Cakes with Character - Part 2

Most cake designers are used to the idea that their work is ephemeral, but it takes a rare person who is willing to spend months designing a cake, only to watch it be thrown on the floor. That's the challenge cake designer Nancy Linstead tackled while working on Well Done.

I took Nancy's cake decorating class during my pre-production research, and it quickly became apparent that we needed the help of a seasoned professional on set. We were thrilled and greatly relieved to put the cake construction of Well Done in Nancy's capable hands. She called in fellow designer Tray Post and Jodie Vandervort to create the film's most memorable edible characters.

(Today's post is the second half of Nancy's interview, covering her projects outside of Well Done. To read about her work on set, scroll down to Part 1. I have included images of some of Nancy's cake portfolio.)




Q: What is the most ambitious cake you've made to date?

Nancy: I made a tiger for a 21st birthday party based on the movie The Hangover. In the movie a bachelor party in Vegas gets out of control, and in the morning a tiger has inexplicably turned up in the bathroom. The design was adapted from Cake Central and took three months to research and develop.

I sculpted the tiger's head out of styrofoam. It took three attempts to get it just right, and I made two versions of the body. I used sunflower and mushroom colored petal dust with a corn silk powder puff to get the right velveteen color effect. The Tiger has a fondant washcloth and a shot of tequila. I also made a two-tiered birthday cake to be served with the tiger.



Q: Both of us have gluten issues and I know many people with other food sensitivities. How do you deal with cakes when you have a gluten issue?

Nancy: I am a celiac, and I actually wear a dust mask when working with wheat flour. I am especially sensitive to special diet requests and regularly teach a "How to Bake Gluten-free" class at Do It with Icing (decorating supply store and hub for cake decorators in San Diego).

I will be giving a lecture on gluten-free baking at the ICES (International Cake Explration Society) convention later this summer and launching a blog this fall to help other decorators understand this issue.

In addition to gluten, I have researched several sources for natural dyes- beets, carrots and blueberries, for example- that some cake clients prefer over artificial colors.

Q: What is your favorite cake flavor?

Nancy: Dark chocolate icing with chocolate cake.




Q: When did you bake your first cake?

Nancy: When I was seventeen I baked a cake for 60 people in my high school band. I had no icing bags or metal tips, so I rolled a cone out of wax paper and cut a small hole at the tip to get the same effect as an icing bag and tip.


Q: Making cakes can be a high-pressure job. You seemed so calm through this process. Have you ever lost your cool?

Nancy: Definitely, I started swearing in the kitchen with my first cake at seventeen! My mom says she'll never forget the colorful language that came out of my mouth over that cake.

Cakes with Character - Part 1

Most cake designers are used to the idea that their work is ephemeral, but it takes a rare person who is willing to spend months designing a cake, only to watch it be thrown on the floor. That's the challenge cake designer Nancy Linstead tackled while working on Well Done.

I took Nancy's cake decorating class during my pre-production research, and it quickly became apparent that we needed the help of a seasoned professional on set. We were thrilled and greatly relieved to put the cake construction of Well Done in Nancy's capable hands. She called in fellow designers Tray Post and Jodie Vandervort to create the film's most memorable edible characters.

I recently caught up with Nancy and asked her to share a few of her insights.

Q: How did you come up with the design for the chef's main cake?

Nancy: We discussed the chef's character and I wanted to keep the cake designs simple, since Nicholas's training was as a chef and not as a pastry chef. In the end we opted for the classic three-tiered chocolate cake with red roses and a heart motif.




The cakes in the freezer scene were designed to show the chef's process as he tried different techniques and color palettes before his ultimate creation. I passed my notes on to Tray, and we referenced aspects of the main cake design in each freezer cake. Some cakes had truffles, another had a heart motif that carried his written message; one cake incorporated roses while another played with red on chocolate brown.

Q: How did it feel when the main cake was dropped? Nancy: I actually groaned out loud, which was caught on the soundtrack! My main thought was that I hoped you caught the shot you wanted.

Q: How many cakes appeared in Well Done?

Nancy: We made nine different cakes in all. Tray constructed the birthday cake and two fondant cakes for the freezer scene. I designed the main cake and the rest of the cakes in the freezer. Jodie was a huge help the day before we shot the freezer scene, especially with the red lace cake.




Q: How many times did you build the main cake?

Nancy: I built dummies of the main cake in two different sizes, one of which I dressed with fresh roses and cocoa powder on at least three different days. I built two real versions on the day we filmed the cake dropping to the floor, and I made the top layer twice for the technical rehearsal and filming of the final scene.

That tech rehearsal turned out to be a good thing. We had the top layer on a glass cake plate above a table top with several candles. The heat from the candles melted the buttercream frosting over time, so we had to shoot the cake shots first.





Q: What were some of the challenges in building cakes that could survive a film set?

Nancy: My main challenge was to make a cake that could stand up to hot lights and be used multiple times. I built a styrofoam "dummy" of the main cake and iced it with plaster from Home Depot tinted brown with paint. I also rolled chocolate truffles from stiffened fondant. The icing and truffles hardened as they dried, and the resulting dummy could be under the lights for hours and not deteriorate.

Each time we filmed I applied fresh roses and dusted the truffles with cocoa powder.

That's a Wrap!

Our final day of shooting started in the morning and finished when we closed the doors of Cafe Luna at 3:30AM. Nancy joined us in the afternoon to construct Chef Nicholas' cake one last time. The final scene had to be shot after sunset, and we managed to attract a spirited audience from the Irish pub next door.

Thanks to everyone for the beautiful work!

Freezing in our Living Room

Today's scene involved a crucial moment when the sous-chef discovers several cakes in the walk-in freezer. The logistics of filming in Cafe Luna's walk-in refrigerated unit led us to the decision to build a replica off-site. We used metal shelving that matched Cafe Luna's and black cloth for the back wall. Christmas tree flocking simulated frost on boxes and shelves, and a fog machine through cold-toned lighting created the frigid atmosphere. Nancy Linstead, Tray Post, and Jodie Vandervort worked as a team to design and build six different cakes for Lindsey McCrumb to find.

Yesterday we visited Nancy's kitchen, which had been converted to a workshop. Tray Post had delivered two finished cakes made of pink and green/chocolate brown fondant. In keeping with Chef Nicholas' character, Tray had incorporated messages that had been stamped obsessively into the sides.

Nancy had already completed two cakes when we arrived. She was busy painting a blue fondant cake with edible swirls of silver, then applying fondant ribbons painted to match. Jodie was spreading icing on a chocolate three-layered creation, which would be covered in intricate red icing lacework after her fondant hearts proved too heavy for the icing. Once these cakes arrived on set, Nancy artificially distressed a few so that they would appear to have been in the freezer for some time.

Thanks to Krista Reckner, who took photos during filming, and also to Nancy for forgiving me when I dropped one of the cakes after shooting! We want to give extra thanks to Nancy, Tray, and Jodie for your hard work!