cakelava Interviews: Beryl Ann Byrd of Just Fabulous Pastries, Pt. 2

All images courtesy of Just Fabulous Pastries

The Fabulosity continues. Part 2 of our interview.

Sasha Reichart: We saw the Surprise Birthday Cake Challenge you did. That was some feat to design a cake for someone you previously never met before under such pressure. Did you formulate design possibilities in your mind prior to meeting the boy, and then did they change after meeting?

Beryl Ann Byrd: That was our first competition so, as they say, ignorance is bliss. We didn’t even attempt to guess as to who the person might be and went in with absolutely no preconceived ideas. We noticed, however, that all the other competitors arrived with ideas that could be adapted somehow to whatever the situation might become. That was really smart. During the 5 minutes we were each given to interview the little fellow, I just listened to all of his answers and then my assistant and I proceeded to design a cake which incorporated almost everything he said he was interested in! Some of the other competitors asked VERY leading questions skewed towards the designs they had envisioned such as “Do you like exotic animals”, oh, just happen have a safari theme cake plan complete with gorilla molds and everything! Or, “do you like parrots” oh, just happen to make amazing sugar parrots! No, no, don’t get the wrong idea. I’m not being a sour grape. We should have been as prepared but, it was our learning experience. Having only 30 minutes to design our masterpiece was the scary part.

Sasha Reichart: The winner of the Surprise Birthday Cake Challenge was selected by the boy whose birthday cake you made. Was it more difficult to have your work “judged” by a kid than the panel of Food Network’s judges?

Beryl Ann Byrd: Not at all. He was diplomatic far beyond his years and had really nice things to say about our cake. Except that we didn’t put in the moat that we had shown in our original drawing. Sheesh. We had every single thing but the freaking moat!

SR: Who are your top five cake designers, or people you draw inspiration from in your field?

BB: My idols are: Margaret Braun, Colette Peters, Ron Ben-Israel, Elizabeth Faulkner, and Polly Schoonmaker. That was tough. If you read the Links page on my website, you’ll see that I admire many MANY designers. But you MADE me pick!

SR: I know, that was a tough question. Your idols are some of our favorites as well. Let’s talk about cake styles. Do you prefer making one type of cake over another?

BB: I like designing completely original creations. I don’t care how difficult they are the first time but sometimes I know I would NEVER EVER want to make them again.

SR: What about your top three favorite cakes you made? I know it’s incredibly difficult to narrow down, but do you have favorites?

BB: I think the Faberge Cake, the Fender Stratocaster tableau, and the most recent Grand Versailles. So much detail and they were just FUN to create.



SR: They are just beautiful! Three of the categories you have listed on the Just Fabulous Pastries website, under All About Weddings are Exquisite Cakes, Extraordinary Cakes, and Extravagant Cakes. How do you decide if a cake is an extraordinary cake, versus an exquisite cake or an extravagant. I’m not sure I would know the difference

BB: Only the cost. But thank you!

SR: Tell us about your Fabulous Blog, The View from the Top of the Cake.

BB: I started my Blog because I’ve always wanted more of an interactive outlet to be able to share, well, whatever I want to share. People see your website but it’s static and doesn’t really project the real “you”. It focuses more on your work because that’s what it’s supposed to do. It’s a selling tool. Whereas the blog is whatever you want it to be. Want to talk about the debate over whether cakes should explode or not? Want to know how I accomplish a certain technique? Want to brag about your latest accomplishment? The Blog is the place where anything goes. Although, I do try to keep it “family friendly” just in case my Dad reads it!

SR: What are some of the blogs you read regularly?

BB: Quite honestly (and sheepishly), I don’t have much time to read them. There are so many! But I’m planning some downtime in the very near future so I’ll probably get to research them a bit. Oh, gotta say, Annie’s Blog, Confessions of a Burnt Out Pastry Chef is at the top of my list. Her irreverent humor just cracks me up. But my Dad can’t read it.


SR: We love Annie Welch’s blog as well and have it linked on our site. Rick used to work with Annie when we lived in Washington State, and they remain good friends. Feel free to brag a little. What are some of the cakes you’ve made recently that you are most proud of?

BB: I have become less of a hands-on person and more of a designer so I gotta give a HUGE shout-out to my super talented staff for interpreting my sometimes off the wall ideas. The pink sports car with Betty Boop and Hello Kitty is beyond adorable.


“There’s A Cat in My Cake” with the Cat in the Hat bursting out of the cake was spectacular.


And one of my favorite wedding cakes of all time was the Greek Wedding with all the saints and gold scrolly stuff and starburst jewels. I was really proud of that one. And no, I wouldn’t want to make it again!


SR: Those are some fantastic cakes! What do you do when you aren’t making pastries?

