Amazing Wedding Cakes...is It Just Me?
Lounge By MrsNancyB1 Updated 3 Sep 2009 , 1:15pm by wrightway777
I'm in OC right now visiring and I went to Christophers shop the other day. They are all so awesome. They were friendly they were in the process of moving to a larger shop and filming for next season starts this week. Their work is awesome. Hope to go to mercibeau coup this week.Anyone know of any good supply places out here?
Has anyone seen the episode of Ace of Cakes that they're working on a hot air balloon cake, a horse show cake and a mardi gras cake? Mary Alice carries the four tier mardi gras cake out to the car like it's made of air!
So, I had to rewind that part and watch it again. I just delivered a two tier cake that probably weighed at least 10-15 pounds!I'm thinking Mary Alice must be lifting weights in her spare time. So, I continue to watch it and see her bring the cake into the venue and as she goes to set the cake down on the table the top two tiers lift off the botton two tiers and kind of jiggle and it's pretty obvious the top two tiers aren't real. I guess it doesn't matter, but I think it's a lot easier to decorate a dummy cake than it is to decorate a real cake...speaking of amazing cakes.
Y'know what though to me, there's skill and there's craftmanship
and there's art and there's dumb luck.
All of us hit some of that all the time.
None of us hit all of that all the time.
To kinda paraphrase Abe.
But it paineth me deeply to hear dear cake buddies so maligned.
Here's a big fat question--have you ever done a car cake?
Or are we arm chair quarter backing here.
It's not for the timid--it ain't easy and I'm an ok to pretty good sculptor.
We would never tell a fellow CC member your cake sucks. Just cause these folks are on tv it's ok? Nope it ain't.
Those are real cakes in the real world. They are not competition quality. Competition quality is Cleany McCleanikins, Perfecto Garcia and typically competition cakes take many months to make.
All I can say is ouch.
One of the reasons I love Margaret Braun's work so much is because it is so very far on the other side of perfect it is art.
I've done a car cake (in photos) but I'm not sure that qualifies me as an expert. 
With some simple directions, it's not so hard to make your car cake look like...well, a car. Her second attempt was far better than the first but I couldn't help but think she should have bought the Cakenology DVD. LOL!
I also stuggle with one of the decorators on this show. I do think too many of their cakes cakes are messy, overly decorated and sloppy . The same company is always on TV going on and on about how fabulous their cakes are...how unique they are...and that you cannot get anything else like it from other decorators. I think, if you are going on national television and making these types of statements, you'd darn well better be able to back it up with amazing cakes. Because if you can't, people are going to notice.
I do love Mary though. She might have a miss here or there but they are few and far between. I actally LOVED that fountain. The tiles were gorgeous and I got what she was going for with the royal covered wires. Christopher's cakes are also gorgeous but it doesn't seem like the friendliest place to work.
I think we just expect so much more from professional bakers that have their own show. And they keep expressing how they are the best bakeries, most inventive, perfectionist. So we expect perfection. But, I think it shows the human side of things, weather conditions can play havic, things can go wrong and I like that side of it. I can say look, there fondant wasn't perfect and they are on t.v. Now buddy he seems like a machine to me, his cakes are always perfect, he tosses them around like they aren't fragile at all. He can whip out a cake in nothing flat, he amazes me.
"wholden - Does anyone know what the little piece of foam looking stuff was that was used to make the pearls on Chris's cake last night? It looked like they were just squeezing out fondant pearls from this little piece of foam."
Those are templates for making beads and they come in different sizes. I have seen them, but this is the first time in use. Pretty neat I think.
This is like a giant can opener that lifts the corner of the roof and peers down from the ceiling into the heart of for real cake decorating/designing.
I betcha any money that every last one of those folks are going--yeah that cake had thus & such booboos-aghhh! Why couldn't we have been filming when we made This One.
And--just having/launching a business and getting orders and employing people and producing great amazing cakes and having a crew film you is purely amazing to me.
I mean figure how much angst we generate when maybe 200 people view our cakes in person and then we produce a picture here and can list all our caveats.
They expose themselves, their art, their work, their mistakes, thier emotions, ups and downs for the whole country plus eternal re-runs.
I totally think they deserve a ton of credit and our never dying support. Of all the people on the planet we need to shower them with support.
