Cookies Cakes & Catch Ups 14: All Things Pink & Pretty

This is going to be one heck of a catch-up folks. It has been a hot minute since I had the time to blog a new recipe which, honestly, has been really upsetting for me because creating new things is a huge part about what I do!

But now I am starting to realise when you run a business the 'what you do' part becomes a lot broader and more demanding than what you set out to do in the first place! haha 

The Perfect Bite Bake Shoppe  has just been taking up most of my waking (and sometimes sleeping) moments as I try to pursue the business full time and access as many resources as I can to get there! A lot of that process has been super discouraging and frustrating BUT I also know that every single day since beginning that journey every day has been different for me. Whether it is full of challenges or making new connections it has been amazing and I would take all the frustrations in the world to just get a piece of that joy. 

I am also currently working towards renovating our basement unit to pass the proper provincial and public health codes to become licensed -- which would be AMAZING but is still pretty expensive with all the proper permits, licenses, cost of rennovations, etc. 

That also means I don't have a permanent space to bake out of - so life is a bit crazy when you factor in the fact that you know...LIFE IS LIFE and there are always other obligations that I will have as a result. 

Basically I wake up each day and immediately am like LOL WHAT IS LIFE WHAT I DO WHERE AM I HOW I DO DIS?!

ANYWAYS ENOUGH WITH THE BLAH BLAH BLAH. 

I thought I'd quickly touch base and share some of the cakes and tings that have been poppin' on my end. I have been lucky enough to have so many cool ideas that my clients would like -- and trying new things is always fun. 

Like ice cream cone drips:

S/O To @ Happily Ever After Decor for the gorgeous photo! These girls know how to STYLE! Please check them out on IG and Facebook they're the sweetest.




This geode cake snuck into the newspaper with me for my feature article which was so cool! Made me feel like a legit baker! haha

Check out @Lolafawn on IG where she reigns as QUEEN! This French Bulldog is basically everything.


I was super terrified to tackle doing a cute little pup on a cake. However - it is situations like that where I absolutely must tackle new things or else I will never get comfortable!

I made the ultimate floral buttercream wreath cake for my boho chic loving mama <3 I was soooo intensely focused on this cake because you know how much I love my mamushka!


SPEAKING OF WHICH! We starting watching Bates Motel and now we are addicted to it. Anyone else in love with Sheriff Romero??


Anyways I have been loving buttercream flower cakes and thank goodness my clients agree and are happy to keep supplying the need for my obsession!!!

That last cake means something so special to me because the lovely woman who found me is someone I knew longggg ago (along with her daughter who the cake was for) and during such a difficult period of my life. She found me through the power of google and I could not be more stunned at the power of the internet to bring people together. So happy they found me <3

Cookies Cakes & Catch-Ups 12: Rosettes and Girly Glamour

Guten Tag!

It is I. The long lost blogger of the usual healthy treats but also sometimes layer cakes land. I report to you now a few weeks into my new job as a Pastry Baker working nights and I have come out...well...I won't say triumphant but I am alive and I am learning so much my head feels like it's going to fall off. 

I thought I was on my grind before -- BUT IT HATH JUST BEGUN!

Because that is the case -- even when I am cooking/baking at home it's pretty minimal and I definitely don't have the time for a proper food post because of how time consuming food photography and editing is. WHICH IS A DAMN SHAME because I have bought some killer food styling props lately. Marshall's, Winners, Homesense. The holy trinity. God bless. 

SO this post is just another recap. I like to do these after I have accumulated enough fun photos of cakes and things to share. If you're new to the blog then know that these are for my side baking business -- the blog related things are the recipes and other tidbits that you can find at the right side bar ;)

SPEAKING OF BUSINESS! It has basically come to a halt. I had to cancel this months orders because the bakery is nearing Thanksgiving Doomsday prep. Please forgive me <3

I have so many beautiful girly things to do. MY FAVE!!!! I reallllllly miss decorating. I get to bake a lot at the bakery (ok ok that's obvious) but I miss my glitter and sprinkles and frosting!!

When my most supportive friend orders a cake for his mom -- I had to go all in! I loved creating this piece and I was so happy to get snapchats of her reaction <3

This beauty below is a floral peach and mint cake with all kinds of vanilla on the inside! And rainbow jimmies because the birthday girl loves them!

Dulce de leche and vanilla cake on the inside. A beautiful gold buttercream array on the out :D!

GF Vegan Donuts. Not for the cake but they match, don't you think?!

My favourite baby cookies of all time for the cutest mom to be!

These vanilla bean donuts I decorated with crushed meringue and shortbread crumbs. YUM!

I made this cake for my former boss when I worked at the Y for her surprise work shower. She has the most STUNNING little girl now -- she's finally loose! I will definitely miss working with this incredible strong and amazing woman.

I have done enough henna cookies at this point to be sort of obsessed. Before Eid Al-Fitr this year my Aunt and Mom surprised me with little cones of real henna and it was actually debilitatingly addictive. SO MUCH FUN! As it turns out though -- I should stick to just piping with icing lol.

