Courtesy Discovery/TLC
A cake decorator at Caked Las Vegas prepares sushi pieces made of cake in this photo from TLC’s “Fabulous Cakes.”
Monday, Dec. 6, 2010 | 1:55 a.m.
Beyond the Sun
Three Las Vegas bakeries will be featured tonight on the TLC show “Fabulous Cakes.”
Caked Las Vegas, Las Vegas Custom Cakes and the Bellagio and Aria's Jean Philippe Patisserie conceived and crafted some over-the-top dessert creations for the show's second season premiere.
Yamilt Hillers, who owns Las Vegas Custom Cakes with her husband, Mark, forged a life-sized dresser and mirror out of cake and icing for a quinceañera, accented with high-heeled shoes and accessories.
For three days, camera crews meticulously captured every minute of the cake's creation, collecting almost 40 hours of tape.
"It was kind of amazing, but I don't know if I'd want to do it again," Mark Hillers said.
Yamilt Hillers said it was a challenge to compress all of the work into just a few days.
"It was definitely an experience ... but I'm glad it was all about the cake," she said.
At Caked Las Vegas, owner Carolyn Portuondo was familiar with the process: she was featured in the first season of “Fabulous Cakes.” She said she enjoys the notoriety that comes with a national television audience.
"It's kind of weird. I'll be walking through the grocery store and someone will recognize me," said Portuondo, who opened Caked two years ago. "People even come in (to the shop) from out of state. It's priceless, though."
This time, she fabricated a 3-foot-long fire truck outfitted with blinking LED lights. The cake was for firefighters from Nellis Air Force Base who were recently deployed to Iraq.
Like the Hillers, she found the filming "very intense."
"They don't want anything to be caught off camera," she said. "But it's awesome. Of course I'm going to jump at that."
Head chef Jean-Philippe Maury, who runs his namesake Jean-Philippe Patisserie at the Bellagio and Aria, is no stranger to television audiences. He has banked appearances on CNN and the Food Network's "Iron Chef" in recent years.
He and his team baked 100 miniature cakes, which then were fixed to an 8-foot presentation stand for a wedding reception.
"It's always very exciting," Maury said. "People come in and say 'Oh, I've seen you on TV.' It's really great exposure for us."
The episode will be shown at 10:15 p.m. Las Vegas time.
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy