my Serenity 40th bday cake: shiny!

"Yup, that went well."

Short story: My friend matt bought a Charm City Cake of the spaceship Serenity for my 40th bday and a) it’s going to appear on a future episode of Ace of Cakes and b) they filmed my reaction and asked some questions of us, etc. Pics here.

Long story and the part I didn’t know about until afterwards: Last June my friend Matt came up with a brilliant idea of a surprise gift: a cake from Charm City Cakes in the shape of Serenity. He knows how much I adored Firefly (will not shake fist in sky in anger that it was canceled. well, maybe a little bit) and he wanted to do something nice for me as a thank you for my friendship. So off went an email asking for a quote. Well, next thing you know, deposit made and contracts signed, including one that says he fully understands that not every cake is filmed, etc. Things were going along great and then a week and a half before my birthday he gets an email. “We’d like to feature your cake on the show. We need to talk to the lawyers at Fox to get their permission to use the image of Serenity, but if we can, we want to do it.” Matt agreed to it. Then on Monday they called saying Fox lawyers said yes and it’d be nice if his friend could come down and they could film her reaction.” Thus the phone call.

The rest of the story from my perspective: After securing the day off, I eagerly awaited Thursday evening. While it was going to be a long day and a half, I was excited. What could this gift be and why the heck did I have to be there at the last minute? Chris and I left on the train after work to meet up with Matt in Newark (he was already in NYC on business) and drove to Elke’s to stay overnight. This cut down the seven hours to the location in half. I had finally guessed that it was a Charm City Cake mainly because of the distance and nobody had really asked me what I wanted for my cake. But what could the cake be of?

We got up at 4a.m. in Morristown and headed down to Baltimore. I asked Matt and Chris:“Is my cake cool enough to be filmed?” to which Matt replied, “I don’t know, do you want it to be cool enough to be filmed?” “On the one hand, I’m an attention whore, on the other, I know I look horrible on film. But hells yeah!”

Despite the heavy downpour and running into rush hour traffic, we made it down there fifteen minutes before our scheduled arrival time. We got buzzed in and immediately I saw the camera, boom mic and Mary Alice. She welcomed us in, turned to Matt and asked him what kind of car he drove, to which he answered an SUV and she said, “Good. because things got kind of….big.” I’m still wondering what it is and she then leads me to it and it was Serenity!!! OMG. I said, “Shiny!” and then hugged matt and Chris. The cake was fantastic. We started taking pictures, they were continuously filming, they asked us questions to which I hope I gave coherent answers. I don't remember everything I said, folks, I was in a daze.

Mary Alice is as awesome as you think she is and more. She took time out of her busy schedule for us and gave a tour of the entire place.

So the cake itself….well, it was beautiful. Katherine is the one who made it and she did a fantastic job. The base was a starfield. I didn’t notice at first the base, but did the third time I was examining it and I was tickled pink that Katherine had put that much care and thought into it. The ship really looked like it was flying in space!!! I wish I had noticed that detail when they asked me about my favorite part of the cake earlier, cause I would have answered that. The two engines on the side were made of rice krispy treats (they were so delicious!). The bottom part of the ship was all wood so that it supported the cake. We are very curious to see her assembling the cake on the show! In the pictures you can see the progression of the cake being eaten.....

My cake will be on an upcoming special one hour episode that will feature a cake for I think the Alaskan Tourism Board (cake is to be at a function in NYC). The three other cakes have aerospace/flight themes. There’s mine, the Hubble space telescope for the Yuri’s Night party at Goddard Space Center (same night as my bday) and “when pigs fly” for a couple who after fifteen years he finally proposed (when pigs fly...get it?). We got to see the two other cakes that were still being assembled while we were there. When the episode airs, of course I’ll let everyone know!!

Mary Alice’s tour of the place was fantastic. She gave us little stories and insights into their production. For example, they use vodka to cut the frosting when they airbrush a cake. They film all their hero shots down in the basement (you’ll see pics), so if you ever see her saying “Those guys” and pointing up you now know why, she’s in the basement and they are all upstairs.

After wrapping up my cake and putting it in drydock (including Styrofoam props for it to travel the seven hours – how freakin’ thoughtful!!!!), we decided it was time to leave. Hugs to everyone and they filmed us leaving. It was a long drive home in the pouring rain. But we got home an hour after my sister and bro-in-law arrived from L.A. and we were all able to head out to dinner and have a good time.

Saturday night friends went to dinner with us and then we went back to the house for cake and alcohol. Serenity tastes like chocolate. It was delicious and they even layered the cake with chocolate filling!!

Thank you to all my friends and family for making this an awesome 40th bday. And special thanks to Matt for the incredible birthday gift, which was totally worth the last minute drive and sleep deprivation. And finally, my Chris who organized everyone and made it seem like magic planned my bday.

“Tell you what. You buy this ship - treat her proper - she'll be with you for the rest of your life.” Or at least until she finishes digesting in your stomach.

Posted by jennj at April 6, 2009 07:10 PM