Le Gateau

Say Yes to the Dress, and Cupcakes!

2012-01-23T18:58:00.000-08:00

Today, Randy Fenoli of "Say Yes to the Dress" was at Isabelle's Bridal helping brides find the wedding dress of their dreams. We were there too, with cupcakes! We were so excited to be a part of this fun and exciting event.

The team at Isabelle's Bridal is amazing, I personally bought my own wedding dress from Isabelle's earlier this year, and had such a great experience. Now add Randy's expertise, what more could you ask for?

For cupcakes we had a "Say Yes to the Dress" theme. So we incorporated details you would find on your dress such as bows, lace, buttons, and pearls into our cupcake design.

Our favourite wedding blogger Vancity Bride was there, giving updates through out the day. Check out her blog for tons of pictures.

The Wedding Belles were also at Isabelle's, check out their You Tube channel to see the segment.

2012 Engagement Sale!

2011-12-30T19:27:00.000-08:00

Exciting news!

I personally became engaged over the Christmas holiday's. I'm just so excited and bursting with joy, I wanted to do something for all the other bride to be's!

So, Le Gateau Bake Shop is having a special offer to all the recently engaged couples looking for wedding cakes (or cupcakes!). For the month of January, book your FREE tasting and receive %15 off your order! We are calling it the engagement sale- please mention this when you book your appointment.

To book your consultation email us at Tanya@LeGateauBakeShop.com

Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies

2011-12-06T16:12:00.000-08:00

Its cookie swap time of year! As I was preparing for this year's Christmas baking and cookie swap, I came across this recipe I had made the year before.

The combination of chocolate and chilli has always been one of my favourites. Whenever I see a new recipe featuring the two, I have to try it (check out our previous post on Mexican Hot Chocolate cupcakes). I came across this Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies from no other than queen cookie swap bee herself Martha Stewart.

These cookies were really simple to make. They reminded me of my favourite gingersnap recipe because of the sugar coating and cracked surface that lets you know the cookies are done baking.

*Tip* I always use a cookie scoop, it really speeds up the process when you have 6 dozen cookies to make for a cookie swap, plus it ensures even sizing.

Also- I LOVE spice, so I kicked up the amount of spice in this recipe, and I added into the cookie dough mix instead of the sugar coating like the recipe suggests. Also I used ground cayenne instead of chilli powder. If you are not into spice, you can omit it all together and have a tasty chocolate and cinnamon spice cookie.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon chile powder (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, with racks in upper and lower thirds. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down side of bowl. Add eggs and beat to combine. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture and beat until combined.
In a small bowl, combine remaining 1/4 cup sugar, cinnamon, and chile powder (if using). Using heaping tablespoons, form balls of dough and roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place, about 3 inches apart, on two parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until cookies are set in center and begin to crack, about 10 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Let cookies cool on sheets on wire racks 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to racks to cool completely.

Happy Baking!

Angry Birds Cake!

2011-11-29T17:57:00.000-08:00

This cake was created for my brother in law, Dan. I wanted to surprise him with a cake for his birthday, and when I asked my sister if she had any idea's she immediately replied "ANGRY BIRDS!!". I was really excited, i've been dying for someone to request one!

The was chocolate cake with chocolate ganache filling. All decorations are from fondant.

Close up of King Pig:

Dan was thrilled, it was really an exciting birthday surprise. He's still calling it the best cake EVER.

Thanks to cake central for all the inspiration for this design.

Cake Love PT. 1

2011-09-26T21:57:00.001-07:00

18 months of planning, all worth every minute. Cake Love 2011 was beyond a huge success, and I am so proud of what the members of the Vancouver Cake Society Jennifer Shaw, April Bellia, Mark Tagulao, Erlinda Jalandoon and myself pulled off.

Cake Love 2011 was a three day cake decorating conference in Vancouver B.C., featuring hand on classes from 15 of the best sugar artists and cake designers from around the world, including Norman Davis and Zane Beg, Ruth Rickey, Anne Heap, Susan Carberry, Becky Rink, Pat Jacoby, Jacqueline Butler, Lauren Kitchens, and Canadian Lisa Bujega, just to name a few.

Classes ranged from life like gumpaste flowers, folk art painting, and edible jewelery to the whimsical topsy turvy cake and muppetized figures.

Lisa Bujega's "tea for two" class creation

Norm and Zane's Purse Ladies Purse cake class creation

Creation's from Lauren Kitchen's creature sculpting 101 and 301.

The there was also a cake display room that featured work from the conference attendee's. This room was open to the public.

A couple of my favourite submissions.

There was also a live cake challenge at the banquet, where attendee's created amazing cakes with little tools and supplies:

I myself was lucky enough to take part in a few classes. Stay tuned for my next post that features what I learned with Anne Heap of Pink Cake Box.

Giant Cupcakes Take Over!

