YouTube take II

We had so much success with our first YouTube video that we thought it would be a good idea to put up my compilation reel. This reel takes little snips from some past television experiences and rolls it all into one. Watch it here.

We also posted one of our recent television segments from April on Youtube. The show is a creation of Gourmet Magazine and aired on PBS. The show (which is a James Beard Award winner) is called, "Gourmet's Diary of a Foodie," and the segment focuses on Trompe L'oeil: The Art of Culinary Deception. It shows me making our Sushi cake. Both videos were edited by my amazingly talented friend and film artist, Lisa Stock. Another woman made a YouTube video about our cakes too, we didn't even know but that was so nice, watch here.


The last two weeks have been really busy, a ton of great cakes, and six classes…not to mention installing my bathroom soap dish in the wall…I’m talking cement, grout and silicone…plumbing is just another art form. Here are some other cakes we've done that tried to "trick the eye."

Hi Y'all

Paula and me on set right after taping the show

Since I started my company many moons ago I have been so fortunate to be featured on numerous television shows. One of the best parts of my job is communicating to people the art of cake decorating. I'm able to do this through demonstrations, television appearances, teaching classes and through our books (our newest book just went up on Amazon for pre-sales!).


One of my all time fun experiences was with Paula Deen on her television show, "Paula's Party." It was a Disco-themed party, so we made her a disco ball cake with the show logo on it, (Do not ask how I got that cake on a small commuter plane from NY to Savannah). We also made disco ball cupcakes and some delicious platform shoe cookies, Paula was wearing the real shoes and a wig too.



As with all the shows I have been on the producers were amazing, so professional and organized and Paula was especially great! It struck me while I was on set with her how much she says, "Y'all" to the studio audience, and it is only now that I realize I am way out of my league when I use that same phrase during my demo's. Paula is FROM the South, I was born in the Bronx (and not the Bronx Zoo as my older brother told me) and grew up on the North Shore of Long Island. So even though I probably don't have the right to say it, I still do because it is such an inviting way of saying we are ALL part of one group! I can't say enough nice things about Paula (and her staff) so I am sure she would not mind the next time I say, "Y'all know what I mean" during one of my classes.

Producers Aimee and Michelle with me before the show

Ten Best

Last night was the award ceremony held by Pastry Art and Design Magazine at ICE, honoring the 2008 recipients of the Ten Best Pastry Chefs in America. I was humbly included with nine other amazing pastry chefs:
*Chef Ciril Hitz, Johnson & Wales, Providence, RI
*Chef Vincent Pilon, Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, Las Vegas, NV
*Chef Deborah Racicot, Gotham Bar & Grill, New York, NY
*Chef Gilles Renusson, Grand Rapids Community College, Grand Rapids, MI
*Chef Sebastien Rouxel, Thomas Keller Restaurant Group, New York, NY
*Chef Alfred Stephens, Olives, New York, NY
*Chef Alex Stupak, WD-50, New York, NY
*Chef Stephane Treand, St. Regis Resort Monarch Beach, Dana Point, CA
*Chef Jenifer Witte, Alex, Wynn Las Vegas Resort & Country Club, Las Vegas, NV

Look for all of us on the cover of the next issue of Pastry Art and Design. Each of us will be profiled with our featured recipe.


It also happened to be my birthday, so in addition to getting such a fabulous award I shared the evening with my family and friends. For the event we recreated one of the designs and recipes from our new book that will be out this fall, Confetti Cakes for Kids. We created 500 mini cupcakes using our vanilla cake brushed with raspberry preserves topped with lemon curd buttercream and three handmade marzipan flowers placed on each mini cake. Of course, I did not do this myself, without Kathleen, Amanda, Stephanie and Candice (not pictured) nothing would ever get done!

Go ahead brag about yourself...

In my family we have many funny sayings, or as my husband will tell you, at least they are funny to the entire Strauss clan. So, whenever we mention something great that has happened to one of us a common reply from the peanut gallery is, "Go ahead brag about yourself" this keeps us all firmly planted on this earth. I love the fact that my family is so supportive and at the same time lets me know exactly where I stand...right beside them. And let me add that this saying has never stopped one of us from letting everyone know our good news...so here is a list of some great stuff that has happened to Confetti Cakes recently...and thanks I will go ahead and brag about ourselves!

1) Our YouTube Video has over 600,000 hits and a five star rating!
2) We were one of the featured videos and #11 most subscribed, #1 most subscribed this month, 18 most viewed on YouTube, thank you You Tube!
3) A nice feature on four NY Cake Decorators was in GOTHAM magazine's June/July issue, and we were one of them!
4) I was picked as one of Pastry Art & Design's, Ten Best Pasty Chefs in America for 2008, event on June 9th.
5) Our YouTube video has been embedded in a bunch of other great websites:
imcooked.com
abcnews.com
i-am-bored.com
6) iVillage.com posted some of our fun birthday cakes for some inspiring ideas in Dream Cakes and Be a Baker.
7) Last but not least our first cookbook has gone into its fourth printing!

O.k. back to making cakes!