Sweetvolution

Last weekend the FT's How to Spend it featured an interesting article about the "designer patisserie" scene in London, Paris and New York. The article notes the rising popularity of designer cakes despite the increasing trend towards banning sugary carbs.

It got me thinking about the evolutionary process in cake making and consumption. One of the reasons why these creations sell, literally, as hot cakes - is that we are becoming truly demanding about how we spend our limited calorie mileage. It's normal: if you could only afford one sugary treat every once in a while would you settle for a generic, forgettable cake or would you go the extra mile?

If you answered the latter, then I hope my below attempted classification of the different designer cake species will help you choose wisely.

The COMFORT CAKE derives predominantly from the old pound cake recipe. Its simplistic home-style approach (in sharp contrast to the next species) is by no means detrimental to its value and appeal: sometimes you need something simple but pleasing to the eye and palate. The other advantage of the comfort cake is that it lends itself wonderfully to home lab experimentation (if you are keen, then check out this website).

Picture source: Billy's Bakery

Where to try Comfort Cakes?
NY: Magnolia Bakery, Billy's Bakery
London: Hummingbird Bakery, Ottolenghi


Next species is the EVOLUTIONARY PATISSERIE, which mutated the French gateau into futuristic creations with unique shapes, textures, colours and/or flavours (Absinthe? Pomegranate? Green tea?). These special creatures should be handled with extra care as regular consumption may lead to an uncomfortable feeling of dessert ennui.

Picture source: channel 4

Where to try Evolutionary Patisserie?
Paris: Pierre Hermé, Ladureé, Christophe Michalak (see directory below), Sadaharu Aoki (my favourite, for its heavenly "black sesame eclair")
London: Yauatcha, Ladureé at Harrods


And finally the variant species: the BIJOU CAKE. This species, dominated by the macaron and the mini fours with their myriad flavours, shares some of the same advantages of astronaut food: it packs many flavours (even savoury ones) into one tiny body and they also have a relatively long shelf life (up to 5 days in the fridge if you can resist for that long...).

Picture source: Ladureé

Where to try Bijou Cakes? Pierre Hermé, Ladureé

For completeness, I reproduce below the mini directory which closed the FT's article. I promise I will make my next food post less caloric!

SELLING LIKE HOT CAKES
Billy’s Bakery, 184 9th Avenue, New York 10011 (001212-647 9956). Claridge’s, Brook Street, London W1 (020-7409 6307). Christophe Michalak, see Hôtel Plaza Athénée. Harrods, 87/135 Brompton Road, London SW1 (Ladurée: 020-3155 0111). Hôtel Plaza Athénée, 25 Avenue Montaigne, 75008 Paris (00331-5367 6665). Ladurée, 21 Rue Bonaparte, 75006 Paris (00331-4407 6487) and see Harrods and www.laduree.fr . The Magnolia Bakery, 401 Bleecker Street, New York 10014 (001212-462 2572). Mariage Frères, 35 Rue du Bourg-Tibourg, 75004 Paris (00331-4347 1854; www. mariagefreres.com) and branches/ stockists. Pierre Hermé, 72 Rue Bonaparte, 75006 Paris (00331-4354 4777) and 185 Rue Vaugirard, 75015 Paris (00331-4783 8996; www.pierreherme.com ) and see Claridge’s. Sketch, 9 Conduit Street, London W1 (0870-777 4488). Yauatcha, 15 Broadwick Street, London W1 (020-7494 8890).

Further reading: Top 5 tea places in London and Paris

The Canons of Costume Design

Picture source: The Costumer's Guide to Movie Costumes (truly worth visiting!)

When it comes to the Oscar season (yawn...) the things that usually keep me interested are what I call "the glamorous bits": the red carpet fashion wars and the lavish period productions à la Merchant Ivory, typically nominated in the cinematography, art direction, costume design and best actress categories. As it turns out, this genre has been almost excluded from the race this year.

Almost. At least the Academy remembered to put Marie Antoinette forward for a costume design prize. This is a small token (I do think this eye-candy-of-a-movie deserved to be nominated in a few more categories) but never mind, I will still be rooting: Kirsten Dunst as the ill-fated queen parades no less than 60 sublime costumes designed by Milena Canonero. Each more decadently chic than the other, they convey the excesses at Versailles but also have a seductive power: the dress with belt shown above stayed with me well after the movie screening due to its simple yet alluring contrast of textures and colours.

