Weddings and thank you's

Here are a couple of my most recent cakes. The first is a wedding cake that I made at school in my decorating class. I made the sketch last semester in my drawing class and had to bring the cake to life last week. It was very simple, but my goal was to make it so, with clean lines and sparse decorations. I was very pleased with the final result, including the look it gave with the columns (it was my first cake using them!). Due to some unfortunate circumstances at school, I was unable to bring it home to share with my family and friends, but at least I snapped a few good pics while I could! Enjoy :)

The product of 6 hours of work!

Also last week, I made a cake for one of my old high school teachers, and the coordinator of Student Council. The kids in Student Council came up with some ideas for the cake and I designed the rest. The cake was pretty big, feeding about 60 people. I received many compliments as I delivered it, and I think some of the teachers were surprised to find out I now study in this field! :)

Various SC committees and events piped in different fonts

SC logo cut out from fondant and outlined in royal icing 

The final product :)

Mo Cupcakes, please!

This year I participated in Movember, a fundraising and awareness campaign for prostate cancer. No, I did not grow a moustache :P Instead, I raised money by soliciting donations and organizing a Mo Cupcake bake sale! As soon as I posted this idea on Facebook, people immediately responded with their orders. It was so popular that I had to stop accepting orders 3 days after I initially posted the event! With a whooping 234 cupcakes ordered, I had A LOT to organize. Timing, ingredient requirements, freezer space, pick-ups, etc. It was manageable but I definitely had to stay organized along the way. Overall, the sale went great! I didn't lose my mind baking for an entire day, nor while making 5 kg of buttercream :) All the cupcake orders were picked up last Sunday, without a hitch. I am proud to announce that I raised a total of $598 from Mo Cupcakes!!! Knowing the positive response I got with this fundraiser, I will definitely use my baking skills to raise money for other charitable causes in the future :)

Here are a few pictures of the process!

I had 7 cupcake carriers FULL of cupcakes! 

A portion of the chaos that was pick-up day 

Dark chocolate cupcakes with chocolate buttercream and fondant moustaches!

As if desserts weren't enough... pre-desserts!

This semester at school is very different in how it's set up as compared to first semester. In first semester, we mostly worked individually, so as to practice our skills and learn to organize ourselves. This semester is quite the contrast; always working in teams, we have more of a business perspective in our baking projects. Our first group presentation was "petits fours", bite-sized desserts that are typically served in assortments for dessert, a fancy luncheon, or a tea. Unfortunately I did not have my camera on the day of the presentation so I will post the pictures as soon as they are sent to me.
[This is where I got the name for my blog obviously :) Translated to Emily's little oven.. I guess it is little when you compare it to industrial sized ovens!]

Our second presentation was "pre-desserts". Yep, literally desserts served before the actual dessert, in order to allow the client to taste a variety of the chef's specialties or seasonal items. Honestly, I've never been to a restaurant that serves pre-desserts. They're usually found in really trendy, expensive restaurants, as they are gratis! Pre-desserts are typically served in "verrines", small glass cups that allow you to see all of its individual components. This being the first time I had worked on verrines, I was pretty pleased with our results.

left: rhubarb-strawberry compoté with a shortbread crumble and milk
chocolate mousse with a chocolate-dipped strawberry

lemon poundcake with raspberry compoté and lemon mousse

white chocolate panna cotta, cherry gelée and pistachio mousse with
a white chocolate and pistachio biscotti

my fave! candied ginger pudding with lemon madeleines and caramel decorations 

coconut rice pudding and lychee "spring rolls" with a honey ginger sauce

mascarpone cream with honey-caramelized pears and pecans with
dark chocolate decorations

Algerian sweet couscous, cooked in honey and mixed with dried dates, dried
apricots and roasted pistachios

our table presentation! 

Emily Chin Cakes is going international!

...well not exactly! hahah i did however, receive a cake order all the way from Amsterdam! a friend's family noticed my cakes on Facebook and contacted me to make their daughter's birthday cake (who lives in montreal of course). we decided on a chocolate and vanilla marbled cake with marzipan decorations. i delivered the cake on the afternoon of her birthday and she was totally surprised! and very, very happy :)

"van <3e" is the slang way to say happy birthday in dutch!

modelled after the birthday girl's pet bunny

50th

this week I had 2 orders for 50th birthday cakes- both of which were for surprise parties! the first one was a tropical- themed 2 tier vanilla and dark chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream. it was a lot of fun to do since i was given practically carte blanche for the design. i made a sketch to start but found myself coming up with new ideas as the cake came together! i was very pleased with the final result :)

the next cake was for my "uncle's" 50th birthday. he is a huge habs fan so i made the cake red and blue and hockey all over! i was instructed to make it a little humorous, and replace the hockey stick with a cane :P i also steamed this cake to give it a nice, shiny finish. it was my first attempt doing so, and i really liked the result it gave.

  

chocolate chocolate chocolate!

as a student at ithq, i am very fortunate to have access to top quality ingredients, and large quantities of them! during our last two chocolate classes, we worked on a sculpture which could include chocolate, sugar and almond paste- everything had to be edible.  i used Cacao Barry dark chocolate to make my piece... let's just say i would never have been able to afford this project if it weren't for school (for those interested, our class used about 12 boxes of chocolate at $85 a pop.. you do the math!)

our common theme was legends & fairytales. although i'm not quite sure if it's either, i decided to sculpt pinocchio! i used moulds to make his body and head, plastic tubes to make his limbs, and modelling chocolate to sculpt his hands, feet, clothes and face. it was harder than i imagined but i am pleased with the final result :)

my initial sketch

nakey pinocchio!

Drumroll please! TA-DAAAA voila my chocolate pinocchio, accented with 24k gold dust! (did i mention i <3 ithq?!) a little disappointed with the face, but not bad for a first edible sculpture, i'd say :)