Tartlets: Yes, Cake Dreams Really Do Come True!

Nina Hemmes, the owner and Executive Pastry Chef at Tartlets in North Vancouver, has graciously invited us into her well-appointed professional kitchen over in North Van.

We go around the back of a non-descript building only to come upon a quaint, European inspired façade.  This is Nina’s kitchen and she is already at the door welcoming us.  We enter her immaculate kitchen where slices of cake, neatly arranged on two tasting plates, along with forks, napkins, and fragrant cups of tea await us.

Nina came to Vancouver from her homeland of Sweden, via Greece, Asia, Toronto, and a Canadian husband. She began her training in Australia, continued that training in Vancouver, quickly landing a job as a pastry chef at the Sutton Place Hotel.  “After a year and a half,” says Nina with just a hint of a Swedish accent, “I decided to go on my own because my interest was in design.” Nina’s goal was to combine exquisite artistry with scrumptious, wholesome cake. Her European background has played an essential role in both her philosophy of food and in her methods. “In Europe,” she says, “everyone knows how to bake. And they bake from scratch. Dessert is part of everyday life, while processed food is not as common as it is here.” All the cakes at Tartlets are made from scratch, using real butter, eggs, cream, and high quality flour.  She brings in Belgian chocolate, cocoa powder from Holland, lavender from France, and European black current, strawberry, and other fruit purees for fillings.

Tartlets Kitchen where Nina brings out the best of cakes for you

Although Tartlets makes cakes for all occasions, it has developed a reputation as Vancouver’s go to place for bespoke wedding cakes. In fact, wedding cakes comprise up to seventy percent of Tartlet’s overall business. And it isn’t hard to see and taste why. On our tasting plates we savored a tiny chocolate mousse cup, and an array of flavours and textures of cake: zippy lemon zest, black-tie buttercream, tropical fusion, and chocolate raspberry mousse. Every bite was scrumptious and sumptuous—light and moist—and because the cakes are not overly sweet, the lemon, chocolate, and fruit flavors are able to deliver on their promise.

What also delivers is the degree of personalized customer service Nina offers: couples who order a Tartlet wedding cake get more than just a cake. At the consultation session, couples share how they met, whether their wedding will be formal or funky, and, of course, their ideas on what they want for their wedding cake. “The season makes a difference in what kind of cake people choose,” Nina explains. “In the spring and summer the most popular flavor of cake is tropical fusion [a mango passion fruit cake], or chocolate raspberry cake.” In winter, people are more likely to choose a denser cake, she tells us, some even daring to tuck into ‘The Bees Knees,’ a dense chocolate affair for only the most committed of chocolate lovers.

In terms of fondant, the sky’s the limit. Nina has sculpted everything from cherry blossoms and wedding bows to mini vans and Parisian landmarks. The colours are natural, the execution flawless. Every Tartlet wedding cake is a unique creation, taking from several hours to several days to complete, depending on the intricacy of the design and the number of tiers. Couples can also choose amongst petite fours, cream puffs, fruit filled tarts, mousse cups, and cupcakes.

Whilst clients chat with Nina, flip through her photos, and of course, sample cakes from customized tasting plates, Nina sketches designs on the fly. By the end of the forty-five minute session, a solid cake plan is usually in place.

Nina: The woman behind the cakes

Tartlets is such a success that Nina spends most of January to March conducting consultations in preparation for the May-September wedding season.  However, birthdays, bachelor parties, anniversaries—not to mention Christmas festivities—keep her baking all year round.

We left our visit with a new appreciation for the wedding cake and for the artistry behind it.

Visit Tartlets

121 East 1^st Street

North Vancouver, BC.  V7L 1B2

Phone: 604.724.7625

Visit: http://www.tartlets.ca