My sister-in-law, Lelani Galley is a cake designer. She never had an Easy Bake Oven. Instead, she began baking in a real oven at the age of ten. She has been creating and handcrafting special occasion cakes for 25 years now. She’s won awards and praise from critics, clients and the media alike. When she lived on the North Shore, longtime fans would flock to several local joints that featured her famous cheesecake. Lelani believes that a moment on the lips should be worth a lifetime on the hips, or why bother! Needless to say we get on famously.
She and my brother Don ran the business together for a while. Don has a degree in Industrial Design from Emily Carr School of Art & Design. In addition to designing furniture, he also paints, sculpts and produces animations. His paintings, sculpture and furniture have been exhibited at galleries throughout Vancouver and showcased in the popular Eastside Culture Crawl. So applying his eclectic talents to cake design came easily. He specialized in cartoon and character cakes. Don first became interested in baking at the age of two when he used to help me bake cookies in my Easy Bake Oven. However, I digress. Don is no longer helping with the baking biz, except for the odd delivery. He is mostly designing exceedingly cool web sites. His company is called Triggerfish Design.
Which brings me to the cake they designed for their wedding. You’ll note the Triggerfish on the cake. This whimsical, Dr-Seus-ish masterpiece had three layers: chocolate, passion fruit and a wheat-free layer for a dear friend with a gluten allergy. Layers of perfection. The cake tasted as divine as it looked. Believe me. My favourite layer (yes, I sampled all three) was the passion fruit.
Don and Lelani live up in Peachland now. Lelani has just started up her cake business again – “ but only for the lucky folks who live in the Okanagan Valley. She still uses high quality, fresh ingredients, like real butter, Belgian chocolate and unbleached flours to ensure rich flavours and tantalizing textures. Most importantly, she takes her time to turn your sweet dream into a work of art. So if you have a cause to celebrate in the beautiful Okanagan Valley, give Lelani a call at Cause for Celebration.