Some cakes from this week and a couple oldies from my camera

Going to Disneyworld.... Princess cakes galore

We leave in 10 days! Wohoo, just thought I would share a few omy castles I have done over the years, Disney World to me is the most magical place on earth.

The first one is a birthday cake for a super great girl who I know from Church. Her Mom said her fav place on earth... Disneyworld, that was so me at 18, wait that's me now!

The next one is a wedding cake.... Um, it was actually my wedding cake from over 12 years ago, so not the cake I would choose now, but it was a show stopper! And see I told you I love Disney!

The rest are Princess Inspired for little girls and grown up girls alike....

Pour Some Sugar....

Tea Party at Apple Blossom Books...

Had the opportunity to bring some cupcakes to Apple Blossom books for a hometown book signing for Tea Shop Girls See article Here:

http://teashopgirl.blogspot.com/

The Cake Guru...

I am in the process of really transitioning to the Cake Guru as my Business name in addition to or instead of Tamara's

I'll share one of my new ads that I am super happy with the transition on. It's a good lead in to my already established cake guru website.

The story behind the Cake Guru is actually simple, For a few years; Everytime I delivered a cake to the Radisson Paper Valley in Appleton one of the set up crew would bow and say, ah.... the Cake Guru, and I thought how fun is that, so I adopted the name for my website, and over time thought it would be nice to blend the site in with the overall business name... so we are on our way!

Pour Some Sugar...

I attended the WBA and WRA show this week and an e-seminar. It was suggested in the seminar that people like the idea of an e-mail newsletter with updates, new designs and specials? So what does anyone think... Would you sign up? If so, shoot me an e-mail cakeguru@gmail.com with newsletter in the subject line and I will get you on the list, I love coming up with new designs and this could be alot of fun!

The Cake Girls...

So I have decided to let the girls do a little blogging, "the Girls" being my interns and helpers around the shop...

Don't expect much commentary from Aunt Sharon my awesome I can't live without cleaning person, (You might just find her in curlers on some days at work, but don't tell her I told you, lol). Look to hear from Brittany (Buttercup my daughter calls her but maybe we should change it to Buttercream) Alyssa the Cupcake Girl, Tina... my dear Italian friend, they will hopefully all have some stories for you about their favorite or craziest moments around the shop.

In the summer we also have Jessica, (future dentist watching all the sugar going out the door, and contemplating further visits with some of my most frequent customers,lol) and Kelsey.... My good Catholic Girl (I don't have a nickname for her yet).

Not to be forgotten is Heather who does alot of the baking in busy season. They all only work a few hours a week and some weeks not really at all, but they are a blast and the shop is always full of laughter and fun! I think they will have some great stories to share... So watch for the blog, should be worth your time!

Wisconsin Bride Magazine

Look for my new fall cake design in Wisconsin Bride Fall/winter edition, I am still hoping to post photos but so far no cooperation from the phone, frustrating!

Spring is on the Way...

As are new cake designs for Spring, Think Easter, First Communion, Confirmation, Graduation all the great occasions that come up in the spring, let's brainstorm together and come up with a perfect design for your occasion!

Life is good!

So I have a super fun cake headed to a photo shoot tomorrow, the entire cake is covered in fall leaves on a chocolate ganache background!


Than I was honored today as one of 4 under 40 by the Oshkosh Northwestern: Yeah for all of us!
http://www.thenorthwestern.com/article/20090308/OSH0101/903080407&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL

Four under 40 honorees found opportunities for growth, prosperity in Oshkosh

There's a common, but largely invisible thread that connects this year's Four Under 40 honorees.


Yes, the Sullivan Group's Amy Bargenquast, House of Flowers owner Jim Kolb, Servant Insurance's Dan Morrill and Tamara the Cake Guru owner Tamara Mugerauer all have turned their unique abilities and special talents into bright futures.
But delve deeper into each of their personal stories and you find that all four saw an opportunity to grow, prosper and give back in Oshkosh in a unique way.
And all four seized upon it.
Mugerauer saw an opportunity to become an ace of cakes long before the Food Network and Chef Duff introduced the country to their design-defying desserts.
Morrill used the flexibility and strength of a small insurance firm to develop a new approach to consumer-driven health care plans.
Kolb innovated for more than 15 years and expanded a local floral shop into a store for home accent pieces, outdoor plants, gifts, ladies' handbags and so much more.
And Bargenquast found herself among kindred spirits that allowed her to shine at The Sullivan Group when she joined the firm in order to remain close to her family in Oshkosh.
These might not have been the biggest decisions of their lives when they made them, but they saw an opportunity and took the chance.
And with that, I salute this year's Four Under 40 and hope they can help inspire you to do great things.
—
Tamara Mugerauer
Age: 37
From: Roscommon, Mich.
Family: Husband, Larry, and daughter, Liberty, 5
Education: Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design
For work: Tamara The Cake Guru owner
For fun: Boating, bicycling, jet skiing, sewing, family time
Community involvement: Oshkosh Lourdes steering committee, Miss Oshkosh, Junior Achievement, bible study and religious education at St. Raphael's, speaks about international adoption
Tamara Mugerauer's mom made her a Michael Jackson cake when she turned 13, complete with the white, speckled glove.
Her "Thriller" cake wasn't the moment when Mugerauer decided cakes would be her chosen profession, but it showed her just how much creativity and special design can go into a delicious dessert.
Somewhere between 13 and 26, she grew tired of working at other bakeries and being told there was no room for innovation in wedding and birthday cakes. Armed with her grandmother's recipes, Mugerauer established Tamara The Cake Guru and the rest is, well, icing on the cake.
"I love the excitement in brides' eyes when I drop it off, that 'aha!' moment," Mugerauer said. "I like when people see it as an art form. I'm not just a baker."
That sweet, sweet icing includes TV appearances, extreme wedding cake awards and praise throughout Northeast Wisconsin for the unique work and imagination she puts into each dessert that leaves her Oregon Street shop.
"Rarely does a sheet cake leave my store," Mugerauer said in reference to a rectangular, standard cake. "I still use my grandmother's recipes, but for me, it's a lot more about the design."
When Appleton's Performing Arts Center wanted the cake to match its five year anniversary celebration, the organization turned to Mugerauer and she didn't disappoint. The final product turned into an eight-foot tall cake with a layer to commemorate each Broadway show the PAC hosted that year.
And it's just that sort of challenge that really brings out Mugerauer's best. She said the rise of the Food Network has helped spur peoples' imaginations.
"Sometimes people stump me or challenge me to use unique colors," she said. "I love when people ask me to do what I love."

