Feb. 28, 2024

TRAINER'S EYE #79 - "Pokemon Desserts" ft. Cupcakedex

Show Notes
Transcript

Passionate about Pokémon, Cupcakedex from Canada transforms her love for the franchise into a streamable art form, baking everything from Pokémon cupcakes to coco bombs. She shares how her journey began with Pokémon Yellow and evolved through her love for the Pokémon anime, Pokémon GO, and fanfiction. Discover the creative process behind her Pokémon-themed food and the power of community, especially when she met fans at GO Fest and celebrated with Miss Editor at her wedding.

Sources
Opening Song: "Forget You" by Alex_MakeMusic from Pixabay

Send us a text

Support the show

Visit our website: www.asthepokeballturns.com
Join Our Discord Community!
https://discord.gg/AqAbD7FbRt

Your next Pokemon adventure begins here!

Transcript

WEBVTT

00:00:00.016 --> 00:00:03.596
My name is David Hernandez, and you're listening to As the Pokeball Turns.

00:00:44.009 --> 00:00:46.579
Welcome to As the Pokeball Turns.

00:00:46.901 --> 00:00:52.683
Our journey takes us to Canada, where we meet a comedian woman obsessed with making Pokemon themed food.

00:00:52.982 --> 00:00:57.883
Starting in Pokemon Yellow, she has remained dedicated to the franchise throughout Pokemon's history.

00:00:58.188 --> 00:01:06.087
Eventually, her love for Pokemon met her interest in baking back in 2016, where she would attempt to make an entire dex of Pokemon cupcakes.

00:01:06.402 --> 00:01:12.474
Today, she has branched out into other parts of baking including snow cones, cocoa bombs, and so much more.

00:01:12.790 --> 00:01:16.280
But how did this mix of Pokemon and baking come together?

00:01:16.581 --> 00:01:17.992
Only one way to find out.

00:01:18.308 --> 00:01:20.757
Here is her origin story into the world of Pokemon.

00:01:21.081 --> 00:01:22.980
This is Cupcake Dex.

00:01:24.218 --> 00:01:30.250
Today, I'm joined by someone who will make your favorite Pokemon look absolutely delicious.

00:01:30.548 --> 00:01:31.878
Cupcake Dex.

00:01:32.227 --> 00:01:33.197
Welcome to the show.

00:01:34.268 --> 00:01:35.867
Hey, David! It's so good to be here.

00:01:35.868 --> 00:01:37.438
Thank you so much for having me on.

00:01:38.058 --> 00:01:41.111
Without a doubt and the honor is honestly all mine because I'm deep down.

00:01:41.111 --> 00:01:54.731
I'm a foodie and I always the idea Oh, yeah And I always loved the idea of Pokemon and food coming together Like I feel like this should be a Pokemon bakery or restaurant somewhere if there is it needs to be in the US or Canada since you're from the Canada

00:01:55.001 --> 00:02:00.944
The absolute tragedy of it all is it's only in Japan currently, but we got to get it here someday.

00:02:00.944 --> 00:02:01.245
Right?

00:02:01.265 --> 00:02:04.155
At least in North America, if not Canada, I think we should be here in Canada.

00:02:04.165 --> 00:02:05.424
I'm not biased at all as a

00:02:05.474 --> 00:02:06.454
Oh, yeah, just a little bit.

00:02:06.454 --> 00:02:08.905
Hey, I mean, I don't mind going to Canada I hear you all good people up there.

00:02:08.905 --> 00:02:10.235
So I wouldn't I wouldn't be against that

00:02:10.537 --> 00:02:11.757
We welcome you here.

00:02:11.757 --> 00:02:14.227
Come to the land of the maple syrup and hockey.

00:02:14.347 --> 00:02:16.727
Yes, You got me sold on maple syrup

00:02:17.026 --> 00:02:17.256
Yes.

00:02:17.605 --> 00:02:18.316
Perfect.

00:02:18.730 --> 00:02:20.270
So you said there was a bakery in Japan.

00:02:20.270 --> 00:02:21.461
So have you ever been there?

00:02:21.471 --> 00:02:22.510
Have you researched it?

00:02:23.127 --> 00:02:24.687
I have researched it extensively.

00:02:24.707 --> 00:02:26.207
I have not actually been.

00:02:26.388 --> 00:02:27.497
The dream is to go.

00:02:27.578 --> 00:02:42.020
I went in Japan and I went to Japan with my now wife, Miss Editor, in 2017, and right before we went, they announced there's going to be a Pokemon Cafe opening up four months after our visit there.

00:02:42.069 --> 00:02:45.710
So forever, we were so sad that we had missed this opportunity.

00:02:45.919 --> 00:02:48.629
And now we are going to Japan for our honeymoon, And.

00:02:48.762 --> 00:02:49.891
We are definitely going.

00:02:49.991 --> 00:02:51.451
I am so, so excited.

00:02:51.706 --> 00:02:52.757
Oh, I'm very excited.

00:02:53.046 --> 00:02:56.276
I can imagine you're probably going to be visiting and are you gonna try everything on the menu?

00:02:56.276 --> 00:02:58.477
Like, do you have ideas of what you're going to try out?

00:02:58.731 --> 00:03:01.502
I, ooh, they, they changed their menu seasonally.

00:03:01.542 --> 00:03:03.942
So it's going to be a really fun game to choose what we want.

00:03:04.122 --> 00:03:07.348
And plus there's the cafe and then there's also the bakery.

