Austin, TX

Now that Thanksgiving is over many of you will begin preparing for Christmas. Big on the list of “things to do” is finding the perfect Christmas tree. As you know, I’m all about “real” Christmas trees. Don’t give me any of those plastic, ugly trees missing the fresh smell of pine. If you want to be earth-friendly, buy a potted tree and re-plant it after Christmas.

Here is a list of Christmas Tree farms in the area:

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EVERGREEN FARMS CHRISTMAS TREES
Address: 242 Monkey Road, Elgin, Texas
Phone: 512-281-4833
Email: evergreen@evergreen-farms.com

Opens: Friday after Thanksgiving through December 24 at 3pm
Hours: Saturday & Sunday from 9 a.m. until dark
Monday through Friday from 12 p.m. until dark

TYPES OF TREES:
Virginia pine and Leyland Cypress are grown in the fields. Pre- cut Fraser fir trees from North Carolina are available near the gift shoppe. Check prices here.

DAILY: Evergreen Farms furnishes all the tools for cutting and harvesting the perfect tree. Poles for measuring the tree and saws for cutting are all furnished free of charge as well as cleaning and shaking the tree and finally the netting and rope for ease in transporting the tree.
After cutting the tree there are many games to entertain, including tetherball, hopscotch, bean bag toss and horseshoes. There is also a nature trail, farm animals and the gift shop.

WEEKENDS: Families can enjoy several more activities. Evergreen Farms keeps a campfire burning with free marshmallows, cider and coffee. After you pick your Christmas tree, enjoy pine cone painting and food from the concession stand, including the famous Elgin sausage.

DIRECTIONS:

From Austin:

East on 290—8 miles past Manor (before you get into Elgin), turn right on County Line Road. There is a Valero Gas Station and Sac n Pac at the corner. Go 2 miles and turn left on Monkey Road. The farm will be 2 miles down Monkey Road

From Bastrop:

95N—Turn left on 290; The first stop light by the Antique Mall, McDonalds turn right on Loop 109. After two blocks the road splits, take a right onto 1704. After two miles turn right onto Monkey Road and the farm will be about 1 miles down Monkey Road.

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ELGIN CHRISTMAS TREE FARM
Address: 120 Nature’s Way, off Roy Davis Rd., Elgin, TX
Phone: 512-281-5016
Open: Day after Thanksgiving through December 22nd
Hours: Monday - Saturday: 10 am - 5:30 pm, Sunday: noon - 5:30 pm
Email: elginchristmas@sbcglobal.net

TYPES OF TREES:
Virginia pines, Loblolly pines, and Leyland Cypress. Pre-cut Frasier firs and potted Leyland Cypress Trees.

Organically grown trees. They claim to have the largest supply of Christmas trees in central Texas. They provide all the tools you’ll need to cut down your tree and they shake, clean and wrap it up to go. The selection of 9-12′ trees is limited so go early if you need a very tall tree. Christmas trees are half price for churches. They have a gift store.

DIRECTIONS:

From Austin

Take HWY 290 East from Austin - Through Elgin - Go approximately 1 mile past HWY 95 (Bastrop HWY) - Turn left on Roy Davis Rd. - Follow Signs

From Round Rock

Take HWY 79 East from Round Rock to HWY 95 South - Take 290 East through Elgin - Go approximately 1 mile past HWY 95 (Bastrop HWY) - Turn left on Roy Davis Rd. - Follow Signs

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LOMA ALTA CHRISTMAS TREE FARM
Address: 214 Loma Alta Drive, Smithville, Texas, 78957
Phone: (512) 360-2005
Email: lomaalta@flash.net
Opens: Thanksgiving Day afternoon until a couple of days before Christmas

DIRECTIONS:
About 6 miles east of Bastrop, your first landmark will be Duke’s Country store (a Mobile station) on the right side of the highway. Approximately a block and a half past Dukes on your left, you will see their sign on the corner of the Hwy 71 and Alum Creek Road.

TYPES OF TREES:
Virginia pine and Loblolly pine. Potted Virginia pine and Leyland Cypress.

Located in the beautiful Lost Pines region in Bastrop County, this farm is approximately 35 to 40 miles SE of Austin just off highway 71. Turn left on Alum Creek Road, and proceed 1 mile to the Loma Alta gate on your left. There are ducks and geese to feed, pine cones to collect, a picnic area to enjoy and you can even purchase wreaths made fresh daily. Trees are $4.75 per foot up to 12 feet. The cost above 12 feet is $5 per each additional foot. Trees are shaken, cleaned and for $1 baled.

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If the thought of Thanksgiving brings you visions of a filled with dirty dishes and leaves you exhausted for days then you might consider eating out this year. Many of Austin’s best restaurants are happy to do the work for you, leaving you free to enjoy your holiday. Here are some suggestions:

Hoover’s Cooking
2002 Manor Rd # C
Austin, TX 78722
(512) 479-5006

13376 Research Blvd #400 Austin, TX
(@ Anderson Mill Rd)
512 335 0300
Hours: 11am - 7pm
$$$: 15.49

If you’ve never been to Hoover’s, you’re in for a treat. Hoover’s serves up delicious and satisfying home cookin’. Their Thanksgiving day menu is very reasonably priced and has everything you could ask for plus a little more. Roast turkey, Cajun roast pork, Jamaican Jerk Chicken, Smoked Filet of Sirloin, Smoked Portabella Medley (Vegetarian Jambalaya & Gumbo) plus a tempting array of side dishes and desserts. This is a great place to go if you have a crowd and a tight budget.

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Bakehouse Restaurant & Bar
5404 Manchaca Blvd
Austin, Tx
Reservations: (512) 443-5167
Hours: 10am - midnight
$$$: Adults $12.95, Kids 6-12 $6.95

Unlimited servings, table service, no lines. Reservations recommended. Turkey, Ham, all the usual sides plus Strawberry Shortcake and Pumpkin Pie. Take out dinners available for $9.95.

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The Driskill
604 Brazos St.
Austin, Texas
Reservations: 512-391-7121 or Online
$$$: Not listed on their website

The Driskill Hotel’s Famous Grand Holiday Brunch offering on the Mezzanine floor. Enjoy a lavish holiday brunch or six course prix-fixe dinner with wine pairings. Or diners can head to the hotel’s 1886 Café and Bakery for lunch or a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.

