What Kind of Cake Are You?

by Anna Sugden

I admit it - I'm a Food Network junkie. One of the things I knew I was going to miss when we moved back home to England was my daily dose of Food Network favourites.

Imagine my delight the other evening when a new channel popped up on our TV guide - yes, we now have The Food Network! *happy sigh* With ESPN America showing live hockey, what more could a girl want? (TNT and the old series of Trick my Truck - love that Chrome Shop Mafia! - but that's another story!)

Now, I love shows like Iron Chef America, but I'm a total and utter fan-girl when it comes to Ace of Cakes.

It's hard to resist Duff Goldman and the crew at Charm City Cakes. Duff, a former graffiti artist turned cake-maker extraordinaire appeals the rebel in me - you gotta adore a guy who likes to do things his way, against the odds and against the norms. Kind of like us romance writers!

But, the thing I enjoy most about this show is the unbelievably creativity, skill and talent of the team as they create the most spectacular cakes.

As someone who has zero capability for anything crafty, I can only watch in awe as they turn sheet cakes and fondant into amazing sculptures, from library carts to Hogwarts, from a shark ray called Sweet Pea to a Star Trek cake, from the Millennium Falcon to Wrigley Field!

All of which got me thinking.

I love fun cakes. When I was little, my mum made me a chocolate train cake out of chocolate Swiss rolls and sweeties. There was also a house cake . There were name cakes, with each letter made from cake - both my full name, Anahita and Anna. I also remember a cake in my teens with the car from Starsky and Hutch on it.

I know Charm City Cakes don't deliver cakes to England *unhappy sigh*, but if they did, and I could afford their prices, what kind of cake would I want them to make for me?

Hmm. Well, I collect penguins, so a penguin cake would work. I love cats, so maybe a pair of cat cakes - one black and one tuxedo, like Jersey Girl and CC.

I write romances, so perhaps an aspirational cake - a romance novel with my name on it!

Or, some kind of hockey cake. A rink with mini-hockey players. A puck smashing into a cake. *g*. Maybe even a bobblehead cake of my favourite player. Now, that sounds like an Ace of Cakes type of cake!

What about you? If Duff and his team were to make you a special cake, what kind of cake would it be?