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.Where did you grow up? Where do you live now? Louisiana, Virginia
2.What were some of the special cakes from your childhood? Homemade (by me) chocolate birthday cake for my birthdays, Nana's lemon layer cake, the other Gramma didn't bake, but always had Pepperidge Farms layer cakes in the freezer.
3. Presently, how often do you eat cake or cupcakes? On average, once a week. When in NYC every day.
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 cake with white buttercream icing.
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? 1/3 frosting to 2/3 cake
5. How do you feel about cakes or cupcakes from mixes? If they're tasty, I'm fine with it. No judgement.
6. What's the best thing about eating cake or cupcakes? Cake always loves me! No, really, it just makes me smile.
7. Is there a such thing as a bad cake? If so, what makes it bad? Is there such thing as bad sex? HA! I kid. The worst is a cake that's beautiful, but flavorless. Dry cake is pretty bad, too. Oh, and whipped cream icing, that's bad for cake.
1. Where did you grow up? Where do you live now? Knoxville,TN and I am still here in Knoxville, TN
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.)? I always wanted chocolate cake with chocolate icing..my mom always made them from a box and can icing.
3. Presently, how often do you eat cake or cupcakes? Here lately 1-2 times a 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? I would have to say chocolate on 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? I would have to say 50/50.
6. How do you feel about cakes or cupcakes from mixes? I would prefer to make them from scratch, but when you are in a hurry, boxes do just the trick.
7. What's the best thing about eating cake or cupcakes? Getting the icing all over your face like a kid again!
8. Is there a such thing as a bad cake? If so, what makes it bad? Dry cake, a bad tasting cake, and that sickening sweet from crisco and powdered sugar frosting.
This is so neat!! I can be reached at tiffanymichele@Optonline.net
1. I grew up and still live on Long Island, NY.
2. My mom made me a choo-choo train cake, a teddy bear cake and a Ms. PacMan cake for some of my birthdays. It was always a treat to wake up that morning and see what there was waiting for me.
3. At least once or twice a week.
4. Yellow cake, chocolate frosting (the fast fudge frosting recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook)
5. 2/3 cake, 1/3 frosting
6. I don't think they're bad at all. There's a reason for progress.
7. The happy full feeling afterwards. Picture the cartoon where the dog goes up in the air by his ears and comes sailing down to the ground after eating a bone - that's how I feel after good cake.
8. Yes! The worst is dry diner cake that's been sitting in the display case too long.
Oohhh so fun! :)
1. In sunny Singapore and I am still living here now.
2. I love the soft chiffon pandan flavoured cake here in Singapore. I get them from the local bakeries.
3. I eat them at least 3 times a month during a busy school schedule. More often when I'm free with loads of time to bake.
4. Strawberry cheese cake. Yum-O.
5. 1/3 Frosting to 1 cake.
6. I use them for large portions and add my own touch to it with the frosting/icing. But as much as possible I bake from scratch.
7. Licking up the plate.
8. There's such cake, from a baker who is bad at learning. However if the baker is patient enough, there is no such thing as a bad cake. Sincerity is all that matters.
Where did you grow up? Where do you live now?
I grew up and still live in Redding Ca.
What were some of the special cakes from your childhood?
My mom made a choclate cake mix in a 9X13in pan and served it with hot fudge sauce she made. Then she would pour the rest on the left over cake and it would get kind of hard and sugary. I liked it best hot!
Presently, how often do you eat cake or cupcakes?
Wow, let me look back over my posts. 2 a month?
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 chipotle cinnamon. I'm hooked on that flavor combo!
On cupcakes, what is your ideal ratio of cake to frosting?
2/3-1/3
How do you feel about cakes or cupcakes from mixes?
O.K. buy me!
What's the best thing about eating cake or cupcakes?
The party in my mouth.
Is there a such thing as a bad cake? If so, what makes it bad
I just baked a bad cake. It was all eggy in the middle.