BB: My business is basically my life so even when I’m not working, I’m subconsciously analyzing things that would make a great cake. Maybe I’m reading a fashion magazine (by the way I LOVE fashion design) and a piece of fabric draped, pleated or ruffled a certain way, or a fabulous Pucci print, a jewel encrusted bracelet or chandelier earrings, some incredible handbag with detailed metal hardware, Louboutin heels-they all beg to be translated into a cake. Shelter magazines like Elle Décor or House and Garden might offer beautiful carpet patterns, passementerie (braid, cord, beading, tassels), wallpaper designs, architectural detail. There’s an ad for some china pattern, I don’t even remember what it is but it’s a stack of cups and saucers in various beautiful patterns and I want to make a cake that looks like that! I know, it’s kind of demented but I truly love design for the sake of design. Don’t worry. I always make SOME part of the cake taste incredible.

OK, I love surfing the Net. Great TV shows like House, CSI (the original of course), Daniel Boulud’s After Hours, Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations, Food Network Challenges and (duh!) Ace of Cakes. Movies. Playing with my cool cat Mr. Brown.

SR: What’s next for Just Fabulous Pastries?

BB: Right now, I’m living in the moment because one never knows exactly what the future holds. Whatever happens is supposed to happen and we will accept, hopefully with grace and dignity, whatever that might be. Cryptic enough for you? Stay tuned. And thanks Sasha and Rick for inviting me into your world! You guys are awesome!

SR: I love your answer about living in the moment. That’s all any of us have, really, and we should embrace that concept rather than fight it. Hey Beryl, you’re pretty awesome yourself! We look forward to your next fabulous cake!

END, Pt. 2


** Our next interview will occur in two weeks – we have a business to run after all. You won’t want to miss our interview with Rebecca Sutterby, owner of Sugar Creations in Kansas. Rebecca is an award-winning cake designer who’s been in numerous magazines and, like Beryl, has competed in the Food Network Challenges. Take some time to get to know Rebecca and her beautiful cake designs on the Sugar Creations website. **

cakelava Interviews: Beryl Ann Byrd of Just Fabulous Pastries, Pt. 1

All images courtesy of Just Fabulous Pastries

I have a confession to make. Neither Rick or I have met Beryl Ann Byrd in person, but we’ve been aware of her amazing cake designs and her company Just Fabulous Pastries in San Diego for a number of years and have always highly respected her work. We feel like we know her because we’re fellow designers in the same social and trade networks, have exchanged emails and we’ve seen her on the Food Network Challenges. Like Rick, Beryl has both an art and pastry background, and takes a lot of risks with her cakes, -- we can definitely appreciate that!

As one of the premier cake designers in the country, Beryl receives an impressive amount of media attention. She has appeared 4 times in the past 3 years on the Food Network, first on Warren Brown’s show Sugar Rush followed by 3 cake challenges. She was a judge on The Elvis Birthday Cake Challenge and a competitor on the other 2 challenges: Surprise Birthday Cake Challenge and the Surprise Wedding Cake Challenge. In addition to running Just Fabulous as a fulltime-and-a-half career, Beryl manages to write in her blog (also Fabulous), called The View from the Top of the Cake. Rick and I would like to thank Beryl for being so open and thorough with her responses. The interview was, in one word, Fabulous!

Sasha Reichart: I was reading that your culinary career began in Oklahoma City in the early 80’s preparing desserts at a restaurant. What brought you to Oklahoma City from your hometown of San Diego?

Beryl Ann Byrd: I know. What on earth would possess anyone to move from San Diego to Oklahoma, right? Actually, it’s a pretty cosmopolitan place and during the early ‘80’s it was kind of a boom town. I had a friend who, with 2 other women, was opening a cute little cooking shop in Edmond, not far from OKC. They sold all the usual cooking gadgets but their idea was to offer ready to go food such as soups, breads, and desserts and I got to prepare lots of those items. I also worked in a very “happening” restaurant called the Roosevelt Grill doing their soups, pates, and breads and SOME desserts although that territory was fiercely protected by their pastry chef. Everybody was young and fun and we had a ball. From there I went to another little restaurant in OKC and actually got to do all their desserts, which I prepared in my apartment and delivered each day! I knew NOTHING about professional dessert making so everything was a recipe out of Bon Appetit or Gourmet magazine. It was a time of great experimentation for me.

Sasha Reichart: At what age did you know you wanted to pursue pastry as a career?

Beryl Ann Byrd: I considered a cooking career while I was in high school but, seriously, thought I would get fat so I dropped that idea. I know. I was weird. It wasn’t until my father’s birthday party sometime in the late ‘70s, when I decided to do an all dessert menu, that I realized that might be my calling. I still use the same cheesecake recipe that I made for that party.

SR: Were you classically trained in culinary school or did you learn on the job?

BB: Culinary school was never an option for me. I learned everything I know from working in a fabulous restaurant in Chicago (which no longer exists) under chefs who had worked with Chef Jean Banchet at Le Francaise in Wheeling. Back then, that was considered one of the top restaurants in the country. Anyway, it was there that I learned that you didn’t need a different recipe for every single cake, and that something basic like crème anglaise could have a hundred different applications just by changing a couple of ingredients, and by having cakes and buttercreams and premade garnishes, seemingly difficult composed cakes could be made in a flash. It was one of the most stressful and educational times of my life.

SR: Your cakes are so artfully designed. Were you an artist prior to making pastries? What are your favorite mediums to work with?

