$315,000 Wedding Cake: Black Swan Bakery

Hold the presses.  Here I was, all eager to write a post about the delicious pumpkin chocolate chip bread I baked over the weekend with photos and my recipe to start off my Monday.  My idea and intention has just been interrupted and derailed by a story I just read about a bakery in Beijing called Black Swan Luxury （黑天鹅蛋糕） that sells a wedding cake for $315,000 USD.  My chocolate chip pumpkin bread can wait for later this week.  Doing some basic calculations here, let’s estimate you have a 300 person wedding, that means you would have paid approximately $1,050 per slice of wedding cake.  Last time I checked, wedding cakes ranged in the $7-$15 per slice category for something half decent.  The cake in question from Black Swan Luxury is 70-80 times the price.  Yikes! I wonder how many of these cakes they are selling.  I guess it doesn’t really matter because if they sell more than one, it has generated some significant revenue for the company.

Where did I come by this outrageously priced wedding cake, you ask?  I am a regular reader of the Business of Fashion, a site that specializes in curating a collection of business news articles and interviews about the fashion and luxury goods industries around the world.  Having lived in China and having written my thesis on the Asia luxury goods industry, when I saw the article titled “Chinese are up to speed with life in the fast lane,” published by the LA Times, it caught my attention and I decided to give it a read.  Did I know that one paragraph three quarters of the way down the page would have me nearly falling out of my seat.  Black Swan Luxury is part of the bakery group, Holiland 好利来. Ironically, Holiland’s website, translated in English, means buy cake (买蛋糕)- smart if you are asking people to spend a small fortune for a cake that typically doesn’t even get cut.

While the cake is not my taste, I’m sure Black Swan Luxury will have some eager brides and grooms clamouring for a slice of luxury.  I even found a YouTube video filmed by a customer who shows you a clip of the cake in the window and the wedding consultation area on the second floor.  Happy Monday!

via Rich Times

via Friend Feed

Down With Tissue Paper Pom Poms; Up With Confetti System

I am not deliberately trying to be hard on myself when I say “I suck at making tissue paper pom-poms. ” Last year, I was inspired by the tissue paper pom-pom to the extent that I even wrote a post about it “Tissue Paper Pom Pom” in excitement for my upcoming craft project.   Since I wrote the post, I must have made dozens of pom-poms to accessorize parties and brighten up rooms, but to be honest with you, I find that every time I make them, they tear or I can’t get the tissue paper to separate back to the centre.  In the end, my pom-poms look like pom-poms but they are a far cry from the beauties seen in Martha Stewart’s how-to.

So I’ve come up with a solution for all the people out there who tear their tissue paper pom-poms or can’t be bothered with the undertaking: Tissue paper flowers by Confetti System offered at store, Creatures of Comfort, in New York.  Confetti System’s tissue paper flowers, the creation of Nicholas Anderson and Julie Ho, are delicate, colourful and funky looking. If they don’t scream par-tay, I don’t know what does!  Thank you NY Mag Best Bets.  You never fail to fill my life with awesome items and ideas!

via comfort creations

via NY Mag

minimega

Minimega is my kind of paper brand.  Based in Denmark, Sara Andersen, graphic designer and owner offers loads of fun and colourful items like wrapping paper, prints, postcards, journals and adorable gift tags under the Minimega brand.  However, we are not just talking about any old wrapping paper, cards and tags.   We’re talking wrapping paper, cards and tags with triangles, squares, and polka dots- brightly coloured!  Rest assured, Sara uses 100% recycled Danish paper and vegetable inks making the products environmentally friendly.

For inspiration, check out the company’s blog to see what the Minimega design studio is up to.  You can shop products from Minimega’s online store but from what I gather, they only ship to countries in the EU (good for me!!), sorry my North American friends.

via little scandinavian

via hello tiger

via pushing papers

via etincelle creative studio

Cookie Exchange

I hosted a cookie exchange at my apartment on the weekend with a couple other Prague based bloggers.  It was a fun way to spend an early evening, sampling each others cookies, indulging on sugar(too much sugar), swapping ingredient “war stories,”about how difficult it was to find a particular ingredient in the city and of course drinking tea to cut the sugar!

I tried out two cookie recipes from Country Living magazine: A chocolate crinkle cookie (they call them double chocolate snowquake cookies) where I added chocolate chips and chocolate covered sunflower seeds.  I also baked a sugar cookie, that was meant to be a jam thumbprint cookie, but for some reason, the cookie dough was a bit dry and would not form a thumbprint for jam without falling apart.  After a bit of improvisation, it became a one-bite sugar cookie that dunked well in tea. I loved the chocolate crinkle cookie recipe and would use it again.  The cookies from this recipe had a rich and intense flavour.    On the non-cookie side, I made babaganoush, cut up veggies and made an apple and plum crisp (just in case people were still hungry after the cookies).

From my guests, we got to sample an oatmeal, white chocolate, cranberry pecan cookie, a pecan butter cookie, a ginger molasses cookie and a chocolate mouthfuls cookie. I think everyone had a nice time, especially since we each got to expand our network and meet a new person living in Prague.  Thank you again to all three bloggers: CzechingIn, Agog in Prague, and PeggyHarowitz.

holiday table decor ideas

This morning I spent some time updating my Pinterest boards, something I do every couple of weeks, in search of blog and baking ideas.   Today, I came across an Australian magazine called Home Life that has adorable table setting ideas for the holidays.

While these shots are meant for Christmas (non-traditional Christmas settings), they could easily be used for a family lunch or an afternoon tea. Home Life has it all from interior design, and how-to tips to recipes and other decorating ideas.

Photo Credit: via Home Life

Interview w/ The Pillarbox

I don’t know about you, but if you have every tried to find a beautiful, English language greeting card in Prague, it is nearly impossible.  Same plight goes for wrapping paper.  Last week, I conducted an interview with local entrepreneur, Roisin Lamb, on the recent opening of her fabulous stationery store, the Pillarbox, located on Balbinova 24, in Prague’s Vinohrady district.

During my morning chat with Roisin, I learned that the Pillarbox was named after the free-standing, red post boxes found in the UK, and aims to provide Prague-ites with a wide array of English language greeting cards, invitations, wrapping accoutrement, kids items and gifts under one roof.  Carrying both local and UK stationery and product lines such as Rachel Ellen, Jellycat, One Green Bee, Glick, Woodmansterne, and jewelry from Louise Maystrenko, the Pillarbox is the place to go if you have forgotten someone’s birthday, are looking for colourful gift wrapping accessories such as bows, ribbons, stylish wrapping paper and bags or are in need of adorable invitations for a party.

As you get your mind in holiday mode, if you haven’t stopped by the store, it is a must for the upcoming holiday season, especially if you are on the hunt for some quality gifting accessories.  The best part about the Pillarbox is that it is open on Saturday from 11am to 3pm, quite uncommon for your typical Prague boutique!  Filling a necessary gap in the Prague market for stationery and paper products, the Pillarbox, with its knowledgeable and helpful staff ready and willing to gift wrap for you (boys/men- take note!!), will surely grow to become the new go-to store.

If you are looking for other places and spaces to get acquainted with the Pillarbox in Prague, you can find Roisin on December 3rd at the International Women’s Association of Prague’s (IWAP) Christmas fair at the Diplomat Hotel, as well as at the Prague British School’s holiday market event on December 15th and on their Facebook page.