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III Forks
111 Lavaca Street
Austin, TX 78701
Reservations: (512) 474-1776
$$$: Adults 42.95, Children under 12 soup or salad, entrée, and dessert 14.95
Includes tea and coffee. Excludes tax and gratuity.

Open Thanksgiving Day 11 am - 5 pm. Special four course menu will be served. Slow Roasted Carved Turkey or Chateaubriand with Bordelaise Sauce. All the fixings, plus dessert.

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Dona Emilia’s
101 San Jacinto Blvd
Austin, TX 78701
Reservations: (512) 478-2520
$$$: $22.95 Adults - $10.95 Children 12 and under
Hours: 10:30 - 4pm

Thanksgiving Buffet featuring garden/fruit/pasta salads, appetizers of ceviche and empanadas, entrees of turkey, salmon, top sirloin, paella, and spinach enchiladas. Dessert selection including flan and tres leche.

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Four Seasons Hotel
98 San Jacinto Boulevard,
Austin, Texas
Reservations: (512) 685-8300
Seating from 11:00 am - 8:30 pm in TRIO
$75 for adults; $20 for children ages 6-11
Seating from 11:00 am - 4:00 pm in the Ballroom
$68 for adults; $20 for children ages 6-11

Thanksgiving Day Buffet. Appetizers & Salads, Seafood Station, Carving Station & Dessert Station. Entrees include: Hill Country-Style Braised Beef Rouladen, Pan-Seared Mahi Mahi Vera Cruz & Smoked Lamb Tenderloin Cassoulet.

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Austin Hyatt
208 Barton Springs Rd
Austin, TX 78704
Hours: 11:30am ~ 5:00 pm (last seating)
Includes Complimentary Champagne & Mimosa
Reservations Required: 512.480.2035
$$$: $52.00 for Adults, $27 5-12 years old, Complimentary 4 & Under
No Discounts or Coupons

Thanksgiving Buffet. Their menu looks fabulous and includes an Antipasto selection, Salad buffet, Seafood buffet, Hot entrees, a Carving station and a Dessert Station. This is just the carving station:

Carving Station
Roasted Prime Rib with Horseradish Crust & Wild Mushroom, Pancetta Ragout,
Assorted Mustards & Au Jus
Maple Glazed Ham, Java Red Eye Gravy & Biscuits
Roasted Turkey with Gravy & Corn-bread Stuffing

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Katz Deli
618 W 6th Street
Austin, TX 78701
Phone (512) 472-2037
Always Open!
$$$: $15.95 Adults, $6.95 Kids
No reservations needed or taken.

Turkey with all the fixings plus a few items on offer from their menu.

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McCormick & Schmick’s
401 Congress Avenue
Austin, Texas
Reservations recommended: (512) 236-9600 or (888) 344-6861
$$$: Turkey dinner $19.95 per person, ham dinner $18.95. Dessert is extra.
Hours: Serving from 11am - 9 pm.

Offering both their regular menu and Thanksgiving traditional dinners.

Greetings Cakesters,

I don’t know about you guys but October was sure a busy month around here. We had Lorraine McKay’s workshops, the Texas ICES DOS in San Antonio and of course, Cake Show planning and more Cake Show planning! With the holidays now swiftly approaching, I don’t think things are going to slow down any time soon!

That Takes the Cake! Show News The mini-class schedule and mini-class instructor registration are both now online. We are feverishly working to bring the competition registration online next. Vendor registration has been online for a while now. If you know of an instructor or vendor who would be a good match for the cake show, please send them to our website. Registration is also open for our Celebrity Classes. If you sign up before the 26th you can still break your payments up over 4 months. Each month you’ll have one less month to make payments so sign up early for the lowest monthly payments. Debbie Brown’s class pictures are now online. For one class the members of Capital Confectioners voted for Debbie’s Indian Wedding Cake, a marvel of stacked pillow cakes atop a golden base and topped with the Indian elephant god, Ganesh. For the other class we chose the fabulous Persian Palace Cake pictured to the left. Choosing between these classes is sooo hard! Sign up early for low monthly payments!

Lorraine McKay Workshops Lorraine’s workshops were a huge success. Everyone left with fabulous pieces and and feeling like they’d been on a vacation. We kept Lorraine’s husband, Andy, busy running back and forth to Round Rock Donuts. We had two pregnant ladies and wouldn’t you just know it, those babies were calling out for our famous RR Donuts. No one else was complaining much either, for that matter. In fact, everyone had so much fun that we’ve convinced Lorraine to return next year for our DOS. We’ve set the date for Sunday, August 16th, 2009 and we’re working out the classes now. Lorraine will be teaching her Bride & Groom class again, only this time the Groom will be sporting top hat and tails instead of a kilt. We’ll let you know when registration opens.

Members of Capital Confectioners traveled to San Antonio to the ICES “Christmas Wedding” DOS last month to support our fellow cake friends. The DOS was organized by Texas ICES representatives, Jacque Benson, Yvette Humbert and Irene Hackbarth. Many excellent techniques were demonstrated including some Halloween favorites like a witch and easy marzipan pumpkins! Carol Fouts stayed on to teach her wonderful Sugar Shoes class, the next day. If you haven’t taken one of Carol’s classes, I’d highly recommend one. They make the most adorable baby shower cakes and her high heels make great ladies cakes as well as bachelorette cakes. A special thank you to Carol Ann Hughes for her invaluable assistance and to everyone who made an effort to attend. Visit Carol’s Website

Tip of the Month: Cleaning your cake dummies Is removing the old fondant from your cake dummy making you crazy? Here is a tip from our own Miss Janette Pfertner, Master Decorator and Sugar Artist. To clean a cake dummy, remove all the flowers and decorations and then stick it in the dishwasher. The dishwasher will remove all the fondant and leave you with a clean and sterile cake dummy for your next project!