Okay so buttercream flowers and glitter and sparkles and gold is all great. Now on to the LESS girly items (equally cool and exciting).



SO CLICK THE READ MORE TO SEEEEE!

Cookies, Cakes & Catch-Ups 11: Chocolate Gold and All Pink Everything!

Alright, stop.


Collaborate and listen.


New cakes and cookies on Feeding my ADDICTION!


Did that work? ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED? Fun Fact...I don't know how to spell collaborate, apparently. Thanks spellcheck!


In terms of catching up -- following me on social media is probably easier than bogging you down with my life story in this post. BUT as per tradition, I like to show you what I have been up to every so often.


ALSO PLEASE MAKE MY NEW DONUT RECIPE! They are seriously too good to pass up. I promise.


Orders at www.theperfectbitebakeshoppe.com have been bumpin' lately! I need to hire someone to re-do both sites but.. WHO HAS THE TIME!


You can tell that I have been having a HUGE love affair with chocolate and gold.

And maybe peanut butter, too? Just an FYI my peanut butter cakes are also full of Peanut Butter, Chocolate and Reese's Cups ;)

I have also been obsessed with MINI cakes. Only 4 inches in diameter but still enough cake for 5-6 people. They're the cutest stinkin' little cute things EVER!

Oh. Let's look at... more chocolate and gold? OH, ALRIGHT!

Cookies, Cakes & Catch-Ups Part 10: Chocolate Drips and Rainbows

HELLO THERE PARTY PEOPLES!


Or non-party peoples. I'm more of a Netflix & snacks with copious blankets and tea on a Friday night kinda gal. But party peoples -- you have all of my respect ;)


What's been going on? Anything new and exciting in your life?


My work schedule has picked up right where it left off - chaos! And things have really been ramping up at the gym as I embark on a new training endeavor of learning the Olympic lifts!

YES.


OLY LIFTS!


How exciting is that?! To me? VERY! I have been strength training more seriously this past year and it has taught me so much. It has been an outlet, a frustrating experience and a rewarding experience. I made strides I did not think I would be able to and it's provided me with such relief and support to my mental health.


I cannot WEIGHT to call myself a legit weightlifter ;)



So I hope I can meet this new challenge with some enthusiasm! Here is some footage of my day 2 experience learning the Clean & Jerk (I did the snatch day 1!):

Crossfit Outlaw North is AMAZING! If you live in the Hamilton area you need to check them out.


Here is the progress of my snatch (yikes) so far -- if the video doesn't load you can see it here

:

Now let's see....what's the opposite of CrossFit and weightlifting....


CAKEEEE!


So there has been a LOT of caking in my life. I am sure this post will be a testament to that. Also feel free to creep me on Instagram and see my cakin' life as it happens.



Chocolate Factory Cake: Hand dipped bits and bobs and tons of fun!

A Vanilla and Chocolate 'Frozen' Cake:

A Vanilla & Caramel Chanel Cake with Black Roses:

A Chocolate & Caramel Teal Ombre Style Cake:

OHHH this one was FUN! A Chocolate And Caramel Boxing Cake:

Aren't the gloves so fun?! Loved making them :D

Or how about this fabulous Chocolate Dulce De Leche Princess Cake?!

And one of my absolute favourite cakes to date: Kinder Egg Explosion!

And of course the fan favourite: 

Cookies, Cakes & Catch-Ups Part 9 : A Very Crazy Christmas

Um...


Ya.


So ... You may recall in this post how the Christmas season royally kicked my little tuckus onto another planet in a galaxy so far away that I was unable to properly function for what felt like an eternity?


On a vaguely related note -- I seriously hope you made someone those cookies this holiday season because they are amazing. If you didn't ...well. I will spam you with chain-e-mails so vile you would swear they were from 2002. (PSST. CHECK OUT MY POST FROM LAST CHRISTMAS TOO!)


Just kidding. That's really mean!



I was looking through older posts and realized a new 'catch-ups' post was well overdue. On the non-baking side of things work has been pretty busy and I have been doing this new strategy where I try really really REALLY hard to not flip people off before 10am. So I basically save all my rage in this little jar inside my brain and then I go to the gym.


AND THEN I OPEN THAT JAR, FRIENDS...


I open it and I squat and lift and swing away all that pent up rage. On the plus side I am noticing that I have leaned out and also gained strength.


On the down side I am really sore and will have to decrease the frequency once life gets busy again.

OH YEAH...WHAT ELSE?!??! I have been a busy baker. Like. Wow. All the cookies. And none in my mouth. What a saint, I am. And cupcakes.


Could you tell?

How about now?

Yep. A lot.


And as much as it pains me to do this -- these are all shot with my iphone because I just didn't have the time :( When I finish orders at night and send them off before/right after work then I have zero change of good lighting for my Canon SLR. Plus staging and all that takes time.


Oh it pains me so much. But I still have plenty of poopy photos to share!



I am actually splitting this post up into 2 because I realized that no sane human being wants to see that many dessert photos in one fell swoop.


Well...I mean, I do. But I'm just a wee bit batty ;)