Your cake was lovely. I feel it won by a land slide! The pink cake was nice and very pretty but it didn't come near your cake.
I did hear you ask your partner how she felt about a baby shower cake and that was the only thing said. Now that you said you brought a drawing of a baby shower cake it explains more.
It must have been hard to not tell the world that you won. But when you wrote you did VERY well that was a tip off 
I'm so happy for you! You deserve the win.
I also looked at your cakes on your web site and they are just as lovely.
The people who get cakes from you are very lucky to have them.
Joanne
I loved your cake, and had no idea you were a member here until I came across this thread. I was just rooting for the fellow Kansas Cakebaker!
Oh and BTW how stressful was that challenge!!! Did they give ya the lowdown before filming. How did ya know to bring a shower cake design? You team did great. Seemed some of the others were stressed beyond their limits and one person really looked out of her element especially with Fondant!
Congrats to you and your partner on your win!
I sketched out around 12 different designs ahead of time that I thought we could complete in the time constraints. I'm a planner & couldn't dive into it blind. I had 2 months notice to worry about it and plan out what tools to take.
The virus thing -- my tech service guy says someone had gotten in with a "redirect"? I'm not sure, but he said it was currently harmless and he removed the "redirect" and I changed my login password.
I'm not being mean but watching that gal slopping that mess of Fondant around made my heart sing. She made me look like an expert. 
Watching her made me think of the ol I love Lucy show with the chocolate candy. 
Congratulations!!!! I just watched the show myself and thought you guys did a GREAT job!!
Was I the only one irked the red head didn't use the blue fondant that you rolled out? All she had to do was apply it. Did she really think that it would look good to airbrush just one layer, since the other layers were already re-done? Maybe that's just me.
BTW, I just checked out your site and I got the virus alert too! AND it kicked me off the site both times! Maybe have your tech guy take a second look. I would love to look at your photos, but I can't screw up my computer in the process.
Also, I have visited Toba Garrett's site twice in the last month and both times my virus alert told me I picked up a Trojan!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm gonna be honest here.... I had FN on lastnight to watch the show and got only to the introductions and immediately fell asleep. I was wondering which one cakebaker was, but my answer was answered by reading.... apparantly, she is NOT the redhead! I will watch the show on the 30th since the 26th is my DD's b-day (she's turning 9!)
I am so thrilled for you...didn't even realize when I was pulling for your team that you were a fellow CC Member! I have been telling my Wilton Class students about your cake...and to watch the show for awesome inspiration! Congrats!!!!
Congratulations! Your cake was beautiful. You guys worked pretty good together concidering you were strangers with different methods of doing things. I watched with my 3 year old and she told me she wanted a cake like that for her birthday. Luckily her birthday isn't until March...lots of time to practice.
Haven't been on in a few days but watched the challenge, WOW am I ever impressed. That was my favorite cake early on and I'm so glad it won, not only because it was absolutely gorgeous but because you're a fellow CCer (I had no idea until just this minute reading the posts!)
Congratulations and I'm sure soon you'll be sharing all your details, how you got selected, what you had to do to prepare, all that stuff!!!!
DETAILS!!!!!!!!
Oh yes a huge congrats!! Cannot wait for Tulsa!
See you there!
From what I understand it is not really process. They have research people with the company they use to do all the taping (highnoon) "look" for the competitors. A good friend of mine that competed in the Candy Castles event was recomended by or was informed about by Kerry Vincent. She was in the article for American Cake Decorating Magazine article. (Susan O'boyle-Jacobson) I miss her a great deal she was a a fabulous mentor to me.
I also had the Virus bug but my firewall just booted it off--Oh well it happens!
Just saw the show and wanted to add my CONGRATULATIONS CAKEBAKER on a fabulous win. You both did a great job, and your cake was AMAZING! 
To be able to pull that off in such a short time. Watching your team gave me a lot of insights. I thought you both worked it out really well considering you couldn't communicate!
The cuts they chose to show also highlighted the fact that your team worked professionally and maturely -- unlike other teams (dare I point a finger at the pink team???).
Anyway, Congrats! 
Your design literally took the cake!
Sarah
[The cuts they chose to show also highlighted the fact that your team worked professionally and maturely -- unlike other teams (dare I point a finger at the pink team???).
Ha Ha (really it was funny to me!) I found that sooo funny! I can see why there was all the frustration. Being a fellow Asian I can honestly say that perfection is my downfall. I am a freak about things being right! It was hard to wacth the fondant application.
I just watched it. (12am) The cake was simply gorgeous.
CONGRATS!
Thanks again, everyone!! It has really been a crazy week. I've been getting phone calls, e-mails, and even a letter in the mail from perfect strangers -- people can be SOOOOO sweet. Big hugs to ALL!! Here are a few random details you might find interesting:
How I got invited -- I got on the "short list" by winning 3rd in last year's National Wedding Cake competition in Tulsa. A FoodTV person called me out of the blue last December to ask if I would participate. We filmed it in Beaver Creek, CO on Feb. 1st. BTW, driving in the Rocky Mountains in February -- YIKES!! My husband and I drove out instead of flying -- it was a 14 hour drive.
