This was a quiet week, baking-wise, because I was in Arizona celebrating at a dear friend’s wedding. Laura and Rob got hitched in Tucson and surprised their guests with SIX wedding cakes. Since I am huge fan of the cake table, I enjoyed it immensely and now have a great shared memory of my friends sitting around our table at the reception and passing all of the cake flavors, which we devoured one forkful at a time. Sometimes, it takes a village!
I took some time on the plane to work on designs for the 2011 National Capital Area Cake Show! March is right around the corner. 
NOTE: Thank you for the emails, but no, I did not bake all of these cakes! With these crazy new airline regulations I couldn’t take my oven on the plane. Plus there is this whole issue of fondant containing glycerin and showing up like C-4 in an x-ray… and it is a whole mess. So I just helped to decorate, stack, and pretty-ify everything. But since I like the idea a whole lot I thought it was worth posting.
Posted in Travel.
Tagged with cake table.
By Queen Bee
– June 29, 2010
Mark your calendars for the National Capital Area Cake Show on March 26-27th, 2011. The show will have a new venue– Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale Campus. I can’t wait!
Posted in Announcements.
Tagged with cakeshow, NCACS.
By Queen Bee
– June 29, 2010
For any chocolate lover, this cake would put you in hog heaven. These stacks of chocolate party cake are filled with raspberry and hugged with fresh buttercream. The decorations (i.e., snout and ears) are rolled fondant.
The texture of the buttercream icing and pale biege coloring gave him a rougher, more natural edge behind the grin. This pig is readyto party.
Posted in Celebration Cakes.
Tagged with biege, birthday, cake, farm, pig.
By Queen Bee
– June 23, 2010
And by war, I mean an epic battle of cupcake supremacy called Cupcake Wars. This show began in fits and starts, but it looks like FN is letting the frosting fly and committing to a full season this summer.
Tuesdays - 9pm - Food Network
From the Food Network website:
It’s cupcake vs. cupcake in Food Network’s tastiest competition yet! Each week on Cupcake Wars, four of the country’s top cupcake bakers face off in three elimination challenges until only one decorator remains. The sweet prize: $10,000 and the opportunity to showcase their cupcakes at the winning gig. Whether a special Ace of Cakes anniversary celebration, a star-studded magazine party or an A-list celebrity golf tournament, these Cupcakes Wars really heat up. Candace Nelson (owner of Sprinkles Cupcakes) and Florian Bellanger (chef and co-owner of online macaroon company MadMac) serve as permanent judges with a third rotating judge each week, and Justin Willman hosts.
Similar to the print version of the Washington Post’s cupcake Wars from last season, cupcakes compete head to head in a single elimination battle. I like the idea of the show. I’m not sure about the “black box” nature of the secret ingredients but the themes are cool and it is basically a cupcake version of the TLC show: Ultimate Cake-Off, which I adore.
Definitely worth the DVR space. It’s tough to turn cupcakes into bad TV.
Posted in Musings and Inspiration.
Tagged with tv show.
By Queen Bee
– June 21, 2010
One of the best things about having a birthday is that you can do pretty much anything you want and explain it away with a wave of the hand and a knowing look.
My preferred usage of the “birthday clause” is to eat cookies for breakfast. Technically, you can get away with this on Christmas too, but my mother was kind enough to space my personal calendar with each event happening in a separate season.
Cookie of choice for 2010? The Ice Cream and Cookie from Picky Palette. You can basically sub in any flavor of deliciousness you choose. So far I have subjected my friends, neighbors and coworkers to Cookie Dough and Chocolate Chip Mint Yogurt. Today’s special? Ben & Jerry’s Whirled Peace: Caramel & Sweet Cream Ice Creams Swirled with Fudge Peace Signs & Toffee Cookie Pieces. It was nearly edged out by B&J Banana Split in the freezer aisle, but something about the chocolate, caramel, and toffee seemed to shout “cookie”.
So check the freezer, hop on over to PP, and make up a batch. Cookies, they are not just for breakfast anymore.
Posted in Musings and Inspiration.
Tagged with birthday, cookie, recipe.
By Queen Bee
– June 16, 2010
