UPDATE: NY CAKE CONVENTION

I'm sorry to announce (and it is a long story) I will not be attending the NY Cake Convention this year. Wishing everyone involved a successful show. Happy New Year!

Heading Back to work…

Let’s just say I wouldn’t recommend heading back to work just a week or two after the birth of your first child. But like many of my friends and colleagues that own small businesses, especially cake designers, we all have this gene within us that makes us do crazy things. I had to pass on segments on Oprah (yes the Oprah), Good Morning America and a Food Network Challenge but I just couldn’t say no to a recent cake.

One of my wonderful clients that we have done cakes for before had purchased a cake at the silent auction for a charity I support every year called C-CAP . Out came a two-tiered holiday cake with a gnome theme.


While feeding my new baby, running back and forth between home and bakery (with gum paste and fondant in hand) the cake was completed. And I could not have done it without the help of my amazing assistants who baked and built the two cakes, and made all the arrangements.


Now I have to go cut some brownies but after this I am REALLY taking maternity leave…at least I think I will.

My Greatest Creation Yet!

On November 17^th my husband and I introduced our daughter Sophie Pearl Ricks to the world. She weighed 6 pounds, 11 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. She is by far my greatest and most creative endeavor to date.

Thank you to all my clients, students and friends who have sent good wishes.

I will be on sabbatical from teaching, making cakes and Food Network Challenges until February but will keep you updated with a few events here and there. I will be giving a demo and teaching a class at The NY Cake Convention in January.

I have already started thinking about Sophie’s first birthday cake but luckily I have some time before then!

CAPS Class and the NY Cake Convention

Two weeks ago I taught a class at the Center for Advanced Pastry Studies (CAPS) at the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE), of which I am a proud alumna. These classes are extra special because everyone in the class has at least a working knowledge of sculpted cakes and some have their own businesses. It was a three-day intensive hands-on class...I didn't let them sit for a second! As you can see from the photos they did an amazing job with the gift box cake. It was such a wonderful group of people filled with terrific questions, work ethic and a sense of fun!


My next group class will be at the NY Cake Convention held in New York City on January 2-5th, 2010. I'll be doing a demonstration on Saturday, January 2nd from 9AM-11AM and a hands on class that same day from 1PM-4PM. Sign-up here. There will be many amazing cake designers from all over the world.

And did I mention our first book, The Confetti Cakes Cookbook is in its fifth printing?! Thank you to everyone who has bought our books and for all your wonderful feedback!
Here are some great reviews.
1) Latest Addictions
2) Epinions
3) Pickii






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Snowman Cupcakes

Photo by Alexandra Rowley

I know it is only November but it is never too soon to talk about dessert for the holidays. Especially when the cupcakes are delicious and adorable. Here are our Snowman Cupcakes from our first book, The Confetti Cakes Cookbook (2007). I love to make these cupcakes with our moist Red Velvet Cake and our sweet Cupcake Frosting. The combination of the two balance each other perfectly.

Everyone is busy, especially during the holidays, so this is a perfect dessert for those who have short amounts of free time. You can make the snowmen ahead of time and then whip up the cupcakes and frosting right before the festivities begin! Just make sure to buy your cupcake wrappers ahead of time so you are ready to go.

People will be blown away by the cutest, most delicious dessert they have ever had.

Hot Tips:
* If you don't have or can't find rolled fondant for the snowman you can use, marzipan or marshmallows and white gumdrops with other candy.

*For a tangy touch you can pair the cake with a rich cream cheese frosting by just adding 1 cup or 8 ounces of cream cheese, and cut the butter in half of the original frosting recipe.

Snowman Cupcakes

Red Velvet Cake Recipe


















Cupcake Frosting

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Lobster Cake

A few years ago I did a cake for a wonderful client who had a beach wedding but was celebrating their marriage in New York City with friends and family with a party. The concept for the cake, as well as the entire event, was created by the amazing team at David Stark Design. The cake we created for the party was a lobster coming out of a pail, with a shovel, and shells, sitting on top of a sandbox.

I think the cake came out great but it was before I was really using an airbrush. The lobster was good but definitely lacked some depth. I still do not use the airbrush very often, usually just to cover a large area of cake (think Lego Batman or six foot tall sock monkey) but every once in awhile a cake calls for it.

