Am I Only One Who Hates These Cakes?
Decorating By midniteaddiction Updated 4 Mar 2011 , 4:28am by schustc
I don't have a problem at all with a few wires, ribbons, RKT, whatever... what I DESPISE is a cake like mentioned a few posts back where it is built entirely of wood or other material, then a little layer of cake is slipped into the design somehow. The 'cake' part is only 2% of the whole design. To me, I don't think you should be able to call that a cake. Frosted wood. Fondant covered scaffolding. Whatever else you like to call it is cool, but it's not really a cake if it's not MADE of cake. Just sayin'.
Ditto
I have no issue with non-edible decor added to cakes... my brides want fresh flowers and ribbon all the time! But I do take issue when the only thing edible on as suposed "cake" is the fondant!
What I don't understand is how can all the major CAKE shows have contests based on decorated styrofoam? And I don't mean the ones on tv, but a lot of the conventions, etc. And then the winner is paraded around like it's this off the chart "CAKE" when it is not cake. It is the weirdest kind or irony.
I know the argument is that it's necessary because the cake takes so long and they have to be driven all over the country etc....but it still really doesn't make any sense to me. Aren't the time constraints/building/and transporting the "cake" what really sets the professional decorators apart from the amateurs?
I say do whatever works for you. While I strive to make everything edible, mostly to be able to proudly say that it is. Sometimes I use non-edible elements if I feel they need to be of a certain non-edible material to work for my vision of what I'm doing.
The only thing I really object to on a cake is feathers.
I'd like to point out RKT ARE edible. I cover mine (homemade) with buttercream and frosting, then MMF and the kids and parents eat them.
Even my skate which i wanted to keep a bit longer, the base was covered with cut down cake board then covered in saran wrap well, then covered in modeling choc., THEN I placed my skulpted RKT skate on the prepped board.
They ate my giant 16 inch cake under it, the cuppies, AND the RKT skate all that was left was the truck toy base(with board and coverings in place) and cake board itself.
I am not sure about other people, but my RKT structures have NO inner support. They are ALL RKT, which I consider a decorating element like fondant, modeling choc., nasty tasting gumpaste*edible but no one really WANTS to eat it because it tastes good- do they, gelatin anything(even flavored- yuck).
I understand the point of the jewelry, but havn't gone down that path myself. I almost used an edible brooch I was working on, but thought it looked too fake(with gems- couldn't get them small enough) and sugar pearls. If the customer wants it, then so be it.
Like others said, for licensed figures- it's kits 0r waivers and good luck with that. Otherwise it's copyright infringement if you sell it, so what else you gonna do? If I have a licensed character in my pics- it was for my own purposes or family and never sold. Until Disney, Pixar and more get a company to license edible products(hint hint anyone out there) then its their kits.
Wires and stuff(depends on if it was handled in a food safe way- there are methods to make most things safe). I personally love the anti-uped on cakes. As long as the cake part is enough servings for the event. As an artist, it just let's me see outside the cake board(box). If its not your thing, stick to what you as an artist envision.
That skate is AWESOME! I love how you made it look worn, like it was just slipped off of someone's foot! 
Great job and the display was great as well!
I make everything with MMF (ok, I'm not up to a lot of standards on this website) however, what I have a problem with is selling stuff that you would then say should preferable not be eaten! I've seen this on some youtube tutorials where they make these amazing figurines and then say "well, there is too much tylose or gumpaste in it so I'll tell them not o eat it"! That would never work where I live, you eat what you pay for!!
Re: Cake Boss, that drives me mad about that show everything is built with wood, they put screws in stuff, or it rkt, I've never understood how people will pay so much for these "cakes" when half of it comes out of a box of cereal!
[/quote]That skate is AWESOME! I love how you made it look worn, like it was just slipped off of someone's foot! Great job and the display was great as well![/quote]
Thanks, that was what I was going for. after I took the kids skating, I should have put the outline of bodies all over the wooden floors. i don't remember it being THAT dangerous when i was a kid. i literally had kids sliding across the floor like they were slide tackling me. i was running interference around the barrier of the little ones to keep them safe. Geez. Sorry to hi-jack the thread, just man. I should have roughed that skate up more than i did.
