Our Cake Walk Cake!

Introducing....our Winning Cake, "The Cake of Life"!!  

Here's a bit about our special couple, Katie and Jamie's story and how our cake design came to be.

They met in London as flatmates, fell in love and then moved to Canada.  They love playing sports and games, including cycling, golf, tennis, to name a few.  They wanted the story of their life to be embodied into their cake so we figured we'd start off with where they came from and have landscapes of the key London attractions around the base of the cake.  Our next tier tied the British and Canadian flags together.  Then our most fun tier was the story of their life, from the door of their flat to their hobbies, followed by their flight to Canada all the way to their wedding.  The top of that tier which is hard to see here is a golf club with the greens moulded in the shape of KJ (their initials) with a path circling the golf course and a miniature white chocolate bicycle on the path.

I wanted to display some wedding romance since it is a wedding cake after all, so using their wedding colours of navy and yellow, I designed the upper portion of the cake to be a  wedding cake for their gardenesque, golf club wedding.  I used a trellis styled design with yellow and white flowers topped by their monogram.  

What you may not know is that the couple planned to play a match of soccer after their reception.  She was going to wear yellow running shoes, and he soccer cleats.  I tied their laces to signify the tying of the knot on top of the soccer ball topper.

The couple loved our cake and the representation of their lives.  The 360 degrees of viewing around the cake was surely going to make it a discussion piece at the wedding.

Thanks Katie and Jamie for letting us design your special wedding day cake! 

Frostings by Judy Takes the Cake!

After a long and exhausting, but none the less exciting competition, Judy won over the judges with her elaborate cake design and took home the top prize last night on Cake Walk: Wedding Cake Edition. The show aired on October 12th at 9pm on Slice™, but if you missed the episode it re-airs today and you can also check www.slice.ca for additional air dates and to watch clips from the show online. The episode is #1007 : Cake of Life.

Internationally adored comedienne and actress Caroline Rhea returned to Canada to host the show — a new high-stakes cake design competition series, where Canadian cake designers race against the clock to create a dream wedding cake for one lucky couple. Joining her is a panel of expert judges to determine the winner each week.

The all-star judging panel features Toronto cake designer to the stars Alexandria Pellegrino, owner of Cake Opera Co., who recently designed Nicole Ritchie’s wedding cake; David MacCarfrae, owner of David Cakes of Distinction, and a pioneer in the art of cake decorating with high profile royal clients such as Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson; and Gordon Bailey, executive chef and owner of Lot 30 in PEI with a stellar record in the restaurant industry, a keen eye for detail and a biker personality.

Each cake designer works to meet the couple’s desires and wedding theme. With a sweet $5,000 up for grabs and the chance to have their work showcased on the couple’s big day, these professional designers, who hail from across the nation, are pushing cake boundaries in a way Canada has never seen before.

"Thanks to everyone who watched our WINNING episode of Cake Walk tonight (WOO HOO!). Thanks to my amazing assistant Vik the Chef and to our families and friends who helped throughout the whole process. We couldn't have done it without you!"
LOVE, JUDY FAUTEUX-GIBSON

Show description and photos courtesy © Shaw Media Inc., 2011. All rights reserved.

Watch Judy Compete Tonight on Slice!

Judy, of Frostings by Judy, competes to impress a couple from London, England with a unique and ambitious wedding cake. Watch Judy and her assistant Vik tonight at 9pm on Slice.

What is Cake Walk?

Cake Walk: Wedding Cake Edition is a competition between three professional Canadian cake designers competing for a $5,000 prize and the glory of winning against fellow designers to create one bridal couple's dream cake. Host Caroline Rhea guides viewers through the competition and judges David MacCarfrae, Alexandria Pellegrino, and Gordon Bailey have been given the task of selecting the winning cake for the couple. The stakes are high, the competitors ready but who will come out on top and be chosen as the winner?

Tonight's Episode

Katie and Jamie fell in love as roommates in London, England and decided on a whim to immigrate to Canada. This very active couple participates in numerous sports and loves to play games. They hope Designers Cindy Coelho, Judy Fauteux-Gibson, and Diana Hardy can take the story of their journey together and bring it to life in a spectacular cake for their wedding day.

Behind the Scenes : Photos

 Show description and photos courtesy Slice TV. © Shaw Media Inc., 2011. All rights reserved.

