Is there anything better than a cupcake?
Are you addicted to those baking competition shows on television like I am?
If the answers are yes and all of the above, I have a big treat for you! Because my dear friend Heather Greer’s new book, Cake That released today. I’m in love with this story, and couldn’t resist sharing more about it and Heather with you all, too. AND, she’s offered to do a giveaway, so make sure you read all the way to the end.
Heather, this newest book has a character who runs a cupcake food truck. What inspired you to do a food-inspired book?
I love baking in my free time, and watching food competition shows on Food Network has always been something my husband and I enjoy doing together. Incorporating food, food trucks, and food competition into my story was natural for me. Though I have to say, I’ve still never eaten from a food truck. We tried and failed at a research trip to St. Louis and haven’t had the opportunity to try again.
Okay, I know you’ve done some fun research for this story. What are your top three things you discovered in your research?
Food trucks are expensive and can have personalities all their own. Size, color, shape. You name it. A person can find a truck to complement any style.
Also, there are a lot of great recipes out there from around the world. After stretching my own knowledge to come up with various cake ideas, I have a list of several techniques and types of cakes I’d like to make one day.
You can virtually walk through houses through realty sites. When my husband and I were looking at houses 20 years ago, you’d find pictures and neighborhood information online, but that was it. Now, you can take a tour of a house, seeing every detail, without leaving your home. So, the apartment and house I describe in Cake That! exist somewhere. I couldn’t tell you where at this point in time, but they are out there.
This character has a streak of blue in her hair and a scooter. Is there any of you in the inspiration for this baker?
That’s a tough one. Livvy is a very outgoing person. I’m an introvert. I like her boldness, but I lack it, especially in matters of hair color and style. I’d love it, but I don’t have what it takes in me to make those kinds of changes. I love bright, dark red for hair, but it wouldn’t look the best on me. Aqua would be more fitting for me, but I don’t like to draw attention to myself so I might have to pass!
As for her scooter, it’s actually a vintage inspired Indian Chief motorcycle. Very old-school. I like retro though you can’t tell it from how I dress. You should take a look at my pinterest page. I have pictures. It’s really cool. But as for riding, I’m not a big fan. My husband loves to, but it’s not secure enough for me.
How hard was it to keep the Christian aspect in a story set on a reality television show?
I believe biblical faith should change our perspective on life situations and our reactions to them. In that, it wasn’t hard at all to bring faith into the story. It’s who Livvy is. But that’s not to say she’s perfect. Like you and me, she has times she neglects her faith and certain areas of weakness that trip her up. Sometimes she has to deal with the effects of having chosen the less godly path, and other times her faith shines through. For her as it is for us, living faith consistently every day in every way is a struggle.
Because of the baking competition aspect of the story, some of the characters get a little mean at times. How easy was it to write those parts? Did it end up being a bit therapeutic?
Are you asking me if I’m mean? Did I create great mean characters because I can relate? Just kidding. There are a variety of personalities in the house and competition. Some we get peeks at. Others we really get to know. If you’ve ever watched a cooking competition, you can see basic personalities that come up in just about every one. I tried to incorporate these into the story. And there is always one the viewers want to see eliminated immediately, but they never are. This is the one that leaves you yelling at your television in frustration because “how could they not get rid of them”. I do have a character like that in Cake That!, and Livvy’s experience on the show would have been vastly different had he not been there. I’ll let you decide if the experience was for her good or not.
Was it therapeutic? There are definitely times when characters can say or do what the author wouldn’t say or do. I don’t know that it’s therapeutic, but as an author, I can definitely think about those times in my own life to make the character reactions more realistic.
If you could make one of the cakes from the story in real life, which would you choose to make?
That is hard. There are so many different flavor combinations and decorating themes I used in the story. Actually, I think when she makes the Yule Log cake. As long as I’ve been baking, that has intimidated me. I love the way they look. And every time I see one made on the Hallmark Christmas movies I watch or on Christmas themed food shows, I think I should make one. But I can’t get over the fact that I would have to roll up a cake. Cake isn’t meant as a foldable treat. It makes no sense. I’m afraid I’ll try and it will fall apart completely. I need a little of Livvy’s spunk to tackle that one!
I know you’re doing lots of fun activities to celebrate the launch this week. Can you drop some links for people who are interested in partying with you?
I’d love to have everyone join me this week. I’m having an in person launch party, but aspects of it will be done as Facebook live. Plus, all week, I’ll share story related memes, videos, and posts so everyone can join in the fun. You can even check out my other social media and website links to find out about my new projects and what I’m reading.
