I debated whether or not I wanted to tell this story. But after watching multiple episodes of Ace of Cakes, I can't help but wonder what kind of cake I would have made for David LaChapelle and Lady Gaga's surprise joint birthday party. You read that right. Perhaps, I should start somewhere in the beginning-a short version without cumbersome details (I'll save those for the memoir).
Earlier this spring, I flew to Los Angeles to do an internship with one of my pop art idols. It hadn't even been 48 hours after I landed that I was asked to order an extravagant designer cake for a top secret celebrity surprise birthday party. I was to acquire the cake in a very short amount of time, had no clue where or how I could find a celebrity cake designer at 9pm, and was given zero dollars to fulfill the order.
My previous 2 days as an intern were incredibly overwhelming and I was failing miserably at nearly every task I was given. I did the best I could, but I felt like I was being eaten up alive in LA. My confidence was so low and I was so frazzled that when I was asked to get the cake, I initially saw it was a chance to redeem myself. A cake - that should be easy enough. I mean, it's just a good ol' fancy cake, right? I quickly discovered that no specialty cake shop would be open at 9pm. And to ask for an extravagant cake to be ready for 12 Noon the next day would be next to impossible.
"They're total bitches," someone said to me when describing cake designers, "they'll probably just give you a plain white cake, if you're even lucky to get a cake. And you'll have to take it. Go in the morning, wait at their front doors until they come to open shop and BEG like crazy."
I was going to go and beg for a plain cake like my life depended on it (which it was). And there was no telling that I'd even get a cake. I probably would have stolen one and ran out the door. Who knows what I would have done. I was in this crazy, desperate state of mind. You bettah watch yo'self around crazy-desperate interns.
Unfortunately, this is where the exciting story ends. After I had a bit of a meltdown in a secluded corner, a generous and kind fashion designer and a makeup artist came to my aid and helped me find a beautiful cake for the party with their connections. But suppose they hadn't come to my rescue?
I imagine that I would have bought some regular cakes, picked up swarovski gems and gold leaf from Michael's, taken them back to my hotel room, scraped off the icing decorations and re-sculpted it into my own avant-garde creation (yes... that's what we'll call it - avant-garde).I keep thinking about this and it's driving me crazy. So the only thing I can do to stop my cake obsession is to return to LA, recreate the situation and come out on top with my own designer cake. After all, when I'm not a super secret celebrity surprise birthday party organizer, I'm a graphic designer by trade, and I decorate doughnuts and cheesecakes at a coffee shop on weekends. I could totally do it, right?
And sure enough, the cake we got certainly had gold sparkly leaves and Swarovski crystals all around it. We were told not to eat them, though. Shucks! Can somebody just invent edible Swarovski crystals already?
You can view more of Rob's amazing designs and musings on his blog Some Kinda Blog... And if you'd like to write about something just email me and you might be the next Summer Friday blogger!