We're Movin On Up.....

Have you heard?

Flour Confections is moving!

We needed more room so we could offer much more in terms of fabulous products and fabulous classes! We secured a new location mid September- not far away, just around the corner in fact - and started renovations the following week, just before I left for Tulsa! My life has been a bit hectic!

The new location will feature a larger retail area and state of the art multi-media dedicated classroom!

Construction is almost done and now things are really going to get hectic as moving will start - all the while I have orders to fulfill!

Our current location will officially close on November 5th at 6pm and we will open at our new location on Tuesday November 9th at 10am!

As of November 9th 2010, we will be located at:

1084 Brock Road (Salk Road) Unit 5
401/Brock Court Plaza (just south of the 401 in the plaza with Sweets Galore & The Facial Place)
Pickering Ontario
phone 905-492-2692
fax 905-492-2692
sales@flourconfections.ca

Tulsa or Bust!

Tulsa or Bust!

Lately I have not sat still for any length of time. Between the business, wedding season, classes and so many other things, there just hasn't been the time.

At the end of September, I made my annual journey to Tulsa Oklahoma to attend and participate in the Oklahoma Sugar Art Show (OSSAS). This year not only did I complete a few entries for the Sugar Art Show also known as the Divisionals, but I also created an entry for the Grand Wedding Cake Competition as well as took part of the live lunchtime competition which was Crazy Cupcakes.

My journey started out on a rough note, not only had I come down with a bad cold and was trying to recover from that as well as work, but my friend, colleague and driving partner Karey suffered a terrible car accident as was unable to join me. She is now in recovery and is doing well.

Carol & Connie leading the way

Faced with the option of either not going or doing the 20hr drive alone, I was torn. Fortunately I have many amazing friends in the cake community and I was able to call upon them for help. My friends Carol & Connie were driving down from Michigan, and offered that we do a caravan so that I was not alone on the road. I left a day earlier than planned so that I could arrive at Carol's home and be ready for the following mornings journey. On Thursday morning, we all got on the road for our very long drive. We drove all day and into the evening, stopping just past St. Louis Missouri for the night. The following day we made the last leg of the drive, rested a bit and went to set up our entries. For the rest of the time in Tulsa, we were walking zombies - having fun but tired all the same!

Once the pressure of making "the delivery of your life" was over, we were all able to relax, socialize with our friends from all over the US, and enjoy fair food!! Anything fried on a stick!

no this is not all mine!! Here is an array of fair food including: deep fried chicken, deep fried cheese curds and deep fried pickles!

and if deep fried is not your thing, then how about cookie dough dipped in chocolate on a stick?

Every year at the show, there is always a live timed competition, this year I was asked to participate. The theme was Nursery Rhymes & Folk Tales and the medium was cupcakes. Along with Gary Silverthorn, Dawn Coffin-Parrot and Peggy Tucker, we had 1 hr 30 minutes to complete our cupcake displays. It was great fun to do and fun to see what everyone came up with. Although my finished piece didn't place, I had a great time competing! Congratulations to Dawn who won 1st place!

here are the completed cupcake displays - left to right: Gary Silverthorn, Dawn Coffin-Parrot, Me, Peggy Tucker

I always plan on entering more, but time and life get the better of me, and I take what I can. This year I entered 2 divisionals and the Grand Wedding Cake. My cookies took 1st place in the Masters division and my wedding cake entry earned a Bronze standing. The entries this year were amazing - I'm so honoured to have been recognized amongst such a group of talented artists!

My wedding entry entitled "High Society" was inspired by the main hall of the Pittock Mansion in Portland Oregon. The flowers were inspired from an amazing art nouveau candelabra that sits upon a table at the base of the grand staircase. Elements from the ironwork on the balustrade, the marble stairs, and detailed carvings completed the design. A big thank you to Suzanne for sewing my tablecloth - it was gorgeous! And thank you to James Rosselle for advice regarding the flowers.
My winning cookies were hand cut using a template, iced with flooded royal icing and details were added freehand in both royal icing and edible food paints. Inspired by Fairy Tale drawings of artist Scott Gustafson

Now you would think I could sit back and relax....but no....lots more going on - stay tuned!

In the meantime, I will try to take a few minutes to think about my entries for next year......

The Boss was here - The Cake Boss that is.....

If you were not aware, Buddy Valastro aka The Cake Boss is currently on tour performing a live interactive show. He was in Toronto last night, and my friend Karey and I went down to check it out.

The show opened to a screaming crowd of enthusiastic cake fans - the opening song - Pour Some Sugar On Me! This was obviously going to be a rowdy show!

After a quick intro, Buddy called upon the women of the audience to come on stage for a cupcake decorating contest. To the music of the Flight of the Bumblebee, Buddy quickly demonstrated the cupcake design. Then each contestant had to do their best to recreate the design. THIS was a sight to see! Needless to say, some were better than others. Now what's good for the goose is good for the gander, and so the men had to come up and prove they had what it takes! Ummm ...sorry but no, they didn't! LOL! It was all in good fun and it was entertaining!

