Thursday
Feb212008
Cake Byte: A Super Sweet Giveaway and Cake Poll from Cakespy!
Thursday, February 21, 2008 
If you read this site, it's likely you're already living the sweet life; but today, life is about to get sweeter still. Why so? Well, we've decided to give away a Cakespy original mini watercolor painting to one lucky reader! Like whoa!
How can you put your name in the running? It's easy! All you need to do is this:
- To satisfy our nosy tendencies (we are spies, after all), fill out the below Cake Poll! You can leave your responses in the comment section, or send your responses via email to jessieoleson@gmail.com.
- At 12pm PST on Sunday, February 24, the Cake Poll will be closed. The winner will be chosen at random, not based on their responses. The original will then be shipped to the lucky winner within 48 hours, via the most economical method.
As for our fine print: The results of this poll will be used for entertainment and Cake Gumshoeing purposes only; we may summarize the results of this poll in upcoming posts. Your private information will not be shared with any outside parties. Also, we've elected to leave the cake poll open to all US Territories, Canada and abroad--so even overseas cake enthusiasts can take part! *As for the prize itself, it is the miniature framed painting pictured at the top and to the left; no substitutions are allowed. And so, without further ado, let us poke at your most intimate cake details (if emailing your answers, please include your name and the best way to contact you if you win!):
- Where did you grow up? Where do you live now?
- What were some of the special cakes from your childhood (a Birthday cake? Grandma's German Chocolate? Or perhaps something from the local bakery or supermarket? Anything goes for us as long as it was special to you.)?
- Presently, how often do you eat cake or cupcakes? No judgments, we promise.
- If you were stranded on a desert island and had to live on one type of cake or cupcake for the rest of your life...what type would it be?
- On cupcakes, what is your ideal ratio of cake to frosting? 50/50? 2/3 cake, 1/3 frosting? 3/4 cake, 1/4 frosting? Other?
- How do you feel about cakes or cupcakes from mixes?
- What's the best thing about eating cake or cupcakes?
- Is there a such thing as a bad cake? If so, what makes it bad?
In the meantime, have a very sweet weekend!
tagged breaking cake news, cake art, cakespy mischief
breaking cake news, cake art, cakespy mischief
Reader Comments (94)
1. I grew in the suburbs of Boston, MA. I now live in Brooklyn, NY.
2. My favorite cake for my birthdays when I was a kid has to be ice cream cake.
3. Maybe once a month.
4. Green Tea (Matcha) Cake
5. I think that frosting can be too sweet sometimes, so prefer more cake with a light frosting. Unless it's whipped cream frosting.
6. I think they can be okay, but I prefer to make all my cakes from scratch.
7. The best thing about eating cake is drinking it with a tall glass of cold milk.
8. A bad cake is dry and the frosting is too sweet.
1. I grew up in Illinois and Southern Utah. I live in Las Vegas now.
2. My special cakes were a lemon cake on my birthday each year. It was from a box, but it was the special flavor just for me.
3. A couple times a week, but that's because my friend just opened her http://www.retrobakerylv.com" REL="nofollow">cupcake bakery. I'm sampling everything. My consumption should slow down (if I'm being responsible!)
4. Without a doubt, lemon.
5. 3/4 cake, 1/4 frosting.
6. I used to be 100% fine with them, since it was all I knew. But after being exposed to real, from-scratch cupcakes, I don't need the boxed kind.
7. The fact that a cupcake is an individual dessert, just for me! It's not some chunk of a bigger group dessert, somehow that feels more special.
8. Unfortunately, yes there is a bad cake. I can't handle it when a cake is really dry.
1) I grew up in Pearl River, NY which is about 30min away from NYC. Now I am living in Wappingers Falls, NY.
2) There are 2 special cakes my mom used to make for passover...one was a flourless chocolate cake and the other was a cheesecake. She always made this for the sedar and served it with a raspberry sauce and homemade whipped cream. My sister and I loved it becausee there was always leftovers and we would eat that for breakfast for the rest of the week.
3) I don't eat cake as often as I would like...maybe 2 times a month. Of course more during the holiday/birthday times of the year. If I had my way it would be every day!
4) I am boring but I could never get sick of eating Chocolate cake with vanilla frosting...oh I want some right now!
