Santa has come and gone...!

I guess I was trying to do too many things... So I got sick!   Santa came, drunk his milk and ate his cookies... and I spent Christmas in bed with the flu... Looking forward to New Year's now!

Merry Christmas!!!

For all those students who have graduated with those amazing final projects, I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas!  Celebrate in peace in the company of those you love... and have lots of goodies and cake!!!

What is in a Tiramisu?

After trying so many recipes of this famous Italian dessert, I am keeping this recipe.  A lot better done with Ladyfingers instead of cake.  I hope you enjoy it!

Ingredients

8 ounces of mascarpone cheese

1/3 cup of sugar

3 tb of Kahlua

1 ts of vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups of cream

1 pkg of ladyfingers

1 cup of coffee syrup*

1.  With electric mixer, beat together mascarpone cheese and sugar.  Add Kahlua and vanilla extract.

2.  Add cream, and beat until mixture is quite firm

3.  In baking dish, arrange half of the ladyfingers over the bottom.  Sprinkle them with half of the coffee syrup.

4.  Spoon half of the mascarpone mixture over the ladyfingers.

5.  Arrange the rest of the ladyfingers over mascarpone layer.  Sprinkle with remaining coffee syrup.  Spoon remaining mascarpone mixture on top and spread with spatula.

6.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.

7.  Before serving, sift cocoa powder over the top.

Coffee Syrup

3/4 cup of hot water

2 tb instant coffee

3 tb of sugar

1/4 cup of Kahlua

1.  Combine water, coffee, and sugar.  When sugar disolves, stir in the Kahlua.

Honey cake...

Ingredients

1/2 cup of butter

1 cup of sugar

4 eggs

1 cup of honey

1 cup of sour cream

3 cups of flour

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp of salt

1 cup of raisins

1 cup walnuts, chopped

1.  Preheat oven to 325 °F. 

2.  Cream butter and sugar until light.  Add eggs one at a time.

3.  Add honey and sour cream alternately, mixing well.

4.  Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.

5.  Add to batter.

6.  Add raisins and walnuts. 

7.  Pour into 2 loaf pans.

8.  Bake for 1 hour approx.

Good when it's warm, but definitively better the next day!

Gingerbread House Workshop...

Gingerbread houses got very creative last Saturday during our Gingerbread House Workshop at Michaels, West Vancouver.  Awesome rooftops, chimneys, and beautiful trees!  ♥ ♥ ♥

Heritage Gingerbread House!

This amazing Gingerbread House is part of Park Royal's Christmas decorations and it's well worth seeing... A very fine work! 
In case you are feeling like doing your own (on a smaller scale) come to Michaels, West Vancouver.  We are having our Gingerbread House workshop there, and you don't even need to bake!  Come and find out!

Here we go again... Christmas time!!!

December 1st.  Time to start baking.  If you are looking for a good recipe for Gingerbread Cookies, you may click here!  And the recipe for the Sugar Cookies, here!  Both types of cookies can be decorated.  Happy baking!

Hydrangea baby...

This cake and cookies were done during the summer months for a baby shower with a Hydrangea theme.  It was a real pleasure to make.  Edible Hydrangeas were done in buttercream with tip 2D.  I just found these pictures... They bring a summer breeze to this dark rainy day!

A chocolate tree!

A chocolate cake layered with ganache and raspberry, and then covered with chocolate buttercream to create this 3 tier chocolate tree.  A lot of fun to make for a very wise owl!

Remember...

Topsy Turvy with duckies...

I usually like to use buttercream for my cakes, but for a topsy turvy cake, sometimes fondant works quite well...

Red Riding Hood cake...

When people say:  "Do whatever you want... I will leave it up to you!"... It's kind of hard to choose a design... But for this cake, I knew the birthday girl had worn a Red Riding Hood costume for Halloween... So, there it is!  With the bad, bad wolf and everything... Very sweet, indeed!

Incy Wincy Spider...!

