Pastry Live Atlanta 2014!

Tuesday was the final day of Pastry Live 2014! It was a big weekend for the ISAC team, and we were VERY involved; we had a vendor booth, Chef Nicholas judged two competitions (Art of Cake Competition, and the National Showpiece Championship), The Art of Cake Seminar, sponsored by Nielsen-Massey Vanilla and hosted by Chef Nicholas, AND we were one of the event sponsors! I would argue while Nicholas had more important jobs, mine was more fun. Walk around soaking in the sweetly scented air, have fun, meet people, and gain inspiration for writing this very blog! My job is hard, but it’s all for you dear readers- no pain no, gain!

I got to watch the judging of the Art of Cake Competition by Nicholas and several other pastry super stars. The theme was Sky and Seas, and the cakes delivered on that theme in so many different ways. There were cakes featuring mermaids, frogs, Greek gods, sea turtles, coral reefs, there was even a Shark-nado cake. Yes, that’s right. Shark-nado Cake. It was interesting being a fly on the wall (so to speak) and listening to the critiques of the judges as they examined each beautifully decorated cake. I thought I had a pretty good idea of who would be winning just based on what I heard while following Chef Nicholas and the other judges from cake to cake. Of course, my predictions crumbled after the tasting portion of the judging. In addition to his or her decorated cakes, each competitor had to submit a tasting cake. I sadly did not get to taste any of the competition cakes. Which is a shame, cause I love cake. The judges had to try 22 different types of cake… is there such a thing as too much cake? The tasting cake could contribute as many as 10 points to the overall score of the cake and, in my opinion (again, just based on listening to the judges), really affected the final outcome. I won’t say which, but one of the top three cakes was a real surprise to me. Just goes to show you that what’s on the inside is just as important than what is on the outside (see what I did there? Inner beauty is important in cake decorating too!).

First Place! Tasting cake: Jamaican Me Crazy Cake with pineapple and coconut.

Second Place! Tasting cake: Pistachio cake with raspberry jam, lemon poppy seed curd, and vanilla bean Italian meringue buttercream.

Third Place! Tasting Cake: Rose geranium Cake with peach, mango, and banana pepper buttercream.

So, Shark-nado cake was not one of the winners, but I had to share it anyway!

Tuesday morning, Chef Nicholas hosted his Art of Cake seminar, hosted by Nielsen-Massey Vanilla. Nicholas demonstrated how to use many of their products- from extracts to flavorings, and even vanilla bean paste! He discussed flavoring combinations and offered a particularly delicious tasting of Lavender Shortbread cookies and Rose Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean buttercream. Holy guacamole they were the tastiest morsels I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating! I plan on making some for a party this weekend. Well, they will be for the party provided I don’t eat them all beforehand! Everyone at the seminar received the recipes, and guess what? I’m sharing them with you too! Here is the PDF: Pastry-Live-Recipes.pdf!  All of the Nielsen-Massey vanillas, fine flavorings, dried lavender, and lavender extract are available in our store and on our website!

Chef’s seminar was very well attended, and one pasty chef clandestinely told me that it was the only seminar (out of six) that he stayed for the entire demo; he even admitted to falling asleep in one of the seminars! He told me, “Chef Nicholas’ seminar was by far the most interesting. Not to mention he is the most engaging instructor ever!” Of course we already knew how wonderful Nicholas is, but it’s always nice to get compliments from people in the industry!

 

The main event of Tuesday (after Chef Nicholas’ seminar of course) was the National Showpiece Championship! Five teams competed using chocolate or sugar to create video game themed showpieces. I mentioned in an earlier blog, this was my first big pastry convention, so I have never seen a showpiece competition in person, only on TV. Real life is so much better. First of all, the competitors make it look so easy. No one was freaking out, in fact, none of them even looked stressed. They were all cool, calm, and collected. Second, they make it look so easy. Of course, creating a huge and delicate chocolate or sugar showpiece is not easy. And watching them made me appreciate the preparation that must go on before the event even begins. Planning has to be precise, molds need to be accurately made, and practicing is clearly a must. The seven hours they spent creating the pieces yesterday must pale in comparison to the time spent before the event even begins. I loved all five showpieces, and did not envy the judges who had to pick just one winner!

Tomb Raider by Christophe Rull and Nicholas Rio. Best Chocolate Showpiece and Competitors Choice.

  

Dragon Ball by Bill Foltz and Cori Schlemmer. Best in Show and Best Sugar Showpiece

Mario vs Donkey Kong by Cher Harris and Joseph Settepani. Sponsor’s Choice.

The Countdown by Julian Perrigo-Jimenez and Jordan Snider. People’s Choice.

Super Mario by David Lewis and Julie Eslinger

I really enjoyed myself at Pastry Live, not only did I get to see fabulous cakes and sugar and chocolate showpieces, I got to meet a lot of wonderful people as they stopped by our booth. Many were students and I hope that they become life-long clients of ISAC! Thanks Nick, Scott, and Larry for letting me join you at Pastry Live!

I couldn’t include all the amazing photographs from this weekend, so please check out our Facebook page to see more pictures!

Sweetly yours,
Stephanie

Don’t just follow our blog! Follow Chef Lodge on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Flickr, and Tumblr!