Martha Stewart Radio Show

Today, Thursday, August 20th, I will be on Martha Stewart Living Radio on Sirius Satellite for the Living Today show. This interview will air LIVE from 3-3:30pm (EST), I will be taking questions from our listeners all about baking! The show's title is "Cake Baking Tips". This will be during their weekly Baking Segment, so while we will definitely discuss cakes, people are welcome to call in with all of their baking questions. I will also offer the top FIVE quick tips people should follow in order to make baking better!

The host of the show is, Mario Bosquez. I've been on his show a few times before and he is great and is actually a great baker himself. The last time I was on his show he made our hydrangea cupcakes from our first book, The Confetti Cakes Cookbook.

If you won't be around today and would like 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. Feel free to record it on your own!

My first ICES convention

I am leaving one big city (New York) for another (Chicago) this week to attend my very first ICES
(International Cake Exploration Societé) convention. ICES is probably the largest member based cake organization in the world. I can’t believe it has taken me so long to get to the annual convention. I am going just to check things out and to see the lay of the land. Maybe next year I will be able to take some hands-on classes or even demo myself. I plan to see lots of cake friends and students from all over the world so it should be really exciting. There is also a big vendor hall so I hope not to overdo the buying. I’m not sure if I am allowed to take photos but if I can I will report back with what I see.

Since we are talking about cities I thought I should post about one of our more recent cakes we did with a NYC theme. It is for one of my all time favorite clients. I’ve done many events in her family including other family birthdays as well as her sister-in-law's Bridal Shower cake and wedding cake. I feel so fortunate to have been a part of so many special events in their family.


In fact it was that wedding cake for her brother and sister-in-law, that needed to be delivered in Pennsylvania that almost sent my now husband running. I think we were only dating a month or two when we took that journey. Poor thing did not know how stressful (and COLD!) it could be to deliver a five-tiered wedding cake. Yep, my poor hubby got a taste of what was to come....four years later he still HATES to be associated with ANY part of a delivery. I can’t say I love it myself!

Join ICES here !

Wildflowers

You wouldn't think that New York City is the place to find wildflowers but in the last few weeks two separate projects sprung up with them.


The first is The High Line, found down in the meatpacking district. It is a beautiful new park that was created on top of an old elevated train track that runs through Manhattan. It opened just two weeks ago with the help of NYC, The Parks Dept. and Friends of the High Line.


The second project blooming with wildflowers was a small wedding cake we created for Elegant Bride magazine. The official photographs will come out this Fall in the magazine but here is a preview. All the flowers are made of gum paste.

"Black and White Cookie" Cake

One would think that making a cake in the shape of an old-fashioned Black and White cookie would not be too difficult, after all it is round and has just two colors of icing. But what if I told you that the cookie’s diameter was well over two feet and would serve close to 200 people? And did I mention that we do not have a walk-in freezer, therefore we had to build it in four separate pieces all the while making sure it formed a perfect circle, had the sloped sides of a real cookie and the domed middle. It was especially challenging because once the four cakes were “glued” together with buttercream we had to make sure that the “seams” would not show.





I love making cakes that look like real life objects, but I especially like making cakes in the shape of food. We have done sushi platters, a Philly cheese-steak, hamburgers, fries, lobster, etc.
The best way to do this is to go out and buy a smaller version of the item and copy it. You can see our “models” below.


We hope Dan was surprised because apparently Black and Whites are his favorite cookie!

Time keeps flyin'

I can't believe it's already a week ago that I was in Pittsburgh. The Market District store was just amazing. Usually it's the country folk that are amazed by our lively New York city but my husband and I were totally amazed by this Mega store. Not only do they have amazing produce and prepared food, along with the cafe they also have dry cleaning and childcare AT THE super market. This is unheard of in NYC...just amazing. And they also had a beautiful kitchen in the round where many famous chefs have held demonstrations.

I had a great audience with lots of great questions and they didn't even boo me off the stage once my cake had some "melting" issues. I swear if something goes wrong with my cakes it is always during a demo (or live television!) Let this be a lesson to you...even if you stay up all night worrying that there is no mini-fridge in your hotel room AND that the cakes are getting too hot, you are probably right. So as you can imagine, my cakes were not cooperating but I think the audience got a lot out of my hour long demo (I hope so!) One of the things I always talk about is being organized when starting any project, here is a great article from the Pittsburgh-Tribune talking about that.


And the good news is that our topsy-turvy Bat-Mitzvah cake was delivered with no drama...always a good thing. About five years ago I started making a "styrofoam" base where the candles can fit, it's perfect for the candle lighting ceremony and keeps those long tapers away from the rest of the cake. Olivia's cake and Bat-Mitzvah theme were "Liv life...be happy"...sounds good to me!

Going to Pittsburgh

The last time I was in Pittsburgh I saw a lot of the city. Over 26.2 miles exactly ! This happened when my friend Ashley got it in her head that it would be a good idea for the two of US to run a marathon together. It was a great experience and it was fun both before and after the race to see some of the sights in the city.

This Saturday I will be giving a demo at Giant Eagle, Market District (South Hills) from 11-1pm. I will be showing how to create our Spring Mini cakes and signing books. The mini cakes are one of the many fun ideas from our second book, Confetti Cakes for Kids. They are perfect for spring but could be easily translated to anytime of year!

We are also busy this week with a Topsy-Turvy Bat-Mitzvah cake, sketching some new cakes for an upcoming magazine shoot in June and getting ready for the demo!

Toronto Class

Me and Flour Confections owner, Lisa

What started off as a dramatic trip to Toronto ended up being so wonderful. The drama began when I left my passport at home (after already turning around once in the car to go get my driver's license which I didn't need because you NEED a PASSPORT to go to a different country!) so my most amazing assistant Candice had to run to my apartment, retrieve my passport and meet me at the airport before they closed me out of my flight (she made it in 8 minutes!) Then once I got to Canada apparently you need a VISA to teach there which no one knew! But all ended well when Lisa and Robyn picked me up at the Toronto airport.

My fabulous class of professional cake designers

I taught the two day class at Flour Confections. It is such a great teaching space and kitchen with a beautiful store that is filled with tons of cake decorating equipment. The class did an amazing job and I love all the variety in colors and patterns. It was so much fun and I think everyone learned a lot. Here is a posting about the class from the owner of Flour Confections, Lisa Bugeja, on her blog.

Did I mention I love to teach?!