A very Kirby birthday!

It is that time of the year again.  

Time to provide a nerdy birthday cake for my sweetie's kid, that is!

I knew right from the start, alas, that this time around I wouldn't have the time to replicate the feat that was last year's Super Mario Bros. cake.  

The theme was still going to be Nintendo videogames though, since the birthday boy's such a huge fan - thus, Kirby it was! 

Unlike Mario and Luigi, with whom I had a passing acquaintance if nothing else, I knew absolutely nothing about Kirby and his friends. 

All I had to work with was this pic that my sweetie kindly provided...

The Kirby games and all related characters belong to Nintendo and HAL Laboratory

I fully meant to reproduce the four of them - Kirby, King Dedede, Meta Knight and Waddle Dee - hanging up to the star, just like this.
And that was when... dun-da-da-DUN... DISASTER STROKE! 

Between me and you: that's not really true.
The ugly truth is, I've been a complete idiot and didn't check my fondant stash beforehand, so I only discovered at the very last moment that... It. Had. Gone. Bad. 

Luckily I had a bag of marshmallows in my pantry, so I quickly whipped up a batch of homemade fondant. 
The good thing was, I had a chance to flavour it to my heart's content and make it way tastier than storebought sugarpaste. But it was far too soft to model complex shapes out of it, plus - since my marshmallows were of the pink-and-white persuasion - getting a pure white base out of them was out of question, which meant I could only make characters that were pink-hued to begin with...

Even their simple, spherical bodies ended up all squished. 
Blah.

While not my better job by far, this cake tasted delicious if nothing else, as it was based on Alice Medrich's Queen of Sheba - a European-style cake, and possibly the closest you could get to a Sachertorte without receiving worryingly official-looking correspondence by some highly respected legal practice in Wien. 

Ground almonds. Egg Whites. Chocolate-based batter. So NOT a Sachertorte...

The recipe's from her Craftsy class, Decadent Chocolate Cakes. 

If you are a beginner and interested in baking with chocolate, you should definitely buy it! She gives tons of useful tips on how to work with this "difficult" yet yummy ingredient!

I was in such a hurry in the end that I didn't even snap a pic of the finished cake... but my hun took a few during the party! 
Awww... Ain't he such a sweet and considerate guy?  

(The star should have been standing, though. Sigh...)

Imma makin' Super Mario Bros. COOKIES!

Would you believe it? It's that time of the year again! Time to get into crazy baking mode, that is! 

Last year I made a Super Mario Bros. cake for the 8th birthday of my sweetie's child. This time around I'm settling for a less ambitious cake, since unfortunately I lack both the time and the storage space to replicate that feat - but, I can do COOKIES!

Many people see cookies as the easiest form of baking. I disagree with that. 

Personally I find cakes to be much less troublesome; I can't think of more than two instances where I seriously messed up a cake (and both times it was because of a notable mistake on my part), whereas I've had countless cookie misfires, even while following recipes to the letter. 

Meh. 

Not this time, though!

Of course, it helped that the recipe is from that veritable cookie lover's Bible that is Decorating Cookies: 60+ Designs for Holidays, Celebrations & Everyday, by Bridget Edwards.

Same of you might remember me raving about her (and her blog, Bake at 350) back when planning my Susan gingerbread cookies - which I made for a party we never had. Drat! - only this time I picked a chocolate dough. Kids adore chocolate cookies and that's a fact!

(Plus, this recipe has Nutella in it. Your argument is invalid.) 

Unlike my previous gingerbread experiment, these cookies baked flat and even and didn't spread at all. OMG I'm so happy about that!
That might be because I've been using cookie cutters, as opposed to cutting manually around a template - which allowed me to work quickly, manhandling the dough as little as possible. 
Also, I allowed the raw cookies a fair 10 minutes in the freezer before they went into the oven. And finally, I splurged on a few extra cookie sheets, so I didn't have to keep using the same one by refrigerating it with water between batches. I really believe it makes a world of difference!

