STATE OF THE BLOG ADDRESS: A look back at 2015, a look forward at 2016.

Whoa nelly. 2015 was a real adventure for Pretty Cake Machine. It was the blog’s first full year, and in that year we hit the front page of Reddit, popped up on Buzzfeed (twice), got writeups from sites like Hello Giggles and The Daily Dot and got acknowledgement from amazing creators. To say this year went better than I anticipated would be a profound understatement.

Certainly, I ran into some hiccups. The sudden influx of eyeballs on my kitchen shenanigans made my realize that my photography skills were about a -5 on a scale of 1 to 10, and made it painfully obvious which parts of my blog needed the most work. I learned to write clearer recipes and to weed through iffy spam filters. You guys have consistently helped me improve with your constructive criticism and comments, and I mean it when I say I couldn’t be more thankful!

The latter half of this year has been rough for me in terms of updating regularly. I’m surrounded by half-finished entries and projects that the holidays seemed absolutely dead set on not allowing me to finish. No, I have not abandoned the Steven Universe series! I’m actually editing the next entry as we speak. And yes, I definitely plan on returning to my weekly posting schedule. I think assuming that would happen before the holidays died down was a bit overly optimistic on my end, but hey, that’s just because I had so much fun baking to do. I can’t really complain.

My current project list is HUGE and extremely exciting. I have some things I just cannot wait to share with you. My plan for the coming months includes:

• The continuation of my Steven Universe series
• A special showpiece to commemorate the end of Gravity Falls (Can you feel the pain in my heart as I type that?)
• UNDERTALE! Y’all are gonna geeeeeeet dunked on!
• And… well, the rest is a secret. For now.

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For now, let’s take a look back at my favorite entries of 2015.

I’d be remiss to not mention the Sailor Moon dessert series, which spilled over from 2014 into 2015 in a fabulous way.

Usagi’s Creampuff Cake
Ami’s Creme de Menthe Ice Cream
Rei’s Spicy Cayenne and Dark Chocolate Mousse
Makoto’s Pistachio Strawberry Mousse Cake
Minako’s Passionfruit Napoleon
Chibiusa’s Strawberry Cotton Candy Saint Honoré
Setsuna’s Blood Orange and Cardamom Sphere
Haruka’s Yuzu, Ginger and Honey Opera Cake
Michiru’s Lime and Sea Salt Opera Cake
Hotaru’s Blackberry and Creme de Cassis Mousse Cake

I also shared a fair few of my Oma’s recipes, which I am so happy to say have proven to be popular. Her recipe collection is absolutely wonderful and I can’t wait to keep sharing it with you.

Black Forest Cake | Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte
Schwimmbadtorte | German Gooseberry Baiser Cake
Anisgebäck (or Springerle)

I competed in a major cake competition.

Making a Competition Cake (Pastry Live 2015), Part 1
Making a Competition Cake (Pastry Live 2015), Part 2
Making a Competition Cake (Pastry Live 2015), Part 3

I got to make two great cakes for great kitties (and the people who love them!)

A Tsum Tsum Cake for amazing kitties. (Pt. 1)
A Tsum Tsum cake for amazing kitties. (Pt. 2)
Cake and cupcakes for Good Mews Animal Foundation

And, of course… I laid the geekiness on thick.

Picard Truffles (Bitter Chocolate, Earl Grey Ganache and Lemon Cream)
Neko Atsume butter cookies
A creepy Halloween cake inspired by 2NE1’s 아파 (IT HURTS) music video
Cute Kirby Raspberry Meringue Cookies!
Steven Universe Together Breakfast Cake Decorating Tutorial
House Tryell Lemon Macarons (Game of Thrones)

Thank you all so much for reading and supporting Pretty Cake Machine. I can’t wait to make 2016 even cooler than 2015 was!