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Chocolate Profiterole Tower – A Non-Traditional Wedding Cake

by on August 15, 2011 in Blog, Musings, Weddings

A crisp, golden pastry shell gives way to vanilla-rich Napoleon cream as your teeth sink into a cream puff or choux a  la creme.

Covering the whole obsession is a shiny chocolate brown glaze called, ganache. Ganache is a happy combination of boiled whip cream and chopped chocolate, my favorite being Callebaut Belgian chocolate, stirred into glossy perfection.

My clients, Lisa and Paul, wanted a non-traditional wedding cake so I suggested a croque-em-bouche or “crunch in the mouth”.

The croque-em-bouche is a confectionery centerpiece  made up of cream puffs pieced together with cooked sugar spun into golden threads. In France, croque-em-bouche is a traditional cake made for wedding celebrations but not so traditional here in Canada. I encouraged Lisa and Paul that the tower would look and taste excellent with a glossy ganache finish instead of sugar.

Lisa and Paul loved the idea!

Once Lisa and Paul had the first bite guest were then able to help themselves by pulling the cream puffs off the tower one by one. With a choice of vanilla cream or Belgian chocolate mousse guests were eager to go back for seconds.

What will you choose for your non-traditional wedding cake?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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20th Wedding Anniversary Dessert Party

by on August 10, 2011 in Blog, Musings, Videos, Weddings

Russ and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary last week. Yay!

We decided to commemorate the occasion with a dessert and champagne party with some friends.

Guests were greeted with Spanish cava reserve, Russ and I made a toast and then we all headed to the dessert buffet for a delectable feast of chocolate, seasonal berries, pastry and cake.

To view the video click here

 

 

 

 

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Falling Leaves Wedding Cake

by on September 23, 2010 in Blog, Musings, Weddings

It was an ideal day really. With the rain, the full moon and the fall equinox convening all at once there was definite vibe in the air.

A drizzly rain soaked the car windshield as I drove up the coast to deliver the first wedding cake of the fall season.

Maple leaves tumbled from the trees on a gusty wind reminding me of the wedding cake I decorated that morning. I had captured the essence of the day in a cake.

The cake was three tiers stacked in a turning offset pattern. Red and gold maple leaves cascaded down on side accented with brown vines. The vibrant colours of the leaves and vines popped on the white background.

Streaks of sunshine found their way through the clouds as I made my way further up the coast enhancing the taste of the day.

The wind had really picked up when I arrived at the venue but it was warm and inviting inside the restaurant with a filtered light coming in through the windows.

The groom and his wedding planner lingered while I set the cake in the corner behind the head table.  They wandered over for a closer look as I waited with baited breath hoping for a positive response.

They loved the cake! The groom said it was just what he and his bride had hoped for. The falling leaves wedding cake fit the autumn day perfectly.

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Blue Hydrangea Wheat-Free Wedding Cake

by on September 10, 2010 in Blog, Musings, Weddings

Working with Alison and Andy was a piece of wheat-free cake! Alison and  Andy where enjoyable, easy going and fun. I started working with the couple back in July 2009. They contacted me through our website from Vancouver.

Their request was simple and the results were fabulous!  Alison wanted a cupcake tower with a combination of chocolate and vanilla cupcakes with reverse icing garnished with small blue sugar paste flowers and a wheat-free chocolate hazelnut ganache cake-topper decorated with fresh blue hydrangeas.

Here’s what Alison and Andy had to say about their wedding cake.

“We just wanted to touch base to say a MASSIVE THANK YOU! for the delicious and beautiful cakes you made us – I fell in love with it the second I saw it!! It was everything I had imagined. The wheat-free cake is the best I have ever tasted and the cupcakes were flying out of there and thoroughly enjoyed by all.”

The interesting thing about making wedding cakes for people who live off the coast is I often don’t get to meet them in person. Our correspondence is via email and phone calls.

Although I don’t know Alison and Andy by sight, I feel a connection to them as I played an integral part in their wedding day celebrations. I get that warm fuzzy feeling inside when I think about it.

It’s nice to know it all when off without a hitch and that I could accommodate Alison’s request for a wheat-free wedding cake topper that she would enjoy and remember forever.

A piece of cake!

