Item number one: Squirrel Bites!
Now that you've seen the season 5 premiere of "Ace of Cakes" (if you didn't, shame on you), I am so excited I get to share a little behind the scenes story about the Charm City Cakes building replica cake that was featured last night.
John and Andrea got engaged right in front of our building. For their wedding cake, they asked us to recreate the whole moment in cake. Ben and Anna did a super job making a mini-cake version of our shop, complete with John and Andrea out front. Unfortunately we didn't get to see their wedding on the show because it was rather far away in Ohio. But, I got a wonderful email from John afterwards. Here it is:
First and foremost - Our wedding cake was FANTASTIC!! The building itself looked just like it did the day we got engaged. Everything was perfect!! The detail of the people was phenomenal. What a hit!! The number one comment about our wedding was – WOW, what a cake!! Thank you SO much!!
OK, funny story . . . after Mary Smith delivered and set-up/finished our cake but before the ceremony began, our cake was “taste tested” . . . by a resident squirrel!! A squirrel who lives in one of the trees at the Conservatory decided that he would sample the cake for us. During the set-up of food, one of the catering employees looked over at our cake and noticed the squirrel with a handful of sidewalk!! She shooed the squirrel away, and the head chef was able to repair the sidewalk – though the damage was pretty minimal. Just so you know, not only do people marvel and enjoy your creations, but so do little critters, too!!
John and Andrea cutting their CCC cake
The squirrel damage!
I love it! How adorable are the little squirrely bite marks? I have been waiting very patiently to share that photo with the universe. Now you can enjoy it as much as me.
Item number two: Food Donations
Frequently after carving a cake into a shape, we will toss the leftover scraps into the trash. On one particular episode of "Ace of Cakes", Katherine was shown punching a large, undecorated cake into our dumpster. There have been some very angry phone calls and emails about these things, saying that we are wasteful, dreadful people who should be donating those cakes to a local food bank or homeless shelter.
Here's the thing, folks: The cake you saw Katherine punching into the dumpster was inedible. The client who ordered the cake, who shall remain nameless, canceled their order at the last minute. It had been in our refrigerator for a number of days and therefore we had to get rid of it. It was spoiled. So Katherine took out her frustration about the situation by punching the cake as hard as she could. If we had given that cake away, it would have made people sick. These are the things I wish I could edit into the show, but unfortunately I don't make TV, I manage a bakery.
Cake scraps cut off our cakes go into the trash. Food banks need food that is in a state such that it can be served to people. Crumbly bits of sheared off cake are not really what a food bank needs. A food bank needs food.
We are very proud of our charitable donations. We do a lot of them. Duff donates tens of thousands of dollars worth of gift certificates, merchandise, and cakes to many Baltimore-based non-profits each year. It is our opinion that offering up a gift certificate to be auctioned off to the highest bidder and the money therein raised going to a food bank is a fabulously effective way for us to make a difference in our community. Crumbly sheared off cake scraps? Not so much.
Anyway, I'm getting off my soapbox now, sorry to be all preachy and defensive but if one more person emails me saying we should be ashamed of ourselves for wasting food I am going to freaking explode. I am very, very proud to work for a place that gives as much back to the community as we do. I needed to get that off my chest.
Item number three:
Crew Dude of the Week!
This week's crew dude is Matt Carr. He is our Director AND our Director of Photography. He is also the only single member of the Ace of Cakes crew who has been on the crew since the first episode. He's been with us since day one and has worked on every single show. He's pretty freakin' awesome. Here's his interview.
Full Name: Matthew Carr
Nicknames: 2 R's, No Wheels, Matt Carr, Matty C
Hometown: Sunderland, Mass (that's Red Sox territory, son)
Ambitions: To evolve beyond the need for a pinky toe
Likes: Graham crackers left open for a week
Dislikes: Crunchy graham crackers
If I had more time I would: Be unemployed
Vacation Destination: Serpo
My Mottos: "Take it Easy." and "Don't take any guff from these swine!"
And with that, I am packing up my things and starting this weekend already. See you at Artscape on Saturday!
xoxo,
Mary Alice