I have read all the post and i agree with most... flowers on wire n fake toys etc. r all ok but when it comes to putting pipes in ur cake thats just bobbles my mind. and i will not do a cake that has that involved. i tell the customer ill do anything u would like but i want build u a town were the cake is only 4% cake. and then they realize hey she is right. I love what i do. i love cakes designs but i feel like pipes n such take away true cake designs. I myself like broches n ribbons on cakes my own wedding cake had a ribbon on it. but no one knew but me. but idk to eaches own
Thanks, that was what I was going for. after I took the kids skating, I should have put the outline of bodies all over the wooden floors. i don't remember it being THAT dangerous when i was a kid. i literally had kids sliding across the floor like they were slide tackling me. i was running interference around the barrier of the little ones to keep them safe. Geez. Sorry to hi-jack the thread, just man. I should have roughed that skate up more than i did.
OMG, I'm dying here. I remember going skating as an adult and thinking, "Why in h*ll did I ever think this was fun?!" But what you've described is so entertaining... I can see it in my head! Hey, maybe we could build a nice soft wall with all those RKTs!! You know how when kids are first learning to stop on a bike or skates they just steer to hit something that will stop them. Hehehee.
Thanks, that was what I was going for. after I took the kids skating, I should have put the outline of bodies all over the wooden floors. i don't remember it being THAT dangerous when i was a kid. i literally had kids sliding across the floor like they were slide tackling me. i was running interference around the barrier of the little ones to keep them safe. Geez. Sorry to hi-jack the thread, just man. I should have roughed that skate up more than i did.
OMG, I'm dying here. I remember going skating as an adult and thinking, "Why in h*ll did I ever think this was fun?!" But what you've described is so entertaining... I can see it in my head! Hey, maybe we could build a nice soft wall with all those RKTs!! You know how when kids are first learning to stop on a bike or skates they just steer to hit something that will stop them. Hehehee.
Yeah- I believe in real life i was the wall ( should have worn more padding for everything- like those bike shorts with padding in the seat!). I am 5"2" and not very big. Yet somehow I caught a 13 year old boy that easily weighted about 115lbs and managed to skate holding him up for about half a length of the rink. either that or he would have taken me out! My arms hurt so bad the next day it was like taking a class at the gym!!!!
A cake can never be truly ALL edible..... what about the supports (ie: dowels and such) that hold up a multi tiered cake? You can go to extreme with anything and I agree, most of the cake should be edible... it's CAKE for heavens sake. That being said, somethings are neccesary for support reasons and I think those should be acceptable.
A cake can never be truly ALL edible..... what about the supports (ie: dowels and such) that hold up a multi tiered cake? You can go to extreme with anything and I agree, most of the cake should be edible... it's CAKE for heavens sake. That being said, somethings are neccesary for support reasons and I think those should be acceptable.
I agree, supports are acceptable, and necessary. My biggest problem is that many many cake contests have decorated styrofoam win, and not a cake. If you are going to call it a cake contest, then it should be made of cake.
If cake contests are going to accept styrofoam instead of cake, then they should accept play-doh instead of fondant, and modeling clay instead of modeling chocolate, and paper mache instead of buttercream. And I'm not mad at anybody...I just wonder why it ever got to the extreme that entire CAKE contests/competitions can now be won when no cake is decorated.
A cake can never be truly ALL edible..... what about the supports (ie: dowels and such) that hold up a multi tiered cake? You can go to extreme with anything and I agree, most of the cake should be edible... it's CAKE for heavens sake. That being said, somethings are neccesary for support reasons and I think those should be acceptable.
I agree, supports are acceptable, and necessary. My biggest problem is that many many cake contests have decorated styrofoam win, and not a cake. If you are going to call it a cake contest, then it should be made of cake.
