We are thrilled to announce the bakers and decorators of Let Them Eat Cake: Masterpiece!
Saturday, November 4, 2017 at 7:30pm (VIP at 6:30pm)
Pittsburgh Opera
The Midwife Center’s 12th annual fundraiser party and cake contest will feature amazing taste and decorated cakes inspired by classic, modern and original masterpieces in the arts, The party will include the cake tasting and decorated cakes display, and open wine and beer bar, refreshments by DiAnoia's Eatery, entertainment, a fabulous silent auction, photo booth, and more. We hope to see you there!
More info and tickets here, and click here for the event on Facebook.
Professionals:
Aundrea Ambeliotis of Mediterra Bakehouse
Kaylie Carini of Hydeholde Restaurant
Katrina Finn
Crystal Francis of Crystal's Cakery
Breanne Gustafson of Bella Christie and Lil Z's Sweet Boutique
Brandi Hugar of Grandview Bakery
Jennifer Marshall
Emma Lee Moore of Emmalee's Sweet Dreams
Danielle Skiles of Nizhoni Bakery
Jackie Vrbanic of Petals & Pastries
Kaitlin Ybarra of Le Lyonnais
+ amazing amateur bakers
Learn more about a few of the Let Them Eat Cake bakers and decorators:
Professionals
Kaylie Carini of Hydeholde Restaurant
I have been living and breathing sugar since beginning my career in pastry arts. After training at Johnson and Wales University, I continued to grow and perfect my craft by working for various kinds of bakeries and restaurants. Through the industry I have gained experience being a bread baker, cake artist, and most currently pastry chef of Hyeholde Restaurant. However, to me, nothing is more enjoyable than designing, and creating cakes. The face on a bride's face upon seeing their masterpiece is priceless.
Fran Colby, Interior Designer and Cake Baker
Everything begins somewhere in time. About 25 years ago, Fran received a rum cake as a gift. It simply became her favorite go-to dessert. Inspired (four) years ago she spent quite a long time creating and recreating the perfect recipes and founded Cakes by Colby that makes specialty cakes. As with interior design, striking that perfect balance is imperative. In baking, that balance provides the “Yum!” factor.
Katrina Finn
I am a practicing artist and self taught baker who enjoys creating cakes and other baked goods for family and friends, old and new, to celebrate their special moments with.
Crystal Francis of Crystal’s Cakery
Crystal is a home baker in the Pittsburgh area who specializes in creating custom cakes for her clients. When not baking, Crystal is a high school math teacher as well as a cake-decorating instructor at the Community College of Allegheny County.
Breanne Gustafson of Bella Christie and Lil’ Z’s Sweet Boutique
Breanne is from Albany, NY and has a degree in painting from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. After college, she applied for a cake-decorating job on a whim, having no prior experience, and was hired to make fondant pieces. She eventually learned all aspects of cake decorating and has been a professional decorator for two years. She takes a unique fine art and design approach to decorating cakes.
Brandi Hugar of Grandview Bakery
Brandi is the Wedding Cake Designer at the Grandview Bakery on Mount Washington. Coming from her home licensed kitchen, Event Cakes Pgh, Brandi’s been decorating cakes for almost seven years. She especially enjoys making wedding and other fabulous event cakes, teaching cake decorating classes, and chatting with fellow cake artists on all things cake. When not at work, she’s spending quality time with her husband, Patrick, and two adorable sons, Spencer, 5 and Fletcher, 7.
Emma Lee Moore of Emmalee’s Sweet Dreams
I am Emma Lee Moore of Emmalee's Sweet Dreams located in Martin's Ferry, Ohio. I have been working for 6 years as a self-taught cake artist from my home.
Danielle Skiles of Nizhoni Bakery
Danielle has always loved baking. From the time she was three and could climb on the counter to "help" her mom, she fostered her sweet tooth by coming up with concoctions of all sorts. Her first job was as a Bakery Assistant at Trax Farms Market where she learned about bulk pastry baking and finishing. She then became employed as a Bakery Assistant at Giant Eagle where they taught her about cake decorating and the details of running a bakery. She also was a cake decorator at Potomac Bakery, where she honed her skills at cake design under the tutelage of a renowned Cake Decorator. She's taken classes from professionals and spent hours practicing her craft and is delighted to finally turn her passion into a profession.
Jackie Vrbanic of Petals & Pastries
Jackie Vrbanic started her business four years ago with the idea of working with her clients to help make their dreams come to life. And with the occasional help of artist husband George, they are able to reach even greater design levels.
Katlin Ybarra of Le Lyonnais
Graduating valedictorian from Le Cordon Bleu in 2012, Chef Kaitlin Ybarra has been working for The Big Y Group ever since. Starting off as an assistant at Sonoma Grille, she quickly worked her way up to Head Pastry Chef of NOLA. Also in charge of Seviche and Perlé, she would design & produce everything from weddings, banquets, specials, and private parties. She is now currently the Head Pastry Chef of Le Lyonnais, their newest restaurant.
Amateurs
Dana Corbin
I've been baking for about three years, specializing in layer cakes and stacked cakes. My focus is on flavor and texture with appearance being a secondary consideration. I LOVE baking cakes for family events and parties.The internet was my teacher - forever grateful to YouTube and baker's blogs!
David Emery
Dave Emery loves spending time with friends and family and entertaining. When at home, likes to experiment and come up with new and delicious recipes. His sweet tooth allows him to enjoy all of them! His cake from last year, REM Orange Crush, was a hit, and he is up to the challenge with this years cake, his Pablo Picasso inspired pistachio cake - one of life's sweetest masterpieces.
Jennifer Marshall
Jennifer Marshall is a women who wears many hats. A busy mother of two young boys, she also is the baker and cook at Rockefellers Bar & Grille. Trying to find her niche in the baking world spending hours on perfecting her craft. She is constantly experimenting and coming up with new and unusual taste combinations and profiles for her pies and cakes. Jennifer truly creates masterpieces in the kitchen and her Maple Angelo Rembourbon cake is one of them.
Helena Nichols
Helena is the Associate Director of the Biblical Botanic garden at Rodef Shalom. When she isn’t busy tending to plants, Helena enjoys baking, reading, and making music with her husband. She lives with her husband, their cats, Zelda and F. Scott, and their dog Penny Nichols.
Zoe Reider
I am currently a student in Hospitality Management at The Pennsylvania State University. I have had a passion for baking since I was 10 and hope to pursue a career in Restaurant Industry upon graduating in December.
Denise & Rory Rightmyer
This is our third year entering this event. We enjoy working together on these cakes. Our friends and family are the only ones that get to enjoy our cakes outside this event. We hope you enjoy this year's entry. Previous years entries were the Universal Monsters and the Record player.
Emily Roser
My baby sister, Abby and I participated in this competition a few years ago. She won the Judges’ Award (she kind of amazing like that) while I watched multiple people spit my cake into the trash. I'm out to redeem myself. I'm pretty sure this cake is better than the last one. If it's not, just lie and say it is.