Online Classes

As always there is a wealth of info available on the web for newbie and professional bakers and decorators; some really good, some...... One of the best resources out right now, especially for those of us on a budget, is Craftsy.com.

Craftsy is an interactive online crafting community where you can buy video classes and photo workshops covering a variety of crafting genres for $10-$40. After your onetime payment the class is yours forever and can be viewed from any Internet enabled device. I LOVE their iPad app! It makes viewing the videos crisp and easy.

They are currently offering about a dozen cake decorating classes from cake royalty such as Colette Peters, Marina Souza, James Rosselle, Lauren Kitchens, Richard Ruskell and Joshua John Russell. Most classes cost $39.99 but they often run sales and discounts making them as low as $19.99. Occasionally they'll even offer a free mini class.

For people looking for stellar instruction within an affordable budget this is definitely the way to go.

www.craftsy.com

Bronwen Webber Comes to NYC!!

Have I told you how much I LOVE Meetup? Well the New York Cake Decorators gave me two more reasons this past Sunday when they brought Bronwen Webber and her husband Francois Long all the way from their shop Frosted Art in Dallas, TX for a full day workshop.


The topic of this 8 HOUR extravaganza was airbrushing and cake carving and who better to learn from than two of the best doing it? Exactly....

After some extensive discussion and practice on the art of airbrushing we started carving our cakes into Geishas. Yes, I said it CARVING A CAKE INTO A GEISHA!!!! C'mon how difficult could it be? (Insert dripping sarcasm here). As if we didn't already know, this is where the class discovered just how SICK this woman is when it comes to caking. She was able to do hers in like 30 minutes while the rest of us cried, threw temper tantrums or just stood there dumbfounded. I'm pretty sure I performed some strange combination of the three.

We were all so into our cakes that the majority of us ran out of time before we could finish. Bronwen's was GORGEOUS of course. Mine, not so much.

To me it ended up looking more like an angry samurai than a demure Geisha. (Remember that whole PRACTICE thing I talked about earlier? Yea, gotta do that.) It's a work in progress....



At the end of it all it was well worth fighting the ridiculous NYC traffic (stupid street fair) and the heat and parking in a pile of glass so I didn't have to spend more money for a garage (in Jersey we have these things called parking lots and they're FREE. Somebody wanna break the news to New York?) to learn from these great artists. And yes, I'd do it all over again if they decided to come back hint, hint...


Obviously this was pre meltdown lol. Ok, it was more like a very frustrated drip.


Anyway, follow Bronwen on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/FROSTED-ART-BAKERY-STUDIO/164192857668?ref=ts&v=wall

Or visit her website at http://www.frostedart.com/


Stay Cakin'

CakeWatch 2010: Maryland Cake Convention May 1-2

So.....
I know it's almost May and 2010 is reaching the halfway mark and I should've BEEN talking about the cake shows but better late than never. Besides, cake season is just picking up with wedding season kickin' into gear, graduations and all of the summer's many reasons to celebrate. So MAYBE I'm right on time lol!

The Maryland chapter of ICES - International Cake Explorers Societe (more about them tomorrow) is hosting its annual Great American Cake Show & Wedding Competition at the Shipley Arena of the Carroll County Agricultural Center, Westminster, MD. Formerly the Mid-Atlantic Cake Show, this event will consist of classes, demos, and competitions from cake greats such as Colette Peters and Silvina Barboza (she taught me how to scuplt!). There are also competition categories open to the public. They even have a teen division! I wish I had started that young lol. Well, it wasn't THAT long ago....I digress.

The event runs from 9am-5pm on both May 1 & 2 and is open to the public. Admission is more than reasonable:

$8 ages 12 and up
$5 ages 11 to 4
Children 3 and under are FREE (one of my favorite words)
$14 for a 2 day pass

Stop by if you're in the area or go make a mini vaca out of it. Either way I'm sure you'll learn a lot and have a great time.

Stay Cakin'!

Cake Class Update

One thing that can not be stressed enough with any skill is practice. Cakin' is no different. PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE! Thank God cake practice is SO much fun!

