The Mixing Bowl: Devonshire Cream Tea by Joël Penkman

Painter and graphic designer Joël Penkman has shared a recipe with us today for Devonshire Cream Tea that is the perfect accompaniment to your morning cup of tea, especially on cold, wintery mornings like the one we had this morning! She uses strawberry jam, but you could easily substitute it with raspberry, plum, or rhubarb jam, just to name a few. It’s a great, easy-to- make way to spice up your breakfast routine. {You can see a larger version of the Devonshire Cream Tea recipe by clicking on the image above. You can also find a text version at the bottom of this post, after the jump.}

I'm a huge fan of Joël Penkman’s work. Quite frankly, it’s difficult for me to take my eyes of her colorful food paintings. There is something really beautiful about the way she paints a jelly rabbit or a box of Krispy Kreme donuts, something lovely about their simplicity.  I think my favorite piece is Blackpool Rock. It brings back such great memories of childhood and makes me hungry, all at the same time! You can find more of Joël’s work on her website, right here. You can also click here to visit her Etsy shop and order prints online. I guarantee that looking at her paintings will instantly brighten up your day! Thanks, Joël!

For a text version of the Devonshire Cream Tea recipe, and to see more Joël Penkman images, click Read More below.

The Mixing Bowl: Strawberry Shortcake by Lee Price

Food, generally speaking, makes me happy, eating it, thinking about it, looking at it, so when I first saw Lee Price’s photorealistic oil paintings of women and food, I was thrilled! The way she uses food is amazing! At first, there is that initial surface reaction of seeing a gorgeous, beautifully rendered image, but the more you look at her work the more you realize that beneath the quiet facade, so much more is going on. For me, her work definitely brings up issues of how the role of food changes in a society where a high supply of goods makes food consumption less about survival and more about our mental state, how eating a candy bar can, often, comfort us or shame us, cause arousal or nausea, depending on our emotions at any given time. As much as I love food, even I am guilty of letting my emotions affect my eating, of letting what I eat, sometimes, affect my emotions. The human race’s relationship with food is a complicated one and, I, for one, couldn’t stop looking at Lee’s paintings. Really lovely and interesting work.

Given the fact that she is vegan, Lee actually makes a lot of the baked goods that are featured in her paintings. Of course, I was super excited when she agreed to snap some photos for us the next time she made something for a shoot. I love, love, love seeing the process of her making the dessert and then seeing the finished painting (see image below). I was also really happy that she used a Strawberry Shortcake recipe from the BabyCakes cookbook, which is a great book for vegan and gluten-free baking (note: this recipe is only vegan, not gluten-free because of the spelt flour).

The Evoke Contemporary Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico is currently running an exhibition of Lee Price’s work, you can click here for more info. You can also see more of Lee’s paintings on her Web site, right here.

You can find the complete recipe and more images after the jump. Thanks so much to Lee for sharing her work!

The Mixing Bowl: Eton Mess (Strawberries and Cream) by Dicky Bird

Liz Wells from Dicky Bird just sent over this super cute illustration with a super cute title, Eton Mess, for her Mixing Bowl recipe, which is not surprising given all the super cute images on her Web site. That’s a lot of super cutes, but what can I say? It’s friggin super cute! The recipe itself, a version of the classic strawberries and cream combo, is a cinch to make and could easily be mixed and matched with all the different fruits available during the spring/summer season. Just buy your favorite fruit, whip up some meringue, and dig in!

From Liz: Strawberries & Cream - the best combo ever created, mixed up with crunchy-on-the-outside and squishy-on-the-inside homemade meringue - it’s just so delicious.

Dicky Bird is a fantastic greeting card company based in London. Influenced by nature, mid-century design, and Japanese culture, Liz creates whimsical and colorful designs that are completely delightful. I'm especially fond of the "fairy tale" cards, like the Goldilocks card pictured below. Love those! To check out the full collection and to shop online, click here. Thank you, Liz, for sharing this wonderful sweet treat!

You can find the complete recipe for  Eton Mess after the jump.

