Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss! ... Here's a Cake for You!

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 Theodor Seuss Geisel, who is better known as Dr. Seuss would have turned 109 on Saturday. Dr. Seuss is one of the most influential authors of our time and his wonderful world of whimsy is celebrated daily across the world. We honor Dr. Seuss' influence by remembering our collection of books - some of our earliest exposure to literature was Dr. Seuss' Cat In the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish and so forth. We've seen the movies, both live action and animated, and the Dr. Seuss theme has been popular for designers across many disciplines. It has especially resonated within the cake community. Some of our favorite cakes made at cakelava have had a Seussian theme.

This fun and colorful Dr. Seuss themed cake was made by Rick and featured Cat and the Hat, Thing 1 and Thing 2, and Horton Hears a Who characters as selected by our client. The cake was made in March 2012 and was never shared on our blog that month because I didn't have an opportunity. A quick look through our 2012 archive and you'll note we don't have a single post in March. We traveled for part of the month, then immediately had a photo shoot for 'Extreme Cakeovers" book, then were occupied with cakes for the rest of the month. I had meant to share it after March because we were proud of the cake and the client absolutely adored it, but the cake got filed away. Then, over the weekend Rick and I were talking about Dr. Seuss' birthday and he brought up the cake.

It was one of our favorite cakes that Rick made in 2012. Each of the characters were made and hand painted. It was a super cute topsy, turvy design with each tier done in a different color scheme. I really like the truffulas and playful pieces sticking out of the cake and theme lends itself to many different approaches for the design. On a previous Seuss themed cake, our client wanted the cake with a sculpted Cat and the Hat on top, which Rick made out of cake. Each version has its own special qualities and we love them both! Happy Birthday to the late Dr. Seuss! We are grateful to this visionary for creating a magnificent world where anything is possible, filled with positive messages that makes us feel great, and reminds us what it is like to be a kid again!

NEW! "Discover Your Inner Artist" Hibiscus Cake Class in Boston

Image by Rachel Robertson Photography

The hibiscus and bamboo cake was originally designed by Rick several years ago for a televised wedding show. It was then featured in the premiere issue of "Get Married" Magazine and on a number of internet websites. The hibiscus cake has generated a crazy amount of interest and decorators all over the world have contacted us to ask how Rick makes it and where they can purchase the hibiscus cutter. I mention that Rick did the pattern completely free hand without a cutter and their response is often disappointment because they don't feel comfortable working without one.

The hibiscus cake, originally made in sunset colors, has resonated with so many people, and at the same time left them bewildered how the design is made. Rick decided for his first "Discover Your Inner Artist" class in 2011 that he would teach people how to make his hibiscus cake. The class was a huge success! Rick has taught his hibiscus cake class, originally paired with a clownfish cake, to well over 100 students in 4 different countries, and only once in the United States.

As his last classes of 2013 before our book is released, Rick will be teaching a pair of 2-day classes in Boston at The Cake World, a cake school dedicated to bringing world class instructors to share their craft. Rick is honored to come teach at The Cake World and is looking forward to his newest class, the hibiscus cake!

cake 5-0 Hit Parade

Over the course of a week, I encounter plenty of eye candy through social media, the internet, catching up on my favorite blogs, or even just a trip to the grocery store. Sometimes it finds me, and other times I seek it out, just to get my fix. It isn't always all about cake. I'm a sucker for food porn in all varieties - sweet and savory.  If it makes me salivate, or causes my eyes to widen or makes me want to share it with my friends, or just makes me feel happy, it becomes part of my "hit parade".

In the past week, there were a number of memorable foodie items in my hit parade and I want to share them with you, in case you haven't seen them. The list is in no particular order.

SAVEUR Magazine, March 2013 Issue. I was standing at the checkout line at Whole Foods, when this incredible cover (shown above) leapt out and assaulted me, because it looked so damn good! I immediately grabbed Rick who goes absolutely CRAZY for donuts, and I showed it to him. We flipped right to the donut feature, slowly digesting each page. I could not get the image of the cover out of mind all week. It brought back memories of our trip to NYC last fall and our stop at the Doughnut Plant! 

"That Takes the Cake" show - Austin, Texas. Lots of eye candy here from competitors of all ability levels and ages! Last weekend cake enthusiasts from all over gathered to celebrate cakes and the theme "Flight." "That Takes the Cake" recently posted a slideshow of the photos of all the winners and there were some beautiful entries. Rick was scheduled to be a celebrity judge for the "Showcake" category at the show, and unfortunately was unable to attend. The winner of the Showcake Competition was Kim Simons and her "flight" themed cake is shown above. Wish we could have seen all the cakes in person. We both enjoyed seeing the slideshow and want to congratulate the winners!

The next item in my hit parade is courtesy of Marian at Sweetopia, based in Ontario, Canada. I fell in love with these cute Decorated Car Cookies the minute I saw them!  They are super cute and the workmanship is perfect! I adore the presentation of the cookies on the toy car mat and the interactive component which is beautifully displayed in her Vine video.

I noticed the cover of Richard Blais' new book "Try This at Home" on our our publisher, Clarkson Potter's website, and it instantly made my hit parade, before even looking inside the book! Richard Blais is a chef, restauranteur, television personality, and winner of "Top Chef All-Stars". His new cookbook is being released today!

Will you take a look at this cherry pie! I was mesmorized when I saw our friend Annie Welch post it on facebook. Annie made this BEAUTIFUL cherry pie for her husband's birthday. She got a pattern press for the design on top but it didn't work for her needs and she cut out the pattern with an exacto knife. Now that is dedication. I can only imagine how good it tasted!

 

I came across this photo of a slice of cake made by Duncan Hines on one of my feeds. We're big fans of anything with coconut, epecially coconut cake - we have three coconut cake flavors on our menu. I thought the photo looked good when I saw it. The combination of the coconut and key lime pie frosting sounded yummy and tropical. I showed it to Rick and he agreed. We thought it was a pretty darn good looking cake!

Another "hit" of the week - we got a special package from our publisher this week - our very own copy of "Fifty Shades of Chicken." (Thank you, Carly!) I look forward to making some of the recipes. Ladies, have you seen this book and the trailer?! Hilarious! I actually shared the trailer with a bunch of Rick's students during lunchtime at one of his classes and they went crazy for it! Beautiful, topless buff men having their way with naked chicken. The recipe titles and stories and super hot and will make you blush! Even if you don't cook, it's a fun, naughty piece of literature to read.

Feburary 8th was National Girl Scout Cookie Day and the The Girl Scout Cookie trend seems to have taken the cupcakers by storm. Just in the past week, I've seen a number of bakers posting about Girl Scout cupcakes. Crumbs Bakery has the official Girl Scout Thin Mints' Cupcakes, (shown above) which they are offering through this month. Today on Cupcakes Takes the Cake blog, they feature a bakery in Glendale, CA that makes Thin Mint, Samoa and Tagalong Girl Scout Cookie cupcakes. I don't know about you, but I'm craving a box of girl scout cookies right about now!

That's my hit parade for the week. What items are on your list?

And the Oscar Cake Goes To ...

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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.