The Bayou Saint Cake Gift Guide

First annual (and not last - if you're into it)

Quick programming note - December orders will open today at noon, but newsletter subscribers can hop in the store early by clicking here - you’ll be able to place an order at 10am. Availability is a bit limited due to a family trip! I’ll also be popping up with slices at the annual holiday market at Hotel Peter and Paul beginning at 5pm on December 8th, and a Christmas cake menu will drop on Wednesday, December 13th for pick-up the weekend of Christmas Eve. That felt like a lot of jumbled information but I’ll leave it to you to sort it out!! (JK you can always email me with questions- I’m at bayousaintcake@gmail.com).

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On to the good stuff!

I love a gift guide and read them obsessively. Favorites this year include Tim Mazurek’s and Emily Sundberg’s - Tim recommends this shortbread and this pillow that I covet deeply, and Emily suggests vintage glassware, a suggestion so clever I wish I’d thought of it myself, as well as this elegant crane grater.  At its best, a gift guide is more than an assembly of ideas for presents - it’s a window into the taste of someone I admire. They’re so revealing! And while I don’t buy things very often, a digital browse through curated products is one of my favorite ways to unwind. 

And so, with a bit of trepidation, I’m taking a stab at my own - the first annual Bayou Saint Cake Gift Guide. I’m organizing mine by price, from Free to Splurge. I’m a strong believer that the best gifts are romantic, and sometimes even impractical - no socks here. Many have a culinary connection - I love a consumable gift! 

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Free

A letter

Every year on my birthday my best friend writes me a heartfelt letter about all the things she is proud of me for, and it is, without exception, the best gift ever. I can never read it all at once because taking compliments is HARD but I’ll squirrel it away and read it in fragments as my constitution allows. 

A playlist

My wife makes excellent playlists and sometimes when I have an occasion coming up I’ll ask her to put one together for me. The playlist she made for my in-person cake decorating classes remains on heavy rotation. I love the idea of making a special playlist for a friend you know very well - perhaps connected to a specific event (studying for the bar, early morning bake-offs, a long commute). 

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Inexpensive

A vintage cookbook

One of my favorite things to break out when friends are over is the unhinged Cosmic Cuisine by Tom Jaine ($6.59 on Thriftbooks, though you can find it used elsewhere as well). It’s a selection of menus pegged to your astrological sign, and while the food is odd, the photos are honestly magical, and the whole thing is great for a laugh. River Road Recipes by the Junior League of Baton Rouge is a classic (they claim it’s the best selling community cookbook in the country). Though still in print, you can also find vintage copies (from $7.99), and while it definitely has its share of mayonnaise salads, you can also find an excellent basic introduction to the food of South Louisiana - including how to prepare raccoon, if you’re into that sort of thing. Cake Icing & Decoration by Marguerite Patten might tempt the lambeth lovers in your life (from $4.19), with actually quite a lot of technical information, but also, perhaps more importantly, tons of photos and illustrations that might have come straight from the set of the latest Sofia Coppola film. Of course, you could always wander into a used book store and find your own! 

The Diaspora Chai Masala

I use Diaspora’s chai masala ($13) as an all-purpose winter baking blend - it’s intensely fragrant and just so delicious. The Diaspora black pepper ($12) and nutmeg ($10) are also staples in my kitchen, and the mace ($10) is incredible for the more adventurous folks in your life (they’ll need a spice grinder for the mace - this one is my favorite). 

A rose geranium plant

If you live on the coasts you might be able to find these at a nursery, though I’ve never had any luck in Louisiana. I bought my own on Etsy (starting at $10) about four years ago and it’s still going strong in a pot on the front porch, though they could be kept inside in a sunny spot as well. Your friends can slip them into a panna cotta to gently infuse the cream, press them into the bottom of a greased pan for a beautifully scented pound cake, or pulse them in sugar for a tender, rosy shortbread. 

A Roomshop bow

I have the bow clip duo ($26) in black and get tons of compliments on them when I wear them. I’ve also been eyeing this giant bow clip ($32), as well as the ribbon choker necklace ($32) - would be dreamy in red!