Spaghetti Ice Cream

Am I the only one that didn't know that ice cream shaped like spaghetti is like...a thing...in Germany? Yep, that's right. It's called spaghettieis (spaghetti ice) and it's not really noodles, but ice cream that has been pressed through a spaetzle press. To assemble, simply place the "noodles" over whipped cream, add strawberry sauce instead of tomato sauce and replace the cheese with white chocolate, coconut, or grated almonds and voila, you have spaghettieis. When I first saw it, I thought it was just another fondant-covered novelty dish, but I was wrong! It's actually well-known dessert in Germany and has been around since the 1960s! Want to try making it yourself? Click here for a recipe.

[Photo by Christian Cable]

The Mixing Bowl: Rhubarb and Fruit Pie by Eleanor Grosch

I first came across the work of designer and illustrator Eleanor Grosch many, many years ago when she was simply PushMePullYou Design and had a little Web site where she sold her geometric animal prints and indie rock posters. Back then, Eleanor was one of my desktop favorites! I loved the strong lines and simplicity of her work and her illustrations were always in high rotation on my computer screen! One of my all-time faves! It was therefore only natural that I’d invite her to share a recipe with us here on The Mixing Bowl. I can't adequately express how excited I was when she actually agreed to the assignment and then sent along this amazingly simple recipe for Rhubarb and Fruit Pie! The cinnamon and rhubarb combination sounds delicious! I hope you'll give it a try!



Eleanor Grosch of PushMePullYou Design has worked for companies like Keds, Giro, and Urban Outfitters, as well as for musical acts like Wilco, Feist, and Death Cab for Cutie, among others. In addition, she also works as an interior design consultant and has a notecard series titled Flock that was released by Chronicle Books in 2008 (Yay, Chronicle).




If you love illustration like I do, be sure to check out Eleanor's Web site, right here. Thanks, Eleanor! You can find the complete recipe and more pics after the jump.

The Mixing Bowl: Strawberry Cupcakes by Flowers in May

Today’s recipe comes from graphic designer Emily Dumas. Based in Massachusetts, Emily runs the design and stationary company Flowers in May, where she creates super fun, themed prints (of course, the baking print is my favorite!), along with lovely invitations, note cards, coasters, and magnets. Today she’s sharing a delicious recipe for strawberry cupcakes. Personally, I think nothing says summer like strawberries and these sweet treats would make the perfect addition to your warm weather get together. I hope you enjoy them!

Click on the image at the top of this post to see a larger, readable version of the recipe card. Click here to check out the full selections at Flowers in May. Thanks, Emily!

Lamb Cake: Clever or Disturbing??

I think it's safe to say that not everyone is going to love this cake. I'll admit that when artist Andrea Everman emailed it to me, I looked at the first pic and thought, oh, that's sooo cute and then I saw the second photo and my feelings changed to hmmm…it's also kind of disturbing, and then quickly switched back to but, it is clever. My emotions continued to sway back and forth like this for several minutes until I just couldn't take it anymore and had to ask for another opinion! I think it's definitely well done and interesting, but, as an animal lover, I don't know if I could actually eat it! On the other hand, the less emotional part of my brain keeps saying, why wouldn't you eat it! It's just cake! So, what do you guys think of this particular lamb cake or lamb cakes in general??? Clever or disturbing?

For those of you interested in trying this at home, the cake is strawberry and those are cilantro leaves filling in for the grass. Oh, and Andrea is a lovely lady and is going to making us a vegan dessert later in the year, so if you hate this cake, please don't take it out on her! :-) Thanks, Andrea!

The Mixing Bowl: Pavlova by Hello Naomi

This week’s Mixing Bowl post is from Australian-based baker Naomi Henderson of Hello Naomi. She has prepared a cute pavlova recipe that can be easily be converted into delicious pavlova cupcakes, too! Personally, I love pavlova! It's a sloppy baker's dream! It's supposed to be cracked and uneven, so you don't need to worry about being perfect. Besides, who can resist a dessert named after a ballerina?