If cake contests are going to accept styrofoam instead of cake, then they should accept play-doh instead of fondant, and modeling clay instead of modeling chocolate, and paper mache instead of buttercream. And I'm not mad at anybody...I just wonder why it ever got to the extreme that entire CAKE contests/competitions can now be won when no cake is decorated.
I'd say the reason styro is allowed in contests is because of the cakes sitting out, sometimes for days, for the public to view after judging. My local fair is just short of 3 weeks. All cakes & food items are judged the day before the fair opens. They then sit on display tables for the duration of the fair for fair goers to enjoy.
Smaller cakes and very perishable food items are stored inside refrigerated glass cases, but the larger cakes, the stacked or pillared cakes, would never fit in them. Can you imagine what those cakes would look like at the end of the fair if they were made of real cake & covered in real buttercream? Even if they were covered with fondant they'd probably fall apart.
Anyway, just my two cents on using styro.
A cake can never be truly ALL edible..... what about the supports (ie: dowels and such) that hold up a multi tiered cake? You can go to extreme with anything and I agree, most of the cake should be edible... it's CAKE for heavens sake. That being said, somethings are neccesary for support reasons and I think those should be acceptable.
I agree, supports are acceptable, and necessary. My biggest problem is that many many cake contests have decorated styrofoam win, and not a cake. If you are going to call it a cake contest, then it should be made of cake.
If cake contests are going to accept styrofoam instead of cake, then they should accept play-doh instead of fondant, and modeling clay instead of modeling chocolate, and paper mache instead of buttercream. And I'm not mad at anybody...I just wonder why it ever got to the extreme that entire CAKE contests/competitions can now be won when no cake is decorated.
I'd say the reason styro is allowed in contests is because of the cakes sitting out, sometimes for days, for the public to view after judging. My local fair is just short of 3 weeks. All cakes & food items are judged the day before the fair opens. They then sit on display tables for the duration of the fair for fair goers to enjoy.
Smaller cakes and very perishable food items are stored inside refrigerated glass cases, but the larger cakes, the stacked or pillared cakes, would never fit in them. Can you imagine what those cakes would look like at the end of the fair if they were made of real cake & covered in real buttercream? Even if they were covered with fondant they'd probably fall apart.
Anyway, just my two cents on using styro.
Yes, I understand why they use it.....but in doing so it takes away two of the main factors that make decorating a cake a challenge---the structural issues and sometimes unpredictablity of using a fragile and edible medium, and the time constraints that go along when making something that must be both beautiful and edible.
Decorating styrofoam takes away two of the hugest factors that make cake decorating so challenging and exciting.
I would rather that in any competition that REAL cake is used and is allowed to be on display for as long as the entry holds up. After that, display a picture. Then the contest retains its integrity and original purpose of inviting people to compete in a specified medium in the first place.
I have to agree with 3GCakes. It has always bothered me that contest cakes are allowed to be fake - and extra points are not given if it is real.
I can decorate a dummy so much faster than real cake. I can turn it upside down or on its side to do whatever it is I need it to do. Dummies never complain.
I've never understood why, if they do the judging before the fair even opens, why it is not mandatory to be real. When it rots or melts, throw it away.
I have to agree with 3GCakes. It has always bothered me that contest cakes are allowed to be fake - and extra points are not given if it is real.
I can decorate a dummy so much faster than real cake. I can turn it upside down or on its side to do whatever it is I need it to do. Dummies never complain.
I can see both sides of it on the contest front, honestly. It's THAT much more impressive when it's real cake to me. I do have to say though, dummies are fun to decorate for the exact reason you mentioned... I LOVE that you can turn a dummy upside down, etc. 
I don't do them very often, but it can be fun to be able to cover with fondant super quick and easily, and get on the to the fun stuff!!
Click on the link. Then click on Artist Profile, Cile Bellefleur Burbidge. One of the best in Victorian piping. The cake she's working on is styro. It was being made for a themed museum display.
