I guess they're trying to turn Kerry into the Simon Cowell of cake decorating then if that's all just creative editing.

I have to disagree though about the comment about people wanting to watch it for the drama. Most people turn to the soap network for drama, and to food network for PROFESSIONAL competitions and a bit of culinary education.

(my first FN cake challenge commentary - yay! )

I have never had the pleasure of meeting any of the judges/commentators, but I can assure you that with editing, Kerry is formidable! I used to cringe whenever her name was announced as a judge! Just one televised 'nice moment' would go a long way with viewers, I'm sure.
I thought Michelle B's cake was breath taking - wedding look or no, it was a cake I would have died for at 16! (and yes, I do think the judges comments influenced Rae Ann's decision)
I thought the whimsical cake was very cute, but I have a 12 year old DD (going on 25), and I knew it was going to be judged as too 'childish'. (yes, they all want to be grown up as soon as they hit double digits) *sigh* I think what sunk her with the birthday girl was the fact that she initially spelled her name wrong...
I have never seen Michelle Doll's work before, but I feel pretty safe betting she doesn't have any teenage daughters - that said, I did like her butterflies! (and yes, I realize I couldn't even come CLOSE to her decorating skills )
To me, James was the 'comeback kid'. I can't help but remember the Simpson's challenge where Ted gave up and James saved the day! (And I was glad to see James take the lead this time!) I loved the vines as pillars, and his flowers blew me away! This one was my pick too (as an old fogey vote lol)...

Sorry if I hijacked the post, I was just excited to finally feel like I could contribute with the rest of the artists here on CC!

James' Cake was my favorite hands down. Probably because I'm partial to tulips. But I liked the cake with the purse as well. I think the only thing that made that cake seem younger than 16 was the crown, it was kind of chunky and looked like something I'd get my child to play dress up with, not that I'm complaining I still liked the cake very much. I just thought James was able to get intuned with his 16 Yr old girl side.

cCc

I finally got to see the show after I recorded it on TIVO. I read the postings on this forum before I watched the show and kept them in mind while I watched. I wasn't as affected by Kerry's attitude as I was by what the '16 year old' said. She pretty much seemed to trash James' cake but ended up picking it as her favorite. I loved Michelle B's cake the best. I would have loved it for my 16th birthday! The wife and husband duo had the 2nd best cake, altho I would have done the crown differently. Michelle Doll's cake was 3rd best. I felt that James didn't even take into consideration any of the info that Rae Ann gave him; he had developed a cake in advance and he was going to use it. Just my opinion!

What I am most shocked about is the extravagant party for a 16 yr old. I can imagine we will be seeing Rae Ann ten years down the road....on Platinum Weddings.
All the cakes were amazing, and really did like the winning cake, guess they all would have been a little over the top for your average sweet 16 imo.

Actually, if you have ever watched MTV's Sweet Sixteen, the birthday seemed very sweet and not at all bratty (and that's the nicest way I can think of to say it) than the girls on that show.

hellieoh wrote:

You shouldn't be so shocked.......actually parties of this type are pretty traditional especially in the South.....

From Wikipedia - - -
A debutante (or deb) (from the French débutante, "female beginner") is a young lady who has reached the age of maturity, and as a new adult, is introduced to society at a formal presentation known as her "debut" or "coming out". Originally, it meant the young woman was eligible for marriage, and part of the purpose was to display her to eligible bachelors and their families with a view to marriage within a select upper class circle. This traditional event varies by region, but is typically referred to as a debutante ball.

Don't forget the over-the-top sister party, the Quince!

Oh yaaaaaa, shouldn't forget that one either!

James' cake was a layer of chocolate, a layer of cookies in cream filling, a layer of white, and layer of chocolate ganache, a layer of white and layer of cookies and cream, and a layer of chocolate. Well, the cake flavors might have been reversed, but you get the general idea.

As far as the thickness of filling, the instructor of my baking/pastry classes says he always does a layer of filling as tall as the layer of cake.

golfgirl1227

Regarding your instructor's reply is that just for taste testing? Or how would he keep his super large wedding cakes from bulging under the weight? Could you ask him? Pretty please...

I just watched the show yesterday and I'm pretty appalled at some of the things I saw. I believe this is the first time I've seen competitors "sort of" bashing at each other's creations. Michelle B. said she didn't understand why James had not taken any of the girl's input into account or how Lisa had incorporated the cheer leading stuff when she, Michelle, had specifically asked the girl if she wanted something from the cheer leading world included in the cake and she said: Nah... Then, when Michelle's cake was leaning, James noticed it and with what it seemed a sarcastic smile said: It's leaning.. like he was happy about it. Also, Lisa seemed overconfident about the whole situation and her reaction to the birthday girl telling her that her name was misspelled was certainly weird (I suppose it was a bigger matter than I had thought... well, not spelling the name of your client right IS a big matter). Kerry did seem pretty mean, but I don't know her personally and this could all well be the editing. But the look of disgust when she pushed aside the chocolate cake with mint filling was a little too much to bear. Also Michelle Doll's reaction to Kerry Vincent's comment about her butterflies was not very professional, in my opinion. They were upside down, they were whimsical and upside down. Kerry never said they were not botanically correct.

With all this said, I think Michelle B.'s cake was the one that captured the best what the girl said in the interviews with the decorators and if it looked "wedding like", well, the girl's dress looked "wedding like". Of course, the cake was for the girl so she had the right to change her mind and choose Jame's cake, which was gorgeous. Just not for a Sweet 16 but the girl has the last word. I think she had a little bit of a crush on him.

