A place to report on my adventures with cakes and baking
My co-worker Scott was having a little boy and wanted to celebrate with a baby shower. He and his wife Ailen wanted a cake with baby blue baby booties and a onesie. And since he’s going to be a little rock star, I added baby blue stars. Congrats you two and can’t wait to see that little bundle of joy!
My partner Richard’s nephew Mike was getting married and he and his bride-to-be, Hayley, asked me to make their wedding cake. I was touched.
They wanted a naked carrot cake. Decorations would be roses and succulents like the bouquet Hayley would carry. Everything sounded great. Except I live a six-hour drive from the venue! Time to figure out how to take this show on the road.
I baked carrot cakes and froze them, then made lemony buttercream and froze that too. A few days before the wedding we packed the car with boxes and ice packs and hit the road.
We arrived in Lake of Bays, in the beautiful Muskoka district of Ontario, north of Toronto, a few days early and met up with the bridal party and put all our stuff into a fridge at the cottage where I’d be putting the cake together.
On the morning of the wedding, we arrived and I went to work. I assembled the three tiers and when it was time to decorate the cake itself, the roses and succulents looked a bit lonely. I decided that adding something that grew around the cottage would be apropos. Hayley and Mike love the cottage at Lake of Bays. I wanted the cake to feel like it came from there.
Jess, the sister of the groom helped me find acorns, pine cones and wild mint that grows at the water’s edge. We washed them all and added them to the roses and succulents. It was just the perfect thing. The formal roses and baby’s breath contrasted well with the earthier tones of the pine cones and acorns. Formal and natural side-by-side.
The bride and groom loved the cake. And after the charming by-the-water’s edge ceremony and dinner, the guests tucked into the carrot cake.
Congrats to the newlyweds Hayley and Mike. Wishing you many sweet years together.
Fifty years ago today, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon.
I remember that night so well. It was a hot July night and I was playing in the front yard with my best friend Pammy, who lived next door. Mum came to the front door and insisted I come in to see man’s first step onto the moon.
My whole family was gathered in the dark family room around that big, boxy TV and we watched a grainy black and white figure descend a ladder and say those memorable words, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
I had to honour the occasion so I made a few lunar cupcakes with little green men on them. Okay, so Neil and Buzz (nor Michael Collins, who was orbiting the moon) never saw little green men, but that’s not to say they weren’t there, right?
My friend Dody was turning 80 and I was asked to her potluck bbq. I offered to bring the cake.
Dody is a fine stained glass artist who lately has turned her hand to mosaics. I decided that a nod to her years as a glass artist was just the thing for a cake. I freehanded a design I piped with black royal icing of flowers (which I later painted in pink) against a background of blue sky. All around the bottom edge of the cake is green ground.
Some folks thought it looked like a Tiffany lamp!
Dody loved it and the party gang devoured most of the cake. Happy birthday Dody. You make 80 the new 50!
A friend’s daughter wanted a cake for her mum who loves growing succulents. Marthe also loves working a jigsaw puzzle. So I made this cake that incorporates the things she loves to do.
Apparently the birthday party was a big surprise and when the cake was pulled out, Marthe was surprised all over again.
I had a bbq to celebrate Canada Day this year and decided that dessert was going to be chocolate beaver cupcakes with teeny Canadian flags.
I figured I’d try to use Canadian candy for details: A Canadian classic, Smarties were perfect for ears and noses; Goodies, those nostalgic made-in-Canada licorice candies for buck teeth, waffle pretzels for their tails, and candy eyes.
They were a hit and the dozen cuppies I baked were gone in a blink of an eye.
Happy Canada Day, eh?
It’s my birthday today! Since I love cereal, I decided this milk splash birthday cake would be the perfect way to celebrate a new year. I’d seen it on Pinterest made by Sugar & Sparrow and I loved the graphic look of it.
Problem was that Froot Loops (at least in Canada) no longer come in shiny bright colours anymore; they’re made from all natural juices and turmeric, so my colours are not as bright and carnival-like as Sugar & Sparrow’s version.
Still, it’s a fun cake and I can’t wait to cut it open and reveal its confetti-vanilla interior.
Happy birthday to me!
