Hi there!  By the time you read this, Christmas will be less than 1 week away.  Yikes!!  I’m sure you are running around picking out last minute gifts for everyone on your Christmas list.  I know I still have some shopping to do!

If you are still trying to figure out what to get the favorite sugar artists on your list, I have an idea for you.  How about giving them a Nicholas Lodge class and some Florida sunshine?? 

Chef Nicholas will be a part of the 2020 FL ICES Mini Classes, in Orlando, Florida.  This is a 3-day event and is scheduled for January 17-19, 2020.  The event is sponsored by the FL Chapter of the International Cake Exploration Society (ICES) and will be held at the Renaissance Orlando Hotel.  This hotel is located just a few minutes from the Orlando International Airport, and they offer a free shuttle to the hotel, so you don’t have to worry about any transportation!  There will also be a lot of vendors at the event and a raffle where FL ICES will give away a 6qt Kitchen Aid mixer!

Chef Nicholas will be teaching all three days.  Each day in class you will learn to create a different and unique set of gum paste flowers and leaves starting at 8:00 am. 

The first class, on Friday, will be Tropical Gum Paste flowers where you will learn several tropical flowers and orchids including Plumeria, Anthurium and Bougainvillea.

 The next day, Chef will teach his class on Bridal Flower Spray.  He will show you how to make a beautiful Rose, Calla Lily, Hydrangea, Baby’s Breath and so much more, using the Flower Pro molds.

On Sunday, Chef will teach a class on Fabulous Foliage.  This class is perfect to learn about foliage that will go with any of the gum paste flowers you make.  You will learn how to make, assemble and color many different types of foliage including Variegated Ivy, Maple leaf and freehand filler leaves. 

Everything you need to participate in the class will be provided for you.  If you have ever attended one of Chef Nicholas’ classes, you know that he packs a lot of information and details into his classes.  All you have to do is show up, ready to learn!

Chef Nicholas has been attending this event since its inception back in 1999.  He has always given his time and talents graciously to the FL ICES organization and we love it when he comes to Florida!  I’m sure he loves getting out of the cold weather in his area in January for a little bit of Sunshine.  Why don’t you join us!?  The deadline to sign up is approaching fast, so don’t delay!

Here is the link to the website where you can get more information and register. 

One last thing to note, there will be a special demonstration with Chef Nicholas and Sidney Galpern of Simi Cakes on Saturday evening.  You will not want to miss this because when these two get together with sugar, you never know what you are going to see and learn!!

Hope to see you in January!

Stay Sweet and Keep Learning!

Lately there has been a bunch of buzz about knock-offs in the cake industry. A lot of buzz. You may be thinking to yourself, "Who cares if it is a knock-off? It's the same product for a fraction of the price!" That's not taking into account the entire picture though...

Cake, cookie, cupcake, and candy making is our business at ISAC (what, you guys didn't know that? HA!!). You may have also noticed we sell a lot of tools to make all those sweet and delicious treats. To the uninitiated, a cake supply store selling floral tape is a bit confusing, but we all know that Chef Nicholas is the all time reigning champ on finding sweet related uses for ordinary everyday products. Because Chef Nicholas is so creative, he sees things like  ice cube trays as flower formers. Things we mere mortals would never be able to envision ourselves. I cannot tell you how many times I have seen Chef Nicholas pull out a mundane tool or household object, and then do something incredible with... the best part is hearing his students actually OOH and AHH during this mind blowing process.

My favorite example of this was a few years back at our Grand Holiday Open House event. Chef Nicholas had a cake on display that had fondant in the exact same texture as a comfy, cozy thermal shirt. Many people were murmuring that there must be a new texture mat out, because how else could you achieve that look. When Chef Nicholas presented the cake during his demonstration he whipped out a piece of drawer liner. Yes you read that right. DRAWER LINER. He simply pressed it onto the fondant and voila! Instant thermal cake. I mean, come on man! 

Many of our readers know that Sidney Galpern, of Simi Cakes, is a frequent guest instructor at ISAC. Sidney is a superb all around pastry chef, but she is best known for her isomalt designs. Many of our students have taken classes with Sidney in Studio B, and we are so excited to be offering two classes with Sidney this June. In the past, I had written a few blogs dedicated to different products that shape the cake decorating (and pastry) world. As I was brainstorming ideas for this week's blog, I reread some of these previous blogs for a bit of inspiration. I thought it might be fun to tell you all about this history and science behind isomalt. And, Sidney, if you are reading this- I hope I get it all right!

