on zombies and cake styling

i hate zombies. i hate anything that looks/sounds/conveys scary. i will walk out of a movie theater because a ghost sneaks up on the main character (true story). i will totally jump and hold onto whoever's next to me (even strangers, another true story) when something like unexpected trailers not fast forwarded during commercials show up on screen(hello, did you see the trailer for Mama? took me days before i recovered from that) .. and with that being said, when i am confronted with the idea to make a cake and tie it into a zombie theme, i draw a complete BLANK..  
i am a total rustic, yet chic, simple homemade cakes/cookies/sweets kind of baker. if there is decoration, it is the bare minimum and usually hand crafted. I'm not fond of fondant and type A decorative perfection type of cakes. i appreciate them though because i know it takes a certain artistic talent to get them looking like they do. perfect cakes makes me not want to eat them, just sit, stare and admire. But when faced with these decisions to make something work creatively, i am not opposed to learning. i am forced to research zombies, stare these ugly scary looking creatures in the eyes and figure out how to make. it. work.    
the first time i committed to a zombie project was for my big bro B's birthday cake a few years back. he is the ultimate gamer geek and he was having a zombie birthday party. I had a brilliant idea for a dirt topped cake with a fondant zombie hand coming out of it. it was inspired by this: 

that seems to be the first thing i think of when i think zombies, their rise from the dead. am i on the right track? do they always rise from the ground, hands first? anyway, i made marshmallow fondant. it was a project and a half and i gained some awesome arm muscles i never knew i had! what i learned from this fondant experience is that it is pliable but HEAVY. i was unable to make the hand stand up like i imagined. the Chocolate Peanut Butter cake was a hit, but B and his friends really loved that edible hand as i caught a few of them nibbling the digits, straight up like candy. it was an earnest attempt to use my imagination and stimulate creativity. 

zombie hand modeling.

finished cake.

my what brittle(slivered almond) nails you have.

last week, another zombie themed party fell upon me. a Cookies and Cream cake was the request, as the MBA graduate is a chocoholic. i enjoy cakes that are visually stunning in its simplicity. this cake was a sturdy cocoa sheet cake, a white chocolate mousse with crushed oreos filled its cavity and whipped chocolate ganache enrobed the exterior. in order to create the same dirt like texture, i decided to make a simple glaze, letting it drizzle over the sides (reminiscent of blood oozing) and finishing it off with crushed oreo crumbs. it was decorated with yet another set of (toothpick) zombie hands and a banner reading "congratulations!" 

drippity drip.

tada!

cake.filling.cake.filling.cake.

and since the graduate's wife wanted in on some creative fun, i provided her with a 6" chocolate peanut butter cake as a blank slate. she fondant-ed a cake to help emphasize the theme of the party. as that's not my thing, i'm glad she did it because it was so fun! 

in continuing to develop my own style in this cake driven world, i've realized that i've learn alot about restraint. to not overdo it is my forte. imperfection is perfect in my world. to strike a balance between a visually stimulating piece of art and a homemade handcrafted cake is truly representative of me as a baker and keeps me standing my ground in my #annbakes vision. while i played with fondant on the first zombie cake, i kept it very organic and raw. 

so zombies taught me an important lesson in defining my own style, hone my craft,so to say.. thank you, i now know more about your kind than i've ever wanted to know. i will continue to avoid sightings of all things scary.. and please don't come after me in the zombie apocalypse. i appreciate it. thank you.      

memory.

mom: what are you making? (as i am pressing the cookie crust into the sides of a springform pan)

me: cheesecake

mom: for who?

me: my buddy/customer

mom: yeah? what's this, chocolate cake?

me: brownies

mom: is that for someone too? can i eat some?

me: for the cheesecake, it goes into the cheesecake. you don't eat chocolate, mom... (the smell must've enticed her) but yes have some, i wont use all of it.

mom: it goes into the cheesecake? oh, and do you remember that one time you made that one cake that i like? can you make me that cake for tomorrow morning? it's my friend's birthday. 

me: (good thing i remember that one time and that one cake...) ok sure. wait, did you say tomorrow? (glancing over to oven clock. 8:34pm. on a school night.) well, i guess i can try. 

mom: thanks! (walks away)

me: ... (still confused as to why my mom is so good at that... it's rare when she doesn't get her way. why didn't i get that gene?)

needless to say, i made TWO cakes last night.

it is quite strange how memory works. for some, no memory can be recalled for the life of them and for others memory is filled to the brim, spilling out almost all the time. is it due to suppression or living completely in the present while others hold on so tightly to the past? no matter, the transmission between the five senses, brain and memory never seizes to amaze me. it's a chain reaction and mine is quite good at returning my stored memory into the forefront of my mind. (although as i rack up the years in this lifetime, that return rate is struggling a bit..) 

