Ocassionally there's a cake made here!

It seems like lately I've been so busy with things other than actual cakes. I'll go so far as to tell you I've actually been asked recently if I still make them! Of course I do! Here's a little peek at a cake from Halloween weekend for a surprise birthday party at the Red Mill Inn in Baldwinsville. The guest of honor's wife and MIL asked for a MacKenzie Childs-ish cake in square with fall colored sugar flowers and a hand cut guitar topper out of gum paste. I think we delivered. Hope you all had a great time, thanks again for your order Roxanne and Danielle, it was a pleasure!

Jamie and Niall's wedding cakescape

Ok, so I've said before, I get some pretty great brides. But Jamie; she takes the cake. (yeah, I went there) And I've also said before that I love it when I get to work in tandem with Erin; that rocks too. Jamie was awesome. One of the most - no scratch the "one of" - she was the most easy going, happy to be getting married, can't wait to party, puts her trust in the ones she's hired brides I have ever had the privilege to design for. And after a year of being booked, when it came time for final confirmations she (like most brides who book me a year ahead) had some changes in mind. She no longer wanted the huge, over the top cake that she thought she had wanted. That's so outdated, now is the time for simple elegance - I'm pretty sure that's what she was thinking anyway.

Well, so how do you do simple elegance on a grand scale? Still be over the top without doing waaaay too much? Let me show you! You do a cakescape. A display of complimenting cakes, tiered or not tiered, making up a beautiful table full of edible bliss. I love this look. And it really is a great way to incorporate several ideas when it's too hard to pinpoint a design.

For example, Jamie loved so many different elements but putting them on one cake would have been so busy. The scroll work would have really clashed with the petite dot to dot replicating the motif from one of her custom invitation suite items. And that would be where Erin comes in. She supplied me with the approved and 2nd choice pieces she designed for Jamie and Niall, and I reproduced them in sugar. The crissy-crossy ribbon straps inspired by her save the dates would have been too much to combine with the angular detail from the bodice of her dress...on one cake, but but doing 3 cakes I could incorporate most of the things she loved and as shown in the shots below, it totally works.

Thanks Jamie and Niall, for choosing me to be part of your memories...it was a joy!

Diana's Elegant Adirondack Cake

I hadn't had a chance to upload this photo of Diana's really pretty cake yet, but I was just happily surprised by an email with rave reviews so I thought I'd hop in here real quick before leaving with today's cakes and show you a little bit of Diana's Adirondack style.

This lovely to work for bride brought me a photo of a very wintry themed cake with pine cones on it. Only natural for a wedding up in Inlet, NY. "Not winter yet", you say? I know. She didn't want a winter cake...inspiration can be found anywhere and with photo and some pretty specific changes, Diana knew exactly what she wanted for her dream cake. She also provided an invitation so that I could have a good swatch of her color. I just love the pairing of this creamy pale yellow with the natural pine cone, don't you?

The pine cones were dipped in paraffin to add a protective barrier between them and the cake, and some very delicate chocolate pine needles were added for that little extra oomph. We were super pleased with this one, it made the trip just fine, it looked lovely in the setting provided - even the impending storm of the day didn't detract from it's good looks. I really like a clean, tailored cake. I know the sun came out later and I can just imagine the view over the lake at sunset, making it a beautiful day for a wonderful bride and her groom.

Thanks Diana, for choosing me to be part of your special day, and thanks for wanting such an elegant cake for your Adirondack wedding! I hope your day was wonderful!

Every girl's first cupcake should be this grand...

I had so much fun creating this little cutie, it was a real joy to design this cake for one of my favorite families (between mom and daughter #1 they've become welcomed regulars). The cake for Audrey's first birthday was based on a handful of photos that were sent to me and a copy of the invite - with a cupcake on it of course. We needed to pump up the colors just a tiny bit, and make the cupcake the focal point. I love that Audrey's mom let me sort of do my own thing with the cake within the idea range she sent me. They loved it!

Birthday girl was napping at delivery time so I'll have to wait to see her reaction in photos; I especially hope to see her with her very own little coordinating "smash cake" sitting to the side of the cake. I make those for every first birthday cake I do as my little gift - hey...gotta get 'em hooked young! ;-)

The bottom cake is a 4 layer 10" round Caramel Apple cake (one of my signature flavors) and the cupcake was made using a couple 6" layers, a 7", and half of a ball pan. No giant cupcake pan here, just a little carving and voila! Add some delicious butter cream, made from scratch fondant and a chocolate #1 and there you have it - a first birthday cupcake fit for a princess!

