We're not just Sweet Talkin' ya...

An edible greeting card?? Can it be true?? Well, YES! If you haven't seen our Invitastions yet...go check it out for crying out loud!

Erin and I are ready for all your edible correspondence needs - betcha you didn't know you had a need for it. Too cute to resist, Erin's catalog of sweet illustrations on my yummy cookies just in time for the holidays are ready for you to order.

Want the breakdown? Pick an occasion, choose your icon, add your text, select a ribbon and leave the rest to us. And before you ask...yes, a non edible card is included so the sentiment lasts long after the cookie is devoured.

Head on over to www.invitastions.com for more info. Email me at jen@invitastions.com for a line sheet and order form and look for the shopping cart soon, we'll have that up and running just as fast as we can - it's still cookin'.

Ruffles and rucching and ribbons, oh my!

Ahhhh, another dress cake. I love those. I don't think I'll ever tire of them. There's just something about trying to duplicate the movement and fluidity of fabric. Bridgette's cake of soft pink and chocolate brown did just that. Her dress had the most beautiful rucching, the bridesmaids dresses the most delicious pick ups and, the cake had it all. And oh my did it smell good!

A monogram is always a nice touch and can be used quite easily on a cake. Sugar flowers adorn the top layer and I devilishly added an unexpected sparkle with some crystal initials as well as a gift for the bride and groom. And can I just say that they chose an absolutely beautiful venue; Bellevue Country Club in Syracuse.

Thanks to you both, glad you enjoyed your cake as much as I enjoyed making it!

Behind the scenes...

Then there were Chandra and Mike. Sigh. The sheer size and majestic magnitude of their reception wowed many a guest I'm sure. The collection of vendors selected were among the best of the best in the area and we were proud to be part of it. We wish this fab doctor duo a lifetime of happiness and we hope they truly enjoyed their cake and truffle boxes; enough for 260 or so...it was indeed a labor of love to maintain the stamina to complete the important task. The florals and centerpieces were done by one of my favorites; Dan McCann of Five Seasons Floral in Fayetteville. Stunning only begins to describe the vision that he turned into a reality that seemed effortless. Having been there during the almost chaotic set up, I can tell you that his team even made it LOOK effortless, though I know it was not. Often even I don't get the chance to see the work behind the scenes, usually I arrive after the room is set but before guests enter - sometimes just before and I get to see the smiles as I leave the venue and the loved ones gather. This time, I got to see the hard work and sweat that is behind the beautiful vision, and was lucky enough to see Chandra's heartfelt reaction to all that work as well.

If you know my preferences for cake design, you know I'm not partial to fresh flowers anywhere near my cakes. I make few exceptions to this rule I have; I have been known to individually wrap the stem of each and every flower that is inserted into my cake. And I do the placement. My cakes are not the canvas for the florist, hopefully the cake plays a large part in your decor and at the very least it can stand on it's own not needing any help from the florist. The other exception is based on the florist you use. One of whom I welcome is Dan. As you can see...Chandra's cake was in fact the towering showpiece it was largely due to Dan. To cut to the chase, at one point after laying each beautiful stem one by one with his direction to get me started I turned and said to him "Dan, I can't see the cake anymore, does that mean I am done?" The cake was just right. Even though you could barely see it. But it was a vision, and hopefully it met Chandra's vision of the perfect cake.

Thank you Chandra and Mike for choosing us to help in making your vision a reality.

2007 Season at an end...

Wow! Boy have I been busy (neglecting my blog...)! It seems now more than ever it is harder to set time aside for anything that does not have an immediate deadline! I thought I'd take some time now to update this poor lonely blog and wrap up the 2007 wedding season. My season at least, it does seem to end in early winter. Must be a Central New York winter is as appealing to most brides as it is to me. I'm sure winter weddings are happening here, I just don't get calls for them. I guess I'll have to utilize those new winter tires some other way.

So, the steady flow of unique cakes continued to the end, I left off with an image of Rebecca's wicked cool penguin cake in July, but the creativity didn't end there. I really enjoyed quite a few others and wanted to share them now.