2011-06-20T20:52:00.000-07:00

I had a giant cupcake pan kicking around for the longest time, and I could not wait use it. Finally, the first few request for them have come in, and I am so happy with the turn out!

Giant cupcake number one:

This giant cupcake contained vegan chocolate cake, with a vegan chocolate ganache filling. It was decorated with a vegan fondant (made using agar instead of gelatin). The cupcake liner was made from candy melts.

Served with some vegan baby cupcakes!

After fellow cupcake lover @Cupcakedujour saw this giant cupcake, she said "I want!!", only her request was that her's also be gluten free!

@CupcakeDuJour with her giant cupcake on her birthday

I am LOVING these giant cupcakes! So cute, and so fun to make!

Austin Mini Car Cake

2011-03-29T08:05:00.000-07:00

The Mini Car was created by the British Motor Corporation in 1959. It was a British icon for the 60's. It was actually voted the second most influential car of the 20th century.

Here is Le Gateau's take on the Mini:

This cake was for a very special lady's 50th birthday.

Its made from alternating layers of chocolate and vanilla cake with vanilla meringue buttercream. Everything on the car is edible, all made from fondant and gum paste.

The birthday girl and her hubby are in the mini, along with their cute little puppy. The cake board is actually a map of the world, with flags to show all the places they have travelled together. Its painted on with royal icing.

Guest Blog by Candice @loveyourcake!

2011-03-04T20:55:00.000-08:00

I am excited to bring you this GUEST blog entry by Candice (aka @loveyourcake), cake enthusiast and blogger extraordinaire! I have been following Candice on twitter for quite some time, and she always has interesting/funny/entertaining thoughts, idea's and story's to share.

If you agree that this blog has any or all of those qualities, please leave a comment for Candice and myself!

******

I think anyone who loves cake has looked at one that was professionally made, and said to themselves 'Gee - I wish I could do something like that!'

Ok, so maybe you didn't say 'Gee' - but the point is, there is a curiosity about fancy cakes that has spread world wide. The internet makes it very easy to type in what design of cake you are looking for, along with countless "how-to" videos and blogs. For some people born with an artistic side, attempting to duplicate one of these fondant masterpieces can sometimes be a piece of cake. (ha ha) For those people that are less talented in the artsy department, they need to rely on videos and images to show them the way.

As a self-proclaimed cake decorator, I have had my share of successes and failures, and I know how difficult it can be to end up with a product you would actually show in public. When I asked some of my fellow cake lovers (who are artistically challenged) what they would want to read on a blog about cake, they said "start from the beginning!" and "show me the way!"

That sounded like a reasonable request.

I know how annoying is it to compare your own work to a fancy cake photo, only to be left disappointed with the final result. For this lesson, we are going to avoid any comparisons and will to do this pre-internet way. The written way. Now go put on your apron and proceed to step one.

Step 1: Go to the kitchen and bake a 9" round cake. Find a recipe, any recipe, and bake the cake.

Step 2: Let the cake cool (ALL THE WAY - don't get ahead of yourself or all hell will break loose)

Step 3: get some icing from the store, pref. vanilla. Any kind will do, but chocolate will be messy.

Step 4: use a knife, or dental floss wrapped around your fingers, and cut that cake in half. simple.

Step 5: flip the cake over, so the bottom becomes the top and you have a flat surface to work with.

Step 6: put something in between the layers: fruit, more icing, chocolate bars, icing & chocolate bars...

Step 7: brush off any crumbs with your hands, then cover the whole cake in icing. just slop it on.

Step 8: take a piece of cardboard, cut into a square that is as tall as your cake. Wipe the excess icing off with the cardboard, first from the top, then from around the side.

Step 9: put your cake in the fridge for 1-2 hours. This is the crumb coat. LET THIS HARDEN.

Step 10: take cake out. repeat step six (minus the brushing of the crumbs because there shouldn't be any)

Step 11: get a ball of fondant the size of a grapefruit. Dye it whatever colour you want. Wear rubber gloves.

Step 12: roll out the fondant on a counter, using icing sugar or flour so it doesn't stick.1/4" thick. flip often.

Step 13: pick up your giant piece of rolled out fondant and plop it onto the centre of your cake. use your hands to flatten the top and then come around the sides, stretching the fondant wherever it is folding.

Step 14: trim off the excess fondant that will be hanging off the bottom, and discard.

Step 15: take some more fondant, whatever colour you want, and roll it into little gumball sized balls.

Step 16: put balls around the bottom of the cake so you hide any bumps, and at the same time, it looks fancy.

Step 17: use a shaped cookie cutter and cut out some shapes in more colours of fondant.

Step 18: mix icing sugar with some water, and use this to attach the shapes to the cake, anywhere you want.

Step 19: DON'T PUT IT IN THE FRIDGE - fondant sweats in the fridge, and this can be all sorts of trouble.

