Bright

Because we had B later than most couples we know, B only has a few baby friends who are close in age. Emma is one of her friends who happens to live close by, making play dates fun and convenient. Big sister Elizabeth has great affection for B, resulting in many kisses and hugs for baby B.
 

Emma's first word was the name of her neighbour's cat and hence, the cat themed first birthday cake was chosen my mom and dad. Honestly, I designed the cat cake with Elizabeth in mind since Emma really has no clue about cake at her young age. I wanted the design to be bright and feminine but not overly precious and girly. An orange cat was appropriate because Emma is currently a red head, with beautiful silky hair. Admittedly, I am somewhat jealous of babies with thick long locks of hair because poor B has a sparse head of oddly distributed hair, with a short fine spiky top and pseudo-mullet in the back. It is merely a pseudo-mullet because the longer hair only occurs laterally by the back of her ears and not across the nape of her neck!
 

I could not resist adding ladybugs to the cake because who doesn't like ladybugs? Inside, chocolate cake and 64% dark chocolate mousse were enjoyed by all. In fact, high praise was given by big sister Elizabeth who concluded that "Charmaine is a good maker of cake". I am humbled by your kind words, Elizabeth. Happy Birthday Emma!

Distraction

The rain has finally eased off today, giving the cherry blossoms a chance to dry off and to maximize their beauty against blue skies. Life is still regularly irregular with baby B demanding all my attention and spare time. Yet, I recognize the need to make time for myself too and so today is the very first day I have hired a nanny to take B for the afternoon. I'm not sure who is more traumatized, me or B.

To distract myself, I am writing this overdue post about a hamster, a cat, and a puppy with floppy ears. These pets were specifically requested by Simone to decorate her birthday cake back in March. You may remember her previous birthday cakes, including this one. Her mom was aware of my time restrictions and so decided to order the actual cake from somewhere else. I like my fondant animals to be nice and fat, just like the plump ox, monkey and rat from the Chinese zodiac I made several years ago.

B's first birthday is fast approaching too and I have no idea what to do regarding the cake.  Do I go all out and create the most elaborate and spectactular cake just because I can?  Or do I make something simple but memorable?  I haven't decided yet.  Eventually, B will just tell me what type of cake she wants but for her first birthday, this may be the only occasion that I have carte blanche.  Recently, I have been feeling that it is all happening too fast, from the crawling and cruising to the emergence of her personality (seemingly strong-willed and defiant like me!).  Soon, she will be weaned, walking, and chasing after the cat.  Luckily, Simba is still nimble and not as overweight as this fondant cat, so she can hopefully escape B's clutches. 

Motherhood

Motherhood has proven to be a roller coaster of enormous proportions for me. The highs are so high and the lows are sooooo low. As the days and months go by, the challenges have begun to ease slightly but are usually replaced quickly by another test of patience and sanity. It does not help that I find it hard to let go of my control freak ways and OCD tendencies. These qualities have always been the roots of my success but are now hindrances as the parent of a happy but tempermental 9 month old.

Luckily, I had the opportunity to let my creative juices flow lately, despite limited baby-free time. My obstetrician requested a cake for several obstetricians who were retiring this year from BC Women's Hospital and how could I say "no" to the man that delivered my child??? And since I am currently still in a post-partum state of mind, this cake and its subject matter were quite apropos. He wanted the design to be similar to Dr. Seal's retirement cake but with an obstetrical twist. Secretly, I was hoping for something silly like a giant uterus but he had something classier in mind!

And so, I decided to frame a sculpture of a stylized mother and child, with surgical tools sewing up the background, which was metaphorical uterine smooth muscle. It is hard to see in the photos, but texture was added to the rusty red background to emulate spindle shaped smooth muscle cells. Leftover fondant was used to make the figure by folding a thick layer of fondant and later painting it in edible copper dust. The cake measured 10" x 15" x 4" and featured pistachio, black currant and vanilla flavours, identical to Margaret's birthday cake. Considering that I have not lifted a spatula for months, I was very pleased with the final outcome, both from a design perspective and an organizational perspective because finding the time to construct it was the biggest challenge of all!

Crowning glory

I have only 45 minutes to complete this blog post as my life is now measured in brief spans of uninterrupted time. B is supposed to be down for her second nap of the day and will only give me 45 minutes on a typical day. That is how I made Cade's birthday cake, in many micro-stages of work scattered over two weeks. First I made the crown and then the fondant covered Rice Krispie head and torso. Eventually, all decorative parts were made and only the actual cake was left to finish.

The design was chosen by mom, based on the beautiful cakes by Betty's Sugar Dreams. Cade must have liked the first cake he tasted in utero because I made mom's baby shower cake too! The 10" round chocolate cake was layered with strawberry mousseline and fresh strawberries. My favourite detail has to be the gold crown. I usually pipe my own lettering but my new habit post-partum is to shop online so I bought the FMM Funky Alphabet Tappits that I have wanted for a while. Happy 1st Birthday Cade!

The bun in my oven

I've missed you. But I have a good reason why this blog has been dormant since December.

A little bun was in my oven and the oven decided to start overheating at 19 weeks, you could say. And so, I was off my feet since January, out of the kitchen entirely to avoid strenuous activity as well as any adverse odours which aggravated my morning (& afternoon & night) sickness. Although frustrating to be on bedrest for so long, it was ultimately worth it to avoid having my little bun be half-baked.