Memorial Day is just around the corner, and that means summer fun is officially on its way! June is a BIG month at ISAC; Sidney Galpern is returning to Studio B with three isomalt classes, and Chef Nicholas has two classes (including a BRAND NEW CLASS)!

Hold on to your isomalt hats everyone! The ISAC team was excited to host Sidney Galpern for our Grand Holiday Open House this past November, and her two holiday themed classes filled up very very quickly. We decided to heat up our Hotlanta summer even more by inviting Sidney back to teach three incredible isomalt classes: Beer on Ice, The Shoe is on the Other Foot, and Dancing Dolphin.

Before I tell you more about each class, let me share a bit about Sidney: she is a Certified Professional Chocolatier, cake designer, sugar artist, and an ICES Approved Teacher. She graduated with honors from the prestigious Ecole Chocolat School of the Chocolate Arts (the youngest student to ever complete the program!). She has trained with top sugar artists and chefs in New York City, London, Orlando, and West Palm Beach. For the last eight years, Sidney has taught, demonstrated and judged sugar and cake decorating at venues such as Keiser University, The Cake Cruise, ICES Convention and Days of Sharing, The Festival of Chocolate, at cake clubs, restaurants and cake supply stores as well as teaching private classes... She is the owner of Simi Cakes & Confections in Melbourne, Florida. Oh, and she plays the drums. I met Sidney for the first time at our Grand Holiday Open House, and let me tell you. She is just as awesome as she sounds. She is a fantastic instructor and her talent is, quite frankly, indescribable. Since I cannot put into words how talented she is, let's just talk about the three classes she will be teaching in Studio B!

On Saturday, June 11, Sidney is actually teaching two half-day classes! From 9am- 12pm, students will be able to take Sidney's Beer on Ice class; and, as the title suggests, students will learn how to make a life-sized, 3D beer bottle and ice cubes! Oh, and every student will get to keep their very own beer bottle mold! Hooray! In the afternoon, from 1pm-5pm, Sidney will be teaching her The Shoe is on the Other Foot class! Students will be learning how to create a stylish 6-inch, free-standing, isomalt high heel shoe! The mold used to create this shoe offers a couple different elements so that you can create a variety of custom designed shoes. Very fancy. Students in this class are also lucky enough to be taking home the three-piece shoe mold Sidney uses in class. These classes will likely fill up very quickly, our half day classes tend to be extremely popular! Experience is not needed for either of these classes, but if you do have isomalt experience, it will be helpful.

On Sunday, June 12, students are in for a real treat; Sidney is pulling out all the stops for her Dancing Dolphin isomalt cake topper class. In this hands-on class students will learn how to cast isomalt pieces and techniques on pulled and blown isomalt. Using these skills, Sidney will teach students how to create a gravity-defying dolphin leaping over waves and coral, accented with beautiful pearl bubbles. As with the two classes on Saturday, no experience is required, and all skill levels are welcome. 

If you would like to sign up for any, or ALL, of Sidney's classes in Studio B, just click the class names above to sign up online. Or you can call and sign up over the phone by calling 1-800-662-8925. If you missed out on Sidney's classes at ISAC in November, don't miss out on taking one of her classes with us this summer!

Sweetly yours, 

Stephanie

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

Winner of the 2015 Craftsy Blogger Award for Best Craftsy Cake Decorating Instructor Blog

And the winners are...

First things first... I am pleased to announce the winners of the 2nd Annual Snow Globe Competition! The First Place winner in the youth category is Annabelle Columbo. In the adult category the Second Place winner is Lourdes Diaz, and the First Place winner is Christopher Taylor! Congratulations to all the winners and competitors, thank you for taking part in our fun holiday contest!

Guess what? Our Grand Holiday Open House is only 6 weeks away!!! Have you signed up for your spot yet? This year we are going to have a brand new format and TWO, yes TWO guest instructors! Sidney Galpern and Joshua John Russell will both be gracing ISAC with their presence for your cake decorating pleasure! That's not all, both Sidney and Josh will be teaching classes after the Open House as well!!

Sidney Galpern AND Joshua John Russell at ISAC!

Is it too early to start talking about our Grand Holiday Open House this coming November? Nope, didn't think so. Well, this year our Open House will be a bit different. We will have two guest instructors! That's right, TWO!! Sidney Galpern and Joshua John Russell will be lighting up ISAC with their cake decorating super powers. So, if you haven't yet signed up for our Grand Holiday Open House it's never too early, especially  since you are getting instruction from two highly skilled guest instructors andour very own Chef Nicholas Lodge! But wait, there's more...