Drop the curtain! Interview with Kerry Vincent of ‘Save My Bakery’.

In 2014, there were three TV shows in which restaurants, bakeries and bars had makeovers. Kerry Vincent made Food Network’s ‘Save My Bakery’ fun! She has also been a judge on ‘Food Network Challenge’. As you can see from the interview, she has many unique and stellar accomplishments.

Blog Interview Response

Co-credit, with Kerry Vincent

Questions for Kerry 

Q: I have read that you were a model in Australia. How did you get started?

 A: Yes, I was, and those were the fun days, of dolly birds, Carnaby Street, mod style and mini skirts (which we did better by the way) then maxis, beautiful fabrics and incredible workmanship. I was chosen to walk by an executive head (Miss Buhl) from a leading fashion store. It was a chance meeting and I ended up being a staple part of an iconic couture parade that happened twice a year; all champagne and high tea attended by the local hoi polloi. Miss Buhl targeted me for millinery as well as high fashion, which was significant in Australia; hats are worn often and especially when attending the races (rather like the Kentucky Derby but every weekend of the racing season not just once a year) and at social occasions such as weddings and so forth. I was also at finalist in the prestigious Miss Australia Quest at state level. This competition was about intellect as well as physical attributes. 

Q: I see you live in the United States now. Is your husband an American? If so, how did you two meet? 

A: My husband Doug is American and we met in London in 1973. There was a popular overcrowded hotel lounge frequented by post event theatregoers and I was with a group of people joining the fray. There was nowhere to sit and I spotted Doug and his friend in a huge horseshoe shaped booth for 12 and I asked if they minded us joining them. One thing led to another we all started chatting together, and at the end of the night we swapped business cards and the rest is, as they say, history. 

Q: When did you first get into cake decorating or sugar art? What are some of your first projects? 

A: It is a long story and not a path I intended to take. In the early eighties in Tulsa, OK a friend was in desperate need of a cake as her son was getting married. The foster parents of the bride bailed at the last minute and chose not to take care of the wedding reception; everything was left to the groom’s mother. I was asked to fill in at very short notice. I was out of my depth. I was known on the international Corps Diplomatique circuit as an excellent hostess and planned and executed many an event, dinners and cocktail parties and so on, that involved ambassadorial, consular, foreign envoys, royalty and other high ranking personnel. I had no cake decorating skills beyond knowing basic patisserie level techniques but was an excellent baker. In response to the cry for help, I embarked on a self taught quick crash course on how to put together a wedding cake and what I needed to do to decorate it (I had less than two weeks notice). First stop the local cake supply shop! The shop owner showed me how to make buttercream leaves and roses over the counter as I was purchasing the equipment. I figured it all out and told my friend I thought I could do it. What I did not know at the time was the bridesmaids are the next potential customers and it appeared they loved the cake. I had a lot of requests and turned them all down bar one and then the story was repeated all over again. I knew there was more to decorating than butter cream and decided to gather equipment and books on my next trip to Australia, taught myself the rudiments of the art of gum paste and rolled fondant and the game was on. I changed the face of cake creation in America when I encouraged Bakels to manufacture and market Pettinice in the USA in 1989 and as a result of that, the options for customers has never looked back. There is much more to the story, but it would take a book. 

Q: How does somebody go about founding the Grand National Wedding Cake Competition?

A: Necessity is the mother of invention, there was a need in the plains states to have a really great show so my friend Maxine Boyington and I sat down one day over the kitchen table and hatched the Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show in 1992. Later in 1996 I founded the Grand National Wedding Cake Competition, which showed the way in topnotch cake design and the prize rewards have no peer anywhere else in the world. 

Q: Tell me more about being a judge in Food Network Challenge. Of all the Food Network Challenge episodes, Awesome 80s Cakes caught my eye. Did cake decorating have a distinct style back in the 80s? What were some hot trends in the days of New Wave?  

A: There was no ‘new wave’ of cake decorating in the eighties awesome or otherwise. It was sleepy hollow boring, buttercream everywhere, and no variety at all. The Awesome 80’s theme on Food Network Challenge referenced the historical time frame of the 1980’s not the decorating style. Judging on Challenge always had its limits for finite technical skill. The body of work expected was way beyond the norm in the permitted time given, so there was a lot of forgiveness. The entire showpiece was evaluated on visual appeal, cleanliness, attention to detail, representation of theme among other criteria and there were some amazing creations from artists who really learned to hone their skills and become the leading artists in today’s market et al, in no particular order Bronwen Weber, Karen Portaleo, Kaysie Lackey, Mike McCarey, James Rosselle, Marina Sousa, Anne Heap, Joshua John Russell, Orlando Serrano to name just a few.

 

Q: How did your show ‘Save My Bakery’ come about?

 

A. Save My Bakery is a reality rescue show, but the business strategy would be applicable to any business. The businesses were on the bones of their backsides and the owners seemed paralyzed and unable to diagnose their own problems. My job was to assess the troubles that had piled up in the bakeries and try to educate the owners to embrace a new approach. Many of them were doing the same old, same old, for decades and paid no attention to the myriad changes that were happening outside their walls in the market place. The owners felt that their long-lived history would save them, but it was not supported by store traffic. Some were second and third generation owners who conducted business as their great grandparents did and were oblivious to new ingredients and ideas. A tough love approach was needed to lift spirits (over a nice cup of tea) along with bright ideas to uplift their recipes and cake and bake design.

 

Q: I see that October 6^th is Kerry Vincent Day in Tulsa, OK. Is that your birthday? What all happens on your day? 

A: Nothing much actually, it occurs close to the sugar art show and lots of people reference it, always subject for discussion on social media around anniversary time. It is an honor bestowed to those who impact the community in a positive way by the City of Tulsa. A delegation from the city came to the sugar art show to make the presentation. Initially I had no idea why they were there, I was busy, in fact I kept them waiting for two hours until my husband came and told me they needed to speak to me urgently – they were all lined up on stage and gave the proclamation in front of my peers.

Q: Will we see more of ‘Save My Bakery’? If not, will we see you again on TV, as a judge maybe? 

A: Save my Bakery is in my rearview mirror at present. We filmed it in the worst winter on record and I still get chills thinking about how miserably freezing cold it was. Currently I have some other projects in the wings. I have forged a relationship with HSN and Disney in an exciting collaboration over Alice Through the Looking Glass, which was completed when the movie premiered May 27, and I am told there are more opportunities to come in the future. I have finished a wonderful pilot for a new show but can make no disclosures about content because of my contract with the production company, but stay tuned! 

Q: Anything else you want to add? 

A: Afternoon tea is one of my favorite pastimes and somehow it has wound itself into my professional life. There have been multiple instances where ‘tea and me’ have become synonymous. Recently, I spent time ‘rocketing down the rabbit hole’ with a HSN and Disney collaboration for Alice Through the Looking Glass. And now I find myself involved in conversation about more tea drinking things and themes with the visually delicious Tea Time magazine. Watch out for the September/October issue on newsstands August 15th! There are more stories told. 

Credentials and contact information: 

Kerry Vincent

Food Network Host: Save My Bakery: Food Network Challenge

Judge: The Great Australian Bake Off

International ICES Sugarcraft Hall of Fame 2004

Dessert Professional Hall of Fame 2010

Lifetime Achievement Award presented NY 2016

Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show Director

Author: Romantic Wedding Cakes

Freelance and Feature Writer

10530 South Urbana Ave

Tulsa, OK 74137-6247

P: 918 299 7125

E:     KVsugarArt@aol.com