Create A Purse Cake with Elisa Strauss of Confetti Cakes!

The NYC Cake Decorators Meetup's mission, in part, is to develop members' skills through participation in challenging hands-on workshops.

Members who responded to a recent survey overwhelming requested a 3D fondant workshop. Laura, Assistant Organizer did the behind the scenes legwork, and we were ecstatic to learn that there was an opportunity to book a workshop with Elisa Strauss, Owner of Confetti Cakes.

The "Create a Purse Cake" workshop with Elisa Strauss was fabulous!! There was a great turnout of members eager to learn from Elisa, a master of 3-D shaped cakes.

Membership consisted of novices and pros and yet the workshop offered different and challenging techniques of benefit to all.
Everyone learned something new and Elisa's tips and decorating hints were truly invaluable.

The workshop left everyone happy and amazed at what they created and yet left members yearning for even more workshop experiences like this.

These lovely fashionista purses are just in time for Valentine's Day. They would also make a special Easter or Mother's Day gift as well.


One of Elisa's cakes was featured on "Sex in the City" and who could ever forget her Food TV Cake Challenge win with her sweet and lovable Sock Monkey cake.



Elisa Strauss and her assistant Candice Corbin are wonderful and warm people who really exemplify sharing, caring, and professionalism. Members continue to rave about the workshop days after the event. Needless to say, The NYC Cake Decorators Meetup highly recommend Elisa's workshops and we hope this is just the beginning of a sweet relationship.

Brush Embroidery Practice Mini-clinic

Meet up with Charmaine Jones, Cakediva

Charmaine Jones, Owner of Cakediva was very candid and funny sharing her personal experiences about how she began her celebrity custom cake business and the difficulties encountered in trying to stay on top of the pack. Charmaine is a trailblazer—the first to create afrocentric and ethnic cake designs that spoke to people of African, Latino, and Asian heritage.

Charmaine gave lots of tips and hints, including but not limited to, the products she uses, her personal experience of copyright infringement and issues to consider when our cakes or sugarcraft works are photographed by a third party. Her frank discussion of the behind the scenes of the Food Network Cake Challenges was an eye opener.

Charmaine and extern Marianna demonstrated the beautiful basket of flowers cake shown. The stunning floral display is primarily composed of fondant flowers with accents of buttercream lilacs and lily of the valley.

February 2008 Cake of The Month

February's Cake of The Month is this sweet ice cream carton cake by cake artist and member Kimmy of Kimmy's Kakes. Isn't it amazing?

Since Kimmy was young, she's always been artistic but could not find her calling. Searching for an artistic outlet, Kimmy took classes in photography, sketch art, pottery, gourmet cooking, even dance. Although she enjoyed these immensely, Kimmy didn't find her niche. Then two years ago, she took a cake decorating class with a friend and voila! Kimmy found "it"!

Kimmy attended Wilton's Course I-IV which taught the basics of cake decorating. She then began designing cakes for friends and family, all of whom encouraged her knew endeavor. Kimmy's creative juices were flowing! She scoured the Internet to learn techniques on her own and once she felt confident in her skills, Kimmy started her own business, www.KimmysKakes.com and hasn't looked back!

Cake decorating has fulfilled Kimmy's creative desire and most of all, she make people happy with her creations. Who could ask for anything more?

January 2008 Cake of The Month

January 2008's Cake of The Month is this amazing wine bottle cake which was sculpted and decorated by gifted sugar artist Brenda, one of the members of the NYC Cake Decorators Meetup.

Brenda is a great example of the talent in our Meetup.

You can see her other cakes at http://www.brendasdreamcakes.com/

Network & Cake Tasting with Chefs Lauri and Ruth, co-owners, The Cake Atelier

We had a blast! It was great meeting members we hadn't met before and seeing familiar faces of my cake buddies.The Chefs were gracious and sharing and frankly answered all questions asked. There was a great deal of focus on the pros and cons of starting a legal cake decorating business in NYC and NJ; focusing on your business niche--what are your standards and the type of client you are going after; and practical tips such as the logistics of moving a wedding cake; the importance of proper doweling, and the perils of working with buttercream in humid conditions. The cake tasting was fabulous!! Chef Lori who has over 20 years experience as a Chef from C.I.A. and who currently instructs at the French Culinary Institute, made an absolutely delicious white chocolate cake. As a kick-off for the New Year, there were 3 raffles at this meetup. The first two---cupcake stands and a book by Debbie Brown were donated by Elsa a former Staten Island Wilton Method Instructor who now teaches cake decorating and sugarcraft in California.

The prize for the "Show Me Your Photos Contest" was donated by Carmen Abercrombie of A Scentimental Journey in Staten Island. Carmen handcrafted sweet soaps and candles that smell good enough to eat: a cupcake shaped soap, cinnamon cookie linen spray and gingersnap cookie candle are my favorites. She also threw in a bar of pink buttercream frosting soap made by Jacqua (ummm smells just like icing) and a humerous mini- book about a chocolate chip cookie. Carmen makes perfumes and lotions like pink sugar and gives the most decadent chocolate facials. Visit her at http://www.ascentimentaljourney.com/

There were two members from New Jersey named Jessica who entered the contest: Jessica from Springfield NJ won the prize and has been notified. There were no male members who uploaded photos for the contest. Had they, the prize, obviously, would have been more generic. Due to the enthusiastic turnout, the Chefs are willing to conduct demos at future meetups on topics of interest to our members.