SO EASY!!

It should look something like this:

No?!

Slightly different?!

Well - at least you tried and that's what really counts! Now sit back, drink wine and move onto the next step..

Step 20: email Tanya@LeGateauBakeShop.com and let her worry about it. That's what she's there for. Le Gateau Bake Shop will make sure your cake looks like the photo, and no one says you have to tell anyone that it didn't come from your kitchen ;)

Our Lovely Little Space

2011-02-21T10:27:00.000-08:00

We had the opportunity to take over the space we were sharing with another talented cake designer, due to her leaving to take time off to spend time with her new family.

I love decorating, so the first thing we did was a good cleaning out of the space, and a paint job in one of my favourite colours, pink! We also changed some fixtures, and put up some art work. The place now looks amazing, I love it! We have a nice little garden space in the front, which I cant wait to fix up once the weather gets warmer.

Thanks Nina, and Jennifer for all your help!

The 2nd Annual Cupcake Throwdown!

2011-01-28T18:06:00.000-08:00

Wow, a year has gone by so fast. Remember the 1st Annual Cupcake Throwdown?

Now we've just finished round 2! This year the cupcake throwdown raised $1600 for the H.A.V.E ! Amazing.

Here some photo's. Sorry, I tried to get photo's of everyone's cupcake but I did miss a couple.

This year I did a Vegan Cardamom Carrot and Cashew Cream Cheese Cupcake! I love carrot cake, but this cupcake is nothing like your regular carrot cake. Crushed cardamom seed give this cupcake amazing taste and aroma. Recipe to follow!

My friend from Picture Perfect Cakes and the Pink Happiness. This cupcake won "Best Dressed", way to go Jen!

The H.A.V.E's contribution, ice cream cone cupcakes!

Beer and cheese cupcakes!

The Twisted Smore cupcake

And here is our recipe:

Vegan Cardamom Carrot and Cashew Cream Cheese Cupcake

makes 30 cupcakes / 350 degree oven

1 pound carrots
2 tablespoons Earth Balance (or vegan margarine)
1/2 cup water
1 cup Coconut milk
1 teaspoon cardamom seeds
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp egg replacer powder- mixed with 3 tbsp water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup coconut milk
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoon cardamom seed, crushed
1 cup cashews, chopped

1. Peel, rinse, and grate the carrots with a fine grater.
2. Sauté the carrots in earthblance for 3 minutes. Add the water, bring to boil, cover and simmer for 3 minutes.
3. Remove the lid. Stir to cook off any remaining water.
4. Boil the coconut milk with the cardamom seeds Allow to steep for 3 min.Add to carrot mx and simmer for 15 minutes stirring occasionally.
5. Add 1/2 cup of sugar and stir to dissolve. Simmer for 5 more minutes.
6. Remove of the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
7. In a large bowl, mix together the cooled, cooked carrot mixture, egg replacer, vanilla, 1-1/2 cups sugar, vegetable oil, and coconut milk.
8. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cardamom.
9. Stir the flour mixture into the carrot mixture. Continue to stir until combined.
10. Add the chopped cashews and stir to combine.
11. Scoop out into cupcake papers about 3/4s full.
12. Bake at 350 degree oven for ~25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Cream Cheese Icing:

1/4C Earth Balance (room temperature)

1 8oz container or Tofutti Vegan Cream Cheese (room temperature)

4 1/2 C Icing sugar- sifted

1. Beat earth balance until smooth. Add Tofutti and whip until lump free. Scrap the bowl down and mix again. Add icing sugar.

ENJOY!

Topping off 2010

2010-12-28T20:17:00.000-08:00

Woah, 2010 just flew by! It has been such an amazing year! To end it, I thought i'd do a little countdown to my top 5 creations of 2010:

5: My ICES show cake

Not only does this cake remind me of the awesome time I had at the ICES convention, all the wonderful people I met, and everything I learned. It also makes me laugh as I think back at what a challenge it was to transport this cake, and its ever so delicate gumpaste mask all the way down to San Diego in my suitcase. If you look closely you can spot a small crack on the mask. I was honestly surprised that was the worst of the damage! I never bothered trying to bring the cake home.

4: Finding Nemo Cake

I just had too much fun making this cake. I had never tried making fish before, so I wasn't sure how it would turn out. I was really pleased with the end result.

3: The Butterfly Cake

People love this cake! Brides keep asking for this design, or a similar one - adjusted to their colour choice. Simple and cute.

2: The cupcake pop!

Everyone knows i'm obsessed with cupcakes. Now, mini ones on a stick?! Really do I need to say more?

1: Duff's birthday cake!

Okay- this cake was not made at Le Gateau Bake Shop, but I did made it at Whole Foods. For those of you that don't know when i'm not busy running my business I spend my time working as assistant manager of the bakery at WF- one of the busiest bakeries in Vancouver.

