Surprise Birthday Cake Challenge-Again and again and again.......
This Food Network Challenge first aired about 3 years ago, I think. But it keeps showing up, 2 or 3 times a year for a week at a time. And then we get a deluge of phone calls and e-mails for a little while and then everything goes back to normal. It always amuses me up when I deliver a cake or meet someone at a food event and they say, "hey, you should do one of those Food Network Competitions, you know the ones where those chefs make all those weird cakes? I bet you could get on there!" Well, Loyal Reader, it may surprise you to know that Just Fabulous has been on the Food Network 4 times in the last 3 years.
The first time was in a segment on the now deceased Sugar Rush, hosted by the adorable and oh so mellllllllowwww Warren Brown, where they visited our kitchen and watched as we made individual Faberge egg cakes. I swore I would never do a Challenge because just the THOUGHT of being in front of a TV camera brought on an anxiety attack. So, when they asked me to be on the Elvis Birthday Cake Challenge I immediately said No Thank You and they said, how about being a judge, then you can sort of get a feel for what it's like? And I thought, hmmm, sort of being in front of a TV camera but without the focus being on me. I bet I can do that. So, that was in Memphis, filmed in the Elvis Pressley Car Museum. Very cool place. Got to stay in the kind of bizarre Heartbreak Hotel. Got to hang after the show with the Amazing Mike McCarey and pre-ace-of-cakes Duff Goldman, eating ribs at the world famous Rendezvous.
Then, I was invited to be in the Surprise Birthday Cake Challenge in Denver. I thought to myself, by golly, get over yourself! This is something you MUST do before you die just so you can say you did it. So, my lovely assistant and I made the trek to a VERY snowy Denver to be on the show. We hauled ice chests and boxes and luggage (you would not BELIEVE the labor and preparation that goes into one of these shows unless you've actually done one) through the snow and completely filled our rented SUV. First stop, Home Depot. It's where most competitors start off. We needed propane (for some reason you just can't take that on a plane!) and some sort of large piece of plywood that we could use for our cake base. Anyway, the rest you know if you saw the show. We got 2nd place. Norman Davis won with his stunning safari extravaganza.
The next one was the Surprise Wedding Cake Challenge which was filmed in Tulsa. That also aired recently and does so several times a year, usually in June during Wedding Week. I felt a tiny bit more relaxed for this one, just knowing the routine a little bit. There's the same cool camera guy, the same smooth "director", the MC Keegan Gerhard who's like your favorite uncle. They're all there. It's fun to meet the other competitors. Having a microphone on for 8 hours is somewhat annoying. I think my assistant and I probably got the most "bleeps" of anyone. Chefs have really bad language habits I'm sorry to say and being women makes no difference. But we're all getting accustomed to that after watching a few episodes of Hell's Kitchen, right? Anyway, once again, we got 2nd place. Michelle Bommarito won with her awesome design. But that's OK. It was still a great experience.
EVERYTHING was sagging in this photo. After 8 (or was it 7?) grueling hours, we AND the cake were showing signs of fatigue!
