“It was the ultimate ‘Hey, figure it out,’” said Taylor Ross ’99 of her appearance on Food Network’s
Challenge. “Doing the challenge was a blast, but is was so much work,” recalled Ross, who recently competed with fellow Wilmington, North Carolina cake decorator Alison Meehan in the Walt Disney
Beauty and the Beast cake
Challenge. And what a challenge it was! This particular episode pitted four competitors and their assistants against each other to make delicious, elaborate cakes in the time allotted—only eight hours. Competitors were assigned a theme and had their proposed cake approved before the competition. “We were lucky to get our first choice, which was the candle Lumiére. He was the character I was most familiar with from the movie and I felt confident that I could recreate him.” It was only after many, many phone calls from Food Network and the encouragement of family and friends that Ross finally decided it was time to showcase her talents on a national stage. But cake decorating wasn’t Ross’s first calling.
“I’ve always done art, so it was a no brainer that that’s was what I would go into. Looking at the in-state schools, there was no doubt ECU had the best art school so that was pretty much my reason for going to ECU—because of the phenomenal art department,” said Ross. “I’ve always painted, so that was my focus when I started taking art classes. Unfortunately, the painting classes filled up really quickly and I never seemed to be able to get into one. So I took my general college classes and the foundation art classes while still focused on painting. Then Linda Darty kind of intercepted me in my pursuit of painting and got me into metals. Basically, I got sidetracked with metal design and wound up with a metal degree.”
In her junior year, Ross was able to study abroad through direct exchange and spent a year in Northern Ireland at the University of Ulster in Belfast, then went to the University of Leicester in Leicester, England for a semester. She took a semester off to travel and went to New Zealand, Australia, and other points of interest. Upon returning to North Carolina, Ross finished up her last classes at ECU, holed up in her studio, like many of her contemporaries. “I probably could have been on the moon and it wouldn’t have mattered because it seems like all I ever saw was the four walls of my studio,” laughed Ross.
After graduation, Ross was offered a job in Florida with a master goldsmith who had taught as a visiting professor at ECU. She served as an apprentice honing her jewelry-making craft, working with gold, silver, and copper, enameling, carving wax and casting metal, and setting stones. Ross stayed in Florida for two years, but soon found herself back in North Carolina painting. “I painted anything and everything—hairbrushes, furniture, murals, canvases—anything that people would want to buy,” recalled Ross. “As an artist, you think ‘What can I make that people will buy?’”
It was this line of thinking that got her into wedding and theme cakes.
“People are always getting married. It never goes out of style and they
do it all over the country. People are always going to spend money [on wedding cakes] whether they have it or not. The cake is the most
creative part of the wedding industry, so that’s where the allure came
from for me.” But how does one go from sculpting metal into meticulous,
detailed works of art to creating edible art with flour, sugar, fondant,
and royal icing? “The idea of having something colorful and working on a
design that is visually-friendly is just like any other art discipline,
and building a sound structure that will hold the cake is actually very
similar to metal work—where are the weak joints, where are the
stressors—a lot of it is the same.”
Ross isn’t exactly sure
where her interest in cakes sparked, but she was working in a restaurant
at the time and asked the chef about wedding cakes and how someone
could break into that business. He encouraged her to get into her
kitchen and practice. So she did. Ross scoured the Internet for cake
decorating tips and ideas, cake recipes, and tricks of the trade. She
invested her money in supplies and recipe books, and her time in
learning the basics. “In art school, they give you an assignment and
don’t necessarily tell you how to complete it. They say, ‘we’ll see you
next week.’ You’re left to figure out the steps to complete the project.
I approached learning cake decorating that same way—I just figured it
out,” recalled Ross.
For someone who didn’t really know how to
bake, determination was key to Ross becoming the sought after cake guru
she is today. “When I told my family I was going to make wedding cakes,
they asked me if I even knew how to bake. I knew how to cook, but I
hadn’t had much experience with baking. I remember telling them, ‘I can
read! How hard can it be to follow a recipe?’ Well, I ate my words. It
was really hard. Baking is more like chemistry, but I just kept working
at it.” Ross started out using recipes she found online or in cookbooks,
but quickly learned to infuse her own taste to create sumptuous,
delicious creations like wedding white cake with mixed berry butter
cream, orange infused chocolate mud cake, almond marble cake with Kahlua
(tastes just like tiramisu), and tart & tangy lemon head cake. Four
years into her cake career, Ross’s signature selection is key lime pie
cake. This cake is a spin on the old favorite and people love the flavor
in the summer months because the citrus is so refreshing.
