Pinky, Queen of Cakes, opens Bakery 73; takes on ArtPrize with edible entry

Since going solo this past May, Jamie Springer, aka Pinky, has been busy operating out of the relocated Skywalk Deli at 920 Monroe Avenue. To be fair, and accord her the regal moniker she has earned in reputation over 30 plus years, Pinky, Queen of Cakes is her official LLC. 

This year Springer has entered ArtPrize with, to her knowledge, the first edible entry in its five year history. Boardwalk Condos will be the host venue for the piece titled "Sweet Dreams." 

"It's not going to look like a cake to some people," says Springer. "It will be very bold and non-wedding-traditional." 

Its height will be at least four feet with around seven tiers and quantity enough to feed between 700 and 800 people. The actual cake part will be fake, in order to last the 19 days of competition. But everything else will be edible.

"Everything that you will see visually, like even the things that look like they separate the different tiers of cake, everything's edible. Even the stuff that's going to look like gold and metal and brass and glass and paper, it's all edible product," says Springer.

Since there currently exists no culinary art category, Springer has entered her edible sculpture under the 3-D category. She plans on working with a variety of sugar making techniques such as pastes, papers, wafer papers, casted sugar, pulled sugar, edible inks, and edible 24 karat gold liquids. Springer will be using hand painting, stenciling, fine line and molding techniques as well. She says that she'll be playing with depth perception and texture. 

"I want people to know that what I do is called culinary art for a reason. Because it is an art. It's my passion. It's my skill and I create beautiful masterpieces. That's my art. And there's so many others that have gone to school for culinary arts that put plates on the table that are gorgeous. Not only do they look gorgeous, they taste gorgeous and make you feel good," says Springer. "Food is such an important art."

When Skywalk Deli moved to its new location, Skywalk Catering approached Springer with the opportunity to work as an affiliated partner. She accepted- and Bakery 73 was born. Bakery 73 is the entity where all the edibles are prepared, whereas Pinky operates the non-edible production of decorations such as paper flowers, stands, signage, cake knives and just about any topping one can dream up out of her studio that is licensed under the cottage industry law. 

Her operation keeps Springer busy, but not to the point where she is unable to dedicate the quality time to each of her clients. 

"I want to keep it small and dedicated to the customer," says Springer. "I get very one-on-one with my clients." 

Springer likes to be available to her clients. She prides herself on delivering the cakes herself, photographing them and remaining on location to help with any problems that may arise.

Bakery 73 does vegan as well as gluten free cakes and can adapt to meet allergy needs. According to Springer, there is no difference in quality. Business is a lot of word of mouth referrals for Springer and she also is available online to take orders and set up a consultation. 

"There are so many great chefs in this town. There are so many great beer brewers in this town. That's an art. A skilled craft, a trade," says Springer.