After delivering the cake, I took my own little cupcakes out for a great day of some very last minute back to school shopping. It was a terrific day all around!

OMG is that a Carrot Cake?

Why, yes, yes it is a carrot cake! After leaving for a mini vacation after delivery I thought it was time I dig up the photos I took of Chris and Amy's cake...you know, the one with all those fabulous carrots in it! Their farm is amazing, fresh green everywhere - my husband is eager to get more info about their harvest sharing programs; you can get the info here.

So, out of the 14 or so pounds of carrots that Amy brought to me for her cake, we ended up with just under 13 after trimming the ends and used just over 10 of it for the cake. This cake consisted of 10 batches of cake, made with as many organic ingredients as possible - almost all of them! I am in love with cream cheese icing I made with organic cream cheese and fresh butter from Hillcrest Dairy in Moravia NY, made with cream from cows not treated with rBST; so salty and creamy. I was excited to see that Wegman's (the Dewitt location) carried it in their ever expanding organic and special diet section. With a little fresh lemon juice and organic sugar, and some vanilla bean...it was delicious!

I assembled the baked layers, I think 7 or 8 in all (I don't recall!) with the dreamy cream cheese icing in between each, then carved to my little heart's content. Somewhere, out there, was a very happy Bugs Bunny I'm sure. ;-) Then I finished it off with the fondant we make here in the studio - this was the one element that we did not attempt to create with organic ingredients. (is there organic gelatin or glycerin out there??) A little pleating, some creative folding, and hand painting resulted in a very satisfying carrot. At 39" long before the stem was added, and over 50lbs, this big guy made quite an impression on the few folks in the tent when we delivered. The "dirt" was crumbs of organic cookies and graham style crackers (Paul Newman's Own brand). The leafy green was celery stalk if you can believe that?! We needed something fresh and green and big enough and low and behold my husband ran down to Dawn Hotaling's fresh produce stand (Plantation Farms I believe is the name) on State Hwy 26 and Route 42 just at the edge of South Otselic and picked up the perfect size bunch!

One last look for you...I hope you enjoyed the suspense of these cake photos. I'm glad you hung in there with me until I could blog them. Our busy summer is finally starting to come to an end and with school just around the corner we were blessed to squeeze in an unexpected trip to St. Clair Shores MI to see some family that lives there and more that were visiting from AZ. Couldn't pass that up! We've had our fill of the great New York State Fair as well, and are now anxiously awaiting the first day of school next week! With that first day with a new teacher right around the corner as well, we'll be moving on from carrots to apples soon I'm sure. Mom always said to eat your fruits and veggies...

Thanks again Amy and Chris for finding me and asking me to do your cake, definitely a favorite for the year! See you soon!

Last season's cake displays for sale now...

Let's call this one "She Fakes The Cake"!

Every year I've made display cakes either for shows, photo shoots, mock ups, or just when the mood strikes to show a design fresh for the season. I am selling a couple of last season's displays now to make room for new displays that will be designed and created this winter, and will continue to create and retail faux cakes during the off season later this year.

This is a great way to have a one of a kind display that one may not ordinarily have a budget for. You can serve kitchen cakes from me if you are a local bride if you like, but it is not mandatory. Wouldn't this be terrific for a bride out of state? I think so too. Have your favorite local bakery provide your mouth watering dessert, and I'll provide the eye candy. These are not for rent, all sales are final. Shipping can be arranged. Email me today to inquire! You can fill out the inquire form on my site and mention fake cake purchase in the description area, or just email me directly at jen@shetakesthecake.com

4 tier winter scene, will ship with snowflakes packaged separately for you to place to avoid breakage in transit. Dimensions are 10"x4, 8"x4, 6"x4, 4"x4 tiers. This cake was featured in the Syracuse Post Standard in a previous season. Hand sculpted, hand painted fondant details on a fondant base. $150.00 plus shipping and packaging.







