May 20, 2009

AMERICAN IDOL CAKE
Hey all! :) So during the day I work at a university bookstore. On weekends I work at Susina Bakery (a French Italian bakery). I work A LOT. Have I mentioned this 1200 times? Oops. Hee hee. :) But alas, that is not the point of this blog! My point is that my boss at the bookstore commissioned me (I like to use that phrase, it makes me sound fancy!) to do an American Idol themed red velvet cake. YAY!!!

So I started with a little red velvet & cream cheesiness... (Cheesiness? Cheesy-ness? Cheezynass? Je ne sais pas how to spell).
Red Velvet. NUM.


She had a whole design & pretty much said, "This is what I want! An American flag & the AI logo! Can you do this??" I pee my pants & hyperventilate. "Puh-shuh! American flag, American Idol Logo- of course... That's like- no biggie!" I say. Then I rush out of the room & vomit into the mixed paper recycle bin. *sigh*

I always get nervous & pee my pants. Although I LOVE a challenge, it's that rush and insecurity of 'Can-I-Do-This!?'...'You-Never-Went-To-Pastry-School, Amanda!'... 'You-Are-A-Fraud!'

And I only work with buttercream. Fondant tastes like poodely oodely to me, so I pipe everything. And if that's the case I'm going to make, I need to get better at my piping. And I should get better with fondant because although it's the flavor sensation of play-doh, it is very pretty and creative!

Ryan: Let's see what the judges have to say. Paula?"


Paula: "You know, Mandi... you just... I... I-- stop it, Simon! First of all, your apron is beautiful. And you have come- Simon, I'm trying to talk here! You're acting like a six year old that doesn't have his ice cream! You've come so far in this competition and you are NOT a fraud. You really just pulled it off and you know... I just... I love strawberries. Great job!" *Paula cries.*


Randy: "Yo, yo, yo, Dawg... You knocked it out, dawg. I'm not crazy about the piping but you used your pastry bag toward the end and that was slammin', dawg, aiight? I used to work with Martha Stewart and I've chopped a few strawberries with Rachael Ray so..."


Simon: "Your piping just doesn't cut it. In this competition, we're not looking for the county fair blue ribbon. We're looking for real, certified chefs that know how to manipulate a baked good. All I can say is that tonight's performance was like watching a cake decorator at Vons unthaw frozen cheesecake."



*sigh* Freakin' Simon. :)




P.S. Hey! If anybody watches American Idol, my sissy Darci (Darci Farci Ding Dong) does a review every week. Check her out! Working Musician's Review Or feel free to take a listen to her- She's an INCREDIBLE singer and just put out a new CD: Darci RULES! YEAH, SHE DOES!!!

15 comments:

Miss Daisy said...

Loved the post. Cake looks lovely. Well done, Mandi.

Dave said...

Dude. HOW DO YOU DO THIS?!?! How did you learn to decorate cakes? I mean, seriously. SERIOUSLY. I am decorating cookies today and I'm all psyched because of how clever I am, but them I see this cake and think, "I have a lot to learn!" I AM SO GLAD YOU STARTED THIS BLOG.

Dave said...

How did you do the logo?

Christan said...

Gorgeous cake.. you're are too funny.

MammaDucky said...

Bahahaha! Good stuff. Hopped on over from my bestie's blog...you know, she's Sassy!
Loving your cake. I want to eat it.
P.S. Fondant is crap. Pretty crap, but still crap. Who wants to waste calories on THAT when you can have pretty AND tasty with different kinds of Buttercream?! Hellloooooo!! Ok, marshmallow fondant is slightly better tasting, but can't top Buttercream. BUTTER-CREAM. Even sounds better then fondant. Yucks.
Why am I rambling?? Too much coffee I think.

stacy marie said...

red VELVET?!

where are MY CUPCAKES!!!

ARRRGHHGHH!!!!

oh, lovely cake :) yummy.

MandiCrocker said...

Oooooh, Sassypants Wifey has sassy friends! I loves it! :)

MandiCrocker said...

Robynski! I started decorating cakes when I was little & just kinda picked it up along the way. I actually was a cake decorator at Vons for a month so I learned a little airbrushing there, etc. (Why am I not there anymore? They misquoted what I'd be making by 50%- WAAAAH!)

As for the logo, I looked it up on google. Made 3 different kinds of blue frosting. Did a navy oval. Then wrote in white over the top. Surrounded it with the other colors using the smallest cake tips I have. It's a little messy but it's also a very, very small space!!! :)

And thank you for the compliment, Miss Christan Lane!!! Welcome!! :)

Lucy Marie said...

You've got my vote!! 1-800-IDOL-05?

Trish said...

Ha! Ha! Ha! A daily dose of you is what the doctor ordered! The cake is gorgeous!!!!

Anonymous said...

It's gorgeous! And...bonus, I will be at the AI viewing party and I get to EAT IT! In your face all you MandiCrocker fans! I will tell you all how delicious it is tomorrow!

Mel said...

The cake looks fabulous. Don't listen to Simon LOL!! Just found your blog and I LOVE it! Are you related to Pioneer Woman? You both crack me up! And your blog makes me hungry!

karen said...

Very cool!

I was hired to do some AI invitations for the finale tonight :)

http://www.toastedglitter.com/2009/05/american-idol-party-tag-invitation.html

The Farmers Wife said...

That looks awesome! Great job. I say your piping looks good. So simon can put that in his pipe(ing bag) and smoke it! Ha!

Momza said...

Hilarious! Beautiful yummy cake...it got my vote