Show #395 Airing Sunday, 7/22/07
Whoever coined the expression "it's a piece of cake" obviously never visited the bakery of our next guests. As you'll see, it would be a gross understatement to call the edible masterpiece that they create just "plain cake". Here with us are the Boticellis of Buttercream, Marianne Carroll and Lauren Bozich, designers and owners of the White Flower Cake Shoppe.
Question: How did two artists end up sculpting fondant instead of clay?
Answer: We've known each other for 16 years. We actually did not go to culinary school for the purpose of becoming bakers. We both went to art school, loved baking growing up, and worked in bakeries to pay for our schooling. Upon graduation, we realized that cake baking and decorating allows us to use many of our art talents and techniques. For example, painting, and you can sculpt fondant.
Question: What is fondant, and can you show us how you sculpt it?
Answer: Fondant is rolled sugar dough that we use to cover cakes, giving them a flawless finish. It's sweeter than butter cream frosting, so we include a layer of butter cream below the fondant. If you don't like the fondant taste, you can easily peel it off and eat the butter cream.
Question: Tell us more about the cakes you brought. How do you come up with the ideas for these?
Answer: We get inspiration from everywhere. Some are inspired by artwork (like the mosaic cake(pictured), others by stationary, fashion, really anything.
Question: Any unusual requests?
Answer: In the near future we'll be working on creating an 18-wheeler truck cake. We've done a giant tomato with a worm coming out of it, a Chipotle burrito, a beer can, and others
The company that makes the Bingo stampers from the upcoming primetime Bingo game show is from Cleveland, and we did a cake for them. We've done lots of work for the Cleveland Cavs
And in late summer, one of our cakes will be part of a Sweet 16 party airing on MTV.
Question: Now, if our viewers are not having a big party, or are watching their diet, is there a way for them to have a small, festive taste of these incredible cakes?
Answer: We sell cupcakes and cakes by the slice. On the weekends, we have small cakes available that will serve 8-10 people, if you're throwing a last minute party.
A popular item right now is the mini-cake. Each person gets his or her own individual cake.
We are always thinking of new ways to expand what we offer-it's a work in progress!
If you would like to butter up a friend, or your boss, or if you just want a taste of beauty for yourself, give the White Flower Cake Shoppe a call. The number's next.
