The Yummy Work­shop Booth

The Indulge n’ Dance event hap­pened last Sat­ur­day but I wasn’t in the shape to write about it until today. Noth­ing is worse than catch­ing a cold in this unpre­dictable Van­cou­ver spring weather. Any­ways, the event was orga­nized by Social Bites. It fea­tured seven pas­try chefs where they each pre­pared treats to be served at the event and after the indulging, par­tic­i­pants could dance to 80s/90s music thus Indulge n’ Dance.

I was invited to par­tic­i­pate in the event as a pas­try maker by Annika, the owner of Social Bites. I was kind of sur­prised to receive the invi­ta­tion of course, because I have never sold or served my treats to a big crowd. Bak­ing is my hobby and I would feed my friends and fam­ily with my good­ies but I haven’t thought of tak­ing my hobby fur­ther (just yet). I was invited because of a post I wrote back in Feb­ru­ary about my food swap­ping expe­ri­ence. I blogged about my expe­ri­ence, the jam and mac­arons I brought. Two days later, I received a mes­sage from Twit­ter from Annika ask­ing if I would be inter­ested in the event because she saw the pic­tures of my mac­arons. (Cool, right?)

Before the event actu­ally hap­pened, Annika also orga­nized work­shops for the seven pas­try chefs for them to learn about ways/tips to improve or start their bak­ing busi­nesses from the pro­fes­sion­als. I learned a great deal from these work­shops, learn­ing from the pros’ was just won­der­ful. On the first work­shop, I met the six other pas­try chefs and they are all very tal­ented with some of them being pro­fes­sional bak­ers. So…I was the only one NOT pro­fes­sional, don’t have expe­ri­ence or pro­fes­sional train­ing, or even an online shop. I just have…a blog.

The big day came and I thought, “Here I go!”

Choco­late Ganache Tarts with Salted Caramel

I made Choco­late Ganache Tarts with Salted Caramel. Peo­ple loved the dec­o­ra­tions on the top, some specif­i­cally asked for the ones with the smi­ley face or the heart. I have to say I am quite proud of myself because it was my first time mak­ing larger quan­ti­ties of treats and served them to a big crowd. My tarts also won the runner-up for the “Best of Show” of the event! The “Best of Show” was voted by par­tic­i­pants based on pre­sen­ta­tion and taste of the treats from each baker.

The line up of Pas­try Mak­ers and their goodies:

Apple Caramel Pie Pops by The Pie Hole

I love the pie stands — so pro­fes­sional! The pie pops were very cute.

Matcha Mac­aron with White Choco­late Yuzu Ganache by Kawaii Eats

So pretty, don’t you think? Melany (baker) told me the dec­o­rat­ing is quite a bit of work, but she did a good job!

Dark Choco­late Baked donut with Whiskey Orange Glaze by Hyggelig Bak­ery

They also have a gluten-free and vegan ver­sion, I tasted one and I couldn’t tell there wasn’t flour in it, it was also very moist!

Molasses Spiced Cookie Ball coated in Choco­late and Rose­mary Short­bread Cookie by Rosy’s Bake Shoppe

The dis­play had such a pretty style.

Pina Colada Cup­cakes by Guava Jelly Cupcakes

This dis­play was so…tropical, a per­fect theme for Pina Colada.

Vanilla But­ter­milk Cake Pop Coated in White Bel­gium Choco­late & Can­died Maple Bacon by Some Kind of Wonderful

These cake pops were so pop­u­lar it won the “Best of Show” of the event! Congratz!

Annika — Our won­der­ful organizer

A peek behind the booth, it was a busy night!

The event was so much fun, I brought three friends there and they all enjoyed it. One of them even won some wine from the event spon­sor! After clear­ing the treats off our tables, we danced for a bit and had fun. I had the oppor­tu­nity to meet some local food­ies and media peo­ple, it was a plea­sure to meet them.

I was offi­cially a Pas­try Maker that night!