I hope the Food Network realizes that these competitions are interesting and fun because people love to see these beautiful works of art. They don't need to add any drama to them.

I too think that FN sheds a negative light on Kerry Vincent. It's a shame too, because I only know of her from "Challange" and I too think her comments are mean and uncalled for. I couldn't believe her "behavior" when tasting the cake and pushing away the mint cake. I thought the "Wedding Dress" cake matched the girl's theme. I thought it looked more like a wedding than a "Sweet 16" party anyway. Geesh, it put my wedding to shame! However, I was happy that James won after Kerry's comments and everyone going about it not matching a "theme". I even told my DH, "Just for that, I hope James wins!".

The FN is no different than any other network - editing is used to create drama. Most viewers of this particular channel don't seem to really care about drama, but there's already 3 pages devoted to mainly the drama of the show, not the cakes. They do it because it does keep people watching and coming back. Watching the challenges and judging Kerry Vincent based on that is rather like thinking Jennifer Aniston is just like Rachel on Friends. And personally, I get rather cranky after sitting in a chair for 15 minutes, let alone the same hot room for 8 hours!

Now the cakes. I thought they were beautiful. It really is a shame that kids are growing up so fast these days. I swear if I hear one more teenager state, "It's really not ME." I will scream. I have yet to meet a teenager who really does know who they are. I'm sure they're out there, I just haven't met them. The fact that she did seem so influenced by the other judges just proves she's not sure of herself yet. I thought Michelle did a great job creating an elegant princess cake, a little on the wedding side, but isn't that what a wedding cake is? A cake for a princess?

I too think we should talk more about the cakes themselves...

I think James cake did show off his techniques very well. Obviously, he is great with the flowers! But, the way he added them was different and unique and that's what she went for! I never heard her say she wanted something different though?? Anyone else?

I think maybe Michelle B's didn't get picked because it had all those swags..yes, like a wedding. And the girl ended up taking in that the judges thought it was weddingish and she wanted to be more grown up. That's the only thing I thought. Maybe the girl did want a more "grown up" pink! LOL

I too can see where teenagers are wanting to grow up too quickly. I know I was one of them being married at 19 going on 20 but, that was right for me. Now! My sister who JUST turned 18 decided she wanted to find out what the real world was like and just left her Dad's house to go live with a boy and be on her own! THAT'S GROWNING UP TOOO FAST!!! It makes me sad to think there is soo much pressure on kids now days.

I love a cake with a lot of filling. The cookies and cream cake looked so delish! I think I'm going to request something similar for my birthday!
As for the layers of filling, I'm big on filling and use at least 1/2" of mousse. The trick is making the icing dam around the edge or using a filling that is as stiff as the icing. When stacking these cakes, NONE of the weight of the cakes above should rest on the cake. It should all rest on the pillars, or dowels, for those who use them.
Filling is only second to icing!

Yes, that cookies and cream looked AMAZING! and I too agree filling should be about the same size as your layers.

I wanted to dig into James' cake too! It looked fabulous! I make a cake with each tier having 3-layers, with 2 layers of chocolate cake, 1 layer of cheesecake in between, and filled & iced with IMBC. It is heavenly, but next time I make it, I'll do a cookies & cream cheesecake w/ganache filling & IMBC icing. Drooling just thinking about it! (not literally)

My favorite part of the show was the Q&A period with Rae Ann. It was interesting to see how the different competitors utilized that time. I think it was smart to ask questions focusing on the cake - "What colors do you like for the cake?" versus "What are your favorite colors?" Some of the competitors did better than others in that department. It makes you realize how important it is to ask the right questions and be on the same page with whomever you're making a cake for!

I also wish they'd leave some of the drama out. I get the sense they are "baiting" the competitors to talk about each other, then editing it. It will be interesting to see if, in future competitions, the competitors continue to make those comments now that they are turning up in production! They might have their guards up a bit more. Either way, I'll keep watching - Challenge is one of my favorite shows!

Bec

OH! I wanted to add my 2 cents again!

How is it that the one girl came up with the butterfly cake when they watched a video of the girl and talked to her but, she still did butterflies? I really didn't understand how she got that. But, I did think it was a tad rude that Kerry pushed her cake away. Those flavors are one of my favorites to use!

i will have to try and catch a re run...i dont have any electricity....hurricane dean paid us a visit so our power was cut off. (jamaica) hopefully we will get it back soon...we have a generator...thats how come i am on now.

I was amazed that the girl wore a wedding dress for her sweet 16 party! It was definitely a wedding dress (long, white, with a beaded, strapless bodice), not just a fancy dress...
At 16 I had a sleepover and a cake made by my mother - NOT a practice wedding!

I like Kerry Vincent, even her TV persona... but I am a "if it sucks, says it sucks" kinda guy.

I'm 35 so it's been a while since I was 16, but 19 years ago 16 year old girls (at least at Palm Springs High School) liked drinking Boone's Farm and making out. When Michelle Doll said that "16 year old girls like butterflies" I couldn't stop laughing....butterfly tattoos maybe.

I looked at the dresses. Most of them seemed to be on the same page as wedding dresses, and looked just like wedding dresses. I guess I just don't get that somehow 16 is a milestone in any way other than that you can get a driver's permit. I see no reason to treat it differently than any other birthday...not my culture, I guess. I wonder if that may have been the problem with some of the decorators, as well?

But I do want to say that I liked the cakes, and agreed with most of the judge's remarks.