This lovely Halloween tall cake was created today in our "Tall Cakes" workshop at Michaels, West Vancouver.  It was a mother and daughter creation full of pure Halloween fun!

Wilton Advanced Gum Paste Flowers!

This past weekend, I was delighted to attend a Wilton Seminar to get ready for the new Wilton Advanced Gumpaste Flower Course.  It is always a privilege to count on these superb instructors to make this seminar one of a kind!  Thank you very much to Eugenia and Susan! 
This new course will start in February 2012!

Once upon a time... Lovestruck!

Every year we are proud of being part of Lovestruck.  This year our theme was Snow White... and everything that tells us about that wonderful fairy tale.  So, I just wanted to share with you some pictures... but there are a lot more to come.  The whole event was beautiful and enjoyable, thanks to the efforts and coordination of Angela Girard who made sure everything was absolutely perfect!

Candied apple...

For years, this has been one of weaknesses... Candied apples... with their jewel tones, and just so perfect!  They come around Halloween, but I had never tried to make one...

This morning I've got this jewel... and other ones not so jewel looking : )  But all very good!  Messy... but good!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I love Thanksgiving day...!  And not just because of the turkey... In fact, I don't like turkey, and I feel sorry about them during these Holidays... But it is really nice to get together with people you love, and have fun, and pumkin pie, and... also, it's a great opportunity to say: "Thanks!"  I want to thank all those students that come to my classes at Michaels, so enthusiastic, and by the end of the courses produce these beautiful confections...
Thank you so much to all of you for allowing me to share with you my love for cake decorating... Happy Thanksgiving!!! ♥ ♥ ♥

Coco forever...

Brock House Restaurant served as the frame for a Coco Chanel inspired wedding.  A very sharp and stunning black and white theme bringing, at the same time, a very relaxed vintage feeling... Remarkable job by wedding planner LeLe Chan...

Fiesta Wedding...

This lovely wedding was inspired by a Fiesta Mejicana... Very colourful and lively at the Burrard Yatch Club.  The weather couldn't have been better.  In summary, a very fine day.  Cupcakes were chocolate with raspberry buttercream.  Don't you love the colours?

After this long weekend...

Kids are back to school...!  Lovely!  Ooops!  I mean, look at this lovely cake... One of the cakes from this past weekend, at the Rosewood Hotel Georgia.  Such a beautiful setting, and there we saw charming LeLe Chan, from Le Soirées, who did an awesome job on the wedding.
Anyhow, now that kids are back to school, I am hoping to have more time to go through all those pictures that accumulated during the summer, and hopefully, too, I will be posting them very soon...  

Yo Ho, Yo Ho...

A pirate's life is for me...!  

Bzzzz, bzzz! Finally here... The fondant bumble bee tutorial!

This is how bumble bees begin... they are born from an egg!  Well, a small amount of yellow fondant in the shape of an egg.  Then, add two thin rings of black fondant...

To finish them, add a smile and paint eyes with a black food marker.  Add white fondant wings.  You can cut out the wings with a small petal cutter.  Attach them with your edible glue.  And that's it... They are ready to bzzz on top of your cupcakes!

Bumble bee ba-bee shower cupcakes...

Sweet as honey...!  I enjoyed so much making these bumble bee cupcakes... that I think I will post a tutorial tomorrow for you to learn how to make them... See you tomorrow!

Life is a roller coaster...!

PNE is here again!  I don't know, but as soon as the PNE is here, I know summer is over... And we didn't even had summer...

Happy birthday, LeLe!!!

Kind of belated birthday, I would say... But happy anyhow!!!

Kakes for Kids this summer...

Great kids!  Awesome Cakes!  I love my job!!!

More damask design...

For Kelly's anniversary cake, we used a black and white damask design... very dramatic... with the black fondant looking very sharp on the white buttercream...

So delicate...!

I have been trying to organize all those pictures of the most recent cakes I have done... I will get there... eventually! It's not easy when it's summer out there with so many things going on...!  But I wanted to share this one with you... It's so delicate... I love it!

