@JoelECarlson: Hello everybody, and welcome to today’s Food-Friday Twitterview with @Celebr8nGenr8n (Marie Porter). Set your timers to 1hr.
Q – #1 To start @Celebr8nGenr8n, tell us where you grew up and if that’s when you started having an interest in food, specifically baking.
Marie: Hey, thanks for having me! I grew up in Winnipeg, MB. Learned to bake when I was around 4, so yup – in Winnipeg!
Q – #2 So when did you come to Minnesota? When did you start baking & decorating cakes professionally?
Marie: Came here as an adult, when I married my husband :) Started my cake business back in 2007
I honestly hadn’t even considered a career in baking until almost 2 weeks before I got my license for the business!
Q – #3 What’s your business called, where is it located and what kinds of cakes are your specialty?
Marie: My business is Celebration Generation. I’m actually not longer taking cake orders, to focus on my cookbooks/teaching!
While I was still taking orders I specialized in intricate, crazy cakes. I had a strong preference for geeky cakes
Oh, and I specialized in intricate, unusual, and wickedly delicious cake flavors..more importantly than the appearance!
Q – #4 What kind of flavors? When did you transition to cookbooks/teaching, and how did that come about?
Marie: Oh, like these kind of flavors: http://bit.ly/mhOLO. Yum! I think Bananas Foster was my fav, but it’s tough to choose!
Started planning my 1st book, jeez.. 2 yrs ago? Succession planning, I’m very ADD & knew I’d need to move on eventually
The wedding industry – weddings are the bread and butter of cake businesses – has changed over the past 15 years
I don’t really like what it’s become. That, plus needing new challenges and just kinda being DONE with physical labor..
Kind of a “perfect storm” of reasons to evolve :) I enjoy the books. Lets me indulge my “not a people person” self :)
Q – #5 I see. So do you have a book coming out soon, or are you in the development of a new one? When do you do teaching?
Marie: I have one coming out soon – was supposed to be March 31, just found out it’ll be delayed by a month :( Super excited!
I’m also in development of a new one. I have plans for a whole series, each with a different theme.Gives me variety!
I teach private lessons, on an as-needed basis. Also available for corporate “team building” stuff, all appointment
Also getting into some business consultations, as a LOT of people get into the wedding industry “for fun”,no background
I have 15 years experience in various facets of the industry, so it’s nice to be able to help, not waste the knowledge!
Q – #6 Can you tease us a little about what your NEW cookbook will focus on? How many recipes?
Marie: The one about to come out? Evil Cake Overlord has over 100 cake/frosting/filling/fondant recipes!
It actually includes EVERY cake on my custom menu, as well as a bunch more. VERY comprehensive. Yum!
I was always getting asked for recipes when in the cake biz, but that was how I made my living! Nice to share now!
Our Chai was most popular, but there’s a lot of crazy stuff in there, including my Spumoni cake. @deardara LOVED ..
that one at the #FoodWineShow recently, gave me the best compliment on it – that I could open a bakery in Brooklyn..
based on that cake alone. Awesome!
Q – #7 Great! Available on iPad? More about you: FAVORITE – Restaurant, store, comfort food, grocer and ingredient.
Marie: No, but am currently working on getting e-books out. Having issues converting/formatting, lol! #typeA #TeachingMyself
Favorite Restaurant: I love Vietnam House on Brooklyn Blvd. Awesome food, reasonable price, and the owners are sweetest people ever!
Favorite Store.. hrm. Does @thinkgeek count? It’s online, but LOVE THEM. If brick and mortar.. probably Penzey’s & IKEA
Fav grocer.. hrm. @France44Cheese, @unitednoodles, and my new fave, @sewardcoop. Easy to go broke in each though! LOL
As for fav ingredient.. wow. That’s a hard one. Lemon zest, cheese, beer, and rum – for entirely different uses!
Q – #8 That would make an interesting combination! LOL! Are you into Gluten Free baking? Do you use locally grown as well?
Marie: I am anti-GF baking, actually.I’m allergic to gluten myself, but it’s SO necessary for baking. Can’t stand fake flours!
Prefer to bake things inherently gluten free for myself- coconut macaroons, macaron, pavlova, nut crusts for pie, etc
I’ll use locally grown as it makes sense. I’m not into the “locavore” trend, personally. If the best is local, awesome.
When the best has to get flown in from wherever, whatever. Maybe I’m a Globavore LOL (God I hate those terms, haha!)
There are plenty of jobs, trade, technology, etc in foods from away. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to not be on trend
Q – #9 I see. If you could bake a cake for any person (dead/alive) or event, who/what would you make one for?
Marie: Hrm. Dead or alive, I’d love to bake for Louis Pasteur, @RickMercer, & definitely @GeorgeTakei. #OhMyy
… Hugh Jackman too, if I can squeeze his delts. hehe!
@JoelECarlson: Thanks @Celebr8nGenr8n for your time and sharing some of your life today on #jectv. I hope that you have a great book launch! :)
Marie: Thanks for interviewing me! :) Was fun