Love is in the Air

Ahh yes... Love.
Valentine's Day recently passed, celebrating our love for our significant others.
Easter is on its way, celebrating the love of God so great and unimaginably full of grace.
And then, to those in any industry involving flowers, sweet treats and planning, wedding season begins.

I love weddings. I didn't have a wedding.
Those two statement tend to look quite funny standing side by side. One would assume if you love weddings, you would have a wedding, and put all your heart and soul into it and it would be the 'most amazing day of your entire life'. I love weddings-- but my husband doesn't (he also doesn't like engagements, or really anything traditional) so we compromised. The deal was as follows:
1 - He had to propose.
2 - Then we could sign the marriage license papers anytime, anywhere. This was risky on my end because the example he most often gave when alluding to it's romantic spontaneity was signing papers in a butcher shop... not really the thought I had in mind...
3 - At a later date we would have a party with family and friends to celebrate the marriage.

This worked wonderfully for us, and while I love weddings and everything to do with them, I have not once regretted the decision we made to skip out... And really, having the party later on (which we did as a masquerade theme) gave me all the 'wedding' type fun I wanted!

What makes one love weddings?
I love Love. I love how weddings are an expression of each person as an individual, as well as their lives as one unified front. The meaning behind the event is even more enchanting than the glitz and glamour showcased to the loving guests throughout the celebration. Let's be honest though, I also do love that glitz and glamour. The flowers, the dresses, the delicious food and sweet treats... pretty colour palettes and signature styling woven into the littlest detail from the guest book, to the name cards, favours and centerpieces... it's all just so lovely. How can one not be completely enthralled with the love put into the smallest of details?

This past summer I had the amazing opportunity to create wedding cakes for two unique and lovely weddings. This was also the first time I have ever made a wedding cake and it was such a great experience! Meeting with excited brides, chatting in cute spaces over delicious drinks about their upcoming celebration made their enthusiasm contagious! Ideas being bounced back and forth, the endless combinations of flavours and styles being discussed and crossed off lists until settling on the perfect compliment to the wedding being planned-- it's wondrous. The sky's the limit, and it's amazing to see what each bride is looking for. With each unique wedding comes a unique palette of preferences, colours and creative freedom, which makes my job so much fun and very rewarding.

The two wedding cakes I created for two lovely brides may look quite similar, but each one was unique to the couple it was created for.

The first cake (being my first wedding cake ever!) was created for a bride whose rustic charm wedding was full of handmade touches, vintage books, paper hearts, and a down-to-earth feeling of warmth and love. This two tier cake started with an incredible chocolate base-- it's actually the same recipe I use for cupcakes and is my amazing go to recipe! The layers of cake were filled with espresso cream cheese frosting and homemade salted caramel! Since making cupcakes with this flavour combination over 6 years ago, it has become one my signature flavour offerings. Covered in a simple vanilla butter cream and laced with fresh eucalyptus greens, the romantic garden roses were added at the venue from the garden of a relative of the bride. One of my favourite parts of this cake was the burlap used to hide the cake board. It created such a cohesive look to the entire wedding.

Next up was a cake for an elegant black and white theme wedding. This wedding was show stopping-- all guests dressed like they were heading to the Oscars, chandeliers above the dance floor, it was truly immaculate. This cake had a flavour combination that spoke to my soul-- the cake had a chocolate base and was filled with marshmallow flavoured butter cream AND homemade marshmallow fluff! Chocolate and marshmallow together is an amazing marriage of flavours. The live floral accents were added at the venue and were of the brides flower choices complimented throughout her other floral touches.

The second wedding also included a dessert bar of 200 mini cupcakes and 100 cookie sandwiches! All of these tied in with the black and white theme-- the cookie sandwiches were filled with vanilla butter cream, black chocolate drizzle and cookies & cream sprinkles on top. The mini cupcakes were a variety of flavours including chocolate Oreo, chocolate Nutella, vanilla mixed berry, and vanilla cookie dough.

There are really no words to describe the honour I felt being asked to create a delicious detail of these two weddings. Just being part of something so special is truly a gift, and allows me to express my love of weddings to those who appreciate it-- the excited individuals coming together in the name of love for the rest of their lives. Here's to more weddings in the future, and more delicious details to celebrate exciting milestones in the lives of those we love.

Do you love weddings? What is your favourite part?

Chase Your White Rabbit

We all have interests. Things we find enough worth in spending our time doing that they acquire the title of something we are ‘interested’ in. Interests are a little…well… interesting, when you really take the time to think about them (which I obviously have, hence, this post!). I’ve discovered, from the time you become interested in something, it can go a couple of different ways…

1) You can find it interesting—but not interesting enough that you want to pursue it further. It’s a fleeting interest which will soon be replaced by something else on Pinterest, Facebook, or Instagram.

2) You take action! You explore this interest further, actually investing some time into research.

If you find yourself in the second point, it can then go two different ways…

1) You find it’s not actually as interesting as you originally thought. 

2) (And this is where it gets good) You find yourself genuinely captivated by your interest… You venture down the rabbit hole of continued intrigue set before you and you end up with a hobby and perhaps, even a new passion. 

Lately I found myself as Alice with my head poking down the rabbit hole into a wonderland of Food Styling.

Instagram post from 2 years ago!

It’s been a natural progression—so much so that I didn’t really realize it was a real thing to be interested in until a teacher mentioned it to me. As someone who has enjoyed the art of baking for a number of years now, I have documented the various baked goods I’ve made and posted a good handful onto Instagram for my friends to see. Generally unintentionally posted as a teaser of what my friends would soon get to tantalize their taste buds with, these images allowed me to follow through with the creative energy that was already flowing through the baking process. It was fun to use whatever I could find at home to try to take a fun picture—from wooden stumps to jars, and anything laying around the apartment.