My "Red Acanthus" cake is a fondant covered display I carved, hand painted, piped and detailed in gold. It's rich tones and style leaning toward Italian or Greek will be fabulous at any ornate, formal wedding. The base tier is approximately 12" round diameter narrowing to a 6" tier at top, each carved subtly. This incredibly ornate cake display featured in the current issue of Well Wed NY is $400.00 plus shipping and packaging.






This delightful and lovely little cake is done in the still very popular chocolate brown and raspberry pink combo. With hand made and hand painted sugar hydrangeas adorning the hand carved tiers atop a plaid tier which is also hand painted. This cake wowed the crowd at The Wedding Salon in NYC and was called a "sweet little cake" and "very nice" by Sylvia Weinstock at the show. It's a very petite cake at 9" diameter at the bottom tier. Hydrangeas will be packaged separately to avoid breakage in transit. This favorite in my portfolio is $200.00 plus shipping and packaging.




This stunning white, yellow, and black cake is one of my recent favorites. Designed to compliment a custom invitation suite by Bride Design, it stands at about 13" high with a bottom diameter of 10". All piped freehand, as most of my cakes are, the center tier is a yellow base with striking white detail giving the impression of a floral like mums or spider mums. Tied off with a sheer black bow and detailed at the bottom with crisp black graphic icons. This display cake is $200.00 plus shipping and packaging as well.


I've a couple more that I'll post another time. For the past year I've been fighting the magazines' trend for couples to get a display cake that's fake and serve sheet cakes to their guests, but with the economy the way it is and all other wedding related costs on the rise, I think that the idea of a fake cake is going to be more than a quickly passing fad. In an effort to assist couples with their ever tightening budgets I've decided to branch out into the world of fake cakes as well. I've been creating them for years, why not make them available for you and your guests instead of just keeping them on a pedestal in my studio? Each of these cakes I'm making available to you would be priced at about $8-$12.00 PER serving if they were real cakes. We can all do the math. Now you really can have your dream cake and eat it (another cake) too.

Kara and Greg's Amazing NYC Movie cakes FINAL ACT

Ok, so we're skipping to the final scene...I know many of you have been anxiously awaiting the outcome of this order and believe me I toyed with the idea of making you wait it out a bit more so that I could edit and put up the photos in the order in which they were taken. Well...I'm anxious for you to see them too but for the last two weeks I have had to put other things on hold while doing this order so I'm playing catch up right now with various duties in and out of the studio - which means I can't sit and blog the way I'd like for a few days.

First of all...I think I'm caught up on sleep. Yesterday I was pretty much in a coma. Here's another behind the scenes tid bit for you, when it's a one person business and the deadline looms with perishable product, sometimes very little sleep, if any at all, is had. I don't know sometimes if I can take it. With God's help and the amazing support of family and friends I muddle through. This order was no exception. I'll post more later on the specific support given, but I have some amazing and talented friends in this business and a couple of them came to give more than just moral support. Beth from The Pink Cupcake Bakery in Mt. Vernon, OH came out (yes from OHIO!!) to lend a hand and brought her daughter along for help. They were here for just a day and a half but I can not tell you how much help that was! And wait till you see what Beth did...she's a rock star with Styrofoam and my Dremel tool!! There will be a whole post dedicated to her talent soon. And then of course there is my pen and paper gal, Erin, from Bride Design here in Syracuse; she came over the other evening to help me paint. She's an amazing painter, did you know that? I think the task at hand was a bit limiting and boring compared to her usual subjects, but again, the help she provided was really a much needed, incredible boost.

Ok, so now for the eye candy. I'm skipping ahead here to the finished product. See how nice I am? I know you've been waiting. You'll have to come back again in a few days to see the rest of the order progress, I have lots of pictures to show you don't worry.



The main "cake" is the Empire State Building with King Kong and bride. I refuse to call it a cake, as it contains NO actual cake. This is a display. It's displayed like a cake, it takes the place of a cake, it could have been done in cake. But it is not cake. The cakes are in the centerpiece displays, so no cake here was needed. The display is made of Styrofoam and pastillage. More on King Kong later, but his insides are also Styrofoam and then I detailed his face with sugar paste and finished him off with royal icing. The bride is sugar paste. More on the construction of the topper in another post.


The centerpiece cakes were also the table names. Each table was named after one of their favorite NYC movies. These were incredibly time consuming and some of the parts were just plain difficult, but the desired finished look was spot on and I'm very happy with them. While setting up, we met the father of the groom, who was also very pleased. Let me just tell you how nice it is to hear the phrase "Worth every penny". It's nice, very nice. So here are just a couple of the table cakes, the films are obvious.