Oh, and speaking about cutters: I got mine from WarpZone, an Etsy shop I am head-over-heels in love with. It's a nerdy baker's paradise!
They 3D-print cutters in every geeky flavour you can dream of - from anime to Game of Thrones, from Dr Who to My Little Pony... You name it, they have it!
And if they don't, they can make one from your own drawing. How awesome is that? 

I got the whole Super Mario Bros. range from them, knowing how huge a fan my hun's kiddo is... but I didn't want to mix up dozens of different icing shades all at once, so I stuck with three subjects: our two hero plumbers, Paper Mario-style... 

...plus the iconic 1-up mushroom. 

Hee hee! Aren't they friggin' adorable? Squee! 

..And here are the freshly iced cookies! 

Since kids are going to eat them, I didn't trust raw egg whites and used Wilton's Meringue Powder instead. 

I have mixed feelings about it, franky - it's super-easy to mix and takes colour well, and it doesn't clog up in the squeeze bottle's nozzle nearly as much as "real" royal icing. It seems to be sturdier, too - less brittle and crunchy, somehow more like candy melts than icing. 

On the other hand, it feels slightly chalky in my mouth, and the flavour, while not at all bad, is just different. 

Still, better safe than sorry!

Lucca Comics & Games report - part 3

(Part 1 - Part 2)

Now hopefully you haven't been scared away by my previous advice! Because when all is said and done, geeks are the most cosmopolitan of people. 

You will be welcome, no matter your alignment - whether you are utterly nice...

...or evil...

...slightly misguided... 

                                                       

...or downright wicked. 

You will meet all sorts - the cute and popular...

...and the snarky outsider...

...the brave and fearless... 

...and the hopelessly timid. 

If you'd rather leave the spotlight to the heroes and villains out there, that's okay too - there's nothing wrong with being a minion...

 

...or just a real person with real problems... 

...and even if you're totally clueless and merely feel like walking around in a happy, giggly daze, no one will judge you any harsher for that! 

If you still don't get the point of it all, just keep one simple thing in mind: geeks are passionate about their favourite characters.

Should you spot one of them wandering wide-eyed, smiling ecstatically - he might have had some sort of deeply meaningful religious experience... 

...or merely a brush with a time-travelling alien...

...or a wizard perharps! Now that's always exciting, regardless of it being a humble apprentice...

...a really nice guy... 

...or a not-so-nice one. 

In a nutshell, the point here is: no matter what your nerdery of choice is, we can all get along just fine, as long as we respect each other. It boils down to keeping in mind that what is merely a bi-dimensional cardboard figure to you, can be an inspirational hero to someone else - this is all there is to it, really. 

Maybe this is where the true appeal of such a convention lies: card gamers, manga fans, roleplayers, action figure collectors, videogamers, superhero enthusiasts - you name it - we are all friends here. 

Here, in Lucca. Where East and West meet...

...magic is real... 

...and pigs may fly. 

Lucca Comics & Games report - part 2

(Read part 1 here)

For many years now, Lucca has ben hosting Italy's largest geeky convention, Lucca Comics & Games. 

Over the four days spanning the Halloween weekend, the place is literally flooded with all flavours of geeks - kiddos in love with the latest manga hero, 30-something nostalgics reminiscing about the Eighties (*cough*), gamers, collectors, inquisitive minds, and best of all - cosplayers, the con's main attraction really. Cosplayers by the hundred, ranging from the painstakingly gorgeous to the outrageously silly and cheeky. 

If you are the kind of person who hates crowds, you'll want to avoid Lucca like hell while the madness is going on. If, on the other hand, you don't mind being jostled a little - oh, what the heck, make it a lot - you will be rewarded with pure, unadulterated nerdy bliss.

Once the initial shock is over, it will feel perfectly normal to raise your eyes and see something like this: 

...and, really, there's nothing to be afraid of, as long as you use some common sense. 

In the spirit of public service, I will now provide you with a few simple tips to make sure you'll survive enjoy the convention. 

