Cake Off

My latest in the Herald Journal:

The competitors huddle and turn to scrutinize their opposition. They look fierce. Strategies are exchanged in hurried whispers. Their performance has to be flawless, they know, to beat this level of professional. They've trained, focused, sacrificed, and planned. It has involved a lot of sugar.

TLC's Ultimate Cake Off isn't for cream puffs. Amelia Carbine, Logan pastry artist and owner of Frosted Fantasy Cakes isn't one. She is an extreme cake professional. Her towering, delicately colored confections have taken prizes at national venues, the big leagues of sugar competition. Now she and her team are facing their toughest sugar challenge yet, on national television.

Her latest prize-winner is five layers high. A tall-sail ship, modeled after the real thing, "The Spirit of Bermuda" turns starboard on the bottom tier. A parchment-colored map of the Bermuda Islands has the name of each beach and port elegantly scripted along the edge. Coral pink sand and turquoise-blue waves crest the other tiers. The top it is crowned with a traditional stone Caribbean arch (called a moongate) and native flowers ... the pink showy Poinciana, delicate white Oleanders, and petite blue and yellow Bermudianas, impossibly thin and intricately sculpted.

And if your sweet tooth nudged, you could theoretically eat the whole thing, from the ship's sails, to the Oleander petals, to the mottled stonework on the arch.

Carbine got the bug for competition early. She entered a cake competition at the Salt Lake County Fair. "I thought it was going to be bigger than it was, and I went way overboard," she said. "I got best in show. But I really wanted to know how I leveled up with everyone else." So the next month, she entered the big one, the Grand National Wedding Cake Competition. And she came home with a ribbon.

"Everybody deserves to win," she remarked charitably. "It's just that I want to be that winner." She shares an ironic smile. "I don't like getting second or third. I do it to prove to myself, and to other people that I make the cut. If someone can beat me, good for them," she said, laughing at her own determination.

Carbine is a cheerful, but fierce competitor. She grew up with competition. She majored in music, and played the clarinet in solo and concert contests. "I was always the first chair, or close to it," she said. Music got her accustomed to having the public watch, and judge, her performances.

"Sugar is a great medium to work in," said Carbine. "It combines a lot of techniques - painting, baking, sculpting, floral arranging and color. I haven't reached a limit in that medium. There is always something new to try."

Carbine sells custom cakes out of her home and personal business, Frostedfantasycakes.com. She teaches cake decorating classes at Kitchen Kneads in Logan, and at national venues. TLC's Ultimate Cake Off featuring Carbine airs March 22 at 8 p.m.

Amelia's Kick-Butter Cake Recipe

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups sugar

3 eggs, separated

3 additional egg whites

3 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Cream together softened butter and sugar; beating until smooth. Add egg yolks one at a time until well combined. In another bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt. In a separate bowl, combine milk and water. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix well then stir in vanilla and almond extract. In a bowl, beat 6 egg whites until stiff peaks form and then fold into the batter. Pour into 2 greased and floured 8" or 9" round cake pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-35 minutes, or until the center is set. Cool in the pans for 10 minutes then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.



Amelia's Chocolate Buttercream-your-opponent Frosting

1/2 c shortening

1/2 c butter

3/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp almond extract

4 c powdered sugar

3 Tbsp milk

3/4 c dutch processed cocoa

Cream butter and shortening. Add vanilla. Add powdered sugar gradually. Add cocoa. Add milk. Mix on low to medium speed until smooth and fluffy. If icing is too stiff, add more milk.

Tools for the beginner:

Use light-colored cake pans. Dark ones produce an unpleasant crust. The pans also need to be light-weight or the cake won't set in the middle. Buy two 8- or 10-inch round pans to have around the house for occasional celebration cakes. Also essential is a cake spatula. It should be long (to get a good smooth surface on the frosting), and angled (to position layers, and to keep your fingers away from frosting when you are decorating).

Tips for cakes:

Start with a good foundation and a workable frosting. Make a cake from scratch. Box cake mixes are too soft and crumbly to support frosting and decorations. Use a recipe that will make a good, sturdy cake.

Tips for decorating:

Use frosting that isn't too stiff. If you use fondant, get a rolling pin, and collect your favorite cookie cutters to press out decorations. Fondant can be time-intensive and finicky to make from scratch. Good-tasting prepared fondant is available online. Carbine suggests Satin Ice for the best flavor.