BEFORE Airbrush

AFTER Four layers of Airbrush color

Last weekend we made a similar version of the Lobster cake for a 60th birthday party at a beach house. This time after I made all the pieces of the lobster in orange gumpaste, instead of just dusting it I went ahead and created the shell effect by using layers of airbrush spray. I first started with a coat of yellow, then orange, red and finished with a touch of green to give the darker areas some contrast. Make sure that if you use an airbrush you do not use regular food coloring gels, you need airbrush color.

I also used some disco dust on this cake for the stars, which gives a nice glitter effect. We actually layered the cake with cupcakes around the base, with brown sugar "sand" and sugar shells, sand dollars and star fish but here is the final version before it left the bakery.

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Martha Stewart Radio Show

Today, Thursday, August 20th, I will be on Martha Stewart Living Radio on Sirius Satellite for the Living Today show. This interview will air LIVE from 3-3:30pm (EST), I will be taking questions from our listeners all about baking! The show's title is "Cake Baking Tips". This will be during their weekly Baking Segment, so while we will definitely discuss cakes, people are welcome to call in with all of their baking questions. I will also offer the top FIVE quick tips people should follow in order to make baking better!

The host of the show is, Mario Bosquez. I've been on his show a few times before and he is great and is actually a great baker himself. The last time I was on his show he made our hydrangea cupcakes from our first book, The Confetti Cakes Cookbook.

If you won't be around today and would like a copy of the interview, you can sign up for a FREE 7 day subscription at http://www.sirius.com/freetrial/register , and record the interview while it’s LIVE onto your computer. Feel free to record it on your own!

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My first ICES convention

I am leaving one big city (New York) for another (Chicago) this week to attend my very first. ICES is probably the largest member based cake organization in the world. I can’t believe it has taken me so long to get to the. I am going just to check things out and to see the lay of the land. Maybe next year I will be able to take some hands-on classes or even demo myself. I plan to see lots of cake friends and students from all over the world so it should be really exciting. There is also a big vendor hall so I hope not to overdo the buying. I’m not sure if I am allowed to take photos but if I can I will report back with what I see.

Since we are talking about cities I thought I should post about one of our more recent cakes we did with a NYC theme. It is for one of my all time favorite clients. I’ve done many events in her family including other family birthdays as well as her sister-in-law's Bridal Shower cake and wedding cake. I feel so fortunate to have been a part of so many special events in their family.

In fact it was that wedding cake for her brother and sister-in-law, that needed to be delivered in Pennsylvania that almost sent my now husband running. I think we were only dating a month or two when we took that journey. Poor thing did not know how stressful (and COLD!) it could be to deliver a five-tiered wedding cake. Yep, my poor hubby got a taste of what was to come....four years later he still HATES to be associated with ANY part of a delivery. I can’t say I love it myself.

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Wildflowers

You wouldn't think that New York City is the place to find wildflowers but in the last few weeks two separate projects sprung up with them.


The first is The High Line, found down in the meatpacking district. It is a beautiful new park that was created on top of an old elevated train track that runs through Manhattan. It opened just two weeks ago with the help of NYC, The Parks Dept. and Friends of the High Line.


The second project blooming with wildflowers was a small wedding cake we created for Elegant Bride magazine. The official photographs will come out this Fall in the magazine but here is a preview. All the flowers are made of gum paste.

Black and White Cookie&Quot; Cake

One would think that making a cake in the shape of an old-fashioned Black and White cookie would not be too difficult, after all it is round and has just two colors of icing. But what if I told you that the cookie’s diameter was well over two feet and would serve close to 200 people? And did I mention that we do not have a walk-in freezer, therefore we had to build it in four separate pieces all the while making sure it formed a perfect circle, had the sloped sides of a real cookie and the domed middle. It was especially challenging because once the four cakes were “glued” together with buttercream we had to make sure that the “seams” would not show.

I love making cakes that look like real life objects, but I especially like making cakes in the shape of food. We have done sushi platters, a Philly cheese-steak, hamburgers, fries, lobster, etc.

The best way to do this is to go out and buy a smaller version of the item and copy it. You can see our “models” below.

We hope Dan was surprised because apparently Black and Whites are his favorite cookie!








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