5)It depends on my mood but I would say the average for me is 2/3 cake and 1/3 frosting.
6)I am ok with it but I do think homemade is just as easy as a mix to make.
7)I think the best thing about eating a cupcake is the portion size...one is just a perfect little snack and having more is just fun! The best thing about eating cake is there is lots more where that slice came from.
8) Unfortunately yes there is such a thing as a bad cake but that doesn't mean I will stop eating it. I think the worst is when it is too dry or too sweet and doesn't have any taste. Also when people try to put to much flavor into a cake and you can't figure out what it is suppose to be.
1. Where did you grow up? Where do you live now? I grew up in the Chicago suburbs, but I now go to school in (and am soon moving to) Northeastern Iowa.
2. What were some of the special cakes from your childhood (a Birthday cake? Grandma's German Chocolate? Or perhaps something from the local bakery or supermarket? Anything goes for us as long as it was special to you.)? : When I was really young, what mattered to me was how cool my cake looked, and my mom would always do cool cakes that I requested for my birthday. Later on, though, my favorite cake became my Great Grandma's homemade chocolate cake - I think I only had the real thing once, and though I have the recipe, my family tells me no one else has been able to exactly recreate it.
3. Presently, how often do you eat cake or cupcakes? No judgments, we promise. Oh gosh, probably only once a month.
4. If you were stranded on a desert island and had to live on one type of cake or cupcake for the rest of your life...what type would it be? CHOCOLATE
5. On cupcakes, what is your ideal ratio of cake to frosting? 50/50? 2/3 cake, 1/3 frosting? 3/4 cake, 1/4 frosting? Other? 3/4 cake , 1/4 frosting - Even if the frosting is amazing, it's still only there to compliment the cake; and chances are, if it's a really good frosting, you couldn't stand much more than that anyways!
6. How do you feel about cakes or cupcakes from mixes? They can actually be very good when made from a good mix, and really helped get me into baking when I was just starting out.
7. What's the best thing about eating cake or cupcakes? Licking the frosting off the top before you eat it XD
8. Is there a such thing as a bad cake? If so, what makes it bad? YES. I have failed time and time again at making pineapple upside down cake - it always comes out in this dense, mushy goo.
1. I grew up in the Philippines and I currently live in Israel. Really far! :)
2. I guess my most special cake was my 7th bday chocolate cake. That was also my last bday with my dad. (Hehe, it's not as dramatic as it sounds! LOL)
3. I'm a new baker (started only October last year) and I practically bake everytime I'm running out of cupcakes/cakes. I eat it for breakfast with coffee and share it with my Israeli officemates.
4. It will be a Butter Cake, with White Chocolate Ganache frosting.
5. For me it should be 2/3 cake, 1/3 frosting. The frosting should not overpower the cake!
6. I have never tried one, but I do keep a recipe called "scratch cake with box qualities" from baking.911. I can't find a cake mix here in Israel with instructions written in English so I haven't tried it yet. I would like to try it though, for experimentation purposes.
7. The best thing about cakes and cupcakes is the happiness that it brings to people. For a baker like me, the joy and satisfaction that it brings its during creation, and the burst of wonderful flavors that brings warmth to anyone eating it!
8. No matter how good a baker is or how a recipe had been tried and tested, the law of averages catches up. All sorts of problems come up on a bad day - dry cakes, sunken middle, too sweet, soggy, crusty and all other stuff! However, there is no such thing as a bad cake, it's just a bad baking day. :)
1. I grew up and still live in a small town just outside New Orleans.
2. I really looked forward to Turtle Cake during the holidays and Doberge Cake for birthdays.
3. Probably about once a month, on average. I lean more towards cookies, but cake is beginning to edge in there.
4. Doberge cake, easily.
5. I'm going to say 69% cake, 30% frosting, 1% sprinkles.
6. Well, I'm the baker in the house, so I think that mixes take all the fun out of it! They aren't nearly as tasty either, but I don't judge them too harshly.
7. Comfort, albeit temporary.
8. Oh yeah. I think cake is more susceptible to badness than most other baked goods. The worst thing is bad frosting, as I'm in the 'cake is a vehicle for frosting' camp.
1. Grew up in Southern California and am now living in Utah.
2. I was more of a cheesecake kid and my mom made killer strawberry cheesecake. A special cake that didn't get made very often was guava cake- yum!
