Home baker creates masterpieces
A self-described wife, mom, theatrical school graduate, hobby collector and Newfoundlander living away from home, Elizabeth Ezekiel can now add edible artist to her list of credentials.
A native of Corner Brook, N.L., Ezekiel now lives in Mount Stewart, P.E.I.
The 40-year-old's first baking project took place during her junior high school years when she and her classmates made cinnamon rolls in a home economics class.
Fast forward a couple of years, when Ezekiel ditched boxed cake mixes and readymade icing and started baking from scratch.
While she admits to having some “mishaps” early in her baking ventures, she stuck with it and has been teaching herself the tricks of the trade ever since, albeit still through a bit of trial and error.
“Now, I tend to steer myself towards more artistic baking rather than traditional things as a personal challenge,” she said.
Sometimes seasonal, sometimes festive, Ezekiel enjoys choosing a theme and seeing where it takes her.
“The further along I go in my journey, the more I realize I'm pretty inspired by nature. So a lot of my creations have that theme.”
ONLINE COMMUNITY
A year into her baking journey, Ezekiel began posting her creations on her Twitter account @mama_ezekiel.
The initial idea was to store the photos for use in a recipe book she was compiling to celebrate her daughter Clara's 11th birthday.
“I arranged it so it was the recipe I used, followed by pictures I'd taken of the food I'd made, and pictures of Clara eating the creations. I did it in my handwriting/printing rather than typed because I figured it would be a little more personal that way and, hopefully, something that she can pass on to her kids someday,” Ezekiel said.
Both of Ezekiel's brothers are avid Twitter users — Bill Short is an artist while Jimmy Short sets up cameras to capture images of wildlife around western Newfoundland.
When Bill gave her Twitter account a shout out via his account, Ezekiel's followers picked up. She now has 650 followers.
The community of support through Twitter has been incredible, she said, and is a way for her to connect with people, the majority of whom are from her home province.
“I haven't been home for two years now and I'm missing that connection with people … But I've made a community of wonderful friends (via Twitter) who share the same interest in baking as I do and we like to bounce recipes and ideas off each other.”
EDIBLE ART
When asked if her theatre degree has assisted in her baking ventures, Ezekiel said it has certainly helped with improvisation and thinking on her feet.
“I tend to veer off track sometimes when I'm following a recipe, and it doesn't always go as I plan, so the ability to problem solve and think quickly really does help,” she said.
For Ezekiel, baking during COVID-19 has helped keep her mind off the pandemic.
“I've taken on more involved projects that sometimes take up to a week to complete so for the entire duration of the creation process, that's all my mind is thinking about. The longer this goes on, the more artistic my baking becomes," she said.
Ezekiel's daughter, who turns 12 in April, is also honing her skills in the kitchen, particularly the decorating process.
“Clara loves sculpting things out of polymer clay, so when I do projects that involve making my own modelling chocolate or sculpting with fondant, she loves to look on and see how she can apply the techniques I'm using to her own work.”
CHALLENGE
While it's difficult to pinpoint her most challenging project, Ezekiel's yule log cake had its share of hurdles.
Ezekiel limits her shopping to two-week intervals. While waiting to pick up supplies for her yule log, the project evolved into something quite different, she said.
“I had thought about it so long that it became a bit of an obsession. And, by the time it made it out of my brain and onto the plate, it was no longer a yule log.”
The creation was an eyecatching and likely palatepleasing five-layer mini chocolate fudge cake with Nutella buttercream, marzipan mushrooms and acorns, almond-slice pinecones, dark chocolate bark dusted with cocoa and coconut, and graham cracker crumbs dyed green for moss.
For Ezekiel, seeing a project progress from scratch to a finished product is both satisfying and rewarding.
When it comes to tastetesting, she often turns to her daughter and husband Garrett. Her husband has been working from home this past year and appreciates her efforts.
“He gets an endless supply of treats and gets to be my tastetaster throughout the day.”
While her family is quick to indulge in her baking creations as soon as they are ready, Ezekiel said a recent project managed to stay in the fridge for two days as it was too beautiful to disturb. The project was a puffin painted completely out of chocolate and candy melts that was inspired by a photo posted on Twitter by well-known Bonavista, N.L.-based photographer Mark Gray.
ARTISTIC PROJECTS
Whether painting and hiding rocks (Ezekiel started P.E.I. Rock Art Facebook group in 2019), putting together miniature dollhouses, turning her hand at embroidery or creating diamond art paintings, Ezekiel enjoys expressing herself through her artistic endeavours.
When asked what advice she'd give others who would like to hone their baking skills, she suggests starting with the basics.
“If you like chocolate chip cookies, look for a good recipe that works for you. Make it according to the recipe the first time you make them," she said.
"Then, make little changes the next time. Maybe try adding some nuts, using brown sugar instead of white, butterscotch chips instead of chocolate. Don't be worried if you make mistakes. That's how you learn. And I guess my biggest piece of advice is to have fun."