Liz Shim, owner and head designer of Eat Cake, Be Merry in New York, couldn’t have chose a better name for her custom bake shop. Spotted on Something Old, Something New, these detailed edible works of art immediately caught my attention. Everything from colour, pattern, and texture is fabulous! ……fabulously delicious too, I’m sure.
{images from Eat Cake, Be Merry}
It seems we’ve been craving sweets lately here on our blog with multiple sweet features in the past week. I had to share these instantly because the desserts are absolute works of art. These are featured on a delicious dessert blog by pâtissière expert, Leonor de Sousa Bastos, with photographs by Miguel Coelho. Both are outstanding and talented, and have a lot of inspiration to offer any celebratory dessert menu.
These polka dots look fun and equally delicious, and would go well with a playful theme. Filled with mousse, this cake redefines strawberry cake!
These strawberry ice cream meringues looks so delicious, and remind me of other finger foods I’ve mentioned before. I’d love to see these bite-sized goodnesses at a wedding part :)
And of course every wedding needs a cake. This pomegranate yoghurt slice not only has a beautifully floral appearance, but is light in calories which is always a plus! For more food porn, recipes and ideas for dessert, visit Flagrante Delicia.
{images from Flagrante Delicia}
I had tea with a girlfriend today at a lovely new tea store in Toronto near our place. I was very impressed with the presentation of all the little cakes. I don’t really have a sweet tooth, so mousse is usually my favourite for a light dessert. I had the strawberry champagne today and it was delicious! Can’t wait for an excuse to custom order a cake…
Ruelo Patisserie also makes wedding cakes, warm souffles and all sorts of baked goodness (including baked bread and high tea!) They had many customers come in to order during our stay, it is seems this new store has earned a bit of a reputation in our area :)
{images from Ruelo Patisserie}
Has your sweet tooth crept back in yet? Sweet and Saucy Shop definitely has me tempted.
Melody Brandon, Owner and head Pastry Chef, graduated from the Le Cordon Bleu program at the California School of Culinary Arts. According to her website she started Sweet & Saucy Shop with the desire to create gorgeous, delicious, modern looking desserts. The shop has been featured in The Knot and in Style Me Pretty’s 2009 Little Black Book. Check out all the beautiful treats here.
{images from SweetandSaucyShop.com}
Right in time to welcome 2010, today we have Josephine, (who previously made some wine suggestions) contribute as the first guest writer for our blog. Josephine works at Continental Fine Wines, and has expert knowledge on wines and fine dining. I hope this list of recommendations will inspire menus for holidays and festivities in the new year!
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No occasion is ever truly complete without the accompaniment of liquor. But it’s not only about keeping the booze flowing and your guests happy – as Marie Antoinette would have it in her lavish parties – the type and quality of liquor you choose also reflects the character of the event. Growing up, I always loved reading the taste profiles of wines from my dad’s library, amazed by how their characteristics sounded as complex as people.
{movie stills from Macktronic and All Movie Posters}
So here is my short list of wines to invite to a party, from aperitif sipped in conversation, to richer wines paired with sweets and cake, and some bubblies to throw in for good measure. And because it’s a damn recession, and I’m more of a good value hunter than big spender (I’ll wait until that rich old man comes along…), most of these wines are within the $10-20 USD price range, with a few noted exceptions that I thought were too good to be held back by the price tag.
Sippable whites for… “Are you with the bride or the groom?” questions:
Sippable reds: (I chose pinot noirs because they are light to medium-bodied)
“Let Them Eat Cake!” whites:
In general, I recommend going for Chardonnays because they have a buttery, creamy flavor with notes of apple, melon, and pear both on the nose and on the palate – especially when you let the wine sit. Most people chill their whites – but they overdo it. The aroma and sweet taste in Chardonnays actually grows when the wine warms up and isn’t served so cold.
For citric desserts…e.g. key lime, lemon, raspberry:
For creamy cakes and sweets:
For savory finger foods and appetizers:
Bubblies:
A note: Technically, only sparkling wine produced from Champagne, France can be considered “Champagne.” And they are expensive because they have that AOC (Appellation d’origine contrôlée, which is a French geographic certification granted to wines and cheeses and certain meats to guarantee “authenticity”). Before you reach for that $40-50 bottle of Veuve Clicquot or Dom Perignon, however, you should know that there are plenty of sparkling wines produced elsewhere that taste just as delicious, with a friendlier price tag. And by the way, Veuve is good, but often times it’s the branding that ups the price, not the taste.
Prosecco – Italian sparkling wine – is a great alternative at cheaper price points with the same bright, bubbly taste:
Californian sparkling:
Champagne:
Cheers to 2010!
{photos by Kiddi Kristjáns, Rae Coleman and Mihay from Flickr}
A food lover and dear friend of mine, Josephine, recently recommended some wines to us for the season, as she is quickly becoming an expert. I felt that with the holidays coming up, it would be a good idea to share. The recommendation that appealed to me the most (I’m not really a wine drinker) was the Veuve-Clicquot La Grande Dame 1996 with Emilio Pucci custom-designed silk wine sleeves. The superbly cute jacket incorporates a thermo-compressed foam that keeps the champagne cold for 2 hours without an ice bucket. Pucci’s designs are always bright and feminine, making them very hard to resist.
Another delicious designer food, is this tartan cheesecake by Liz Clairborne creative director, Isaac Mizrahi. It has a Mizrahi-mandated chocolate cookie crust, and the pattern for this holiday is a red luscious plaid pattern. There are other designs in this line of cheesecakes, and I personally look forward to a bright and bold houndstooth pattern :)
If you are a serious fashionista, these food items are must-haves at a stylish and chic engagement party :)
{photos from Business Week, Dying for Chocolate & QVC}
Lulu is a cake boutique located in Scarsdale, New York who pride themselves on creating delicious works of art while incorporating fine, organic ingredients. I can’t get enough of the textured icing! It’s so gorgeous. And there are so many styles to choose from, I found it difficult to pick favourites. Just check out the cake gallery on their web site and see for yourself.
{photos from Lulu Cake Boutique}
Um… can we just take a moment to admire the beauty of this cake created by Duff Goldman and the gang at Charm City Cakes in Baltimore? Um… really, really incredible. The detail is fantastic. It’s just like blue chinaware.
And if you haven’t already, you should try to catch an episode of their reality tv show on the Food Network, Ace of Cakes. Pretty intense what those cake makers have to deal with. You’ll never see pastries the same.
{photo from Charm City Cakes}
Weddings used to be about tradition. There was a certain way to be married. When I saw my parents’ wedding invitations and programs from 1986, I decided that I refuse to marry like everyone else, and my wedding could not be boring. It has to be me.
Many couples realize this now, which is why there are so many themes and exciting ways to customize a wedding so that it is uniquely theirs. I am a bit of a whimsical person, so these cute cake toppers instantly caught my eye.
How adorable are these cake toppers? I love the spherical hand-painted wooden heads. Sarah Neuburger can create custom cake toppers for your wedding, with details to suit your theme, dress, hair and accessories.
{photos from thesmallobject on Etsy}