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Kimono Cake

by on July 13, 2010 in Blog, Musings, Weddings

I love the natural beauty of Japanese art. Scattered maple leaves on silk, horsehair brush flowing like water over paper, Basho’s description of summer grasses remind me of our intimate relationship with nature.

I was thrilled to hear that a long-time Japanese friend and fellow aikido-ka, Shinobu, was to marry her Canadian boyfriend and live permanently in Canada. It was nine years ago Shinobu walked into our dojo in Vancouver and watched Sensei  throw her students across the mat with a big smile on her face. Shinobu never left. I know, I was drawn in by aikido and the same teacher.

When I make a wedding cake for a couple I like the cake to embody the personality of the couple. I try as much as I can to get to know the couple and their personality. With Shinobu and Kevin I knew that they were an easy going couple living a simple life in Vancouver.  Shortly after I met Shinobu I found out that she was in theatre in Japan and worked as a professional actress.

Despite her simple exterior I knew she had a streak of fun and playfulness to her. I wanted to carry that through to the cake. After seeing the photos of her wedding kimono from the ceremony in Japan I was instantly inspired! I loved the big red obi (sash) wrapped around shimmering silk painted with nature scenes of trees, dahlias and pink blossoms.

It was a three-tier vanilla cake with vanilla butter cream icing finished in white rolled fondant icing. I painted the whole thing in shimmering pearl dust to mimics the silk effect. I added a repeat design in red and turquoise blue to the bottom tier, a big red bow in the middle and topped it with a scattering of blossoms in shades of pink and white.

I was so happy when Kevin told me red was Shinobu’s favorite colour. I was delighted to be a part of a wedding where I made the cake. Watching the bride and groom cut the cake and then helping to serve it to all the guest and our friends was an intimacy I had never experienced before.

I love the way nature brings beauty into our daily lives and inspires relationships between people, art and food.

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Croque em Bouche Wedding Cake

by on June 30, 2010 in Blog, Musings, Weddings

Mark and Brad came to me via my friend and fellow chef Jim Mackie of The Eventful Chef. They wanted something different for their wedding cake. I suggested a French wedding cake favorite, Croque em Bouche.

After a little back and forth they decided it was a go.

It’s not the kind of cake you can make in advance. It has to be assembled and garnished just hours before serving. The Croque em Bouche is a tower of cream puffs held together with hot caramelized sugar and garnished with cooked sugar spun into fine threads that glisten and sparkle in the light.

Brad and Mark’s cake was filled half with vanilla bean pastry cream and half with Belgian chocolate mousse. It was a hit! Brad’s mother called me the next day to say with excitement in her voice that, “The cake was just wonderful and so different! Both the children and adults enjoyed every last morsel.”

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Sexy and Red Hot!

by on June 29, 2010 in Blog, Musings, Weddings

I love this cake! It’s sexy and red hot!

Thank you to my clients Melanie and Mark for their vision and the opportunity to work with them and bring their ideas to life.

Melanie and Mark knew exactly what they wanted their wedding cake to be. A heavenly blend of chocolate ganache and raspberry butter cream filling between fudge-y chocolate cake with M&Ms baked into the batter.

To complete the cake circus roses, peacock feathers and purple privet berries garnish a beautiful coat of striking red fondant with quilting, silver beads and black and purple ribbon.

I love that a wedding cake can reflects a couple’s personality. This one is assertive and bold, sexy and red hot! Just like Melanie and Mark.

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Romance

by on June 17, 2010 in Blog, Musings, Weddings

It was a perfect Saturday afternoon in Roberts Creek. The sun was shining, the water sparkled and the wind rustled in the forest. I was delivering my first wedding cake as The Sweet Chef. It was the start of the Romance Wedding Cake Collection which has become our most popular wedding cake ever.

I was to collect the flowers from the bride’s mother when I arrived to set up the cake. I didn’t know what to expect  except that it was an outdoor wedding and the flowers were from the garden. I had advised picking the flowers the day before and storing them in water over night. It gives the flowers a chance to rest and  get perky.

I was delighted to find a beautiful home on acreage with a well tended and what I would describe as an English country garden complete with arbours, pathways leading to quiet resting places and a small potting shed.

The cake table was topped with tulle and set under a tent off to the side. The flowers were fresh and beautiful. I couldn’t be happier working like this. When all was said and done the cake looked fabulous and fit into the setting just perfect.

Thus was the beginning of our love affair with the Romance Wedding Cake Collection.

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