I saw this cake today at the Sugar Arts show in Omaha. It was created by Jo Ellen Simon. I am sure a lot of you have seen here in many magazines and on Food Network. The cakes circling the main are 10". Everything has to do with Nebraska. The description said it took Jo Ellen 4 YEARS to complete this. It take 3 vans to transport. I know it's a showpiece and not cake but I can't even imagine 4 years on one cake!
http://pic40.picturetrail.com/VOL300/8509198/17330761/280862365.jpg
http://pic40.picturetrail.com/VOL300/8509198/17330761/280862408.jpg
http://pic40.picturetrail.com/VOL300/8509198/17330761/280862407.jpg
http://pic40.picturetrail.com/VOL300/8509198/17330761/280862406.jpg
http://pic40.picturetrail.com/VOL300/8509198/17330761/280862404.jpg
http://pic40.picturetrail.com/VOL300/8509198/17330761/280862396.jpg
http://pic40.picturetrail.com/VOL300/8509198/17330761/280862385.jpg
http://pic40.picturetrail.com/VOL300/8509198/17330761/280862375.jpg
http://pic40.picturetrail.com/VOL300/8509198/17330761/280862350.jpg

Wow! Four years?? I'm sure she did it in bits and pieces and didn't work on it straight for four years. I can see it taking a long time though.

I've worked on a cake for maybe 12 hours but I've never done anything like that cake.

While it certainly is a nice showpiece.... c'mon 4 YEARS? Maybe she was only working on it every other Saturday from 10-10:30 lol.

My longest cake really couldn't have been more than a week, and that wouldn't have been working straight through.

four years! Yep if I were counting doing little stuff to get ready during the week before like making gumpaste flowers or other R.I. deco that needed to dry, I would answer that the longest time is just over a week. But in reality, the longest time that I've actually worked on a cake non-stop (including baking time) is 13 hours.

Four years? It doesn't look THAT tricky...

I like my job.....bring that iced cake in..set it down in front of me...let me do my thing to it...15 minutes later ...box it up and bring on another one. When I am finished my cake looks festive, is made special for that one person, and CAN BE EATEN ! Sorry, to me it is not real cake decorating if you can't eat the cake. They can call it sugar art if they want. It just isn't my thing and doesn't really impress me. I have a hard time being impressed with something made from edible ingredients but you can't eat it.
To answer the question...I guess I have probably spent 2 hours on a cake before for a full sheet, 3D design.

My fairytale castle wedding cake:

  http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_810183.html

plus the carriage and gumpaste keepsakes that went with it took 50 hours altogether, across the span of a week. I was done with that cake by the time I finished it. To the point that when the bride turned up on the Friday morning with the silk flowers for the table, I had no enthusiasm for her cake at all! She told me at the reception the next day that I had really worried her. I explained that when you've been up until 2.30am working on a cake, and then back working on it from 8.30am, you can feel a little jaded and less than enthusiastic about the cake. Quite frankly I was glad to see the back of it - I way undercharged (my fault I know - I made a grand total of about 235 euros profit!), so was less than happy all the way through the project. Oh well, lesson learned the hard way!

Maybe she is including her research too. Or maybe she's a very slow worker.....

My longest time has probably been about a week to ten days but I took time out to eat, sleep, take baths, etc....

LadyMike

To be perfectly honest, why would you bother? Yes, the detail is exquisite, but obviously it can't be eaten - so does all that work get tossed away?

Yeah, four years does seem a bit much!?! My dh would be really irritated if I had a cake hanging around for years.

So far the most time I've spent on a cake was about 23 hours...on my last red dragon cake. I didn't charge enough either but I just couldn't stop, LOL! Plus I wanted to see if I could pull off a standing dragon and this was a good opportunity. That time is not including baking time or bc making time either...

Courtney

Yes, that is quit a piece of work. BUT in MY honest opinion, I've seen better work on HERE K'ly

Well, I guess it makes a difference on whether you're talking about an art project or a cake. NO ONE takes 4 years to "make a cake". (Can you imagine the face of the bride when you tell her, "Oh I started making your cake in 2003! )

It takes you four years to write a book .... four years to build a bridge .... four years to serve a term in the military or in political office.

The max for my biggest cake(s) are no more than 12 man-hours and the bulk of that is baking time.

I guess I must be REALLY SLOW. I didn't really keep track, but for my 3D cakes, pirate ship, castle cake, Chief's stadium, I had at least 30 hours if not more. If you include thinking/planning time, probably even more. I'll probably never make a profit on my cakes if I include labor/time. Oh, well, the sense of accomplishment I get from the finished product is worth a lot more than a few dollars, so I'll add that to my profit.

I think the most time I've spent so far was on my wedding cake... counting baking time (I only have one oven, after all!), it took about 25 hours, and I was torting, frosting, and tiering while stuff was baking, for the most part. The actual decorating didn't take more than about 7 hours, though. (I kept getting interrupted, since I was decorating it on site, while my bachelorette party and decorating of the hall were happening! LOL)

http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1019283

Can't recall all the prep time, idea, shopping, etc. Actual construction time was 3pm - 5a (14 hours). I was beat. Then, there was delivery. I probably got about 10 cents an hour!!!

Wow! Four Years!?!?!?!?! Holy Cake! That's a lot of time invested. The longest it took me to do a cake was 22 (straight through) hours.


http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=82918

I have learned my lesson - I make things ahead of time NOW! LOL!!!