I'm Back!!!!!

Hi everyone! I'm back!!!! I have been totally MIA and I feel so bad about it!

Just to post some updates so you all know where I've been....

I somehow managed to plan a wedding and get married in less than 2 months!
Moved into a new apartment (still trying to get it in order)
I recently completed an internship with amNewYork newspaper as a photographer
I have graduated from FIT with a BFA in photography! (Cum Laude)
I am about 5 weeks away from having my first baby!!!! A little girl! And I can't wait!

Tonight was my first night in the kitchen in months! I haven't actually baked anything since I got tricked into making cake balls for my surprise bridal shower! But I have been seriously craving Swiss Meringue Buttercream!!! So I decided tonight to whip up some frosting. No cupcakes... just frosting. And me and my 35 week pregnant ass are sitting here eating it with a spoon! But it's delicious!!!!!!!

So, once this baby pops out, I am really hoping to be back in the kitchen at full force!!!! I miss baking so much!!! So please come back soon and see what I've got baking! I have a very long list of recipes I want to try out!!!!! Not to mention lots of design ideas!

Thanks for taking the time out to read all this!!!

Surprise 60th Birthday!

For my aunt's surprise party I was asked to make a roulette themed cake. This is the 2nd one I've done. I thought that since I had done one in the past, this one would be easy. I was wrong.

The first one I made, the center cake was too big, so it didn't spin.


So I knew I had to add more space between the 2 parts. It was a much larger cake, so I really had to figure out how to do it. It was 4 layers with a rice krispy boarder (so it didn't look too tall). Sadly, when trimming the center cake, I overcompensated. There was a HUGE gap between the 2. So, at about 11pm, the night before the party, I had to re-bake the center cake. But... it was worth it! And there was plenty of cake to go around!

In addition, I also made 230 cake balls! 2 full trays!


All in all, It was a great night!

Very long week!

So, It's been a very long week! I'm just so happy to have so much to show for it.

This weekend I made a red velvet superman cake for a birthday...

Then a chocolate cherry chip baby shower cake for a very good friend of mine....
And lastly, 50 cupcake favors! (double chocolate chip, red velvet, and yellow)In addition... I also made 144 chocolate cherry chip cake balls which all sold within an hour.

So it was a very long week, but soooo worth it! It's weekends like this that remind me why I love doing what I do. Seeing how much happiness these cakes bring people is really what it's all about.

NY Cake Convention!

OK, so I read about the NY Cake Convention on Twitter and had this idea... In keeping up with my cake documentary... why not see if I can get access to photograph it. Now, this was a complete shot in the dark... but why not try, right?

So I looked on the "Contact us" page and emailed every single person on it! I explained the photo/cake work I have been doing and sent a link to my photography site as well as this blog. Someone had to be interested. And someone was!

Hello Lauren,

We would love to have you participate in the NY Cake Convention as one of the event photographers. Send me your mailing information and I will have a media kit sent out to you. Included in the kit is an event pass which would give you access to all areas of the convention.

I look forward to your response.

I can't even explain how excited I am! This is going to be HUGE! I can not wait to document "Cake Culture". I already bought my tickets to get in, as well as see the cake competition, but now maybe I can actually go up on stage and photograph the competitors!

Cakeumentary

Some of my recent photo work combined with sounds of the baking and decorating process.

This is a work in progress. The finished product will be on display I believe sometime in March or April. I will update as I know more.



So here's the story behind this...

As most of you know, I am also a photographer. I have always preferred to shoot food and that is what has motivated me to start my baking business.

I have always loved to bake and have been doing so since I was about 4 years old with my aunt. She always taught me that the prettier the dessert looks, the more people will want it. We used to have an "reject" pile of cookies around the holidays just for us and we always gave all the pretty ones away.

That school of thought has stayed with me all these years. When I have company I make sure everything is plated well. When I bake a cake, I make sure it is decorated well. I pay great attention to detail because sometimes it's the smallest details that matter the most.

So I took everything I know about baking, and everything I know about photography, and put the two together, added some sound... and POOF! Magic.

Ok, maybe not "Magic", but my goal is to shed some light on the whole cake decorating process. With so many shows out there, like Ace of Cakes, Cake Boss, and Amazing Wedding Cakes... a lot of viewers get to see how a cake is decorated. But what they often don't get to see, or see enough of anyway, is all the work that happens before the fondant can be applied. The hours in the kitchen to bake all the cakes and make the frosting. Especially home bakers like myself.

I feel like today, with so many cake shows out there, cake decorating is finally taking it's place in the art world. I am trying to give it a push by creating my own edible art and producing documentary photographic art combined with sounds to further enhance the viewers experience.

I am also trying to get the message out there that it is possible to create incredible cakes in your own home kitchen. I live in a small NY apartment. I only have one oven. I only have one 6 quart mixer. I only have one counter. If I can do it... anyone can.