take this cheesecake for example.  i've made it once, maybe twice but quite some time ago. i remember running across Smitten Kitchen's post and i could not get it out of my mind. it just sounded decadent. there are alot of recipes i screen and catalogue for some special occasion that never seems to present itself. then one day i was menu planning for our annual family of friends' thanksgiving dinner. there were two birthdays approaching and i made sure that the celebrants' favorites were woven into the menu. for one, it was chicken fried steak plus fixin's (we obviously don't adhere to tradition). and for the other, i focused on his sweet tooth. i knew his favorite dessert was cheesecake and set out to inquire about his ideal. this was the response i got: 'oh man, if there was such a thing as cheesecake with a brownie crust, or brownie with cheesecake on top, just somehow brownie and cheesecake in one bite.' and before he finished that sentence, a billboard flashed Deb's BROWNIE MOSAIC CHEESECAKE brightly across my mind.

what exactly is a brownie mosaic cheesecake, you ask? let me take you on a visual journey. it is much more enticing that way.

start with the brownies.

cube them.

make the chocolate cookie crust...

make cheesecake filling and yes, the brownies go in, whole.

bake.

and give it the chocolate. ganache. treatment.

tadaaah!

so when said friend called to tell me he had read my inaugural cake post and wanted to support my endeavor, he simply said, "i want my cheesecake. mail it to me." and like that instance with my mom, i knew exactly what he was talking about. oh, the things that trigger our memories. it's good to know that  in some small way, i made an impression (i know, it's just cake..) and whatever triggers it, whatever emotion it evokes, it was embedded in their memory.

for the recipe, go here.

sealed with love for its travel to the bay area!

  

the inaugural cake.

today is a milestone of sorts. today is a sign of things to come. today is a blessing, and certainly not the kind that's in disguise.

the past couple years have flown by, like a bunch of tornadoes quickly sweeping through, stirring everything i thought was in its place and strewn it disparagingly across the landscape that remains loosely intact. life as i knew it changed quite dramatically (for slow and steady, hands-always-on-the-steering-wheel me anyway). i learned alot about myself during those times. about my patience and my strength. about forgiveness and love. about inner peace and confidence, or lack there of. i also learned about my passions, what truly moved me and pulled at my heartstrings and equally as important, what didn't carry as much weight to me. i owned up to a lot of demons and faced many of my fears. i learned that being human is all about living, making mistakes, learning to laugh at yourself, letting yourself cry, moving on, letting go and continuing to dream/smile/learn/love despite the trials. but best of all, i learned that life goes on and that happy is a state of mind. there is always light at the end and there is always room for growth.

so back to today. it has been an unbelievable journey for me, but today is a step towards the future. my future. a light stroke of the brush across the vast starchy white canvas that i speak of. for those of you that follow me on facebook or instagram (and if not, add me!), you know that food is a large part of my life. a small seed of a dream was planted in my head somewhere between college and now. the dream sprouted from an unintentional discovery of my love for the kitchen: cooking, baking, serveware, gadgets, cookbooks, even the science behind it all. i think most of this passion came from the huge sense of community it brings to my family and friends, the happiness that permeates the room when we convene for family dinners, the realization that homecooked meals are simply heartwarming and well, the continuing amazement that these two hands made it happen. i did that. it is one of the ways to repay the gratitude i have for the unconditional love and support of my loved ones. because without them, today will not happen. BUT today that small seedling of a dream pushed itself out from the depths of soil through the surface and got a glimpse of the sun:

i had a request. i baked love into a cake. i put it in a simple white box. i delivered it. and there was an exchange...

it may seem like a tiny step, but it is a step nonetheless. it is a step towards an accidental dream, but those are the best kinds, aren't they? the ones you never expected. right now, it's still in its early stages, call it a seedling, a soft opening, whatever it is, whatever this will become, it is coming and i'm going let it organically grow. 

so to my life that seems to keep on going even if my legs cant catch up, i say bring it. thank you for paving the way white chocolate buttermilk cake. you are my inaugural cake. 

you are my absolute favorite cake to eat and make. you are tender crumbed and complex without being pretentious. you somehow manage to look homemade yet exude delicacy with your pillowy creme fraiche-whipped cream filling and fresh summer berries.  it is so fitting that you lead the way. yearn for the skies! onward, ho! 

ps. for those who are interested with requests of your own. please contact me here for pricing and other information.