As part of ICE’s Center for Advanced Pastry Studies, ICE alum Elisa Strauss returned to ICE this week to teach a class on sculpted cakes.
Strauss is the designer at Confetti Cakes, famed for their detailed, beautiful shaped cakes. Since completing ICE’s Pastry & Baking Arts program, Strauss’s inventive and original cakes have earned her recognition from dozens of magazines and TV shows.
Her creations have appeared on the Today show, Sex and the City, The View, and Martha. She has also competed several times on Food Network Challenge, including the “Extreme Cake Challenge” where she won the grand prize. Every student in the class made a handbag cake over a three-day period. Open only to pastry professional, the class is a chance for them to learn new skills to add to their repertoire. Elisa walked them through the fundamentals of making any sculpted cake that is both structurally sound and beautiful. In addition to carving their cakes, they also made gum paste decorations, giving them a chance to personalize their magnificent cakes.
