I realized that we’ve been a little slow in putting up posts this fall so I figured I’ll put up some Cake Porn while we get our stuff together. These are pictures of a few cakes I’ve made in the past year. It does seem as though flowers were the theme for most of them …
Category Archives: Baking
Food Art – Mike McCarey
Mike McCarey is a God among pastry chefs for his innovative abilities to recreate any object from cake. His showpieces are sculpted, airbrushed and generally perfect replicas of what they’re meant to represent. In 1993, he opened his own shop “Mike’s Amazing Cakes” in Washington state and he’s been shaping sugar, butter, batter and chocolate …
de Mello Palheta Coffee – Toronto
Located in uptown Toronto, just north of Yonge and Eglinton, this little coffee shop and roaster has been making quite the stir in the neighbourhood. With it’s modern decor and shelves littered with interesting brewing equipment, walking into this shop feels more like a research lab than a cafe. They’ve only been open for a …
Baluard Bakery – Barcelona
Located right across from the Barceloneta market in (surprise surprise) Barcelona, this amazing tahona (bakery) serves up incredible masterpieces made of flour, water, butter and love. The croissants served here are by far the most amazing I have ever had: they’re flaky and buttery to their saturation point. Since they bake at various intervals during the …
Paleo Upside-down Cake
I know we’re all salivating over our Europe pictures but as a little break from all that sugar and flour, I have a quick recipe for a Paleo Upside-down Cake. It’s a very simple dessert to make, takes about an hour from start to finish with about 15 minutes of prep. It’s a perfect dessert …
The desserts of Spain
Being completely obsessed with anything dessert, I took advantage of our European adventure to visit some pretty neat pastry shops in Spain and enjoy their traditional and not-so traditional treats. I can honestly say that given better ingredients, North American desserts would be on par with what I tried in many of these places. However, …
Crema Catalana
If I was to be banished on a deserted island and could only take one thing with me, it would be a lifetime supply of crema catalana (may not be the smartest choice but it’s definitely the tastiest). Crema catalana is like creme brulee done right, a lot more in the way of complex flavours …
Ma Maison Cakes and Macarons – Spring 2013
Just another series of drool worthy cakes and macarons from Ma Maison…
Paleo diet – week 3
Before I go on talking about this week’s dessert specialty, I will admit that we caved in one day this week and destroyed a pizza. It was honestly the worst thing we could do since it really upset our stomachs but it was entirely necessary (hangover, rainy day, injuries,various other excuses, etc). Other than that …
Paleo diet – Week 2
Two weeks into the Paleo diet and we feel great. Some weight has been lost but most importantly we’ve survived the first (and hardest) half of this diet. Our energy levels have returned to normal and we’re definitely not as “hungry” all the time. We’ve even taken to talking about regular food with only slight …
For the love of cupcakes
Ever had a dire need to devour a cupcake in the middle of the night and felt way too lazy to bake your own?! Well in a few select cities in the world, you could just go around the corner to your nearest Cupcake ATM and quench that craving. Sprinkles Cupcakes, founded in Beverly Hills, …
Teddy bear cake
Not too much I can say in this post other than the fact that I made a Teddy bear cake. It is entirely edible (other than the support posts inserted in the “skeleton”) and composed of a lemon sponge anda vanilla, lemon buttercream. Altogether, it took around 20 hours to prduce but that was mostly …
Gordon Ramsay’s Desserts
“Pastry chefs occupy a very special place in the pecking order of a high flying restaurant kitchen, so…I take my dessert skills as seriously as I do all my cooking” – Gordon Ramsay Desserts by Gordon Ramsay is not a new book by any means, but definitely one that needs to be a part of …
MMM (Ma Maison Macarons) continued
So here’s my monthly update on the macaron flavours available at Ma Maison (4243 Dundas St. West, Etobicoke). I’ve been drooling over the pictures for a few days, hope you guys do too! – Apple Pie = Caramelized apples and Cinnamon ganache – Apricot = White chocolate ganache, apricot puree with Peach Schnapps – After …
A journey around Toronto’s pastry world (1)
So it’s Saturday afternoon, the sky is grey and depressing, our stomachs are growling so what are we to do?!?! Well, most people would make lunch, but here at Notes On a Meal, we don’t find that to be enough so we embark on a French pastry shop journey. Equipped with a sneaky camera (well, …
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