At last, Montreal will have its first CupcakeCamp. Montreal bakers here is your chance to show off your baking talents. CupcakeCamp Montreal has 3 contest categories: professional bakers, amateur bakers and kids (less than 16 years old). Even the bad cupcake makers can participate. A fourth category is the Failcake contest designed for slackers and evil creative geniuses with horrible, horrible taste.

The event will raise money for Kids Help Phone. A donation of $10 at the door will get your choice of 3 cupcakes and a coffee. You are free to give more. Spread the word by letting everyone knows that you are attending CupcakeCamp Montreal on Facebook and Twitter (via@twtvite). If you wish to sponsor the event, it is not too late.

The event will take place at Bitoque Restaurant from 2 to 5 pm on November 22, 2009. Since it is on a Sunday afternoon, it is easy to come with your family and friends. I hope to see you at the first CupcakeCamp Montreal. And do not be shy to come to say hello. I will be there with my husband.

+ CupcakeCamp Montreal

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When Juanita Koo saw on Twitter that I was going to Toronto, she decided to give me a sweet treat. She sent me 6 cupcakes that she decorated with the 2 logos of the KimVallee.com brand. It is fun to arrive after a day of meetings to your hotel room and see those waiting for you.

I tasted her chocolate sour cream and her strawberry vanilla cakes. Both were excellent. I was pleased that they taste as good as they look. The size are her cupcakes is just perfect; not too small, not too big. Plus, she does not put too much icing and her icing is not too sweet.

I like the tiny potholders and oven mitts she crafted for the Calphalon Culinary Center in Toronto.

If you are in the Toronto area, do not hesitate to contact Juanita of Sweet Things. She does cakes and cupcakes. I am glad that her business since to be doing fine.  For more inspirations, you can have a peek at her adorable baby cakes.

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To conclude today’s marathon on Halloween treats, I am leaving you a link to a tutorial I spot on Bake at 350. You can learn how to make this awesome two-color spider Web icing. The technique is demonstrated on cookies but it could be adapted for decorating cupcakes.

Bridget of Bake at 350 is a source of information for any baker. She shows us how to make cute candy corn cookies.

+ photos: Bake at 350

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I found those at Amazon.com, and if you are hurry, you should receive them before Halloween. Using a special container is one of my time-saving tips. Plus, if you are new to cupcake decorations, it saves you the trouble of fighting for hours to produce an awesome look.

+ Paper Orchid Ghosts Cupcake Wrapper Black $13 USD for 12 – also available as white cupcake wrappers
+ This is the best buy: Wilton Haunted Manor Cupcake Wrapping Kit $8.95 USD for 12  die-cut fence wrappers with 24 pix, 12 of each design.

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In response to my post on Spider sweets for Halloween, Recipe Girl showed me her cute Tarantula cookies. Have a look. She mentioned that while this isn’t a quick and easy recipe, the tarantula cookies were a lot of fun to do with the kids. They turned out cute and delicious.

+ photo: Recipe Girl

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The idea of a spiced apple cake studded with granny smith apple topped with buttery caramel cream cheese frosting is very tempting. This Halloween flavor with the ghost and Boo decorations will be available every day up to Halloween.

By the way, Sprinkles Cupcakes joined last June the cupcake truck trend that we see emerging across the United States. If you live or visit the Los Angeles area, you may wish to follow the movements of the Sprinklesmobile on Twitter. The Sprinklesmobile is also available for private events.

+ photos: Andrea Lenardin for Sprinkles Cupcakes

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I was out of luck to find a candy maker in Montreal who creates delightful candies like those. I am so jealous of people living in New York and California as they get an array of high-end products for throwing a party. I know that it is a question of market size.

If I am wrong and there is a fabulous cake maker in Montreal that would custom made their products to my color palette, please tell me who they are.

By the way, these are styled photos taken for the jewelry collection at Anthropologie. It is obvious why we adore this store. I repeated myself but extra details do matter.

+ photos by Anthropologie
+ via Jordan Ferney

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I wish the fruity fine pastry skewers by Fou de goût were available in Canada. They would be awesome for the dessert table I am preparing for my husband’s 40th birthday party. Can you believe that these marvelous fruit pastries are available at the frozen counters at Monoprix?

Once again, it shows the big gap in the level of the products available at the typical grocers in France and what we get in North America. In both countries, people are challenged with time. There is also a need for frozen upscale food here. Imagine how it would simplify your life to keep superbly presented fine desserts in ready to use portions on your freezer. Inviting guests at the last minute would not be as stressful.

Let’s hope Fou de goût cross the Atlantic in a near future. In the meantime, you can steal the design when you bake your own pastry.

