Belle Fete Sponsors Animal Refuge League Event

Corporate Conference Testimonial

Dear Audrey, Lori & Crew-

How do you say thanks for such a great performance? We were hearing rave reviews as folks were leaving; many laden with compostable bowls full of dessert!

You folks are full of positive energy - your helpers were friendly, efficient, visible AND helpful.

A big part of how people feel about the day is their food experience and Belle Fete just made it optimal!

Thank you for your participation in the Conference -- the Land Trust community salutes you!!

Until next time-

C., D., & M.

Peary Cake Featured In The Portland Press Herald

Cake Makes Peary Centennial Party in Brunswick

Sculptor Audrey Schoenthaler uses fondant and other food as the media for her creations.

By DEBORAH SAYER, Staff Writer April 8, 2009
Photo courtesy Audrey Schoenthaler

This igloo cake, a scene of explorer Adm. William Peary’s Arctic base camp, was the centerpiece for a celebration marking the 100th anniversary of Peary’s reaching the North Pole. Audrey Schoenthaler of Belle Fete Events and Catering in Brunswick made the cake.

When Adm. William Peary completed his trek to the North Pole on April 6, 1909, he arrived at the top of the world via dog sled, carrying navigational tools including a compass, sextant and an artificial horizon device filled with mercury.

When Audrey Schoenthaler arrived at the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum last Monday to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Peary's historic journey, it was in a 2008 Nissan Versa (and directions were readily available courtesy of MapQuest).

Schoenthaler, a sculptor, left her mark on the day's festivities with a work of art that paid tribute to Peary's accomplishments. The 3-D miniature of his Arctic base camp was created using Schoenthaler's trade tools, including baking tins, parchment, wooden dowels and sharp tools for cutting and shaping. Like Peary's encampment, Schoenthaler's work is now a distant memory, existing only in photographs. It was eaten as part of the celebration.

Schoenthaler, 25, of Harpswell is a cake designer who creates edible art as part of the Brunswick-based Belle Fete Events & Catering business. "I went to college for an art degree in sculpting," said Schoenthaler, a 2006 graduate of the University of Maine at Farmington. "I'm a conceptual sculptor. I use everything from metal to Twinkies (to create my art). Whatever idea comes to mind about the artwork will dictate the medium I will use. "(While in college) I worked in the kitchen on a dude ranch in Colorado during summer months. I'd make specialty cakes that became more elaborate over time and progressively developed into actual sculptures."
Schoenthaler's final college project submission was a giant pyramid constructed entirely of Twinkies. "There were 1,500 of them," she said. "The whole room smelled of Twinkies."

Schoenthaler returned to Maine, partnering with Belle Fete co-owner Lori Kinkade and using the business as a creative outlet to continue making her unique sculptures. "I'd always used food for my medium so it lent itself well to that," said Schoenthaler. Examples of Schoenthaler's work include giant 3-D cakes shaped like 35 mm cameras, rainbow trout and a Volkswagen Beetle. For one beach-themed wedding, she created a massive cheesecake-based sand castle, covered with a graham cracker crumb overlay.

Sometimes, Schoenthaler uses batches of Rice Krispie square mix to create a lightweight base for more complex forms, saying the ingredients are malleable and capable of supporting the heavy fondant often topping the cakes. The fondant, or gum paste, creates a smooth finish and acts as "an edible Play-Doh" with which Schoenthaler creates her sculptures.

"We wanted to offer something special as the centerpiece for the 100th anniversary (Peary) reception," said Kristi Clifford, a museum administrative assistant. "We went on (the Belle Fete) Web site, saw cake photos and said, 'Ohhhh ' (Schoenthaler) does wonderful work."

"Audrey's the cake designer," said Kinkade. "She is a true artist and just loves a challenge. She's a genius who never ceases to amaze me."

For the Peary celebration, Schoenthaler created an igloo-shaped cake with miniature expedition figures, all made of fondant, using edible paint to add details. "The hardest thing was making the people and smaller things like sleds and dogs," said Schoenthaler, who based the design on museum photographs while adding imaginative touches. "The more detail you can add, the better. I had Adm. Peary standing, Henson sitting by a camp fire with coffee pot on it, sled dogs sitting and lying down, pick axes, snow shoes and a sign."