We had to all bring our own cakes and fondant and buttercream and whatever else we needed. We were supposed to each bring at least 100 servings and have the final cake be at least 150 servings. The only thing they provided us with was the "kitchen" space. And can I say - not having running water was difficult! I'd taken SatinIce (which is what we used), Julie brought Pettinice. We used Julie's IMBC because she was the one doing the crumbcoating & even though she'd shipped it frozen, it already had mold spots. Yummy! There was supposed to be a gal from Alaska participating, but a volcanic erruption had all Alaskan flights grounded. Alexandra was filling in at the last minute, and she had ZERO cake or tools. The kitchen staff at one of the local resort hotels dug up some buttercream and gel colors and a few things for her, then they just used whatever Steven had. We were working next to them & I'd told them if they need to borrow something, just ask.
On the decorations, I did all the circles on those 2 tiers, and the swirly candle thingies. In that 3rd hour, I kneaded color into 20 pounds of fondant and covered 4 tiers. I also did all the doweling and stacking. On the carving -- when we were talking and I asked how we should carve them, she said on the 16" bottom tier, make the base diameter like 13" -- okay, that's a really steep angle. I think I ended up doing it 13 1/2 and if I had curved the sides, I really think we would have had a mess on our hands. Plus trying to carve her cake was a booger. It was highly odd and weird watching myself. And it's strange, too, because I know of many things they edited out.
At the beginning when they were showing some weird responses to Bleifer pausing when announcing the theme -- those responses were actually a reaction to a FAKE theme that they lead us to believe was the REAL theme -- "Roman Empires"!!
Here's one thing they did leave out -- Julie almost starting a fire! LOL -- she placed my blue Ateco fondant mat on top of my food dehydrator & the trapped heat scourched the bottom of the mat (made a long black streak). We weren't allowed to communicate between shifts, so I asked one of the producers, "If our partner is doing something that is a possible fire hazzard, can we get a message to them?" teehee -- they promptly delivered the message.
Nic & Mike's presence was almost calming. Which seems like an odd thing to say, but other than DH and my dear friend Adele in the audience, most of the people there were just waiting to see us screw up. Mike especially knows what it is like to compete in these and would come around at least a couple times per hour and let us know how much time we had left & toss us a grin.
I hadn't slept well for several nights before-hand. That morning, we had to be down in the lobby waiting for the shuttle at 6:15am & at about 6:00, I thought I was going to be physically ill from nerves. I had a 1/2 a granola bar for breakfast. Then when we got there, we had to rehearse the jacket presentation and such. And they cut into our planning time with the "hero" shots. Back in the green room, we had to spend part of the time answering questions and then they would come in with fake "5 minute" warnings just for camera (as in "you have 5 minutes until you're on") and trying to go the restroom hooked up to a microphone was fun. They brought in some box lunches for us, but I couldn't choke down more than about 3 potato chips. Close to the end, Keegan had the audience rehearse the countdown on the clock, but we didn't know for sure which one was the real thing, so we kept stopping. After the cakes were moved to the tables, we had to clean up super fast, then get on a shuttle to go to a different building for judges interviews & they had to have a camera in the lobby, one in the elevator, and two in the judges' room. We were supposed to walk from the elevator and stand on an X on the floor. The 5th camera crew was in the lobby doing exit interviews after we'd talked to the judges. So finally, we get on the shuttle and go back to the Art Center & stand around waiting for the awards presentation. At the end, Keegan had to say this sentence THREE times before he was allowed to complete it, "And the winner of the gold medals and the check for $10,000 is . . . . ." THEN we had to stick around for "post" interviews -- individual and team. Julie and I had to wait until last. It was 10:30pm before we were finished and could leave the building.
I used $1500 to send my husband to saddlemaker's school just a few weeks later & got a new dishwasher because mine had been broken and unfixable for a year and a half. Put the rest in our savings account, but I did splurge and got this: http://a1412.g.akamai.net/7/1412/243/0080/image2.styleinamerica.com/wsecimgs/images/products/200627/0013/img41l.jpg
Thank you Rebecca for your behind the scenes stuff, it sounds like a lot of fun and I hope after you won, you treated yourself to a big fancy dinner because I bet you were famished!
I was so impressed with how you worked under pressure, that was one of the big things that stuck out about you and your partner. I'm not nearly that calm even when I have two whole days to deliver a simple wedding cake, and no cameras or audience watching every move! So kudos to you on that!
I too was impressed with how calm you girls were compared to everybody else! I could not imagine trying to decorate something that big knowing that a camera was taping it! Congratulations again!
BTW- love the lime green Kitchen Aid!
Rebecca I noticed you don't have the cake on your site....is that because you're not allowed?
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