Cile takes no shortcuts, theres no turning her tiers upside down as was mentioned, she pipes on this "cake" as if shes piping on a regular cake.
I have Cile's book and love it. I look through it quite often just to admire her work & wish I'd learned the same.
Have a peek at her cake, I bet you'll love it too.
Oh and ps. Cile uses non edible flower stamens. 
http://www.pem.org/collections/video?video_group=american
Don't get me wrong - I'm the first one to shout I love dummies... They just seem unfair in a cake decorating contest.
Click on the link. Then click on Artist Profile, Cile Bellefleur Burbidge. One of the best in Victorian piping. The cake she's working on is styro. It was being made for a themed museum display.
Cile takes no shortcuts, theres no turning her tiers upside down as was mentioned, she pipes on this "cake" as if shes piping on a regular cake.
I have Cile's book and love it. I look through it quite often just to admire her work & wish I'd learned the same.
Have a peek at her cake, I bet you'll love it too.
Oh and ps. Cile uses non edible flower stamens.
http://www.pem.org/collections/video?video_group=american
She may treat it like a real cake but it still isn't. She still doesn't have to worry about it caving or cracking or bulging or any of that other stuff. It will always behave.
Click on the link. Then click on Artist Profile, Cile Bellefleur Burbidge. One of the best in Victorian piping. The cake she's working on is styro. It was being made for a themed museum display.
Cile takes no shortcuts, theres no turning her tiers upside down as was mentioned, she pipes on this "cake" as if shes piping on a regular cake.
I have Cile's book and love it. I look through it quite often just to admire her work & wish I'd learned the same.
Have a peek at her cake, I bet you'll love it too.
Oh and ps. Cile uses non edible flower stamens.
http://www.pem.org/collections/video?video_group=american
She may treat it like a real cake but it still isn't. She still doesn't have to worry about it caving or cracking or bulging or any of that other stuff. It will always behave.
You missed my point completely, but no matter. Like its been said, to each his or her own.
You don't consider a cake to be a cake unless its 100% cake, there is no in-between. So be it.
I think differently, I feel theres a reason & time for both cake and styro/dummies.
As for Cile Bellefleur & your comment "she may treat it like a real cake but it still isn't." Wow..
Considering who Cile is and how much in demand she was in her day, I'm sure she had more than her fair share of worrying about caving, cracking or bulging cakes.
The lady is considered to be a master cake decorator by many, myself included. She has a talent for hand piping thats almost extinct in North America because of fondant & fancy cut outs. What a shame that has to be.
warchild, can you imagine doing that at her age!? Man... I think my neck gets sore NOW!! 
And she is a dying breed... you just don't see a ton of that hand piping. Fortunately in competition cakes you see a lot more of it, the intricate string work and what not.
I think my opinion about non cake materials being the 'body' of the cake comes into play when someone is taking credit for making an intricately carved cake or one that is mindblowingly shaped, and it's actually 'building materials'. Do you kind know what I mean? For example, a look I adore these days is to carve the top edge of the cake into sort of a... hard to explain... almost how a dress looks when you twirl... it is GORGEOUS. And when it's done well, (as I've seen here many times) it's mind blowing. I just look at it and say, "Now that designer knows whats up!!" If a designer did that out of styro for a display cake, I'm cool with that, but if the designer cannot replicate it out of cake when I want to order it, I would feel ripped off, like that was s bit of false advertising.
I also think that things like supports and cake boards don't 'count' when you're discussing this stuff because without them, ANY cake would crash to the ground in the ugliest manner. Well, maybe not a bulked up fruit cake. Those things can weather almost anything!
Melvira, I have typed numerous replies to your last note but for some reason they dissapear when I click submit. I've also gotten 2 bad gateways or gateaways on my screen when trying to submit more replies.
So... I am leaving CC for a while.
Maybe later it will behave.
Right now, I'm about ready to pull my hair out!!
Melvira, I have typed numerous replies to your last note but for some reason they dissapear when I click submit. I've also gotten 2 bad gateways or gateaways on my screen when trying to submit more replies.