Anyways, back to the cake. Duff Goldman, from the famed show "Ace of Cakes" was doing an autograph signing at Michaels on his birthday. The good people at Michaels asked your truly and WF to provide a birthday cake for him! At first I jumped at it- I was so excited. Then reality sunk in. I was going to make a cake of the Ace Of Cakes! "The guy". And- make it at Whole Foods, using only natural ingredients. Even food colouring had to be natural. One thing about plant based food colouring, its very unpredictable. To top it off, I had less then 24hrs to come up with it! This would truly be a challenge- a challenge not to embarrass myself it seemed like.So I decided to go for a fresh and natural approach, no fondant!

End result:

Really I was pretty happy about the turn out. I had made all the chocolate panels in record time. When the people at Michaels came to pick up the cake, they were so excited about it they asked if I would present it to him myself! That was the best part. I can honestly say Duff was one of the most awesome persons i've ever met. He was so nice, and fun to be around. I was so nervous, it was almost embarrassing. The whole experience was a great way to end the year :)

Santa's Workshop

2010-12-12T21:56:00.000-08:00

I was asked to create an extraordinary gingerbread house for Whole Foods Market. Having made a few gingerbread houses in the past, I knew two things: this would not be easy, and I could not do this alone. So I enlisted the help of my friend Lise Depres, who is an amazingly creative and talented baker that I worked with in the past.

The theme we came up with for the house was "Santa's workshop". The idea was that we would create a house (a min. 3ftx3ft in size) where the front was set up and decorated like your average gingerbread house, and the back was open so you could see inside the workshop with all the busy elves.

One thing I had learned from watching Food Network Challenge was that if you are building an extreme gingerbread house, you were going to need some extra support. So we made a trip to Home Depot for some wood. Lise ended up sawing the pieces of wood to fit herself (superwoman!). Me being an extremely clumsy person, was not going near a hand saw!

Step 1:

The walls of the house were so large, that we had to bake them in multiple pieces and glue them together with royal icing.

See those fancy windows? Gelatin leaves! The perfect glass window.

Next we constructed the second level of the house, along with the stairway.

A fireplace, chimney, and kitchen was also added...

After that came the fun part, decorating!

Taa Daa!!!!

This house will on display at Whole Foods Market Cambie location. There are also 8 other smaller houses on display that are built and decorated by each of the departments in the store, so there's lots of stuff to check out while you do your holiday shopping!

Bling Wedding Show!

2010-11-15T17:43:00.000-08:00

Such a fun and fabulous day yesterday at the Bling Wedding Show! The event was held at the National Nikkei Musuem & Heritage Centre in Burnaby, and was organized by Harumi Suzuki of Harumi Signature Wedding and Events. The show featured a pamper room for brides, appies, drinks, and an impressive group of vendors and wedding professionals.
I had such a wonderful time meeting all the bride to be's and grooms, as well as all the talented local vendors and professionals.
Here are just a few photo's for all of you that missed it:

Le Gateau's booth-

Fantastic table settings-

This was my first wedding show, and I loved the whole experience. Really, I just love weddings and im still dreaming and looking forward to my own. But in the mean time, I happy helping other people enjoy there special day :)

Thanks for looking!

Hello Bella Halloween Soiree - October 29th

2010-10-17T17:27:00.000-07:00

Le Gateau is excited to be at the Hello Bella Halloween Soiree! A fun and spooky night of pampering, shopping and sweet indulgences. We will be selling spooky cookies and cute cupcakes and cake pops! Limited quantities, so come early!
Friday, October 29 · 6:00pm - 11:00pm, 248 East 10th Ave -parking in lot behind building.
More info at here.

ICES 2010 Hanging 10 in San Diego!

2010-08-23T22:22:00.000-07:00

What an awesome experience! This was my first time attending an ICES (International Cake Exploration Societé) convention, but they have been doing this convention for 35 years now. Once a year ICES holds a convention and sugar artists from all over the world come together to share techniques and learn from one another. Most bring display pieces to exhibit. This years convention was held in San Diego, CA.
International Cake Exploration Societe is an organization of sugar artists/cake decorators, 4000+ strong, featuring the best vendors and sugar artists from around the world. The goal of ICES is to promote, encourage, and teach/learn the artistry of sugar. Needless to say, I learned a lot, and met a lot of amazingly talented and inspiring people. People who were so supportive and willing to share any and all information to help others. The society's mission statement is sharing and caring, after all.

I brought down a cake for the cake show. Let me tell you- that was a challenge! I wasn't expecting the cake to make the journey from Vancouver B.C. to sunny San Diego. One of the masks for the cake broke while I was packing my bag! Surprisingly it made it down with only a few scratches and small dents. Too bad the cake didn't make it back home.