As I moved into professional baking I found myself following bakers and bakeries more closely on social media. I became captivated by how gorgeously a baked good can be presented. Showing a beautifully hand crafted baked good was one thing, showcasing a baked good with perfect lighting and interesting composition with raw ingredients and tools included as supporting actors in the shot made an incredible difference in how enticing the item became. Seeing these images literally captivated me—I could look at them for hours. I began exploring with these same techniques. I had to take pictures for my employers Instagram feed which provided me the perfect opportunity to play around with literally every tool needed at my fingertips.

More recent food styling from Christmas 2014! Mmmm
Egg Nog Donuts *drool*

During the explanation of an assignment at school one day, a teacher said the words ‘food styling’ and it all just clicked. That’s what I have been so intrigued with the past few months! This is the topic I can now type into Pinterest to then spend hours upon hours staring at the images, all while being fully engaged by what is being presented!

I had to complete a project in school where we reached out to someone in the industry, preferably in a specific job we would like to see ourselves in one day or something that intrigues us, and ask them a few questions about their job as well as what they look for in an apprentice and what professionalism means to them. I realized this was my opportunity to learn more about food styling from someone who actually does it! I began to research stylists and found that most of the people I found whose images really spoke to me were of those who were actual chefs in their past. They were the folks creating food for so long and documenting it, that the transition to becoming a stylist was a natural progression.

Even though those I emailed said they would get back to me, and never did, it was still an amazing opportunity to research and gain knowledge on this little piece of the industry I had uncovered. There are food styling workshops you can attend, food styling books, online courses and more.

Recent shot from this week!
Putting the book to use at a shoot you'll see more of soon!
See some sneak peaks on Instagram!

Ar Christmas, my Secret Santa at my previous place of employment was someone I worked closely with. She saw my interest develop and got me a book called Plate to Pixel: Digital Food Photography and Styling. I just had a week off where I committed myself to reading the book and implementing the techniques with the foods I love to create—cakes and cupcakes!

It’s so wonderful to find encouragement and learning opportunities—these opportunities become more evident the more you explore your passions and allow others to come along on the journey with you. Exploring this book more depth will only guide me to other paths to journey along. They will lead me to new teachers to share ideas and learn from, new worlds, and hopefully a helpful array of Cheshire cats to keep me in line and inspire me while I chase this new interest across Wonderland. Who knows, when I find myself peaking up into reality I could take this new interest and apply it in ways I never before thought I could!

I challenge you to allow yourself to get pulled away by an interest to see where it takes you! Baking used to be a random hobby and now it’s my career. Anything can happen and it can lead you to unimaginable places. Be Alice. Chase your White Rabbit. Explore Wonderland. You can do it. It will be worth it. 

Pinterest-- always good for finding any image ever.

Would You Like Some Birthday Cake?

What is more appropriate for a birthday than cake?

Classic yet inspired, designed yet delicious, trendy yet rustic—Oh how I enjoy cake and the many varieties I can find!

I’ve decided my little slice of the blogging world should really begin documenting the baking adventures I embark on.  This conclusion was reached after I considered my current pursuit of a career as a pastry chef and the world-changing dreams that come along with the new title.  Like I tend to frequently say, it’s best to use your passions to change the world and that is what I intend to do!

The journey to accomplishing every dream starts with a step. My first step was to acquire employment in a bakery. Being an individual whose only experience baking were moments in the welcoming kitchens of friends and family, I was a little hesitant on my ‘hire-ability’ in this new field. To amp up my resume I planned to hand in to prospects in our new city of Hamilton I decided to add in a portfolio.  What better way to show ‘hey, I might not have professionally learned anything, but I enjoy doing this a lot and sometimes things look nice and sometimes other people really enjoy eating the creations!’ With the decision of a portfolio underway I dug up a Pin on Pinterest regarding a potential baked goods photo shoot idea the lovely and incredible talented Lani Elias and I said we would do together. She was in and we were both excited.

During a weekend cabin getaway with my wonderful husband, Lani and her husband, and another couple inspiration in the form of wine, Baileys, Pinterest and our own personal tastes combined to a rough sketch on how we wanted the shoot to look! The only thing we needed, aside from the goodies to be shot, was a table scape worthy of Pinterest itself! Enter the marvelous Meg from Bloom. Such a lovely gem to work with who believed in the vision for the shoot and brought her own amazing creative flair—ripping full, lush heads of perfect peonies off just so we could scatter the petals! Heartbreaking for anyone who appreciates the rich look of the incredible flowers.

Since the date of this shoot my fellow collaborators and myself have been truly blessed to see where this shoot has gone. First off, the portfolio came together in free time over the summer spent in Dominican Republic and landed me a position as a pastry chef in the bakery I had my eyes (and heart) set on. Next came an instant moment of joy when the shoot was featured on Best Friends For Frosting! It was surreal to see something I was personally invested in be featured on a site where so many people visit and appreciate the time and heart that go into creating such a spread. Even Pottery Barn pinned a picture from the shoot!!!!

It’s truly amazing to see how one basic idea turned from a simple spark to a dazzling firework. And while to some this accomplishment may seem small, I believe the simplest accomplishments are worth celebrating and every moment to count a blessing is a step towards living life the way we are intended to—thankful, gracious, spreading love and extending our blessings with all those along our path. So today, on my 26^th Birthday, instead of a “life so far” post, I figured it’s best to look forward and share with you some dreams over cake.

Images by Lani Elias Fine Art Photography

Florals by Bloom Petals and Gifts

Edibles by myself