Hello again

Like many women my age, I grew up with Hello Kitty. Somewhere in a drawer or on a shelf in my parents' house, a large collection of stickers, pencil cases, erasers, and note pads, is hiding out, waiting to see daylight again. They are all unmarked, unused, and unpeeled, making me wonder today whether their pristine nature is more a sign of childhood restraint or of deference.

It doesn't matter. Although Hello Kitty now belongs to a whole new generation where she can be a blinged out, luxury brand, pop culture icon in her own right, it is nice to know that to a four year old girl like Simone, she is still just Hello Kitty, that wide-eyed, big headed, cute but mute (no mouth?) cat that is every bow-loving girly girl's cartoon dream.


Fondant Hello Kitty adorns a 9" round chocolate cake with layers of chocolate and raspberry mousse, glazed with a shiny chocolate glaze. She is surrounded by colourful fondant daisies and was easily removed before cutting and serving because no one wants to dismember Hello Kitty and eat her left paw. Meanwhile, here is a photo of the real Hello Kitty who keeps me company...

Humming along

If you are Canadian and enjoy listening to Bach, then you know who Glenn Gould is. My first encounter with Glenn Gould was watching him on TV as a child and wondering why that strange man was so close to the piano keys and why he was humming so loudly as he played. As my musical education continued, I realized that Mr. Gould was so good he could do whatever he wanted, unlike me, who would never excel at playing Bach no matter how loud I hummed (I'm more of a Debussy person anyways).


Originally, Patricia asked me to combine Chris' two major likes, Glenn Gould and NFL football into a birthday cake which caused me to scratch my head repeatedly in artistic bewilderment for several weeks. Luckily, his Minnesota Vikings were defeated and that allowed me to concentrate solely on Mr. Gould. Using books as the main structural elements of cake allowed for easy construction which gave me more time to focus on the decorative elements which showcased the piano virtuoso and his most famous recording, the Goldberg Variations. The cake flavours were identical to their wedding cake, vanilla cake, lemon curd, and white chocolate lemon mousseline.

Two thin sheets of gumpaste were dried out for a week, one flat and the other curved like an overturned page. Using my calligraphy tools and edible colouring mixed with vodka as ink, the first 16 bars of the Aria from the Goldberg Variations were carefully inscribed. The last two bars were a little squishy but otherwise, the sheet music was quite beautiful to look at. Glenn Gould's portrait was reproduced from an original work by artist Drew Hewitt using a brush and edible colour marker.


Personally, I love working with dried gumpaste as a medium because it allows me to finish major components ahead of time with very little assembly needed on the day of delivery. Plus, these elements can be easily removed before cutting and serving the cake, which means it never has to be eaten and potentially, it could be kept intact for years. Undoubtedly, buying an edible ink printing system would be the less labourious choice, but what would be the fun in that?!

Go Canada!

The world has come to Vancouver and I am proud to say that I have Olympic fever. I have been febrile since receiving my tickets to three events in the mail back in December! Despite the ups and downs of life which has curtailed my blogging spirit lately, the Vancouver 2010 Games have boosted my creative juices, producing a chocolate Mukmuk constructed from mostly chocolate and some chocolate modeling paste. For those uninitiated to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic mascots, Mukmuk is technically an Olympic "sidekick", who is an endangered Vancouver Island marmot. Because Mukmuk is Eric's favourite, this chocolate version was his Valentine's Day gift! I doubt Mukmuk will be eaten any time soon. Don't you love his chest hair?

Yesterday, we waited over three hours in line to touch the Olympic medals (while wearing special gloves) and as I write this, thank God, the Canadian Men's Hockey team finally beat Switzerland in a shoot-out! Go Canada go!!!

Project gingerbread

I finally got my Christmas act together over the past few days and decided to do gingerbread three ways. It seemed appropriate since there was an ancient carton of molasses hiding in my pantry that was begging to be used. Lacking an actual gingerbread man cookie cutter, I instead decided to use my alphabet cutters to spread some edible peace and joy.

Then, in reaction to my recent Costco macaron encounter, chocolate gingerbread macarons were created. I wanted them to taste identical to gingerbread but with the exact opposite texture, soft and rich. This was achieved by halving the amount of cocoa powder I usually use in my chocolate macaron recipe and adding powdered ginger, cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg along with a sprinkle of gingerbread crumbs. For extra punch, the ganache included molasses and the same four spices.

