Living unapologetically looks a little different for everyone—in fact, we'd argue that's the beauty of it.
For baker Julia Gallay, it looks like days spent in the kitchen of what can only be described as the ultimate cool-girl apartment—a converted unit in a heritage home in Toronto's trendy Trinity Bellwoods neighborhood.
But to refer to Julia as a baker might be an understatement. As owner of micro bakery Gallz Provisions, her day-to-day more closely resembles that of a sculptor or painter.
Whether she's taking inspiration from Italian architecture or the Japanese art of arranging flowers, her exquisite cakes are the epitome of edible art. Ethereal and one-of-a-kind, a distinct creative vision goes into each one of her thoughtful creations.
Recently, we asked Julia to take inspiration in the earthy tones of our new Mushroom color drop.
Naturally, her artistic take did not disappoint. Adorned with delicate flower petals, gold encrusted cherries, and an array of buoyant mushrooms, it's a whimsical incarnation of our new favorite underwear color.
We sat down with Julia to chat about her creative process, sharing connection through food, and her preference for cake as artistic medium over dessert (she's a pie girl through and through).
Is making beautiful cakes for a living as fun as it sounds?
At the end of the day: yes. Sometimes, I'll just have moments when I'm in the thick of it [and think], I just get to bake and make cake all day—which is just amazing. But, of course, there are ups and downs, and the challenges of any job.
I'm really lucky to be so creative in my everyday work, and also just finding a medium [where] my creativity can shine.
Your cakes are more than just a delicious dessert, they’re works of art. What first inspired you to take such a creative approach to baking?
There are specific rules of how you prepare certain things, but just you’ve got to do what feels good. I like to be creative with flavor combinations—and cake is a great medium. I really just wanted to hone my craft and be known for one thing and one thing only, which is why I only offer cake. I really believe in that philosophy.
Cake is a great medium [with] so many components and elements which allow creativity to shine. There's the sponge, there's the filling, there's the crunch factor or jam buttercream, and it's ever-changing.
Finding somebody who does cake really, really well is hard, [whereas] everybody's going to have their own opinion of their favorite chocolate chip cookie. It has to do with a lot of nostalgia. What type of cookie did your mom make when you were growing up? That will play into what you like and what you look for.
I'll make what I think is the ideal chocolate chip cookie, and it will taste amazing, but my dad will always say his favorite are the ones that his mom made—even though they're arguably worse.
Cake can be a really difficult dessert for a lot of people because it falls within your typical birthday or celebration. I've heard cake is not people's favorite. They haven't tried a cake that has so much intention with the way it's made. I think that a lot of cakes are made to look nice and they're made for tradition rather than it being a moment.
Whether it’s for birthdays or weddings, how does it feel to make special creations for people’s most intimate celebrations?
It's really wonderful because it holds such a memory in people's minds. I meet people all the time and they're like, oh, you made the cake for my sister's engagement party, or they remember the exact moment, which is really special.
I will forever love to hear those stories. For me, that's how I show that I care for somebody. It's by cooking them their favorite meal or their favorite dessert—that's how I show love to people. So when somebody appreciates that and tells me, it's so affirming.
My grandmother is the same way in Brazil. The way they provide for the grandkids, it's literally just by cooking them their favorite meals or making sure they're always fed. It's a level of communication almost. When I was a kid, we couldn't communicate, so the only thing we could communicate through was her making me food.
How do you find ways to stay continuously inspired in your craft?
Honestly, [I’m] inspired by anything and everything. It's hard to describe, walking around, [I’m] constantly inspired by things like plants, flowers. I find now I have such an appreciation for flowers and gardening.
It's so fun to watch [the] transition of the seasons. I think it's important to stay curious. I'm not really inspired by cake at all. Sure. I'll be inspired by certain techniques that I see people doing, whether it's using a piping tip in a certain way that's fun. I'm always down to test that out, but it's deeper than that.
It's usually coming from the way [an artist uses] the acrylic paint on the canvas with a scraper. I'm really inspired by pottery and ceramics as well. I’m really inspired by pottery and pottery tools and carving, and ikebana floral arrangements just because it’s so whimsical.
It's random stuff, too. I'll do little meringues that kind of have these ridges. To me, they look like columns on an old building in Italy, and I love that.
Despite being a self-proclaimed “cake lady,” you’ve mentioned not particularly liking cakes. What, then, is your favorite part of the process?
I don't like to eat the cake, but I love everything about making it—and decorating is obviously the best part because you let everything go. It's not like you're focused on timing and this and that—baking is particular.
I just don't really have a sweet tooth at all, but I think it's helpful because there is that balance and making sure things are salty enough. Brazilian stuff is so overly sweet. It's so sickly sweet, and that's the shit that I grew up with—it grosses me out.
In honor of our Mushroom color drop, you’ve designed the most ethereal cake. Take us through the process of how you incorporated the theme into this design.
I love playing with things from nature. I wanted it to be a similar color [to] the bodysuit, but having the mushroom on it was really important—just manipulating the mushrooms in a way that feels whimsical and fun, like the cake is the rock or vessel that the mushrooms are growing on in nature.
I also think it's an element of color. You want colors to play really well together. I think it would've felt really muted if it didn't have a pop of something, and then I also really played with the idea that things just fell off the tree and landed there, so that's what I think about when placing flowers on the cake, [like] petals falling.
I wanted to make it seem like those petals just fell there effortlessly, but it's actually super intentional. Maybe there's a cherry tree and they just fell.
It’s all about decorating the cake from a 360 point of view and making sure it's beautiful from any angle of the cake—kind of like a sculpture. It's not just about one side of it.
This is different because it's more like a 3D total visual experience.