Second Time's the Charm!

A few weeks ago, I made a pretty big mistake, I made an entire engagement cake for the wrong date! Well, it wasn't just some random date mix-up. The event was originally supposed to be on June 2, and that's the date I put down in my calendar. The client then sent me a Facebook message, saying they changed the date to two weeks later. I'm not sure if the message just got lost in the mess of Facebook messages we sent back and forth, or if I simply forgot to change the date... whatever it was, I made the cake, sent her a message saying it was ready for pick up. I then got a message back saying that the cake isn't for another two weeks! I was so embarrassed. And upset! I had just put hours into a cake that wasn't going to be used! 

Not true... I posted a picture of it online, and within a few hours, I had an offer from someone to buy it for his wife's birthday that night. Yay! I wouldn't have to eat two tiers of cake by myself! ;) So I added a flower on top, with a message to his wife, and voila! No one needs to know it was originally for an engagement party... :)

And then, two weeks later, I remade the exact cake... along with those 3 other cake orders from that weekend! 

It all worked out in the end, but it was still a very embarrassing moment. I've learned my lesson. From now on, no more of these back and forth emails and Facebook messages. I've made myself a form that the clients fill out. All the info in one place. No more mix-ups! :D

Mama Bird

It's mother's day! That obviously means I had to come up with something absolutely unique for the mothers in my life. I wanted to combine a few things they love: baklava, almond paste, and chocolate truffles. An interesting mix, I know!

I stared off with the idea of an edible birds nest made of kataifi, a middle eastern phyllo dough used to make baklava. I had seen these nests a few times in and around the interweb, and thought I'd give it a try. It was my first time working with this stuff, and although a little messy, it worked out perfectly fine.

I then filled the nests with white chocolate truffles with an almond centre shaped as the eggs. The birds were made of almond paste, and then a sugar magnolia for prettiness! 

My sister-in-law went out and collected these great branches to put it all together on (Yes, she's great like that!).

A very happy mother's day to all the wonderful moms!