Happy Birthday Vassar!

It's the 150th Birthday of Vassar College, my alma mater where all my baking began in my senior year of college. Fast forward a number of years (just a few years of course) and I am a professional cake designer. I'm honored they chose to feature one of my cakes in the advertising.

It is ironic since I studied studio art at Vassar and the cake shown, made for Bride's magazine, was inspired by the artist Wayne Theibaud.

Also, check out the latest blog posting of Sweetest Couture, they included us with some of the BEST cake designers on Earth, what an honor!

Classes Update

Just a little update on a class coming up at the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE) in New York City this March. The class is for professionals and individuals that have some experience with cake design. Here is the description for the class (a lot of techniques are covered):

Elisa Strauss, Sculpted Cakes, March 21, 22, 23, 2011, 7:30am-12noon, $750.00
Any fashionista will adore this bag. It makes an unforgettable Mother’s Day or birthday gift. By changing the shape and adjusting the handle, you could make a briefcase-style bag, too. If you can make this cake, you will have the fundamentals to make any sculpted cake. Although not obvious as a tiered cake, this doweled creation is made unique by gum paste decorations that personalize it to any occasion. Students in this class will receive credit from the ACF.

If you are interested in registering please check out ICE's website.

On another note, I will not be teaching in Paris this year. Unfortunately we could not get all the details squared away in time but I hope to be going in the future. In the meantime, the owner has just had a baby so hasn't taken down the course description. Please DO NOT sign-up for this course.

As always, I am teaching PRIVATE classes to students from all over the world and working on a whole bunch of creative projects that I hope to be able to reveal later this year. I'm also excited to be moving my studio next month; so lots of exciting changes in 2011!

I tweeted but not sure if I mentioned in my last blog, our first book The Confetti Cakes Cookbook was just re-ordered for its SIXTH Printing.

Hello....Kitty

Finished Kitty Cake

I've been wanting to post this cake for awhile but since I made it at the beginning of December, and tis' the season, my time has been taken up with teaching and lots of other fun stuff. I've also had some time to reflect on the past year and it has been AMAZING. I've had so many awesome students come from all over the world, been sharing my bakery space with one of my sweetest friends and have been so fortunate to have been in touch with so many people through facebook, twitter, etc. It has been so exciting and I am so grateful for all of it.

Nude Kitty (made out of gum paste)

Of course since it is December the Food Network has been re-airing the Holiday Cake-off from MANY years ago! (I think about five years or something like that)

Sugar bow with disco dust (glued on with egg whites)

I'm also looking forward to next year with lots of projects underway and teaching internationally.

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday filled with lots of sweetness. I told Kitty it wasn't nice to ignore me while I was working on her...hee, hee! Happy New Year!

THE First Birthday Cake

Perhaps it's only my fellow cake designers who can understand the stress (I put on myself) for my daughter's first birthday cake. In fact, my husband jokingly reminded me TWICE that he ordered a sheet cake, NOT a sculpted cake (a.k.a. cake that will take days to bake, sculpt and decorate) but OF COURSE I was not going to serve a sheet cake at my own daughter's first birthday party.

"Owl Eyes"

So the stress actually started months ahead of time deciding on a design. I finally chose an owl because we affectionately coined the phrase for my daughter "owl eyes" for when she should be sleeping in her stroller but we see her bright large eyes looking back at us.

My inspiration: sketches and tear sheets

The colors came from the plates and napkins I chose, and the style was modeled after all those fabulous Owl pillows, back packs, change purses that are around now. I used a special textured rolling pin to make the medium-pink color look like corduroy on the back and in the ear and pocket details. I hadn't used that rolling pin since the first sock monkey I made, in 2005 on the first Food Network Birthday Cake challenge. Lots of stitching, everywhere to make a cute and cuddly owl.

It was made of our old-fashioned vanilla cake with vanilla Swiss meringue buttercream, very simple but delicious.

And it is kind of appropriate I joined twitter today and I am using this "bird" cake photo for all my tweets! Follow along...

**Top photo by my talented cousin Jordan Pique

The Cake Boss is coming to Town Hall

One of the sweetest guys around is my friend, Buddy Valastro. It's hard to look at all the styled photos of him from his TV show because he looks so serious and that isn't him at all. He is the type of guy that would do anything to help anyone. He is releasing a new book and is giving a live performance next week at Town Hall, it should be a lot of fun!

Here is a special discount code for the tickets:

Discount offer valid October 4th 10am – November 2nd 10am.
Password: CAKE
$5 savings on price level two and three tickets.
Previous purchases do not apply.
Valid online only.

PRESS RELEASE:

Buddy Valastro: The Cake Boss

The Bakin’ with the Boss Tour

The Town Hall · November 3rd · 8pm

- Tickets are on-sale Now -

America’s favorite baker Buddy Valastro will bring his “Bakin' with the Boss Tour” to The Town Hall on Wednesday, November 3^rd at 8pm. Tickets are on-sale at ticketmaster.com, 212.307.4100, or The Town Hall Box Office. Tickets are $39.50, $49.50, & $59.50 plus applicable service charges.

In this live interactive event, the baker and star of TLC's “Cake Boss” will share the stories behind his hit TV series and his colorful Italian family, answer audience questions, and give a live demonstration of the techniques that have made him one of the most successful and renowned cake artists in the nation. Buddy will even invite audience members to join the fun on stage. The whole family is invited for a night of “bakin’ with the boss” one will not soon forget.

One of the centerpiece shows of the TLC network, a third season of “Cake Boss” debuted May 31^st on TLC. Viewers continue to celebrate the mouthwatering desserts and not-to-be-missed Valastro family moments occurring in bustling Hoboken, NJ, home of Carlo’s Bakery, which celebrated it’s 100^th anniversary in June. On November 2^nd, Free Press (Simon & Schuster) will publish Buddy’s first book, Cake Boss: The Stories and Recipes In the book, Buddy shares recipes and his family’s inspiring, fascinating, and poignant life story.

Columbus Day

This cake wasn't done for Columbus day but the theme seemed fitting. The cake was created recently for one of my favorite clients. It was her son's fifth birthday and he is interested in world soccer and flags. Since Columbus supposedly sailed around the world, here is a world globe, an airplane and flags of over thirty countries made out of sugar. All the details on the globe are piped in Royal Icing and then hand painted with petal (flat) powders mixed with lemon extract. All the flags were made individually out of gum paste, that's right each one was researched and then created by me, one at a time! Some flags took over two hours....check out the British flag, that's a lot of stripes!

The cake was our traditional Vanilla cake with Chocolate ganache and Vanilla Buttercream.

Martha Stewart Radio

It's almost Halloween! One of my favorite holidays filled with costumes, candy and fun desserts. Tomorrow, October 6th at 3pm I will be the guest of Mario Bosquez, the host of the Living Today show on Martha Stewart Living Radio on Sirius Satellite. We will be discussing Halloween Cake Ideas. The show airs live so I will be taking all sorts of baking and decorating related questions.

Just in case you can't listen live or if you want a copy of the interview:

you can sign up for a FREE 7 day subscription at http://www.sirius.com/freetrial/register, and record the interview while it’s LIVE onto your computer.