1. I grew up a bit of everywhere! Born in WI, 7 years in East TX, 2 in NC, and the last 16 north of KC, MO (where I presently reside with my hubby of 3 years)
2. My Granny makes an Apple-Stack cake (I promise to try to recreate it soon and link you on it b/c it's divine) It's yellow or white cake baked in 9" rounds thin like pancakes, then layered up with Apples or Applesauce that she cooks down with all sorts of different spiced until it's this great consistency, then she piles it all together..a day in the fridge and some ice cold milk, heaven.
3.Presently, I'm 7 mo pregnant, and where I probably SHOULDN'T be eating cake so much, I'm making cupcakes at least once a week. Did I mention I'm having a girl, and that print would be SOOOO cute in her bedroom? Hint hint!
4.ooh, hard one. I don't think I can really get tired of coconut cake, and hey..since I'm on an island..I could have fresh coconut!
5. 3/4 cake, 1/4 frosting. As much as I love frosting, I've only come across a couple that I can really do a 50/50 on. And of course different flavors of cupcakes need different icings..so it depends on that too. I'm more on the cake though.
6. I'm an equal opportunist. However, with that being said I've recently started making from scratch, and I really do think they taste better.
7.The texture euphoria. That great feeling you get in your mouth when the frosting hits the roof and the spongey/crumbling cake hits your tongue. Ahh...that gave me chills.
8. It's hard to make it bad, but it does happen sadly. Cake that is too dry, and frosting that is too heavy can really dampen the dream.
1. i grew up in Singapore and the Middle East...i was a Third Culture Kid...i'm living back in Ireland now.
2. my great aunt made the best gingerbread ever! i wouldn't even let her cool it properly before i started nagging her for a slice. my nana made fabulous rice pudding...you'd wake up in the middle of the night to eat it only it never lasted that long!
3. oh no!!! and now the truth shall set you free... twice a week...sometimes more...gulp!
4. caramel mudcake cupcakes with vanila buttercream icing
5. 2/3 cake, 1/3 frosting
6. have never used them...i'm a make-it-from-scratch-kinda girl!
7. it's the perfect portion for one! you don't feel guilty for not wanting to share, you don't feel like you're over-eating, it's the perfect one-person sized helping!
8. not long ago someone brought to my house one of those frozen pie desserts from the supermarket and even though we followed instructions when baking it in the oven it just tasted...from a package.
1. Grew up in Fowler, Michigan and now live in San Jose, California
2. I can think of 3 memorable cakes. My mother's upside-down pineapple cake, moist and buttery. My mother's chocolate chocolate-chip cake with this creamy white icing. Third would be a chocolate cake with thick chocolate buttercream frosting from a local bakery.
3. I only have them once a month, but that's only due to self-retraint.
4. I love all sorts of fancy flavors, but there's something about a white cake with with frosting (i.e. like wedding cake) that is mellow and soothing.
5. 2/3 cake, 1/3 frosting
6. Mixes are quick, but often flavorless and with a different texture. Nothing compares to cakes/cupcakes made from scratch.
7. They make me happy. They are one of those foods that just relax me.
8. Yes. Frozen cakes from the grocery store are bad cakes. They are lifeless and the texture feels likes air (not cake)
*fingers crossed that I win*
allen@eatingoutloud.com
1. I grew up in Las Vegas. I now live in Salt Lake City.
2. My mom wasn't a great cook. So I learned to cook pretty young. Since I was old enough to bake, I was the resident cake maker/decorator. When I was 12 I made a cake for my dad with little penguins swimming and chilling on icebergs.
3. Oh, I probably eat cake every other week.
4. I love fancy cupcakes with interesting flavors. But if I could only eat one for the rest of my life, I'd choose chocolate with chocolate frosting.
5. I usually scrape off the frosting leaving just a small amount left on the cake.
6. I'm totally fine using a box mix, as long as you don't use oil and add something special to it.
7. Cake and cupcakes usually means a celebration of some sort. I love the idea of someone having a cake made especially for them.
8. I usually don't care for grocery store bought cakes.
Thanks for this...I needed to take my mind somewhere else today...
1. Northern Utah
2. I remember cute little ceramic knick knacks on my cakes as a child. I also remember grandma's pecan pie. No one could make it better. She is gone now and I have the recipe, but it just isn't ever as good.
