otherwise the raisins will break open.
9. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with oiled plastic wrap, set in a warm place and let rise until doubled in volume, about 1 ½ hours*.
10. Dust your hands with flour and punch the dough down. Form it into a very loose ball then place it into the bunt cake mold by gently stretching it into the proper shape. Cover with more oiled plastic wrap and let rise again until the dough reaches the top of the mold, 2-3 hours*.
11. Bake at 350°F for 35-40 minutes. Unmold immediately and brush the entire cake with melted butter.
12. Let cool, then sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.
11/20/06 
11/6/06Living in
As my husband and I walked along
Our dishes arrived one by one, presumably in the order they came out of the kitchen. The first was the pork; it was surprisingly delicious. Thin strips of pork were served over a bed of warm, sautéed chow mien mixed with caramelized onions and bean sprouts. As I shoveled it compulsively onto my chopsticks, I had sinking feeling it might be loaded with MSG. The second dish was the calamari, and although it was not what we expected, it was still quite good. The super tender squid was tossed with green peppers in a black bean sauce and served over rice. I thought I detected a faint fishy taste, but that could have been residual stench still clogging my nostrils from our walk to the restaurant. The final dish, Chinese roast duck, was disappointing. It consisted of ribs, cartilage and greasy joints seasoned with fennel over a bed of white rice. I wondered if these were the leftovers from the Peking duck dish advertised for $9.99 on a long, golden banner near the fish tank.
The diners seemed genuinely excited to be there. Kids, elderly people and families chattered enthusiastically as they dipped Chinese doughnuts into congee and picked at rice plates and fried seafood. My husband said it best, “This is a place where they have something like 30 dishes on the menu and only five of them are good. But, if you can find those five, you’ll eat here all the time.” I agree. I’ll give it a second chance, but next time I’ll try the congee.
