Do something to remember.

I don't often post much personal information on my business page or blog. I like to keep things mostly sweets related. But today I wanted to share a little of my personal story. I've written and talked about changing careers from the business world into cooking, but I've never really talked about the "why". And today, on the 11th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center, I'm reminded of the "why".

I grew up in central NJ. My dad commuted into "the city"  for work, as did many of my friend's parents. And years later, many of my friends as well. I grew up driving up the turnpike, looking across the river at that skyline, knowing that there is where everything happens. 

I got into work early that day 11 years ago. My first job out of college selling ads for a business magazine. I liked to get in early because receptionists didn't usually get in until 9am, so if I called before then the owner was mostly likely the person picking up the phone. Little tip for anyone out there selling ads right now :) 

As it got closer to 9am, I remember one of the people at the other end of the phone acting strange when I asked to speak with the owner. She just said, "You should probably check the news right now. There's something going on." So I went out into the main office and sure enough the editor had just come out of his office to let everyone know what was going on. Instantly I thought of friends, neighbors, classmates. I was blessed to not have suffered any personal loss that day, but the whole experience changed me. 

I couldn't stop thinking to myself, "How many people died that day going to a job they hate? How many had dreams of doing something else someday, when the time was right? How many perished doing the thing they were always meant to do?" These questions rattled around inside my head until one impulsive day few months later...I quit my job. I started plating desserts at night at the best restaurant that would hire me. The rest is a wild and weird ride to where I am today. 

My intention of sharing this isn't to add to the day's sadness, but to offer a challenge. And please!!! By no means quit your job today! (or at least don't blame me!) 

In honor of those who can't, maybe try something new today. Take a look at that list of "some days" and try one. Or, sit down and make a plan about how you're going to get that "some day" to happen. At the very least, be yourself. 

M is for...

I was just going through photos and realized I never posted my own little guy's birthday cake! It's a giant "M" for Maxwell. It's made of sweet potato cake and vanilla butter cream filling. Sweet potatoes were his favorite first food! I just used my pumpkin cake recipe and substituted sweet potato puree. It was actually pretty tasty, and Max liked it!

Max is perched up on top of the "M" looking down on his favorite toys - his dump truck, stacking rings, bumble bee and purple octopus. Even our little cat Lemon is included, peeking out from behind a yellow ball. She's probably his most favorite, even though he's not hers :)

St. Patty's Day Cupcake Specials!

Seacoast Weddings 2012: Part Deux - COLOR!

Seven teams of vendors collaborated to create a color themed styled shoot for the most recent issue of Seacoast Weddings. I had the honor of creating the sweets for 4 of those teams. Lots of work, but the outcome speaks for itself! Here's a little behind the scenes info on each of the cakes...

Team purple was all about glam! The fantastic team at Pepperberry's Flowers lead the group and provided the initial concepts for us to work from. Touches of bling and feathers accented the rich purple tones. I have these very glam cupcake stands, that totally go with this concept. I liked the idea of doing a small cake and cupcake display that was elegant and not too cutesy. The 6" round cake is covered in a "tufted fondant" technique that gives the illusion of upholstered fabric. It's topped with a white sugar flower and hand cut rice paper "feather". 

The glammed up cupcakes were baked in purple "tulip" cups, wrapped with laser-cut paper lace and topped with edible pearl sprinkles. 

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Team pink's inspiration was driven by all things candy! My kind of theme :)  On a personal note, one of the best things about working on this shoot was the chance to work creatively with my cousin Shelley of Albertine Press. We worked together on the pink, purple and orange teams. Her style is so clean and modern, so it was really fun to watch her apply that style to so many different concepts. She's also mommy to Sadie, the cute little flower girl pictured above! She even snuck my little guy's name in on one of the escort "pops" :)

 With a theme like candy, how could I not do a buffet! The cupcakes were baked off in fun pink wrappers and garnished with various pink lollipop and fondant toppers. Sugar cookie "confetti" filled tiny vintage ice cream parlor cups. 

The cake was actually the first thing I sketched when working on this design. I created a cascade of fondant lollipop swirls in shades of pink. The base is decorated with tiny dots, reminiscent of the paper dot candy we all enjoyed as kids! The cake is sitting on one of my vintage cake carriers that I repurposed as a stand. I just love the graphic on the front, perfect for a wedding!

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Team orange's inspiration was drawn from the shape and texture of orange dahlia's. The place settings, stationery and cake design all reflect the petal-y starburst design. Little did we know at the time that Pantone would declare "Tangerine Tango" the color of the year!

 The starbursts on the sides of the cake were created by molding orange fondant into silicone molds made from real lace. The molded fondant pieces were then brushed with a bit of gold at the tips. Hand-made sugar ranunculus, buds and gold leaves, finish the cake and give it an elegant touch. 

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Making the cake for team yellow was kind of a last minute thing! They were down a baker and needed a cake. I already had my hands full with the other 3 teams I was working on. By chance, the concept Heidi (now of Sweet Leaf Flowers) was working on, just so happened to match up with a display cake I had been working on in the shop separate from the shoot. A few quick changes and voila, a perfect fit! I loved the touches of wheatgrass and galvanized steel. The overall feel was clean, bright, natural and modern.

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Here's the full list of talented vendors from each of the teams:

Purple: Flowers: Donna Fucaloro, Danielle Gallant Maccini, and Courtney Fucaloro/Pepperberry's Flowers, Byfeild, MA; Bridesmaid dresses: Flair of Boston; Stationery: Shelley L. Brandes/Albertine Press, Somerville, MA; Hair: Lena/Hair That Moves; Makeup: Kathy McDonald/Beliza Spa; Photography: Leah Haydock Photography.