Upcoming Events November 23rd Bronwen Weber Stand-up Santa Class at Cake Carousel December 6th: Cake Craft Shoppe’s 2nd Annual Gingerbread House Competition December 8th Bronwen Weber Sculpted Reindeer Class at Cake Craft Shoppe December 9th Bronwen Weber Sculpted Reindeer Class at Cake Craft Shoppe February 1: Texas ICES DOS in Dallas/Ft Worth February 28-1 March: Capital Confectioners That Takes the Cake! Sugar Art & Cake Competition March 2nd-5th: Capital Confectioners That Takes the Cake! Celebrity Classes April 19th: Southeast Texas Cake Club DOS w/ Rebecca Sutterby April 25-26th Sugar Wonders’ 5th Annual Cake and Sugar Art Show June 28: Frosting Creators 2009 DOS August 16th Capital Confectioners 2009 DOS October 3-4th Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show

Capital Confectioners Club Meetings A big Thank You to Jennifer Bartos of All in One Bake Shop for our October demonstration! Jennifer showed us a very cool technique for making fall leaves using of rice paper, leaf cookie cutters and Wilton Color Mist Sprays. They were beautiful and looked so real. Thank you also to Crystal Hamburg-Smith for our delicious treats. November’s Capital Confectioners meeting was held on November 11th. Crystal demonstrated her technique for making Christmas trees, just in time for the holidays. Carol brought peanut butter and jelly cupcakes and the best pumpkin cheesecake I’ve ever had. Yum! Thanks, Crystal and Carol! There will be no meeting for the month of December but we hope to see you all at our club Holiday Party on December 14th. Our next club meeting will be on January 13th, 2009 at: La Madeleine 3418 N. Lamar Austin, TX 78705 512-302-1486 Join Meetup.com to receive regular meeting notices.

Greetings Cakesters, We’d like to start off this month’s Newsletter by thanking our demonstrators, vendors, volunteers and attendees for making our annual DOS our biggest and best ever. The Two Sweet Sisters class which followed the DOS was great fun as well. Everyone left the class with beautiful cakes and a lot of new tricks up their sleeves. The Cake Show Countdown is On! Now that our DOS is over, we are ramping up our efforts to make 2009 our biggest and best Cake Show ever! One of the new things we’ll have this year is Mini-Classes. There will be four classrooms with short classes in them all day on Saturday and Sunday. Those of you who teach will be able to host classes and those of you looking to learn new things will be able to sign up for those classes. It’s our hope that we’ll be able to host some fun classes with instructors who might otherwise be unable to attend. Just in case you’ve forgotten, our line up for this year’s That Takes the Cake! Sugar Art and Cake Competition is outstanding! We have: Debbie Brown Jacquy Pfeiffer Nicholas Lodge Bronwen Weber Roland Winbeckler Marsha Winbeckler Elisa Straus Also new this year will be Showcase Cakes where you’ll have the opportunity to decorate from the tablecloth up. The theme for the Showcase Cakes will be music, so get your thinking caps on! Shoutout to Texas ICES Area 3 Texas ICES Area 3 is all set for their October 26th, DOS. Their theme this year is “A Christmas Wedding” and will feature: ♥ Carol Fouts - Angelic Cake Toppers ♥ Jacque Benson - What Will She Think of Next? ♥ Irene Hackbarth - Filet Lace (As seen at ICES) ♥ Twez Shewmaker - Chocolate Transfers ♥ Lori Guss - How to use and have fun with your SugarVeil Pen! Carol will be staying on to teach a class on her fabulous sugar shoes on Monday, October 27th. Register now to save money! Lorraine McKay Teddy Bear Workshop We are now just 5 weeks away from Lorraine’s classes. Everyone who has signed up is so excited. I know this because I hear from at least one attendee a day telling me just how excited they are and checking up on hotel information and supply lists. I am happy to say that I made a great deal with the Wingate by Wyndham in Round Rock to supply us with a nice big classroom and a great rate of $89.25 a night. That price includes a hot breakfast and social hour snacks, including a drink voucher and panini sandwiches. Since we are providing lunch, those of you attending could get away without purchasing any meals if you wanted. We have one opening left in the Dad & Me class and a few in the Teddy Bear class. Register for Lorraine’s classes Upcoming Events September 5-10th: Debbie Brown Classes in Houston September 7th: Houston Cake Club Extravaganza! September 20th: The Carolina Cake Show & Competition September 27 - 28: The Oklahoma Sugar Art Show October 12-13: Dena Bryngleson Shadow Grass (Camo) and Sugar Duck Class October 14-15: Lorraine McKay’s Dad & Me Workshop October 17th: Lorraine McKay’s Teddy Bear Workshop October 18-19th: Lorraine McKay’s Bride & Groom Workshop October 19th: Frost-a-tiers Day of Sharing October 26: Texas ICES Area 3 DOS in San Antonio December 8th: Cake Craft Shoppe’s 2nd Annual Gingerbread House Competition February 1: Texas ICES DOS in Dallas/Ft Worth February 28-1 March: Capital Confectioners That Takes the Cake! Sugar Art & Cake Competition If you have an upcoming event that you would like us to list here and/or on our website, please let us know. Capital Confectioners Club Meetings Our August demonstration was done by Kyla Myers and featured an easy method for making calla lilies she learned from Edna De La Cruz. If you missed this demo you can watch Edna do it on YouTube. The yummy godies were generously provided by Irene Hackbarth. September’s demonstration is TBD and the dessert will be made by Charlotte Shaw. Our next meeting will be held on September 9th at 7pm at: La Madeleine 3418 N. Lamar Austin , TX 78705 512-302-1486 Join Meetup.com to receive regular meeting notices.

For months we’ve been planning our Day of Sharing (DOS) and now here it is just days away. The event will take place on Sunday, August 10th from 9am until 5pm. We have over 80 attendees already registered for this event and more coming in daily. We anticipate well over 100 attendees. We have great demonstrators lined up:

• Yvette Humbert, Amazing Cakes of Austin
• Jacque Benson, our Texas ICES Rep
• Glenda Galvez, the new ICES President
• Sallia Bandy, Wilton Hall of Fame Instructor
• Susie Rasmussen, Make a Cake Houston
• Two Sweet Sisters

We have fabulous raffle items, snacks, lunch and great vendors.

The Two Sweet Sisters will be teaching a hands-on class on the Monday and Tuesday following the DOS. There are just a few spaces left in this great class. Thank you to All in One Bakeshop for generously giving a 20% discount to class attendees.