Judy competes in new show 'Cake Walk'

On September 10, 2011 SLICE TV launched it's new Canadian tv cake competition show Cake Walk: Wedding Cake Edition.  Each week, 3 new cake designers and their assistants compete in a 7 hour competition to create a unique wedding cake for a chosen couple.  $5000 goes to the winning team!

I was asked to participate with my assistant Victoria Parent.  Our episode is titled: The Cake of Life and it will air on October 12th, 2011 at 9pm on Slice.  

We hope you tune in to see who will take the prize! 

How did you arrive at that number?

I often get asked this question, especially by people who want to stay within a tight budget (say $50).  I found this great article posted on her blog by "Truly Custom Cakery".  She relates it to trying to ask a Mercedes dealer to lower his price because you have to have a Mercedes.  The same applies for cakes or any other sculpted art.  Read on to see what I mean......

http://staceyssweetshop.blogspot.com/2011/08/howd-you-arrive-at-that-number.html

How'd you arrive at that number?

Setting a Budget for your Custom Cake... 

Sometimes I get a phone call or an e-mail from a potential client inquiring on a cake. They have very specific ideas about what they want and have the cake designed in their head from top to bottom. They know the colors, accent pieces, sculpted pieces, flavors, and they know what they want to pay. 

So when my client calls I have some questions that need answered so we can get down to business. 

- What is the date of your event? 

- How many servings of cake will you need? 

- Do you have a design in mind? 

- Do you require delivery? 

- What is your budget? 
I want to elaborate on this one. Some people think it's a trick question. But it's not. There are many techniques and materials that can be used to get from raw cake and filling to finished piece of edible art. I need to know how much money you want to spend so I can choose which methods to use to get to your finished product. I need to know how much detail to include, if I can use fancier techniques like poured sugar, hand sculpted pieces, or possibly even purchasing special tools for your project. Do I need to employ a carpenter to build a frame for your cake? It's all going to play into your quote and that is why your answer is so important. 

So, when you tell me you want a cake to serve 60 people and you want it to defy gravity, you want specific detail pieces (about 30 of them), you want sparkle, you want your guests to go "WOW", and you only want to spend $300.00. I need to know, HOW did you arrive at that number? 

Let's get the facts. 

Those shops you see on TV have a minimum order for custom cakes. One has a minimum of $1,000. And it doesn't matter if you only want to feed 25 guests. One charges $100.00 just to sit down, taste some cake, and talk to them about your design. No finished cake included in that price. And the per serving cost of a fondant decorated cake usually STARTS at about $8.00 a serving. But more likely will cost you about $12.00 - $14.00 per serving because we already know you want WOW factor. 

So let's break it down. 60 servings of cake. WOW FACTOR. Budget of $300.00. That's $5.00 per serving. Which is the base price at my shop for a fondant cake. You know, where we start. (Remember those TV guys start at about $8.00) So HOW did you determine your budget of $300.00? 

Did you research what custom cakes cost before you got that number? Or, is it how much you have to spend, it's a number that "sounds good", and really, it's just Cake and Icing! Right?! Let's nip this one in the bud. If it was JUST Cake and Icing, you'd have gone to the Warehouse store and picked up a sheet cake. You don't want cake and icing. You want mouthwatering edible art! There's a difference. And creating a custom sculpted/carved/designed piece of art work, requires talent, experience, time, materials, and skill. And that cost money. 

So before you "decide" on your budget. Do a little research. Make sure that your budget makes sense. Make sure you account for what you are asking for. And be honest with your cake designer when they want to know your budget. 

You see, you might not be able to afford a Carved 3-D cake of your fiance's dog. BUT you could afford a smaller tiered cake with a sculpted topper that looks like his dog, Rusty. There's a difference of about $300.00 or more in those two cakes. So keep that in mind. If your budget isn't reasonable for what you requested, ask your designer HOW you can still match your theme but get closer to the budget. And don't be offended if they tell you that you can't afford a custom cake. It's okay. I know I can't afford a Mercedes. I just buy the car I can afford. I don't try to tell the Mercedes dealer that he HAS to change the price of the car because I only have $15,000 to spend. He'd laugh at me. 

So when you figure out your budget, make sure it is backed by a little research. AND make sure that the shop you choose has a gallery of photos that show they can pull of what you are asking. Don't be disappointed in the end because you didn't research in the beginning. 

And have fun with it! Custom Cakes can truly be the centerpiece of your event. And considering it's art that you are paying for, they should be! 

POSTED BY STACEY - TRULY CUSTOM CAKERY, LLC AT 10:03 AM