So... I am leaving CC for a while.
Maybe later it will behave.
Right now, I'm about ready to pull my hair out!!
Hmmmm... well, if your reply was something like the top ten reasons you think I'm an idiot, then I'm not sad that it wouldn't let you! Hehe. I'm kidding of course. But seriously, that is frustrating when you write out a response and then it errors out on you! Sometimes if I know I'm going to say more than a few words (which is usually... let's be honest, I like to talk!) I'll actually type it in Word first, then copy paste.
And ninjacaker, please remember that not everyone on this board has English as their first language. Sometimes, it's not even their second or third. Honestly, I am a real stickler for things like proper use of language, but sometimes, if I can understand what they're saying, I'm willing to let it go for the sake of not coming off as a total douche.
I have to agree with 3GCakes. It has always bothered me that contest cakes are allowed to be fake - and extra points are not given if it is real.
I can decorate a dummy so much faster than real cake. I can turn it upside down or on its side to do whatever it is I need it to do. Dummies never complain.
I've never understood why, if they do the judging before the fair even opens, why it is not mandatory to be real. When it rots or melts, throw it away.
I agree with 3GCakes. I am a newbie, 1 year. I attended the 2010 ICES Convention in my home town and had the most fun I've (almost) EVER had. I am now known as "the lady who brought REAL cakes" for the display hall (then we all laugh with delight at my naivete). I didn't know about cake dummies when I made my first 4-tier and third-ever 3-tier cake for the convention. It was HARD and took a long time and I was so proud of my REAL cakes and learned so very much by making them.
The OK show winning cake was fabulous, but the article about it said it took her 400 hours to make. 400 hours? 10 weeks? And they still call it "cake". Even a fruit cake wouldn't stand being decorated for 400 hours, let alone an American style cake. Yesterday I made a big decision: I'm not going to enter a cake in my SD Cake Club judged cake show. Why? Because they are offering gum paste flower classes with a fabulous out-of-town instructor the 2 days preceding the day the cake is due. I can't make a REAL cake AND take the classes. I tried doing a dummy, but it never felt 'right', so I finally decided if I can't do a REAL cake, I won't do one at all. Whew! I felt SO much better after I made that decision.
Caking has changed my life in a wonderful, happy, creative way. I'm going to do it for fun, my way. But, each of us will choose to plan and create the steps needed for our cake creations, "my way", and that's ok. As Frank so ably put it:
"I planned each charted course
Each careful step along the byway
And more, much more than this
I did it my way"
I'm not going give an opinion on which I believe is best for me, since it doesn't matter to anyone but me. But, I can give an insight to the cake show. The reason they allow and encourage styrofoam cakes is because it is being judged on cake decorating, not tasting. The judges give the benefit of a doubt you can make a good cake, they are only judging your decorating skills and creativity. The cake has to last for several days, so no bugs or animals will invade the place where they are stored and no bad smells from moldy cake that must be tossed before the end of the show.
As for the classes before and after. We are really lucky to get the fine caliber of decorating to come and teach here in SD (we are getting Marina and James too!!). It's a good thing, because we all know our own gumpaste teacher at that shop (and also in the cake club) just isn't very good...
I agree with sweetflowers, the competition is about cake DECORATING. We have categories for edible cakes and other baked goods at our state 'fair', and a totally different section for cake decorating.
That being said, in England the Australia, there used to be a tradition of competition cakes needing to be real. You would make your cake, decorate it, then remove a perfect slice, tie a ribbon around it and leave it back in the cake. The judges would then judge you on both the cake AND the decoration.
The first big competition I entered as a novice I DID use real cake (not cut though! I'm not that old). They were a fruit cake and a dense madiera cake. Both won prizes! Although it did not matter if it was real or not. Personally, I find it MUCH easier to carve cake than styrofoam!
Click on the link. Then click on Artist Profile, Cile Bellefleur Burbidge. One of the best in Victorian piping. The cake she's working on is styro. It was being made for a themed museum display.