00:03:07.348 --> 00:03:09.657
So I'm just going to have to eat a whole bunch of Pokemon foods.

00:03:09.698 --> 00:03:10.818
It sounds terrible.

00:03:10.818 --> 00:03:12.457
I know, but I'm looking forward to it.

00:03:13.918 --> 00:03:14.807
Oh, that brings up the question.

00:03:14.807 --> 00:03:18.777
I wonder if there's like Pokemon vegetarians in the Pokemon universe, you know, like what would they be called?

00:03:19.086 --> 00:03:22.096
Oh, Poketarians, right?

00:03:23.491 --> 00:03:24.811
if you're a Poketarian, shout out.

00:03:24.830 --> 00:03:25.540
Tag me on Twitter.

00:03:27.431 --> 00:03:29.741
Well, CupcakeDix, first I want to talk about your experience with Pokemon.

00:03:29.741 --> 00:03:31.941
So when did you first start getting interested in Pokemon?

00:03:32.527 --> 00:03:34.568
I am a day one fan.

00:03:34.890 --> 00:03:41.854
I was like, in grade school when Pokemon first came out and I started seeing kids with Gameboys, during recess.

00:03:41.854 --> 00:03:43.443
I had no idea what a Gameboy is.

00:03:43.443 --> 00:03:44.674
I didn't know what a Pokemon was.

00:03:44.723 --> 00:03:46.973
I wasn't allowed to watch TV shows during the week.

00:03:46.973 --> 00:03:48.913
So I wasn't introduced to Pokemon.

00:03:48.913 --> 00:03:53.133
Anime, until my best friend in the whole wide world was like, CupcakeDex, come over to my house.

00:03:53.435 --> 00:04:18.932
I got the N64 games, I got the anime, I got it all, and once she introduced me, I was absolutely hooked, and I continued to be a huge Pokemon freak from, early grade school, into high school, through college, into adulthood, the whole nine yards, never stopped, and I became known as the, person in the friend group who's just always into Pokémon.

00:04:19.122 --> 00:04:22.452
And if you let her talk, she will talk your ear off about Pokémon.

00:04:22.512 --> 00:04:23.122
If allowed.

00:04:23.293 --> 00:04:24.043
Only if allowed.

00:04:25.548 --> 00:04:29.168
So you were very passionate about Pokemon growing up throughout the years, like you never took any breaks.

00:04:29.168 --> 00:04:29.788
That's impressive.

00:04:29.798 --> 00:04:31.117
There's not many people who've done that.

00:04:31.353 --> 00:04:34.043
Yeah, no, it was, uh, embarrassing in high school.

00:04:34.072 --> 00:04:35.992
It was definitely a thing I hid at the time.

00:04:36.213 --> 00:04:40.177
But then it all comes around again and it started to be cool again in college.

00:04:40.177 --> 00:04:47.125
so I didn't have to hide and I actually got to talk with people and not just my Online Pokemon friends, but real people in the real world.

00:04:47.427 --> 00:04:53.812
which was another exciting element, because in high school, I was like that real loner, lonely kid who didn't have a lot of friends.

00:04:54.134 --> 00:05:01.355
But, I went to the internet, and I made a whole bunch of amazing friends who I'm still in touch with and still good friends with to this day.

00:05:01.615 --> 00:05:05.011
Online, in Pokemon forums, if you can believe it.

00:05:05.230 --> 00:05:06.451
I'm a forum baby.

00:05:07.050 --> 00:05:11.290
and like, that was how I like kept that passion alive at the time.

00:05:11.440 --> 00:05:17.233
I was so excited about, Pokemon pixel art and spriting and also Pokemon fan fiction.

00:05:17.742 --> 00:05:19.754
So what kind of fan fiction would you write?

00:05:20.319 --> 00:05:21.149
Not a lot.

00:05:22.540 --> 00:05:25.959
I'm a writer at heart, but one who always struggled with inspiration.

00:05:25.959 --> 00:05:27.529
So I wrote some short form.

00:05:27.529 --> 00:05:29.970
Uh, they're called one shots in the fanfic world.

00:05:29.970 --> 00:05:32.259
These are short stories, mostly about like.

00:05:32.259 --> 00:05:40.911
Humans and Pokémon, their relationships, their bonds, like Pokémon sort of growing up and like their different experiences.

00:05:41.211 --> 00:05:43.232
I always thought that that was such an interesting element.

00:05:43.232 --> 00:05:50.672
I often wasn't really writing about like canon characters, but like, what's the story of like this one lonely Magikarp who wants to become a Gyarados?

00:05:52.747 --> 00:05:54.257
Are you the Canadian version of me?

00:05:54.276 --> 00:05:57.117
Because that's really the same fan fiction I used to write when I was growing up.

00:05:57.521 --> 00:05:59.041
Stop! What?

00:05:59.101 --> 00:06:00.112
Say more! Wait, what?

00:06:00.677 --> 00:06:01.086
Yeah.

00:06:01.086 --> 00:06:05.026
So when a fan fiction, I would look into like stories of Pokemon because I felt like there was more depth to it.

00:06:05.276 --> 00:06:08.485
And I would try to explore the relationships with not just one Pokemon, but like.

00:06:08.855 --> 00:06:14.846
One of the stories I had was taking place in Viridian Forest and it was supposed to be like a war that was taking place And a Caterpie that refused to evolve kind of thing.

00:06:15.800 --> 00:06:17.130
yes! What?

00:06:17.725 --> 00:06:21.295
I Know that's what I'm saying.