Tina and Sabu...well, how to describe them. There are no words really, the cake sort of says it all. Sometimes I get a real glimpse at each couple via their requests and vision, other times it is the consultations where I actually meet the pair and really see how they fit - with each other and with me for their cake. Tina found me online as most brides do and we quickly discovered what a small world we live in; she has connections to a distant relative of mine who happens to live up the street! That was just one little thing that made doing her cake a real event. Add that to the showers of praise from Tina of course and the event turned into real joy. Her cake was so unique, just like her. Kind of quirky, very bubbly, tons of fun, and yet elegant and classy all at the same time. (hers is the creamsicle cake above. yes, I said creamsicle.) The edible bead work is based on the amazing bead work on the bodice of her gown by Jenny Packham.

Talk About Fun!

This year I've had the pleasure of creating some really great cakes for some spectacular couples. Today's wedding cake was certainly no exception to our "not your Grandmother's cake" rule.

A relatively quick order compared to the more typical timeline of up to a year of planning, today's cake was initiated by an email that read "I'd love to just let the cake maker come up with something... maybe an iceberg with penguins on it or something might be nice:)."

I'm so glad she found me, because when a bride points me in the direction they'd like to go and then lets me just go with it the cake will undoubtedly be fun to create and enjoyable to look at. You can see a few more pictures of the cake on my flickr account.

Thanks Rebecca for putting your cake in my hands. I hope you and Phil enjoyed it as much as I did!

Taking the Cake to WCNY!

While I'm not able to put a streaming video on the site, I am able to tell you what fun it was to have segment producer, Amy Manley, from WCNY here to talk cake and tape an interview. It aired last night on WCNY24 during the June 21st episode of Business Close Up. I know my whole family tuned in, and some friends and customers too, to get an outsider's inside look to what I do.

Amy, my hat is off to you! You pieced together a wonderful look at She Takes The Cake, and I thank you.

If you didn't catch the segment, you can check the programming schedule to see when it will air again on a different channel. Perhaps in the future WCNY will add streaming video to their site so you can catch up on all their great programming!

To Amy, Kathy and the rest of the crew...glad you liked the cake!

This birthday is in the bag!

So, today is my step-dad's birthday. I thought it would be fun to give him a perfectly fitting cake. We celebrated with his league night buddies at the little clubhouse at Apple Creek Country Club on Mariposa Road just outside of DeRuyter. A new course still in it's youth; nurtured by my family.

Me, I stick to cakes, but Ron, Danielle, and RJ along with all their dedicated staff and loyal volunteers and supporters have this course well on it's way to becoming a favorite for a challenging round or two. Check it out! www.applecreekcc.com.

As for the cake...as usual it was up to par!

groan....

Invitastions Take Manhattan!

This spring the tastiest trend in event stationery, Invitastions, took Manhattan by storm! Invitastions' innovative and unique product line had brides, grooms. event planners and the press eager for a bite! After launching the Invitastions website in April, invitastions.com, baker Jennifer Comfort took the show on the road and intoduced Invitastions to the world at the exclusive Wedding Salon bridal show at New York City's Gotham Hall. Stationery designer, Erin Nowak from Bride Design was also on hand to share her excitement about Invitastions' fabulous menu of products including cookie place cards, favors, thank you notes and more....

Wedding Salon guests drooled over the custom designed cookie Invitastions. Invitastions in a coordinating decorative box with embellishments are around $12.00 per invite and can be shipped to you for distribution or can be drop shipped to your guests from Jen's studio. Shipping is not included in this price. As always, one of Erin's paper invites accompany the finished cookie so that once the freshly baked Invitastion has been gobbled up, your guests won't miss a single detail about the time, date, and location of your event.

Invitastions' cake truffles, cookie favors, personal stationery and thank you notes were also a smash! All can be packaged in variety of styles to accommodate your needs. At this time all of our products are made to your specifications, but be on the lookout for a full product catalog and online shopping cart for some items in the future.

Invitastions were featured on the April 21st edition of "Weekend Today in New York." Our edible invites also received a mention in the New York Post. Jen was interviewed about our products for a delightful piece for forbes.com's video blog and Jen and Erin are working hard to bring you the newest, tastiest ways to introduce your guests to your fab events. Contact us today for more information and check invitastions.com often for new additions to the gallery.
copyright 2007 Erin Nowak and reprinted with permission of course!

New sites are up!

Well, so much for a new start at keeping you freshly updated with our news! The new websites are up and running, showcasing more of our work and hopefully in an easier to navigate environment. You all know about www.shetakesthecake.com I'm sure, but new to the Internet is www.invitastions.com. Easily accessible from the cake site and from Erin's invite site www.bridedesign.com, which is currently undergoing a remodel of it's own.