Cile takes no shortcuts, theres no turning her tiers upside down as was mentioned, she pipes on this "cake" as if shes piping on a regular cake.
I have Cile's book and love it. I look through it quite often just to admire her work & wish I'd learned the same.
Have a peek at her cake, I bet you'll love it too.
Oh and ps. Cile uses non edible flower stamens.
http://www.pem.org/collections/video?video_group=american
WOW. Just WOW.
I agree with 3GCakes. I am a newbie, 1 year. I attended the 2010 ICES Convention in my home town and had the most fun I've (almost) EVER had. I am now known as "the lady who brought REAL cakes" for the display hall (then we all laugh with delight at my naivete). I didn't know about cake dummies when I made my first 4-tier and third-ever 3-tier cake for the convention. It was HARD and took a long time and I was so proud of my REAL cakes and learned so very much by making them.
ICEs rules & regulations/registration clearly state cake or dummies can be used except for sculpted cakes. Registration form with rules & regulations have to be filled out so its assumed rules & regulations would be read by persons wanting to display a cake/s. You made two cakes for convention. I'm confused as to how you'd not know about cake dummies then?
The OK show winning cake was fabulous, but the article about it said it took her 400 hours to make. 400 hours? 10 weeks? And they still call it "cake". Even a fruit cake wouldn't stand being decorated for 400 hours, let alone an American style cake.
For shame. You are in your own way, mocking a work of art by a talented pastry chef. Do you really think a cake like the grand prize winner can be completed in a couple of days? Did you not notice the amount of detail on the cake? The intricate piping? The amount of hand painting etc? All that takes time, its not a 1 or 2 day project, boom you're done cake.
Your comments insult the creator of the cake, a member of CC & also insults CC owners who chose to feature the ossas winning cake on the latest issue of CC magazine.
[quote=Apty]Caking has changed my life in a wonderful, happy, creative way. I'm going to do it for fun, my way. But, each of us will choose to plan and create the steps needed for our cake creations, "my way", and that's ok.[/quote]
By all means continue on making your cakes "your way" if thats your desire. I only ask that you think twice before criticizing cakes done/made any other way.
Hmmmm... well, if your reply was something like the top ten reasons you think I'm an idiot, then I'm not sad that it wouldn't let you! Hehe. I'm kidding of course. But seriously, that is frustrating when you write out a response and then it errors out on you! Sometimes if I know I'm going to say more than a few words (which is usually... let's be honest, I like to talk!) I'll actually type it in Word first, then copy paste.
Hehe, don't worry, no top ten reasons from me thinking you're an idiot. I quite enjoy reading your posts and comments.
I was trying to reply yesterday to your comments about hand piping & the old masters of piping, about how they're becoming a dying breed.
And that ICEs makes mention of that very thing this year. That the art of hand piping is becoming a lost art, that stenciled and cookie cutter cakes have taken over. That ICEs is trying to revive the art of hand piping by awarding double prize points to cake entries this year that are decorated old style, the classics. They're hoping to see cakes with the Lambeth method, Austrailian, Oriental string work, etc.
Good for them! I hope they get lots of entries done up in hand piping.
I hope they can succeed in convincing decorators thats its an art that needs to be to keep alive, not let die off, that its an art that can still fit in with todays cake art.
I was also trying to reply to your comments on the sculting of cakes. That I'm always in awe at seeing how some decorators do it so skillfully & swiftly, yet make it look as though theres nothing to it. Bronwen Weber comes to mind for that talent.
And to add, that ICEs, OSSAS & most other cake contests/displays I would think, state in their rules & regulations, that a sculpted cake entry, cannot be sculpted from styro, it must be sculpted from real cake.
And... even though I'm not in the know about this at all.. Maybe the challenges or programs we see a decorator sculpting styro instead of real cake, is because, then the producers don't have to worry about viewers complaining about so much unused cake (food) going into the trash bins??
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