Here's a short list of some of A-list classes coming to the NY/NJ area:

Colette Peters:

Thursday, May 6: Brush Embroidery Portrait and Plaque
Learn how to make a perfect likeness of any face using royal icing and a brush. Also, we will make a beautiful picture using brush embroidery and gumpaste cutouts. Both of these techniques can be made on a cake or made in advance and put on a cake later. No experience needed. All supplies will be provided.
Cost: $250 Time: 10am-4pm

Friday, May 7: Piping and Stringwork
Learn all about piping and making stringwork on a dummy cake. No experience needed. All materials will be provided.
Cost: $225 Time: 10am-3:30 pm

Saturday May 8: Gumpaste Flowers and Leaves
Learn how to make beautiful and lifelike flowers and leaves and a sugarmold vase to place them in. No experience needed and all materials will be provided.
Cost: $250 Time: 10am-4pm

All classes will be held at Colette's Cake Studio 681 Washington St New York, NY 10014. You can register on Colette's site at www.colettescakes.com.

I've had the pleasure and privilege of taking classes with Colette and believe me she is A-Mazing! Worth all the effort and every penny.

I also STRONGLY suggest looking into joining Meetup groups. They offer incredible classes for a fraction of the price. I live and breathe them. I just took a great sugar art class last weekend through them so keep a look out for some new elements in our work.

And for those that are just starting out, look into the Wilton classes at your local craft store. I've taken them at both Michael's and AC Moore (if you're not familiar with either of these stores you will be the minute you begin decorating).

I will keep you posted as more things become available and remember to check out the CakeDDS Facebook fanpage.

Stay Cakin'!

The Dark Side of Cakery

As much as I love cakin' and designin' I find myself among those falling prey to its dark secret. Have you ever noticed that the vast majority of great caketicians seem to be carrying a bit more "love" than the average consumer? As with everything there are of course exceptions, however it seems that "quality control" amidst our search for confectionary perfection is doing cake artists and desert designers everywhere a bit of a disservice.

I know that being in the celebration business can be time consuming, hectic and at times draining but a persons health and body images is one of their greatest and most lasting masterpieces. So on that note I am issuing a challenge for myself and anyone else who would like to be involved. I've gotta wise up and EXERCISE some control over my cake addiction. My aim is to strike a balance between what makes me happiest (cakin') and what is going to allow me to keep it up (my health).

To start I am enlisting the help of a personal trainer to get me off my cake lovin' butt and keep me on my toes. This guy is AMAZING! He's young, fun, affordable and HE KNOWS WHAT HE'S TALKING ABOUT!!!!

You can chck out Bron Schuler and his blog at www.absinfitness.blogspot.com. You won't be disappointed.

As for me, I'll keep you posted.

TTFN - Stay Cakin'!

Just A Quickie

Hello All!

Just wanted to pop by with an informative tidbit. Cakin' will begin its tutorials very soon; the first one mostly likely to be the shoebox cake I just finished up. And there are lots more planned to follow so stay tuned.

On a side note:

This blog is in definite need of some feedback! Let me know what you want to know. Whether it's tutorials and educational info, upcoming events, more photos or just random cakery tell me what you want and I'll try my best to give it to you.

Well let me go before this turns into a full blown session! I'll be back but TTFN.

Bonus Footage.....

I know I said I was done but here's a side note with regard to classes.

Cake decorating is on the upswing right now but finding good classes can be both pricey and difficult. A great resource that is gaining popularity is Meetup.com. They have groups for everything you can think of and most of them offer MAJOR classes/workshops at discounted prices. And cake is no exception.

Go to www.meetup.com, put in your interests and where you're from. You'll be amazed what you'll find.

And just an FYI:

CakeDDS may be offering classes of its own soon so keep your eyes peeled!

Soaking It All In

Ok first let me apologize. I know my sporadic posting is annoying and it kinda defeats the whole purpose. It annoys me too! But now that I've caught up to the rest of the planet and figured out how to post from my phone I'll do better. I promise.

Now where have I been this last month? Cakin' of course lol. I've been taking as many classes as possible to keep the skills up and learn some new ones. Even the art of kitchen chemistry (ooh I like the way that sounds lol)takes practice.

I was fortunate to recently learn from some of the best doing it; Ms Colette Peters and Ms Charmaine Jones (DIVA! LOVE IT!) And even got into some airbrushing. I told you I've been busy.

Not only did I learn some amazing cakery from these ladies but they really teach you how to survive in all this yummy nonsense. That alone was worth the price of admission!

Since this is getting kinda long I'll go into all of the pretty details later. But in the meantime check out their stuff if you're not already a fan.

Ms Peters:
www.colettescakes.com

Ms Jones:
www.cakediva.com