Other portions of the evening included how Buddy became "The Cake Boss", his experiences, a slide show presentation of some of the work he has done over the years & a Q & A portion. Overall it was a fun family show for anyone who loves the Cake Boss!

Caddy Wampus Cake with Bronwen Weber

The 2nd class with Bronwen was one I was really excited about - the Caddy Wampus! In this class students learned how to created this gravity defying cake - sure to wow guests at any event! students learning how to assemble their stands

Not only did we learn the beauty of the stand design, we worked with live cake to see how stable the construction was - all cakes left the shop assembled and made it home just fine (mine is still standing a week later! And no I'm not going to eat it!!!)

Bronwen demonstrated how to use her favourite fondant (and one of mine too) Fondx properly - we covered the dreaded square cakes with ease. From beginners to professionals, no torn or cracked corners in the room!

Once covered, we learned simple and quick decorating techniques that give a WOW to any cake. From applique to Lambeth, we did it all as we had 12 sides to work with

Bronwen demonstrating piping - amazing to watch!

Thank you Bronwen & Francois for an AMAZING 3 days!

Postcards from San Diego

On the eve of the first day of September, I can barely keep up with all that has passed in August!

Early on this month, my family and I traveled for the first time to California to attend the ICES Convention in San Diego. WOW - can I just say I LOVE California!! Palm trees - EVERYWHERE! The weather was gorgeous every day - it was a much needed break! Besides the convention, my family & I were able to enjoy the sites - visiting the San Diego Zoo, SeaWorld & LegoLand!

The convention was amazing - not only were there some great demos and displays, but all the amazing things to see and buy in the vendor room was a much added bonus! Keep your eyes out for new items coming soon to the store!

My all time favourite part of convention is catching up with old friends and meeting up with new ones! My first day in the vendor room I never saw a single thing for all the socializing I was doing! ;) I had the pleasure to finally meet in person my dear friend Debbie Goard of Debbie Does Cakes. And right after meeting her, I was introduced to Wayne & Chuck from Swank Cake Design. We started to walk around the show only to bump into Becky Rink from About the Cake and Sharon Zambito of SugarEd Productions.

And if that wasn't enough, that evening I joined my amazing sugar friends for a great Mexican dinner in Old Town - Minette Rushing, Jacqueline Butler, Tandra Watkins & Tracy Auseklis. Best margaritas ever!!

The following day was my day for demos - amongst the many I attended were Stop to Smell the Sugar Flowers with the talented James Rosselle and Character Sculpting with the adorable Lauren Kitchens. Anyone who attended the packed demo was in for a major treat - not only was the subject so fun - but it was a star studded room! Lauren demonstrated her techniques for creating creative characters from structure & modeling chocolate - her subject - James Rosselle aka James Rosecake! Don't miss out when Lauren comes to Flour Confections in February to teach her techniques in person!!

photos courtesy of Lauren Kitchens

That evening I had another fabulous dinner at Searsucker with an amazing group of talented people - all aboard the hot tamale train!!!! But that's another story....

Farewell San Diego - I hope to see you again very soon!

3D Bulldog with Bronwen Weber

August has been a busy month - travel, cakes, classes - oh my!

The day after Bronwen's demo in support of the MS Society, we hosted 2 classes.

The first was a 3D carved bulldog complete with lessons on airbrushing techniques. Students watched in awe as Bronwen demonstrated how 3 half sheet cakes quickly became a cute bulldog perfect for any birthday! Bronwen is a natural teacher and has a way of making everyone at ease - those that were terrified to pick up the knife were quickly carving away without fear. It was amazing to watch all these dogs come to life!

getting ready to make the first cut

cake anyone??

One of the highlights of the class (besides our famous signature cookies!) was to see Bronwen in action doing what she does best. Using fondant and her hands, she quickly "pulled a face" on her dog - amazing to watch!

After all the dogs were covered with fondant, out came the airbrushes so that students could learn how to control the gun and ways of blending colour. Once confident, students started to give colour to their dogs.

learning how to airbrush

putting on the finishing touches

who let the dogs out??

Bronwen's BACK!

Last year as part of our celebrity guest series, we had the privilege of hosting 2 fabulous classes with Bronwen Weber. Well, she and Francois had such a fabulous time (as did we) that they wanted to make it an annual event!

And now it's that time of year again - Bronwen Weber is here!!! Today we hosted a special event for the ICES chapter of Ontario and for the MS Society of Canada. Bronwen & Francois graciously donated their time to do a demonstration with all proceeds going to the MS Society.

Today's demo: A carved dragon in 1 hour!

Using 2 1/2 sheets, some buttercream, fondant, a knife and an imagination - Bronwen took us through the process and how NOT to fear carving cake!

Attendees were in awe of how quickly a sheet of cake became a cute & creative dragon!

Bronwen demonstrates how you need VERY fancy tools to create details in your cake!

Now for a touch of colour...

A few more final details.....

TA - DA!! A fun loving dragon anyone would love to receive!

Thank you so much Bronwen & Francois for an amazing demonstration. Together we raised over $850 for the MS Society of Canada!