Happy Sugar Baking Land

Team Cake Girls!

Hey everyone, husband Mic here.  Sad sad news coming out of Chicago yesterday.  We were devastated to hear about the fire at the Cake Girls shop in Chicago which has left their beautiful cakes homeless.  When Reva looked up from the computer and said, "the Cake Girls burned down" I was left numb it was so shocking.

Reva emailed Brenda and Mary yesterday to offer our support both emotional and even physical if possible.  We love those girls and all that they do.  They are truly a class act and the gang at Merci Beaucoup carries nothing but the utmost respect for them.  It has been an honor to be featured on Amazing Wedding Cakes with them and our thoughts and prayers are with the Cake Girls and their staff at this time.

The full story from Chicago Breaking News can be found here.

Thankfully no one was injured or harmed and the residents above the shop escaped the blaze.  As much as a crushing blow the loss of the equipment, supplies, etc. is, the fact that no one was hurt is way more important.  I know the Cake Girls will "rise from the ashes" as it were and continue kicking major cake butt very soon.  And yes, that pun was absolutely intended!  

WE tv was circling a reunion show for all the shops recently, but the scheduling was a nightmare so we've gone from finally getting to meet Mary and Brenda face to face, to hearing this horrible news.  What a switch a weekend makes, but Reva and I are kicking around some ideas to help the girls out which might include an auction or something so keep your eyes posted on the blog and we'll let you know.  Maybe we can band together and help restore their fondant supplies!  Or if Marc has his way, buttercream;)

Again, very sad news, but these are strong, smart, inspirational women who will return with a vengeance soon.  We love you guys, and wish you all the best as you bring your shop back to life. 

Disneyland Photo Safari!!

Hey baking land faithful, husband MIc here and just for fun, I thought I'd put up some pics we took at Disneyland on Monday the 15th.  It was a great day, starting to get more crowded for the Spring Break season, but we still got on a bunch of rides and walked around and had a lot of fun.  The first thing we did was sprint over to the return of Captain EO!

It was awesome, and I had a hard time getting Reva to sit still in her seat!  She knew all the dance moves!  We bought a button and I wrote up a little review over on my movie site.  I also was in the mood to shoot some pictures of the D-Land skyline:

There is always something new and fun to photograph at Disneyland, but who doesn't love the classic castle shot?  As an Irishman, I was super psyched to see these ears, but we opted to take a photo with them rather than purchase.  You know, we still want to get a new delivery van, we gotta pinch some pennies;)

 That's it for that trip, but let me just add, I got one of the freshest and most delicious caramel apples I've ever picked up at Disneyland!  I'm still thinking about it.  Lots of stuff up coming here on Happy Sugar Baking Land in April, so stay tuned as Reva gets ready to film a special episode of Amazing Wedding Cakes, I explore the recipes of my muffin calendar, and our merchandise line has an official launch!!  Take care and enjoy these beautiful Spring days!!

 

The Brides Magazine Disaster or Why to Dread Shipping a Cake

A couple years ago we were invited to be a part of Brides Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful Cakes.  It was a great time as Mic and I flew our cake all the way to New York for the photo shoot and Virgin America helped us deliver the cake in near perfect condition.  A few touch ups in the hotel room and yes, a subway ride and walk down to the studio and our cake was ready for the cameras!  I'll have to post the full story of that trip someday, it was something else!

 Right around the time we were filming season 3 of Amazing Wedding Cakes, Brides called us again to participate in a big cake feature that just came out in their March issue (seen left).  We had such a good time before, that I knew I wanted to participate again.  The way they work these is you have to provide some sketches first and they guide you towards the one they like and then you do a little square sample panel of what the final decorating will look like before they say to bring it on down.

I sent about 12 sketches and we narrowed it down to a lovely blue cake with tons and tons of gilded sugar flowers.  A couple weeks into filming, I took the only day I had off to assemble the cake and get it ready to ship to New York.  Mic and I were not going to be able to fly it out again this time, so we had to rely on Fed Ex to get it there.  We know people who have done it before, and Brides has a stylist onsite to fix any damage, so we thought it'd be okay.  The cake itself is styrofoam with only the decorations being what we would use on a real cake.  And since our decorations didn't involve giant flowers or anything, we thought it'd be just fine.  Oops!!

Here's the cake before we packed it for the trip:

Mic went and got a box to fit the base snuggly and lots of packing peanuts etc.  We used foam to wrap around the garland and plastic wrap.  The base got glued to the bottom of the box and lots of peanuts surrounded the cake, holding it in place.  Here's some shots of the process...

MUMMIFIED!!!

We took every precaution and spent quite a few bucks to overnight this thing to NYC complete with special instructions and enough "Fragile" and "This Side Up" stickers to wallpaper a small condo.  About 16 hours later, our baby was at the studio and panic was setting in.  We got the call that the cake arrived heavily damaged.  The Brides crew were working like E.R. doctors to get it fixed well enough for the magazine, but after a day of trying, they just didn't think they could get it right and time was called on our gilded delight.  *sad face*

 As you can see from the pix they sent back, the layers separated, leaving the cake with cracks and stretch fractures in the fondant.  The flowers traveled well which is good to know, but the problem was the layers staying together.  Since we've already flown cakes a couple times, MIc believes (and I agree) that the only reason this didn't survive was human error, as in, a Fed Ex guy dropped and/or flipped it on it's side/head during the shipping.  And no, we didn't get the insurance on it because it was more than we wanted to spend at the time.  Live and learn.

But even with insurance, it wouldn't have made up for not being in the magazine again.  It was pretty heartbreaking, but thankfully we have some good pix and the memory of our short time together.  I think it would've looked fantastic in the issue and hopefully we can work with the Brides crew again someday soon. 

Although, I think I might offer to pay for a photographer on the west coast!!!

So, if you ever want a cake from us and you live far away, our new rule is we fly with it!!  

Here's a couple more disaster shots:

As they say in Paris, c'est la vie!!  I think I'm gonna make another one this Spring to have in the shop cause I really did love it.  Au revoir friends!