In Which Our Cakes Take A Theatrical Turn

Sometimes, when you don’t know people, it’s good to present them with a gift the first time you meet with them. This makes them feel slightly awkward and uncomfortable, which will increase your confidence. It’s especially good if you give them a very personalized gift which clearly took a lot of effort. This makes them scared of you in a ‘Swimfan/Stalker’ type way, which means that they will compliment you incessantly in the hopes of never seeing you again, or they will be very willing to acquiesce to any of your demands, in the hopes of placating you and not sending you into one of your ‘Hulk-like black moods’. And if the gift is edible, all the better. This will force them to have their hands full so as to enable you to hug them without resistance, and causes them to have to eat in front of you, which gives you all the power.

Well, that’s what we did with the Toronto cast of Altar Boyz, anyway.



Note the fear in their eyes.



It’s really all just common sense.

Note: Ok, so really Max’s brother is the guitarist in this hit theatrical production, and so the offering was presented as just a nice (and delicious) gesture. However, Max sat through the production regularly thinking about how she might have terrified the entire cast and crew with what surely appeared as obsessive love, showing up for the first time with a cake, a knife, and a demonic gleam in her eyes. Next stop, Broadway! Watch out, cast of West Side Story.

In Which Bullies Succeed Deliciously

Sometimes there are bullies. What do bullies do? They prey on the weak, the scared and the delectable.

When Mickey set foot onto a new film set, she felt like a kid on the first day at a new school. Everybody knew each other, they had their lunch table cliques, and all she wanted to do was fit in. Luckily she possesses a magical ability that tricks people into being friends with you! The ability to nervously spew a ridiculous cake invention on the spot, followed by a promise to produce said cake on set the following work day… Oops. Maybe lucky is the wrong word.

The conversation may have gone something like this:
“Hey big scary camera guys, sorry I’m in your way all the time! To make it up to you I will bring you a cake! Yeah sure I can make cake. I make cake real good all the day long. What kind of cake? Um. Yeah. My specialty? Um. A chocolate chip banana bread? Yeaaaah with frosting! Peanut butter butter cream frosting! YEAAAAH! And um… CHOCOLATE GANACHE!”

Woah. Can it be done?



Hells yeah it can! Watch this!


Peanut butter butter cream!


Chocolate ganache filling!


Chocolate ganache topping!


Banana chips and chocolate covered banana chips!


ANGEL SOUNDS!


It’s true what they say: The way to a bully’s heart is by throwing a cake in his hands and running away.





“Best...cake...ever!” – Jay Greenslade (Bully #2)

Footnote: It isn’t right to give into the threats of bullies. Here at Max & Mickey’s we know this. We just like making cakes, and any excuse to do so works for us.

Mickey’s Footnote: While I agree that one shouldn’t give in to the threats of bullies, they did threaten to slam my fingers in the slate repeatedly and run over my feet with the dolly if I didn’t bring the cake to set. Just sayin’.

In Which We Say, Oh Gosh! Ganache!

What do you get when you cross two parts chocolate, two parts cream, and one part butter?'



Five parts awesome. And then a heart attack.

But mostly lots of awesome.

The Joy of Baking.com has this to say about ganache: ‘The origins of ganache are debatable but it is believed to have been invented around 1850. Some say it originated in Switzerland where it was used as a base for truffles. Others say it was invented in Paris at the Patisserie Siravdin.’

Fascinating. But even more fascinating? It’s cream, chocolate, and butter. And shiny. We think that’s really all we need to know.



We never really intended to enter this forbidden city where fat and sugar come together as one, the Land of Ganache. But once we heard about it, its sweet siren song was too much to resist. Plus, it is really fun to make and tastes like angels are dancing on your palate. It combines not only three of our favorite food groups, but also the thrilling process of slowly watching something heat up, dumping it on top of something, waiting, and then (MAGICALLY!) seeing something delicious appear as if out of nowhere!



The addition of this incredible substance to our repertoire takes us into bold new frontiers, in the realms of both glazes, and fillings. These are exciting times. Delicious times. Chocolate filled and covered times.



What’s better than ganache? Ga-Nothing.