00:06:21.295 --> 00:06:26.985
I'm like, this is literally I feel like I'm not I know I'm gonna be myself But I feel like I'm almost I am myself here

00:06:28.016 --> 00:06:29.906
That's so funny, I love that.

00:06:30.252 --> 00:06:34.052
There's not a lot of us like Pokemon fanfic people out there these days.

00:06:34.052 --> 00:06:43.862
I feel like Pokemon fanfiction It was always a bit of a niche, but especially nowadays It's very interesting seeing how fandom has has changed and what gets prioritized.

00:06:43.862 --> 00:06:53.531
It's become very very visual So the fan artists will always still be the biggest but now you have video creators, and, you know, vloggers, and event people.

00:06:53.762 --> 00:06:59.172
But like, fanfiction kind of remains this niche that's off to the side that, like, doesn't really get explored.

00:06:59.172 --> 00:07:09.432
Especially because, unfortunately, fanfiction has a very bad reputation for not always having great quality, but The reality is that's all forms of art, no matter what you're doing.

00:07:09.432 --> 00:07:13.791
There will always be people who are, trying out for the first time, making so, so kind of art.

00:07:13.961 --> 00:07:21.732
And then you have people at the top who are making this like absolutely amazing content that like, you know, then goes viral and gets the most views.

00:07:21.752 --> 00:07:26.915
And then you have a lot of people who are just in the middle you know, talented and amazing and probably never going to really get their dues.

00:07:27.526 --> 00:07:31.555
Now, what was your favorite generation to play, out of all the ones you've played so far?

00:07:31.555 --> 00:07:32.141
Ha

00:07:32.170 --> 00:07:32.661
man.

00:07:32.978 --> 00:07:34.259
It's an interesting question.

00:07:34.259 --> 00:07:41.399
Actually, Gen 2 remains my favorite generation, but more so Johto as opposed to gold and silver specifically.

00:07:41.399 --> 00:07:43.149
So heart gold and soul silver.

00:07:43.149 --> 00:07:44.930
Just have such a special place in my heart.

00:07:44.939 --> 00:07:53.880
Even though I started with Pokemon yellow Gold silver crystal were always my favorites to play because I just fell in love with the Johto region So any opportunity to go back there?

00:07:53.901 --> 00:07:59.728
I'm kind of hoping for Pokemon, you know, Let's go Togepi or Pokemon Legends Celebi.

00:07:59.908 --> 00:08:02.028
Just give me, just give me some more Johto.

00:08:02.307 --> 00:08:03.148
I would love that.

00:08:03.528 --> 00:08:10.687
Otherwise, Pokemon Legends Arceus was also such a phenomenal game.

00:08:10.708 --> 00:08:12.918
I would love another one in that series.

00:08:13.403 --> 00:08:14.822
It was just so fun to play.

00:08:14.833 --> 00:08:17.333
A really fun break from everything else.

00:08:17.632 --> 00:08:18.903
I hope we get more like that.

00:08:19.122 --> 00:08:23.963
I love it when Pokémon breaks the mold a little bit, because it's such a fun world and there's so many fun ways to play with it.

00:08:24.762 --> 00:08:26.052
Well, what's your favorite Pokemon?

00:08:26.363 --> 00:08:30.721
Ooh! to this day, it kind of remains a tie between Mewtwo and Mew.

00:08:31.011 --> 00:08:35.551
I saw that first Pokémon movie in theaters as a kid, cried my eyes out.

00:08:35.801 --> 00:08:37.410
It was a formative moment.

00:08:37.691 --> 00:08:41.701
And to this day, I absolutely love Mewtwo and Mew.

00:08:41.701 --> 00:08:45.571
But as a Pokémon baker, I also just love Alchemy.

00:08:45.581 --> 00:08:47.921
She's such a little sweetheart.

00:08:48.010 --> 00:08:48.841
Oh my gosh.

00:08:49.138 --> 00:08:53.246
Ah! have way too many Alchemy plushies.

00:08:53.263 --> 00:08:53.682
Pokemon movie?

00:08:53.682 --> 00:08:55.732
Because they used to give out some promo cards, right?

00:08:56.104 --> 00:08:57.234
I didn't get Mewtwo.

00:08:57.234 --> 00:08:58.413
I was so disappointed.

00:08:58.701 --> 00:09:06.620
I remember getting that Flying Dragonite card, which was very cute, which I came to appreciate a lot more with time, because gosh, Dragonite is adorable.

00:09:08.145 --> 00:09:11.995
In spite of it, I don't know, I still, yeah, in spite of people not liking it because of calls from Dratini.

00:09:12.025 --> 00:09:14.326
I think people were hoping more of like Dragonair kind of thing.

00:09:15.260 --> 00:09:22.020
Yeah, it's kind of a goofy dragon, but gosh darn it, Dragonite is our goofy dragon, you know?

00:09:23.990 --> 00:09:27.520
That's

00:09:27.520 --> 00:09:37.561
bubble and I think no, it was the bubble but it was also trying to go up the windmill and a game going down and be like mew!

00:09:37.610 --> 00:09:38.421
favorite scene.

00:09:38.421 --> 00:09:40.541
I was like, it's going to be the Mew bubble with the windmill.

00:09:40.541 --> 00:09:41.181
Yes, absolutely.

00:09:41.260 --> 00:09:42.160
It's adorable.

00:09:42.321 --> 00:09:44.630
You watch that and how could you not fall in love with Mew?