BB: I’ve always been artistically inclined. I sold beaded necklaces in high school. Loved watercolor and pen and ink. For a lot of years, I worked in a form of jewelry called cloisonné. A painstakingly precise process involving many layers of fired enamel inside cells created by super fine strips of gold or silver which resulted in stunningly brilliant pieces of jewelry depicting objects or scenes. (Is that a run-on sentence or what?) This is NOTHING like the mass produced pieces you see for $5.00 from China.

SR: I'm familiar with cloisonné and the jewelry is exquisite. Let's talk about the beginning of Just Fabulous Pastries which opened in 1987, over 20 years ago. That’s very impressive! How have things progressed in terms of staffing and your menu since the opening?

BB: We’ve been through so many different “phases”. In the beginning, it was me and ……me. Baker and dishwasher. 2 accounts. Gradually, I picked up more accounts, hotels, restaurants, caterers. Moved my business many times, each time to a larger location but still always in a shared situation with a caterer. Certainly not ideal. Nothing like the delicious aromas of a bus tub of freshly chopped onions or a rolling rack full of steaming meat to permeate the delicate surface of a lemon tart or buttercreamed wedding cake.

Our staff has grown to accommodate the growth in business. At one time we had a regular staff of about 12. During the holidays, it could go up to 15 or 16. We are now back down to a staff of 5 due to a change in the direction of our business focus. We no longer do wholesale. It’s all about the cake!

SR: What are your most popular desserts?

BB: We had a restaurant a while back and our clientele became addicted to different items. Our flourless Chocolate Decadence will always be a winner. The Chocolate Passion Dome is amazing. A light chocolate mousse with a center of passionfruit, mango and banana cream, glazed with chocolate and surrounded by chards of gold flecked chocolate. We still keep these items in stock for occasional restaurant or customer orders.

SR: Oh my goodness, that Chocolate Passion Dome sounds incredible! We are impressed by the plethora of offerings at Just Fabulous Pastries –- wedding cakes, birthday cakes, shower cakes, sculpted cakes, mini cakes, cookies, petit fours, cupcakes, retail … am I leaving anything out?

BB: Hmmm. I think that about covers it. Oh, we’ve made some unbelievable gingerbread houses. One holiday, Tiffany’s had us do 5 different Victorian style houses for their windows. They gave me the photos and I had to basically become an architect. I made each piece out of thin cardboard first and completely built each house out of those pieces to be sure it all worked. Then, using those patterns as templates, we cut each piece out of gingerbread and baked them. And then assembled and decorated them. It was totally insane. Especially for what we got paid. I rarely do gingerbread houses anymore because they are truly a labor of love. You can NEVER be paid for the amount of time that goes into them.



SR: We couldn't agree with you more about the gingerbread houses. Rick has also made them in the past when he worked for other people and they are a painstaking process. We don't offer them either. What are some signature offerings of Just Fabulous Pastries?

BB: We’ve gotten a reputation for our Material Girl cakes. Those are tiered cakes which usually feature a different designer pattern on each level and then we just pile on all the “stuff” that particular client loves. Maybe shoe boxes, shopping bags, magazines, sunglasses, clothing designers names, jewels. Anything goes on these cakes.





SR: Those are some FUN cakes! Let’s talk about your experience with the Food Network competitions. Did you have a preference being a judge or a competitor on the Food Network Challenges?

BB: I have to say that, as nerve wracking as it is to be a contestant, I far prefer that to being a judge.

SR: We are curious how you felt about being a judge on the Food Network Cake Challenge. Was it difficult to judge the work of other designers who you may admire? (Coincidentally, one of Rick’s previous employers, the very talented Elin Katz from Rosebud Cakes was a challenger on the Elvis Birthday Cake Challenge which Beryl judged. Small world, isn’t it?)

BB: I did not like having to pick out something that was “wrong” with the cakes. No matter how diplomatic you try to be, nobody likes to be picked apart after working their butts off for 7 or 8 hours. People like Kerry Vincent, who have developed a reputation as the Evil Judge are probably better suited to that role! And you just expect to be skewered by her anyway!

SR: When the Food Network contacted Rick last year to compete in a cake challenge he turned it down partly due to the difficulty of transporting products from Hawaii and we already had events booked on those dates. Have the preparations for the Cake Challenges been well, challenging for you as well, and how so?

BB: The preparation for them is the worst part. Especially for the 2 Challenges that we did where we had no knowledge of what our cakes would be other than a vague theme. We didn’t have the luxury of weeks of planning a killer design and then carefully compiling a list of exactly how much cake, buttercream, or decorations that could be pre-made. We were told how many cakes of several sizes to bring (although they didn’t say how deep they were to be and we made 3 inch deep cakes while everybody else brought little shorties-we wasted TONS of cake!) and part of the judging was based on how much cake you actually used or wasted. I think the scariest part is that you’ll forget some major item so you REALLY have to be organized in your packing. We happened to have several huge ice chests which worked really well for the plane ride. Far safer than cardboard boxes.

END, pt. 1

Check back tomorrow for part 2 of my interview with Beryl. See a huge selection of cakes on the Just Fabulous Pastries website and blog.