3. At least three times a week. Mostly just taste testing before my cakes go out the door.
4. Lemon cake with vanilla custard filling and cream cheese icing. mmmmmmm....
5. Depends on the icing, but mostly I like just enough to keep the cupcake moist.
6. Love them! If you make them right that is. If you add certain ingredients and play with mixes a bit, they taste almost homemade and the mix can be your best friend in a fix!
7. As long as people keep eating cake, I stay in business. *grin*
8. Dry cake. Hate it! I would rather it be undercooked a bit than dry. There is nothing worse.
1. The awesome central coast of California and now the bay area of California.
2.Cherry cream cheese cake was always my birthday request...my mommy made it every time.
3.Not very often.
4.Cherry cream cheese cake.
5.1/4 frost to 3/4 cake.
6.Mixes are fine.
7.Diving into another world of pleasure.
8.Non-fluffy cake=bad cake.
1. I grew up in Massachusetts and still live there.
2. My mom baked constantly while I was growing up. I love anything she bakes. It's hard to pick one cake, but I loved how my brother and I could pick any cake that we wanted for our birthdays. I'm usually the type that says surprise me, but vanilla or chocolate with mocha frosting was always wonderful. Oh and I remember the first time I saw a marble cake I was so excited! Vanilla and chocolate in one cake! Could life be any sweeter?
3. It depends if it's a birthday month or not, but probably 4-5 times a month.
4. One type of cake or cupcake... That's a hard one. Maybe an Angel Food Cake? I think because it would be light and a desert island would be hot.
5. I think 1/4 frosting.
6. For me personally, I feel like I'm cheating if I bake from boxed mixes, but if other people are baking for me, I have no problem with it. They still taste good.
7. The best thing about cake and cupcakes is not only the taste but the texture. The moistness of that bite of cake with the sweet creaminess of the frosting. I do like to lick the frosting off my fingers if I'm not in public! It's the pure joy of it that brings me back to when I was a kid.
8. It's hard to find anything bad about a cake or cupcake. If the cake is dry or has some other weird texture problems, that is not good and it may not be worth the calories. It should be mushable with your fingers. Also, if there is no flavor or some weird flavor, that's bad.
HOLY-MOLY!!!! I'm think'n my chances are slim on winning (over 60 comments already!?!?!?), but I LOVE the challenge! OK, here it goes:
1. Grew up in Dallas, TX living in San Jose, CA (with 2 states & 1 country in between)
2. Holly Hobby 1978 (I'm such a dork!). An aunt baked it all by herself just for me & it was wonderful - I felt extremely special to have so much care taken for me.
3. No lie, I have cupcakes in the oven now (2-3 a week - that's why I don't have time to call Weight Watchers!)
4. Darn, that's hard. The Pink Lemonade Cupcakes I made the other day were pretty darn good.
5. 1/3 frosting.... unless I'm baking for kids (50/50)
6. Nix on the Mix! Just as easy from scratch.
7. The best is sharing your cakes or cupcakes with friends - that's why I bake so much.
8. Bad cake, impossible! As long as every cake is baked with love, then it's good!
Thank you, dear, for the contest!
Carmen's post; carmen.morency@gmail.com
1) I grew up in the small town of Epsom, New Hampshire! I currently live in fabulous Boston, MA.
2)The most special cake of my life was the cookie monster cake my Mum made for me as a little person. She also made an awesome owl cake for me a year or so ago.
3) I would like to eat cake or a cupcake every day. I really eat one or the other.. once every other week. But I think of them all the time!
4) I could survive on lemon cupcakes with strawberry frosting.
5) My ideal ratio of cake to frosting is 1/3 frosting to 3/4 cake.
6) Mixes or from scratch.. the age old question. Well, I am into making from scratch but I love my mamma's cakes that are all about the mixes. Tie!
7) The best thing about eating cake or cupcakes is the magical feeling I get deep inside.
8) Yes, there is such a thing as bad cake. Sadly.. if the frosting is too lardy or if the cake is too dry.