3. I eat cake or cupcakes a few times a month.
4. Pumpkin spice with cream cheese frosting.
5. 2/3 cake 1/3 frosting
6. Some mixes are better than others, but homemade is usually the best.
7. Cupcakes are cute and I can eat one (or 2 or 3) w/o feeling guilty.
8. Not a big fan of dry or crusty cake. Or cake w/ too much frosting (I know- sacrilege, but I think there is such a thing).
Whoot! This is fun.
1. I grew up and currently live in Southern Missouri.
2. Cake mix. White, usually. My mom would make a simple frosting, and decorate it for the 4th of July.
3. Once every 2 weeks.
4. Dark chocolate fudge cake with a dark chocolate ganache.
5. 2/3 cake, 1/3 frosting
6. If I have to bake a large amount, say like a baby shower, I would probably use cake mix.
I prefer from scratch, though. I can taste the sodium and chemicals in the mixes.
7. For me, it's the ultimate dessert. I prefer cake over any baked good. I especially enjoy a good frosting or ganache.
8. Yes! DRY!
aww this is cute! :)
1. I grew up mostly in a suburb of Dallas, Texas, where I still live, but in my very early childhood I spent a couple years flitting through Korea and Essex, Vermont.
2. My mother would always make me her specialty cream cake every birthday. It's a simple butter yellow recipe with mandarin oranges from a can [including the syrup] and walnut chunks and almond slices. She would top it with homemade whipped cream with shredded coconut on the sides, berries and peaches on the top, and dusted with sweet cocoa.
3. I usually only have cake on birthdays or holidays or special occasions, but they tend to pop up a lot, so I would say maybe once a month.
4. This is an absolutely ridiculous question [only one type???], but I would have to say my mother's cream cake from my childhood, with an addition of a few chocolate layers in between (:
5. I don't like there to be too much frosting. Usually when i make cakes, I like to frost my cakes with homemade whipped cream. I would have to say about 1:3 ratio?
6. Mixes aren't too bad, but there's something sweeter and more comforting about cakes from scratch.
7. There's always something comforting about cakes. The smell, the warmth, the sweetness, and especially the moment you might be enjoying with someone as you eat it.
8. I think the worst case scenario concerning cakes is if it is in excess in any way. Too sweet, too bland, too thick, too dry, etc. Usually, I don't like those giant impersonal cakes at little kids birthday parties because they're overly sugary and don't really represent the flavor. And I don't consider ice cream cakes to be cakes, but those are pretty bad too.
1. Where did you grow up? Where do you live now? I grew up in and currently live in Baltimore.
2. Hot milk cake, sour cream cake.
3. At least once a month, hopefully more often.
4. I like dark chocolate cakes with cream cheese icing.
5. 2/3 cake 1/3 icing. I hate when there is so much icing it gets on my nose.
6. Ick. Why bother? Making form scratch takes like 5 minutes longer and tastes better.
7. It always feels like a special occasion when you eat a cupcake!
8. Yes there is-one with a dried out cake or coarse crumb, crusty icing. Shortening use!
1. Where did you grow up? Where do you live now? I grew up in Pittsburgh, PA and now live in suburbs of Akron, OH.
2. What were some of the special cakes from your childhood (a Birthday cake? Grandma's German Chocolate? Or perhaps something from the local bakery or supermarket? Anything goes for us as long as it was special to you.)? Hands down, an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen! Nothing beat the fudge layer with the crunchies!
3. Presently, how often do you eat cake or cupcakes? No judgments, we promise. Probably about once a month.
4. If you were stranded on a desert island and had to live on one type of cake or cupcake for the rest of your life...what type would it be? Cheesecake! Does that count? It has "cake" in the word ;-)
5. On cupcakes, what is your ideal ratio of cake to frosting? 50/50? 2/3 cake, 1/3 frosting? 3/4 cake, 1/4 frosting? Other? About 50/50.
