CrafterNews asked the mother-daughter baking and decorating team behind the beloved Whimsical Bakehouse books, Liv Hansen and Kaye Hansen, what inspires their sweet creations.

CrafterNews: What are your favorite kinds of parties for summertime fun?

Liv: My favorite parties, no matter what time of year, are centered on good food.  A nice ambience is always appreciated but not a must.  If there is a pool, lake, or ocean in the vicinity, I’m happy. And if I’m with friends nothing else matters.

Kaye:  Family and friends together in my backyard, by the pool, with lots of good food and desserts, of course.

CN: Where do you get your ideas from?

Liv: By just playing around with the edible materials I work with, I have, quite by accident, come up with some of my best ideas. Our signature cake, the Mini-Birthday cake, was created on just such a whim. Other times inspiration seems to arrive from out of nowhere, but I believe all of my creations are influenced, in some way, by what I see around me and my experiences.

Kaye:  I read old and new cooking magazines and cookbooks.

CN: What advice can you give parents who don’t think they can bake?

Liv: I wanted to say that anyone who can follow step-by-step instructions can bake, but I know that doesn’t exactly lessen the anxiety for someone who has never baked before. So, I think the best advice I can give to a novice baker is: Don’t bite off more than you can chew.  Start with a simple recipe like muffins or quick breads—all you need is wooden spoon and bowl, no fancy gadgets or ingredients.

Kaye: Use our recipes—ha, ha! They are very doable. Always read through a recipe first and scale all of the ingredients out so they are at your fingertips.

CN: Is there any one creation that you’ve made that was too cool to eat?

Liv: Considering I am a cake decorator, it never ceases to amaze me how important cakes are to people.
I believe a cake is meant to be eaten and the design is superfluous, or as they say, “the icing on the cake.”  That said, it does make me chuckle when people purposefully save our chocolate method appliqués, keeping them carefully wrapped and tucked away in some corner of their kitchen so they can peek at them and smile, every once in a while.

Kaye: No, but one of our customers brought back a chocolate portrait of their daughter that they saved for an entire year and we put it on a new cake for them.

• June is here and school is out, so baking sweet treats will help pass the time in a delicious way. Download the recipe for Magic Wands from Scribd.

Categories: Crafts-General | Free Projects |

Tags: baking, children, cookbook, cooking, how to, potter craft, recipes

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