Mukmuk As Depicted in Spice & Cheesecake

Social media has definitely helped connect me with new customers. The last 4 cakes I have made were all because of people contacting me through twitter or facebook. Additionally, the latest projects I have done have all been unique, fun, and challenging, so I wanted to say thank you.

You might recognize my latest baked creation (or not) as the mascot "sidekick" for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games. He is called Mukmuk, and is a small and friendly marmot who always supports and cheers loudly for his friends during games and races.

Mukmuk gets his name from the word ‘muckamuck,’ Chinook jargon for ‘food,’ because he loves to eat! I am told marmots are particularly fond of berries and mountain flowers.

I was asked to make the cake with less sweet, non chocolate ingredients. The customer and I came up with a spice cake base with cranberry filling, then a goat cheesecake in the middle. The goat cheesecake was based on a dessert the customer recently tried at a restaurant. The cheesecake layer is topped with more cranberry filling, and another layer of spice cake. The spice cake is also brushed with a honey syrup in between the layers to keep it from drying out.

This is the first cake layer I brushed with the honey syrup and then topped with cranberry filling. I baked entire the cake with three 9 X 13 pans. 2 of the pans I filled with spice cake batter (containing cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, clove) and one pan for the cheesecake (made with goat cheese, eggs, lemon, and a scant amount of the spice cake batter).



This is the layer of goat cheesecake.




Then I topped with more cranberry, the other layer of spice cake, then wrapped it to let it sit overnight and let the flavors come together before decorating.




Here's a good shot of the actual cutout of Mukmuk's body, and crumb coat of frosting I put on the cake to adhere the fondant. The frosting is made by blending butter, goat cheese, powdered sugar, and a few other secret ingredients.

Finally I make my own fondant hybrid to improve the crappy boxed kind's flavor. I like the workability of a boxed fondant, but it tastes awful. Most people peel off the fondant anyway, but I am striving to make something which people will want to eat every bite. I make a ratio fondant blend of 1 to 2 parts boxed fondant to 2 to 3 parts of my own buttercream fondant. Then I mix in all the colors, which is a workout all by itself.



And here's the finished product… Happy Birthday, Karla!!











You can learn more about marmots by going to the Vancouver Island Marmots site here.