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Since so many of you were disappointed to miss out on the Bride and Groom workshop, Lorraine has offered up a compromise. The Teddy Bear workshop will now be featuring Bride and Groom bears. The Groom will be fashionably dressed in a top hat and waistcoat while your blushing will be decked out in a tiara and carrying her own tiny bouquet. Spaces available for this one-day class for a very reasonable $125 so if you’re bummed out because you’re missing the Bride & Groom class, join us in the Teddy Bear Workshop. Sign up soon and you can even break the payments up over 3 months!

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August 10th:	Capital Confectioners DOS
August 11-12th:	Two Sweet Sisters Class
August 16th:	Jacque Benson Gumpaste Teacup Class
September 5-10th:	Debbie Brown Classes in Houston
September 7th:	Houston Cake Club Extravaganza!
September 20th:	The Carolina Cake Show & Competition
September 27 - 28:	The Oklahoma Sugar Art Show
October 14-15:	Lorraine McKay’s Dad & Me Workshop
October 17th:	Lorraine McKay’s Teddy Bear Workshop
October 18-19th:	Lorraine McKay’s Bride & Groom Workshop
October 19th:	Frost-a-tiers Day of Sharing
December 8th:	Cake Craft Shoppe’s 2nd Annual Gingerbread House Competition

A little birdie whispered in my ear that Carolyn Wanke-Mangold is putting together one of her famous Boot Classes. The class will be 2-3 days and will run $350 but will include Carolyn’s $250 Boot Kit. If you’re interested in this class please email Carolyn to be put on the mailing list.

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Our July demonstration was done by Kyla Myers and featured how to make a gumpaste bumblebee.

The delicious dessert was generously contributed by Yvette Humbert.

This months demonstration will be done by Sheri Vineyard and the dessert will be made by Irene Hackbarth.

Our next meeting will be held on August 19th at 7pm at:

La Madeleine
3418 N. Lamar
Austin , TX 78705
512-302-1486

Once again I need to apologize for the inconsistency of my posts. 451 Press has been doing server upgrades over the past few weeks. Those upgrades have led to unexpected down time. Until these issues are resolved my entries are likely to be sporadic.

Although I have not been posting, I have not been idle. Last weekend a friend got married and I had the pleasure of making her wedding cake. This was no ordinary wedding cake. No, this was a Batmobile wedding cake with Wonder Woman as bride and Batman as the groom. This cake just about kicked my butt. In the end it came out fantastic, though. The Bride & Groom loved it!

Here is a look at the cake:

and the back:

For those of you interested in construction, here is a look at the cake in crumb coat stage:

The cake itself was chocolate with cookies and cream filling and chocolate fondant. I chose chocolate fondant because the car needed to be black and it’s easier to achieve black if you start with chocolate. Since the cake was chocolate it made for a nice match. The chocolate fondant tastes a bit like tootsie rolls.

Well, that’s what I’ve been up to, how about you?

cake, decorating, batmobile, batman, wonder woman, super, hero

Greetings, Cakesters!

Another month has come and gone and we’re one month closer to our DOS which will take place on August 10th. We could use some volunteers for this event. If you’d like to volunteer your time to this or any other event we’re hosting, please contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Ellen Cromwell.

Prizes, Prizes and More Great Prizes! We’ve promised you great prizes for our August 10th, DOS and we plan to deliver! This lovely item is just one of the many exciting prizes we have lined up for our raffle. We also have a super secret fantastic prize lined up for one lucky participant. I don’t want to spoil the surprise but it’s valued at $125! While you’re at it, don’t forget about the Two Sweet Sisters class. There are just a few spaces left in the class. If you’re an aspiring wedding cake designer, this class would be ideal for you. We are accepting donations to our raffle. If you’d like to contribute you can drop raffle items to us at our next meeting or contact us to make arrangements. Check out the valuable coupons at the bottom of this newsletter for some really great deals!

New Openings for Lorraine McKay Workshops I’m very excited to inform you that we have some new openings for two of Lorraine McKay’s upcoming workshops. If you wanted to attend Lorraine’s workshops and thought you’d missed out, you have another opportunity. There are openings in both the Teddy Bear workshop and the Dad & Me workshop. If you had your heart set on the Bride & Groom workshop Lorraine assures me you’ll learn enough in the Dad & Me workshop to be able to do the Bride & Groom. Not only that but you’ll learn to do a baby and a cat, among other things! For a glimpse at Lorraine’s teaching style, check out her Cheeky Chicks video on YouTube and learn how to make these cheeky fellows pictured on the right. Upcoming Events July 6th: Pearland Cake Society DOS July 17-20: 2008 Annual ICES Convention July 31 - August 3: Cake Camp in Las Vegas August 10th: Capital Confectioners DOS August 11-12th: Two Sweet Sisters Class
October 14-15:	Lorraine McKay’s Dad & Me Workshop
October 17th:	Lorraine McKay’s Teddy Bear Workshop
October 18-19th:	Lorraine McKay’s Bride & Groom Workshop
September 5-10th:	Debbie Brown Classes in Houston
September 7th:	Houston Cake Club Extravaganza!
September 20th:	The Carolina Cake Show & Competition
September 27 - 28:	The Oklahoma Sugar Art Show

If you would like us to list your event, shoot us an email.

Capital Confectioners Club Meetings Thank you to Christina Craig for her wonderful demonstration on how to construct a cupcake bouquet! I can’t wait to try it out for myself! Thank you to Ellen for the sweet treats she brought to celebrate our June birthdays. Our next meeting will be held on July 8th at 7pm at: La Madeleine 3418 N. Lamar Austin , TX 78705 512-302-1486 I will be demonstrating a gumpaste technique. To receive regular notifications of Capital Confectioner meetings, join Meet-up.com.

Austin, Cake, Club, Capital, Confectioners, Newsletter, Events, Classes, Meetings, July, Day of Sharing, DOS, Upcoming

The Capital Confectioners of Austin will be holding their Day of Sharing (DOS) on August 10th, 2008. Headlining the event will be those two sassy sisters from Louisiana, the Two Sweet Sisters. They’ll even be staying on after the DOS to teach a two day workshop on this cake:

The cake is off the cover of their new book which you can purchase at the DOS.

