Part of my nature is to relieve someone's embarassment or stress. I think some people in this thread have clearly gone over the line with their comments about some of my Cake Buddies.

Saying a cake doesn't have clean lines, that there's mistakes is one thing. Calling people sloppy and messy and uncaring, 'don't give a squat' is over the line in a big way.

AND--on ChrisG's lavendar cake, Margie suggests making smaller pots and he won't have anything to do with that. Then later he had to cut them down considerably in order for them to fit. He got onto Margie on camera about the leaves being too dark but a Wilton 1 student could figure out the pots were too big for the ledge.

It's ok to respectfully critique someone's work.

But it will never be ok with me for some of the comments in this thread to stand without me covering for the CakeBuddies being slammed in some cases.

This thread is a pandora's box, if you don't want to go back & forth that's your decision.

I hope Reva & Mark read everything but, dude, Mark is a freaking bowl of warm jello. He & Reva who apparently posts here need to know not everyone feels that way about them. And that someone is calling some of the previous comments over the line yes.

It's all art. Critique the art. Don't step on the artitst.

Yes, and I agree with you on the part about the cake artists not being portrayed at their best on this shows. They want ratings so lets show the disasters and problems they go through.

Actually, that's exactly what I was trying to convey. I was making a crticisim on their style of decorating, not on them as a person.

Thank you for sharing your comments.

when i watch the cake contest shows, i alway's notice the fondant being patched so i don't feel so bad when i get a lump.

It's funny how different people's tastes are!!! Most people on this thread said they don't care too much for Laurie at Cake Alchemy. I, on the other hand, am always SO excited when she's featured on an episode!

She does lovely work, and she has a great rapport with her staff. She mentors them, is always so calm, never criticizes and uses their mistakes to teach them something. I think she's terrific!

I love to see Laurie's sugar work. She is the only I've seen so far that uses the cake ring to assemble her layers. Pretty neat!

Instead of stocking and storing a gazillion different sizes and shapes of cake pans, they probably use only sheet pans to bake and cut out the different shapes and sizes they need and assemble the cakes in rings like these.

They are in New York of course where space is a real premium--I think she's in Manhattan too?

I checked on the map--yes looks like Manhattan to me.

http://maps.google.com/maps?rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7DKUS&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=cake+alchemy+ny&fb=1&gl=us&hq=cake+alchemy&hnear=ny&cid=0,0,10833374196741138109&ei=__ezSqvCE4Sktgfcp7C9Dg&sa=X&oi=local_result&ct=image&resnum=1

One thing I did notice on the Ultimate Cake-Off was Norm Davis explaining that professional bakers would much rather do one large cake than several mini cakes. He said that the minis are a pain.

That, at least, should give some customers a little insight as to why minis are expensive!

I also have a client that called them first, and said that whoever answered the phone was so rude and condescending, that she hung up. They were going on about minimums and scheduling. I understand they probably get a ton of looky loos, but they lost at least one client due to the attitude. It must be a tough position to be in.

Since starting to watch this show, I can't tell you how many times I have paused the DVR and then slowly forwarded to see how they do things. I wish they would show more of the cutting, constructing, filling, crumb coating, explaining flavorings, etc. Their cakes sides are soooo straight and smooth.

I for one would love to work at M.B. it has got to be a blast working with Mark, I don't think we have seen his true talent yet. Merci Beacoup seems to have the un-stressed atmosphere that the other shows don't have.

For all their mistakes, thats one less mistake (hopefully) for me.

ROCK ON Merci Beacoup, Christopher Garren, Cake Alchemi and don't you just love Mary's eyes at Cake girls.

Keep teaching me!!

cake alchemy is my favorite. i love the flowers! sometimes they show how she achieves some of the looks.

i'll chime in and agree that they should cut the drama and focus on the technique.

Did anyone see the "peacock cake" that MB did? It was what promted my other thread that sent me here... It was pretty from far away, but it made it seem like the owner (don't know her name) doesn't really have any attention to detail. The top teir was so sloppy and lopsided I thought she'd re-do it. Then she messed up a wedding cake that was mid-evil themed. I couldn't believe she just dropped the brush like that. Yes they fixed it, but it was a silly mistake the way it happened, it was so careless.

As for mentioning prices. I remember duff mentioning that they were lucky because the show paid enough that they could take less cakes and not have to charge so much per cake! And it still has a 1000 min order! Geese! But he's cool and they have a great shop dinamic, at least on tv.

After reading through all 8 pages, I'll chime in on a few things:

1. Not that I would want to take money out of these peoples' hands, but I'd like to see these television studios focus on a variety of people throughout the country. Love Lori's and Cake Girls' work, but...they were all on Food NetWork at some point in time. Love Merci Beaucoup, but they're a spin-off of last season. Lori, too, is a spin-off from last season. Cake Girls returned. Why not showcase other talent from around the country? Same thing with Wedding Wars and Ultimate Cake Challenge...Very talented people...Some are even good friends of mine...But, again, people from Food Network now on TLC..Some are on multiple challenges...Again, why not spread the wealth around?

2. Cake Alchemy had some interesting concepts: a. She showed how to make Birds of Paradise from a real flower. That was c ool how she dissected the real thing to make the sugar flower. I've been paying more attention to the detail of real flowers. b. The cake rings were incredible. I tried it. Don't like the waste from baking half-sheets, so back to round pans. Does it appear that the ring for layering is like a springform pan that can adjust to several sizes? If so, where would you get it?

Paul

[quote="PieceofCakeAZNobody really believes that every week each cake company has a couple come in for the initial consultation for a wedding cake that is due in 3 days.
[/quote]

This really bothers me!