Technically all edible, each of the centerpiece cakes consisted of the film canister cakes, the film reel, a scene from the movie depicted on the film strip in printed icing sheets, all laid out and cut out by me, the movie poster to match. The movie posters are front and back edged with gold and silver dragees - painstakingly placed by Beth and Arie while they were here...this took forever! I can only imagine if they weren't here to help that this part would not have been done. Each cake was placed on a custom mirrored charger plate made by a friend of the parents - I'll get that info later, they were really cool. We loved how in most of the photos the film strip look of the charger reflected back up onto the cakes or the cakes onto the mirrors. Usually a reflection like that ruins a cake shot - the blade of the cake knife for instance often leaves an odd blemish looking shadow on the cake, not so this time. Oh, and did I mention that the cake flavors were all different? I doubled up on a few flavors, but this was definitely an order where the 20 Qt Hobart mixer did not come in handy - which of course added to the time it took to bake. Note to DIYer's...don't try 16 different cakes at home, from start to finish this part took two days and no sleep.

Ok. Thanks for your patience, thanks friends for your help. That's it for now. Enjoy. Me...I'm going to go ice my hands some more, and catch up on the rest of my emails and phone calls from the last 2 weeks. I'll edit and post some more "in progress" shots over the next couple days but then it's right back into the thick of it with other orders so give me a minute or two...it's just me here!! The progress shots are really worth a look though, so come on back to see them!

Cheers!

Or should I say, "have a frosty one on me"?

A fun little cake for today's pick up. This little bugger(er...mugger?) is on it's way to a surprise party for the client's 80 year old mother.

I typically find out what the client or recipient likes to do for a hobby, or maybe even their occupation, or I'll ask for favorite colors or flowers, etc. We didn't really know what direction we were headed with this order, those questions were met with little response. When I asked what does she like to do..."she loves beer" was the response.

With a little laugh I suggested a big ol' beer mug and boy was I surprised when that comical idea was met with an overwhelming YES! Of course I wondered if this was the most tasteful way to go and the response was a very clear "have you met my mother?!"

Indeed I have...we think she'll like her cake. I hear it's been fun keeping the party a surprise. The countdown has started, we'll see if she is blown away by the effort her family made to make today special.

Of course she'll love it, who wouldn't? I love it when I can be part of such a terrific event, comical or sober (bad pun sorry). Clients who work hard to make an awesome surprise party for their mom....hey, I'll drink to that!

Simply Beautiful

This morning's wedding cake couldn't have been simpler, and isn't it wonderful how sometimes simple is just stunning? I have often had a bride say to me that her tastes are "plain Jane", I prefer the term "simplistic elegance" don't you?

The bride left absolutely beautiful roses with crystals on the table for me to adorn the cake tiers, and scattered petals for the table. The deep, rich red is the perfect contrast to the subtle off-white of my fondant on this red velvet and white wedding cake. I hope to see pictures of the cutting to see the play on red and white just a little more with their first slice removed from the cake.

Thanks to the couple for letting me be part of their memories...Congratulations Janet and Aaron! and Dillon and Caylob too!

jackson + gwen = FUN CAKE

Just winding up some Gwen and just having fun with a cake this morning. The bride, an art teacher, sent me her color swatches and at one point a description of some splashes of color. Immediately I asked if she meant Jackson Pollock and she said yes! She gave me artistic freedom for how far to go.

Most of the time, I really like what I do. This morning, I loved it! I hope she loves it too, I'll find out when I deliver it.

This is my fist attempt at a video, so be kind. It's just a quickie fun look at my world;-)

BakeOff! Throwdowns on Flickr

flickr bakeoff! round 3 cake
Originally uploaded by She Takes The Cake

So there's a new group on flickr that I'm loving being part of, the BakeOff! group. We've got at least 200 members already and it's relatively new yet. All cake designers and decorators - cuppies too - of all different skill levels out for a good time. The idea of the group is that two members will challenge one another for a throwdown; come up with an inspiration or concept and each create a cake in one week without seeing the other cake or knowing anything about it other than the idea itself. Then, photos of the cakes are anonymously posted to the group by administrators and members vote for their favorite interpretation of the concept.

