Bake it, Wear it! Queens of Sweet Takes the Cake!

 Photo courtesy of Annette Duzant-Tasch, Queens of Sweet, Brooklyn NY

 As Black History Month comes to a close, we just had to showcase the talent of new member Annette Duzant-Tasch. Annette, owner of Queens of Sweet, not only bakes her cakes but she can wear them too! Not your ordinary cake designer, Annette specializes in fun, sexy, edgy, and sculpted cakes. Annette's custom cakes clients include the Sachika Twins and Green Light Bookstore in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. Got Cake?

The Adventures of Cakediva

Cake Buzz: CakeDiva's Sugar Art Classes

The fabulous Charmaine Jones, Cakediva, will show NYC Cake Decorators and their guests how to create three stunning orchids in February 2010. The class is tentatively scheduled to be held at the Wedding Cafe in NYC.

Charmaine, a fine artist, began baking delicious and fabulously designed cakes in 1980's and has amassed an A list of clients, including but not limited to Erykah Badu, Queen Latifah's mom, Michael Jordan, Susan Sarandon, Charles Oakley, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture.

Charmaine will now share her expertise, tips, and hints in upcoming sugar art classes and seminars.

For more information about the gumpaste orchid class with NYC Cake Decorators and to register, contact Dina at nyccakedecorators@yahoo.com.

Happy Kwanzaa!

African wedding cake designed by Soni, Botswana, Africa

African-Americans, from every phase of life in the United States, have been celebrating Kwanzaa since 1965. Founded by Professor Maulana Karenga, Kwanzaa is celebrated from December 26 to January 1. It is a warm, social, time where people gather to reinforce each other's spirit and friendship, and promote the seven basic principles honored during this holiday.

Today is the second day of Kwanzaa - Kujichagulia, which is a Swahili word for self-determination. In obervation of this principle, we are highlighting several African-American cake designers located in the New York City area. The first on our list is the fabulous Charmaine Jones, owner of Cakediva. The NYC Cake Decorators Meetup has been honored to meet and network with Charmaine Jones at the Wedding Cafe Bridal Lounge, her stunning shared space, located at 16 East 38th Street in the tony Murray Hill section of Manhattan.

Charmaine is the cake decorator to the stars and her prestigious client list includes, but is not limited to, Beyonce, Geraldo Rivera, Michael Jordan, Jay Leno, Susan Sarandon, Erykah Badu, Fat Joe, NBC, MTV, and Queen Latifah's mom. Cakediva's designs are featured in several books including "Jumping The Broom" and "Victoria's Romantic Weddings", and she has had numerous photo spreads in several well-known magazines. Did you know that Charmaine was the first noted cake designer to create and specialize in afrocentric and ethnic special occasion and wedding cakes? Charmaine, a formal model with a Master's Degree in Art, turned fabulous Cake Diva, is a warm, down to earth person who has a fascinating story to tell about her journey to fame in the world of celebrity cake design. Her main retail space is in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Cake Man Raven Confectionery is located in the heart of Fort Greene, Brooklyn, NY. The confectionery is not just a bakery but a specialized facility that caters for major events all over the world. Some of the items may include cupcakes, brownies, cookies, pies, pineapple cakes and 9 inch to 12 inch standard red velvet cakes to celebrity cakes. Wedding cakes are in season all year long. Cake man has been a challenger on Food TV Network Cake Challenge and recently on an espisode of Bobby Flay's Throw Down.

Cake Man Raven's signature red velvet cake is legendary in New York City. In fact, it's not unusual to see lines wrapped around the block for the Cake Man's tasty creations, and tales of folks waiting for hours for a sniff of warm, sweet cake by the Cake Man, are stuff to dream on. Cake Man's Confectionary is a "must see" on your next visit to Brooklyn. And for those foodies who can't wait to taste his red velvet cake, Cake Man Raven's red velvet cake recipe can be downloaded from his website.

When she was a young girl, Regina McRae used to sit in her Grandma's kitchen and listen to her hum Gospel music as she baked. As she smelled the yeast in the rising breads, and the cinnamon and butter in the pies, Regina would be filled with a warm feeling of peace, contentment and love of family and baking. In 1995, Regina opened Grandma's Secrets with $10.00 and 8 pies. Grandma's Secrets not only delivers a variety of desserts throughout the New York City area but also holds workshops and classes in cake decorating and sugar art.

Orchid wedding cake by Make My Cake, Harlem, NY

Proving that good taste does run in the family, Make My Cake, developed from a home-based family business to a noted bakery drawing thousands of foodies to its historic Harlem location seeking the ultimate "red velvet cake" and other heavenly desserts. Make My Cake has served its "memories of home" to celebrities such as the New York Knicks to Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, and Vanessa Williams.

Carrot Cake baked and designed by Kobie

NYC Cake Decorators has several gifted African-American cake designers and instructor/members: Kobie Proctor, owner and cake designer of Queen Anne's Carrot Cakes, began his business in 2007. His moist and surprisingly light carrot cakes are based on a 2 generation's old carrot cake recipe. Kobie uses only the freshest, organically grown ingredients from local farmers. His tea cakes, topped with a dollop of whipped cream cheese frosting are simply "to die for" and are just the right size for gift-giving and entertaining.

Sweet Potato Cheesecake at Annie Mae's, Harlem, NY

Danielle Moore is the founder of the NYC Cake Decorators Meetup and owner and cake designer at Annie Mae's Cheesecakes & Moore located in historic Harlem, New York. Annie Mae's success is built upon a family legacy and old fashioned goodness. So if you are thinking about ditching your diet for a day, you really need to try one of Danielle's signature cheesecakes, yummy cupcakes, or cookies.

Winter scene cake designed by Dina, Sugar Designs NYC

Sherralla started cake decorating as a hobby when she was 7 months pregnant. Cake Decorating and sugar art quickly became her passion. Sherralla is currently a cerified Wilton Method Instructor and has started her own part-time cakery, exotic sweet treats.

Dina became fascinated with cake decorating over ten years ago when she tried a Wilton home decorating course. Since that time, she has supplemented her training with classes from Collette Peters, Chef Lauri Ditunno, and Scott Clark Woolley. Dina's cakes have been comissioned by MTV for Madonna's birthday tribute and a rap video featuring MC Lyte. One of her cakes won Cake of The Month at Mailbox News. Dina taught cake decorating at Staten Island Community College for two years and currently teaches private and group sugar art classes in the NYC area.