Austin is Awesome

A Work in Progress!

Just got back from Austin, TX...and although I didn't see much of Austin the city, I got to experience the hospitality of the people everyday. I was a judge at the annual cake show, That Takes the Cake, where I was joined by an all-star team of fellow judges including: Bronwen Weber, Nicholas Lodge, Jacquy Pfeiffer, Debbie Brown (all the way from England!) and many others. We judged all day Sat. at the Crockett Center, then I gave a demo on Sunday of our gift box cake and on Monday I taught an all day, hands-on class of our sushi cake to 15 students.
All the cakes and the students were so impressive.

Here are a few photos from our class, I couldn't be more proud considering we had less then eight hours!Even one of my students posted about it!


You can see a bunch of photos from the demo's and the actual show cakes on the events facebook profile.

I'm off to Kansas but want you to get ready, the next Food Network Challenge we are in airs in just one month from today! More about it here.

Only in Texas!

Lily (1,2,3,4,5)

When I first "met" Lily she was still in her mom's womb. Every since that day I have been lucky enough to be commissioned to make her birthday cake each year. One of the best parts of my job is to grow with my clients. I've been doing this so long that sometimes I am part of a couples wedding cake and then before you know it I am doing their child's first birthday too.

This week Lily turned five. So I thought it would be fun to do a rewind on all of her previous birthday cakes. In her honor we created a very chic and graphic princess cake for her fifth birthday party and topped it off with a golden tiara adorned with pearls (of course it is all sugar).

If you want to make this tiara you can check out page 171 in Confetti Cakes for Kids where there is a template, instructions and color photos too!


For her fourth Birthday she was feeling very close to Hop hop, her stuffed bunny toy. When Lily's mom handed over Hop hop to be replicated in sugar, we were terrified that the child would be without her favorite toy (sugar decorations are not made in one day folks!) it was then that we learned about the great wisdom a clever parent has...this was only one of three Hop hop's, the one that wasn't with Lily was in the laundry...Genius!

When Lily turned three, as with my precious niece Ruthie, she was in full swing with the Disney Princess Kingdom. So we made sugar replicas of the castle and princess Aurora to go with the elaborate gift box cake.

One of my favorite characters, Madeline, was center stage for birthday number 2. The Carlyle Hotel has a Madeline Themed Party that any child or parent would have fun at. Primary colors and Madeline directed this cake.

And the original cake that started it all...as you can see, Lily was always chic (you can see her Mom has always been ahead of the style curve) Pink and Chocolate was the way to go on her first birthday. And although Lily probably wasn't part of this decision, who can resist a cute teddy bear.
As Lily gets bigger you can see our cakes get better. Happy Birthday Lily!

Victorian House

I am always asked, "What was your most difficult cake ?" Honestly there have been a number of challenging ones (think six-foot tall sock monkey) but one of the cakes that was both challenging and most detailed was a Victorian House cake we created over a year ago for a wedding.


The wedding actually took place at the Jedediah Hawkins Inn located in Jamesport, New York. The cake was an exact replica of the house from the structural details, down to the flowers outside the house.





One of my friends who is an architect came by the bakery to help me figure out the exact configuration of the roof. We even had the event planners send us the paint chips of the renovated house so we could match all the exact colors.



It was this project that first gave me the idea to film the building of our cakes (which eventually led us to shoot two videos on YouTube). Unfortunately I thought of it in the middle of this project so it was too late, but I did take some still photos that will give you some idea of the process. The entire house was Banana cake filled with Chocolate Ganache. I insisted on the ganache, since it holds up better structurally then buttercream, once I learned (a week before the wedding) that the cake would be displayed in a tent filled with 300 people rather then an air-conditioned room. Did I mention that this took place at the end of August (think very hot and humid)!

This week after we finish a five year old's princess cake, I'm off to judge, demo and teach in Austin, TX at That Takes the Cake Show. There are only a few spots left for my class on March 2nd. We are making the Sushi Cake from The Confetti Cakes Cookbook.

V-Day

I LOVE Valentine's Day. Not a day goes by that I don't tell my husband that I love him but it is an extra special time to remind everyone of the loved ones in their own lives. (I also hate to admit it but I love all the cheesy decorations that go up in retail stores this time of year.) During the end of the year and all the holidays that come with it there never seems to be enough time to make things from scratch, but Valentine's Day stands alone, it's the perfect holiday to make something ...yes I have to say it...from the heart. And this year it is on a weekend, even better.