Website and blog: http://heathergreer.com/
Intagram: https://www.instagram.com/1heather.greer
Heather’s offered an e-copy of her new book Cake That to one of the U.S. readers who comments on this post in the next week. So, if you’re interested in getting to read Livvy and Evan’s story … not to mention see if one of them wins the contest, let us know. What’s your favorite flavor of cake?
Cake ThatTen bakers. Nine days. Only one winner.
Competing on the Cake That baking show is a dream come true for Livvy Miler, but debt on her cupcake truck and an expensive repair make her question if it’s one she should chase. Her best friend, Tabitha, encourages Livvy to trust God to care for The Sugar Cube, win or lose.
Family is everything to Evan Jones. His parents always gave up their dreams so their children could achieve theirs. Winning Cake That will let him give back some of what they’ve sacrificed by allowing him to give them the trip they’ve always talked about but could never afford.
As the contestants live and bake together, more than the competition heats up. Livvy and Evan have a spark from the start, but they’re in it to win. Neither needs the distraction of romance. Unwanted attention from Will, another competitor, complicates matters. Stir in strange occurrences to the daily baking assignments, and everyone wonders if a saboteur is in the mix.
With the distractions inside and outside the Cake That kitchen, will Livvy or Evan rise above the rest and claim the prize? Or does God have more in store for them than they first imagined?
Heather Greer grew up as a pastor’s kid in rural southern Illinois. She swore she’d never marry a pastor, but when her husband answered the call to preach—she changed her mind. When she isn’t writing or ministering alongside teens and women, Heather loves to bake, spend time with her family or sit down with a cup of cocoa and watch the latest Hallmark channel movie
Amy R Anguish grew up a preacher's kid, and in spite of having lived in seven different states that are all south of the Mason Dixon line, she is not a football fan. Currently, she resides in Tennessee with her husband, daughter, and son, and usually a bossy cat or two. Amy has an English degree from Freed-Hardeman University that she intends to use to glorify God, and she wants her stories to show that while Christians face real struggles, it can still work out for good.
Mmmm, cake! A year or so ago, I grabbed a picture of a cupcake, big pile of icing and all, and made the image for a bumper sticker with the words: “God must LOVE calories! He made so MANY of them!”
When it comes to cake, I’m a chocolate kind of guy. Pretty much any combination with chocolate will do. We did come across a coconut cake that was amazing which is saying a lot for me because I usually don’t like coconut confections.
This one starts with a basic yellow cake, baked as usual. While it’s still warm, poke with holes and pour a can of coconut cream (like Coco Lopez) over the top and let it soak in. Next comes a layer of fresh whipped topping from a half pint of whipping cream, sweetened to taste. It should be fairly stiff to support the final topping. Do NOT recommend Cool Whip. Finally, top with shredded coconut. This is not the baker’s coconut that has the sugared coating. We found it in the freezer section of our grocery store. It’s just plain shredded coconut. Not sure of the amount. We used two of the packages from the store. It produced a pretty thick layer, maybe 3 to 4 cups worth. The final result is AWESOME!
The story sounds fun. Thanks for the opportunity in the drawing.
I am not in the EEUU so I am not participating in the draw. But this book looks fun! I loved watching cupcacke wars as a teenager and I still love baking.
I like the idea of a Christian protagonist with dyed hair in my country. Sometimes it is something frowned upon in some churches for a Christian woman to have any type of style that is not extremely classic.
I like white cake and the frosting has to have almond flavoring! I also like to have loads of pretty flowers on the cake too! That would be neat to have a cupcake food truck.
Hi Amy and Welcome Heather! My favorite cake is Carrot Cake. But I also like Vanilla with Bavarian Cream or any thing lemon. Fortunate to have two local bakeries (Flour Shop and Bit of Swiss) that make several delicious varieties of Yule Logs, our yearly Christmas dessert. Mimi’s Cupcakes in SW Michigan also has a small food truck that they park at Lake Bluff Park overlooking Lake Michigan. They have a store a few blocks away. So we are blessed. I love watching the Food network and cooking / baking competitions. Even took some local cooking classes. Sound like an interesting fun inspiring read. Best wishes. Thanks for sharing. Always enjoy meeting another Midwest author. Lived in the Chicago are in the 1980s.
I am a pound cake girl. Any flavor, but coconut and cream cheese are favorites. Love books about baking because I love to bake!
