Live tweeting Food TV shows I’ve met amazing and very nice people from the culinary world. One of those talented chefs is the Queen of Cupcakes – Victoria Parsons.
Victoria brings two interesting experiences to our interview table. As her social channels confirm, she is an accomplished Cake Decorator. Her amazing and creative cakes make me especially happy. Victoria is also a behind the scene’s Baker’s Assistant on Food TV. She’s been on-set working on some of Food Network’s most popular cake competition shows.
I’m excited that Victoria agreed to share her two interwoven confectionary stories with us. My only regret is digital technology doesn’t include the ability to reach through the screen and taste! Please enjoy my interview with Victoria.
Victoria Parsons On Victoria Parsons: So, a little about me. I’m a cake decorator with over 20 years experience. I started out in grocery stores and worked my way up to the Head Wedding Cake Decorator at Jill’s Cake Creations in Santa Clarita CA.
My specialty is cupcakes and I am the Queen of Cupcakes. I can make just about any decoration on a cupcake. My goal is to have my own show on Food Network.
Cake Decorator
Diva Foodies: We Love how you describe yourself as “The Queen of Cupcakes.” Cupcakes make us happy too! What’s your story behind, as the marketers would say, positioning?
Victoria Parsons: As I said I am the Queen of Cupcakes. This started out as me wanting to make pretty designs on cupcakes. That evolved into “how intricate and detailed can I get on such a tiny surface?” I like the challenge of creating what can often be a tiny scene on top of a cupcake to represent the theme the client wants. I’m often told my cupcakes are “to pretty to eat” and that means I’ve done my job.
I’ve created everything from tiny food to beach scenes to animals and beyond. I’ve even replicated the Target Dog face on cupcakes. But, my Christmas cupcakes are my favorite to make. My ornament design is what got me on a segment of Home and Family TV where I decorated cupcake with Debbie Matenopoulos. The show actually reached out to me through Facebook and asked me to come on.
Diva Foodies: In the world of food there is savory and sweet. Why did you decide to focus on the sweet? What is the biggest challenge of working in a bakery these days?
Victoria Parsons: Focusing on sweet for me is more creative visually. I can recreate items out of frosting, sugar, cake, fondant…. Essentially I get to play with food for a living.
The biggest challenge is getting people to understand the cost involved in this business. Materials, labor, research…. These all take time and talent and those things have a value that not everyone understands.
Diva Foodies: Your social pages are filled with the most delicious confectionary treats. What was the most challenging or fun sculptured cake you created and why?
Victoria Parsons Thank you. The most challenging cake I’ve done was a family of minions, 6 different characters for a wedding. A bride a groom and 4 kids each with distinctive hobbies outfits and design. It took a long time but it was so much fun to try and figure out the techniques to pull this off. For example using cooked spaghetti to make braided hair on the minions.
Food TV Baker’s Assistant
Diva Foodies: In addition to being a professional cake decorator your experience includes ‘Bakers Assistant’ on some very high profile TV shows like Food Network’s Cake Wars and Halloween Wars. Many of our community are Food TV fans (us included!). Please tell us what a typical day (if there is one!) on-set is like. And do you get to taste the food?
Victoria Parsons: So, a typical day on set is controlled chaos. There’s a lot of moving parts and it takes so much more than you see on the show. There’s a whole team of people behind the scenes that make sure everything and everyone is running smoothly. All of the contestants, judges and hosts I’ve had the pleasure to work with have been professional, fun and incredible to me. I’ve worked with some of the most amazingly talented cake artists in the business and they were all so generous with their time and talent. Working the shows is a great place to learn from the best.
As a Bakers Assistant on Cake Wars, Halloween Wars and Holiday Wars we do not get to taste the food. Bummer, right, because there were many desserts I really wanted to try.
Diva Foodies: Girlfriend, let’s dish a little about Food TV. What are the judges like on and off camera? Sometimes it seems like there is a good-chef/bad-chef thing going on where one judge will be highly complementary and another not so much. Is that planned?
Victoria Parsons: The shows aren’t really heavily scripted. The contestants get honest input and feedback from the judges, good or bad. It’s all in how people can handle the criticism. It’s not from a negative standpoint. The judges really want the contestants to do their best and to win. There’s no favoritism. The host and judges have their own opinions and don’t hold back. No one is deliberately mean. They call it like they see it and you have to be in it to win it and be able to take that critique and improve or you go home.
Food Is Love
Diva Foodies: Many people have told us that ‘Food Is Love.’ What does Food Is Love mean to you?
Victoria Parsons: Food IS love. It’s the one thing everyone needs. The thing that can have history in a culture or family that can be passed down through generations.
Food says “I care enough to make you this which makes you happy”
It’s a way to keep traditions alive which is the most valuable thing one can pass on. We all have a favorite recipe or dish that someone special would make. Those memories are priceless.
Victoria’s gorgeous wedding cake indeed says ~ “Food Is Love”
Diva Foodies: As is Diva Foodies’ tradition, please wrap this any way you’d like.
Victoria Parsons: I’d wrap up by encouraging everyone to be creative always. That doesn’t just apply to food.
Just look for ways to be inspired to express your true self.
Connect with the Queen of Cupcakes – Victoria Parsons!
