Also the chocolate flavour of the icing was really strong (not good, since chocolate is a migraine trigger for my sister).

What kind of chocolate (oh, your poor sister-I hope to never learn that) did you use?

The last test recipe I did was also a layer cake and the icing did it in for me--the cake was marvellously moist of crumb, but the icing (cream cheese and butter and sugar) was too sweet and too fatty for me. I'm a ganache girl. I'm interested in this frosting to see if it can be added to my repertoire--but it has to be less sweet and/or fatty than buttercream for that.

I have a headache. I just thought I'd point that out since it's been at least an hour since I last mentioned it. I do. And I'm not happy about it.

I make the icing for my 70% chocolate cake...which I'm pretty sure as linked here...with just semisweet chocolate bits(9oz) and butter(1 stick). It's light and much of the yum.

Not so great as a migraine trigger, of course, but I wonder if other bits like peanut butter or white chocolate chips could work the same.

It's light and much of the yum.

I may just be out of the market. Melted chocolate and whipped cream is perfect for me--but then you can only have chocolate. I'm thinking mascarpone instead of cream cheese, maybe whipped cream instead of butter and just less sugar might fix the other icing some, but then I'm only up to two.

In case you're following along at home or work--head still hurts, and I need to decide when I'm going to give in.

Hivemind question: We have an employee coming up on his 10th year and the company owner wants to give him a weekend at a fancy hotel (he's married, so it won't be just him). The hotel is right here in town and very chi-chi. Would you guys find a weekend, including a fancy dinner, in the town where you live a better gift than a plain airline gift certificate?

I would hate both, cause I think in NYS it would be considered taxable income! Seriously, I would rather have the local all-expenses paid thing, because I don't like gifts where I have to use my own money. I think it would depend on how much money he makes and how much he and his wife like to travel.

I would go with an airline gift cert. Much more practical and easy to use. Although it's nice to have a weekend at a fancy hotel, would he really use it?

I like the in town vacation. A few years ago, I won a package that included a couple of hotel nights in town and it felt like a total luxury.

Not to say airfare isn't cool too, but I'm with Sophia on the "but then *I* have to pay for hotel and other stuff".

Would you guys find a weekend, including a fancy dinner, in the town where you live a better gift than a plain airline gift certificate?

Well, with the airline gift certificate I might feel obligated to use it for a flight I would have taken anyway so, while it would be nice to save the money, it wouldn't be much of a treat.

I'm with the people that aren't Vortex. I like recognition gifts that are totally gifty, and less practical.

I'd dig a night in a fancy local hotel with fancy dinner. We actually do that ourselves (well, in Cambridge and we live in Salem, about ~45 minutes away) and I'd be psyched to get it as a gift.