6. How do you feel about cakes or cupcakes from mixes? They're okay, I don't hate, but I prefer homemade :)
7. What's the best thing about eating cake or cupcakes? The frosting!
8. Is there a such thing as a bad cake? If so, what makes it bad? I've yet to have a bad cake!
1. Where did you grow up? Georgia
Where do you live now? Georgia
2. What were some of the special cakes from your childhood? A plain and simple yellow cake with chocolate frosting
3. Presently, how often do you eat cake or cupcakes? about every other week
4. If you were stranded on a desert island and had to live on one type of cake or cupcake for the rest of your life...what type would it be? Red velvet cake balls
5. On cupcakes, what is your ideal ratio of cake to frosting? If the cake is good, 3/4 cake, 1/4 frosting?
6. How do you feel about cakes or cupcakes from mixes? If I use them, I'll usually add pudding mixes or sour cream to them to make them taste better
7. What's the best thing about eating cake or cupcakes? It makes me feel like it's a special day.
8. Is there a such thing as a bad cake? If so, what makes it bad? Yes, if it's too dry.
1. Where did you grow up? Where do you live now?
Fremont, CA, I now live in San Francisco.
2. What were some of the special cakes from your childhood (a Birthday cake? Grandma's German Chocolate? Or perhaps something from the local bakery or supermarket? Anything goes for us as long as it was special to you.)?
My mother was a cake decorator, so it was more about the designs on top for a long time! I remember My Little Pony cakes, a giant sneaker, NTOKB! haha. Later in life it was Angel Food Cake with frosting!
3. Presently, how often do you eat cake or cupcakes? No judgments, we promise.
Once a week? That doesn't include all the cookies & other sweets, eek!
4. If you were stranded on a desert island and had to live on one type of cake or cupcake for the rest of your life...what type would it be?
Ooh yikes.. vanilla / vanilla? If done well, I LOVE it. I could also throw down on something with caramel or peanut butter.
5. On cupcakes, what is your ideal ratio of cake to frosting? 50/50? 2/3 cake, 1/3 frosting? 3/4 cake, 1/4 frosting? Other?
I'm a frosting girl, but I'll say 50/50!
6. How do you feel about cakes or cupcakes from mixes?
NO, thank you!
7. What's the best thing about eating cake or cupcakes?
Deliciousness! haha.
8. Is there a such thing as a bad cake? If so, what makes it bad?
HELL YES! Dense, dry, flavorless, bad frosting, you name it, I'm a hater! haaaa.
I can be found at leigh@jessiesteele.com, of course... Now, for the business at hand:
1. I grew up in what some hip kids may call the "dirty dirty" AKA: from Dothan, Alabama to Savannah/Atlanta Georgia. I finally escaped the south when I decided to move out here... being Berkeley/Oakland, California. Hallelujah, eh?!
2. I would have to say the most special, though not all the time my favorite, revolved around the coconut. My grandparents live in the Bahamas, and my Gram used to always make cakes, pies, bread, EVERYTHING with fresh coconut. Then, back in the states, my mom would use good ol' pre-shaven packaged coconut flakes + a certain brand of cream of coconut that she doesn't allow me to say out loud. Gotta love the "secrets".
3. I used to eat them every day. Now? Because I sometimes am a health freak, eating organic free range happy crappy foods (I blame my environment), I MAKE the lovely things... then I pawn them off on friends and co-workers, or use them to decorate my house, in cake stands, of course. Sad, isn't it?!
4. Simple: Red velvet with cream cheese icing. God, I love that stuff.
5. 11/16 cake to 5/16 frosting... carb crazy here.
6. I think the history behind the pre-packaged cake mix is interesting... it started this whole revolution. I'm no one to judge, but I will admit... I think birthdays were taken to a whole new level at the invention of Funfetti.
7. The frequent challenge of eating an entire cupcake in one shot. Oh yeah.
8. Yeah, they're called "low fat".
1. I grew up in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, but now I live in Phoenix. I feel odd about this.
2. Typical cakes: a “Happy Day Cake” for my father’s birthday every year. It was white cake covered with a somewhat viscous, shiny white frosting and then dusted happily with fresh flake coconut! And then cake-mix cakes in a 9x13 glass Pyrex dish. Oh, and then the layer cakes I’d try to make twice a year or so.
3. I eat cake whenever possible. I just had my wedding cake try-out day, and it was glorious. Coffee cake, breakfast cake, 2:38p.m. cake, evening cake, Lost is almost on cake, yes.