The "Magical Moment"

Hello All,

I have just been giving some thought to what I do and why I do what I do. I am blessed to do what I love and will say that again and again. I take sugar, oil, water and butter and create what I consider to be art. The frosting is just a blank canvas for me, and it is so fun to see what can be done with it.

In the past few weeks I have had alot of appointments (tis the season) and I have had the pleasure of sitting down with couples and talking and "visioning"... taking their colors, their wedding details, their ideas and sketching them up to hopefully design a perfect cake for each couple.

What is super cool for me is that moment where I complete the design and it is so much cooler than the sketch because it is color and it is 3-d and it is exactly what I envisioned when I sat there sketching.

So how do we get from point A to what I think of as the kind of "Magical Moment", where sugar and flour become art?

Point A....We start with the couple looking through my work, talking with me, with me drawing and sketching and brainstorming and all that I do when we meet, than they taste test and choose the flavor combos that they (and there guests) love. Next step, we wait, over time sometimes tweak details, or at times completely redesign untill that 2 week mark where we finalize all the details.

As the wedding draws near, the cake is started, starting with the prep work that I start sometimes weeks ahead, the prep of every rose petal, every scroll, making all the colors, matching every swatch, hand painting, brushing on colors, forming calla lilies, the list goes on.... Late in the week a day or so before the wedding, there is the baking, and the icing and construction.

The cake is built, it is baked and than there is the best part for me... transforming all the elements into that vision, taking a sketch of pen and ink, that I could visualize before I even drew it, and creating it in 3-d, in full color, every detail, than stepping back and saying, yes, this is it, this is what "we" (the clients and I) imagined.

And than we deliver it, display the cake as the centerpiece of the reception, set-up the display and step back for a quick second to capture the cake as it will look to guests and to the couple it is intended for.

Than the real magic, lol, within sometimes an hour or two of people seeing it.... It is dismantled, cut into pieces and eaten, only captured in a photograph and in memories, all that work, all the brainstorming, time, etc. all the conceptual ideas come to life and it's all just eaten, lol!

The funny part it doesn't bother me, because the awesome part is as much as I do care about the taste, I mean I have worked for years to have a large variety of the best flavors of cakes and icings, I use my Grandma's recipes, and am meticulous about my cakes being moist and flavorful and fanstastic tasting, once the icing is on I am so about the design that I focus on, well, design! So it is the huge bonus when I see people enjoying the cake for the taste, and have them compliment the flavor and eat every bite.

So when it is all said and done and where is the true magic? I think in a way it is that piece of art, the as I say "fusion of art and flavor" is only here for a short time, a short time but hopefully very magical moment, where the cake is just exactly that.... "The Cake" and not a morsel or crumb is left on a plate.

It's been a while.....

Ok, so it has been forever since I have updated this blog! So much has happened in the last few months. Above are photos of the wedding show at the Paper Valley, I need to upload photos from the Nutcracker at the Paine as well. Check out my website for new special occasion and wedding cakes in the gallery.

In December I put together a video for pilgrim television in regards to as possible reality TV show about cakes, kind of Ace of Cakes style, we did 6 interviews via phone, we shall see what happens. It sounds like fun, yet scarey at the same time, I have been called by the Food Network for Challenges in the past and would looove to do one of those, but the timing has not fallen into place. I think the most appealing thing to me about a cake show is so not cake related, lol! As I have said before I have such a passion for international adoption and I really was thinking that since my daughter does come to work with me and hang out, people would fall in love with her and want to go to China, or Ethiopia, or Haiti or ..... and bring home a baby to their family, odd how my mind works I suppose, but I always think of all the children without families and what I can do to help!

Last weekend I had my nephew's dedication and this was a little cake I did for him, I love the ribbon as a cross look, something fun!

Also put a new sign on the building this week, with the website, something new, hopefully will make me easier to find!

Next weekend I am trying out a New wedding show for me, at the Wave in Appleton on Feb 7th 10am-3pm, come on out and try some samples and see my new displays in person!

The prettiest Cake I EVER made! by far....

Our Family halloween