~the end~
1. Where did you grow up? Where do you live now?
Apopka, Florida, the indoor foliage capitol of the world. Currently living in Corvallis, Oregon, where hippies go to die... (:
2. What were some of the special cakes from your childhood?
Chocolate mayonaise cake. Moist & delicious!
3. Presently, how often do you eat cake or cupcakes? No judgments, we promise.
I'd say three times a week with all the baking I do.
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 Hazelnut Cream
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?
2/3 cake, 1/3 frosting
6. How do you feel about cakes or cupcakes from mixes?
They can work in a pinch, but you can taste the difference!
7. What's the best thing about eating cake or cupcakes?
Cupcakes-- they're all yours. Like it was made specifically for you and you don't need to share. Cake? It's for sharing you get a piece of the collective and everyone gets basically the same thing. I dont know, it's just lovely.
8. Is there a such thing as a bad cake? If so, what makes it bad?
Forgetting the sugar? (:
1. I grew up in Trumbull, Connecticut (southwestern CT) and I now live in East Granby, Connecticut (north central CT).
2. Special cakes from my childhood include Boston Cream Pie (which my paternal grandmother made once or twice from scratch, but usually she'd just buy one from a bakery), a lamb-shaped cake my mom made for Easter when I was little (sweetened shredded coconut was the lamb's "wool"), and cupcakes that my maternal grandmother made with NO recipe and NO measuring utensils -- just throwing in a little bit of this and that. Those cupcakes always came out perfectly light and sweet. But generally, ANY cake was special when I was a kid; I just love cake!!!
3. I eat cake/cupcakes maybe once a week. I'd keep cake lying around even more frequently if I wasn't afraid of weighing 400 pounds!
4. My desert island cake would be a dense, moist chocolate cake. I have a recipe for a bittersweet chocolate cake that would probably be a good desert island cake.
5. I like cupcake frosting to be a sweet treat just for the top of the cupcake. So maybe only 1/4 frosting.
6. These days, I refuse to bake from a mix. I have been known to say "baking from a mix is not 'baking' at all." Recently I went to the King Arthur Flour baker's store in Vermont, and saw all the wonderful mixes they offer, and I'm planning to try some soon -- so I may change my mind about mixes! If somebody else bakes from a mix, I have no problem eating the results, but I DO NOT want to hear a mix user moaning about how "hard" or "time-consuming" it is to bake.
7. The best thing...oh I don't know. It's just...CAKE. Cake is awesome. And cakey. It's one of the best simple pleasures, as far as I'm concerned.
8. I have had bad cake. Bad cake usually means it is too dry and/or doesn't have enough sugar. I only need one hand to count the number of times I have encountered an inedible cake. It doesn't happen often, but it happens.
1. I was born in Seattle, WA, where I still live. I love this blog because you talk a lot about local things!
2. The cake that stands out most in my mind wasn't my cake. One of my friends had one of those barbie cakes for her birthday, with the cake as her dress with her torso sticking out of the top. I thought it was just the coolest thing!
3. I think I probably eat cake or cupcakes about every other week.
4. Probably red velvet with cream cheese frosting, or yellow cake with fudge frosting.
5. Probably about 1/4 frosting. Maybe a tad more.
6. They're fine, as long as it's a nice mix.
7. Cakes and cupcakes are just joyous. There's no such thing as a bad memory involving cake.
8. Bad cakes are too dry, have too little frosting, or are not sweet enough.
1. Grew up on a scenic Long Island - still live on scenic Long Island.
2. My grandma's Polish babka and my mom's pineapple upside down cake. Plus black and white cookies from Dortoni's Bakery in Levittown.
3. I've developed a bad habit of buying cupcakes from Buttercup Bake Shop in Manhattan - once sometimes twice per week.
4. Red velvet cupcakes.
5. There is such a thing as too much frosting - so 60:40.
6. Do not measure up to homemade plus cupcakes are fun to make!
7. Getting the right combo of cake and frosting in one bite - it's both an art and a science.
8. Yes - cakes must be moist and not too sweet.
1. I was born in Geneva, switzerland and grew up there and still live in the same town/country.
2. I remember my birthday cake: chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream and icing.
3. At least once a week.
4. A Swiss speciality: "Kirschtorte (Kirsck Cake)".
5. 2/3 cake, but 50/50 is also fantastic!
