Cakes & Chocolate
This weekend Janet & I went to a workshop at the International Sugar Art Collection by Nicholas Lodge who is a famous cake decorator. I didn't even know this was a possibility in life but apparently it is. Janet is the baker and cake decorator, actually she's really fantastic in all of the culinary arts. I just wash the dishes and enjoy the delicious food she creates.
I was happy to tag along thinking I might come up with some pottery decoration ideas and a belly full of chocolate. Well, sadly, you don't get to sample much chocolate. You also don't get to sample any cakes. This form of art is all about the presentation, the look. It's not at all about eating. Actually, if you've ever had a taste of one of these cakes you understand the sentiment of "too pretty to eat."
The workshop was a lot of fun, don't get me wrong, how could it not be. It's about sugar art.
One of the presenters was Ruth Rickey who was wonderful. She's smart, vibrant and gave the audience lots of good things to think about in cake decorating that could translate in to pottery and so many other things.
She talked about knowing when to stop decorating the cake not in terms of aesthetics but to think about time vs. payment and time away from family or other things that you love. Basically, if you're sacrificing your personal relationships to create something that you're going to sell for less than minimum wage than maybe you should spend a little less time on this work. The gem was her quote "seek excellence, not perfection."
Other Stuff:
The Great American Cake Show
I was happy to tag along thinking I might come up with some pottery decoration ideas and a belly full of chocolate. Well, sadly, you don't get to sample much chocolate. You also don't get to sample any cakes. This form of art is all about the presentation, the look. It's not at all about eating. Actually, if you've ever had a taste of one of these cakes you understand the sentiment of "too pretty to eat."
The workshop was a lot of fun, don't get me wrong, how could it not be. It's about sugar art.
One of the presenters was Ruth Rickey who was wonderful. She's smart, vibrant and gave the audience lots of good things to think about in cake decorating that could translate in to pottery and so many other things.
Other Stuff:
The Great American Cake Show
It's a sad day when you have to see cake all day, but don't get to have any.
ReplyDeleteIt would be, thankfully we had cupcakes later. We also had Gumbo for lunch which is one of my all time favorite foods so I didn't feel I was lacking.
DeleteI don't bake a lot but when I do, I find it funny how much like pottery it really is. The measuring, kneading dough, decorating, it's all so similar. I like the quote. Great quote last week from Michele Hastings and great quote this week from you, it's a trend :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Tracey, I don't bake at all but I do make pizza and find that's a lot like pottery. I think I even wrote about it several months ago.
DeleteOh pretty but deadly is what it should say about cake.
ReplyDeleteFamily should come first but for some reason we chase many other things before we realize this.
Gumbo! Yum!
You're right about both Meredith. I do try not to work nights or weekends (except when I have a show) so I can spend time with my family but that's not always easy to do, especially when we have deadlines to meet.
ReplyDeletewow thats lovely cake stand.and its really unfortunate not to get any cake to enjoy.
ReplyDeleteHi Potterymarket UK, welcome to the blog and thanks for your comment. I was admiring the cake stand also, sadly it's plastic. It seems odd to me that people would spend so much time decorating a cake to present it on plastic.
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