Wednesday 26 June 2013

So tell me, what do you do?

Once again we make it hard for dessert lovers to love desserts. Next time I should invite Heston, surely he would embrace such challenges as 'bake your work', or the previous theme 'deceive me'. In fact he was probably the reason we started going a little crazy with these themes lately. But the good dessertees always come up with the goods!! Always stepping up to the challenge, when it comes to sweet goodness in life!

So tell me, what do you do? Oh, tell me by way of dessert, thank you very much!!

I'm going to tell on our darling CEO, who works at the NSW criminal courts. She sees all sorts of badness on trial, so decided to present a plate of snowy white stuff.

What's so divine about that!!! Plate of icing sugar, on a Homebake event? At least present the goods nicely ... like, her famous proposal cake? So the snowy powder was heaped on top of a decadent flourless chocolate "proposal" cake. Sniff that!!!

I was pacified, everyone else was in love after a bite. (About time this cake made its appearance at our home bake!!)

I'm a scientist. Since my uni days my research area had moved several times. Currently I am up to my neck in spine research, particular focus on intervertebral disc degeneration (a major cause of lower back pain). So, macarons with lemon jelly + lemon curd centre filling were arranged in the shape of a spine. Some even had disc herniation, I mean, the gooey filling squishing out of the shells.


My fellow scientist friend and colleague MJ actually got inspiration DURING the work that became her creation. She works with a mutant named "Jaffa", and uses a technology called flow cytometry. She puts cells from Jaffa in with antibodies that are tagged with different colours, then uses flow cytometry to separate different cell types based on what the antibodies have detected, and the colours that are attached to the antibody then tells us what it found.

We present to you, orange chocolate biscuits with her standard flow cytometry analysis panel.

SS, an artist, turned up with a lunch box full of slices of chocolate cake. How uninspiring. Then she picked some blooming camellias, frangipani leaves, and arranged her cakes into the most beautiful artwork!

Contracting marketing strategist RD is currently not working, so she prepared a plate of chocolate dipped strawberries, sitting beautifully on individual mini paper cups, got messed up en route to home bake. I guess no amount of strategy and planning can prepare you for the unexpected ... bad traffic, disappointing weather, messed up tray of chocolate dipped strawberries, for example!!


Another lawyer NL is currently working on the inquiry into unsavoury crimes. Uninspired by the scums that crosses her paths, brought a plate of castrated balls of sex offenders, I mean of the cinnamon donut type. For good measure, I scattered a handful of chocolate condoms around it for more protection. Rated MA+.


A late arrival, created by accountant and actuarist couple RB & MB, brought brownies with passionfruit cream. It was pretty hard coming up with something to represent their work, and when googled accounting cakes, calculators came up. Marzipan buttons and all. Not an easy profession to be creative with, really. But we had some fun turning this into Jenga. Here's the challenge ... try not to topple the tower!

Much chocolate, coffee, tea and sugar this afternoon, shared with friends, old and new. There's really no better way to spend a rainy gloomy day!!

CS