First
of all, what was it like being on Cake Wars? The show moves so fast, but you
must have been on set for hours – that must have been exhausting!
Being a part of Cake Wars on Food
Network was absolutely amazing! Not only was the set gorgeous, all of the
supplies and equipment and tools were top notch. It was extra exciting to be
able to bake and create on the set where so much magic happens! The show does
move really fast but fortunately, I am not a person who tends to get nervous. I
felt very focused and ready!
Your
flavor choices on Cake Wars were fantastic. It seems like you took the most
risk out of all of the contestants. Do you think you made the right flavor
choices?
As for my flavor choices for the Kung Fu Panda 3 episode, I decided to
go all in, and lucky for me it worked! I used 5 out of the 7 secret ingredient including
some really odd flavors such as garlic, sesame oil, rice vinegar, and soy sauce
all in cake form! My mind went to cold noodles and just knew the flavor of that
would pair really well in sweet butter cream form - it came out amazing and,
well, very weird, but it was surprisingly delicious!
It
must have been so frustrating when one of your sheet cakes fell during the
competition. How did you recover? Was that the toughest part of the competition
for you?
There was a moment in the
competition when I did drop part of the cake that I was working on! This was
really crazy and scary as well as disappointing all the same time. However, I
knew I had a lot of my other work accomplished and if we put the ingredients
back together and into the oven fast who would be able to catch up - it worked
and cooled in time to have us hardly skip a beat in the competition!
If
you could have done anything differently on the show, what would you have done,
if anything?
Of course when you finish a competition
like this, the question always comes up as to what could I have done stronger,
better, more efficiently; what would have helped me to take the win? Coming in
runner up was super rewarding, and other than taking the $10,000 home, nearly
equally as satisfying in the end. I truly feel the look and design of my cake
was executed exactly as I had imagined it to be. The thing I would change most
regarding my competition would have been in my round two cake recipe, and that
is choosing something less dense and more light and fluffy for the texture. The
judges commented that the cake felt somewhat dry and even though the flavors
blended nicely using ginger, Asian pear, almond etc., that the texture of
the cake was not up to par. In hindsight I next time will choose a cake recipe
that not only would stand up in such a large creation but would have a very
moist and soft texture as well. I somewhat believe that perhaps this could have
been the difference in my taking the win.
You
mentioned on the show how important your kids are to you and that you wanted
them to be proud of you when you appeared on the show. Did they love seeing you
on TV?
 |
| Samantha and her proud family |
One of the best parts of being on Cake
Wars was last Monday night was as the episode aired, having my husband and
children at my side and seeing how proud they were of their mommy and all that
I do! At 9 years old and 7 years old as well as 3, I know at this stage of
their lives they think their mommy is famous! I laugh because while I may be
small town famous it is just a tiny drop in the big bucket of fame, but I'll
take it if that means my little ones can look at me with adoration! They must
have said 1,000,000 times how great I did and how much they love me - this
means everything to me and makes my competition a success regardless of the
final outcome. I did a Food Network competition 4 years ago called Sweet Genius,
and unfortunately on that show I was the first contestant to be eliminated. I
was extremely hard on myself and my children watched me be disappointed and sad
to not be able to have shown my talent on that show. Fast forward to Cake Wars,
and through amazing feedback as well as the larger than life cake we were able
to create, I have nothing but a smile on my face and pride for how we did! My
kids now I am happy and they are so proud of their momma!
What
advice would you give to future contestants on Cake Wars?
If I have any advice to future
contestants on Cake Wars, I would simply say have fun! I truly believe it is
all about the experience and not so much on the final outcome... Being in LA,
California for those 5 days was a whirlwind of crazy drama and energy that I
wouldn't trade for anything! If you enjoy yourself, I believe that shines
through not only just to the judges but for the audience at home who may be rooting
for you and your creative masterpiece! I hope I get a chance to come back and
compete again in the near future!
Your
cake on Cake Wars looked awesome. The cakes featured on your website are amazing
as well. What’s your favorite cake that you’ve ever designed?
Thanks so much for thinking my Cake
Wars cake was spectacular! What was not shown as part of the TV show and edited
out was that we had put dry ice in the dragon's mouth so he was breathing out
smoke, as well as flickering tea lights with orange painted rice paper looking
like the fight scene was on fire on parts of the cake - in person it really was
illuminated and interactive and no doubt was my most favorite cake to date of
all the cakes I have ever created! In real life while I have made some
memorable cakes, I am always somewhat held back by what the client or friend
wishes to create; on cake wars I was able to truly let my creativity and
imagination run wild and build something totally awesome and awe worthy. I felt
through this experience, I really proved to myself how great I know I can be in
my craft!
Is
there anything you’d like the world to know?
I would love for the world to know
after competing on Cake Wars that I am humbled and so super thankful to have
had the opportunity to not only show off my artistic skills but to work
alongside some of the most talented and wonderful people in the business!
Finally, I have to say that without the love and support of my husband by my
side not only would I not have been able to succeed at Cake Wars (he was an
amazing partner and helped me build an incredible stand for this towering
cake!) but in life as he is and always has been my biggest fan and best friend!
Thank
you so much, Samantha!
Thank you so much for reaching out
to share my story and my recent experience! I hope to be able to have many many
more chances in life to create and do what I love best --- art in sugar form!
Check
out more of Samantha’s work at Sweet-Samantha.com,
and maybe order yourself a really awesome cake while you’re there!
No comments:
Post a Comment