Wicked Good Blog
15Jun/11Off

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 Modeling Chocolate 101, the first book in the Wicked Goodies Extreme Confectionery Design book series. Book #1 looks to be released THIS SUMMER in e-format. Here is a little preview of a part of a chapter for you cupcake fiends out there:

9Jan/11Off

Now Seeking Recipe and Technique Testers

I'm currently looking for readers and recipe testers to review and experiment with the book’s material, which covers the following topics:

16Dec/10Off

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?

14Dec/10Off

My 2010 Wonka Gingerbread House Adventure


8Dec/100

2010 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.

10Nov/10Off

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....

18Oct/10Off

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.

19Sep/10Off

Adventures in Paris Part Deux – Pastry Supply Shops

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:

13Sep/10Off

Adventures in Paris Part Un – In Defense of the French

My tired but happy feet just returned to France, this time to pound the streets of Paris for one week in search of the flakiest croissant, quaintest rue of shops, most stunning gallery of modern art, most poignant sculpture, surest brushstrokes of oil on canvas, most sumptuous confection, ultimate in breathtaking architecture, and best scenic park bench on which to pause for a saucisson sandwich lunch. Before I unfold my discoveries, the itching expat in me would like to take a moment to enlighten whomever cares to read on as I defend France by

Debunking the top three French stereotypes that prevail in the USA

1)    The French are rude

2)  The French are snobs

3)  The French should have joined us in the Iraq war because they owed us one

25Aug/10Off

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.