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Constellation Inspiration

Constellation Inspiration

A Dessert Blog

  • Cookbook
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  • About
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  • Recipes:
  • cake
  • cookies
  • cream puffs
  • tarts
  • bars
  • candy
  • Asian-inspired
  • seasonal
    • Valentines
    • halloween
    • christmas

Constellation Inspiration is a sweet, buttercream-coated journal that started in early 2015.  

A journal I was hesitant to start but one that I am so glad that I did. I have always struggled with starting a new journal or notebook; I never wanted to ruin the pristine, clean nature of the blank slate and writing the first letter on the first page has always proven to be the biggest challenge. But once the first word has been gently etched on, the rest just flows.

The words all flow at an ebullient rate until it becomes an ode, a love letter of some sort. One that declares my love for all things beautifully sweet. Once the first recipe was developed and the first set of photos was edited, the desire to learn more, the hunger to create, and the need to perfect, overtook me. 

These recipes, these love letters dedicated to all things delicate and sweet, are inspired by seasonal flavours and florals. They are also inspired by places I have been and flavours that have lingered since. They are grounded by many accounts of late-night recipe testing that took precedence to whatever else I was doing at that time. 

At that time I was completing my Master’s degree. In psychology, to be exact. I loved psychology and still do. I will never regret dedicating over six years of my life and a bit of my sanity to it. But it was during this time I found myself in a love affair with creating. I bake to create. To create something that really shows that the sum is indeed greater than its parts of flour, butter, and sugar.  To create something that shows that there is splendor in the familiar and you can always tease beauty out of the prosaic.

I bake in my tiny little kitchen in Vancouver, BC. But inspiration stems from all over. I still catch myself dreaming about the Ispahan croissant I lined up for outside the Pierre Hermé storefront on a rainy Parisian afternoon, the English pea cake that ended the most perfect meal at Rose’s Luxury in Washington D.C., and the mountain of fresh beignets I washed down with a café au lait at Café du Monde in NOLA. I travel to eat, to experience, and to be inspired.
Ultimately, this journal is a collection of recipes, stories, and love letters that are sweet to read, and even sweeter to eat. 

These love letters are dedicated to you.

Here’s what’s most popular on Constellation Inspiration right now:

Most Popular Posts
layer cakes

Coco Cake Land’s Bunny Cake + New Book!

I baked, decorated, and photographed this cake on Sunday and I am already talking about it here on Tuesday. I never have this quick of a turnaround time because I get excited to take photograph cakes but writing it...
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Most Popular Posts
tarts

Rhubarb Bakewell Tart

I’m breaking my Saturday morning ritual to write this at 9am. The farmers markets opened three weeks ago and my Saturday morning routine for the last three weeks has been precisely: wake up, get an iced coffee (which...
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Most Popular Posts
layer cakes

Lavender Earl Grey Cake with Lavender Macarons

Oh my, hi! The cake is completely frosted! I have a special guest! I invited a stranger over for a sleepover! There are also macarons! And this cake has four layers! I’m just full of surprises in this...
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Most Popular Posts
layer cakes

A Valentine’s Day Cake (with Kelsey and Confetti Floral!)

One day you will wake up, look across the empty room, and not feel like a piece of your heart is missing. One day you your feelings of incompleteness will dampen. The incompleteness will still gently echo dully...
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never not making @eatchofood’s (veg!) hot dog fl never not making @eatchofood’s (veg!) hot dog flower buns 🌼

#bakefromscratch #milkbread #breadbaking #breadmaking
tanghulu strawberries (冰糖葫蘆) 🍓✨ tang tanghulu strawberries (冰糖葫蘆) 🍓✨

tanghulu is sometimes called bingtanghulu, with the word ‘bing’ meaning ‘ice’ and describing the candy coating of this treat

16 strawberries
250 g (1 1/4 cup) granulated sugar
125 g (1/2 cup) water
red food colouring, optional

wash strawberries and dry them completely. moisture will prevent the sugar coating from fully adhering. once dried, skewer strawberries on bamboo or lollipop sticks

line a large plate or baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside

in a small pot over medium heat, combine sugar and water. allow the sugar to melt without stirring the mixture

as the syrup boils and it starts to turn a very light golden colour (it should read 150c on a candy thermometer, about 8 – 10 min over medium heat), turn off the heat. if you are not using a candy thermometer, please use the ‘cold water test.’ when you drizzle some of the hot sugar into a bowl of cold water, the sugar should harden into sugar ribbons that you can break with a ‘snap.’ if the sugar in the cold water is still flexible or does not create the ‘snap,’ the sugar is not ready yet

stir in a few drops of red food colouring now if using

tilt the pot slightly, so more syrup pools on one side of the pot. dip a strawberry into the syrup and turn the stick gently to cover the strawberry completely. allow excess syrup to drip off and place sugared strawberry on the baking sheet

allow the sugar coating to harden completely before removing from the baking sheet, about 10 min. serve immediately

#tanghulu #strawberries #bakefromscratch #thebakefeed #bombesquad
lunar new year is my favourite time of year to vis lunar new year is my favourite time of year to visit chinatown because of all the festive decor and treats. whenever i visit chinatown, i never leave empty-handed (or with an empty stomach) because there are so many chinese bakeries to choose from

if you aren’t too familiar with chinese bakeries, especially the ones in vancouver’s chinatown, i have a short and sweet guide on the blog to help you savour and enjoy all the treats chinatown has to offer. i ate many coconut cream buns and egg tarts in one day for *scientific purposes* and i cant think of a better way to spend a weekend

📍 treats from all the bakeries below
📍 sun fresh bakery (245 keefer st)
📍 new town bakery & restaurant (148 e pender st.)
📍 zhao mah bakery (280 e pender st.)
📍 maxim’s bakery & restaurant (256 keefer st.)
📍 the boss bakery (532 main st.)

#chinesebakeries #bakefromscratch #yvreats #vancouverfood
Ginger milk custard (薑汁撞奶) is a classic ca Ginger milk custard (薑汁撞奶) is a classic cantonese style dessert and I grew up eating this dessert after large family dinners at chinese restaurants. The literal meaning of its chinese name is “ginger juice bumping into milk,” which describes the entire process of making the custard. The silky dessert only requires 3 ingredients: milk, ginger, and sugar. Because the ingredient list is so short, you can really taste each component. For my ginger milk custard, I’m using Dairyland Microfiltered Milk, which is a 100% canadian milk. (PS. Microfiltered Milk stays fresher longer than regular milk!)

Here is how you make it:
1 tbsp fresh ginger juice (from ~30g grated ginger) 200 ml dairyland microfiltered milk
2 tsp granulated sugar

Using the back of a spoon, peel ginger root. Then grate the ginger using a microplane or grater.
Extract the juice from the grated ginger by pressing it against a fine-mesh sieve. Transferthe juice to a bowl.

In a small pot over medium, heat up milk to 70c. It is important that the milk reaches 70c because this will cause the milk and ginger juice to congeal to form the pudding. Add sugar and stir until all the sugar has dissolved.

When the milk is warm enough, pour the milk into the bowl with ginger juice. Do not stir it and let it set for at least 15 min.

Put a small spoon on top of the pudding — if the spoon is able to rest on top of the pudding, the ginger milk curd is successful and ready to be enjoyed.

#startwithfresh @ingredients_by_saputo #chinesecooking #dessertrecipe #chinesedessert #homecafe
☁️ fluffy mango pancakes ☁️ (full recipe i ☁️ fluffy mango pancakes ☁️
(full recipe is on the blog)

#bakefromscratch #mangopancake #pancake #thebakefeed

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