George & I went on the Holland America Oosterdam to the Mexican Riviera--Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, & Cabo San Lucas--for the 2009 Cake Cruise. 138 other cake fanatics and significant others joined us for a spectacular time.
It's hard to imagine anything more relaxing than 3 days at sea filled with cake decorating demos and hands on classes, paired with 3 days in 3 gorgeous ports snorkeling and bird watching.
The cake celebrities on the cruise were Susan Carberry, Colette Peters, Norm Davis, & Zane Beg. It was great to see them all again, having so much fun.
I took a modeling class from Susan Carberry. The dalmation eyeing the oversized bone was my creation. Colette Peters taught a class on royal icing portraits and I enjoyed learning the technique. Sadly, it just didn't photograph well for me. Demos included making fantasy flowers directly on a cake (Colette), creating a detailed Mexican-themed margarita and pinata cake (Susan), and creating an easy handbag cake (Norm & Zane).
On the final day of the cruise, 30 attendees, who had been chosen by lottery, participated in a series of 2 decorating heats that ended in a 3-person Mystery Challenge.
In the first heat of 30, I was chosen as one of 9 winners for my "floral motif" design done with only a rose nail, a rose tip on a bag of pink icing, and a parchment bag of green buttercream. I chose to do a modified version of brush embroidery, using my finger and the sharp end of the rose nail.
In the second heat of 9, I had to create a sea creature using red, yellow, green, black, and white fondant. The only tools I had to use were my hands and a toothpick. 3 of us went on to the finals where we were challenged to decorate an 8-inch round cake in a Mexican Riviera theme in 90 minutes.
My assistant (Patsi Shandera) and I completed the cake on time, and although we didn't win (the hot lights and swaying ship wreaked havoc with my "water" on the top of the cake, making it drip in the last 2 minutes of the challenge..........), we had a great time working together. George was my greatest cheerleader and photographer. I never would have suspected that I could cover a cake, make waves, model an island, a person, a tropical hut, a palm tree, and El Arco in just 90 minutes. How the major cake competitors work under such pressure for 7 hours, I'll NEVER know!
I learned some new tricks and had some spectacular fun! Can't wait to go again in 2011 !