My musings on not only the amazing cakes but also the most gutsy and amazing folks I'm proud to call my Cake Buddies.
I am so mad that I missed this episode! I can truly say this is one of my favorite cake shows. While all of the cakes are not my style, I love all of the decorators. I dont know. I just dont expect perfection all the time. I enjoy the mishaps as it makes the show just seem a bit more realistic! I definitely learn something from each episode!
Most amazing to me also are people who actually have a business and have thousands of posts in here, where do they find the time......that is amazing....I know when my grand kids are here I get a bit cranky until I can et on here just for a few minutes haha...so it is really amazing to me
Yes some of the cakes are less than perfect, but most of them are REALLY REALLY good! I like it when it shows them having issues because that lets me know that even the most experienced of bakers/decorators can have issues or have something flop or not turn out the way they thought. And then they correct the mistakes or find a different way of doing something. I think Christopher Garren's cakes are the most detailed and cleanest, but I love Cake Girls' style. I actually loved the Ascot cake from Reva & Mark, but thought the peacock cake was not good. Lauri mostly gets on my nerves just because I think she's somewhat conceited "I can do this skill that nobody else can do..." I've heard her say that more than once, but I give her props that she has designed and executed some great cakes. Overall, I think it's a great show and I never miss it!
Y'know what about Lauri of Cake Alchemy? Last season I couldn't tell if she was a partner or a worker bee to the other girl. But that other girl from last season spoke and acted like she didn't know all her eye rolling and superior attitude wasn't going to appear on tv. Like Lauri wasn't going to see it--what was up with her?
Lauri has some wonderful skills--I gotta figure out how she made that stuff that time that turned into like all that string kinda stuff--that was weird and very cool.
But Lori really speaks well of her employees. And while she is demanding she also speaks to her people with respect too.
I don't see anything wrong with being straight forward about you own skills. It's not conceited --it's smart marketing.
I'm not sold on Lori/Laurie yet. She's supposed to be an expert at sugar work but I've never seen something she's done and said, "WOW!" I do think that last flower cake she did (with birds of paradise etc) was quite pretty. It'd be interesting to see her on Challenge and see how she does. In my mind, she's a great talent but she's not up there with the top tier of cake designers.
I think there are so many others more talented I would like to see on there....for example Bronwen....she would be a good choice 
Lauri was on a challenge. She did some out of the box sugar work then she ran into reality with it then she needed more time and sugar to remake a piece or two--then she came up with a good work around if memory serves.
She tried to do an ornament or a big sugar display that formed--no no no it was a snow globe dude she tried to make a snow globe a snow globe outa sugar--o.m.g. on freaking tv. Deliver me!
She totally rocks.
Has anyone seen the episode of Ace of Cakes that they're working on a hot air balloon cake, a horse show cake and a mardi gras cake? Mary Alice carries the four tier mardi gras cake out to the car like it's made of air!
So, I had to rewind that part and watch it again. I just delivered a two tier cake that probably weighed at least 10-15 pounds!I'm thinking Mary Alice must be lifting weights in her spare time. So, I continue to watch it and see her bring the cake into the venue and as she goes to set the cake down on the table the top two tiers lift off the botton two tiers and kind of jiggle and it's pretty obvious the top two tiers aren't real. I guess it doesn't matter, but I think it's a lot easier to decorate a dummy cake than it is to decorate a real cake...speaking of amazing cakes.
I noticed it too!!! I immediaretely thought the same thing-those are dummies!! I shouldn't have been surprised though, the fondant covering was perfect, I love aoc but their fondant covering is not always the smoothest.
[quote="K8memphis-"]
Lauri has some wonderful skills--I gotta figure out how she made that stuff that time that turned into like all that string kinda stuff--that was weird and very cool.
She called it "Dragon's Beard Candy" (to make the fringe) and as she kept pulling it (incorporates air) she was dredging it through rice flour. I've got it DVRed so let me know if you want me to catch any further detail. I'm about to post these youtube links on a new post here on CC. Theres others out on youtube too.
Thank you WrightWay--I'll be checking those out--that was wild and a half huh.
Thanks again!
I just posted my research here on CC includes a good deal of great links on the subject:
http://cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopicp-6539799.html#6539799
**enjoy**
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