My creative pursuits are temporarily on hiatus as I figure out this new creature in my life and cope with sleep deprivation which accompanies such mysterious beings. Hopefully, in the weeks and months to come, our lives will develop a new normal which includes diapers, playtime, sleeping, and artistic endeavours in my food, photography, and writing.

Expectations

When it comes to cake design, there are some situations which give me more stress than others. The perfect cake request for me is from someone who knows me well, gives me specific thematic elements as inspiration, and then trusts me completely in the ultimate creative process. Of course, this does not always happen but when it does, it yields my best work and is the most enjoyable experience, often filled with hours of brainstorming and research prior to cracking an egg or rolling out fondant.

Another similar lower-stress scenario is the opposite situation, when someone asks me to reproduce an existing design. I do not get the same creative satisfaction but there is some degree of challenge in the exact replication of a cake. The obsessive-compulsive part of me even tries to make my version of the cake better, tweaking a little here and there, trying to make it cleaner or more refined.

Such was the case with this baby shower cake, based on this cake by Pink Cake Box. The mom-to-be knew almost exactly what she wanted and besides some minor changes like the addition of ducks and making the pregnant lady Asian, this cake was virtually identical to the original. The pregnant lady was quite challenging to make since I am no dressmaker and rarely make humans. Have you noticed this is the first human I have ever featured on a cake?

So chic

There is something about a cake with a door on it that is particularly inviting, I think. This precious pink creation was commissioned by my Haligonian friend Winnifred as a baby shower gift for her brother and sister-in-law. The yummy mummy-to-be is a fervent pastry enthusiast and Winnifred had seen this silly old blog post of a greeting card which served as the inspiration for this little cake.


By little, I mean that this cake was only 5 inches in diameter and 4 inches high, meaning that all the details in each of the three scenes were tiny, the perfect challenge for an ex-ophthalmologist. At one point, I considered wearing my old pair of surgical loupes for more magnification. The chic mommy strolling along with pink pumps and matching purse was the most satisfying to make, especially because she was a mere 2 inches tall, excluding her hat.

Next, the inset window showcased four petits gateaux with rows and rows of macarons in the background. This scene, plus having a co-worker just return from vacation in Europe, has made me think it is time to return to Paris for some major rejuvenation. Meanwhile, the actual cake was chocolate cake and chocolate mousseline with a crunchy hazelnut feuilletine layer.


In addition to the gift of cake, Winnifred wanted to provide party favours for all the shower guests in the form of pink, brown, and tan macarons, packaged in sacs of three, filled with dark chocolate raspberry, milk chocolate hazelnut, and gingerbread spiced ganaches, respectively. Eighteen dozen macarons later, I decided that I really need a bigger kitchen, bigger oven, and bigger refrigerator. This was especially because there was a third part to Winnifred's order, which I will write about in my next post...

Just ducky

With all the wind and the rain in Vancouver lately, I feel a bit like a duck. These decorations for a baby shower cake certainly brought some colour into my kitchen this week! Because the mom-to-be does not know whether it's a girl or a boy, a bright cheerful crayon colour palette was chosen.


In fact, rubber ducks were not in my initial design plan but having some leftover yellow fondant from the Princess' gown, they were a natural addition to the gender-neutral baby paraphernalia. The bottle and pacifier were also very cute.

The actual cake went to a shower full of dental care providers so I hope that their sweet teeths were satisfied! Congratulations!

Learning Hebrew

This week, in between Christmas parties, wrist exercises, and skating with Vancouver 2010 Olympic mascots, I managed to complete a colourful baby block themed cake for Bailey Rose, the newest addition to my friends Erik and Paige's family. You may recall that big sister Maya just recently celebrated a birthday too.


The cake was for the traditional Jewish naming ceremony which meant that in addition to her secular name Bailey, her Hebrew name was to be included on the baby blocks. Luckily, I was given a brief gentile Kindergarten level introduction to the Hebrew alphabet, learning that words in Hebrew are written from right to left. Because Bailey's Hebrew name actually only has five letters instead of six, a yellow heart was inserted and is not a Hebrew letter!


Each block was a 4 inch cube composed of chocolate cake and either vanilla mousseline or mocha mousseline. I was debating whether to cover each cube with rolled fondant or to make pastillage tiles and decided on the latter because I wanted to achieve a more solid appearance and the drying time needed for pastillage before assembly was actually advantageous for my work flow. Each tile was caulked together using royal icing and was so effective that during the cake cutting, most blocks remained intact after being lifted off the cake cube.


It was a big bustling party, centered around a beautiful Jewish tradition where the newborn is passed from the oldest generations through to the parents and the derivation of Bailey Rose's name was explained. For me, it was an opportunity to test my self-confidence amid a houseful of friendly strangers who perhaps knew of my previous life in ophthalmology. Confirmation of my unusual career switch was akin to revealing an urban legend to be actually true, "that doctor who became a pastry chef".


The cake was very well received (especially my excellent Hebrew letters) and one nice man even joked that he liked my cake so much he wanted to convert me to Judaism! Unfortunately, eight years of Sunday School and an unshakable love of Chinese BBQ pork would prevent this from happening. Although, I was most impressed by the massive 3 feet long challah which was so soft and delicious and perfectly braided. Mazel tov מזל טוב‎ !!