Black Sesame Cake with Citrus Curd, the 2 Year Celebration

Last Friday we turned 2! Our sophomore year was a good one. It was the year I finally found my voice as a blogger and the year I met so many wonderful people in this sphere of the internet. I wouldn't change a thing. But if I had one desire for the upcoming year, it would be to post more regularly. I love interacting with all of you and hope we can do it more often.

This blog has shown me a range of emotions I didn't think was possible. Back in high school, I threw some shade at a guy for reasons which elude me now. He responded with, "Summer, if someone had a warm soda, I would tell them to chip some ice off of your heart because you are just that cold." I deserved it. I respected him a little more after that because it was true, I have always been reserved, quiet, an observer, and a bit cold if we're to be completely honest.

I never anticipated the sheer joy of moments such as publishing a post I'm incredibly proud of, being nominated for an award, partaking in workshops with like minded people (talking shop for hours!), and running into new blog friends by happenstance on the train. Conversely, I was also entirely ill equipped to deal with the uncontrollable outbursts of rage when recipes fail after 5, 6, 7 tries, the woeful despair of having a great recipe but not being able to translate that into photos, the pointless frustration toward the sun in winter.

All those ups and downs are what got O&O here today. Of course we also wouldn't be here without the support of all you wonderful people. So to celebrate such a momentous occasion, we need a cake that is equally memorable.

Chinese Paper Wrapped Sponge Cake

Going to the Chinese grocery store with my mom used to be a weekly excursion. After she had gotten all of her produce, meats, noodles, sauces and such, we would usually make a stop at the bakery right before heading to checkout. We would marvel at the enormous variety of beautiful baked goods but ultimately, every time we would end up with the same few pastries. My favorite was always the paper wrapped sponge cake. When we got home with our haul, I would quickly rip off the plastic film, peel off the paper, and shove the soft, fluffy, springy, and just ever so slightly sweet cake in my mouth so fast that most of the time I skipped right over that pesky step of eating called chewing. Satisfaction attained. Repeat next weekend.

Today's post is the brainchild of my friend Donny, who wants to make Chinese pastries the next big thing. Move over western baked goods, the east is coming. This post could not be more appropriate because 1. Today is the Lunar New Year (happy new year everyone!), and 2. I'm actually typing these words from China, where I'll be for the next three weeks. Both Donny and this long awaited trip have inspired me to get back to my roots. So for the next month, I'll be writing about my travels and also presenting you guys some recipes honoring the upbringing I had in a Chinese family, starting with these sponge cakes.

Pear Cake with Salted Caramel

The days fly by. You couldn't ask for a more perfect New York fall. I watch the sun set at work most days, we have a panoramic view of the city from our office. It reminds me every day how beautiful life is, and if I had one desire, it would be the ability to slow it all down. It comes with the territory I suppose, time moves too fast in moments of content, and it trudges along slowly in moments you'd rather skip right through.

The markets have been bursting with apples, pears, and grapes lately. Picturesque fall. Last weekend, at every stall that carried them, there were huge swarms of honey bees all over the gorgeous and fragrant cartons of concord grapes. They were so damn happy. And for every bee present there was a person squealing about them, either in excitement or fear. It was truly a sight to behold. I decided to take another route from the bees, purchasing what may have been a few too many bartlett pears to make pear cake. It was a tasty decision.

Brown Butter Peach Ice Cream Cake

I have these images in my head about how things in life should turn out before they happen. How a conversation with old friends will go, how a new city will make me feel, how I'll impress someone I haven't met yet, what my first day somewhere will be like. Inevitably, nothing ever turns out the way we picture it in our heads, and we're left with the determination that things will be different next time.

It was one of those single digit birthdays you don't quite remember with perfect clarity as an adult. My mom had bought me a cake, chocolate, decorated with white and yellow frosting, tucked nicely in a box for transporting home. I absolutely insisted on carrying it during the short walk from our car to our apartment, I had pictured myself gracefully gliding to the doorway as mom opened the door for me to step through like a princess. She insisted against it because she was afraid I would drop the cake. I won. I tripped. I dropped it on the hot August pavement. It was a devastating moment for my younger self as not only had I ruined my birthday cake, but I also got slapped in the face with a lesson in humility on the very day where it's okay to be unapologetically self centered and arrogant. Nothing like I pictured. We ended up eating the cake, mom scraped off the corner that got smushed to the ground, redistributed some of the frosting, and worked out some crafty angles for the photos. And as horrifying as it was at the time, it was character building—a learning experience. Never again would I be so careless with cake.