In addition we’ll also have these fine demonstrators:

• Two Sweet Sisters - Diamonds are Forever
• Glenda Galvez - Pearl Edged Bows
• Susie Rasmussen - Airbrush Techniques
• Yvette Humbert - Cowboy Cakes
• Jacque Benson - Beautiful Teacups
• Sallia Bandy - Building Mechanisms into Your Cake, like clock hands that actuall tick!

The DOS is only $35 for a full day of demonstrations and lunch is included! For more information, check out our website.

For a limited time you can sign up for the DOS and the workshop and make 3 monthly payments. That’s an option that will keep your wallet from being hit all at once.

In October we are flying Lorraine McKay in all the way from Scotland! Those of you on YouTube and Flickr will already be well familiar with Lorraine’s work. She’s was a Gold Medal Winner at the 2007 NEC Birmingham International Cake Show which is quite a big deal, I can tell you! If you are unfamiliar with Lorraine’s work, go check it out. Her figure modeling is so expressive. A sign-up sheet will be posted soon.

Last but not least, be sure to mark your calendars for our annual Cake Show. If you think our 2008 Show was impressive, just wait for 2009! Our 2009 Show will be held Feb 28-March 1st.

Austin, Tx, Capital Confectioners, Cake, Club, Events, August, October, DOS, Day of Sharing, Lorraine McKay, Two Sweet Sisters, Yvette Humbert, Sallia Bandy, Glenda Galvez, Susie Rasmussen, Jacque Benson, pearl edged bows, teacups, mechanized, cowboy, airbrushing, demonstrations, techniques

I’m very excited to announce that the May/June edition of Mailbox News, a cake idea magazine, has just arrived and with it a bit of a surprise! Inside is a 4-page spread on the Capital Confectioners “That Takes the Cake” 2008 Cake Show. Four pages. We are just so pleased.

Today the club officers met with the Austin Convention Center to discuss having our 2009 Show there. If we decide to do it there we’ll double our space from the 16,000 sq ft we had last year to 32,000 sq ft.

So… what’s happening in Austin this weekend?

There is a new event taking place in Austin this year. It’s called The Luna Fest ATX and is brought to Austin by the creators of Sol Fest ATX. The new Fest will take place at the US Art Authority located next door to, and owned by, the Spider House. The evening will begin with the presentation of diverse visual art to a live music background. Many artists of diverse mediums and influences present their pieces individually and collectively; consequently, with their art becoming a part of the whole event layout. The night of this Midtown extravaganza provided by Spider House will continue with the sultry cabaret performances of some of Austin’s most gorgeous women, to the musical prowess of some of Austin’s best bands. Electronica, Funk, Rock, Jazz are just some examples of variations within, and are sure to create an optimal aesthetic experience.

Luna Fest ATX
When: May 3 2008, 11:00am - Sunday, May 4 2008, 2:00am
Where: United States Art Authority, 510 W 29th St
$$$: $12.00

Are you NORML? Nah, didn’t think so. Even so, Texas NORML is holding it’s Pot-Luck for Pot-Love Festival this weekend in Zilker Park. Is this the perfect Austin event, or what? NORML & Outgrow Big Bro are calling for citizens of Texas to break the silence and march for re-legalization of responsible marijuana use! The event will incorporate live music, a march to the state Capitol, and a pot-luck picnic at the Pecan Grove in Zilker Park. Festivities begin at 10am, in Zilker Park’s Pecan Grove, moving to the south Capitol steps from 1 to 4pm, and finishing with a pot-luck for pot-love back at Zilker Park from 4 to 9pm.

Texas Cannabis Crusade & Pot-luck for Pot-love

When: May 3 2008, 10:00am
Where: Zilker Park, 2100 Barton Springs Road
$$$: Free

Growing up as a military brat I always looked forward to the Air Shows. If you like Air Shows then you should head out to Temple, Tx, this weekend for the Central Texas Air Show. The schedule looks fantastic! This is a great family event and there will be lots of great military planes doing stunts as well as music and food, too.

Central Texas Airshow
Where: Draughon-Miller Central Texas Airport, Temple, Texas
When: May 2-May 4th
$$$: See Website

For over 30 years the Biannual Old Pecan Street Festival has provided Central Texas residents a family friendly venue to collect arts and crafts from local and national artists and artisans, experience live music and take part of a long standing Austin tradition. The Old Pecan Street Festival not only supports local artists and vendors but gives back to many of Austin’s most beloved charities as well as preserving Old Pecan Street (6th Street). Celebrate the Old Pecan Street Festival’s 30th Anniversary this weekend!

The Spring Festival

Where: Downtown Austin on 6th Street
When: May 3, 08 11AM - 10PM & May 4, 08 11AM - 8PM
$$$: FREE

Handmade Austin Women presents the third annual “Art in the Garden” this weekend before Mother’s Day. Handmade Austin Women are dedicated to unique design, and the highest quality in handcrafted work. Art in the Garden 2008 offers a beautiful array of fine art that includes painting, sculpture, ceramics, stunning jewelry and fashion. This year they’ve grown to ten studio artists with four musical acts. Refreshments served. This would be a good opportunity to look for something cool to buy your mother for Mother’s Day.

Art in the Garden
When: Saturday 10 to 6 and Sunday 11 to 4
Where: Ginko Studios

There is a lot happening this weekend but those are my picks. It looks like it’s going to be a beautiful and hot weekend so get out and have some fun!

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Wow, to say that I’ve been busy lately would be the understatement of the year. I don’t know what got into everyone but I’ve had cakes, cakes and more cakes to make. On top of all that I’m working on a website for the Cake Club’s Day of Sharing (DOS) coming up in August. I know that sounds like a long way away but the earlier we get people signed up and money rolling in, the better. The DOS is a fundraiser for our big annual Cake Show which is a big ticket item. Last year we spent over $20k and this coming year we’ll spend even more than that, if you can imagine.

A Day of Sharing, for those of you who might be curious, is an event where cake decorators gather to watch a days worth of demonstrations by other cake decorators. It is an opportunity to discover new techniques, meet other cake enthusiasts and buy cake products from specialized cake vendors. There is generally also a raffle for some fun stuff.

Our DOS this year will be held on August 10th at the Pflugerville Lions Club. I’ll post a link to the website where you’ll be able to register once it’s completed.