There were so many amazing cakes - here are just a few of my favourites:

We will be closed August 10-16th 2010

2010-08-09T18:38:00.000-07:00

Le Gateau will be closed August 10 -16. Im heading down to the ICES Convention in San Diego to learn all the latest and greatest in the world of cake decorating. During this time any inquiries can be sent to Tanya@LeGateauBakeshop.com and i'll respond as soon as possible. Thanks!

Happy Birthday, Smashy Smashy!

2010-07-27T18:25:00.000-07:00

The concept of smash cakes is still new to me, although I've already done a few this year. For those who have never heard of a smash cake, it is basically what it sounds like it would be - a cake that is meant to be destroyed. Traditionally by children on their first birthday.
I recently made a couple of smash cakes for Nate and Levi's first birthday. Yep- twin boys.
Being a twin myself, I know what a handful and challenge they could be. I wanted to make sure that the guests of the party, and the guests of honour had a special day.
We had a theme of building blocks for the party. The little smash cakes themselves were made to look like building blocks. They were made from vanilla cake and buttercream icing, covered with fondant icing and bears.

Ready, and...

SMASH!

The guests of the party celebrated with a two tier cake. One layer made from chiffon sponge cake, soaked in Grand Marnier and filled with vanilla flavoured Italian meringue buttercream. The other layer was carrot cake made with raisins, walnuts and pineapple filled with cream cheese icing.

And thats not all, each of the guests took home cookie favours! Classic sugar cookies, made to look like building blocks to match the smash cakes.

Baby Boots

2010-06-08T09:36:00.000-07:00

It has been just about one year since I started Le Gateau, and can you believe in all that time I have never done a kid's cake? Weird but true. Only weddings or creative cakes for adults. So naturally when I was asked to make a cake for a little boy's first birthday I was excited to do something different.
One thing that I have wanted to try for a while are the adorable little baby shoes that I had seen on so many cakes over the net. These shoes can be totally customized and are great for boys or girls birthdays as well as baby showers.
For little Zeyan's first birthday I decided to go with a little blue converse style shoe. Result:

I was so happy with how they turned out. They were super fun to make as well as super simple! I was lucky because I found this awesome step by step tutorial on you tube that also gave out a template.

As for the actual cake, I made a vanilla chiffon cake with raspberry preserves and vanilla flavoured italian meringue buttercream.

Owl Cups and Cakes!

2010-05-22T19:27:00.000-07:00

I am just loving owls right now! The last few times I've had creative licence on orders I find myself just wanting to make owls. Here are a couple examples of my owl creations:

This is a cake I designed for the HELLO BELLA! pamper party:

Its a chocolate cake with chocolate icing.

And, a cupcake set created for a friend's surprise birthday party :

They are chocolate cupcakes with strawberry cheesecake filling, topped with chocolate ganache.

2010 Bridal Showers Begin

2010-04-13T12:47:00.000-07:00

Although for most brides, its a bit early for ceremonies and wedding receptions, most brides are still ready to celebrate. Im talking about bridal shower season. Now is the time, and my calendar is filling up with them!
This year a new creation we featured were these adorable mini three tiered cakes:

One bride to be had these little cakes at her shower as a dessert, one for each guest. These little vanilla sponge cakes were so moist and flavourful, they didn't need the icing (and needless to say the bride and the bridesmaids were happy to save the calories!) They were served apres lunch with a side of fresh berries.
These little cakes are also available from Le Gateau in Chocolate sponge, Vegan cake, and if your feeling extra delectable: dark chocolate brownie.

And for the guests to take home there were these cookie favours, made from our sugar cookie recipe, decorated with royal icing.

But for the brides that want to make a big impact, sometimes you just have to give them a big cake!

This cake was our decadent chocolate sponge cake with chocolate ganache filling made from Callebaut chocolate. The teal and white colour are the chosen wedding colours.

Happy Easter!

2010-04-05T23:58:00.001-07:00

Happy Easter everyone! This year for Easter Le Gateau featured chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream topped with jellybean "easter eggs". I also made bunny and chicks fondant toppers, as well as little flag toppers made from easter ribbon.

And of course there were matching easter cookies! Classic sugar cookie with fondant icing.

Le Gateau moves to a new location!

2010-03-25T11:56:00.000-07:00

Starting April 1st Le Gateau is moving to a bigger and better commercial kitchen. We are so excited, so to celebrate Le Gateau is offering 15% off all orders for the month April! That includes cakes, cupcakes and cookies.

The Cupcake Throwdown!

2010-01-31T20:00:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I was asked to take part in a Cupcake Throwdown competition. As soon as I heard about it I knew I wanted to do participate, there had never been a competition in Vancouver like this before. The best thing about this Throwdown was that all the money raised went to charity, an organization called H.A.V.E that teaches homeless people how to cook so they can get jobs in restaurants.

