Jul 19, 2019
Fondant Cake!
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Fondant Cake!
10 principles
Dieter Rams, design guru. Celebrated for his illustrious career at Braun. Here are his ten principles for good design:
Good design is innovative.
Good design makes a product useful.
Good design is aesthetic.
Good design makes a product understandable.
Good design is unobtrusive.
Good design is honest.
Good design is durable.
Good design is thorough down to the last detail.
Good design is concerned with the environment.
Good design is as little design as possible.
You can tell which ones I've resolved to apply to pastry!
(Here's an interesting story on how his products may have influenced Apple's offerings.)
C is for celebration
I am not a fan of celebration cakes. To me they represent the edifice complex that gave us some of the world's best and also some of its worst architecture. Admittedly, there's more potential for design here than the more delicate croqembouche or cupcake tower, but the designs seldom exploit form.
Maggie Austin's cakes, on the other hand, completely redefine that dynamic. Her creations are fluid, fragile even. They're not static monoliths: you can sense movement. Are you as unsurprised by her past as a ballet dancer as I was?
Hers is a commonly used technique in modern architecture. The next time you come across a huge, expansive construction, notice how a band of windows or cladding leads your eye horizontally across the mass.
To me, what makes her celebration cakes stand out is that they celebrate her. Her style and her story.
(Image source: Maggie's portfolio, via Green Wedding Shoes)
How to motivate a designer
As early as my second week on my Pâtisserie course, I approached one of the most knowledgable, friendly chefs at the school:
Me: Chef, what are the different styles of pastry design and where can I find out more about them?
Chef: If you are ________ or ________ (he rattled off the names of some famous French pastry chefs), then you can do your own thing. Otherwise you have to do what the people want.
Show and tell - II
Five things that caught my eye at the Cake & Bake Show. Five things that you could have a lot of fun with if you like baking and decorating cakes. I haven't tried any of these products, but maybe they'll inspire you as much as they inspired me?
Silicon moulds by Silikomart. Stylish and creative moulds for chocolate, cakes, etc. that make me think design.
Or how about making your own silicon moulds? Shesto let you do just that, and without any special equipment. Scope for endless entertainment here. You might just forget about cake.
This is really pretty. Sugarveil combines food and fashion, says its inventor. Imagine lace that you can eat.
Stencils, textured rolling pins: Infinite possibilites here to explore.
Good things come in good packages: Clothe your confectionery well. I like the way the Card Cuts company encourage you with ways to take their packaging products further.
Show and tell - I
Two weeks ago, I went to the Cake and Bake Show and I thought I would post my musings on the 'state of the (baking) nation' here:
Cupcakes, stencils for decoration, all things pink, floral and romantic still hold sway in London in 2012. Maybe it's us ladies who make and consume most of the cakes, because just about everything was pink.
Most of the floorspace was occupied by cake decorating suppliers. I'll do a separate post on the trends I came across later, but I found one thing odd. While visitors thronged these stalls, the small cupcake companies already in business sold very simple products in comparison. Maybe that's a sign that taste (and price?) is still all important for product development? Coming across these microbusinesses was very inspiring for me, and visible proof that my dreams can come true. However, there were some things that struck me immediately. If I was their pastry design consultant, I would politely ask the owners to consider these things:
Choose your location wisely: Lighting plays a big part in making someone want to spend time at a stall. Even if you are on the fringes of the show, choose a stall that's well lit to improve footfall - illuminate your creations for the world!
Have a story, and sell it: I wasn't encouraged as a visitor to read a lengthy plaque but I'm sure there are more creative ways of making us pay attention.
Product differentiation: Very, very important in my books. If I lined up all your cupcakes, I wouldn't be able to tell one from the other. Of course the ones catering to dietary needs stand out, but the rest? They didn't, not really. Even though the themes for the businesses ranged from Cute and Quirky to Indian colonial to the Fifties. Remember that story of yours? Can you somehow translate it into cake?
Detail: If you hand me a cupcake on a serviette that's too large, it somehow doesn't please the eye. Sense of scale rules. I'm not a retail psychologist, but could I be right in predicting that a customer feels they are getting their money's worth if the sizes of the serviette and the cupcake are compatible?
Of course, I didn't share any of my thoughts. I've posted them here, with humility, and an honest desire to help someone, someday. I can imagine how it is: you refine your vision for your products as you go along and make do with what you have. It will be the path I will follow one day, and if I miss some details, I hope someone will point them out to me!