Sweet
T’s Cakes, Ross’s business, is noted for intricate, detailed decorating.
From elaborate piping to vibrant color to realistic figurines, Ross’s
background in jewelry making makes her adept at creating cakes her
clients will adore. “When brides come to me and say, ‘I’m not very
creative, I don’t have a design in mind,’ I ask them to tell me about
their wedding. I ask about their dress and usually they love their
dress, so that’s a good starting point. They tell me about the details
of their dress, like parts that sparkle, the drapes and the swags. I ask
about their wedding stationery, about the china pattern they picked.
There are so many design elements that go into a wedding that can easily
give a good direction for the cake.” Ross doesn’t limit her creativity
to how others design wedding cakes. Yes, she finds inspiration in her
colleagues’ work, but also looks at every day items like clothing,
jewelry, and stationery patterns for ideas. “A lot of that has to do
with my art school background. I was always looking for new ideas and
ways to wow my professors. I think that was the whole idea that I got
from art school—to think “out of the box” and be innovative. I don’t
know if a lot of bakers do that. I mean, a lot of bakers try to be
artistic, but when you’re artistic and you’re trying to be a baker, you
come at it from a different direction,” said Ross.
It’s this
creativity that caught Food Network’s attention. “I had a really good
time competing. It was so much work, but it was well worth it,” said
Ross. “I have never taken a cake class, so I felt really good when the
Food Network contacted me for the show. It was such a nice pat on the
back.” Ross and her assistant traveled to the High Noon Studios in
Denver, Colorado in April to film the show, which aired in September.
The team was allowed to bake their cakes in Wilmington and ship them to
Denver. All other decorative pieces were made and cake assemblage took
place during the taping, which lasted all day. Ross’s cake was built
around PVC pipe that stood five-and-a-half-feet-tall and featured the
clock character Cogsworth and dancing dishware, along with Lumiére. As
if filming in front of a live studio audience and competing for the
$10,000 grand prize weren’t enough pressure, contestants were thrown a
twist about halfway through the competition. They each had to answer a
trivia question about Beauty and the Beast, then incorporate the answer
into their design. Ross’s question was: What is Belle’s favorite
pastime? Belle’s character loved to read, so adding a book to Ross’s
design became another required element in the competition, along with
the height requirement, matching the theme, and moving the cake in one
piece to a presentation table.
No matter how well Ross felt she
did in meeting the required elements, it was up to the judges to make
the final decision on the winner. The first judge, Kerry Vincent is an
inductee in the International Cake Exploration Societé Hall of Fame and
the Dessert Professional Hall of Fame. She commented to Ross during the
judging, “The sugar god is smiling on you today because that thing
should be on the ground.” Unfortunately, Ross’s cake was leaning. Judge
Keegan Gerhard is former host of Challenge and is rated one of the
nation’s top 10 pasty chefs of 2002 and 2004 by Chocolatier and Pastry
Art & Design magazines. The final judge was Disney animator Dave
Bossert. “I dreaded going in front of the judges,” recalled Ross. “It
took me right back to being in school, having my artwork critiqued by my
professors and classmates. They rip your work apart, but they also tell
you what’s great about it and that’s what you thrive on, that’s what
makes you better.” Although the judges were tough on Ross, they were
impressed with her ambitious design and her ability, despite not having
any formal training.
Ross didn’t win the competition, but did
well enough on the show for Food Network to invite her back. Ross and
Meehan went back to Denver in November to compete in the pro wrestling
cake challenge, which will likely air in March 2011. As a kick boxing
instructor and Harley-Davidson rider, this action-themed competition is
right up Ross’s ally. “This is my comfort zone, it’s working with human
figures and the human body, which is a lot of what I painted, so I’m
feeling really good about this one.”
Best of luck to you, Taylor! Keep creating artistry through sugar. | | 
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