You know the expression "how the sausage gets made"? Well, "how the cake gets made" is a much more pleasant story and that's the one I'm sharing today. A few weeks ago I got an email from one of my repeat customers. She was turning 30 and was supposed to be celebrating in the South of France but because of COVID (boooo) she was still in St. Pete and ready to drown her sorrows in some cake. She wanted a cake that was inspired by the dreamy French location and sent me a picture for reference. Amazing, right? And to make this assignment even better, she finished with the following: "I'm creatively open to anything (all your cakes are *always*...
It was 5:30 am on Sunday morning and I was in the bathroom, sitting on the floor crying. Not my brightest moment, I must admit, but I want to share it with you anyway because I think we can all learn something from it. What Happened That Sunday I was scheduled to have a pop up event at a local coffee shop. People had been preordering their treats all week and they were especially excited about the vegan donuts I had been advertising. It took me years to figure out how to make vegan donuts that tasted just like the real deal and I couldn’t wait to share them with my customers. I made donuts all week long as practice....
So Folklore might just be playing on repeat in my headphones as I type this. Actually, scratch the "might". It totally is. And because I'm a baker of course my first reaction to watching the Cardigan video was "I want to make a cake inspired by this!" And then I did. After a serious back and forth text with my friends who are die hard Swifties, we settled on the flavor: cinnamon cake with a salted caramel filling and whiskey buttercream to represent both the lyrics and the fall feel of the whole album. Then the decoration was fun to figure out too. The caramel waterfall on the side was inspired by the scene in Cardigan where the water is...
“That’s it. I’m done.” That’s what I said on March 18, 2011 as I watched the image of a cow being forced to slaughter — afraid, unwilling, desperate for help that wasn’t coming. I was watching the documentary Food Inc. and that was the moment I decided to go vegan. One tiny problem: I was the biggest meat eater I knew. I’m talking Ron Swanson levels of meat love here. Brazilian steakhouses, you know, the places where they bring you an assortment of meats on a stick over and over until you say stop, were my jam! I ate meat and dairy for every single meal and now I was planning on quitting, for the lack of a better expression,...
What's your favorite cooking or baking show? I am one of the millions who’s become fascinated with — even deeply emotionally invested in — the Great British Baking Show. I cringe when someone gets a soggy bottom on their bake and I cheer when someone breaks into tears as they’re awarded the star baker title. The only thing I don’t love about the show is that I can’t bake any of it. The Vegan Challenge As a vegan, all of the recipes include ingredients I can’t use like eggs, butter, and milk — and that’s not to mention the occasional savory game and meat pies. When the 10th season of the show started, I decided to change that. As the...