Ice cream cake is my favorite with anything chocolate being second. I made a chocolate chocolate chip bundt cake over the weekend which, even though it fell apart coming out of the pan, tasted delicious.
I am fond of lemon cake. Thank you
I’m not so fond of cake since diagnosed with wheat allergy, though I so miss light, fluffy scones. One flour free cake that comes to mind is the 4 Ingredient Chocolate Mousse cake, simply divine. PS: Rolling a cake isn’t as hard as it looks.
I love carrot cake. With delicious cream cheese frosting. And I tell myself because it has carrots in it that it is healthy cake! LOL
Wow, Lincoln. You almost make me want to like coconut, too! And I’m a chocolate kind of girl, myself. :-) Love the bumper sticker idea.
Thanks for commenting. I agree that it’s not always looked upon well to have unnaturally colored hair, but it’s becoming more common here in the states, at least. I get pink streaks in mine every now and then. It took my dad a bit of time to get used to it. ;-)
That sounds yummy and pretty, too. I had a friend get me a cake a few years ago with flowers all over it and I loved it!
I love a good carrot cake, too. And lemon is definitely one of my favorite flavors. I think I might gain too much weight if I were so close to that many cupcake stores! ;-)
I adore a good pound cake. Especially when it’s piled with strawberries and cream! Yum.
I’m glad I am not the only one to use that kind of logic! Carrots obviously negate the bad parts of cake. I’m on board with your thinking!
Both of those sound delicious. I haven’t had ice cream cake in forever. Hm. I do have a birthday coming up …
I love lemon cake, too. Yum!
Mousse cake sounds great. I sympathize with anyone with a wheat or gluten allergy. I’d have to give up a major part of what I eat if I ever came down with that. Thanks for commenting! Maybe you can share tips for rolling a cake.
That cover is so fun! I enjoy watching competition baking shows too, I’m always amazed at how the competitors whip together such amazing treats in such short time. My favorite cake is a chocolate cake, though I do love a good lemon yellow cake too. Thanks for the chance to win!
I completely agree. It amazes me what they can come up with in a few hours. And I love the cover. :-)
Yellow cake with buttercream or red velvet with whipped frosting. I am gluten and dairy intolerant so no regular cake for me.
That sounds yummy even without gluten or dairy.
Yummy post :) I have many flavors I like!
I am looking forward to having Pineapple cake with a good cream frosting with pineapple tidbits in it, and Godwilling I will have it in just a week for my bday! Your book sounds like a very good read, I love the book cover also. I wonder if you could bake a yule tide log cake like a pumpkin roll, my husband makes really good pumpkin roll with cream cheese in the middle, it turns out really good. Have a great week and stay safe.
That coconut cake sounds wonderful! Of course I’m always a fan of chocolate too!
I’ll still watch some old episodes of cupcake wars. It’s so fun.
Unnatural hair color is pretty well accepted here in the states though I personally stick with more natural colors.
Almond is a great flavoring in frosting! Have you tried it on a pumpkin cupcake? I’m a fan of the pumpkin. Can you tell?
Early happy birthday. I bet that cake will be yummy.
Sounds like you’re well set on bakeries! There are only a couple small ones in my area, and we have several home bakers too.
Me, too!
Coconut is a favorite flavor of mine!
My kids always wanted me to make ice cream cakes (the kind with ice cream over a layer of real cake) for their birthdays. I loved making them for them.
This sounds really fun—I like any kind of cooking or baking show, especially competitions! I don’t bake that much and cake isn’t even my favorite, but I love how creative everyone is.
Love White Cake Birthday cake. Have to have it even when it’s not my BD. 😊 Love the idea of the Food Truck. Absolutely love Food Trucks! We’ve had several come to our job site.
I’d much rather have pie than cake, so I understand where you’re coming from. But I also love watching those shows, too.
I bet food trucks make any job site better! Especially if they have cake. :-)
I’m super picky about my cake or cupcakes (or any treat like this)….they must be homemade or come from an actual bakery for me to like them. I guess because I am a home baker so anything less than this doesn’t taste as good. That being said, my favorite flavors are: carrot cake, spice cake or pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting, red velvet cake, German chocolate cake, and black forest cake. Though I’m not a huge chocolate fan, the last two I mentioned are the exceptions :-)
I’ve never watched baking or cooking shows on TV. I know the Great British Baking show is popular, even though I’ve never seen it. It would probably just make me hungry for whatever they are making!
