Sylvia Weinstock, the ‘da Vinci of Wedding Cakes,’ Dies at 91
November 28, 2021 12:29 PM Subscribe
Sylvia Weinstock, who took the art of baking to new heights with her 10-foot-tall wedding cakes and their garlands of hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of hand-painted sugar flowers, died on Nov. 22 at her home in Manhattan. She was 91.
non-paywall.
A student of psychology who was happily married, Mrs. Weinstock unapologetically interrogated her clients for their personal stories. If they had been married before, she wanted to know what had gone wrong. She also claimed an ability to predict the success of a marriage after talking with the bride and groom. Sometimes, she once said, “I really want to tell the boy to run.”
“She was a real New York broad who let you know what she thought,” Ed Schoenfeld, the longtime Manhattan restaurateur and a close friend said. She never hid her aversion to fondant or her dislike of cupcakes. And once, Ms. Isa said in an interview, her mother refused to bake a cake for a bride who wanted it to taste like a Twinkie.
Ms Weinstock was also a producer, and appeared in baking shows including the first episode of Nailed It in which participants attempted to recreate her flowered cake creations (she also walked off with some of the cooking ware).
A student of psychology who was happily married, Mrs. Weinstock unapologetically interrogated her clients for their personal stories. If they had been married before, she wanted to know what had gone wrong. She also claimed an ability to predict the success of a marriage after talking with the bride and groom. Sometimes, she once said, “I really want to tell the boy to run.”
“She was a real New York broad who let you know what she thought,” Ed Schoenfeld, the longtime Manhattan restaurateur and a close friend said. She never hid her aversion to fondant or her dislike of cupcakes. And once, Ms. Isa said in an interview, her mother refused to bake a cake for a bride who wanted it to taste like a Twinkie.
Ms Weinstock was also a producer, and appeared in baking shows including the first episode of Nailed It in which participants attempted to recreate her flowered cake creations (she also walked off with some of the cooking ware).
I just watched her second appearance on Nailed It—it’s the Hanukkah-themed episode of Nailed It Holiday and she was a delight. Partway through they showed clips of her taking things on the first episode, presented her with a specially labeled bag, and Nicole Byers took her “shopping” in the show’s stock rooms.
posted by sleeping bear at 6:46 PM on November 28, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by sleeping bear at 6:46 PM on November 28, 2021 [5 favorites]
Her appearance on Nailed it was delightful.
posted by bq at 6:56 PM on November 28, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by bq at 6:56 PM on November 28, 2021 [4 favorites]
She was very Edna Mode, and not just because of the glasses.
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posted by tzikeh at 9:18 PM on November 28, 2021 [3 favorites]
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posted by tzikeh at 9:18 PM on November 28, 2021 [3 favorites]
Cooking show guest hosts don’t get much better
Tangential Nail It drinking game: every time Jaques says fawn-DAW
posted by gottabefunky at 9:54 AM on November 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
Tangential Nail It drinking game: every time Jaques says fawn-DAW
posted by gottabefunky at 9:54 AM on November 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
.
Possibly the Grinling Gibbons of wedding cakes (not a diss, I’m very fond of Gibbons)
posted by clew at 10:34 AM on November 29, 2021
Possibly the Grinling Gibbons of wedding cakes (not a diss, I’m very fond of Gibbons)
posted by clew at 10:34 AM on November 29, 2021
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And fondant is nasty.
posted by kathrynm at 1:18 PM on November 28, 2021 [2 favorites]