Cake Byte: Sweet Thanks and a Cake Poll and Giveaway!

First off and perhaps most importantly, a big, huge, with whipped cream and cherry on top thank you to all of our readers. Because of you, dear sweet freaks, the illustration and writing opportunities have made it possible for Head Spy Jessie to quit her day job (she was the product manager / art director of a refrigerator magnet company--no joke)! All we can say is brace yourselves--this means that the Cakespy enterprise is about to get even sweeter! Thank you all so much for your support. 

But of course, we know what speaks louder than any words: free stuff! So, without further ado, our second Cake Poll and Giveaway! This time, in keeping with the item being given away, the theme is Faceoffs!!

How can you put your name in the running? It's easy! All you need to do is this:

• To satisfy our nosy tendencies (we are spies, after all), fill out the below Cake Poll! You can leave your responses in the comment section, or send your responses via email to jessieoleson@gmail.com.
  
• At 12pm PST on Friday, April 25, the Cake Poll will be closed. The winner will be chosen at random, not based on their responses. The original will then be shipped to the lucky winner within 48 hours, via the most economical method.
  
• As for our fine print: The results of this poll will be used for entertainment and Cake Gumshoeing purposes only; we may summarize the results of this poll in upcoming posts. Your private information will not be shared with any outside parties. Also, we've elected to leave the cake poll open to all US Territories, Canada and abroad--so even overseas cake enthusiasts can take part! *As for the prize itself, it is the miniature framed painting pictured at the top and to the left; no substitutions are allowed.
  

FACEOFFS! If the following pairings were put in a boxing match or found themselves in a dark alley vying for your sweet love, which would win? Which do you prefer? Feel free to expound on your reasoning if you'd like!

In the Morning: Scones or muffins?
Carrot Cake: With or without pineapple?
Neapolitan Roulette: Strawberry, chocolate or vanilla?
Mambo Italiano: Gelato or Panna Cotta?
Cookies: Soft and gooey or crisp and crunchy?
Fancy Restaurant Desserts: Tiramisu or Crème brûlée?
Cupcakes: Vanilla or Chocolate?
Apple Pie with Cheese: Delicious or disgusting?

Strawberry Shortcake: Biscuit-style or Sponge Cake Style?

Ultimate Faceoff: Pie or cake?

But wait, there's more! There's another giveaway going on over at Cupcakes Take the Cake--enter before April 30 to win CBGB notecards! 

Food For Thought: Sweet Books and some Batter Chatter with Food Illustrator Jesse Breytenbach

What is food, exactly? Nourishment and fuel, to be certain--but as a human race, our relationship with it goes so, so much deeper than that. Sugar in particular can elicit the strangest conflict within us, alternately a BFF, coloring our world in curlicues, hearts and rainbows--or an enemy, eager to pummel us into submission with its intense temptation ("I can't believe I ate the whole thing!"). It can be a strange relationship indeed, and recently we've been impressed by two books in particular which touch on this subject.

The first, which we received as an advance review copy from Crown Press, is The Taste of Sweet: Our Complicated Love Affair with our Favorite Treats by Joanne Chen. While we have received advance copies of books in the past which have left us unimpressed, this one caught our attention from the get-go. In the book, Chen goes on the ultimate sweet quest, doing her homework by examining the science of sweet in food labs across the nation--melding this information beautifully with commentary on our more intuitive emotional and cultural reactions to dessert. She also examines dessert trends and what shapes them (um, Oprah?). It's a fascinating read, and is available in all those major book stores now!

The second book which caught our fancy was one passed on by Cake Gumshoe Heather Moore (you may know her from her popular design site Skinny LaMinx): I Don't Like Chocolate by Jesse Breytenbach. The book, which was printed in South Africa but is available online, is a beautifully drawn graphic novel, assembling 90+pages of vignettes which sometimes cheekily but always cleverly address our complex relationship with food. We had the luck of talking sweet with the illustrator herself; here's what she had to say about life, love and sweetness:

Cakespy: First off--we're curious. What did you have for breakfast today?
Jesse Breytenbach: Coffee! I tend to skip breakfast and have something at tea-time, around 10:30, instead, because there’s nothing to eat in the house until I’ve gone to the shops.

