Showing posts with label Sacramento. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sacramento. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Celebrity Chef Challenge Recap

Ok, I know this recap is bit late in coming but May has been (and still is) crazy busy. Between weddings, wedding cakes, graduations, and birthdays (including my own), 24 hours a day simply is not enough.

If you didn't make it to the 8th Annual Celebrity Chef Challenge on April 30th, boy did you miss out. Well, actually so did I in a matter of speaking :( - I was so busy doing my cake carving demo, I didn't have time to check out many of the booths around but from what I gathered from those who attended, the entrance fee was more than worth all the delicious food and wine that was consumed that evening, not to mention the awesome live entertainment, namely the celebrity chef challenge. Bad news is that I don't have much details on the cooking challenge; in fact, I was only able to glimpse at the setup.

Good news is that I do have tons of pictures to share on my cake carving demo. To remind you, I had chosen to carve a 1953 Porsche Coupe that was on display at the California Auto Museum.

I started off with a big block of cake. (Why didn't anyone tell me my hair was sticking out in the back?)
Starting to carve the profile of the car. I look so serious, lol.
More carving...btw, that's the actual car in the back.
Adding the curves to the hood.
A quick stop to take a photo with my lovely assistants for the evening: my sister, Tran, and my best friend, Michelle, who were helping me hand out hundreds of samples of my red velvet cake with cream cheese buttercream. They rocked!
Applying black fondant to the top of the cake, later to become the windows for the car.

Next, a covering of red fondant.
Scoring the lines of the door.
Picture of the crowd that had gathered to watch.
Smoothing out the front bumper.
Painting on the silver trim.
Finally finished. You see that I was sooo happy to be done that you can barely see my eyes with that huge smile, lol.And about 20 minutes after I finished, I noticed that I had forgotten to add the silver trim to the front and back bumpers (Darn!).
At the end of the evening this lucky man, Jon, was able to take the porsche cake home and enjoy it with their friends and neighbors the next day. Here is a pic of me and Jon and below is one of his lovely wife, Brenda, getting ready to cut into the cake. It was a busy night for sure since there were a lot of steps to carving and decorating a car cake but I'd definitely participate again next year. I may, however, choose to do a less time-consuming subject, something that will allow me more time to interact with the crowd.....oh definitley more time to sample some of the awesome food and wine. =D


Lien Sanchez
Crazy Cake Company
(916) 849-9794

Monday, April 19, 2010

Celebrity Chef Challenge

Next Friday is the 8th Annual Celebrity Chef Challenge and I'm super duper excited! Why, you ask? Not only will our company be there to help support a great cause (more on that later), I will also be doing a live cake carving demonstration! Yippee!!

The Celebrity Chef Challenge is Northern California's own version of the popular Food Network show Iron Chef. In front of a live audience, six regional chefs have 45 minutes to turn five secret ingredients into 3 delectable dishes. Got that? 6 chefs, 45 minutes, 5 secret ingredients, 3 dishes. Watching people cook is bound to make the crowd hungry so adjacent to this competition is a fabulous wine & food fair where folks can sample drinks and goodies from over 25 wineries and 45 regional vendors (us included). Food competition, wine, and yummy samples, if this isn't foodie heaven, I don't know what is! The cherry on top has got to be that Guy Farris and Melissa Crowley from Sacramento & Co. will be emceeing the event and that celebrity chef judge, Dominque Crenn from "The Next Iron Chef" will be judging.

Tickets are $50 in advance and $60 at-the-door and all proceeds go to help an extremely worthy organization, InAlliance. InAlliance has been helping people with developmental disabilities gain independence through employment since 1952 and as I have a younger brother who has actually benefitted from their services, I am more than happy to do what I can to help support them, including possibly embarassing myself doing a live cake carving/decorating demonstration.

Last week I met Jessica, the show coordinator, at the California Auto Museum (formerly Towe Auto Museum) where the event will be held to go over details and to pick out my cake carving subject. With so many classic cars on display, we thought it would be fitting for me to make a scale replica of one of these beauties. When I laid eyes on the signal red 1953 Porsche 1500 Coupe (model 356), I knew she was the one (with all those curves, you know it's gotta be a "she").


She was sandwiched between two other cars and I couldn't get a good profile shot but here she is again, this time wearing blue. Isn't she gorgeous?

I've got roughly 2 1/2 hours to carve and decorate this cake, which really isn't even enough time for certain detail parts to dry so wish me luck, lol. Embarassment or not, I promise that it'll be a great show =D. So if you're a fan of food shows, cake shows, or just a fan of free food and wine, I encourage you to go buy your tickets for 8th Annual Celebrity Chef Challenge today. Go on, just click here.
-------------------
Lien Sanchez
Crazy Cake Company
(916) 849-9794