5 Questions with a Foodie: Kara Buntin

If you read "5 Questions with a Foodie" regularly, you may remember reading my ranting divulgence of my disdain for cupcakes when I introduced Nicole Jessee of Shyndigz Dessert Café. It is no secret that I’m always on the lookout for a reputable dessert professional who will publically criticize the recent cupcake craze, and I am happy to finally bring you Kara Buntin—admitted hater of cupcakes—but we’ll get back to that later.

Kara Buntin is the cake artist and owner of A Cake to Remember, located in the far west end of Richmond. Her many accolades include "best of" awards from The Knot and Richmond Magazine, multiple appearances in online and print publications ranging from the Richmond Times-Dispatch to People.com. She’s active on Twitter, Facebook and maintains a blog on her website keeping her fans up to date on her creations and adventures in the world of custom cakes.

The impetus for her success can clearly be seen in the painstakingly intricate design and detail of her sugar creations—ranging from classic floral wedding cakes to custom modern designs. By her own account, Kara places a huge emphasis on the quality of the actual cake—after all, you have to eat the thing, right?

As you’ll read in her interview, Kara is insistent on the fact that there is absolutely no substitute for real butter, sugar, flour and eggs—anything less is not cake, its fake.

Now back to this cupcake thing…

Not only does Kara admit to disliking cupcakes, she rails against the entire notion of cupcakes; you might even say she rants about her hatred for cupcakes—and friends, she’s hilarious! Though Kara denies being a foodie right off the bat, her commentary and observations in the interview are pricelessly honest and, in my opinion, spot on.

Enjoy 5 Questions with a Foodie with Kara Buntin.

How do you define the term foodie and do you consider yourself one?

I kind of tend to lean toward the "foodies are jerks" camp, but only because it's kind of a stupid term. People who like art don't call themselves "arties" and people who are interested in antiques don't call themselves "antiquies." Maybe we just need a less-dumb word for people who are interested in food.

I personally don't consider myself to be a "foodie," but that's mostly because I'm a really picky eater and I don't like a lot of things. When I went to culinary school I just did the pastry arts program because I had no desire to go through all of the cooking courses that would require me to eat green peppers at some point.

I have a suspicion that my daughter is a super-taster, and she dislikes a lot of the same foods that I do, so maybe there's a little of that going on with me. I have entire categories of international cuisines that I don't want to eat because I might run into an ingredient that I don't like. I consider myself to be more of a food purist rather than a foodie. I'm more concerned about chemicals, preservatives, and fake flavorings.

What are your feelings on cupcakes?

You would have to ask me that...I'm a well-known cupcake hater. It's kind of a joke at this point. I don't like eating with my hands, and I don't like getting crumbs all over myself, so cupcakes are right up there on my no-fly list. Most cupcakes that I've ever had are dry and have way too much icing on them, too, so why bother? If I'm going to allot calories for a good dessert, I'd rather have some really good dark chocolate.

The trend of having cupcakes for weddings, which is generally where I have to deal with them, is easy for me. I just refer any brides who ask me about them to someone who does want to do them—which are getting few and far between, as more bakers figure out that they're a pain in the butt. Think about it...for 150 cupcakes you have to have a lot of workspace, a lot of storage space, and a good way to transport them. Then you have to take the extra time at the reception venue to set them up and, honestly, I've never spoken to any wedding guest who liked cupcakes at a wedding reception.

They might tell the bride that they were "cute," but from what I hear most people don't want a cupcake at the end of a formal reception. Plus, if you get what people refer to as "good" cupcakes, they're not any cheaper than a full-sized cake, so the idea that they save money isn't really true.

If you were hired to take a Richmond visitor through a one-day culinary tour of the city, where would you go?

Well, since I've already admitted to being a picky eater, I'd have to stick to a dessert tour, and it would be pretty short. Since I bake from scratch and I don't like cake mixes, you can eliminate about 80 percent of the bakeries in town right off the bat. I'm also not going to go somewhere that has products that fell off the Sysco truck.

I'd probably go to visit Jeanne-Louise at de Rochonnet Delights for some excellent chocolates that were made by hand, not ordered from a supplier. Then I might go by the Desserterie, since they have cases full of pastries. Then I might end up at Gearhart's for some more excellent chocolates that were made by hand. Then I'd call it a day, go home and make them a good homemade pie and some homemade ice cream.

What is your biggest pet peeve about the Richmond food scene?

Again, focusing on pastry, I hate the fact that most people have no concept of what a good, scratch cake tastes like anymore. Or an Italian meringue buttercream. When people tell me how much they love this or that grocery store's cakes, I cringe inside because I've read the labels, and I know that it's a butter and milk-free cake mix that's baked God knows when, and frozen for God knows how long. People are so used to bad desserts they have no idea what they're missing.

I always spy on the bakery counters at stores, and if you see the giant tubs of shortening-based icing that they use, or the sleeves of chemical fillings that bear no resemblance to real food that they put in their products, it's an eye-opener. If you're going to eat a dessert, make it real butter, eggs, flour and sugar, not a big bag of chemicals. Desserts should be a treat, and if you wouldn't put Crisco on your toast, why do you want to eat an icing that's only Crisco and no butter?

What is your biggest guilty pleasure food (outside of cake)?

Guilty pleasure... that would be potato chips. After dealing with sugar all day, the treats that I want usually involve a lot of salt. I can pass on any baked goods that you offer me, but put a bag of chips in front of me and you'd better get out of the way! Oh, and Oreos. Maybe Oreos with potato chips on them would be good, too.