Tampa's cake boss shows The Stew a circus-worthy marvel
Chef Michael Baugh shows off his creation for Ringling Bros. and Tampa General HospitalBy JEFF HOUCK The Tampa Tribune January 17, 2011
Let Them Eat Cake website--A talk with TLC's 'Cake Boss'
A couple years ago, I watched Michael Baugh build a horse.
Sitting cross-legged on a stool in front of a table, he traced the profile of a galloping horse with a delicate line of modeling chocolate at Let Them Eat Cake, his bakery in South Tampa. He made it all look so casual and easy, as if he were working a crossword puzzle.
With the steadiest of hands, he filled in the outline with more chocolate, building it up during the next half-hour into a three-dimensional form. Then he did it again with the horse facing the other way, eventually combining both halves into one solid horse that topped a cake for a client who was celebrating the Kentucky Derby.
He probably had done that particular trick a million times. But I'll never forget seeing it.
So I was interested in watching Baugh work on a cake for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus two weeks ago. The circus was performing downtown at the Forum and the cake was to be unveiled at a party celebrating its 20th year working with Tampa General Hospital.
The Tuesday afternoon before the big reveal, the masterpiece was little more than a star-shaped sheet cake and buttercream pedestal.
It's one thing to watch one of the myriad cake shows on television. It's another to see it happen in person as the pieces fall into place.
Baugh and his six assistant chefs designed the 300-pound cake – it is the greatest show on earth, after all -- after watching a Ringling Bros. dress rehearsal in late December. The performance gave them clues they could incorporate into the cake.
So there was a giant electrical cord around the base to mimic the giant versions the circus clowns "plug in" to start the show. And there were electrical bolts to signify the "fully charged" theme of this year's show. A horseshoe-shaped 20-pound chocolate sculpture looked just like the one through which circus acts entered the performance area.
Then there was the 30-pound chocolate Indian elephant that the group sculpted and painted. And a circus performer perched on the beast's left leg.
In total, it would take about 150 man-hours to turn 180 large eggs, 50 pounds of sugar, 20 pounds of ganache, 35 pounds of fondant icing and 50 pounds of chocolate into edible art.
Unlike the cake shows on TV where, Poof!, the cake magically appears and icing and sculpting seem to happen instantly, Baugh waits for his cakes to cool before icing them.
Also, his cakes are intended to be delicious as well as functional. The circus creation was a Jour Et Nuit Cake, better known as a Day and Night Cake. With alternating white and chocolate layers, it featured French chocolate mousse, chocolate ganache and a white chocolate raspberry torte made with a raspberry buttercream. Strawberries lined the base to add a fresh, luscious touch.
It's the attention to detail that makes his cakes special. Like the way he asks brides to bring their dress patterns to the store so he can match them in icing. Or the intricate shades he brushes onto a Star Wars cake to make it look green and moldy, just like Yoda's skin. Or the 1,400-degree blowtorch he hovers just above the icing of the circus cake to give it a glossy sheen.
"I love my job," Baugh told me. "We get to have fun with your food."
Let Them Eat Cake website--A talk with TLC's 'Cake Boss'
A couple years ago, I watched Michael Baugh build a horse.
Sitting cross-legged on a stool in front of a table, he traced the profile of a galloping horse with a delicate line of modeling chocolate at Let Them Eat Cake, his bakery in South Tampa. He made it all look so casual and easy, as if he were working a crossword puzzle.
With the steadiest of hands, he filled in the outline with more chocolate, building it up during the next half-hour into a three-dimensional form. Then he did it again with the horse facing the other way, eventually combining both halves into one solid horse that topped a cake for a client who was celebrating the Kentucky Derby.
He probably had done that particular trick a million times. But I'll never forget seeing it.
So I was interested in watching Baugh work on a cake for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus two weeks ago. The circus was performing downtown at the Forum and the cake was to be unveiled at a party celebrating its 20th year working with Tampa General Hospital.
The Tuesday afternoon before the big reveal, the masterpiece was little more than a star-shaped sheet cake and buttercream pedestal.
It's one thing to watch one of the myriad cake shows on television. It's another to see it happen in person as the pieces fall into place.
Baugh and his six assistant chefs designed the 300-pound cake – it is the greatest show on earth, after all -- after watching a Ringling Bros. dress rehearsal in late December. The performance gave them clues they could incorporate into the cake.
So there was a giant electrical cord around the base to mimic the giant versions the circus clowns "plug in" to start the show. And there were electrical bolts to signify the "fully charged" theme of this year's show. A horseshoe-shaped 20-pound chocolate sculpture looked just like the one through which circus acts entered the performance area.
Then there was the 30-pound chocolate Indian elephant that the group sculpted and painted. And a circus performer perched on the beast's left leg.
In total, it would take about 150 man-hours to turn 180 large eggs, 50 pounds of sugar, 20 pounds of ganache, 35 pounds of fondant icing and 50 pounds of chocolate into edible art.
Unlike the cake shows on TV where, Poof!, the cake magically appears and icing and sculpting seem to happen instantly, Baugh waits for his cakes to cool before icing them.
Also, his cakes are intended to be delicious as well as functional. The circus creation was a Jour Et Nuit Cake, better known as a Day and Night Cake. With alternating white and chocolate layers, it featured French chocolate mousse, chocolate ganache and a white chocolate raspberry torte made with a raspberry buttercream. Strawberries lined the base to add a fresh, luscious touch.
It's the attention to detail that makes his cakes special. Like the way he asks brides to bring their dress patterns to the store so he can match them in icing. Or the intricate shades he brushes onto a Star Wars cake to make it look green and moldy, just like Yoda's skin. Or the 1,400-degree blowtorch he hovers just above the icing of the circus cake to give it a glossy sheen.
"I love my job," Baugh told me. "We get to have fun with your food."
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