CSCA Alumni Lisa Raffael Competes in Ultimate Country Song Cake Decorating Competition

Lisa Raffael, owner of the award-winning Delicious Desserts in Falmouth, MA, competed in the Celebrity Cake Decorating Competition on July 1 to benefit the T.J. Martell Foundation. The decorating competition was part of the festivities surrounding the National Pastry Team Championship on July 2 and 3 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort. The championship was produced through Carymax, LLC, a New York-based culinary event production company that brings together the most talented pastry chefs in the US.

Country music celebrities Troy Gentry and Eddie Montgomery of Montgomery Gentry, Aaron Tippin, Julie Roberts, Dean Sams and Michael Britt of Lonestar, and other country music stars were paired with some of the country's top cake designers. Joining Lisa in the competition were Norman Davis, Martin Howard, Bronwen Weber, Michelle Bommarito, and Juanita Lane.

Each celebrity cake decorating team included a country music recording artist who was teamed with their spouse, mom, or band member and a professional cake decorator. There were six teams that competed in a three-hour time frame to create the "ultimate country song" cake modeled after one of the celebrities' top hit songs. Two awards were given to the teams that create the best cakes. The Best of Show award was judged by members of the media and the People's Choice Award was judged by consumers chosen in the crowd the day of the competition.

Lisa was paired with Troy Gentry, half of the duo Montgomery Gentry. The pair, along with Gentry's wife Angie, created a cake to the tune "Something to be Proud Of."

The winner of Best of Show was country crooner Julie Roberts and pastry chef Martin Howard, who designed a cake after Roberts' hit "Men and Mascara."  Audience participants rallied to award the People's Choice to Aaron Tippin and Norman Davis, who helped Tippin and his wife Thea decorate a cake for the song "There Ain't Nothing Wrong with the Radio."

A graduate of CSCA's Professional Chef's Program in 1992, Lisa worked at Davio's Restaurant as an assistant pastry chef and opened Delicious Desserts in 1993. She also consulted with the Windfall Market in the launch of its bakery department. Lisa is the former executive pastry chef at Beachmoor Inn and Restaurant in Buzzards Bay. Not your average cupcake baker, Lisa continued to study her love of all things pastry at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, and trained under the guidance of Norman Love, Worldwide Corporate Pastry Chef of the Ritz Carlton Hotels. More recently, Lisa studied at The International School of Confectionary Arts in Gaithersburg, Maryland, with Colette Peters, internationally acclaimed cake designer and best selling author.

Lisa competed twice on the Food Network Challenge program, competing in the Ultimate Wedding Cake Challenge and the Celebration Cake Challenge, placing third and second, respectively. One of her specialty wedding cakes was featured in Bride’s Magazine September/October 2003 issue, which led to publication in the book The Perfect Wedding Details by Maria McBride. In May 2005, Raffael was invited by Bride’s Magazine to participate in the Cake Walk at Grand Central, an event that highlighted the top 50 wedding cake designers in the country. Delicious Desserts was named by CBS Channel 4, Boston, as its A-List Best Wedding Cake 2006.

Lisa's website is www.deliciousdesserts.net