+ photos: Fou de goût

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For the second time this year, I succumbed to the fabulous cake creations of Cakegirls. This Chicago-based duo is quite busy. Looking at their skills, you can understand why people hire Cakegirls.

Organizing huge parties at Halloween is part of the tradition. With its increased popularity, Halloween is on the verge of becoming an holiday. Who says big events, says cakes. The haunted house cake beats the paper haunted house models. With that level of details ist is almost to great to eat! I am only kidding; I rarely resist a delicious cake.

I noticed that the Halloween decorations this year are more sophisticated. The decorations are even merrier. We seemed to stay away from the scariest Halloween party themes. I guess that we want something else; after the pretty scary have been done so many times. I would not complain about this sweeter side of Happy Halloween.

A Glimpse of Christmas

The Maher sisters also created speciality cakes for Christmas. I would take one gift cake instead of a log. But we will discuss that once we stored away our orange, silver and black decorations.

+ photos by Cakegirls

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This British cake baker is very talented. I love her style. These cakes are produced by a mom who used to be a textile designer. While taking care of her two daughters, Natasha Collins launched a cake making business called Nevie-pie Cakes. She decorates cookies, cakes and cupcakes using her sculpting and drawing skills.

Natasha impressed me with the versatility of her creations. From a vegetable garden cake up to her dreamy kid birthday cakes, she mixed many decorative techniques to deliver a Wow factor.

The birthday girl requested two fairies, one pink and one yellow. The Fairy Cake is decorated with sugarpaste fairies and butterflies and hand painted daisies. Her lemon sponge christening cake based on the Beatrix Potter story “The Tailor of Gloucester” is adorable.

PHOTO CREDITS:
+ Bird House Cupcakes
+ Gardening Birthday Cake
+ Fairy Cake
+ The Tailor of Gloucester Cake

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Amy Atlas has made a name for herself in a niche market. She specializes in dessert and candy tables. I am not alone to love her sense of style. With Halloween in 6 weeks, it is good to review what you need to set up  an awesome candy table.

Therefore, I read Amy Atlas’ interviews and examine her marvelous portfolio to sum up how you can try to design your own sweets buffet at home.

• Start with a theme
• Put attention to the table linens and service ware. They should be beautiful and coordinated to get a refined look
• Vary the heights of trays, stands, bowls, jars and footed plates. Design cute tags for every vessel.
• Repeat elements to create a sense of collection.
• Add festive decorative elements to enhance your table. Your goal is to impress.
• Create a backdrop to your buffet table.
• Survey the bakers and candy purveyors on your area. Make sure to taste everything; it has to be delicious not just pretty.
• Order desserts or candies based on what you want the table to look like instead of limiting the quantities to the number of guests. Plan for refilling, when applicable.
• Provide goody bags for your guests to take home desserts or candies. The goody bags can be a container that fit with your party theme.

How much candy you need?

You need an abundant choice to create an impact. Get 8 to 10 candy varieties. You need a least 8 ounces of candy per guest. To give you an idea, 6 ounces fill a small gift bag. Better to add more and round up because people will take some home.

I read on Martha Stewart that you need 8 pounds of jelly beans to fill a 1-gallon bowl. The same 1-gallon bowl will hold 5 pounds and a half of malted-milk balls or 3 pounds of wrapped taffy. Estimate that three quarter of your guests will take individual wrapped candies like pinwheel lollipops.

One practice that is not common is to host a sweet party later at night. Now that you have some guidelines, think about it.

MORE:
+ Amy Atlas

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Imagine having a cake with a character that looks like the guest of honor. This is what you get when you hire Anne Heap of Pink Cake Box. She tailored her standard cake creations to fit your event.

The flower baby shower cake includes a pregnant woman modeled after the image on the baby shower’s invitation. The invitation to a first birthday also led to the color palette used for her cake. Each tier of the bachelor pirate cake has port holes with caricatures of the groomsmen looking out. Fall weddings led to leafy pumpkin decorations and a fun Halloween themed cake with bride and groom corpses as cake toppers.

Baby Shower Cakes with Personalized Moms-to-be

Who would not be happy with a pregnant topper like those? Each topper is distinct and tells a story. Details go from the color of the skin, the hair style and fashion accessories up to matching fabric samples provided by the grandmother-to-be. All the pregnant toppers from Pink Cake Box are adorable.

If you recalled, this is the cake shop that replicate the Rachel Ray’s Studio Kitchen as a cake last year.

MORE:
+ Pink Cake Box
+ Get directions to Pink Cake Box p (973) 998-4445
18 E Main St, Morristown, New Jersey, United States, 07960

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