Busy, Busy Summer!

I started and will finish the summer with more incredible classes...YAY!!!  Minette Rushing, up in Savannah at Sugar Seminars began things with one of the more beautiful cakes I have had the pleasure of making.  It was full of pearls and ruffles.  Can you think of anything more feminine? I also took the time to take her business class and have to say, once again, Minette knows her business and also brought in two other wonderful experts.





I was back up there a month later (Savannah is such a wonderful destination) to study with Wayne Steinkopf and Chuck Hamilton of Swank Cakes in North Carolina.  This class was all about big and beautiful...it was entitled "Fairytale Wedding Cake" and more than lived up to that name!







Next came an exciting trip, and I do mean exciting, to New Orleans, Louisiana, my home turf, where I studied piping skills, met several other wonderful cake ladies and was able to reconnect with Kathleen Lange and Lily Matthews, both of whom I'd met while taking Robert Haynes' class in Pennsylvania. Kathleen Lange put on an amazing two days of her four day Lambeth Boot Camp.  Unfortunately, Hurricane Issac decided to show up and changed everything...we had to evacuate New Orleans and time an escape back to South Florida.  Even with just the two days, my piping skills have advanced and I'm actually more curious about this old art than ever.

This past weekend found me in Tampa, Florida, taking a class with that amazing Giovanna Smith of Sugar Art Studio, learning more sugar paste flowers, my passion if you've been following this at all.  My last class will find me back up in Savannah, did I mention it's a great destination?  There I will study airbrush which is probably the one thing that has intimidated me most.  Here are some photos of all my summer work.  I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I enjoyed the experiences.

 

FULL TERM!

I have a motto, "Every moment and every event of every man's life on earth plants something in his soul."  Little did I know how true this would be.  So many things I have done in my life up until now have played a part in what many of my friends now call "Cake College".  It's as simple as my having been in the Junior Garden Club and learning to wire and tape flowers.  Who knew?  I do not think I would have adapted to coloring the sugar paste flowers I so enjoy making without all those years of painting classes.  The years of pottery and sculpting? Well, they are part of this mix too!  The fact that I can now take a lump of sugar paste and a few wires and create a beautiful flower, totally thrills me!

The past year has flown by! My business is growing and I'm called to do cakes more frequently...you gotta love that!  I've now completed a year in the "Cake World" and I am so very thankful that I have had the opportunity to meet and study with some incredible people and teachers.  Everyone has freely shared their knowledge and talent and that is one of the very things that drew me to this career.  I plan to continue studying and exploring the many mediums out there to add to my knowledge base.

I will be studying with Wayne Steinkopf and Chuck Hamilton of Swank Cake Design at Minette Rushing's Sugar Seminars in Savannah, Georgia, in a few weeks and will post photos on my return.  As a matter of fact, I will be traveling to New Orleans to take Kathleen Lange's Lambeth Boot Camp, something that never even entered my imagination until recently.  Her class is all about piping!  Check it out as her work is amazing!

Thank you to everyone that has trusted my ability to interpret their ideas!  Here are a few of my latest creations.

Love this!

SWEET SPOT, THE THIRD TRIMESTER

This baby has had nine months to grow and develop….

I’m talking about Magnolia Cakes & Confections, LLC.  It was a mere nine months ago when I discovered a world I had no clue existed…the Cake World, a world centered around creativity, celebrations and joyous occasions!  Lucky me, I’ve been able to combine my love of good food and art!!!  I’ve made many new friends and my knowledge and skills about cake have grown as I’ve been challenged and stretched and transformed into, dare I say it, a Sugar Artist.

I’ve been fortunate to have studied with a retinue of the best cake artists in the world:  Minette Rushing of Custom Cakes and Sugar Seminars in Savannah, Georgia, Mercedes Strachwsky of Bake Me a Cake in Altamonte Springs, Florida, Ashlee Perkins of Tier Luxury Cakes in Savannah, Georgia, Tami Utley of  Sugar Art by Tami in San Diego, California, Susan Carberry of The Cake Cottage in Murrieta, California, Nicholas Lodge of The International Sugar Art Collection in Norcross, Georgia,, Norm Davis and Zane Beg of The Sweet Life in the Washington, DC Metro Area, Ruth Rickey, the former owner of Ruth’s Sweet Justice Bakery in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Mary Jo Dowling, of Elegant Edibles in the Metro West Boston area and the current President of ICES, The International Cake Exploration Societe, and Jayne Cunningham, of Wylie, Texas, and Dawn Coffin-Parrott, of Houston, Texas, and QJ’s Cake Adventures.  As recently as March, I was also able to study with Ron Ben Israel of Ron Ben Israel Cakes in NYC and Sweet Genius on The Food Network, and Jenny Amaya from Peru.  My next scheduled classes are with Robert Haynes  from England and Wayne Steinkopf of Swank Cake Design in Cary, North Carolina.

In closing, I told a friend not too long ago, I would like my cakes to be so beautiful that no one would want to cut them and so delicious that when they did, they would want to have more.  He assured me that I had achieved that goal.  

Second Slice

The above slide show is a slice of the last five months which have flown by and stretched  and polished my skills.  I’ve been testing and trying new recipes, some shared by teachers and others generously shared by friends. When I haven’t been in the kitchen baking, I’ve been driving to places like Atlanta, Raleigh, Savannah and Orlando taking classes from a retinue of amazing and incredibly generous teachers including Minette Rushing, Mercedes Strachwsky, Susan Carberry, Tami Utley and Ashlee Perkins.  Paperwork and licensing are now complete and Magnolia Cakes is now taking orders!

First Slice

I started this foray searching for a new focus and direction in my life after a marriage of almost 30 years. The adventure began on Sunday, June 26th, attending the ICES Day of Sharing, after meeting with two lovely ladies, Jan Bruner and Anna Marie Wintercorn, who helped me find some direction. A month later, I'm knee deep in setting up and beginning a new chapter and combining two passions...cooking and art. Everything seems to be happening on it's own almost like a wave cresting and bringing me along in it's wake. Mick McCay, of Mick McCay Design, has been instrumental in getting my business cards, website and even a business plan started. My dear friend, Tammy Lee Bradley, of Cabinet Cottage, Bliss & Folly and a newest contributor at Shutter Sisters, has generously shared her photographic skills in taking some of the most beautiful photos of my wedding cake, which will be posted here. I'm not open yet, but I've been trying recipes and taking classes and acquiring new skills...challenging and fun!!! Once again, all my friends have been nothing but supportive...THANK YOU!!!