Cake of the Week: Disney & Pixar's Wall-E Cake

I've notice a trend with rush cakes. They usually end up being the coolest ones. This is in no way and encouragement for clients to wait until the last minute to order thinking they'll get better cakes. This is just an observation & rush fees do apply.

This weeks last minute beauty is everyone's favorite trash collecting robot, Wall-E.

Wall-E's body is two tiers of lemon cake with lemon buttercream. His head, arms and wheels are rice krispy treats and his hands are modeling chocolate.

To create the effect the Wall-E was being supported by his wheels. I build a wooden platform added the wheels which took forever to decorate and airbrushed the entire structure black. I next stacked the tiers of cake, covered them with fondant and airbrushed it and orange/yellow. I subsequently sculpted the arms, eyes with RKTs and covered/painted them as well.

The hands were a little trickier as the more you handle the modeling chocolate the softer it becomes. Once the pieces of the hand were set I "glued" the hands together with melting modeling chocolate which kept hardening when I didn't want it to.

Once the pieces were completed and dried; I assembled Wall-E and added the final details, such as the buttons, "hard ware" and writing.

When the cake was picked up, the client, who was initially skeptical about the price was very pleased with the result and so was I.


Well, it's bake to work for me.
Thanks for tuning in.
Until next time...

Cake of the Week: Sleeping Baby Bassinet Cake

This week was apparently baby shower week at Sugar Mama NYC! Clearly, the leader of the bunch was this adorable baby shower cake starring Peaches, the sleeping baby. Yes, I named the rice krispy treat and fondant baby. Thank goodness, I wasn't there when they ate her!
The client that ordered this beauty was very adamant about the cake being very cute, making a statement and incorporating all of the baby shower colors...pink, yellow, blue and brown. Pro-ject!!!

I started by making the cake, with two flavors I know would work together; moist butter cake with a creamy chocolate Swiss meringue buttercream.


I decide to make the bottom tier a pale pastel yellow and the top tier I sculpted into the oval bassinet shape; topped it with a layer of white fondant and covered the sides with soft pastel pink ruffles.So far so good. You can't see the clock in the background but at this time it was 6:27 in the morning. The cakes need to be fresh; the baker doesn't.


Then in was time to make Peaches! Her head and body are made from rice krispy treats and her arms and legs are fondant. I finished her look with a pink hair bow, pink and yellow binky and fondant diaper with pink flower.It's what all the fondant babies in Paris are wearing.


I then set to work make millions and millions of tiny pink accent flowers. Okay, it was like 50, but still. After I attached the hood of the bassinet with royal icing and the brown, pink and yellow polka dots with water, I attached the flowers around the edges of the hood around the base of the cake and any where else I thought could use a spring touch.

Well, it was 9:30 and the cake was finished. I was pleasantly surprised with the way the colors looked. I took tons of photos and place Peaches in a nice sturdy box where she would be safe. Then at about 10:00 a nice gentleman came and took her away. I have yet to find out what became of her, but I hope she was happy... and delicious.

Well, it's bake to work for me.

Thanks for tuning in. Until next time...

Sugar Mama explains why cakes cost what they do

Here's a re-enactment of a conversation I've had many times and I'm sure many other cake designers have too.

Me: Sugar Mama NYC. How can I help you?
Client: Hi, I'd like to order a cake in the shape of a (insert a extremely complex and detailed object).
Me: Sure, we can do that. How many people would you like to feed with this cake?
Client: Ummm, about 150. How much is that?
Me: Ok. (clickety clack of the calculator) That will be $ (what I think is very reasonable considering the time, material & labor involved.)
Client: What?! For a cake?! Does it cut and serve itself? That's way out of my budget!
Me: Ok. Maybe we can come up with an alternative design. What's your budget?
Client: About $ (pretty much what you'd pay for a cake for 150 people at your local Costco or BJ's)

This is pretty much where the conversation usually ends. I apologize and explain that I won't be able to accommodate their budget and offer more cost effective alternatives, usually cupcakes or another bakery.

So, I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to explain how cakes, especially novelty & 3D cakes are priced and show that there's actually a method to what to some seems like madness.

Cake prices, whether they are regular bakery cakes, novelty (3D) or wedding cakes are basically determined by three factors: The Amount of Servings, Complexity of Design/Construction & The Baker/Designer.

The Amount of Servings is a major factor in the price of a cake because it determines how much cake will actually have to be baked. This translates into ingredients to buy, time spent decorating, what type of internal structure will have to be built and etc. Cakes are deceptively heavy, so carrying and transporting a cake for 100 may take a little more planning than a cake for 50. I should add that some bakeries charge by the pound or by the size (quarter sheet, half sheet, etc.)

Complexity of Design and Construction provide a great variable because this is solely dependent on techniques, materials and time involved to create the desired look; for most designers it's different for every cake. Does the cake require free hand sculpting vs. simple round or square design. Is it covered in fondant or buttercream? Will it require hand painted designs or airbrushed stencils? Sugar flowers or Fresh flowers? For each of these questions the former will set you back a lot more than the latter.

And finally, the biggest variable is the baker/designer themselves. The amount of "dough" a baker charges for a cake is usually based on their experience, talent & the demand for their services. There are some designers that have been baking and designing spectacular cakes for years and a booked for events 6 months to a year in advance. These cakes tend to cost more than bakers who are just starting out. When I first started I sold my first cake for $ 30.00. Now I charge a minimum of $ 200.00. In the coming years as I build up my skills, experience and clientele, who knows?

Both of these cakes were made by me.
One was made in early 2008 and cost $ 75.
One was made in mid 2009 and cost $ 200.
hmmmm? Which is which?