Canonero really deserves a win. Slight problem is that she will contend against the equally canonized Patricia Field who, having shot to fame with her legendary Sex and the City wardrobes, is now nominated for The Devil Wears Prada. A case of "may the best dressed win".

Jane Eyre Picspam

I am on countdown mode. To celebrate next week's launch of the Jane Eyre DVD in the UK (and if you are across the pond, this week's conclusion of the series in the US) here's a mini picspam of some of my favorite "canvas -like" moments in this hugely aesthetic production:

This shot of Grace Poole in the stairs reminded me of a Vermeer painting...

...while the contrast between light and darkness in both these shots had slight overtones of La Tour or even Caravaggio

The rich landscape, the colour palette, as well as Jane and Rochester's stances in the below scene evoked a Pre-Raphaelite painting...

...perhaps it made me think of John William Waterhouse's Echo and Narcissus?

The Gig Ticket Gold Rush

to read the entire article click here
It's that time of the year again when the tour hype starts in the UK. So one evening you hear that:

Arcade Fire are kicking off the indie live season!!!!
Tickets go on sale the next day from 9am!!!

And this is how it goes:

• You wake up early, your internet browser has 3 open windows, one for each official tkt site, two of which have frozen because they were conceived in the mesozoic era and cannot cope with the demand.

• you frantically refresh your computer screen between 8:55 and 9:00 until those precious tickets appear...

• ...then, with a racing heart, you get set and go, go, go!!! Your trembling fingers are quick, your reactions are sharp, your mission is to be faster than all those cyber ticket touts out there.
  

From there it's either ticket heaven (yes, the tkt gods are smiling upon you) or that sinking feeling that life is not fair: you are now in the hands of touts, ebayers, etc. and oh, how it will cost you! But you are likely to pay because you just want to see this band live so much!

And why? All in the name of feeling a few good years younger or refreshingly cathartic for 2 hours or so. In my opinion, totally worth it!

New York Picspam

Following the New York magazine's cue and a recent hop to the Big Apple, here's an interactive picspam with a few of my own reasons to love NY right now:

1) Spring is always near

2) Wedding cake-like buildings, spiralling buildings, etc.

3) A snack stopover at a supermarket cafe can reward you with this view...

...while you fill your basket with fresh 'self-squeezed' organic peanut butter
(for nut buffs like me)!



4)You can spend a fuss-free cultural hour (or two) in one pocket museum...

... or another

... or you can just wind down with a scrumptious cake in their cozy cafes:

5) Speaking of which, there's the food scene too!

with amazing Japanese food

or, if you prefer, a Chili fest

6) And last but not least, because even in winter you can enjoy blue-sky-bliss!

The Pixie Governess Strikes Again

Photo: Liv Tyler or Ruth Wilson as Jane Eyre?

Since writing my last post another Jane Eyre related piece of news reached this blog (from today's The Times):

To read the entire article click here

My opinion may be biased (as this book is one of my many obsessions) but I quite agree that this production was the cultural highlight of 2006 in the UK. Nothing came close to it that was as deep, passionate, full of poetic imagery or rich detail; nor has any TV drama been as sensitively adapted or as superbly well acted (by leads Ruth Wilson and Toby Stephens) as this one.

My only worry now: how can the BBC possibly top it?

The Illustrated Jane Eyre

It's been 3 months since the airing in the UK of the BBC's jaw-droppingly beautiful and fresh adaptation of Jane Eyre and I am still pining away.

Thus, on a recent trip to NY, while impatiently waiting for the BBC to release the series DVD (which comes out in the UK on February 5), I purchased yet another copy of the book, more specifically the recently published The Illustrated Jane Eyre. With fitting Neo-Gothic illustrations by graphic novelist Dame Darcy, it's a worthy addition to any Brontë collector's library and will surely achieve its task of bringing this Victorian classic to a younger generation (BTW, I also think Darcy's work will appeal to any Tara McPherson fans out there).

My only two criticisms: (1) it is a credit to Dame Darcy's work that I almost wish this was also available in 100% graphic novel version and (2) while I really like Darcy's depiction of Jane, Mr. Rochester seems lacking in something. He does not look alluring or brooding enough: perhaps a few touches of the Wolverine as in The Royal Anna's vision would have helped.