6. I'm not a big fan of that!
7. The smoothness of the cake and the scrumptious buttercream/icing.
8. Yes! Bad texture and nasty taste... Too greasy or too dry.
Cheers,
Rosa
you KNOW I'm living the sweet life, with all the baking I do :0D
I'm going to email my responses - what a fun contest!
1. Grew up in Davis, CA, now live in San Diego.
2. Spice cake with penuche frosting was a family tradition. That reminds me, I should ask my mom for the recipe.
3. Presently, I eat cakes or cupcakes maybe once a month.
4. My desert island cupcake would be... carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.
5. I really don't like piles of frosting, so I think my ideal ratio would be somewhere along the lines of 1/4-1/5 frosting, 3/4-4/5 cake.
6. To be honest, these are the kind I make the most. I'm lazy.
7. The best part about cupcakes is how the cake and frosting mixes in your mouth.
8. My sister and I, when we were little, made cakes without recipes. Apparently we used the entire bottle of vanilla, among other things. That was a bad cake.
1. Grew up in CT, live in NYC
2. Any cake baked by Marilyn Rubin. Or Christine Abbenda.
3. I try to keep it to no more than once every couple of months, which is hard since I pass by Crumbs on my way home every day.
4. So hard to choose... I guess I'll go with vanilla w/vanilla buttercream. You can never go wrong with a classic.
5. 2/3 cake, 1/3 frosting
6. They can be delicious if you add things to them.
7. It makes me smile.
8. Definitely. Dry cake is not worth eating.
1. Grew up - St. Louis, MO. Now - Soddy Daisy, TN.
2. I don't remember any special cakes from when I was little, how sad is that?
3. Whenever the lunch ladies at school make some and put aside a piece for me.
4. Chocolate. Cake, cupcakes, whatever, as long as it's chocolate.
5. 2/3 cake, 1/3 frosting
6. Okay in a pinch, but not as good as scratch.
7. The simple joy that it brings.
8. Yes. My girls made me one for my birthday when they were younger, and they left out some important ingredient. I'm not sure which one, but whatever it was, it was very important! Because up until that point, I'd never met a cake I couldn't eat!
1. I grew up in Pensacola, Fl.....and I STILL live here. (*sighs*) lol
2. Petit Fours from J's Bakery.....Mmmmmm.
3. Before baking became my passion, I ate cake maybe 5 times per yeart. Now I eat cake atleast once a week, lol.
4. Carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.....Or maybe dark chocolate cake with chocolate icing and raspberry filling.
5. 3/4 cake and 1/4 icing. Anything more than that will end up getting scraped off.
6. Scratch is where it's at! The only way I'll do a mix is if I'm in a hurry.
7. Cake makes everyone smile! If someone is having a bad day, tell them that you have cake with you and their face will light up. Guaranteed! lol
8. Yes!! Dry or greasy cakes make for a bad experience!
hello cutie!
i typed all this up already but somehow lost it...
1. born in key west, florida
living in southern, oregon.
2. my grandma worked at a bakery when i was a child~~ right down the road from mickey gilley's in pasadena, texas. i thought it was her bakery because of our last name:) ~~ so i sampled and loved many types of cakes. but my
childhood favorite would have to be
TEXAS SHEET CAKE! (sour cream, chocolate, and pecans) hot frosting poured over warm cake.
heaven.
3.right now once a month --due to
lily fat.
4.two layer dark chocolate cake
with mocha and hazlenut frosting.
5. 3/4 cake to 1/4 frosting
sometimes i rub it all off due to a frosting overdose i had as a child.-- sitting in the decorating room at "grandma's bakery" emptying a pastry bag full of wedding cake royal icing into my belly.
6. i feel okay about it. i use them for emergency school stuff.
7. the space between the icing and cake --that layer where they meet. if a yummy flavored (booze)
simple syrup was used- even better.
8. yes-- dry= bad.
and if you slip cream cheese into my frosting- i am gonna be
so mad.
have a great weekend!