Baking a slice of heaven

By ALLISON WINGATE

Staff Writer

Fostoria resident Deb Hammer is taking a slice of the local cake business with Flour Creations.

Her home-based operation, located at 8087 W. Ohio 12, has blossomed since she opened it in January after ditching her factory job.

"I decided it was time to do something I enjoy," she said.

Despite the business being in its infancy, baking extravagant cakes is no mystery to Deb -- she's baked the majority of her family's wedding and birthday cakes over the past 30 years.

"It's her special gift to them," said her husband, Jeff, who helps with the bookkeeping portion of the business.

Her most popular cake flavors are chocolate, vanilla, French vanilla, spice and dark chocolate mint.

A bride-to-be recently requested a mayonnaise cake, and Deb has even begun dabbling in baking gluten-free items.

"I have to learn the nature of what is gluten-free. That's on a learning curve right now," she said. "If they ask for a special cake, I'll do it for them."

Her fillings include the most popular strawberry cream cheese, raspberry cream cheese, raspberry, chocolate cream, chocolate ganache, lemon and vanilla whipped cream. Icings include butter cream, butter cream mint, almond butter cream and fondant.

While Deb said she prefers frosting to fondant, her clients often request it due to the smooth, sculptural quality. In an attempt to make the sugar-based substance more appetizing, she uses a recipe that calls for marshmallow and coats each cake with icing before covering it.

As cupcake boutiques become en vogue, Deb has received her first order for a cupcake wedding array due in October. Her hand-held creations cost $6 per dozen and $10 per dozen with a filling. Upping the ante, she makes jumbo cupcakes for $10 per dozen and $16 with a filling.

Being affordable is a priority to the pair, as they offer cost-effective options to their customers when it comes to cakes for special occasions.

Deb has begun designing fake cake layers to add visible volume to her wedding cakes and will also make additional sheet cakes or smaller cakes to keep the cost down.

"We're a Christian family and I want people to be able to afford it," she said.

"We want to help them get the most for their money, based on what their needs are," Jeff added.

Pricing on wedding cakes varies at $2 per slice and $3 per slice with fondant.

Easy Vegan Dessert Recipe Featuring Vegan Chocolate - Vegetarian

Easy Vegan Dessert Recipe Featuring Vegan Chocolate

I’ve been cooking vegan again and found an easy-to-make, delicious, nutritious vegan dessert recipe featuring vegan chocolate and I thought I would share it with you. This dessert is one of three simple vegan recipes that I will be writing about in the next few weeks.

What I loved about this vegan chocolate dessert is that it had a similar consistency and taste as regular chocolate mousse but not the same high-caloric, high-fat count as the real deal and therefore, I felt less guilty making and eating this easy vegan dessert recipe. Ingredients are as follows:

* 1 cup of vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips

* 1 cup non-dairy milk, such as soy milk or rice milk

* 2 12.3-oz packages of low fat silken tofu

* 1 teaspoon vanilla

Optional

* Vegan graham cracker pie crust

* Strawberries

* Mint garnish

Place the vegan chocolate chips and the non-dairy milk in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 1 minute so that chips melt. Take the mixture out of the microwave and let it sit and cool down.

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Then, using a hand mixer or food processor, blend the tofu, vanilla and chocolate chip/non-dairy milk mixture until smooth. Transfer into small individual serving dishes or the graham cracker pie crust and chill for at least 2 hours.

Before serving, you can top your mousse with strawberries or garnish the mousse with mint leaves. Another variation to making simple vegan recipes using vegan chocolate is to add a cup of fresh bananas while you are mixing the tofu and chocolate mixture to change up the taste a bit.

Want to add some decor to your dessert presentation? Then place the mousse in a decorative glass or ceramic container. I used some margarita glasses that I had to add a quick and easy decorative flair to my table.

Under the same heading of simple vegan recipes is the strawberry mousse I made as well last week. Again, I used readily available ingredients. 2 packages of frozen strawberries, 1 package of extra-firm silken tofu and 3 tablespoons of sugar or 2 tablespoons of Agave nectar (to substitute for the sugar).

Thaw the frozen strawberries and then blend them in a food processor or blender with the sugar and the tofu until smooth. Spoon the mixture into four serving dishes and refrigerate until chilled. You can also serve this dessert with fresh strawberries or another seasonal berry as a garnish.

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