One of the tallest cakes ever made in the Okanagan moves from its Rutland birthplace to a wedding reception today.
Chef Tanya Jennens, owner of Whisk Cake Company, started making the five foot tall 1/120th replica of the Seattle space needle two weeks ago, as per a quirky request from the groom. The bride wanted cupcakes, so a small forest of cupcakes decorated with grass and flowers will form the base of the tall, slim cake—satisfying both bride Erin from Edmonton and groom Mark Esser from Saskatoon.
The pair spent their first holiday together six years ago in both the Okanagan and in Seattle and they love both places. “We chose the space needle as a reminder of our first vacation together and of where our love started,” explained Erin.
Elaborate cakes—for all sorts of occasions—are becoming more and more popular, likely due to the growing interest in Food Network shows about extreme cake making, such as Ace of Cakes, and she’s found herself making everything from a Canucks skateboard to a desk scenario to Gucci high-heeled shoes.
The sugary confections for weddings have included all manner of detailed sugar flowers, some spray painted with food colouring, as well as a variety of other decorations.
“I enjoy being pushed to do more,” responds Jennens as she applies fondant windows to the observation deck at the top of the space needle.
Her Dad’s mathematical skills have been helpful in preparing the scale drawing that led to creation of this structure, and he also built the centre, which is pvc pipe with a threaded metal bar in the centre and wooden legs, covered in butter cream icing and fondant. However, rice cereal and marshmallow treats were used for the lower observation deck, because they can be shaped easily.
They’re also covered in icing and fondant, which seals in the cake, keeping it moist even if it has to sit outside during the reception or an event.
The top observation deck is a 10-inch cake, decorated to replicate the space needle’s top, complete with an aerial on top.
She has attended the Culinary Institute of America to learn about wedding cake design and says the latest trend is for tall, skinny cakes in tiers. She says her wedding cake this fall will also be five feet tall, and it will be 12 tiers, with lots of flowers made of sugar. She is marrying local chef Jon Garratt, so it’s important—at the wedding of two chefs—that the food all be pretty impressive.
Both are graduates of the Okanagan College Culinary Arts program. Garratt is currently serving a term as one of two Young Chef Ambassadors, representing the World Association of Chefs’ Societies.
Jennens is the third generation of her family in Kelowna, and says it’s really quite natural that she is constructing elaborate cakes, because her grandfather was Gordon Jennens, who was one of the engineers involved in construction of the original Okanagan Lake bridge.
Her father Rick Jennens owns Heartwood Manufacturing, creating office furniture and he also created the new sculpture outside the Enterprise Way firehall, while her mother is artistic, and actually had a ceramics studio in the shop where Jennens currently creates her elaborate cakes.
jsteeves@kelownacapnews.com
