O.k. because I've gotten the opportunity to meet a lot of these people...
Kerry is very personable in person and a very giving with information. She's even known to bend the rules when she can (when she's not there as a technical JUDGE where it's her job to be a stickler)... The FN portrays her that way even though in real life she's absolutely encouraging to everyone in the industry...
As for Duff... 
I was THERE to watch them hand over the check and my scream can be heard towering over everyone else there when they announced him as the winner (I was the one shouting "YEA!" when everyone was shouting "Woooowoo")... Yes, he really does have the technical skill and they have shown him doing rather flawless piping bag work on the show if you watch carefully but he also likes to focus on the fact that it is primarily his staff that IS Charm City Cakes, not just him.
That said, even though I'm a fan of Colette's work because she breaks it down into managable steps, Duff still remains my if I have to go reference someone else's work to define my style, his still wins out because they're real and not perfectly sculpted flawless pieces that is just not realistic when using real cake.
Thanks couturecakes...as I hated to give an uninformed opinion. Sadly thats all we have to go on is a TV personna when we havent met them. I truly feel better knowing that she really is personable and not such a formidable figure as I had previously thought. I have heard the same thing about Simon from IDOL..that he is nothing like the Simon we see on the tube.
Duff would actually be my favorite...hands down as well.
Thanks michellem77- I loved the cakes on the website!
My favorite is Marina Sousa. I was so impressed with her on the first cake challenge that I saw her on and at the time she had only been decorating for three years...
I would also like to add there are some amazing decorators on CC! I could never choose just one on here but I spend hours just looking at some of the talent on here. So everyone stand up an take a bow you all deserve it!!!! 
Mike from Mike's Amazing Cakes, Marina Sousa and long, black hair lady that almost won the Sweet 16 competition not too long ago. I will get back to this when I find out her name. I love her work.
mike really is totally amazing. his work is so clean!! i wanna be like mike
the maher girls i think are really going to be doing a lot for the food network. mary and brenda have already won 2 challenges and i'm sure there will be more in the works.
If we are talkin "celebrity decorators," I would have to say Marina Sousa, though they all have wonderful talent and their own unique style. Sometimes I don't like the style, but I can imagine the hours and effort that got them to that end product.
I adore Marina Sousa's work. It is inspiring, flawless, and original without being over-the-top.
On CC, I love Emmascakes. I have all of her pictures saved.
Having taken a class with Colette Peters, I love her stuff as well. She is the first decorator I had ever heard of, honestly. She taught me to look at a cake and break it down into separate elements of design, as opposed to looking at the whole cake and saying "I could never do that!".
Mike is definitely amazing. For works of art, he is my favorite, but for cake that I actually want to eat, it would definitely be Duff. I think he has just the right mix of imagination and edible appeal.
Some cake artists are so incredibly detailed, but they are starting to use less cake and more.... other stuff. If there is more fondant than cake, I'm not interested.
And as far as Duff not making as many cakes... come on now - do you see how many cakes they have to make in a week? He is a business owner! His employees are awesome, but someone has to run the shop - it's not just one cake here or there. I think he has more than proven himself, and he is great at encouraging the talent of his team - and not one to hog the glory either.
O.k. because I've gotten the opportunity to meet a lot of these people...
Kerry is very personable in person and a very giving with information. She's even known to bend the rules when she can (when she's not there as a technical JUDGE where it's her job to be a stickler)... The FN portrays her that way even though in real life she's absolutely encouraging to everyone in the industry...
As for Duff...
I was THERE to watch them hand over the check and my scream can be heard towering over everyone else there when they announced him as the winner (I was the one shouting "YEA!" when everyone was shouting "Woooowoo")... Yes, he really does have the technical skill and they have shown him doing rather flawless piping bag work on the show if you watch carefully but he also likes to focus on the fact that it is primarily his staff that IS Charm City Cakes, not just him. That said, even though I'm a fan of Colette's work because she breaks it down into managable steps, Duff still remains my if I have to go reference someone else's work to define my style, his still wins out because they're real and not perfectly sculpted flawless pieces that is just not realistic when using real cake.
It is TV everyone. Who actually thinks that there is no editing in any show is very mistaken. I too have met Duff and saw him win. Kerry is one amazing decorator. She is one of the top suagr artist in the world.
As for Bronwen I have known her for several years now. She had flawless execution and flawless cake. The movie was not about Krustywood. The doughtnut was the reason they all ended up where they were. To say it had nothing to do with the movie is just silly! She was visibly upset on the sound bites that were given.
I will get off my soap box now. Love ya B!
CoutureCake made a great point about working with "real cake"... I try to remember that when I see those jaw-dropper pics coming out of the Okla Sugar Show or ICES. Those are cake dummies and the artists aren't under the same pressures as a cakemaker with an event deadline and budget to stay within time-wise. A friend of mine has both won and placed very high at Okla and began THIS year's entry months ago.
CoutureCake made a great point about working with "real cake"... I try to remember that when I see those jaw-dropper pics coming out of the Okla Sugar Show or ICES. Those are cake dummies and the artists aren't under the same pressures as a cakemaker with an event deadline and budget to stay within time-wise. A friend of mine has both won and placed very high at Okla and began THIS year's entry months ago.
Not all cakes are dummies. I have used real cakes in some of my entries for OSSAS. So have others. Yes, the majority is styro.
My hat's off to you! You should get bonus points for using real cake!
hte only thing with duff is that it looks like his staff does most of the work
Boween, Aine2, jenniferMI, melvira, Indydebi, thanh thanh, I could go on and on. The celebs are fun to watch and inspiring, but there is just as much talent and inspiration here! Plus lots more laughs and "soap opera drama" I can hardly wait to log on every day to see what happened now.
My absolute favorite is Jane from Russia www.artcake.ru
She has an amazing talent! She is very nice too!
Like many, many others, I have to say Mike of Amazing cakes.
But here in CC Land...Aine2 for cakes (when she commented on one of MY cakes I felt like I had made it to the top row LOL), Nancy'sFancy for cookies (she is truly my cookie hero!), and lots of other really good cookie artists that are on here.
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