Having leftover yolks and cream always makes me think of ice cream, even in winter, and so gingerbread-spiced caramel ice cream was born. Although the ice cream is just for us to enjoy, the rest will be given away to the usual suspects. You know who you are. Have a happy and healthy holiday season everyone!

Good or bad?

My absence is reflective of my recent bout of the blahs, an uninspired gray cloud which has hovered over me, resulting in stagnation. Usually at this time of year, I am already deep in my personal Christmas production and worrying about how to package bon bons and such. This year, however, I have been dragging my feet and making excuses, reluctant to even acknowledge that Christmas is just 9 days away.

But hopefully, the page has turned. Receiving a lovely gift of J. P. Hevin macarons, direct from Hong Kong, has rekindled some spirit. Admittedly, the time and distance travelled took some toll on their delicate dispositions. Yet, their mere presence was uplifting to my morale which has been weighed down by the mundanity and irritations of my current station in life.

The irony is that I went to Costco on the day after receiving these lovely macarons and discovered boxes of frozen Parisian macarons for sale. They were nestled beside the frozen petits-fours and hors d'oeuvres. I was so tempted to spend the $4.97 to purchase and try the 32 macarons (vanilla, coffee, and pistachio) out of sheer curiosity but refrained. Thus I have absolutely no opinion about their quality.


Honestly, my first reaction was born from shades of food snobbery that I try to avoid. But after more thought, I realized that Costco was smart to provide relatively inaccessible but desirable high-end items to the average consumer. This has prompted me to get my Christmas act together and erase any dreary thoughts dancing in my head. If Costco can provide macarons, then I am obligated to produce something 100x better. I am lucky to know how to make a decent macaron and it is a privilege to make delicious things that people enjoy, whether they know the difference between a baked good and a baked bad.

Mixed media

The endless rain has started in Vancouver, and while I do love cozy days listening to the pitter-patter, walking to and from the bus stop is somewhat soggier than usual with wet autumn leaves still lining the streets. I tend to hibernate during the cold months but when asked to create a wine bottle themed birthday cake this week, the artistic challenge was quite invigorating!

I had a bit of déjà vu because this cake was for another 60 year old who lives far away, just like the Tree cake. In order to make life easier, the more elements which I can create ahead of time, the better and so, the fondant grapes, gumpaste wine label and bottle cap, white chocolate scrolls, and faux-wood chocolate box panels were all done in advance.


The most rewarding but time-consuming element was undoubtedly, the wine label. Having recently attended a Compressed Italics calligraphy workshop by Martin Jackson (who I secretly wish I could be), I was eager to practice this hand and experiment with my calligraphic tools on dried gumpaste. Using Wilton colour paste mixed with vodka for ink, my Speedball C2 nib flowed quite nicely whereas the pointed nib was more tricky since it tended to scrape into the gumpaste and get clogged.

The cake itself was built from a 10 x 15 x 3 inch slab of chocolate cake layered with whipped dark chocolate raspberry ganache. This was divided into the 6 x 15 x 3 inch box and the remaining section was carved into the life-sized wine bottle which was covered with black rolled fondant and stacked on top of the box. I never think of myself as particularly skilled at doing highly realistic cakes but this was quite a lovely outcome!

The final frontier

My niece Caitlin turned five recently and initially requested a Space Invaders themed birthday cake. After contemplating how time consuming the production of an army of alien invaders would be, I asked if there was anything else she might want. Luckily, she currently loves the Solar System and this planet-filled birthday cake was born.


Showcasing all eight planets meant that much surface area was needed. A 10" x 15" x 2" slab of chocolate cake, dark chocolate ganache, and raspberry mousseline was assembled and glazed with a shiny chocolate glaze in order to resemble the deepest darkest depths of the universe.

Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars were simply little balls of fondant, whereas Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune were Rice Krispie domes covered in fondant and later airbrushed. I did try hard to maintain the relative scale of each planet in terms of size and distance from the sun but alas, some creative license was taken.

Feeling sorry for poor Pluto's recent demotion, I decided to include Pluto by hiding it on the side of the cake near the bottom edge. Can you see that little grayish blob in the above photo? Happy Birthday Caitlin!