On Saturday I made a Chocolate Chambord Cake for my friend Lucy’s mother. In retrospect making that particular cake was not my best idea. Lucy asked me a while back if I’d make the cake and sent me a link to La Baguette, the bakery her mother normally gets the cake from. I’d never had the cake and I would be recreating a cake that her mother loves from her favorite bakery. You see a problem there? Yeah. Not to mention the fact that Lucy’s mother is also a cake decorator. I wanted the cake to be perfect as it was for Lucy’s mother. No pressure.

I found several recipes for Chocolate Chambord Cake online. The first one Lucy actually sent me. It was from Epicurious.com, which is the recipe database for Bon Apetit. They call it a Chocolate Raspberry Ganache Cake. The cake base for this recipe is a génoise cake, a cake named after the lovely city of Genoa, Italy, though this type of cake is more closely associated with French cuisine. The génoise cake is special because it’s made without leavening agents and instead uses air suspended in the batter to give the cake volume. Now you might think a cake based on air volume would be light and airy but that’s not the case. In fact they are dense, rich cakes. Another unique thing about this type of cake is the minuscule amount of flour it contains. The Epicurious recipe uses a mere 1/3 cup of flour, though it also used 1/3 cup of cornstarch. I don’t think I’ve ever added that much cornstarch to anything before.

The batter was lovely and I poured it into my springform pan and stuck it in the oven. It might have been fine but I made the mistake of reading the reviews. Many people mentioned shrinkage and someone said they’d gotten around that problem by leaving it in the oven after the baking was complete, to cool. I duly shut the oven off and left the cake. Although the cake kept most of it’s volume, the extra time in the oven dried it right out. While the cake was baking, I made the Chambord syrup and set it in the refrigerator to cool. That was Friday night and I was tired so I decided to start over in the morning.

Saturday morning I decided to try a different recipe and chose GuidoFreshMarketplace.com’s recipe. The batter for this cake called for whipping the egg yolks and the egg whites separately and it contained no flour whatsoever. Talk about a lovely batter!

This cake was baked in two separate 9″ pans and took a good 10 minutes longer than the recipe called for before the cake tester came out anywhere close to clean. I set them aside to cool. Meanwhile I decided that the Chambord syrup was no substitute for the gorgeous raspberry sauce I’d used in Lucy’s Death by Chocolate birthday cake, possibly the densest, richest, darkest chocolate cake I’ve ever made. I figured I could brush the cakes with the simple syrup and use raspberry sauce as a filling with the Chambord ganache. Here is a picture of the raspberry sauce:

I removed the cakes from the pan. I could tell they were very soft and gooey. This is where I made my next fatal mistake. I tried to cut one of them in half and it fell to pieces. I began to panic. It was past 1:30pm and we were supposed to arrive, cake in hand, at the restaurant at 5pm. At this point I decided to go with a tried and tested recipe and made the Death by Chocolate cake. When I made it for Lucy I used all organic dark chocolate with high percentages of cacao. Lucy asked me to make this cake a bit more milk chocolate. I melted the chocolate and butter and put it in the refrigerator to cool. Meanwhile I set the eggs and sugar to beat on low while I measured and sifted the remaining ingredients. The recipe calls for sour cream and after a mini panic I found that I actually had an unopened container in the refrigerator. Whew. I measured it and set it aside. As that baked, I ran upstairs to shower quickly. When I came back down and opened the oven I noted that the center of the cake had risen up and cracked. Hmm… I tested the cake and set it to cook for another ten minutes. When I turned around my eyes lit upon a carefully measured container of sour cream. Oh. Crap! I’d left out the sour cream! At that point I just crossed my fingers and prayed because there was no way I’d have time to bake another cake. When it was done I stuck it in the refrigerator to cool off faster. Yes, my refrigerator door was open more than it was closed on Saturday.

I tried a bit of the Guido cake that lay in pieces on my countertop. The taste was divine. I eyed the half that was intact and decided to use it as the center of the cake. What harm could a rich gooey center cause? I took the Death by Chocolate cake out and torted it. It held together well in spite of the missing sour cream. I put the half with the slightly sunken center on the bottom and evened it out with bits of the fallen Guido cake. I brushed the cake with the Chambord simple syrup, slathered it with ganache I’d whipped with a bit of cream cheese and topped it with the raspberry sauce from the Death by Chocolate recipe. I topped that with the in-tact Guido cake, repeated the toppings and finally the best layer of the Death by Chocolate cake went on top. Amazingly it all looked fairly even. I trimmed it up and topped it all with the still-a-bit-too-warm ganache I’d made while the cake was cooling. It looked lovely on top but the jagged edges of the sides was not quite so pretty. I dumped the extra into my mixing bowl and whipped it then re-iced the sides. That did the trick! I put the leftover whipped ganache into a piping bag, piped a border and some swirls on top, topped the swirls with fresh raspberries and hit the door running.

I had messaged Lucy earlier to let them know we would not be there early with the cake as originally planned. In fact, we’d be late. We were meeting at Benihana’s for tepanyaki. As it happens, Benihana would not seat them until we arrived. Argh! We finally arrived at 5:30pm. I felt really bad for keeping everyone waiting but they all seemed in surprisingly good humor in spite of our tardiness. The cake looked beautiful and I was much relieved.

Dinner was yummy and the staff brought the cake out from the back where they’d stored it for us. Lucy’s mother asked me to cut eht cake and I was pleased with how perfect the layers look. Using the gooey Guido cake for the center was the right move. The cake was moist and delicious with the raspberry flavor permeating the cake beautifully and delicately. Not too strong but definitely noticeable. Lucy even proclaimed it to be better than the one La Baguette cake. All in all I think I went through about 40 oz of fine chocolate.

Of course I failed to get a picture of the final cake but have no fear, pictures were taken at the restaurant and as soon as they are posted I’ll show you what it looked like. In the meantime, here is a fun little cake I did recently for a lady whose brother is a big soccer fan…obviously:

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The long-awaited Capital Confectioners Cake Show took place at the weekend. We got started with the set-up at 9AM on Friday morning by loading up all available cars and trucks and heading over to the event center. There was a lot to be done. From setting up the concession stand to organizing registration and a myriad of other tasks. We could have used a few more hands but we all worked hard and finally quit around 7PM only to return at 6AM on Saturday.