Even while some of the attendees are bound to be vaguely disconcerting...

...you will probably think you're safe, what with the heavily armed guys patrolling the streets... 

 ...the alien martial artist hereos... 

...and the Spanish Imperial Inquisition itself. 

Still, don't let your guard down! You must keep your eyes peeled at all times, because a mighty evil roams free...

...and danger lurks atop the ancient walls. 

Just try to keep and open mind, because even those beyond suspicion may act a bit weird at times...

...so don't freak out should you happen to spot a man in tights...

...or worse. 

                                                                  

Remember that, while eating is not cheap by any means (and someone, alas, will always try to take advantage of unwary visitors)...

This is the actuall staff of the bar you can see behind. Awesome sense of irony or what?

...it is always advisable to purchase food from reliable sources only. Because, even though you might be tempted to hunt for edible - and indeed, in a few instances, mouthwateringly delicious - specimens of local fauna...

...it would be a shame, should... inconveniences intervene to spoil your stay. 

As they say: forewarned is forearmed!

Uh... right? 

(Onwards to part 3 - this post's already picture-heavy enough as it is!)

Lucca Comics & Games report - part 1

Lucca, in Tuscany, is where the second installment of my long-awaited, convention-intensive holidays is taking place.

I'm travelling by train this time, with my ol' buddy Flavio - Japanese speaker, martial artist, manga enthusiast, and all-round weeaboo extraordinaire. Since our respective jobs kept both of us busy till the very last minute, we'll be staying for the next two nights in Viareggio (which is a delightful little seaside town in its own right) and commute daily between here and nearby Lucca.

Lucca is about 280 Km from Milano; the yellow pin on the coast is Viareggio.

Although I'm too much of a metropolitan creature to consider living there, it is one of my favourite towns to visit, and a quick hop to Wikipedia will tell you why - it was founded in pre-Roman times by the Etruscans, and traces and mementos of its long history are strewn round every corner.

You'll be sure to find ancient buildings here as well... 

S. Michele in Foro, peharps the most famous church in Lucca. See all those colums? They are all different! 

...and picturesque squares, starting with the famous Piazza dell'Anfiteatro - the perfectly round square that is Lucca's most iconic view.

Practically all streets here can be expected to be evocatively narrow, and to have awesome names to boot such as Via Buia ("Dark Street"), often reminiscent of some long-lost feature or landmark (such as a well, a ditch, an orange tree, or a particular workshop.)

Although there are no gryphons to be seen and fountains are nothing to write home about, you get mosaics...

S. Frediano, the most ancient church in Lucca, dates back to 685 b.C.

...and columns...
                                                   

See what I meant about the columns?

...and above all, these impressive city walls that always make me feel like I'm stepping right into the Middle Ages just by entering town.

Even if Lucca can't boast a theme hotel for chocoholics to bask into, it does have gorgeous bakeries that are every bit as drool-worthy!
The town's most traditional sweets are nicely rounded up in the pic below: on the top shelf you can see panforte (a dense, spicey sort of fruitcake); the pie-like things on the middle one are torte coi becchi (the one on the left is filled with a mixture of rice and chocolate, while the one on the right has a veggie jam filling); finally, both the loaves and the round shapes displayed on the green cloth are buccellato, a sweet bread with raisins.

Lucca, and Tuscany in general, has a long-standing tradition for artistic pottery. Colourful ceramic plates and cups arranged in beautiful displays are a common view, and make for a perfect gift for a fellow cake lover... or for yourself!

The same can be said about woodworking, so if rustic's more your style you could find yourself the proud mommy of a pestle or rolling pin hand-carved out of olive-wood.

(I was soooo tempted myself... but I would have felt a little bit self-conscious, travelling by train with a friggin' huge rolling pin sticking out from my luggage!)

Oh, and one final thing: should you find yourself in Lucca, look for the Baricentro in Via Fillungo. It is a humble, smallish cafeteria, but if you as for a "marocchino con la Nutella" you're in for a treat!