Cupcakes are awesome!

By Sunni Zhou (Age 10)

On February 12, 2013, there was a special event taking place in Golden Key Center. This wasn't just any event; no travelling, no taking notes, no preparation needed; instead are only task was to have fun, use our imaginations and ENJOY. 

Can you guess what it is?

Sunni's Cupcake

 Yes, we were decorating cupcakes!

We all had a fun afternoon with Shauna Morgan. Shauna is a culinary artist who was recently featured on Rogers Television’s Home Cooking. We laughed a lot and learned a lot. We learned that cupcake decorating techniques are not out of reach for the average person, weekend bakers or even kids like us. It's easy to create elegant and delicious cupcakes at home without years of training or complicated recipes as long as you have the passion and imagination.

Shauna is a professional and talented cupcake artist. She has a company named Shauna Sincerely. When she was young, she always had the desire to cook. Her mom let her help in the kitchen, but to Shauna, that wasn’t enough. She wanted her own kitchen and her own baking place. Today, Shauna not only has her own kitchen but thriving catering business. Shauna makes cakes and other sorts of deserts for different occasions, like engagement parties, celebrations, anniversaries, birthdays, etc. Her biggest order was 240 cupcakes and it was a rush order with one week notice!

 It was an amazing and delicious day I will never forget. Here are the steps below so you too can create the scrumptious cupcakes!

1. Fill the pipe with butter cream
   
2. Pipe the plain cupcake with butter cream, make sure you start at the outer edge and squeeze the piping bag gently.
3. Keep going round keeping the tip of the nozzle raised slightly above the cake.
4. Make the circles smaller as you work your way into the centre of the cake until you get to the middle.
5. After you are done with the swirly shape, you can then decorate the cake with sprinkles and other pretty goodies” (make sure they are edible)

Interview with Shauna

By Dea Yu (Age 7)

On February 12th, 2013 at the office of Voice K magazine Shauna Morgan of Shauna Sincerely catering joined some the junior editors in a cupcake baking event to be remembered. During the hands on event Dea Yu was able steal some one on one time with Shauna and asked some questions…

Dea: What inspired you to be a chef?

Shauna: When I was little, I watched my mom cooking and then I wanted my own kitchen and then I learned what a chef really does, and I thought, you know what, I want to do that. But I didn’t just want to be a chef cooking at the back of a kitchen; I wanted to be a chef that wasn’t afraid to be myself and be girly, a chef that makes people laugh, I wanted to share my joy of cooking with others and teach people how to cook within a budget.

Dea: What was your weirdest cupcake request from a customer?                

Shauna: My weirdest request was for customer who made an order for a New Years Eve party. She wanted one huge Oreo cookie with a mini cupcake on it and wanted it to resemble a clock! It was tough but it all worked out in the end and I’m told it was a great addition to her New Year’s Eve party.

Dea: What is your best-selling cupcake?                  

Shauna: My best seller? It’s the red velvet. Everyone likes red velvet……with cream cheese frosting. It’s actually my least favourite.

Dea: Do you have your own bakery?

Shauna: I don’t have my own bakery, all the cupcakes are homemade, and that’s why they are so good. Everyone likes a good homemade cupcake, that’s what makes it special compare to cake. You grab one, it is just for you.

Dea: Are you popular?          

Shauna: Popular? Well I wouldn’t say I’m popular yet.  But I’d like to be very popular someday … may be after this interview!