CS: You recently released a book entitled I Don't Like Chocolate. Can you tell us a little bit about the book's concept and how it came about?
JB: Michelle Matthews, who was the publishing manager at Oshun Books contacted me out of the blue to ask whether I wanted to do a graphic novel. We knew from the start how long the book would be, so I had to come up with content to fill it. I thought it would be fun to try to do ‘chick-lit’ in comic form, and to produce a book to interest people who don’t normally read comics, particularly as Oshun isn’t a comics publisher. I picked a topic that could provide me with enough material to fill 90+ pages: food. I’ve always been fascinated and amused by people’s strong and emotional reactions to food – I’ve lived in plenty of communes, so I’ve seen a lot….

It’s a book of short stories, based around a central character, and all on the topic of food – her experiences, thoughts and feelings about food. I found eventually that I was writing a book about a person, this central character, finding out more and more about her as I put her in different situations. Sometimes her personality suggested stories as well.

The title came to me quite early on, and I never thought of changing it, because it seemed too good. People react to it with surprise and sometimes horror. It’s quite interesting how anti-social something as trivial as personal taste can be perceived to be. But even with her ‘different’ stance, most readers seem to find some common ground with her.

CS: Are you formally trained in art and/or writing? Or self taught?

JB: I’m trained as a print maker. I started drawing comics during my Fine Art d

egree. Since then I’v

e had a few jobs drawing comic strips, but also carried on doing my own stories in my spare time, never expecting to be published. I contributed to various anthologies, and when I had a number of my own comics drawn, and some spare cash, I printed up 100 copies and gave them away to friends. Michelle saw one of these, I think, and remembered my name when she wanted to publish a graphic novel.

The training came from actually printing the comics, and thus being able to see them at a remove, and immediately seeing all the ways I could improve.

CS: How does it feel to see your own book in bookstore shelves and for sale online?
JB: Very strange. It doesn’t feel like mine, but I do feel proud and excited. It’s like seeing a friend’s book for sale.

CS: What food stories within the book were the most intriguing to work on?
JB: I liked doing the three “I Don’t Like Chocolate” stories in the book, as they’re among the longest. (A lot of the stories are one or two pages long, really just jokes with a punchline.) It was a challenge, but fun as well, to work out the timing of dialogue and have a lot of characters interacting with each other.

CS: Are there any artists or writers in particular who inspire you?
JB: Dan Clowes, the Hernandez Brothers, Marjane Satrapi in comics. I’m more often inspired by music…. I’ll hear a song and know that I want to draw a comic that does what the song does…. it’s very direct and indirect inspiration at the same time. And it’s not something I’ve ever managed to do, but it’s a starting point.

CS: Are you a full-time writer / illustrator, or do you work a 'day job'?
JB: I’m pretty much a full-time illustrator.

CS: Do you like chocolate?
JB: Ummm…. yes, sort of. I don’t dislike it, but I can leave a slab half-eaten for weeks. There’s some chocolate in my kitchen cupboard that’s probably too old to eat by now.

CS: What is your favorite dessert to eat?
JB: Fruit! Watermelon, peaches, berries… sorbet is good too. And Crème Brulee. And anything with honey. Ok, fruit sorbet with honey.

CS: What is your favorite dessert to draw?
JB: The frillier and fussier, the better. Almost completely the opposite of the kind I like to eat.

CS: How would you describe your personal relationship with dessert?
JB: I like small portions, just a taste, really. Most servings in restaurants are too much for me. But I do like leftover dessert for breakfast. Particularly trifle.

CS: How would you describe your heroine's relationship with dessert?
JB: Embarrassingly similar to mine.

CS: How was the experience of releasing a book different than you might have expected?
JB: It took a lot longer than I thought it would to get the book done, and it was a lot harder than I thought it would be! I didn’t expect to be able to look back and see how much I’d learnt, which is a very pleasant surprise. I got a lot more out of the whole experience than just a book.

