How sweet it is for cake baker extraordinaire Nadine Moon. On Monday's Steve Harvey Show, she beat out a New York baker duo to win what Harvey called the "Great American Food Fight: Wedding Cakes." Actually, it was a cookoff of sorts with Who Made the Cake!'s Moon going up against two gentleman bakers from Baked NYC.
Needless to say her 4-foot tall gilded confection called Versailles won over the puny 20-inch high traditional cake entered by her competitors. "I was going to do a small cake that stands about 28 inches high," Moon said, "but the producers wanted something bigger. So I thought, 'OK, Texas big.' "
Nadine Moon is no stranger to celebrity cake events. She's put on the fondant for the likes of Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley & Diddy.
Moon created three cakes in one — divine white, chocolate chocolate chip with caramel filling and old fashioned butter cream. The challenge — she had to haul servings for 200 (the number of people in the audience who would be voting on their fave) from Houston to Chicago.
"Talk about a hassle," said Nadine's husband Jerome Moon. "We had to carry cake servings for 200 guests on the plane and American Airlines gave us the smallest plane you can imagine. Have you ever heard of American Eagle?"
The plane might have been small — overhead bins too tiny to carry the cake boxes — but the American Airline hearts were big. The captain agreed to carry one box of cake in the cockpit and flight attendants arranged for three rows of the plane to be emptied so the cakes could travel beneath the seats. The display cake — for presentation not eating — rode in baggage. Nadine Moon's careful wrapping and packaging was completely undone by TSA inspectors, who left that friendly card in the boxes explaining they had inspected the contents.
A producer for the show had sampled Who Made the Cake! treats previously and thought Nadine would be a good fit for the show. After several interviews and filming in the shop on Shepherd, the Moons were informed that they had been selected to compete.
The show was taped in late January so in order to celebrate their victory (which they were duty bound not to reveal before the show), the Moons invited a few friends to Demeris Bar-B-Q for a celebration and viewing of the show which aired on FOX. The Demeris team went so far as to congratulate Nadine on their marquee sign and drape the party tables in purple cloths, Who Made the Cake!'s signature color.
Nadine Moon is no stranger to celebrity cake events. She's put on the fondant for the likes of Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Diddy and hundreds of Houston brides and hostesses.
Houston's Nadine Moon shows her winning cake to TV host Steve Harvey.
Each water was chilled overnight prior to tasting.Photo by 