I've added some fresh new cake designs to the gallery for you, and I've limited the chatter to info I think you need to make that initial decision of whether or not I'm the type of designer you are looking for! As we begin to make our mark in local and national media, we'll add those elements too.

Speaking of which; keep an eye open for WCNY's Business Close Up; an interview with Jen to air hopefully June 21st at 9pm. I know I'll be watching!

A recent Q&A with Jen and Erin was distributed via WomenTies weekly newsletter as well. A fab group of women entrepreneurs in CNY; if you aren't a member or aren't aware of it, check it out!

So, back to cakes and cookies as it were...the oven timer is calling my name!!

A Good Start...and a recap.

So after a long break from blogging, I thought I'd try to get off to a good start. It's that time again to buckle down on paperwork and prepare for taxes; it always seems to come so fast. While I'm still adding up mileage and inventory figures, I am doing it with a smile. We've had significant growth this past year, thanks to all our wonderful clients - old and new. I knew we had grown because of how tired I always am, there was a not so seemingly short period where I just felt like I couldn't keep up with orders. But the numbers are in (most of them) and things look great! I'll be bringing on a new pair of hands to the business and boy is she talented. We make a terrific team, and I feel very positive about approaching her employ with enthusiasm. We'll still be able to fulfill our regular orders, take on a few select wholesale orders, and I'll be able to concentrate even more on the artsy work I love. Best of all... I'll also be able to more successfully juggle family and cake and give my poor, dedicated, supportive and amazing hubby a break. Behind every good cakegrl is a great man!

We have decided to severely limit the number of bridal shows we do this year. So if we saw you at the show on the 7th, we are lucky to have met you. We had a great time as always, and even have been blessed enough to have a client already booking her cake 2 days later. This is a first for us. We proudly fall into the category of dream cake so even though we have a blast at the shows interacting with couples and even the other vendors; showcasing our latest designs, the shows are not always productive for us. 2007 will be a year of redirecting our focus on how we interact with the public. Shows are not out of the question; in fact, we hope to be highly involved in the format of something great and innovative for the area, so stayed tuned.

One of several highlights for 2006 was participating in the March of Dimes Signature Chef Auction for the second year. I truly was blessed to be part of this event and am excited to share that for the second year in a row we did our part by having the highest bid amount for any items auctioned off. Our Cake of the Month Club is up and running, gaining some new loyal followers as we go along (haven't heard of it? call me!) and in 2005 the winning bid for a year membership at the auction was $950.00. We barely exceeded that amount in 2006 with a bid of $965.00. We had a great time laughing it up with Chef Bob from Wegman's; who came in close second. I can't wait for the 2007 auction so we can again do our part for the babes and see if a higher bid is even possible!

Another high for us was an incredible cake designed for a client that wanted to wow everyone. At just over 10ft tall and atop an ice sculpture instead of a table, the cake turned lots of heads. We had a parade of on lookers during set up, which I unfortunately had my back to the whole time as I was on a ladder concentrating on the tall task at hand. Eight hand painted custom cake tiers all on top of an ice table carved to perfection by Stan at The Ice Farm. A first in Central NY I'm sure, though I originally saw the concept from a cake designer out west.

And 2007 is off to that good start. A terrific photo of one of my custom designed cakes along side a very brief description in CNY Good Life magazine was a wonderful thing to see! A few other bakeries were listed as well in the Jan-Feb issue highlighting information about wedding and wedding planning. Check it out!

You can still visit us at our website www.shetakesthecake.com which was redesigned in late summer. It's a bit long toothed so another redesign is in the future. ( I just don't know when to quit talking...) So keep an eye out for that as well. I have no idea when we'll actually accomplish it, but my goal is to get you in and out of the site in a hurry with your sweet tooth just begging for more. There currently is a very small selection of photos on the website, so clients in the know visit a larger collection at www.flickr.com/photos/shetakesthecake to see more examples of my work.

We are already approaching the half full mark for wedding cakes for the 2007 season. Call soon if you are going to call! We are gaining popularity with the corporate crowd as well with our designs for edible branding and incredible cakes. Cookie favors are going to be big this year again, and logo cookies for specialty gift giving are on the list as well.

So stayed tuned for more great cakes and goodies. If 2006 was just a taste...the best is yet to come. And thanks again for all your support!