CS: Any advice for artists / illustrators who are interested in breaking into the publishing world?
JB: Hard to say, because South Africa doesn’t have a comics publishing industry, so my advice wouldn’t necessarily apply to countries that do. But I think what does work is to do a lot of work, particularly your own work, and contribute to any anthologies, websites etc that you can find. Print your own and give them away if you have to, just to get your work out. The more you do the better you’ll get, and you’ll improve even more if you know that other people are going to see your comics. Just keeping them in a folder under your bed isn’t going to get you work.

CS: What is your next project (or goal, if more applicable)?
JB: Although I said ‘Never Again!’ when I finished the book, I do have some new ideas that might not stop bothering me. But right now I want to spend a bit of time making “I Don’t Like Chocolate” merchandise, using some of the images from the book that were incidental to the stories but could be fun to explore a bit further. I really just want to make some tangible objects for a change. And I realized the limitations of my drawing skills, doing this comic, so I want to spend some time just practicing drawing.

Want to learn more? Check out Jesse's blog at jezzeblog.blogspot.com. Ready to buy? Smart decision. Buy the book here, here or here; or, make a great investment by buying a print from her Etsy store.

Finally, feeling like you'd kill for a cupcake after reading about all this sweetness? Well then, we'll close this post out with one of Head Spy Jessie's recent illustrations, done as a custom commission for a very cool cupcake enthusiast and owner of the website Cupcaketastrophe. Enjoy!

Cake Byte: A Super Sweet Giveaway and Cake Poll from Cakespy!

If you read this site, it's likely you're already living the sweet life; but today, life is about to get sweeter still. Why so? Well, we've decided to give away a Cakespy original mini watercolor painting to one lucky reader! Like whoa!

How can you put your name in the running? It's easy! All you need to do is this:

• To satisfy our nosy tendencies (we are spies, after all), fill out the below Cake Poll! You can leave your responses in the comment section, or send your responses via email to jessieoleson@gmail.com.
  
• At 12pm PST on Sunday, February 24, the Cake Poll will be closed. The winner will be chosen at random, not based on their responses. The original will then be shipped to the lucky winner within 48 hours, via the most economical method.

As for our fine print: The results of this poll will be used for entertainment and Cake Gumshoeing purposes only; we may summarize the results of this poll in upcoming posts. Your private information will not be shared with any outside parties. Also, we've elected to leave the cake poll open to all US Territories, Canada and abroad--so even overseas cake enthusiasts can take part! *As for the prize itself, it is the miniature framed painting pictured at the top and to the left; no substitutions are allowed.

And so, without further ado, let us poke at your most intimate cake details (if emailing your answers, please include your name and the best way to contact you if you win!):

1. Where did you grow up? Where do you live now?
2. What were some of the special cakes from your childhood (a Birthday cake? Grandma's German Chocolate? Or perhaps something from the local bakery or supermarket? Anything goes for us as long as it was special to you.)?
3. Presently, how often do you eat cake or cupcakes? No judgments, we promise.
4. If you were stranded on a desert island and had to live on one type of cake or cupcake for the rest of your life...what type would it be?
5. On cupcakes, what is your ideal ratio of cake to frosting? 50/50? 2/3 cake, 1/3 frosting? 3/4 cake, 1/4 frosting? Other?
6. How do you feel about cakes or cupcakes from mixes?
7. What's the best thing about eating cake or cupcakes?
8. Is there a such thing as a bad cake? If so, what makes it bad?

In the meantime, have a very sweet weekend!

Batter Chatter: Interview with Elisa Strauss of NYC's Confetti Cakes

Cakespy Note: Yes, all of the photos in this feature are cakes, believe it or not!

To call Elisa Strauss a baker of cakes, though accurate, would be a vast understatement. For if cake making is an art (and we believe it is) then certainly she's a master of the medium, creating meticulously rendered and painstakingly detailed fondant trompe-l'œil confections which have won her the attentions of the likes of the Food Network, Martha Stewart and Paula Deen (photo left, disco ball cake made for "Paula's Party"), to name just a few. Between making cakes, TV appearance and a great new book (which we own and love!), it's a wonder that she even had time to chat with us, but we're oh so glad she did. Here's what we learned about the glamorous world of baking on-screen, what Martha's really like, and whether these cakes really taste good (hint: no, the cheesesteak cake is not flavored like its namesake)...