I first discovered Naomi's work on Flickr, where she started uploading photos of her creations after taking a cake-decorating class in early 2007. While working on her PhD in computer engineering, Naomi started creating her cute and clever designs, and, apparently, I'm not the only one who took notice! The photos of her creations became so popular, and there was such a demand for her desserts, that she was able to start her own business! If you visit her Flickr site, you'll know why. There's always something fun to check out on her photostream! My favorite Naomi sweet treat has always been the bird cupcakes, but the Pacman cupcakes are pretty hard to resist. They would be perfect for your favorite guy. . . or video game-loving girl. :-)


From Naomi: Pavlova is my favourite dessert in the whole world. My family would always have it at Christmas but I have been making it more and more lately. It is such a quick and easy dessert to make when friends are coming over for dinner. This recipe serves about 6 people but it is very easily scaled. I usually just budget 1 egg white and ¼ cup of sugar per guest. Then just beat it for 5 min, add a squeeze of lemon a dash of vanilla, throw it in a low oven and forget about it! Well maybe don't forget about it, check it after about 45 min . . . but the good thing is that it is really hard to stuff up!

Check out Naomi's Web site here and click here to view her Flickr photostream.

Full recipe and more photos after the jump. Thanks, Naomi!

The Mixing Bowl: Strawberry and Nectarine Pie by Ingela P. Arrhenius

Today's recipe for Strawberry and Nectarine Pie comes from illustrator extraordinaire, Ingela P. Arrhenius. Based in Stockholm, Sweden, Ingela's colorful and playful designs have appeared on everything from posters to chocolate milk boxes and everything in between.

In the past, she has created illustrations for products such as greeting cards and stationary, as well as patterns for children's apparel and roller blinds. Her work graces the pages of magazines and children's books, which are often written by her talented husband, and even show up on postage stamps and yogurt containers!


Inspired by art of the 50's and 60's, Ingela's work is so cheerfully retro that it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Her illustrations always make me smile, so I was really thrilled that she agreed to contribute a recipe to Dessert Girl! When she sent over the illustration for the recipe, I instantly fell in love with it! I want to print it out and put it on my wall! I'm so excited to get the chance to share her work with you! You can find more images after the jump or on her Web site, right here. Thanks, Ingela! [To see the recipe in a readable, large-print format, just click on the image.]


Recipe Helpers: Ingela mentioned to me that although this recipe mentions using 5 nectarines, she only used 3 and that was enough, so 5 is not a strict requirement.

If you need help converting the measurements, click here for a nifty conversion calculator.

Note on The Mixing Bowl: I failed to mention this previously, but I thought that I should fill you in on what The Mixing Bowl series is really all about. Basically, I love seeing people making and sharing their favorite recipes. I also really like the idea of featuring and collaborating with people whose work I admire. The Mixing Bowl combines both of those ideas. Not only do I get to share yummy dessert recipes with you, but I also get the opportunity to feature the artists, writers, designers, and people that I love and admire! What could be better? I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!)


There are more Ingela images after the jump.

The Mixing Bowl: Strawberry and Pear Croustade by Hang Tight Studio

I am so sooo excited to present this guest post from Heather Dutton of Hang Tight Studio. I have been a fan of Heather's work for many years now and I'm thrilled that she agreed to put together this cooking project for Dessert Girl! It's so inspiring to see people make food that they love and Heather's post for strawberry and pear croustade with vanilla bean glaze does not disappoint!


Heather, who runs a freelance textile and surface design business, and has worked with big name companies like Pottery Barn and Tupperware, creates wonderful and incredibly cute designs! I'm particularly fond of her playful animal prints, like the ones below, but she also has a lot of gorgeous floral and geometric patterns as well. I love her work so much that I have been known to use her designs as desktop wallpaper and, whenever I do, I always get tons of compliments from passersby!



I hope you’ll enjoy Heather’s recipe as much as I did. It looks like the perfect summer treat, for the eyes and the belly! (To see the recipe in a readable, large-print format, just click on each image.)

Thanks Heather!

To see more of Heather’s work click here to visit her Web site and, to shop online, visit her brand new Etsy site, right here. While you're there, check out the paint chip etchings, which combine both cuteness and recycling! Yay!

(p.s. This post officially starts my new guest baker series, which I'm calling The Mixing Bowl, for now. Or is that title too cheesy? Stay tuned for more mystery pastry chefs in the future!)