Now, before I get a slew of angry emails from designers, I should clarify that a higher price tag from a more experienced designers is not simply the result of an inflated ego. As the great Stan Lee wrote, "with great power, comes great responsibility." The greatest cake designers are often supported by a great staff; a team of sugar artists, bakers, office staff, lawyers, accountants, publicists, delivery people, web designers & more. All of these people need to be paid. Don't forget retail space leases, insurance, equipment, supplies, surprise repairs & more stuff that you don't even think of until it happens. All of this is factored into the price of their goods. Even awesome cake designers who don't have an entourage (like me) need to price their cakes to be able to do what they love and pay their bills. I once spent 10 hours decorating a wedding cake, after I baked, filled, covered it with fondant & stacked it. Believe it or not, that's not unusual. Imagine how long it took Sylvia Weinstock and her team to make Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas' 10-tiered, six foot tall wedding cake covered with literally thousands of hand made sugar flowers. Was it worth over $10,000? Ummm...yeah!

Hopefully, this has given you some insight into why some cakes are more expensive than others. Whenever you endeavor to purchase a specialty cake it's great to have a clear budget and stick to it; but it's also important to understand what you are getting for your money. Sure, there are a few diamond in the rough bakers who do amazing work for unbelievable prices, but they are few and far between. Cheaper almost never means better and cakes are no exception. Check out this gem from Cake Wrecks:

One depicts what the bride wanted. One shows what she actually got. I'll let you guess which one is which.

There is so much more where that came from. Check out more of these so sad, it's hilarious train wrecks at CakeWrecks : Wedding Cakes
Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss anything and be sure to refer to it when considering choosing your cousin's best friend's sister, who just finished taking a cake decorating class and wants to try a "real" one, to make your daughter's sweet 16 cake.

Well, it's "bake" to work for me!

thanks for tuning in. Until next time...

Celebrity: Idris Elba & Pete Rock

Ah, celebrities and their last minute cakes...

This cake was ordered on Monday for a Wednesday night party for the amazingly handsome and talented Idris Elba. And I firmly stand by that statement. Mr. Elba has starred in countless movies, including Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls and Guy Ritchie's Rock N Rolla. He also took the helm of Dunder Mifflin when NBC's The Office's top dog left to start The Michael Scott Paper Company. Only a man with superb talent would attempt to fill Michael's shoes. And for the handsome part, well I'll let you judge for your self. Google "Idris Elba" and click images. Go ahead, we'll wait...

See! What did I tell you!!!

Any way, in addition to being a hot actor and hot,well, person, Idris Elba is also an extremely talented musician and DJ who goes by the name of Driis. To celebrate his new album and birthday I was commissioned to make a cake shaped like a DJ's turntable. We were also invited to attend the event taking place at a super secret location in lower Manhattan. Seriously, it has no name, just a building number and from the outside it looks like old book store.

I finished the cake with just enough time to get dressed and throw my make up in a bag to deliver the cake and party like it's Wednesday.

The event was fabulous and the music was even better since it was DJ'd by the guest of honor. When the cake was presented, Pete Rock gave Sugar Mama NYC a shout out and Idris loved the cake, which

you can "kind of" tell by the photos taken by my friend Lauren who is a model and clearly knows which side of the

camera she belongs on.

I spoke to Idris personally and he thanked me for the cake and told me how much he loved it! He also said the next time he was in the area, he would visit my studio...

I hope he wasn't kidding...

Well, it's bake to work for me!

Thanks for tuning in! Until next time!

I Enjoy Being A Girl...

Very recently, Sugar Mama NYC was asked to participate in a fabulous cocktail event at the legendary lingerie mainstay Town Shop on The Upper West Side hosted by a fabulous new lingerie company called Dirty Dolls.


I was contacted by Mel Gorski of GoGoMedia to add a wedding cake and delicious cupcakes to the lingerie party which focused on soon to be brides. I was joined by make up artists, provided by The Glam Fairy and Jo Weldon from The New York School of Burlesque, whom provided saucy striptease lessons. Top it off with vino-a-plenty and a fabulous swag bag filled with goodies from Bust Magazine and Booty Parlor and this was definitely not your mama's panty party!

* photo courtesy of Raquel Lauren www.raquellauren.com*
Sugar Mama Cupcakes decked out with The Sugar Mama and Dirty Dolls logo. Flavors included Pink Champagne (gone in 15 minutes!) , Red Velvet, Chocolate and Butter Cake all topped off with Vanilla Rum Buttercream... yes, you can eat the logos!

* photo courtesy of Raquel Lauren www.raquellauren.com*
Courtney Leigh(left)and Erica Rosalind of Dirty Dolls Lingerie making a Sugar Mama sandwich and showing off the goodies... and the cupcakes! Check out my gorgeous make over courtesy of The Glam Fairy!

* photo courtesy of Raquel Lauren www.raquellauren.com*
My burlesque inspired topsy turvy creation topped with The Dirty Dolls silouette, provided by the dolls. On the right, you can see The Glam Fairy herself, Alexa Prisco working her make up magic!

So, I'm pretty sure this photo was also taken by Raquel but since she used my functional but by no means professional quality camera, I'm sure she wouldn't mind not being credited here.
Here we three glamorous ladies are made four by Mel Gorski of Go Go Media Inc. Mel and Erica met while working for Playboy! I was the lady walking around in "the boots."



This photo was lovingly borrowed from the Dirty Dolls Society page, thanks ladies!
This is the fabulous Jo Weldon modeling the same lingerie set I snagged from Dirty Dolls. Click here to snag your own! Bra & Panty. You can definitely see the Playboy influence in the style, but it's infused with class, couture and best of all COMFORT! It's sexy lingerie that you actually want to wear because it fits so well! I love, love, love my Dirty Dolls lingerie!

My boyfriend is also a fan.