Cakespy: You studied fine art, but then took a little bit of a different turn and got a degree in Pastry Arts. Do you think your fine art background makes you approach Pastry arts differently? How so?
Elisa Strauss: My art background is a tremendous help when it comes to the cakes. It helps me with both color and design. Even though we make everything from scratch in the bakery, and consider taste the most important aspect of our cakes, I still look at each cake as a work of art too!

CS: When did you decide to take on cake-making as your livelihood?
ES: I had graduated pastry school and was back working in fashion full time (just making cakes on the side…very late at night) when about a year later I couldn’t keep the juggling act going anymore. I had to make a decision if I was going to go for it or not…so I went for it and opened a commercial space, bought equipment, hired employees and took it from there!

CS: You work primarily in fondant icing. Do you ever work in other frosting or icing types?
ES:We make all our fillings and frostings from scratch so we have a wide variety of flavors. From buttercreams to ganaches, citrus curds to fresh fruit, etc. We use a lot of different fillings in our cakes then frost them with a layer of buttercream that sits under the rolled fondant. The fondant gives the most elegant and professional look. You cannot achieve the detail we do with a solely buttercream frosted cake.

CS: Do specialty cakes like yours really taste good?
ES: YES!!! Absolutely. One of the most frequent compliments we receive is how AMAZING our cakes taste. People never think it is possible because our cakes look like realistic objects but they taste great. Again, we make all our cake and fillings from scratch with the highest quality and freshest ingredients we can find….we do not skimp on anything related to taste! Ever! (Photo left, Sushi Cake, credit Alexandra Rowley).

CS: You used to do cookies, petits fours and cupcakes, but have now pared down to just custom cakes. What made you decide to cut down on the other services?
ES: I LOVE doing the smaller items, i.e., cupcakes, mini cakes, cookies, etc…but as a business model it just didn’t work. I could spend all day designing one cookie I could sell for $10 instead of working on one specialty cake for $800….you see what I mean? It just didn’t make sense for the business anymore.

CS: Can you tell us a little bit more about how it feels to work in a commercial space versus, say, a cramped NYC kitchen?
ES: After working in my TINY, TINY apt kitchen for a few years I thank my lucky stars I have a commercial space…I could never go back…especially with my 20 quart Hobart mixer!

About baking on TV...

CS: Do you get nervous about baking on-screen?
Yes! I definitely get nervous….especially with LIVE television anything can happen. The last time I went on the Today Show a light fixture crashed ten seconds before we went on the air…Ann Curry saved Al Roker and my cakes form getting hit by catching the light…and then all of a sudden three seconds and we were on LIVE National TV. I would say it is more of a “butterflies in my stomach” feeling of nervousness then scared! I love doing television!

CS: What was it like to meet Martha Stewart?
ES: Wow, amazing! It is so incredible to meet people who you see all the time…but on TV. She is such an incredible business woman!

CS: About that famous Flaming Sock Monkey Cake. Did it get eaten afterward?
ES: The last challenge on the Food Network: Extreme Cakes…was amazing! Not just because we won but the entire experience was incredible…SO much time and energy went into the planning and making of that show! Unfortunately by the time we finished it was close to MIDNIGHT and after all the photos were take it was thrown out because the studio had to get set up for the next day!

CS: All of your cakes are unusual and unexpected--but have there been any that have really stood out, or been special, for you?
Well, each cake is like a child to me…I usually don’t forget any that I have EVER done! So it is hard to pick favorites…but I will say I am especially proud of a few cakes that stand out: a Victorian Mansion cake (photo left) we did for a couple’s wedding last summer. They got married at the House, and we even matched the paint chips for color! I also loved being on Paula Deen’s show, Paula’s Party (see photo above, by intro paragraph)…where we made her a disco ball cake for her disco themed party! [Also] I do love replicating food…so many of our sushi or Philly’s cheese steak cakes are fun! OK, there are a lot...but I will not go on!

CS: How often do you eat cake?
ES: Quality control is tough but someone has to do it…hee, hee! Not everyday but probably more then I should!