I searched recipes for a long time. When it comes to cupcakes there are endless flavour combinations. There was one recipe, as soon as I saw it I wanted to make it: Mexican Hot Chocolate from the book "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World" . When I read the title I instantly thought of when I was in Mexico on vacation, out of all the interesting foods and flavours I tried when I was down there, what I remembered best was drinking Mayan Coffee every night. Mayan coffee is made with coffee beans, nutmeg, cinnamon, cayenne, milk and dark chocolate.

So, imagining what this cupcake tasted like, and that fact that it was vegan, and the competition was being held at the vegetarian restaurant Cafe Deux Soleil, which is on Commercial Drive, where they have held the famous Parade of Lost Souls, which got me thinking of the day of the dead which led me back to Mexican theme, I decided that this cupcake defiantly was the one.

I experimented with this recipe quiet a bit. I remember the first time I made it I could barely wait to try it. I ended up smothering the still warm cupcake in icing and shoving it in my mouth and turning to my boyfriend with a mouth full of cupcake and saying "This tastes exactly like mexican hot chocolate!!!". However, I did end up tweaking the recipe a bit for a little added kick. First I decided change the icing to a straight up vegan creamcheese icing, and also ended up filling the cupcakes with a chili and spice "ganache" made from coconut milk.

I decided to finish the cupcakes with a day of the dead inspired fondant topper. Most fondant is not vegan, but the brand Virgin Ice is.

*Photo's by Cherry Vega

Mexican Hot Chocolate Cupcakes

Makes 12 cupcakes.

ingredients
1 cup coconut milk

1 tablespoon ground flaxseeds

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons corn flour or very fine cornmeal

1/4 cup almond meal

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper (more or less to taste)

1 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

Cream Cheese Icing

1/4 cup tofutti better then cream cheese

1/4 cup earth balance buttery spread

2 cups icing sugar

1 tsp Vanilla

Chili and Spice Ganache

1 cup coconut milk

1 1/4 cup semi sweet chocolate (I used a combination of semi sweet and cocoa camino chili and spice 71% dark chocolate)

1/4 tsp Cinnamon

Pinch of chili powder and cayenne

directions
Preheat oven to 350F and line muffin pan with cupcake liners.

Whisk together coconut milk and flaxseed and allow to sit for 10 minutes, then whisk in sugar, oil, vanilla, and almond extract.

In another bowl, sift together flour, corn flour, almond meal, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cayenne. Gently mix in wet ingredients.

Fill cupcake liners with 1/4 cup of batter (approximately 2/3 full). Bake for 20 -22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely.

For frosting soften creamcheese in mixer, and the earth balance (it should be at room temperature) and beat on med speed until combined. Scrape down the bowl. Add icing sugar and vanilla then mix and low speed until smooth.

For the Ganache, chop chocolate into small pieces and put in a large bowl. Bring coconut milk and spices to a boil then pour over the chocolate. Slowly whisk together until combined. Let cool in the refrigerator.

Tip for stuffing theses little guys. These cupcakes and pretty fragile at room temperature, so when you remove a hole from the top make sure the cupcake are cold straight from the refrigerator.

For a complete review of the cupcake throwdown with some amazing photo's, check out SpillingLight.com . But I can give you the general summary - I WON!!! I have to say it was definatly stiff competition, there was alot of very talented bakers and very yummy cupckes. Thanks to all of my friends and family that showed up and help put a few extra votes in my pocket. The grand prize that I won was a free cooking class at The Dirty Apron . Im really looking forward to taking one of their classes.

Thats yours truly ^ Thanks everyone. Happy baking.

Thomas the Train Cookies

2010-01-02T18:26:00.000-08:00

I had so much fun making these little guys! They were for a party for the people that worked on the movie "Thomas the Tank Engine : Hero of the Rails".

They are a basic sugar cookie decorated using fondant and royal icing.

The crew loved the cookies! I also had a few extra which I gave to a co-worker who's son is obsessed with Thomas, the little guy went banana's when he got these!

GleepGlop Cake

2009-12-22T19:54:00.000-08:00

What is a Gleepglop you might ask?

This:

This little cutie was created by a local artist. He requested a two tiered mini cake with this little guy on it for his girlfriend's birthday (who is also quiet the talented artist I might add).

End result:

The top tier was chocolate cake with chocolate ganache, and the bottom was Chiffon cake soaked in grand marnier with vanilla buttercream.

The best part for me was hearing about how happy the birthday girl was when she got this cake...

Pictures of happy clients make me so happy!

December 12th Bakers Market

2009-12-13T19:31:00.000-08:00

Wow, what a crazy week I just had!

I dont know if I have ever done as much baking as I did this past week. Working a 40hr week baking at my day job, and then all my free time was spent baking for the Bakers Market.

But it was so fun and such a great experience, im so glad that I did it.

Thanks to everyone who came out!

