MINI SUSHI

miniature sushi cones: so realistic you want to pop them in your mouth!

no, no, no...you can't eat them with a toothpick! It's fake food!

Here's some teeny tiny sushi cones for Bebe's dollhouse. The dolls are "Asian"--well, at least the PLAN toy company thinks they look Asian ( I personally think their hair-styles suck!)--and they have been hankering for some sushi...so along with their Pierre Herme Desserts, they're having some appetizing sushi.

I don't read Japanese so I have no idea what some of the fillings are inside the cones, but from the looks of some, there are fish eggs, fish, veggies, tamago and other such usual goodies. All I can tell is that one has a bamboo theme; another a flower blossom theme (spring?) and from my crappy understanding of asian characters, the other one has something to do with trees (a summer theme?)

This sushi set was one of those "surprise" sets. The salesgirl told me she couldn't guarantee which set I would get inside the box. There was one set with nigiri sushi, another had crab and another had rolls. I actually wanted the set pictured on the box (the nigiri sushi on the wooden tray) but I guess I'm not wholly disappointed with this set. They're quite cute. The sushi set was much cheaper than the Pierre Herme box I bought. This one clocked in at $8.49 CDN



For that price, I could have gotten 3 real-sized, edible sushi cones at my local Japanese restaurant. Ah well, like I said: the dolls have to eat! And BTW, I didn't buy anymore fake food nor do I intend to buy more fake food because now the dollhouse larder is full. They've got hand-made (by me!) FIMO fruits, veggies, hot dogs and burgers along with a fridge full of beverages. I just needed to make sure they had sushi and dessert. I mean, that's all one really needs to eat well in my books.

FOOD FOR THE EYES

Miniature Fake Food: Pierre Herme's Collection of desserts! Mmmm. It's cute, but so not edible (a good thing if you're watching your waistline!) ;p

a birthday cake complete with macarons! so cute! lookit that slice of cake and the hand-painted detail!

I found another way to distract myself from eating too many sweets, now that I've told the whole friggin' world I'm going low-carb:)

I'm thinking the public scrutiny would force me to stay on track! ;p

So far, white refined stuff hasn't passed these lips. For someone obsessed with all things baked, I have found a few things to do to keep me occupied. Of course, one of them is marking :( but I also found cute food substitutes in the form of "fake food".


On the weekend, we had found an intriguing little store in the Asian mall, Aberdeen Centre (in Richmond). The store was full of all sorts of miniature fake food. I hadn't realized people actually bought this stuff. I mean, what can you do with it other than display it somewhere; only to have it catch dust as other chachkes do?
I hate dust-collectors, but I was so curious. I took a closer look and thought that it would be so cool to stock my daughter's dollhouse with some of these fake foods. They were exactly the right size. Her wooden Colonial-style doll house by PLAN is really neat and we were able to even buy a set of Asian family dolls to live in it. I made some FIMO food, but we certainly didn't have any of the cool stuff that this store had. I have no idea what you'd do with this fake mini food other than use it in a doll house. I guess there must be a lot of people out there collecting this type of mini food? The store had all the various sets on display: a barbeque set, complete with tiny ketchup, burgers, shish kebabs; a Japanese sushi set complete with nigiri, cones and sashimi; grocery store staples, junk food and practically any kind of food you can think of! Even Pierre Herme's pastries! I was so excited when I saw the collection there complete with macarons and everything!

I had to have it.

So, for the exorbitant price of $12.99, I purchased a set that included a mini little pastry box, a mini Pierre Herme shopping bag and an array of desserts complete with the display stands. You even get a wrapped individual little "chiclet"-type piece of chewing gum in the box. I suppose that explains the target market!

THE MACARON BATTLE BEGINS!

assorted macarons from ganache patisserie, yaletown

So the Battle of the Macaron begins...

Believing that education is the road to enlightenment, I decided to do some background research on what a real French Macaron should taste and look like.

this is what a real macaron should look like

I also decided to purchase some Macarons from Ganache Patisserie in Yaletown just to make sure I am not baking in the dark.

