It is an art form nearly two centuries in the making —— or should we say baking? From the time Marie Antoinette spoke the famous phrase, "Let them eat cake," cake decorators have been upping their game year after year. It is believed that cake decorating dates back to the mid-19th century, when baking powder and temperature1-controlled ovens first made cake baking a whole lot easier. Bakers then started making icing by putting sugary cream on top of cakes. They also found they could mold2 all kinds of shapes using marzipan3, sugar paste, and fondant4. Gradually, cake art began to become more and more detailed. Today, the king of the cake-decorating world is Buddy Valastro. As the star of his own reality TV show, Cake Boss, the bakery owner has made some truly mind-blowing cakes. One such design was the full-scale replica5 of a NASCAR race car cake. Another re-creation was the New York City skyline, complete with its own Statue of Liberty. As Valastro likes to point out in the show, you can do a lot with a little bit of flour and sugar. Is there anything sweeter than that?