00:09:44.831 --> 00:09:52.091
And then you hear Mewtwo giving these long speeches about the meaning of life, and you're like, I have also fallen in love with you, unfortunately.

00:09:52.091 --> 00:09:54.860
Oh

00:09:55.056 --> 00:09:55.316
didn't.

00:09:55.365 --> 00:09:56.755
It went head at first.

00:09:56.755 --> 00:10:00.956
The message went over my head first because I always, I don't know, I expected more battling.

00:10:01.166 --> 00:10:03.985
But, you know, it's kind message was obviously opposite.

00:10:03.985 --> 00:10:06.135
So, but I appreciated it more as I grew up though.

00:10:06.688 --> 00:10:10.249
It is funny, that first movie made some bizarre choices.

00:10:10.278 --> 00:10:21.158
As a movie that was really representing the Pokemon franchise, it really was like, we're actually not going to include a whole lot of battling that looks cool and isn't, like, brutal and makes you want to cry.

00:10:21.479 --> 00:10:28.009
Uh, here's really strong messages that you're not going to be able to fully appreciate and absorb instead.

00:10:28.293 --> 00:10:33.087
although I will always say that vacation song from the, was it the Pokemon

00:10:33.102 --> 00:10:35.232
Aw, Pikachu's vacation!

00:10:35.557 --> 00:10:41.961
song, every time I go anywhere, usually like for a Go Fest, I always play that song to start off every single vacation.

00:10:41.980 --> 00:10:45.370
Cause it does not feel right if I don't play that Pokemon vacation song.

00:10:45.721 --> 00:10:47.520
I love that so much.

00:10:47.520 --> 00:10:48.910
That makes me so happy.

00:10:48.910 --> 00:10:51.390
I'm stealing this idea immediately, David.

00:10:51.390 --> 00:10:52.331
That's phenomenal.

00:10:54.400 --> 00:10:56.360
Vacations where I want to be.

00:10:56.431 --> 00:10:59.360
The Oh my gosh! Yes!

00:11:00.270 --> 00:11:07.053
So, you know, obviously you're known for is your baking side and you know, before we dive into how you mixed that with Pokemon, like what made you want to start baking?

00:11:07.698 --> 00:11:12.533
it was in 2011, Cake Boss first started airing on TV.

00:11:12.903 --> 00:11:16.462
And this whole cake decorating thing first became really popular.

00:11:16.462 --> 00:11:19.802
And I, I remember seeing this howdini.

00:11:19.842 --> 00:11:23.192
com, video on how to make a rubber ducky cake.

00:11:23.495 --> 00:11:25.355
And I was like, This is phenomenal.

00:11:25.355 --> 00:11:36.785
I have one of my good friends collects rubber duckies I'm gonna make her a rubber ducky cake for her birthday, and I had so much fun making this cake I decided like off my like siblings birthday.

00:11:36.785 --> 00:11:41.115
I'm gonna make a cake and for this friend's birthday and For the next friend's birthday.

00:11:41.405 --> 00:11:43.168
He was a big Pokemon fan.

00:11:43.168 --> 00:11:43.979
I was Wait a second.

00:11:44.009 --> 00:11:46.349
Can I make some Pokemon cupcakes?

00:11:46.729 --> 00:11:59.688
and, the world opened up, I posted them to one of the Pokemon forums I was on and someone jokingly said, you should make the first 151 Pokemon as cupcakes and.

00:11:59.688 --> 00:12:05.745
My mind was blown, my 80th chakra opened up, and I knew that I had do this.

00:12:07.066 --> 00:12:15.655
So I started a Tumblr blog called The Cupcake Dex, where I decided I was going to make the first 151 Pokemon as cupcakes.

00:12:16.025 --> 00:12:18.326
And that was, I think, 2014?

00:12:18.624 --> 00:12:19.923
Oh my god, 10 years ago.

00:12:20.517 --> 00:12:22.807
Was it a particular Pokemon you did for the Cupcakes?

00:12:22.807 --> 00:12:24.106
Or was it just like a Pokeball?

00:12:24.371 --> 00:12:35.511
I asked my friend what his favorites were and I remember he said like, it was like Mewtwo, Gardevoir, Greninja, so I like made them and then I also did like, Froakie and a few others to just kind of pad it out.

00:12:35.511 --> 00:12:39.251
I used the Pokémon Shuffle sprites from the 3DS, if you remember those.

00:12:40.072 --> 00:12:42.451
like, kind of just their faces, so super simple.

00:12:42.451 --> 00:12:44.741
I just made them all as like icing transfers.

00:12:45.095 --> 00:12:53.345
And I just had so much fun that that was how I decided I would also do the cupcake decks, where they're all 100 percent made of icing, they're 100 percent edible.

00:12:53.644 --> 00:13:04.899
It's really fun! You get, you just use icing to trace an image and then you freeze it and you plop it out and it, it just comes out as this like firm little like Pokemon face that you plop onto a cupcake.

00:13:04.908 --> 00:13:05.849
It's so cool.

00:13:05.879 --> 00:13:06.469
I love it.

00:13:07.068 --> 00:13:09.208
And eventually you branched out to the other desserts, right?

00:13:09.693 --> 00:13:22.344
Yeah, at first I thought I was just gonna be making cupcakes and then this, group that I was in called Fandom Foodies, which was a whole bunch of other bakers who baked creations from, like, video games and books and movies.

00:13:22.647 --> 00:13:28.154
They were doing these different monthly themes where every month would be, a different theme that everyone could contribute to.

00:13:28.225 --> 00:13:35.698
So, you know, it was like a red wall theme, a cat theme, a nightmare before Christmas theme, and then there was a Pokemon theme and I knew.

00:13:36.001 --> 00:13:43.261
Well, I gotta contribute to this, and I decided to make candy from the, at the time, newly released Pokemon Go.

00:13:43.481 --> 00:13:46.351
So I made like Charmander, Squirtle, Pikachu, and Bulbasaur, candy.

00:13:46.674 --> 00:13:53.408
it was so much fun that I was like, Well, maybe the Cupcake Dex can post things other than cupcakes.

00:13:53.899 --> 00:13:57.692
And, I basically have not been able to stop ever since.

00:13:57.692 --> 00:13:59.341
Ha

00:13:59.442 --> 00:14:06.751
been very dedicated especially when people watch your twitch streams like you dive into different things besides cupcakes you do cakes One thing that I really love that.

00:14:06.751 --> 00:14:07.642
I wanted to let you know.

00:14:07.942 --> 00:14:12.782
I really love the Swablu shaved ice You did like it looks so beautiful.

00:14:12.881 --> 00:14:19.231
I don't know if it looks like it tastes good, too It looked like uh, almost like a blue coconut almost I don't know, that's what it reminded me of.

00:14:20.402 --> 00:14:20.772
Thank you.

00:14:20.772 --> 00:14:21.751
That was a fun one.

00:14:21.981 --> 00:14:22.331
Yeah.

00:14:22.331 --> 00:14:27.802
So I started streaming on Twitch, where I now make my Pokémon treats live every single week.

00:14:27.802 --> 00:14:31.652
Whereas before that, it was like maybe once every three, four weeks, I would make something new.

00:14:31.948 --> 00:14:33.438
But now it's every single week.

00:14:33.438 --> 00:14:36.283
And I had to make something from Pokémon Café Remix.

00:14:36.344 --> 00:14:37.214
Obviously.

00:14:37.443 --> 00:14:39.394
And that's probably shaved ice looked so good.

00:14:39.394 --> 00:14:41.683
So we made like shaved ice from scratch.

00:14:41.833 --> 00:14:43.583
We made ice cream from scratch.

00:14:43.594 --> 00:14:44.884
It was so cool.

00:14:45.193 --> 00:14:46.734
Yeah, it was a lot of fun.

00:14:46.793 --> 00:14:50.114
It was really tasty and very, very, very melty.

00:14:50.114 --> 00:14:53.073
So fast.

00:14:53.129 --> 00:14:53.649
real quick?

00:14:53.649 --> 00:14:55.808
Like, it wouldn't last long staying out, or?

00:14:56.038 --> 00:14:56.249
Oh,

00:14:56.344 --> 00:14:57.563
would not last long at all.

00:14:57.668 --> 00:15:05.688
All every time on my live stream, where I decide I'm going to make some kind of summary treat using like ice cream or shaved ice or anything cool like that.

00:15:05.918 --> 00:15:08.568
It winds up being a heat wave that exact day.

00:15:08.849 --> 00:15:14.778
And you know, the whole idea is let me at least be able to assemble the whole thing and take a photo.

00:15:14.989 --> 00:15:17.469
And there are some days where I can't even do that.

00:15:18.313 --> 00:15:23.073
So, I'm in Canada, we shouldn't be getting this kind of weather, and

00:15:23.099 --> 00:15:24.899
I was gonna say y'all supposed to be cold up there.

00:15:24.899 --> 00:15:26.078
How's it a heat wave up there?

00:15:27.144 --> 00:15:32.274
Look, I'm not mad, our summers here are beautiful, but gosh darn it, not when I'm baking, please!

00:15:35.639 --> 00:15:42.288
When you go into trying to make these Pokemon creations, you know beyond the cupcakes or even cakes or whatever How do you design it?

00:15:42.288 --> 00:15:46.323
Like do you try to do a plant beforehead and try to put it into mind or do you like draw it out?

00:15:46.913 --> 00:15:48.124
That's an awesome question.

00:15:48.144 --> 00:15:49.793
I've really run the gamut.

00:15:50.090 --> 00:15:56.399
before I started streaming, I started to create this, like, list in Excel of different Pokémon treats that I wanted to make.

00:15:56.419 --> 00:15:59.543
And it's, currently sitting at like 80 different treats long.

00:15:59.844 --> 00:16:01.384
I would just be inspired by anything.

00:16:01.384 --> 00:16:06.539
Sometimes I'd be scrolling Instagram and see like, that's a really cool concept for a tart or a cake.

00:16:06.559 --> 00:16:07.779
I wonder if I could do that.

00:16:07.789 --> 00:16:12.820
Or sometimes I'd just be like looking at a Pokemon and thinking, I'll bet you could be a pie.

00:16:13.049 --> 00:16:14.659
I'll bet I could turn you into a pie.

00:16:18.799 --> 00:16:22.899
But that said, since I stream on Twitch, I have to make something every single week.

00:16:23.190 --> 00:16:30.450
And sometimes, look, at this point, I'm kind of tired of looking at that list that's now, like, multiple years old of those, like, 80 plus treats.

00:16:30.750 --> 00:16:34.080
you know, there's also new Pokémon out now and, like, new events.

00:16:34.100 --> 00:16:38.850
So sometimes I want to do something that's, you know, related to the new Pokémon GO Community Day.

00:16:39.090 --> 00:16:41.220
Or a Pokemon that was just announced.

00:16:41.524 --> 00:16:45.953
And so it's always this question of like, what is inspiring me at any given time?

00:16:46.274 --> 00:16:54.517
And certainly there are times where it is like trying to draw blood from a stone where I just, you know, my live stream is coming up.

00:16:54.657 --> 00:16:57.456
I have to figure out exactly what I'm going to be making.

00:16:57.456 --> 00:17:00.096
Cause I got a plan in advance and it's not until like.

00:17:00.313 --> 00:17:19.534
Two hours before I go live that I know, okay, I am going to make like, a Sharpedo dessert where like, I'm going to dip chocolates in straw, nope, I'm going to dip strawberries in chocolate, and I'm going to decorate it to look like Sharpedo, and I'm going to make little glasses full of blue jello so it looks like he's in the ocean, and that's what I'm going to do.

00:17:19.839 --> 00:17:24.170
Sometimes, deadlines are the best creative juice you can ask for.

00:17:24.779 --> 00:17:27.109
so do you have the recipe and you just mold it into Pokemon?

00:17:27.634 --> 00:17:27.994
Yeah,

00:17:28.059 --> 00:17:28.869
kind of how it works?

00:17:29.035 --> 00:17:30.444
That's typically how it is.

00:17:30.474 --> 00:17:41.082
Sometimes it's okay, there's like this kind of cookie recipe, but I wanna give it that type of flavor or this type of mix in, or, you know, I wanna use, that kind of icing instead of this kind of icing.

00:17:41.082 --> 00:17:44.922
But typically, I'm honestly really bad at creating my own recipes.

00:17:44.926 --> 00:17:47.981
So I kind of just go online and try to get inspired.

00:17:47.981 --> 00:17:53.321
I get recommendations from friends or even from chatters on Twitch of what we should make sometimes.

00:17:53.627 --> 00:17:58.528
It's wonderful, it's super helpful, and recipe creation is such a whole other beast.

00:17:58.568 --> 00:18:04.182
If I were to try to design my own recipes, Whoo, that would be a whole other ballgame.

00:18:04.486 --> 00:18:09.307
I'm happy to make recipes that are tested and tried and true, and I know that they're gonna more or less come out.

00:18:09.637 --> 00:18:13.688
Assuming I can follow the recipe properly, which, you know, we do our best.

00:18:13.928 --> 00:18:14.998
We're live on Twitch.

00:18:15.018 --> 00:18:16.778
We're, you know, mistakes happen.

00:18:17.097 --> 00:18:18.607
Uh, not infrequently.

00:18:19.653 --> 00:18:24.309
Well, that was actually Well, that was actually another question I had, because before, you used to bake in private, before Twitch.

00:18:24.319 --> 00:18:31.276
You know, you would post on, like, Pokemon Amiibo, you'd post on Tumblr and stuff like So there you can kind of, like, if you made a mistake, you could kind of clean it up.

00:18:31.576 --> 00:18:33.036
Twitch, of course, it's live.

00:18:33.036 --> 00:18:35.266
You can't really, like, oops, it happened, it happened.

00:18:36.211 --> 00:18:40.030
you have to kind of adjust to that to where like, Oh, if it make a mistake, I make a mistake.

00:18:40.030 --> 00:18:41.121
I can't do anything about it.

00:18:41.496 --> 00:18:42.346
Oh, totally.

00:18:42.375 --> 00:18:46.526
When I first, first started, on Twitch, I thought, all right, here's what I'm going to do.

00:18:46.823 --> 00:18:53.363
I'm going to bake a cake in advance so that, while like, I'm going to bake the cake, quote unquote, on stream, I'm going to actually put that in the oven.

00:18:53.522 --> 00:19:01.032
And then I'm going to magically, as if with TV magic, I'm going to make a cake appear from below the table, like on a cooking show.

00:19:01.522 --> 00:19:02.673
Ah, magic.

00:19:03.042 --> 00:19:05.762
Uh, and that way I know it's done and it's ready and all that.

00:19:06.105 --> 00:19:15.265
The thing about that method is that it makes, it makes you create double the amount of food and double the amount of time.

00:19:15.827 --> 00:19:17.298
it's not efficient.

00:19:17.298 --> 00:19:20.847
and I don't want to give up my entire Sunday to streaming.

00:19:20.877 --> 00:19:22.788
I need to have a little bit of a life too.

00:19:23.087 --> 00:19:24.667
So we do it live.

00:19:24.964 --> 00:19:35.585
Sometimes we mess up and, the great thing about streaming on Twitch is you have a whole audience of people to tell you that you're doing it wrong! do this Why are you cupcake decks?

00:19:35.625 --> 00:19:38.585
Come on! I'm having a panic attack over here!

00:19:40.569 --> 00:19:43.450
My gosh.

00:19:43.904 --> 00:20:12.560
So it really is, like, actually genuinely helpful having chatters who are able to give advice, including, like, we have some very talented, like, Bakers and cooks in our chat who do like hang out and I'm so grateful to have their advice because otherwise it's just like Oh the show must go on just this past sunday I was using a blender and realized that the little rubber ring of the blender was not In the very safe position that it should have been and instead got ground up by the blender blades.

00:20:12.976 --> 00:20:23.333
So we had to spend, a good ten minutes just fishing through our, muffin batter to make sure that there weren't any pieces of, silicone just kind of floating around in there.

00:20:24.042 --> 00:20:24.833
Well, that's protein.

00:20:24.833 --> 00:20:25.262
Doesn't it?

00:20:25.828 --> 00:20:26.452
I

00:20:27.962 --> 00:20:28.803
Hey, don't add protein.

00:20:28.813 --> 00:20:30.032
Do silicone.

00:20:30.113 --> 00:20:32.393
I do not, I do not endorse that.

00:20:36.212 --> 00:20:37.597
That's, you know?

00:20:39.417 --> 00:20:43.248
We all gotta make our own decisions about what right?

00:20:43.702 --> 00:20:45.222
Hey, I'm just trying to avoid a lawsuit.

00:20:45.232 --> 00:20:50.721
So, You've been listening to as the Pokeball turns.

00:20:51.051 --> 00:20:52.451
We're going to take a quick break.

00:20:52.862 --> 00:21:39.607
We'll be right back What's interesting, you know, your wife,

00:21:39.762 --> 00:21:40.823
Editor, yeah.

00:21:40.867 --> 00:21:48.042
yeah, She's the editor behind the scenes kind of thing, so how did y'all, like, manage, camera angles and trying to, get a show together?

00:21:48.053 --> 00:21:52.103
Because I'm sure she has to move things around when you have to go through the oven and backwards and all that stuff.

00:21:52.452 --> 00:21:53.143
Oh, man.

00:21:53.214 --> 00:21:58.144
so our setup is one that we have perfected over the past four years of streaming.

00:21:58.441 --> 00:22:07.651
I'm so lucky that my wife is like a professional filmmaker, essentially, specifically an editor, but she's worked with cameras for years professionally.

00:22:07.954 --> 00:22:10.462
So we have one front facing camera.

00:22:10.678 --> 00:22:12.228
And one top down camera.

00:22:12.468 --> 00:22:15.208
And when we first started streaming, she was behind the camera.

00:22:15.268 --> 00:22:23.188
She would zoom in on whatever I was making and zoom out and focus on my face and focus on the food and it was just totally untenable.

00:22:23.490 --> 00:22:28.180
over the years, we had to just like really nail down what is our setup going to be.

00:22:28.190 --> 00:22:29.720
And we still revisit it.

00:22:29.730 --> 00:22:36.940
Because right now, you know, there are points where I'm just going to be off camera because the setup is just in our dining room, not in our kitchen.

00:22:36.970 --> 00:22:42.660
So there's a lot of points in the show where I just have to get up, I have to get something from the oven, I have to do some dishes, and I'm simply not on camera.

00:22:42.670 --> 00:22:48.981
We have tried setting up cameras in pointing down into the kitchen and it just hasn't worked so far.

00:22:48.981 --> 00:22:55.092
We have a very small little one bedroom apartment and getting more cameras so far.

00:22:55.356 --> 00:22:56.828
It's just really difficult.

00:22:57.126 --> 00:22:59.077
Setting up for a stream is no small task.

00:22:59.117 --> 00:23:01.392
If you're just doing a gaming stream, it's a lot easier.

00:23:01.681 --> 00:23:06.770
You typically have, like, a webcam on your computer, you have your microphone kind of set up stationary at your desk.

00:23:07.058 --> 00:23:10.439
But when you're doing a baking stream, you're not at your desk.

00:23:10.439 --> 00:23:13.028
Well, I mean, you could be, but I wouldn't recommend it.

00:23:13.028 --> 00:23:16.979
Frankly, you need a set, you really need a set for it.

00:23:17.308 --> 00:23:19.858
So we have to, there's a lot of moving things around.

00:23:19.858 --> 00:23:20.679
There's a lot of setup.

00:23:20.983 --> 00:23:25.574
It used to take an hour to set up a stream and an hour to take down the stream.

00:23:25.881 --> 00:23:30.916
We've thankfully integrated after all these years, we've like put lights into the walls.

00:23:31.252 --> 00:23:35.452
We have a permanent arm that comes out of one wall that holds the camera.

00:23:35.553 --> 00:23:39.663
We have a stand that sits right by the entrance to the kitchen that holds the main camera.

00:23:39.954 --> 00:23:40.734
And it works.

00:23:41.035 --> 00:23:42.184
Blessedly, it works.

00:23:42.305 --> 00:23:44.184
It's what is currently sustainable.

00:23:44.184 --> 00:23:49.595
But we're always looking for ways to improve this stream and to make it better both for ourselves and for the audience.

00:23:49.595 --> 00:23:55.519
We want it to be like fun and dynamic and like, you know, an exciting fun place to be and interesting to watch.

00:23:56.122 --> 00:24:03.483
so one thing that your passion for both Pokemon baking brought was you actually got to host your own contest which was the Pokey Noms challenge back in

00:24:03.548 --> 00:24:07.163
Oh my god, you've done your research! Oh my god!

00:24:07.284 --> 00:24:07.723
try.

00:24:08.134 --> 00:24:08.834
What was it like?

00:24:08.844 --> 00:24:11.094
Because that was your first ever contest you ever hosted, right?

00:24:11.683 --> 00:24:13.733
That was Super interesting.

00:24:14.008 --> 00:24:17.478
I worked with a good, friend who was also a Pokemon baker at the time.

00:24:17.478 --> 00:24:19.228
He goes by Aquat, the Waylord.

00:24:19.530 --> 00:24:23.411
He's made phenomenal, like super duper creative Pokemon treats as well.

00:24:23.711 --> 00:24:25.221
it was so cool.

00:24:25.280 --> 00:24:34.053
Like just saying like, Hey world! Come on! Make some Pokémon treats! And they did! And they were so fun and creative.

00:24:34.536 --> 00:24:36.445
I love any opportunity to see it.

00:24:36.455 --> 00:24:47.853
When I first started Pokémon Baking, it was like me in a quad, and like, you know, the odd, like, you know, Pokémon cake here and there, but a lot were Yeah, it was very, very niche.

00:24:48.159 --> 00:24:58.368
And now, in 2024, there's like a few people who have kind of also come into the niche of Pokémon Baking both in North America and like, I think my friends in Brazil.

00:24:58.675 --> 00:25:05.415
There's also like amazing Japanese Pokemon food artists like it's like a whole little, not quite community.

00:25:05.415 --> 00:25:07.336
I think I want us to all be closer.

00:25:07.336 --> 00:25:08.445
I wish we were all a little bit.

00:25:08.576 --> 00:25:16.016
Such a phenomenal cohort of artists working with like such a unique medium, making such cool stuff.

00:25:16.323 --> 00:25:25.685
And anytime that anyone makes something like unique Pokemon food related, whether like you've done a hundred of them, or this is like your first time baking, it's so exciting.

00:25:25.959 --> 00:25:28.868
you can see, you can tell how excited folks are to be like.

00:25:29.009 --> 00:25:39.118
I don't really work in the kitchen much, but like, you know, I tried making this with like a recipe I'm familiar with or a recipe I wasn't familiar with and like, I love the results and I feel more empowered to bake.

00:25:39.482 --> 00:25:48.368
That is the coolest to me, like for people to feel empowered to try something new that like feels creative and then also is creatively nourishing.

00:25:48.409 --> 00:26:00.898
I think that's so exciting and that to me is like part of the dream is can we like let's get more people making their own food and like doing it in fun, engaging ways that like appeal to our own like creative personal niches.

00:26:00.909 --> 00:26:01.868
That's what it's about.

00:26:02.457 --> 00:26:04.997
One thing that you've alluded to is you've played Pokemon Go.

00:26:05.317 --> 00:26:07.916
What was it like when you first started playing, or when did you start playing?

00:26:08.497 --> 00:26:10.586
I, of course, was playing immediately.

00:26:10.636 --> 00:26:14.866
I remember, I was like, theorizing with friends what Pokemon Go was gonna be like.

00:26:15.167 --> 00:26:19.527
I joined the Silph Road in excitement over how the whole thing was gonna work.

00:26:19.797 --> 00:26:24.247
So, the second that, like, APK dropped in Canada, I was downloading it.

00:26:24.527 --> 00:26:26.386
Like, I remember I was, like, at the hospital.

00:26:26.567 --> 00:26:28.797
Like, for a family member, and I was

00:26:28.926 --> 00:26:29.557
Oh my god!

00:26:30.136 --> 00:26:45.358
dropped! I have to download it! So, I downloaded it and I got literally, like, my siblings, every friend, I was like, you gotta play this! Here, there's a Pidgey! You catch it! You catch it! It's just like this! And, it was so much fun.

00:26:45.358 --> 00:26:54.037
We had the really popular park where, like, a Machamp was spawning every so often and, like, people were like, oh my god, Aerodactyl! And the the whole crowd just running for it.

00:26:54.366 --> 00:26:56.247
Those were such exciting days.

00:26:56.396 --> 00:27:02.207
The church nearby decorated their windows with like the different Pokemon go team colors and was giving out water bottles.

00:27:02.645 --> 00:27:03.986
it was really exciting times.

00:27:04.006 --> 00:27:11.465
And I was like organizing meetups, like immediately within my city, just like, let's all get together and like do a Ray train for our Articuno day.

00:27:11.763 --> 00:27:12.713
And of course, like.

00:27:12.713 --> 00:27:43.378
You know, things dipped and rose, especially here in Canada, the summertime is always like the place and the time to play, and then winter things fall off a little bit, but that first summer in 2016 was so magical, and so special, and the closest thing to that really is like the Pokemon Go Fest events, like that has been so special, I've loved being able to go to that, getting to like interact with So many other Pokemon fans, like seeing everyone get so hype.

00:27:43.388 --> 00:27:43.878
Oh my God.

00:27:43.878 --> 00:27:45.669
There's a perfect Staryu over here, everyone.

00:27:45.669 --> 00:27:46.858
Come on, come on, come on.

00:27:47.209 --> 00:27:47.568
It was.

00:27:48.763 --> 00:27:53.453
That, like, energy is, like, just so, like, electric, if you'll forgive the pun.

00:27:53.913 --> 00:27:56.094
And I love being around that.

00:27:56.094 --> 00:27:57.203
And it's so much fun.

00:27:57.213 --> 00:28:03.013
And I love the way it brings people together, that it gets people chatting, and just gets you outside and exploring.

00:28:03.733 --> 00:28:05.713
Oh, I love Pokemon Go so much.

00:28:05.963 --> 00:28:07.564
For all its faults, it's a great game.

00:28:08.189 --> 00:28:14.429
So you said you would host meetups for like raids, like you said Articuno Day, so like people would come out and y'all would, would y'all walk, would y'all drive,

00:28:14.703 --> 00:28:17.854
Yeah, we were walking, especially in those early days.

00:28:18.173 --> 00:28:25.824
We would find like a, you know, kind of like a downtown spot to meet up and like, alright, everyone, let's like go and do a raid train together.

00:28:25.824 --> 00:28:32.439