4. If I were stranded and had to live on cake, I’d live on the cheesecake-flavored cake with chocolate cheesecake-flavored frosting my wedding cake maker makes because oooh lawd, child, that is some cake. It’s Cake. And it would remind me of happy days planning my wedding and eating cake. Love and cake. Love = Cake.
5. Ideal cake to frosting ratio is 2/3 cake, 1/3 frosting. Provided it is good cake and good frosting. Otherwise, we must re-evaluate.
6. Cakes and cupcakes from mixes serve a purpose, like when you forget deodorant so when you’re in the restroom at say, school, or maybe a restaurant you dab some handsoap under your pits. You wash your hands again, of course, but cake from a mix is like that.
7. The best thing about eating cakes AND cupcakes is that first bite. And the last bite, when you’re really glad you got to have cake. That is how you experience true oneness with the universe.
8. A bad cake is one that someone else ate without giving me a piece. Then it must have been bad, and they were only trying to protect me, because no one could be that evil.
1. South Jersey, aaaand South Jersey
2. I remember the first time I was allowed to choose my birthday cake it was a monstrosity with cherry syrup, mint icing, and I can't even remember the cake type, just that it was grey. Ick
3. Not all that often, at most monthly I'd say.
4. Carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.
5. I usually go for a middle piece of cake. It's evolved as I've aged: I started out NEEDING the corner piece, then I wanted a side piece, now I prefer the middle parts
6. They're alright by me, in general
7. The texture and how great milk goes with it
8. I don't think so, I really enjoyed that cake from #2 at the time (I doubt I would now). I mean, a cake can be ruined by improperly cooking it and all, but barring that, I'd say cake is good!
1. West Berlin, New Jersey--Los Angeles, California
2. Fudge Ribbon Cake (chocolate cake with a sweetened cream cheese riboon in the middle and a fudge style frosting)
Hot Milk Sponge (didn’t like it, but my grandmother made it a lot)
1234 Cake (same as above)
Peggy Lennon’s Christmas Cake
3. About twice a month. More often when possible.
4. Hershey’s Deep Dark Chocolate Cake (made with any cocoa other than Hershey’s) with vegan vanilla buttercream
5. 1/3 cake
6. I feel fine about them.
7. Cakes, typically, are not too sweet, unlike pie or pastry, and the sweetness can be adjusted according to the type and amount of frosting. Also, texture, the texture of cake is pleasing to me.
8. Bad cake is dry, flavorless or overly sweet.
Yay goodies!! :-)
1) I grew up in Southwest of France. Biarritz more exactly. I now live in New York City.
2) A special cake from my childhood was the Gateau Basque of course.
3) As much as i can! 2 or 3 times a year. :-)
4) That would be the mille-crepe cake from Lady M in NYC.
5) 1/4 frosting
6) I don't like the artificial taste of most cake mixes. But i'm picky! :-)
7) The pleasure. Feeling good.
8) I would say a really dry cake is a bad cake.
1. Grew up in Texas and other than a small stint in Louisiana and Kansas I have lived here for the majority of my life.
2. I remember three birthday cakes specifically. They were all done using special cake pans and they were Rageddy Ann, Holly Hobby and a Garfield the Cat birthday cakes. I also remember a wonderful plum cake that my Meemaw used to make on a regular basis. I would LOVE that recipe but have not been able to find it in all these years since she has passed.
3. I bake a cake about two times a month and sample cakes and cupcakes as we make them in school, too.
4. Something light with fruit on the side or on top with whipping cream. I do have a milk cake recipe I adore for this purpose.
5. 2/3 cake, 1/3 frosting
6. I will do this in a pinch but prefer the homemade kind from classic recipes.
7. That perfect combination of cake and frosting doled into every single bite.
8. Not really fond of fruit cake! LOL All others will do nicely... :) as long as they are not dry and crumbly. I need a moist light cake.
1. I grew up in Seattle, Washington on Queen Anne Hill... my mom still lives up on Prospect street in a crazy-ass house! I live in Rio Rancho, New Mexico now.
2. My favorite cake, and STILL my favorite, it homemade POUND CAKE. I'm not much of a frosting girl...
3. I buy the kidlets sucky ones from Walmart prolly once a week because I'm too lazy to cook them, and there are no good bakeries in Rio Rancho :(
4. POUND CAKE! And any variant thereof... like a lemon tea cake with drizzly icing or an almondy heavy something cakeness...