One of my favorites is a project from our second book, Confetti Cakes for Kids. But if you don't have all the materials used here then you can adapt this project to heart shaped cupcakes and ice with plain old frosting, Yum! You can also take this idea and decorate heart cookies either with a message or without. You can use edible food markers, royal icing or we use special Letter cutters called TAPS. If you do go the cake route then use our delicious Red Velvet Cake recipe.

The message is the best part. You can personalize the cookies, cupcakes and cakes with an inside joke that will make any friend, relative, girlfriend, boyfriend or spouse laugh...and of course be touched that you thought of them in the first place.

Check out this blog, they used our book to make their very own sweet treats.

We're off...

I have already failed on my New Year's resolution to write more frequent blog postings but I have a good excuse. My assistant Lauren and I are off to Denver, Colorado tomorrow to participate in one of the biggest Food Network Challenges ever! I can't really tell you too much more then that but you will have to catch it on the Food Network when it airs this spring.

In the meantime besides shipping A LOT of cake and all of our equipment out to Denver we were busy do a demo at ICE, completing cakes and teaching too. I also had a chance to kick-off the Lower East Side Girls Club cupcake-of-the-month. Last week I headed down to The Sweet Things Bakeshop and we created a snowball cupcake for the month of January.


The last cake we did went out yesterday for a little boy's first birthday party. The theme of the party was from the movie Finding Nemo and the cake was created using some of our favorite cake recipes, Red Velvet Cake with Swiss Meringue Buttercream and Banana Cake filled with Chocolate Ganache.



I am also excited to tell you about two upcoming classes. I am spending a weekend in Austin, Texas the end of February as a judge and teacher at That Takes The Cake, Sugar Art Show and Cake Competition. I'll be teaching how to make our sushi cake and demoing a gift box cake.

In May I will be flying to Toronto to teach a class at Flour Confections. You can sign up here.

So we are off, wish us luck!

Buzz

December is a crazy month for just about everyone, except Cake Designers. I mean if you have a retail bakery then of course you will be very busy with holiday orders but usually cake designers are not driven by holiday traffic, when people are baking at home they don't get married or have an elaborate cake at their family event, so we have our share of work to do but we are not "crazed with cakes." And although that is generally true, I have certainly done my share of Christmas present cakes and even a dreidel cake for Hanukkah. But when you run a small business I can say without hesitation you are ALWAYS busy. The end of the year brings a fervor of cleaning, book signings, photoshoots, planning for next year and year-end accounting (I love that quick books), not to mention celebrating! We had our Confetti Cakes Holiday party last week and then I was at Ron Ben-Israel's home (a.k.a. The King of Cakes) on Sunday making Latkes with my friend Zac Young (Executive Pastry Chef at Butter).

But of course when my friend called me up from Sports Illustrated Kids and said they needed a cake to celebrate their 20th Anniversary how could I say no? (Well, quite honestly I don't know how to say "No" and that is why I usually do not answer the phone!) So we replicated their mascot Buzz Beamer popping out of our delicious Chocolate cake. You will have to check out the issue in 2009, Buzz will be featured on the contents page.


So we all know what my new year's resolution is right? To write a more consistent blog...and to win the next challenge on the Food Network :-). The last one I did will air on Dec, 26th.
Happy Holidays to all!

The Style Network

One of the three wedding cakes I made for my very own wedding

Am I the world's worst blogger? I know it! Trust me I am always filled with TONS of ideas to write about on the blog...I even keep a list of things I want to talk about! Somehow I just never find the time to sit down and write it.

So here is a good excuse...we will be featured on The Style Network tomorrow, Tuesday 12/16 evening at 9pm/8 central. The Show is, Martha Stewart Living: "The Art of Cakes II" A Wedding Special.


The awesome producers over at Martha Stewart Weddings came to the bakery and filmed us and sat me down for an interview over at the MS Headquarters. They also took the DVD and photographs from my very own wedding to incorporate into the show. They wanted to show what a cake designer, someone who is in the industry and designs wedding cakes for a living did for her own wedding. So check it out and see for yourselves.

Me and my hubby, October 6, 2007. Photo by Jamie Watts