Like Peary, Schoenthaler kept a log of her work. "I take pictures as the work progresses," she said. "It took about 16 hours (to complete), not including about six hours baking time. I had such a good time doing this cake."

Staff Writer Deborah Sayer can be contacted at 791-6308 or at:
dsayer@pressherald.com
Copyright © 2009 Blethen Maine Newspapers

IF YOU GO "NORTHWARD OVER THE GREAT ICE: Robert E. Peary and the Quest for the North Pole" is on exhibit through March 2011 at Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum and Arctic Studies Center, offering a variety of changing exhibits as well as hundreds of artifacts, visual and audio media.
THE MUSEUM, in Hubbard Hall on the Bowdoin campus in Brunswick, is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and 2 to 5 p.m. on Sundays. It is closed Mondays and national holidays. ADMISSION is free. For information, call 725-3416.

Peary Cake Featured In The Times Record

Belle Fete created a "cake sculpture" depicting Adm. Robert E. Peary's expedition to the North Pole for Bowdoin College's celebration of the 100th anniversary of Peary's trip to the pole.

The Icing on Peary's Cake
news@TimesRecord.Com
04/07/2009
By Rachel Ganong, Times Record Staff

BRUNSWICK — Adm. Robert E. Peary never looked so good. One hundred years to the day after he reported reaching the North Pole, Peary's image adorned an arctic tableau made of cake in Bowdoin College's Hubbard Hall on Monday.Bowdoin officials, as part of marking Peary's achievement at Bowdoin's Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum, ordered the cake from catering and event planning company Belle Fete, located at 35 Noble St. "We needed a centerpiece, something special," said Bowdoin Administrative Assistant Kristie Clifford.What they got was an entirely edible concoction depicting Peary's historic, if contested, arrival at the North Pole. On a tundra of icing, Peary, Inuit guides, their sled dogs, shovels and pick axes huddle near a fire and igloo on a snowy backdrop.To produce the edible tribute to Peary, Belle Fete partners Lori Kinkade and Audrey Schoenthaler summoned their most ambitious baking efforts to date.

Kinkade, who started Belle Fete two years ago after moving from Boston to Maine, combined 40 eggs, eight pounds of butter, 10 pounds of sugar, 10 pounds of flour and six hours of work to create the chocolate buttercream cake. Then, Schoenthaler, who studied sculpture at the University of Maine Farmington, sculpted play-dough-like fondant into figurines, sometimes shaping it around rice crispy treats to form larger elements like the igloo. She painted each of the figurines, mixing her food coloring with vodka to avoid dissolving their sugary coating.

All told, Schoenthaler's finished product represented 16 hours of work."This has been the most detailed one," she said, comparing the cake to others the pair has made. As students, professors and Peary-philes filtered through Hubbard Hall, they ate through two sheet cakes while admiring the finished work. Like his arctic expedition, however, Peary's cake withstood its environment."It's too beautiful to eat," Clifford said.

Belle Fete Brownie Testimonial

I stopped to have lunch with my wife on the way home yesterday. When she saw the box of brownies, she pretty much squealed with delight. She loved the Tiffany-blue ribbon and total presentation. I had to gently wrest the box away from her when she suggested that we open them right then and there. So much for delayed gratification. I argued that our 10-year-old daughter, would want to be the one to unwrap.

Anyway, we all managed to wait until after dinner – and then, well, we shamelessly – and with no restraint -- ate every one of them. You probably hear this all the time, but they’re the most delicious brownies I have ever had – bar none. They actually dissolved our ability to communicate. All we kept saying was, “Oh, my God” and other nearly unintelligible things like “Mmmmm.” You get the idea. So, thank you very (very!) much for the box of choco-bliss.

Museum Testimonial

Lori and Audrey.

Everything went so smoothly and the food was delicious. I appreciated your commitment to using local food and loved the eco-friendly tableware.

The cake was a hit, not to mention a work of art!

Thank you for helping to make our events special!

K.C., The Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum,Bowdoin College