The homemade gift

Last year I made all my pals little jars of limoncello. I don’t have a particular recipe - I’ll just google it and mash up all the available recipes online into something that sounds good to me. We get local citrus in Louisiana this time of year, so sometimes I’ll throw in something fun with the meyer lemon, such as blood orange or calamansi. For my non-drinker friends, I packaged up fresh bay leaves harvested from a neighbor’s tree. You could also make homemade shrub, cookies, or candy. May I suggest taking the brilliant Camilla Wynne’s online marzipan workshop on December 10th and gifting your friends handmade marzipan fruit? 

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Moderately Expensive

A special bottle of vinegar

Another go-to present for the non-drinkers in my life: fancy vinegar. The celery vinegar ($28) from Tart is a classic for a reason, and this year I’m going to gift a pal the Salad and Soup vinegar ($28). I also love their preserved meyer lemon paste ($24).  

A cake decorating starter set

Avoid anything pre-packaged like the plague and assemble your own set via a store meant for professional chefs - it will be cheaper and the quality much higher. 

You’ll need:

• An small offset spatula with a wooden handle - one 4 ¾” ($2.34) and one 8” ($2.59). Avoid the straight ones and always reach for an offset! 

• A sturdy cake turntable with a heavy base, like this one ($44.49).  

• A roll of disposable piping bags ($13.83) (or cloth ones, if you prefer, though I find them nearly impossible to keep clean). 

I’m a firm believer that folks don’t need a lot of fancy piping tips to get started, but you could always include a few of those if you like - a rose tip is fun, a star is classic, and a round one can be surprisingly versatile for piping blobs or clouds (all of these are under a dollar). 

A vintage silk scarf 

I can’t afford (nor fit into) couture labels, but I can find a vintage Schiaparelli scarf (mine was $50) to wear on my honeymoon. Here are a few more I love: an autumnal brown one ($85), a graphic blue and ochre pattern ($95), or a collegiate navy polka-dot ($39.97). If you log into Etsy and “favorite” an item from a vintage seller, they’ll often send you a discount code over the next few days to encourage you to take the plunge. The Bride of the Fox shop has a great selection of scarves from different eras if you’re looking to browse.

A Fruit Season Calendar

Whether you live in the deep south or not, this calendar that showcases the growing seasons of Louisiana is charming enough to have on display as both art piece and timekeeper.

A set of sterling silver grapefruit spoons

For your citrus-loving pals- imagine wrapping these ($40) with a silk ribbon tied around each of them individually. If your loved one has a name starting with “B” as in bayou, these are monogrammed ($34.95). This set comes in its own box with an accompanying grapefruit knife ($89.56). 

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A Splurge 

An art print

A gift truly for forever - for an extra splurge, you could offer to frame it. Printmakers often have less expensive editions of their work available - I love this piece ($60) by the Louisiana artist Pippin Frisbie-Calder, or this one ($80). The estate of the deceased Mississippi artist Walter Anderson still pulls prints from his woodblocks - I like this one ($140) in particular. 

I have this print by the New Orleans and Hawai’i based photographer Akasha Rabut over my mantel (price depending on size), and I love this one as well. Rabut’s photo book Death Magick Abundance ($40) is a wonderful overview of her work, and an essential piece for lovers of New Orleans.  

A refurbished Polaroid SX-70

I have both an SX-70 ($379) and a refurbished Polaroid 600 ($169) camera, and while they both ooze charm, I think the greater control on the SX-70 makes it a little more fun to play around with. I am by no means an expert photographer and have figured out how to take great photos! This past Thanksgiving, I took exactly one picture on my phone - instead, I passed around both Polaroids (one loaded with black and white film, the other color), and let my guests document the dinner. I love taking pictures of folks at parties and sending them home with the photograph as an actual, physical memento of our time together. Make sure to include at least one pack of film if you gift this one! 

A library book charm from Catbird or a statement earring from Eliou

Ever since I saw this charm I’ve been trying to dream up how I would customize it - perhaps my favorite children’s book (Matilda by Roald Dahl) and the year I was born? At $525 It’s SO splurgy but a girl can dream! On the slightly less spendy side, I’m obsessed with the Miami-based jewelry brand Eliou (I’m actually wearing on of their necklaces in the bow photo above). Right now I’m really into these pearly swirls ($268) or these dramatic black dangles ($230).

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Ok that’s it for now! If you buy something from this list I am genuinely curious how it goes down! Already regretting not ordering the “B” grapefruit spoon for myself.