Talking about food…..trucks to be exact, we have lots of those within driving distance of where I live. We’ve tried many different ones and just love them! There’s one that sells pasties (not pastries) but haven’t had a chance to eat there yet. It’s on our to-do-very-soon list. We’ve had Mexican, Gyros, various ones for County fair food, etc. I think if I could, every time I’d go out to eat, I’d go to a different food truck. Yum!!
Your book sounds deliciously delightful & sweet to boot! One I don’t want to miss reading ;-)
Lemon adds just the right amount of tartness to balance the sweet!
Good to know about rolling the cake! I may have to try it. And mousse cake sounds delicious.
They can do amazing things in just a little bit of time.
Red velvet was always a favorite for my middle son.
Trixie, all those sound yummy. As do the food trucks. ;-)
Me too!
I believe it’s the same process just different flavors. As much baking as I’ve done through the years it kind of surprises me that I haven’t tried to make one.
They can get really intricate with their designs. I enjoy decorating, but I’m not that skilled with it.
I wish we had food trucks around where I live. Then again, more food trucks means more temptation to eat stuff I don’t need. So maybe I’m better off!
There’s a food truck about two hours from where I live that my husband and I want to try. It serves up American comfort food with a twist. We tried to eat there once and they were closed. Maybe we’ll make it back some day.
I love lots of cakes but my favorite was the white fruit cake my mama always made for my birthday. She passed 2 months ago tomorrow.
This book sounds like a lot of fun to read as well as write. Thank you so much for sharing. I love vanilla and chocolate swirl cupcakes. God bless you.
I’m so sorry for your loss. I bet you’ll remember her every time you eat that cake now. And what a special memory that will be!
Debra, this book is a delight, I can assure you. And those cupcakes sound like the perfect thing to eat while reading it. ;-)
We have a Food Network-winning cupcake bakery in town, and I love their salted caramel cupcake.
I love Chocolate Ice cream cake!!!
I Like Vanilla Cake but my most fav. is when you get it from DQ
This cake sounds delicious, even though, like you, I not a big fan of coconut. I enjoy black forest cake is one of my favorites. I like the combination of cherries and chocolate.
I rarely eat cake these days, so if I do, it’s chocolate! Not German Chocolate, just devil’s food and the icing my Grandma made that ‘cracked”. I think it’s called boiled icing. By the way, today would be good. (It’s my birthday)
That sounds amazing! Yum!
Me, too! Can’t go wrong with chocolate and ice cream. :-)
Mmm. Sounds good to me, too.
I love black forest cake, too. So yummy.
Happy birthday! I bet the icing you’re talking about is the kind on a Texas sheet cake. In which case, yum!
I really like carrot cake
All these comments about carrot cake are making me want to find a piece. :-)
I’m sorry for your loss. I’m glad you have that special memory to hold onto. What is white fruit cake?
It was fun to write! If you read it, please let me know if it’s as fun to read. (I think so, but I may be considered biased!!)
One year for a side trip on our mission trip we stopped at the Mall of America and there was a Cupcake Wars winning bakery. It was so delicious! I can’t imagine having one in your town!!
My kids always wanted me to make ice cream cake with chocolate cake and mint chip ice cream.
I love a good French vanilla cake with vanilla frosting.
I’m not a huge fan of cherries but I love chocolate!
Happy Birthday! I hope you get a wonderful chocolate cake with your favorite frosting. I’ve heard of that kind, but I’ve never made it.
I have a great carrot cake recipe and with everyone commenting about that flavor, I may have to make one!
My favorite cake is a white cake with a white buttercream frosting. Just a nice, plain cake with lots of yummy flavor.
I love when a white cake has lots of flavor.
I love a good cake! I’m not too particular on type, but I don’t always love chocolate cakes. The have to have just the right amount of chocolate for me. I’ve had to cut gluten out of my life over the past few years, so eating delicious cake is a rare occurrence for me now. I’ve not yet managed to make a gf one that I think is tasty.
The book sounds super fun!
I’ve heard cooking gluten free isn’t easy, so I’m very glad for all my friends who’ve had to cut it out that there are more and more options out there for everyone who wants or needs to go gluten free. Hoping they can come up with some good cake options for you. :-)
I used to make swiss rolls. Dampen (not wet) tea towel and lay flat on the bench, lay cake layer on top, lay cream/filling and gently use tea towel to roll it. Alternately a silucone sheet would be useful nowadays. Took a few tries before I mastered it :)