Pink: Flowers: Heather Good/Heather Caron Floral Design; Stationery: Shelley L. Barandes/Albertine Press, Somerville, MA; Hair: Lena/Hair That Moves; Makeup: Kathy McDonald/Beliza Spa; Model and Assistant: Brandi Lawrence; Photography: Lindsey Flanagan Photography.

Orange: Florals/Design: New Leaf Flores, Jamaica Plain, MA; Cake: Bridal gowns/bridesmaid dresses: Flair Boston; Stationery: Shelley L. Brandes/Albertine Press, Somerville, MA; Hair: Lena/Hair That Moves; Makeup: Jana Lamas; Bracelet: Stella + Dot; Jewelry/other accessories: Salmagundi, Jamaica Plain, MA; Orange Hat: Anthropologie; Shoes: Zappos.com; Linens and place settings: Bloomingdale's Chestnut Hill; Photography: Kate McElwee Photography

Yellow: Flowers: Heidi Hamblett & Melissa Tetrault/Chalifour's Flowers, Manchester, NH; Stationery: Ana/Anastasia Designs, Portsmouth, NH; Hair: Lena/Hair That Moves; Makeup: Kathy McDonald/Beliza Spa; Model: Lindsey Sheilds; Photography: Chris Smith, CA Smith Photography.

Rivermill at Dover Landing hosted the shoot and the fabulous Kate Parker of Kate Parker Designs helped orchestrate the day!

To Cake Pop or Not To Cake Pop....

Waaaaay back when I first entered this wild & crazy food business, I started my career in fine dining. First plating desserts, then assisting in making basic doughs & batters, then onto plate design and menu planning, and eventually running a whole department of bakers, platers and pastry cooks. It's a bit of a different world than the cake business, but the fundamentals are the same - we make yummy things that people want to eat (hopefully).

Because of this background I sometimes look at things in the cake world a bit differently. 

The cake pop trend is something that I know people love. And I mean, why wouldn't you? It's a single portable serving of cake and frosting, coated in a candy shell. You can sculpt them, shape them, and finish them in lots of different colors & designs. For weddings I totally get why they've become a staple of the sweets buffet. And I'll let you in on a little secret. They started as a way for bakers & pastry chefs to turn cake scraps (or even stale cake) into something profitable. As a restaurant pastry chef I would often take the un-used portion of a whole cake that would have otherwise made it into the trash can, toss the whole thing into the mixer, mash it up and roll that into "cake truffles". 

To make them now, I would have to bake a fresh cake (from scratch like everything we do) and toss it into the mixer just to get mashed up. I've worked hard on my cake recipes. I've tweaked them and refined them so that the moisture levels, density and crumb are just right. And now you want me to squish it all up and roll it into a ball. Hmph.

And let's talk about cost too. Factoring the time to bake, smash, scoop, dip& decorate. Are cake pops really profitable for cake shops? 

I've gotten tons of requests for them and am seriously thinking about putting them into the line up, but what do you think? Should I jump on the cake ball train and just close my eyes every time I toss that perfectly baked cake into the mixer? Or should I stand by the slice?

What do you think?

New display work

Sneak preview of some amazing shots the talented Mark Davidson took of my new display cakes!!! Close-up of a sugar ranunculus and a cascade of sweet ruffles :)

Seacoast Weddings 2012: Part 1

The newest issue of Seacoast Weddings (formerly known as Seacoast Bride) just hit newsstands and WOW! The magazine is looking beautiful and can you believe it, I have 9 cakes (or parts of them) in this issue. Ummm, excuse me???!?!? NINE??!?? I swear I am not related to anyone on staff...Seriously!

Such an overwhelming honor to be featured so many times. So, I wanted to share a little bit more on each of the cakes! This first post I'll focus on the story "Creating In Cake", which starts on page 74.

This first cake is a design that I personally love. I created this for a shoot done by Kate at Beautiful Days. The top part is a croquembouche, which is a tower constructed of cream filled pate choux puffs bound together with caramel and wrapped with spun sugar. Croquembouche is often times served at weddings in France, so using the tower as the cake topper brought together both French and American design. The bottom square cakes are covered in black fondant and wrapped with thin strands of pulled sugar.

On this next page are 2 cakes of mine photographed by Jay Drinker of Drinker Images. The top row, left, is a pretty black, white & pink cake. Very classic design, but a touch whimsical with the black fiddle head detail towards the top. Bottom row, right, is my Marimekko inspired cake. The bright graphic Marimekko blossoms were hand cut out of fondant and applied running up the sides of the cake. I love bright colors, so this one has always been dear to my heart. 

I have to say, Seacoast Weddings did a really great job of picking some of my personal favorite cakes! On this page, bottom right, is a cake that travelled all the way up to the Newagen Seaside Inn this past summer. All of the shells were hand made of gum paste, and tinted with luster dust for a shimmery glow. One of my favorite details was the ruffled bottom tier, which isn't visible in the magazine shot.  

Oh and I spied this little cutie towards the end of the magazine in the "Delightful Details" section. Middle row, far right, is a close up of the topper from one of my cakes this past summer. 

Here's a full shot of Meghan & Chris' cake at The Seacoast Science Center. Meghan provided the topper & orchids. I loved the simplicity of the waves - both modern and fun at the same time! 

Part 2 will be all about the cakes I did for the color themed photo shoots. Sooo many beautiful images to share!