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Photos from the Tate & Lyle Tasting House in Soho, London

The “porcelain’ cake vase for the British room was created by Katie Shirazi of Cakeadoodledo, with sugar flowers by Rosalind Miller of Rosalind Miller Cakes.

Below: The five-foot long rainbow Mardi Gras cake with sugar skull embellishments in the Mississippi room created by Two Little Cats Bakery.

In the Guyanese inspired room, a collection of sugar sea shells along with a sea turtle cake(below) nestled in Demarara sugar sand. Visitors were encourage to dig out sea turtle egg cakes. Featuring the work of Jenni Powell of Two Little Cats Bakery, and Kate Haigh of All Mine Patisserie.

Green Inspiration for St. Patrick’s Day

Go green with the handy color chart from McCormick’s and check out the special dessert ideas the company provided for March 17.

This chart makes it easy to create the green ombre cake and provide special colors for the “Luck o’ the Irish” cake pops, shown below.

U.S. Chocolate Master Named in Barry Callebaut Competition

Jean-Francois Suteau was named the 2013 U.S. Chocolate Master at the final competition in Chicago, hosted by Barry Callebaut, the world's leading manufacturer of high-quality cocoa and chocolate products.

During the competition, the finalists presented a chocolate showpiece, a molded praline / molded bonbon, a gastronomic chocolate dessert and their own interpretation of the classic American pastry, the donut. The jury named Suteau the winner based on his artistry, the taste of his creations, his adherence to the theme of Architecture of Taste and his technical skills.

Suteau will go on to compete against top culinary artisans from 20 countries in the 2013 World Chocolate Masters, the fifth edition of the only culinary competition dedicated exclusively to the art of chocolate.

Some examples of the 2013 Flavor Forecast combinations, clockwise from top left: black rum, charred orange and allspice; cajeta, a Mexican caramel with anise; bittersweet chocolate, basil and passionfruit; cider, sage and molasses.

2013 Flavor Forecast from McCormick

Every year McCormick produces a Flavor Forecast, and for 2013 the company has identified five trends that it believes will drive new product development and innovative menu additions over the coming years. The follwing themes with accompanying flavor combinations illustrate how these trends are coming to life through taste.

The themes are:
No Apologies Necessary includes the taste combinations of bitter chocolate, sweet basil and passionfruit; and black rum, charred orange and allspice.
Personally Handcrafted features a cider, sage and molasses combination, as well as smoked tomato, rosemary, chili peppers and sweet onion.
Empowered Eating with a faro grain, blackberry and clove combination and a emphasis on dukkah, a Middle Eastern spice blend that used cumin, coriander, sesame and nuts.
Hidden Potential focuses on uncovering the fullest flavors from familiar ingredients such as meat combined with plantain and cinnamon, or artichokes with paprika and hazelnut.
Global My Way features katsu, a tangy Japanese sauce with oregano, as well as cajeta, a Mexican caramel with anise.

“Around the world, we’re seeing a fascinating collision of tradition and innovation. Authentic, real ingredients are still at the core – though now they’re being enjoyed in unique, updated ways that reflect a much more personalized approach to cooking and eating,” said McCormick Executive Chef, Kevan Vetter. “Don’t be surprised if in the next few years Japanese Katsu, a tangy cross between BBQ and steak sauce, and cajeta, a Mexican caramel, gain the broad appeal that once-regional tastes like Asian hot chili sauce have achieved.”

One of the many cakes Beatrice recently shot while in Lyon for Sirha--The World Hospitality and Food Service event.

Sweet Inspiration

Beatrice Schneider, the creative director at the Chicago School of Mold Making has a job that requires lots of travel for pastry competitions. She also loves to shoot—the locations, the amazing work at the competitions and her visits to local bakeries, cafes and other culinary destinations. She shares her trips through Pastry Postcards. You can sign up to receive new deliveries directly to your inbox, or stop by the Chicago Mold School’s Pastry Postcard webpage to view updates.

Customers at the Chicago Sprinkles location for its cupcake ATM. Image via Snow and Graham.

Sugar Fix--Update from April 2012

Updating a report from the April 2012 Slice on Sprinkles ATM for cupcakes, the company recently opened its second ATM at its Chicago location. Understandably, throughout the autumn lines remained consistent, but we wonder how ATM transactions drop off during the cold Chicago winters!

Some of the custom cutters available from SugarCubedShop on Etsy.

Custom Cutters--Update from December 2012

While an recent Etsy search no longer turns up any products from SugarCubed, as shown left, there's a very active Esty producer of custom cutters called Plastics in Print on the site. There are some great chevron cutters in various sizes, different designs of thought bubbles, and much more.