Thoughts on the Last Day of 2012

We are part way through the last day of 2012, and counting down the hours to 2013, a year that has tremendous meaning to us. Before we can appropriately make the transition to 2013, we honor the events of 2012 by reflecting back on an incredible year! The first half of 2012 was spent working on the book and making cakes for clients, with little to no social time to spend with our family and friends. We knew the demands of writing the book would be high as we went through editing and a final photo shoot, and had scheduled any work-related traveling for classes starting in June, as book commitments would be winding down.

As soon as June arrived, that is when our traveling really started, and it felt like we were always getting ready to fly for a trip, or just returning from one. In 2012, we logged 50,700 miles, approximately, and all but 5400 of the miles occurred in the last 6 months of the year! Those 50,700 miles pulled us away from home for weeks at a time, and on a few occasions, left us with only a couple weeks between trips.
We flew to foreign countries that we have dreamed about visiting our whole lives and took in as many new adventures as we could handle. In the fall, we met our publishing team at Clarkson Potter in New York City. Arriving at the Random House building and getting to meet the many special people involved with Extreme Cakeovers was exhilarating and easily one of the highlights of our year!

The weeks between trips were spent getting over jet-lag, making cakes, working on final touches on the book, and trying to stay sane! As crazy as life got, we wouldn't trade the experiences and memories we had for anything and feel grateful to all of Rick's students and hosts who have supported him sharing his craft around the world. We met cake friends from all over the world who will be in our lives for years to come. Rick taught 8 classes of his "Discover Your Inner Artist" series, and by the end of the year, there were a lot of students with beautiful clownfish and hibiscus cakes and hundreds of photos to document the experience. The traveling experiences were unforgettable but the schedule was pretty excruciating to maintain and after our last trip of the year, we were anxious to enjoy some down time before our next flight.

Our traveling is far from over. We have more scheduled trips and new classes for 2013, which we are really looking forward to! In 2013, Rick will be debuting his "Discover Your Inner Artist 3" two-day classes, starting in Austin, Texas, in conjunction with the cake show "That Takes the Cake", and ending in Boston, Massachusetts, shortly before our book's release. For a list of Rick's classes, please visit the "Classes" page at the top of our blog. In addition to the classes and the book's release, we will be busy making cakes. Rick has designed some amazing cakes for clients in 2013, starting just days after the new year!

2013 will be the year we finally get to make the transition from "writing a book" to "published author" and we couldn't be more excited about the release of our literary "baby", Extreme Cakeovers in the Summer! We have put our heart and soul into this book, ever since it was purchased in 2011. We probably lost a few years of our lives in the process of doing the book and had many near-sleepless nights because we were unbelievably excited, or stressed, or a little of both. We can't wait to present more content from the book once we are able to and will post information on the blog, website and social media as it becomes available. Stay tuned!

Finally, we want to thank everyone who has supported us this year and wish you all much happiness and success in 2013!

Truck Enthusiasts Unite!

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The 2001 Dodge Ram 2500 Diesel is a BIG truck. Occasionally we have one of these massive vehicles in our shop parking lot, and I watch in awe as the driver maneuvers this huge piece of machinery into a parking space better suited for a compact car. They almost always back in, which is a feat in itself. If you have seen our parking lot, you know what I'm talking about. Weve been eyeing the Dodge Ram trucks for a while now, knowing that Rick would have to sculpt one of out of cake for a client of ours who was gifting the cake to her son. Making this huge truck was a BIG deal for Rick because the client and her husband were also close friends of ours, and we would be attending the party as guests.

I don't know how other cakers feel about this, but having your cake on display at a party you are attending is both exciting, and makes us anxious - and I don't even make the cakes. I can only imagine how Rick must feel having his art on display. Every party we attend with a cake, the same thoughts race through our heads. What if something happens to the cake while you are there, or en route to the party? What if the guest of honor doesn't like it (thankfully, he loved it!) What if the whole thing crumbles before your very eyes. Okay, so that won't happen ...

The sculpted 2001 Dodge Ram was made for a holiday celebration on the same weekend that Rick did the sculpted dragon wedding cake , and another art cake, so his plate was very full! The cake was ordered in honor of our client's sons, who had flown to Hawaii to spend the holidays with family. It was a lovely dinner party with the perfect mix of their family members and close friends and, is often the case, some of our other clients who have previously ordered cakes were there as well. No pressure there!

The owner of the truck was thrilled with his edible gift, and very happy with his mother's choice of Guava cake, as were the guests. One of the guests happened to be a truck enthusiast and complimented Rick on how spot-on all the details of the Dodge Ram were and basically, everything was where it was supposed to be. That meant a lot to us, as we are far from truck experts and Rick did his best to pick up on the nuances that would best translate the cake into a recognizable Dodge Ram. The clients were happy. Guests were happy. Our previous clients were happy. We were ecstatic because everyone was so happy (including the truck enthusiasts)! Cake tasted great. Mission accomplished!

In case we don't blog again before 2013, we want to wish everyone a Happy New Year.  2013 will be an incredible year. Bring it on!!!

Taryn and Sean's Dragon Wedding Cake

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Around this time of year, people ask if we are busy making Christmas cakes, and the answer is usually "no", which often comes as a surprise to them. The weekend before Christmas is busy, but not with holiday themed cakes because the wedding and birthday cake clients book those dates in advance, leaving no availability for holiday requests. The cakes made for last weekend were ordered in the Summer, within about two weeks of each other, and none had a Christmas theme.

The cake above was made for Taryn and Sean's wedding. This couple was a dream to work with! They were enthusiastic about the design process and we were excited about their design - a dragon cake - which Rick couldn't wait to make! It was something he and I would look forward to coming back to, after nearly a month of traveling. It wouldn't be the easiest cake to return home to, but certainly a satisfying one! Rick sculpted the dragon out of cake and had it climbing up the cake tiers. He used the couple's wedding colors of blues and silver, with accents of black and white.

The head of the dragon was the most difficult and time consuming part of the cake. It would be the focal point of the cake and Rick spent a good seven or eight hours just on the head between sculpting and painting it. It was very detailed and looked amazing in person! We couldn't wait to show it to Taryn and Sean. The delivery of the cake to their Waikiki hotel was quite memorable. The couple had arranged with us in advance to be photographed with them and the cake. When they entered the room, I saw their jaws drop upon seeing their cake and immediately rushed over to get a better view. They were beaming with excitement and told us how important this cake was to them. It is reactions like this that made all the hard work and time spent on making their dragon as perfect as possible, all worth it! We felt great the rest of the day. Congratulations to Taryn and Sean, and thank you for making our first weekend of cakes after a long trip completely worth the wait!