My own version of Mr. Sticky...

Just to brighten up this cloudy summer day, I wanted to share with you this chameleon cake.  Mr. Sticky is one of Colette Peters's collection from the book "Cakes to Dream On".

This rainy weekend...

Very busy...!  But in the end, this is what stays with you ... those beautiful images!  The place, Capilano Golf Club, looked enchanting!  A wonderful evening under the care of wedding planner Rebecca Rebecca Reynolds from Reflection Events.

Coming up in the fall...

For all of you who have been asking for more Gum Paste courses... Wilton will be adding a new Course 4, with more Gum Paste flowers... I will keep you informed!  In the meantime, enjoy this Lily from Minter Gardens... Isn't it pretty?  Then, can you imagine to be able to make one like this... and then... eat it?

Rock climbing...

Rock climbing can also be sweet... like on top of a cake with rock candy!

Unicorn and rainbows...

This unicorn was such a pleasure to make... with all these colours... He even had a rainbow on its nose!!!  The idea was a sort of retro cake with tie-dye buttercream... A lot of fun to make!

Sorry...! We were out enjoying the sun...

I guess I got carried away by the beautiful weather we were having... Anyhow... I just wanted to answer some of your questions regarding "Kakes for Kids".  I have received quite a few mails asking me about supplies for this workshop... Well, kids need to bring their own cake (it doesn't need to be big), but they need a cake to decorate.  They will also need some icing (you can buy the icing at Michaels), and some decorating bags and tips (if you have some at home)...
When you register your kids at Michaels, they will give you a supply list.  Kids need to be registered in advance.  If you have any other questions regarding this workshop, please, feel free to email me.

Happy Canada Day!!!

I hope you enjoy your day, the parade and the pancake breakfast, too!!!

A chocolate angel...!

Made out of dark chocolate, this sweet little angel was part of our adventure with chocolate for our photography group Craquelier.  If you like chocolate, make sure you visit the gallery and see all those amazing chocolate photos from all over the world!

Black and white damask...

Don't you love this cake?  A black and white damask pattern with different shades of purple sugar flowers designed for Maria's and Mario's wedding.  I fell in love with the design ♥ ♥ ♥ !!!

Happy Father's Day!

I wish all Dads have an awesome day!!!

Congratulations!!!

You did it!!!

To take away that bitter flavour... from yesterday

He is Kung Fu Panda.  A very nice panda bear, but I hope he goes on a diet soon if he ever wants to be a cake topper again...

Go Canucks Go!

Ahola!

Lilly of the Valley... for sweet dreams!

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of making this Lilly of the Valley cake for my neighbour's birthday.  She had told me this was her favourite flower and that she always keeps some on her night table because of the delicate fragrance.  So, I made this cake for her, and on Monday morning, on my door steps, guess what I found... A beautiful bunch of Lilly of the valley with a wonderful card... They are on my night table now!

Police... on a cake?

Well, yes!  A lego policeman... Jordan wanted a lego policeman cake... and this is it!  Can you believe it?  I still get to play with Lego...

What a day for a daydream...!

What a day for a wedding...!  It couldn't have been better for Diana and Jesse yesterday at the Aberthau Mansion... Everything was beautiful, romantic... A gorgeous day!  Have a happy life, Diana and Jesse!

Clone Wars again...

The costs of war can never be truly accounted for... Don't you love Yoda?  He is so green...

A chocolate basket with red roses...

Remember the basketweave from the Flowers and Cake Design Course?  Well, this one was done with tip #12 and tip #47.  The red roses are gum paste roses... Chocolate leaves with tip #352.  You could change the roses for strawberries or raspberries... Whatever you do... have fun!

Chocolate!!!

I didn't dream about it!  It is true!  Craquelier group's theme for this month is CHOCOLATE...!  So, I need to get ready... I need to go get some good yummy chocolate to start with... So...  See you later!