Vanilla Ruffles from Burano, Italy

Our most recent holiday to Venice, Italy was magical.  The weather was sunny with a few light rain showers.  The food, as usual, was simply delicious.  If I close my eyes, I can almost remember the taste of the most amazing Caprese Salad (tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese, basil, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar). 

Part of this getaway included a ride out to Burano Island.  While Murano Island is frequently associated with the glass produced there, Burano Islanders have a history of manufacturing fine lace…and brightly painted houses.  The contrast of beautiful colors were punctuated with brilliant flowers and hanging laundry.  This visit was very inspiring.

One of my favorite items to bring home from holiday is a tablecloth.  Sometimes I can go through two or three tablecloths in one day!  And as I use each one, I remember where we found it and what we did while there. 

Back in Heidelberg…I’m baking cakes where flavor inspiration comes from the market.  The blackberries have been amazing!!  So, a delicious blackberry curd filling seemed just right for pairing with a white vanilla cake.

The colors of Burano and the lovely table linens combined for this cake’s design inspiration.  Everything I do in my kitchen is a result of trial and error…and that’s perfectly ok by me.  I don’t even want to think about how many bowls of vanilla buttercream I’ve tossed out because I got the color so wrong that a royal blue or a medium purple went to something like grey…or maybe black. 

In trying to replicate the amazing colors of this new tablecloth, it was close but not perfect.  I attempted a fuscia, and it didn’t quite get there though I still used it towards the bottom of the cake (it looks like a repeat of the red/orange in the top two rows).

The results were definitely worth all the effort!