When I arrived in the late afternoon, on a Saturday before Thanksgiving, there was already a lineup of 5 men in front of me. Odd I thought. 2 ladies were having beverages and sweets at a little table near the window and a lovely glass vase on a display table in the window was mounded full of pink macarons. Eureka!

The object of my desire rested in the glass showcase of desserts. Being a thorough investigator, I had to purchase a few of the other cakes on display just to make sure Pastry Chef/Owner Peter Fong was as good as I heard he was.

And what do you know! He was manning the till. What's with that? Apparently he told another customer (a regular I think) that he had given the girls a lunch break and he was stuck alone with a big lineup of people!

The first man requested a huge slab cake and Chef Fong said he needs at least a day's notice (no doubt!) The man needed to feed 8 people and thought the cakes there were too small. Chef Fong said that they would indeed feed 8. However, the man, being used to Superstore Slabs and the Safeway Special probably didn't believe him and left the store empty-handed. Tsk tsk.

The 3 French guys in front of me each ordered and paid separately and were wishy-washy about what to get. Geesh! And the guy in front of me took forever ordering the Chocolat Veloute.

Finally when it was my turn, I ordered a small box (of 9) assorted macarons. They looked a lot tinier than I thought they would be. There was chocolate, lemon, strawberry and vanilla. The box was $5.95

Then, I ordered the Rose et Pamplemousse mousse cake for Stomach and a Chocolat-Canneberge mousse cake for Bebe and Matcha Exotique for me. Check out the menu here for the cake components and other offerings. Most cakes about $5.95 each

the matcha-exotique (green tea mousse, mango-passionfruit gelée, lychees, black sesame biscuit joconde)

I was a bit miffed because Stomach had tilted my box of pastries while loading up Costco stuff in the trunk. I found my Chocolat-Canneberge cake smushed up against the Matcha Exotique. I was fuming at him and he was wondering what the fuss was all about.

chocolat-canneberge: white chocolate cranberry parfait, milk chocolate mousse, praline crunch

At home, I opened the macaron box first. The lemon macaron exterior was smooth and crispy-delicate like a thin eggshell and inside it was a burst of lemon flavour. The interior was tender and light and dissolved quickly not unlike confectioner's sugar. It was like eating air. You wanted to eat more just to make sure it was as good as it was. Only the taste sensation is so fleeting. There was no chewiness to speak of in these macarons.

Aha.

rose et pamplemousse: vanilla-grapefruit parfait, apricot financier, rose crème brûlée, strawberry-rhubarb gelée

Ganache Patisserie was worth the trip. It definitely wasn't all traditional. For traditional, I'd go back to La Petite France. Peter Fong's patisserie takes a cool modern Asian twist to many of his cakes and that's refreshing too.

I'm going to have to do further research on this but this was an excellent scouting adventure to be sure.

FOOD AND EYE CANDY IN CAKEBRAIN'S GARDEN

20th century asian pear...only 7 this year :(

bay tree...almost killed it but it came back this year!

orange blossom...almost killed this plant too. put it outside and it came back to life!

out-of-control thyme bush

rosemary... didn't realize that tiny plant would grow into a huge tree...yikes!

lessons learned in gardening: I have a brown thumb. Leave plants to fend for themselves in mother nature and they will flourish.

GREEN TEA CHIFFON CAKE

It is a cruel twist of fate that I am in a household where no one (except me) enjoys the sweeter things in life...cakes and pastries. Sure, they'll eat a little to be polite and sometimes they'll even comment how moist or delicious something is. But I can tell. The slices are oh so small you've got to wonder why bother? I am left to "dispose" of my cakes and pastries by sending them off to work or Stomach's workplace. Apparently all the staff at Stomach's work loves the stuff I make and have been kind enough to even request certain cakes. My staff at work are just as kind. There is nothing more satisfying to a baker than to have your baked goods eaten quickly while it's all fresh! Besides, if I ate all the stuff I baked by myself I would be as big as a house.

matcha chiffon cake straight out of the oven

So, I've been resorting to baking mini versions of cakes for my experiments. By creating recipes and variations in a miniature size, I don't have to worry about wasting ingredients. Today I decided to try creating a chiffon with green tea. I added Japanese matcha (green tea powder) to the batter.