‘Cake Wars’ Appearance An Amazing Experience For Jennifer Johnson By Julie Unger
Jennifer Johnson of Johnson’s Custom Cakes & More in Wellington recently had a special moment of her own — as exciting as the ones she enjoys enhancing for brides and grooms through her business. Johnson was invited to participate in the Food Network’s new show Cake Wars — where four contestants are pitted against each other in two rounds. At the end, one baker walks away with a $10,000 prize. Johnson did not win first place — she came in second. It was a challenge, but one that she would do again in a heartbeat. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” she said. She and her assistant, Wendy McGowan, worked against the clock, tickJennifer Johnson of Johnson’s Custom Cakes & More.
34october october2015 2015| |wellington wellingtonthe themagazine magazine 34
ing down from 75 minutes, to create a small cake for the first round. The theme of the show was The Simpsons. The judges: star pastry chefs Ron Ben-Israel and Waylynn Lucas, and Matt Selman, executive producer of The Simpsons. The objective of the first segment was to create a cake utilizing iconic Simpsons ingredients, such as beer, pink doughnuts, burgers, soda and chips, to create a sweet treat. Johnson and McGowan made a potato-chip doughnut cake with a cherry compote and a cola Swiss meringue. The cake was three-tiered, with a doughnut cake at the bottom; the middle cake made to look like a burger; the top cake resembled a beer can; and topped off with a fondant Homer Simpson leaning against the tower. In the second round, the “cake-off,” the contestants had to pick a classic Simpsons moment and create a cake to celebrate it. The bakers were given two assistants for the four-hour challenge. Johnson’s team chose a chocolatebased episode, and proceeded to create a double chocolate cake with a peanut butter Swiss meringue and a chocolate peanut butter crunch ganache. They made a life-size Homer to demonstrate how the characters in the show are larger than life. Selman called the threefoot cake “a beautiful representation of the Land of Chocolate.”