By Friday evening I’d pretty much decided that there was no way I was going to finish my own show piece. Doing so would have meant staying up the rest of the night and I knew I needed to get some sleep if I was going to make it through Saturday. I got a little bit of a second wind when I got home, though, and I decided that I would at least try and finish my entry for the tasting competition. Unfortunately my first cake did not set up properly but I valiantly started over again. The fates were not shining on me however and the same thing happened with the second cake. I decided to just go with it and left it to cool overnight and went to bed. I got up at the crack of dawn, having slept 3 hours, filled the cake, iced it quickly and ran out the door. I was about 15 minutes late arriving but I felt better having at least some part of my entry.

We opened the doors at 7AM for competitors to begin dropping off their cakes. For the next three hours they seemed to come in waves, busy one minute and slow the next. I’m not sure yet how many entries we had but it was a lot. From the children’s entries to the adult entries, the quality of work was just amazing. Just take a look at this stunning piece done by Pflugerville sugar artist, Janette Pfertner:

Photo by acshepard on Flickr.com

Yes, that really is cake!

When I attended the show a year ago I blogged about the lack of organization and other petty stuff. I had no idea at the time that the show was put on by a volunteer army of local sugar artists from the Capital Confectioners Club. When I made that discovery I felt a bit stupid for complaining. I looked up the club information and resolved to attend the next meeting. I figured that I shouldn’t complain without walking a mile in their shoes. Imagine my embarrassment when I saw a copy of my blog all printed up and sitting next to the sign-in sheet. I slunk down in my seat hoping no one would notice. As it happens they spent the meeting talking about the show and what went right and wrong and how things could be improved for the next show. I piped up here and there with suggestions and I feel fortunate today that they listened and didn’t punch my lights out.

Working an event like the cake show is a labor of love. Volunteers do not get paid. We are short staffed and there is more work than there are volunteers. It’s tiring and the hours are long. At the end of it you’re mentally and physically exhausted and you’re a little sensitive to criticism. After all, it’s your baby, and no one likes to hear criticism of their baby. Right? Right!

This year’s show was better than last year’s. The venue, Texas Star Meeting and Event Center, was beautiful. We were better organized. We were better advertised. We had more entries. We had more vendors. We had a better concession stand. The show was awesome! We heard a lot of “Great Job!” and “Beautiful facility!” and many other wonderful compliments.

The reason this year’s show was better than last year’s show is not because I joined the group. I played my part, certainly, but the real reason is because a core group of dedicated volunteers listened to last year’s suggestions, took notes of what worked and what didn’t and set out to make this year’s show better than last year’s. It’s as simple as that. I have no doubt that next year’s show will be even better and the year after even better yet.

We’ll meet shortly to debrief and start the process all over again. We’ll take your suggestions to heart. We’ll make notes of what worked and what didn’t and in no time at all we’ll start over again. In the meantime we’ll put this show to bed knowing we did our best and that our show was a success.

Thank you to our vendors and demonstrators and most of all thank you to each and every one of you who submitted an entry this year. We are proud to have had the opportunity to display your work. We hope to see you again next year and if you have suggestions on how we can improve the show, drop us a note or better yet, come join us and walk a mile in our shoes.

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The Cake Show committee met last Tuesday prior to the Cake Club meeting. The Cake Show is coming up so fast now. With just 8 days to go things seem to be going along as planned. We have some wonder raffle items and participation levels are way up from last year.

One thing I’m not sure I mentioned before is that we’ll have a kids demonstration table. This hands-on demonstration will cost a small fee of $5 and kids will receive a gingerbread kit and help with assembling a Bunny House. I can’t wait to see the fun gingerbread houses the kids make!

We made a couple of small changes to the Show.

1. Kids under 16 will get in free
2. The Cakes in Bloom competition is now a 3-D Tiered Whimsical competition
3. Earlene’s demo at the Showcase Demonstration on Sunday will now be Lace on Cakes
4. Steven’s demo at the Showcase Demonstration will now be Easter Themed
5. Nick’s demo at the Showcase Demonstration will now be on Patchwork Cutters

We changed the Cakes in Bloom competition because we only had a couple of people signed up for it and the number of gumpaste flowers required is costly. We think the 3-D tiered whimsical cakes will be very fun.

The Bunny House demonstration for kids will be held from 11am-2pm. Be sure to bring spending money. We have so many great raffle prizes, you’ll definitely want to buy plenty of tickets. Raffle tickets are going to run 15 for $10, I believe. We’ll also have a concession booth for drinks, popcorn and candy. The smell of all those cakes might make you hungry. Heh.

Entry into the Cake Show will be $5 for Saturday and $2 for Sunday. Sunday is cake viewing only. Saturday will have all the fun stuff!

If you’re a competitor, you need to drop off your cakes between 7am-10pm. 9am-9:30 tends to be the crunch time so you may want to arrive around 8am. If you’re a competitor or signed up for Sunday’s Showcase Demonstration, your entry into the Show is free.

Don’t worry about not being “good enough”. Your cakes are going to be judged against your peers, people at your same level of expertise. We welcome ALL levels of cake enthusiasts and children can participate free.

Check out our website for more information.

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The 4th Annual Capital Confectioners Cake & Sugar Art Show & Competition is now just over 30 days away. We have over 100 competitors already registered and we expect to see more than 1000 attendees! This is going to be our biggest and best Cake Show yet.

We have some incredible celebrities lined up this year. If you’re a Food Network geek like I am, you’ll recognize some or all of these names:

Bronwen Weber, Executive Pastry Chef, Frosted Art in Dallas, TX, her cake designs are featured in Brides Magazines, & many cake magazines and is a current teacher & Food Network Challenge Star!

Nicholas Lodge, Chef, founder of the International Sugar Art Collection, Author, Food Network Judge, and commissioned to do work for England’s Royal Family and created the wedding cake for Lady Diana and Prince Charles!

Earlene Moore, Author, renowned Texas Sugar Artist and Teacher, her cake designs have been featured in American Cake Decorating Magazine.

Autumn Carpenter, a skilled Sugar Artist, teacher and author of a number of confectionery sugar arts books. Also, Granddaughter of the owners of Country Kitchen Cake & Candy Suppliers.

