Can you ever have too much CAKE?

Ace of Cakes, Cake Boss, Amazing Wedding Cakes, The Next Great Baker, The Ultimate Cake Off, Fabulous Cakes, Cupcake Wars, DC Cupcakes......

It seems like everyone and their mother has a cake show on TV or an undercover black market cake shop on the internet. Not to mention the billions of people that suddenly decided to get in on the hype and pick up a spatula. But is oversaturation cutting the quality? Better yet, is it killing the originality that made all of these sugar sculptures so friggin' SICK in the first place?

I think so.

Why come up with an original design or learn a new technique when all you have to do is Google "________ cake" and you have a thousand photos of cakes you can copy? My work has been cake jacked* three times already in the 2 years we've been officially open!!! What happened to the concept of ORIGINALITY and CUSTOM work?

Don't take this as knocking the people that take the time to be creative and dare to push limits; to be different. That's what I love most about the concept of food art, creating the unexpected. This isn't about you. This is about questioning the fact that if anyone can slap some icing on something anykindaway or cake jack someone else's hard work then what's the point. And don't get me started on subquality baking in the first place...

Yes, I am venting but sometimes there is such thing as too much of a good thing.

*In case you had no clue what I was talking about lol.
CAKE JACK: To steal cake photos, concepts or designs from another artist and claim them as your own original work.


Stay Cakin'

Kid CAKE! Season

The Backyardigans like you've never seen them before. Had fun this weekend getting some practice on figure sculpting. And it's 99% edible!

A Random Interjection

Yes this blog is about cake....
But it's also about the million and a half other things that in some way, shape or form can be related to cake. Food (of course), art, creativity, parties, celebrations....the list could go on forever.

I fully intend to reign in my randomness but only as much as is needed to make some sort of sense so do not be surprised is something not 100% directly related to cake appears here. Feel free to just change the channel for that day.

I'm Back....

I apologize for the hiatus but we've been in cake overdrive since the holidays. Santa brought me a BEAUTIFUL stand mixer to replace its fallen comrades so it's been all about focusing on the cakes and expanding flavors and ideas....visualize the full length lab coat, bolts of lightening, evil cackle, the whole bit lol. I love it though and wouldn't change a thing.

Here's a few photos of what Cake DDS has been up to lately. If I can ever get around to figuring out my video camera (also a gift from Santa) I plan on putting up some videos and tutorial too. That should be interesting.

Technical Difficulties.....

This post was supposed to be about the AMAZING tiered Capoeira cake I did for my daughters' Batizado. However, due to the fact that I managed to burn out 2 mixers in two days and couldn't finish the thing that will have to wait until another time.

A moment of silence please.....

Rest In Peace Oster & Proctor.

I guess they just couldn't handle the pressure....

Wanna Hear It, Here It Goes.....

Where to begin.....

I am NOT a culinary student, chef, professional pastry chef or any other formally trained food manipulator.

Now that that's out of the way.

I am a die hard, live it, love it, learn it foodie! I love to cook. I love to eat. I love to bake. I love to eat lol. I can't draw or paint but food is my art. The kitchen, both my studio and my laboratory. The home to my creativity. To me food is the expression of the most intimate and inate parts of a person. You create with as much of your soul as you do your hands and your senses. If you don't love what you're cooking or who you're cooking it for you will definitely know it, and chances are whomever you cooked it for will let you know your food sucks. Baking is the same way. If you don't feel like baking that cake, don't touch the mixer! Forcing it tends to lead to horrible food and overall culinary disaster...

How does any of that relate to this blog? Well, Cakin' & Designin' is about cakes (obviously!) and the fun and failure that goes with them. I've learned (and am still learning) to decorate thanks to a few craft store classes and something internal that makes this while thing click. Growing up surounded by food thanks to both parents being able to throw down in the kitchen (my house is affectionately known as the Food Palace) is making this experience a pretty smooth transition for me. One minute I'm working in an evil law office cubicle and the next I'm an event planner and cake designer doing quite well. I guess it goes back to that inate/natural thing I was talking about. Seems my dad teaching me to make biscuits from scratch when I was little wasn't a waste of time, just the beginning of a skill that would develop into something bigger down the line.

So.....that's the short version. Food is awesome. I like to make it look and taste great. Read my blog.