Nick Nikolopoulos, pastry chef and owner of Bay Ridge Bakery, was tapped to make a birthday cake for Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, which he presented during a birthday party February 23 at the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers.
The cake, a vanilla and chocolate mousse concoction, was an exact replica to scale of the U.S. Capitol. The meticulously detailed confection, which even included the building's flowerpots and planters, took about 42 hours to make and weighed in at 175 pounds, Nikolopoulos says. "With this type of cake, you really want to take your time and create it the proper way," he says. "It's such a beautiful, historical building, and I wanted to respect that."
The party's 200 guests, who included Vice President Joe Biden among other politicians, were more than impressed with his creation. "They could hardly believe it was a cake," Nikolopoulos says. "It was the "wow" factor."
While Nikolopoulos says creating the cake was an educational and fun experience, the project had an effect he didn't foresee: his three children are now begging to see the Capitol in person, so it seems that a family vacation to Washington, DC, will soon be in order.