Gingerbread cookies, holiday sugar cookies, vanilla bean shortbread, vegan snickerdoodle cookies, and mini fruit cakes!

Mini Fruit Cakes

2009-12-02T20:20:00.000-08:00

The aroma of cinnamon, allspice and cardamon is filling my kitchen. Its the most amazing warm and comforting scent. Im baking fruit cakes.

The truth is fruit cake has an image problem. In the early 90's Johnny Carson of the Tonight Show joked "there was really only one fruit cake in the world - it is passed from family to family". How many people have actually given fruit cake a chance?

These mini fruit cakes are made with premium dried fruits - apricot, dates raisins and fresh cranberries. Its sweetened with honey, brown sugar and orange juice. It's also brushed with brandy to help bring out all the sweetness of the fruits, and to add extra aroma. It is seriously good stuff.

This holiday season if you have the chance, you should should give fruit cake another try. You just might be (unexpectedly)surprised.

Mini fruitcakes will be available from Le Gateau at Vancouver's Bakers Market on December. You can also order online and Le Gateau will ship within Canada and the US.

Vancouver's Bakers Market

2009-11-19T20:39:00.000-08:00

Im happy to announce that Le Gateau will be at the Vancouver's Bakers Market on December 12th along with many other great local bakers.

Im going to be selling mini cakes, as well as an assortment of Christmas cookies and treats. I will also have an selection of vegan and gluten-free items.

Hope to see you there!

Vancouver's Bakers Market

Bourbon Pumpkin Tart with Walnut Streusel

2009-11-10T15:00:00.000-08:00

Looking for an alternative to plain old pumpkin pie? Look no more.

I found this recipe in the magazine "Best of Fine Cooking : Parties". As I read the recipe I was imagining the taste of this tart and I got so excited, I had to try it right away. I made it this past weekend for a dinner party at a friends place. Everyone loved it! Even my sister's husband who is one of those people who hates pumpkin and pumpkin pie really enjoyed it.

Here is the Recipe:

For the tart crust:
9 oz. (2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. finely grated orange zest
1/2 tsp. table salt
5-1/2 oz. (11 Tbs.) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup heavy cream; more if needed

For the pumpking filling:
1 15-oz. can pure solid-pack pumpkin
3 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
2 Tbs. unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. table salt
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup bourbon

For the streusel topping:
3-1/2 oz. (3/4 cup) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. table salt
1/4 lb. (1/2 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3/4 cup walnut halves, toasted and coarsely chopped
1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger

Lightly sweetened whipped cream for garnish (optional)

Make the tart crust:

Using a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the flour, sugar, orange zest, and salt in a large bowl on low speed for about 30 seconds. Add the butter and combine on low speed until the mixture looks crumbly, with pieces of butter about the size of dried peas, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and cream, mixing on low speed until the dough is just combined. If the dough is too dry to come together, add more cream, a tablespoon at a time. Gently mold the dough into a 1-inch-thick disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or for up to a week; the dough can also be frozen for up to a month.

Make the pumpkin filling:

Spoon the pumpkin into a large bowl. Whisk in the eggs, one at a time, until thoroughly incorporated. Add both sugars and the flour, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt. Whisk about 30 seconds. Whisk in the heavy cream and bourbon.

Make the streusel topping:

Combine the flour, both sugars, cinnamon, and salt in a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Pulse briefly to mix. Add the butter and pulse until the butter has blended into the dry ingredients and the mixture is crumbly. Remove the blade and stir in the walnuts and crystallized ginger.

Assemble the tart:

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. Take the tart dough from the refrigerator and let it warm up until pliable, 5 to 15 minutes. Unwrap the dough and set it on a lightly floured work surface. With as few passes of the rolling pin as possible, roll the disk into a 13-inch round, about 3/16 inch thick. Drape the round into a 10-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom gently fitting it into the contours of the pan. Fold the excess dough into the sides of the pan and press to create an edge that’s flush with the top of the pan and about 1/2 inch thick.

Pour the pumpkin mixture into the unbaked tart crust. Scatter the streusel topping evenly over the pumpkin mixture.

Bake until the topping is evenly cooked and no longer looks wet in the center, 50 to 65 minutes. Let the tart cool on a rack for at least 2 hours before serving (or wrap it in plastic and refrigerate overnight; before serving, let it sit at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours). Serve warm, at room temperature, or slightly chilled, with lightly sweetened whipped cream, if you like.

Okay, here my confession.

I followed this recipe EXACTLY. It was suppose to make one 10" tart. However this is not what the recipe yielded when I made it. I made one 10" tart, plus I had enough filling and streusel topping for 10 more individual tarts! I was so worried that I had made a mistake, but the tarts turned out fine, so I guess the yield on the recipe is not accurate.

Also, I didn't use the tart crust recipe included, I used a basic tart dough I had leftover and stored in the freezer.

