Home Economics

One of the things that I love the most about making cakes is that I get to learn about different traditions and such. For example, I was asked to make a sporran cake. I never really thought about sporrans before, or knew they had a name. They are those pouches that are traditionally worn on top of a man’s kilt, as Sean Connery is wearing in the below picture:

I found some interesting things out about the sporran. Legend has it that their main function is to weigh down a man’s kilt, so it doesn’t blow up in the wind. Also, they used to be made out of weasel and badger heads. That’s pretty crazy. These days, there are all sorts of designs and styles available, and they are quite beautiful with lots of silver detailing and tassels and patterns. The cake I made was for a family gathering, so the front of the sporran cake featured the family name’s tartan (didn’t know that family names had different tartans, either!); and the family name featured amongst the silver detailing. Here are some photos of the cake coming together, enjoy!:

The licorice tassels were very exciting to me!!:

….and the finished piece:

As previously mentioned, the best store in Vancouver is The Regional Assembly of Text, and every August I have the pleasure of making the cake for their anniversary party.

For the 2009 fourth anniversary I went with another typewriter, complimenting the 2008 piece. Last years’ was a short, mint green Smith Corona with smartie keys. This year, the model was a handsome tall antique L.C. Smith & Bros:

This one involved a ton of detail, including rolos on mint-flavoured toothpicks (for after-cake use) for keys…

Of course, the cakewriter was typing up a well-wishing anniversary letter to the Assembly:

getting the cake there is always the worst part, but it made it….

….and had a lovely spot on the party table next to the Assembly’s iconic ‘punch bowl fountain’

and now for the best part, cutting the cake!!

everyone got to enjoy a piece of cake, each garnished with a rolo key

A while back, the lovely and talented Rebecca Chaperon had an opening at Little Mountain Gallery in the Vancouver neighborhood Mount Pleasant, and I had the pleasure of making a cake to celebrate the opening night. I went out of my comfort zone – and made something pretty for once. The feature image on the cake is a reproduction of one of Ms. Chaperon’s drawings, and the hand-piped detailing around the perimeter is of a pattern borrowed from the background of one of her works.

one of the most exciting design features of this cake was reserved for once it was cut…………..

Back in 2008, the Regional Assembly of Text converted a storage closet in their store into the Lowercase Reading Room, which is now home to hundreds of zines and self published books, all in a space measuring less than 9 by 3 feet.

Of course the opening of the Reading Room called for a cake….