Baker prepares for Food Network battle
When her parents left an adolescent Kim Garr at home alone, they didn't warn her against watching too much TV or talking on the phone for hours.
“When my parents were going out for the night, my mom would say ‘don't bake anything,” recalls Kim, now 35, of growing up in Elk Grove Village.
“I always liked to bake,” Kim says. “I love sweets so much, I loved that I could make something and get to eat it.”
After graduating from Elk Grove High School (class of 1994), she studied English literature at University of Illinois and took improv classes at Second City and Improv. Eight years ago she settled in Los Angeles with her filmmaker husband, Ryan Suffern of Barlett, but still couldn't shake the baking bug.
The couple had adopted a vegan diet (one without animal products including eggs and dairy), yet she didn't want to give up her favorite childhood treats so she learned to adapt them with vegan ingredients.
“Baking is therapeutic for me,” Kim says. “I like the experimentation; I like seeing how these different bowls of ingredients come together and up with this neat tray of perfect little treats.”
After working for a time in a bakery she started her own bakeshop, C'est la V, (as in vegan) where she creates scones, brownies, tea loaves, muffins, cupcakes and more for farmers markets, catered events and online customers.
Her creations landed her in the hot seat on Food Network's hit show “Cupcake Wars” airing at 8 p.m. Tuesday, March 8.
“A friend of a friend said they were casting for the second season and I was getting ready to send in my bio, when I got a call from the Food Network; a woman there had seen my C'est la Vegan blog).”
Kim can't discuss what she baked for the competition or reveal the outcome. She said she taped the show last fall in L.A. and that the items featured on the show will be available to customers after the show airs.
In the meantime, she shares a few favorites with us today.
Her rhubarb cake calls for fresh stalks, which should be appearing in gardens and markets once the spring thaw really sets in.
“When I was growing up one of our neighbors grew rhubarb in his backyard garden, and my mom would make us this delicious cake whenever he'd bring her some,” she says. Kim's version uses soy milk and vegan margarine and egg substitutes that you can get at Whole Foods and some specialty markets.
The peach tart is also a rif on one of her mom's summer treats.
She also gives us a meatless Irish Steak and Stout Stew that calls for vegan protein strips and plenty of vegetables. Get the recipe online at dailyherald.com/entlife/food.
“Growing up in Elk Grove we were a meat and potatoes family. I was a picky eater; I even ate plain hot dogs and I hated vegetables,” Kim says.
“Being vegan seems like such a crazy, radical thing, but once you start checking out different cookbooks, you realize there's so much out there you can eat.”