And the Oscar Cake Goes To ...

cakelava.com

A billion people all over the world were glued to their television last night watching the 85th Academy Awards. Were you one of them? Parties were planned in every city, celebrities dressed in their finest attire, and at home we all eagerly watched hours and hours of speeches. We do this faithfully every year with one common goal - to see who would have the honor of taking home "Oscar".

Our "Oscar" experience last night started with a cake delivery to a sweet family who are regular clients of ours. Their oldest daughter loves movies so they decided to host an Oscar's party at their home. We were excited when we found out about the party because the Oscar's theme would be great to do in cake and our clients know how to throw a party! Since we have made them numerous cakes, and they always like what Rick comes up, they let him surprise them with a design, and he decided to make a sculpted Oscar statue cake. I couldn't wait to see it!

The whole week we were excited and anxious about the sculpted Oscar's cake. Excited, because we are movie buffs and grew up watching the Academy Awards, and knew our clients would go crazy when they saw it! Anxious, because they live at the top of a very STEEP ridge. To make a cake worthy of Oscar, it couldn't be short in stature, but rather towering, regal -  two and a half feet tall! During the week, Rick and I discussed the plan - who would be driving, who would sit in the back with the cake in case it swayed uncontrollably. I was trying to determine what would be worse - having to drive all the way to their home, encountering roads not perfectly paved, viewing the cake in the rearview mirror and trying not to freak out if I saw it sway. Or, sitting in the back with the cake with hands at the ready should anything happen to it while going over unexpected bumps in the road, and the 45 degree incline on the ridge leading up to their home. Then there was the factor of the possibility of rain. Luckily, last night it didn't rain.


Rick took his time sculpting this beautiful work of art! Our clients ordered our Guava Lava cake, and underneath the masculinity of the black and gold Oscar was a pretty pink inside. Rick explained to me how difficult it was to make the Oscar sculpture. It is an iconic and particular shape and there were so many different versions of Oscar on the internet, all with subtle nuances and different proportions. He had to form a composite of what would be most authentic without having access to a real Oscar's statue to work from. I didn't think about this aspect until he told me. He also explained that when he was doing the research online, it was difficult to see the details of the statue because the gold would cause reflections. I also learned that making the back of the statue wasn't easy because there are few refernces on the internet showing the backside. I did learn a very interesting tidbit Rick picked up in his research. The Oscar statue wears some type of a "thong". We both had a good laugh over this. Leave it to Rick to pick up on these important details!

When the cake was completed, we were very proud of how the sculpted Oscar statue turned out, but we still had to deliver it, and the fun was just beginning! I would be lying if I said the delivery went smoothly, because we were nervous the whole ride as we watched the two and a half foot tall marvel slightly sway back and forth. The cake was structurally sound, but when you have a slender piece balancing on top of a platform, there is really nothing you can do but pray to the cake gods! You have to get the cake there in one piece and drive as carefully as you can, especially over all the dips in the road, and trust me, there were many dips! By the time we reached the mountain, I mean ridge, where our clients live, we were prepared. I think we both took a deep breath and thought to ourselves "go for it!" and that is exactly what we did. Up the mountain, er ridge, driving s-l-o-w-l-y, being as careful around each turn as we possibly could. Did I mention there were many turns? In a situation like this, it's essential to have a sense of humor and we thought "of course they live at the very top and the whole road there is twists and turns!" As we got near the top by their home, the road got even steeper, about a 45 degree incline, and we kept thinking "are we there yet?" We kept driving s-l-o-w-l-y until we saw the light at the end of the tunnel - their home! Hallelujah! The Oscar was in one piece and looked no different than when we had left. The same could not be said about our nerves, but it was about to get a lot better. Seeing our clients made the ride all worth it, and they looked so happy when they their Oscar statue cake!

We drove back feeling completely relieved! Another successful delivery! Later last night, as we were watching the Oscars, our client sent us photos from the party to share on our blog, and we have posted them below. It looked like a really fun party and we heard the cake was a huge hit! We would like to thank our clients for sharing their photos and always bringing us fun occasions to design for!