Here is some useful data straight out of the Wicked Goodies sales portfolio. All of these serving charts are based on cakes that are 4″ tall, which is the standard height for wedding cake tiers and single occasion cakes. The serving sizes represent the quantity of cake needed to accommodate a wedding or special occasion party. Use the circumference data to calculate the amount of ribbon or swag needed to wrap around the sides cakes (when applicable). I hope some of you find this helpful.
Reality Cake Television
I was under contract to NOT blog about the filming of TLC’s Fabulous Cakes S2E4 for a while but that agreement has expired so at long last, here is the real story behind the making of the 3½ foot tall tire-garden rooster cake for Olivewood Gardens.
Zoo Animal Cupcakes
I am pleased to announce that I’ve officially moved Wicked Goodies into the Brickbottom Artist’s Building just outside of Boston, MA, where I am now surrounded by a new and improved configuration of chocolate bins and decorating doodads. To my left, lit up like a LED christmas tree, is my trusty external hard drive loaded with the thousands of how-to photos on cake decorating technique that I captured in San Diego last year. That bad boy rode shotgun with me all the way across the U.S. and continues to run loyally by my side as I work *balls to the wall* towards the completion of my first book. Here is a little preview of a part of a chapter for you cupcake fiends out there:
To Be or Not to Be a Professional Cake Artist?
To all the amazing at-home bakers who write and call asking for career advice, here’s my schtick.
Triggered by reality food television, the world is in the midst of a confectionery renaissance, which is why increasingly more amateurs are considering a career as professional cake artist. With a new global demand for modern cakes, how convenient that you don’t need to own a brick and mortar establishment with a striped awning, pastry case full of goodies, and basket of artisan ficel to be recognized as a bakery anymore; Anyone can advertise cakes via the Internet. What’s more, with the chat threads, vast catalogues of online recipes, and how-to YouTube videos on the net, baking enthusiasts of all skill levels have access to the kind of knowledge that in the past was restricted exclusively to pastry chefs, cooks, and apprentices. In this new millennium, amateurs are advancing more rapidly. Many who create fabulous cakes at home are being told by friends and relatives, “You should do that for a living!” So how does one go about the business of cakery?
Wonka Factory Gingerbread House
Gingerbread City Gala
250 pounds of raw materials went into my monster Wonka cookie house, which stood 4 feet wide and over 4 1/2 feet high. It’s comprised of 100 pounds of gingerbread, 150 pounds of royal icing, a little gumpaste, a bunch of candy, and one month’s worth of dedication and patience.
It’s Gingerbread House Season!
Oh yes that’s right, folks. Winter is choo-chooing this way. It’s time for mittens and parkas and icicle-licking. In a few weeks, up go the wreaths, ol’ stockings, twinkly lights, candles, and spray-on window frost. Gee I wonder how many yuletide tchotchkes can be crammed onto one mantle….
Gadget Storage
It’s like perpetual art period or crafternoon up in here except instead of construction paper all over the place, it’s modeling chocolate and instead of paint on the elbow, it’s buttercream. Here is a photo tour of my work studio and some of the ways that I keep the bonanza of gadgets organized.
Pastry Supply Shops in Paris
In the 2ième Arrondissement near Les Halles is a network of streets lined with stores for the gastronomist, where I spent one dreamy morning in a shopper’s trance, gawking at exotic gadgets and ingredients and forking over euros. Here were my top three favorite pastry supply stores, all recommended by fellow bloggers:
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Cake Carving & Decorating Supplies Worth Investing In
Measuring Tape
Sure you can whip out a calculator and punch in ∏ * d or the sum of all 4 sides to determine what length of modeling chocolate swag or print pattern is required to wrap a cake tier but that only works on round and square cakes. Measuring tape, found anywhere that sells fabric supplies, conforms to all shapes.