Buttercream, Spice Cake, and Sylvia

This is the first of I'm sure many tributes to my cake idol, Sylvia Weinstock.  She is often credited with creating the modern wedding cake industry.  People say she was creating beautiful, jaw-dropping masterpieces before it was popular, that she made it popular, a cultural fixture. 

I use her book, Sweet Celebrations, as a cake bible.  Her recipes are flawless.  Her directions are perfect.  Her creations are to die for. 

When I'm baking from scratch, I always turn to her recipes first, and my Christmas Tree cake is no exception.  I have a full batch of her buttercream and cream cheese filling, several layers of spice cake in the freezer and her ribbon design hardening on the back porch. 

Sylvia Weinstock, my cake role model

To say that I aspire to her level is like an ant saying it aspires to do particle physics.  I can dream, but really, the woman is AMAZING.  Her cakes inspire me to try everything, take on the challenge of gumpaste flowers and learn how to turn meringue into the world's smoothest, most delicious icing.

I love this woman, and yes, I would LOVE to have a pair of glasses like that.  I mean really - it's possible she's able to do the intricate stuff she does because she can see microscopic detail through those things!