Steven Stellingwerf, an accomplished Sugar Artist, Judge and renowned cookbook author of “The Gingerbread Book” and “A Little Muffin Cook Book”.

If you’re a cake enthusiast at any level, don’t be intimidated, sign up now! Children are also encouraged to participate.

The event will take place on the 23rd & 24th of February at the Texas Star Meeting Event Center in South Austin. Entry on Saturday the 23rd will cost $5 and will include informal demonstrations, viewing of the entries, raffle prize drawings, cake competitions and specialty vendors. There will even be an Easter Bunny Gingerbread House building workshop for a small $5 fee to cover the cost of the gingerbread and candy.

On Sunday you can get in to view the cakes for just $2 but you’ll miss out on all the other fun. Unless, of course, you sign up for the Showcase Demonstrations! The Showcase Demonstrations will feature a 45 minute presentation by each of our celebrity guests who will be sharing expert tips and techniques. The Showcase Demonstration package will include a continental breakfast as well as lunch. Cost for the Showcase Demonstration is $90 and you can sign up on our website.

If you’re a local vendor and you sell anything confectionery related, we’d love to have you sign up for a vendor booth.

Feel free to contact me with any questions. For more details, check out our website.

Hey fellow Texans, come on over to Austin and join in the fun!

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My niece, Sophie, is crazy about SpongeBob’s friend, Sandy Cheeks, a lovable squirrel from Texas, who just happens to live in the sea. Sophie desperately wanted to be Sandy for Halloween but we couldn’t find a costume. You could buy one online but it wasn’t a very good costume so she ended up going as Winnie the Pooh. My mother told me that she was very into her character and refused to remove a single item no matter how overheated she got.

Sophie’s birthday was last week so I thought I’d make her a Sandy Squirrel cake but then my sister-in-law told me that Sophie had seen a castle cake and wanted that, instead. Since they live up north of Dallas and the cake was fairly simple, they decided to do it themselves. I would then make a second cake here that the whole family could share over the holiday. When I asked my brother if I should do a castle cake or the Sandy cake he told me to do a castle. Apparently the one they’d made had collapsed while they were out to dinner.

I was excited because I had won the Wilton Romantic Castle set a while back at our cake club Day of Sharing and I hadn’t had a chance to use it yet. I baked the cake up the day before everyone arrived and got it torted and crumb coated. The next day we set to work icing it and then I got the castle set down and pulled out the pieces. Anyone sensing a problem here?

In retrospect, I realize that it might have been a good idea to look at the set prior to baking the cakes. Can you say “failure to plan?” Yes, I thought you could. Ah well, when all else fails, improvise! I had made two layers which was fine but the top layer should have allowed enough room for the roof to sit on top of the bottom layer. What we did instead was to cut out a piece of the top layer to slide the roof into and Voilà! we had a castle. As you can see, I had helpers:

This is my niece, Sophie, and my nephew, Robin (her brother). We made fondant flowers and painted them with luster dust. We managed to finish the princess before the kids took off with their parents to see the Dr. Seuss exhibit at Arts on 5th. While they were gone I got the fondant on the cake, sugared the turrets and put it all together. The cake came out really cute, if I say so myself. This morning I got an email from my friend Carmen at the library asking if I could make a castle cake for her for a friends daughter. Isn’t that funny? Here is the finished cake:

It looks as though I may be making two more castle cakes this month. I’ll probably submit the best of the three to Wilton’s castle cake contest. The Grand Prize is a two week master course at their headquarters. That would be very cool!

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I just spent 7 hours putting together gingerbread houses for the cake club. I’m exhausted and my back is killing me from lifting boxes. They smelled really good, though. The gingerbread is made to order so it’s very fresh. The kits are going to run $21.65 which is more than you might pay for a kit at say, Target, but they are a much superior quality. Each box is hand packed and has a ton of candies for decorating and a big bag of royal icing mix that only needs water added to it. We made 200 kits today. We still have 100 left to make up so we’ll probably be assembling kits next weekend, too. The kits should be up for sale on our website soon but if you want to buy one, just let me know and I’d be happy to get you one. I’ll have a picture of an assembled kit soon.

Our club cookbooks are also in now. It is full of recipes and tips written by members of the cake club. It’s a great value at 10.83. As an added bonus, my fabulous and most often requested chai cake recipe is inside. The Gingerbread Houses and the Cookbooks are fund raisers for the Cake Club’s upcoming Cake Show which will take place in February of 2008.

Tomorrow I start cleaning for the influx of Thanksgiving guests who will begin arriving on Tuesday. They are coming early so they can go see the Ted Geisel exhibit going on right now at Arts on 5th. Ted Geisel as you all probably know, was better known as Dr. Seuss.

I saw this exhibit a while back at the AMOA and let me tell you, it’s a wonderful exhibit with something for all ages. The exhibit ends on November 24th so if you haven’t seen it, you should do so at your earliest opportunity.

From Arts on 5th’s website:

EXTENDED HOURS: Monday - Friday November 5-9, 10-8, Saturday November 10, 10am-6pm
Regular Gallery Hours: Monday - Friday, 10-6
Originally created to commemorate the 100th Birthday of Dr. Seuss, the exhibit has expanded to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of The Cat in the Hat and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The collection also includes the newly discovered Lost Sculptures, featuring three-dimensional animals created with horns and beaks and shaving brushes! Included in the show will be thirty-two historical panels chronicling the life and career of Theodor Seuss Geisel from the 1920’s through the 1980’s, plus the complete collection of the “Secret Art of Dr. Seuss” limited edition artwork. This will be the largest showing of the art of Dr. Seuss ever displayed in Texas and will include new commemorative anniversary works from The Cat in the Hat and How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Be sure to bring the kids to Art on 5th’s “The Seuss-sational Art and Life of Ted Geisel: 1904-1991.” Not only will all you parents enjoy the “Secret Art of Dr. Seuss” and the “Unorthodox Taxidermy” collection of wall sculptures, but the kids can keep busy at an activity center with all Dr. Seuss activities such as coloring Dr. Seuss characters, cutting out masks and Dr. Seuss word games.

Selected Secret Art pieces will be available for purchase.

Check out their website for more great information on Ted Geisel.

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