5. Mostly cake, please. I'd like the icing on the side to dip my cupcake in, or drizzly on top.
6. Hmmm. I lived in England for 4 years and their cakes SUCKED and I would make boxed mixes from the commissary and the Brit ladies thought that I ROCKED. So mixes can be nice. I dunno... Is that bad?
7. A girlfriend brought over 4 'gourmet' cupcakes for 4 of us girlies to eat... they were all different flavors, so we cut them into 4 bite-sized pieces and shared and it was THE BEST! It was like wedding-cake tasting without the stress of a wedding. A 'round-the-world' cupcake bite would just rock my face off. Long story short, the best thing about cupcakes is SHARING!!
8. The cakes in the UK were really 'mealy' and yuck. And I've had STALE cupcakes - those are most definately bad.
**And this cake-loving Queen-Anner would LOVE to own a morsel of your art!! You guys are excellent :)
1) Manhattan and Connecticut. Philadelphia.
2)Mom made green birthday cakes with blue icing. White cake and icing, tinted with food coloring.
3)Not often enough! Twice or thrice a month.
4)White layer cake with dark chocolate frosting and violets pressed into the icing.
5) 3/4 cake, 1/4 icing.
6) Better than no cake or cupcakes but not as good as from scratch. Often mix cake made at home tastes better than bakery cakes. But again, not as good as from scratch.
7)Grounds you in the moment of deliciousness.
8) Yes. Stale is bad. Chemical aftertaste is bad. Things can go wrong in cake-ville.
1) Grew up in Pacifica, CA. I live in San Francisco now.
2) Special cake: Ensymada Pastry (Filipino dessert)
3) Though I LOVE LOVE LOVE sweets, I restrict my intake to about 1 per month.
4) Red Velvet Cupcakes (with extra chocolate)!!!!
5) 50/50 hahahaa
6) I prefer cakes from scratch.
7) Cupcakes -- practically bite size
8) NO such thing -- not in my book
1. I grew up in N. Florida (The South, U.S. of eh?), now I live in the beautiful Pacific North West in Portland, Or.
2. I remember thinking the Rainbow Bright cake I had on my 3rd birthday was pretty awesome. Also, my Grandma's Butternut cakes..mmmm.
3. I don't really keep track...just whenever the urge strikes!
4. Probably something semi-sweet rather than sickeningly sweet or super rich. I think they'd stay enjoyable longer that way.
5. 2/3 cake, 1/3 frosting.
6. I admit I cheat and use them sometimes...but I always tinker with them to make them better.
7.um...the eating of them! This question seems self-explanatory, haha!
8. I think they could be pretty terrible if along with the sweet goodness they came complete with eggshells and baker's hair.
I an be contacted at charrell@pdx.edu.
-Candice
1) I grew up in Sydney, Australia. I am now at law school in Boston.
2) My mother barely cooks, and definitely doesn't bake. My usual birthday cake was a frozen Sara Lee Black Forest Cake, which is a cake that is remarkably delicious when only half-thawed. (But only average, at best, when fully thawed.) I think it's something about the cherries.
3) About once every two weeks.
4) Lemon pound cake soaked in lemon glaze. Tangy and delicious, and it wards off scurvy, too!
5) It depends on the kind of frosting. If we're talking buttercream, or gooey chocolate, 1/3 frosting. If we're talking any other kind of frosting... someone else can have my frosting.
6) Mixes can be useful, particularly if you can make buttercream without a problem, but experience technical difficulties with white cake. *cough*
7) Second helpings.
8) I maintain that angel food cake is a dreadful creation. You say "ethereal," I say "sweetened sawdust."
1.Richmond; Fredericksburg/Richmond
2.My mom’s recipes for her Coconut Cake and her blue-ribbon winning Carrot Cake
3.Only on birthdays/holidays
4.Apple Cake with Caramel Glaze…mmm or Tres Leche Cake…mmm
5.2/3 Cake, 1/3 Frosting with a little extra frosting on the side
6.Cakes from mixes are fine. In fact some cakes from mixes I’ve had are actually better than cakes from scratch because the emulsifiers and assorted chemical things that are in the box mixes make the cake moister
7.Actually, I like pie better…
8.Dry Cake **Shudder**