The Cake Atelier hopes to launch a sugarcraft school in the near future with a strong focus on gumpaste flowers, and will be featured in a reality show on wedding cake businesses to air on the Women's Channel (WE) in June 2008. Two episodes have already been filmed. Visit our friends, The Cake Atelier at http://www.thecakeatelier.com/

Ringing in the New Year with Charmaine Jones, Cake Diva!!

The NYC Cake Decorators will be ringing in the New Year with the fabulous Charmaine Jones, Cake Diva, at the Wedding Cafe & Bridal Lounge, in midtown Manhattan!

The Cake Diva is the cake decorator to the stars and her prestigious client list includes, but is not limited to, Beyonce, Michael Jordan, Jay Leno, Giraldo Rivera, Susan Sarandon, Erykah Badu, Fat Joe, and MTV. The Cake Diva will network with members and demo sugarcraft techniques.

For more info about Cake Diva and The Wedding Cafe, visit http://www.cakediva.com/ and http://www.weddingcafeny.com/.

Want to learn more about the NYC Cake Decorators? Visit http://cakedecorating.meetup.com/123

The beautiful wedding cake shown on this page is the creation of member Julie. This cake consists of several tiers covered with quilted sugarpaste and decorated with sugar flowers. You can see more of Julie's work at http://www.bake350nyc.com/

Friends of the NYC Cake Decorators & Members' Businesses

Bas Relief cake created by Dina, Organizer, NYC Cake Decorators Meetup

This is my kissing cake which I made some time ago. It won second place in a local competition. I thought it would be nice to post this Valentine cake along with the links to our Meetup friends and members' websites.

Here are the links. Check them out when you get a chance!!! You'll see some awesome cakes....I promise!

Dina
Organizer


Our Friends
Creation Metals. Fabulous custom metal cake toppers
Cake Diva
Perry Street Cakes
Scott Clark Woolley
Sugar Couture
Diane Shavkin

Our Member Businesses
Ana: Just Cakes by Anna
Brian:Sweet Karma Desserts
Chrissy: Chrissy's Cakes
Helen: Helen's Cakes
Isabel: Isa's Cakes
Irene: The Painted Eye
Julie: Bake @350
Kimmy: Kimmys Kakes
Natalie: World of Cakes
Pam: Pam's Kakes
Terry: Something New Bakery
Sherralla: Exotic Sweet Treats
Brenda: Brenda's Dream Cakes


Our Wilton Method Instructors
Ana
Isabel
Melinda
Monique
Sherralla
Sonia

Network & Cake Tasting with The Cake Atelier, NYC

We're looking forward to our Meetup with Chef Ruth Drennan, Co-Owner of the Cake Atelier in January 2008. Networking with the Chef and sampling her delicious cakes is sure to be a memorable experience for everyone!

The stunning cake featured displays the Chef's signature sugar flowers. This photo is copyright protected and is posted with her permission. http://www.thecakeatelier.com/

Chef Drennan completed her Grand Diplome in Pastry Arts from the French Culinary Institute, Cornell University. She interned with Ron Ben Israel where she received experience creating gumpaste flowers, and upon graduating went to work for Gail Watson Custom Cakes, where she served as production manager until opening The Cake Atelier on 6th Avenue in the flower district. She has since supplemented her studies with Nicholas Lodge, Betty Van Nostrand, and Scott Clark Woolley.

The Cake Atelier had their cakes featured in the Spring/Summer Issue of "The Knot" ,"Grace Ormonde Wedding Style" and two episodes of "Who's Wedding is it Anyway". They have an ever growing list of prestigious clients, and are scheduled to be featured in a reality show about wedding cake designers to be aired on the Women's Channel!

Stay tuned for photos of this Meetup with the Chef scheduled this January!

Burrrrr!!! Members' Winter Cakes

Dina made this cake after taking a Wilton Class at the Chocolate Gallery (now Cake & Baking Supply Company). Royal icing wired flowers and berries surround a hand painted gumpaste plaque.

Painting on gumpaste was really fun! Don't worry, the wires never pierced the cake itself.
















Gingerbread structures are definitely in this winter.
Member Ismelda, Pastry Chef, created the sweet gingerbread house.



This beautifully decorated sweet snowman
is the creation of member Kimmy.
http://www.kimmyskakes.com

Wouldn't this little fellow look great as a dinner table centerpiece or wrapped up real snug in colorful food wrap and presented as a gift? Sure to make everyone smile.

Kimmy's cakes are great! Her lollipop cake is featured on the title page of this blog and on our Meetup "About Us" page.

Gumpaste & Fondant Mini-Clinic

One of the display cakes decorated at the mini-clinic.

Cake Decorating Mini-Clinics

The Intro to Cake Decorating mini-clinic was lots of fun!!!! Newbie decorators gathered together, piping bags in hand and had a great time practicing basic buttercream flowers, borders, and flowers with their instructors close at hand.
One member had never held a pastry bag before attending the mini-clinic but by the end of the class, she was producing buttercream borders and stars with the confidence of a pro.














Swapping cake stories and piping buttercream with cake buddies--hey, what more can you ask for?

Practice does make perfect and the newbie decorators' piping skills are getting better by leaps and bounds! Besides the basic piping, we also piped icing swirls on cupcakes for two members who are cupcake fanatics. It was great!

Buttercream roses were piped at our Ode to the Rose Mini-Clinic. We tried the zero trans fat solid white shortening in our class buttercream recipe with no real problems. Whew! that was a relief!

Jacob Javits Cake Show Entries

Laura S., Assistant Organizer, took plenty of photos of the event. Here are three of our favorites. How sweet they are!!