Kelly's Cake Off for a Cause

Ahhhhh!!! I can’t believe I just spent the afternoon decorating cakes with Kelly Ripa and Buddy from Cake Boss! Seriously BEST BIRTHDAY ever!!

All the fun began early this afternoon when we were ushered from our hotel to Chelsea Market for the main event.

We were asked to wait in the second story lobby and were provided with an assortment of finger sandwiches and sweets to nibble on for lunch.

My first plate included a couple of finger sandwiches and a carrot cake cupcake.

I went back for a few more finger sandwiches.

I finally had a chance to take a photo with Ryan from Foodbuzz! Big thanks to Ryan for bringing all of the bloggers together!

Stepping into the main room was a madhouse!

The press was there covering the event and their energy just brought our excitement level to a whole other level!

Once everyone was settled Kelly and Buddy were able to get to business and explain why we were here.

Kelly’s Cake Off for a Cause is an event produced by both Electrolux and Kelly Ripa in an effort to raise both awareness and support for the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund (ORCF), an organization that funds research to find a method of early detection and, ultimately, a cure for ovarian cancer.

The fifteen bloggers were to be split into 5 groups of three and with the help of Buddy and his team of decoration specialists were to try and replicate different styles of cake. Once the cakes were completed, an online ‘cake off’ would go live on Kelly-Confidential.com. Everyone would then have a chance to vote for their favorite cake. For every vote cast in Kelly’ Cake Off, Electrolux is donating $1 to OCRF.

Pretty cool, right?

This event is ultimately raising money for a great cause and I could not have been happier to be a part of it! I think meeting Kelly Ripa and Buddy was just icing on the cake.

Both Buddy and Kelly gave a quick cake decorating demo, which included a sales pitch for the new Electrolux Induction Built -In Range. I have to say after hearing about the range’s ability to melt chocolate without the need for a double boiler, I was sold!

Another fun fact: for each vote in the cake-off not only will Electrolux be donating a dollar to OCRF on your behalf, but they will also automatically enter your name in a drawing to win a new Induction Built-In Range!

I had missed out on the chocolate covered strawberries this morning, but I was not going to let that happen again this afternoon. When Kelly came out to the crowd I immediately stuck my hand out and had a strawberry.

It was delicious!

Finally the time came to decorate!

My cake-off team consisted of Linda from Salty Seattle and Katharine from Smokey Mountain Cafe.

We were team Here Comes The Sun and had to replicate a cake of Sunflowers.

Apparently our cake was the most difficult to recreate and no one on my team really considered themselves bakers. We had no idea what we were doing, but still had a great time learning the techniques from Buddy and his staff.

I wish I had more photos of the actual decorating, but I was too busy piping out flowers to remember to take photos. I did get a shot of the final masterpiece.

(They took a lot of of professional photos that I should be able to post tomorrow of the finished product and details on where to vote! Stay tuned!)

Once the cake was finished Remy from Cake Boss was kind enough to teach me how to make a rose out of royal icing.

It took some time, but I got the hang of it eventually.

Look Mom! I did it!

Check out our pile of discarded roses.

Kelly decided to get in on the icing fun too.

Unfortunately our cake wasn’t digging our icing skills.

Oh well.

The time eventually came to cut the cake and enjoy our master pieces! The cakes were actually all fresh from Carlos Bakery of Cake Boss. I was very excited about this fact.

The cake was very moist and delicious! The piece was so BIG though and I could only finish about half before I was on sugar overload.

We all ate our cake while discussing blogs, cake methods, and other cool things with Buddy.

Buddy is seriously A-MA-ZING! I told him he had to do a vegan cake on the show! He liked the challenge of the idea and said he would think about it.

He even signed my apron.

We had one final group shot before calling it a day.

All the bloggers involved:

• Diana (Spain in Iowa)
• Jen (My Kitchen Addiction)
• Bridget (Bake at 350)
• Lindsay (Salty Seattle)
• Katherine (Smoky Mountain Cafe)
• Megan (Megan’s Munchies)
• Sandy (Iron Cupcake Milwaukee)
• Laura (The Cooking Photographer)
• Erika (In Erika’s Kitchen)
• Kelly (Evil Shenanigans)
• Jessie (Cake Spy)
• Tina (Carrots ‘n’ Cake)
• Sabrina (Rhodey Girl Tests)
• Joseline (Day Dreamer Desserts)

It was great getting to know each and everyone of these girls!

I promise as soon as the Kelly’s Cake-Off For a Cause voting goes live I will post the details!

Right now I need to sleep of this sugar coma before dinner tonight.

Seriously, Best Birthday Ever!!!