News & Events

We are so very sorry to say our Mom, the "Ann" in "Ann's Cake Pan", died suddenly in May, 2016 while visiting with our sister Linda in Franklin, MA. She was 86 years old. It's hard to try and sum up our Mom in a couple of paragraphs. She was simply amazing. She loved our Dad - "Pops," she loved her kids - Charlie, Jann, Linda, Bill, Scott, John and Lisa, and she loved life. Mom had a way of always seeing the best in people. It was rare that she ever had an unkind word. At her funeral many recollected to me how she touched their lives... recalling her acceptance of others and her ability to see the silver-lining in the world around her.

Mom died on my brother John's birthday. It was hard for him. She always said that John took the art of sugar flowers to a new level when she passed on the craft to him and I think that's because she also passed on an extra portion of her caring heart as well.

Mom was never one to be idle... through the years Mom was a secretary, waitress, Girl Scout leader, self-employed upholsterer and, as you all know her, a most revered creator more...

We are so very sorry to say our Mom, the "Ann" in "Ann's Cake Pan", died suddenly in May, 2016 while visiting with our sister Linda in Franklin, MA. She was 86 years old. It's hard to try and sum up our Mom in a couple of paragraphs. She was simply amazing. She loved our Dad - "Pops," she loved her kids - Charlie, Jann, Linda, Bill, Scott, John and Lisa, and she loved life. Mom had a way of always seeing the best in people. It was rare that she ever had an unkind word. At her funeral many recollected to me how she touched their lives... recalling her acceptance of others and her ability to see the silver-lining in the world around her.

Mom died on my brother John's birthday. It was hard for him. She always said that John took the art of sugar flowers to a new level when she passed on the craft to him and I think that's because she also passed on an extra portion of her caring heart as well.

Mom was never one to be idle... through the years Mom was a secretary, waitress, Girl Scout leader, self-employed upholsterer and, as you all know her, a most revered creator of sweet confections. Mom's cake passion spilled over into all of her kids. I grew up taste testing cakes from as young as I can remember and Mom had us all decorating. I won my first cake show at age 13. She made cakes for our friends, events at local schools, churches and eventually through "word of mouth" she received referrals from many prestigious hotels and country clubs in the Philadelphia region. We all helped her as we could... covering cardboard circles with colored foil, putting together cake boxes and, for some of us, blossoming into full-fledged cake decorators and joining in on the creative process. (Most of the beautiful cakes you see on the site today were actually made by Bill, John and Lisa and I see so much of Mom in their creations!)

Mom loved fulfilling wedding dreams. She especially enjoyed meeting with her bride and grooms-to-be and serving her customers years later when they called her to make cakes for their baby showers, christenings, birthday parties and graduations. Really, Mom loved sharing her passion of life.

I remember losing my "Pop." My recollection is that it took a few years for Mom to get her bounce back in her step after that. He was never far from her thoughts in her remaining years... and I think that's how life will be for all of us here at Ann's Cake Pan. She and Pop will always be in everything we create and that, after all, is exactly how it should be.

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The 2016 Atlantic City Bakery Expo is the largest bakery exposition on the East Coast, featuring cake decorating and baking competitions, educational programs, networking opportunities, and product information. The Expo attracts the top decorators, bakers and exhibitors from across the US and a few from around the globe, including Greece and Italy.

John Natter, Ann's Cake Pan co-owner and primary flower artists, participated in the Expo's Cake Decorating Extravaganza, and was honored to receive the second-place award in the professional level, in the tiered cake category. Other categories included novelty/specialty cakes and sculptured cakes. Two competition levels were offered, professional and beginner for those with less than 2 years experience in the art. John's cake featured a buttercream frosting and a wide variety of hand made spring flowers. The tulips and Calla lilies were hand molded out of fondant icing, and then airbrushed and hand-painted. The rest of the flowers were piped in royal icing. Those flowers included hydrangea, Cattleya orchids, Gerber daisies, stargazer lilies, Narcissus, jonquils, lilacs, pansies, roses and violets. The flowers were then strategically placed in random size sprays around the 5 tier cake and finished with buttercream leaves, leaf tendrils and Lily of the Valley. The top-tier was finished with a topiary of flowers and adorned with a lilac-colored 10 piece fondant bow, a special feature of many of Ann's Cake Pan creations.

An esteemed panel of judges more...

The 2016 Atlantic City Bakery Expo is the largest bakery exposition on the East Coast, featuring cake decorating and baking competitions, educational programs, networking opportunities, and product information. The Expo attracts the top decorators, bakers and exhibitors from across the US and a few from around the globe, including Greece and Italy.

John Natter, Ann's Cake Pan co-owner and primary flower artists, participated in the Expo's Cake Decorating Extravaganza, and was honored to receive the second-place award in the professional level, in the tiered cake category. Other categories included novelty/specialty cakes and sculptured cakes. Two competition levels were offered, professional and beginner for those with less than 2 years experience in the art. John's cake featured a buttercream frosting and a wide variety of hand made spring flowers. The tulips and Calla lilies were hand molded out of fondant icing, and then airbrushed and hand-painted. The rest of the flowers were piped in royal icing. Those flowers included hydrangea, Cattleya orchids, Gerber daisies, stargazer lilies, Narcissus, jonquils, lilacs, pansies, roses and violets. The flowers were then strategically placed in random size sprays around the 5 tier cake and finished with buttercream leaves, leaf tendrils and Lily of the Valley. The top-tier was finished with a topiary of flowers and adorned with a lilac-colored 10 piece fondant bow, a special feature of many of Ann's Cake Pan creations.

An esteemed panel of judges evaluated the entries against the criteria of neatness, originality, creativity, colors, and degree of difficulty. The judges were Bronwen Weber, executive chef and owner of Frosted Art Bakery & Studio in Dallas, Texas, Odette D'Aniello, founder and president of Celebrity Cake Studio in Tacoma, Washington, Roberto Castellano, head pastry chef of Sapienza Bake Shop in Elmont, New York, Scott Calvert, owner of The Cake Plate in Austin, Texas, and John Lupo, founder of Grandma's Bakery in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. Ed Henry 0f CSM Bakery Solutions, sponsors of the 2016 Cake Decorating Extravaganza, presented the trophies to each winning decorator.

John says, "I was really honored to be chosen for this award. There was so much great work there and the competition was tough. People are doing great things in this business and it was nice to be recognised for what we do at Ann's Cake Pan."

To see more of John's beautiful and life-like flower work, visit the Our Cakes tab. Better yet, call for a free consultation and select a hand-crafted work of floral icing art as a part of your next celebration or event.

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