And finally, I recommend throwing in a little extra crystallized ginger into the streusel mix, because its super tasty!

The Mini's, so cute.

Trying packaging and giving these tarts as a gift. The streusel gives them support so they stack really well.

Octopus Cupcakes

2009-10-29T18:12:00.000-07:00

I have a crazy love for octopus's. It started a few years ago, with a love for pirates! I use to get pirate and skull and crossbones everything for birthdays, Christmas's, and so on. One Christmas my sister gave me a necklace of an octopus. It was absolutely gorgeous. Ever since then I have been fascinated with octopus's and also squids(weird, it know)! Its still my favorite necklace. I saw similar octopus cupcakes on flickr and just had to try and make my own.

These cupcakes are made from a chocolate cake base, and sea foam green buttercream icing. I made the octopus using fondant and edible writers.

Happy 27th Cupcakes

2009-10-08T20:15:00.001-07:00

Made these cupcakes for a friend of mine. Its a chocolate cupcake base with vanilla buttercream icing. I just love the color teal. Its one of my favorites. These cupcakes were a hit. The birthday girl just loved them. She actually took a bunch and hide them because they were going so fast!

Le Gateau is now on Twitter!

2009-10-05T18:24:00.000-07:00

http://www.twitter.com/Le_Gateau

If you are on twitter please add me, im new to twitter and I need some people to follow!

Petit Fours

2009-09-30T18:59:00.000-07:00

Petit Fours are small decorated tea cakes. The direct translation means "little oven".
I love petit fours. Cute little bite size pieces of edible art. Perfect for afternoon tea, parties and showers. They are most often made from poundcake, with fondant poured over them. I choose to make these ones from chocolate sponge cake, soaked in black cherry vodka, and layered with organic cherry spread.

Here's a mini tutorial:

It is easiest to cut these straight from the freezer...

After the first coat, I needed to use 3. How many coats you need will depend on your cake as well as your icing!

After they set I decorated them with flowers made from fondant.

They are alot of work, but the results are worth it. These also make great gifts when packaged in chocolate/candy boxes.

Birthday Bites!

2009-09-21T13:00:00.000-07:00

I recently made two very special birthday cakes. The first was for my boyfriend. I had to think about the design of this cake for quiet a while. I wanted something exciting and eye catching, but the real challenge for this cake was for it to not look cute and girlie. This would be the difficult part for me indeed!

I thought of his favorite colors first, red and black. Mike also plays drums, so something kind of rock and roll came to mind, so I choose shapes that would give this cake kind of like a "tattoo" type of feel. The skull and crossbones fit into this theme as well, perfect!

End result:

The top tier of the cake is a rich and flavorful carrot cake. Sweet carrot and spice from cinnamon gives this cake the most irresistible taste and aroma. Filled with cream cheese icing sweeten with honey. The bottom tier is Le Gateau's signature cake: Chiffon Sponge soaked in Grand Marnier syrup with vanilla butter cream. I had made this cake many times before for weddings and other occasions so I knew he liked this cake. This cake was a definite success, Mike loved it!

The second birthday cake was for my twin sister and myself! My sister was a bit surprised when I called her to let her know I had started working on a cake, " Your making your own birthday cake?!" as if I deserved some sort of break from cake making. But for me it wasn't even a question, its a excuse to make cake! Besides, I was in the mood for making flowers.

Again, this was carrot cake. I have to say, I've been making carrot cake a lot lately. I think its pretty underrated! I find a lot of people prefer it to chocolate! This cake was the perfect end to our birthday dinner with our family.

August Bridal Showers

2009-09-08T17:35:00.000-07:00

I made this cake for for a very special bride to be, a friend of mine since grade school. As one of her bridesmaids it was my job to make sure she had the perfect bridal shower, that means we needed the perfect cake! This bride wanted simple but stunning. This cake was designed as a mini version of the cake to be served at her wedding, pink being her wedding colour. The bottom tier is 6" and the top is 3.5". Inside is a rich chocolate cake with layer of raspberry preserves and creamy chocolate ganache filling.

Here's the recipe:

2 cups all-purpose flour (I recommend unbleached organic if available)

1 cup unsweetened cocoa

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar (again, organic!)

4 large eggs (free range)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups milk (organic)

Method-

1. preheat oven to 350 F. Grease 13" by 9" pan OR three 8" round cake pans OR 36 muffin pans. Line with paper.

2. In a medium bowl combine flour, cocoa, baking powder, soda and salt.

3. In a large bowl mix at low speed butter and sugar. once they are blended beat at high speed until light and fluffy (about 5 mins).

Reduce to medium/low speed and add eggs one at a time. Scrape down sides.

4. Alternate flour mixture and milk into the bowl, beat until smooth.

5. Pour into prepared pans. Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean - about 25-45 depending on the size of the cake.

This cake was a hit at the shower!