CS: What are some of your favorite desserts?
ES: I would definitely NOT put cake up there…..I am much more of a cookies and ice cream girl! Bread is my real downfall….but I love a good Buckeye ball or Key Lime Pie too!

CS: Have you noticed any trends, or movements, in cakes and cake making in recent years (popular flavors, themes, or anything you've seen emerging)?
ES: I love the fact that most of my clients have moved away from just a traditional cake….even in flavors. We do a ton of Red Velvet, Banana or even Coconut flavored cakes!

CS: Which part of writing your book was hardest--making the cake "patterns" or finalizing the recipes?
ES: By far the hardest things were: making all the cakes, cookies and cupcakes for one week of a photo shoot (we had to shut down doing other people’s cakes for months so we could just focus on making the projects for the books)….and then writing out STEP by STEP directions for EVERY aspect of each project! I really, really want people to be able to make everything at home so we labored over every detail, measurement, weight and direction!

CS: To you, what is the most important aspect in making a great cake?
ES: It should look and taste equally great! It also doesn’t hurt when people don’t know that our cakes are actual cakes!

CS: What makes a "bad" cake?
ES: One that doesn’t taste great.

CS: If you could go back in time and give yourself any advice while just starting your cake business, what would you say?
ES: “Don’t do it”…JUST KIDDING! Honestly, I do not know…I kind of just jumped right in, worked CONSTANTLY and I am still figuring it all out!


Want to find out more? To make an appointment in their NYC studio (they will deliver throughout the tri-state area), or find out more about Elisa and her cakes, visit confetticakes.com.

Want to buy the book? You won't regret it; it's like a cookbook and beautiful craft book all in one! The photos alone are worth the investment; it's available online here.

Sincerely Felt: Felt Cupcakes by Cheryl Smith

Nothing is happier than a cupcake. Well, how about one that lasts forever and has no calories?

Impossible you say? Certainly not, if you buy felt cupcakes by Cheryl Smith, an Atlanta-based crafter who has been spreading cuteness in the world through her Etsy wares since 2005. The cupcakes are available in two sizes: regular ( 2 inches high by 2.25 inches wide; $12 each) and mini (2 inches high by 1.25 inches wide; $6 each), and are all hand-stitched, showing an amazing range of clever details which create different "flavors", like discs of felt gathered and twisted to resemble a piped frosting on the "spice" cupcake or seed beads delicately stitched on the "white frosted with sprinkles" cupcake. The result is an adorable gift item for any dessert-loving friend (or maybe just your dessert-loving self).

This is the kind of happiness you can have and hold for a long time.

Available online at cherylasmith.etsy.com.

Cupcakes and Robots: The Artwork of Jessixa Bagley

Cupcakes are rad. This is pretty much established; you couldn't possibly go wrong with a pint-sized, frosting-heavy cake that you're not obligated to share. But we do wonder sometimes: is there anything in this great wide world that could make cupcakes even better?

The answer is yes, and as proven by the artwork of Jessixa Bagley, that thing is robots. We first came across Bagley’s Cupcake and Robot series a while back during her solo show at Bluebottle Art Gallery in Capitol Hill, Seattle; we were instantly impressed by her ability to say so much with such spare line work, and naturally found ourselves smitten with her subject matter. The ink-and-watercolor works are whimsical, but more clever than cutesy: in one painting robot-heads double as sprinkles on cupcakes which have robot-feet sprouting out of the bottom; in another, two robots face off with a cupcake storm between them. Indeed, this artwork had us pondering how life can be so sweet and so hard at the same time.

And certainly the artist is a pretty cool dude herself: originally from Portland, OR, Jessixa now resides in Seattle, where amongst other things she has a regular comic featured in Seattle Weekly, and counts Trader Joe’s carrot cake “muffins” (sweet, cakey muffins with a suspiciously cupcake-like frosting glaze) as a favorite breakfast-dessert masquerading as health food.

Talk about living a sweet life.

Prints are available at Bluebottle Art Gallery, 415 E. Pine St., (206) 325-1592; bluebottleart.com.

To inquire about custom work, or to view styles, visit jessixa.com.