This cake was my interpretation of the theme that Kim from cupcaketastic and I threw down on. We decided it would be for an eccentric wedding couple, two tiers high, and that we would do whatever we like based on an inspiration board compiled of images she and I sent to an admin of the group for selection. Of the 4 images we each sent, a total of 6 were chosen and then announced to us at the same time for fair play. Surprisingly, a couple of the photos were somewhat similar - we must have good taste LOL. But our cakes couldn't be more different! I'm proud to say I "won" this challenge, but it was a close one! It was all for fun, and that it was!

Congrats Grads!

Whew! This weekend is over!!! Didn't get photos of everything; like the annual trio of cakes for our local high school served to friends and families at commencement yesterday. Other orders focused on the grads' love of sports they've participated in during their high school careers. Basketball, soccer, baseball, and golf among the favs. We even had a cake airbrushed with a rainbow trout in there.

This one - my favorite - was part of a very special order. A three tier fondant cake featuring a basketball and soccer ball with cap and tassel on top! Surrounded by golf ball cupcakes it was a great tribute to this grad's love of sports, with a little pink nod to his mom.






we miss you "R", hope the cake's to your liking - sorry we didn't get a chance to design it together.

That stand is the Boss, man!

So I finally did it...bought an awesome cupcake stand instead of making them all the time. Because let's face it, at some point one really just needs to eliminate unnecessary work and make things just a tiny bit easier. Picture me, planning and baking, baking and creating; wondering just how in the heck am I going to get that stand made for a last minute order when I am already neck high in sugar and butter?

Boss Manufacturing to the rescue!! I'd had them in the back of my mind for some time, but just put off buying anything in the past. I am so totally at the point where saving a buck does NOT always overrule my own time and effort. And really, sometimes it's ok to just buy it elsewhere...not to mention one tiny little detail...this stand is AWESOME!

I looked them up online at www.bossmanufacturing.com, I gave them a call very early in the morning expecting a machine to answer and low and behold I got a live person and Julie helped me place my order for this stand in silver powdercoat. I was done in less than 10 minutes and because I needed the stand right away we went with 3 day shipping...can I just tell you I got it in 2 days!

For the cupcake tree pictured above, I removed one of the plates, so they are slightly versatile in that way. The event planners that ordered the cupcakes loved the display and the stand itself. it's easy enough to dress it up just a bit if you like that sort of thing, but really it can totally stand on it's own.

So thanks Boss...your customer service and your stands rock!

This stand is now in my arsenal of items you can use with your cake orders or rent when it's available.

Attention Please...Not All Fondant Tastes Like Crap...

There! I've said it. And it's true dang it!

Here are a few other little bridal cake bubbles I'd like to burst for you.

• The "Get a fake cake and serve a few sheets" thing the magazines perpetuate to frugal brides...not liking that little myth at all. In an effort to debunk this little beauty, I will elaborate later, but the long and short of this one is that in an effort to save a few bucks all you will probably up with is cheap. There are of course exceptions, but I can count them on one hand. And you might not save any money either; no really, it's true.
  
• "Nobody eats cake anyway, don't waste your money". Nobody eats BAD cake and BAD cake gets left on a plate. GOOD cake doesn't go uneaten. And not all wedding cake is bad.
  
• "Don't use the W word, it will cost extra". Contrary to popular belief one will find in chat rooms and magazines, not all wedding cake vendors are out to rip you off. Most professional, experienced designers will take our years of experience and talent into full consideration and ADD those elements to our cost and overhead when we dictate our pricing structures.
• "It's just flour, sugar, and eggs...anyone can DIY a wedding cake". Yep, and anyone can spend the last two days before your wedding day chained to a kitchen covered in said flour, sugar, and eggs. Do you really want it to be you and yo' momma? (and two days is IF you've already done a practice run or two...or four...)
• "Let them compete for your order". Ok, who started this little bit of rudeness? Sending a mass email without the benefit of blind cc to every cake vendor in your area asking for our best price is not going to get us to compete for your business. It may however get your contact info quickly thrown into the trash.
• "Butter cream is better. Fondant tastes like crap". Nope, not always, and like I said...Not All Fondant Tastes Like Crap. And while we're on the subject; some fondant designs can be done in butter cream, but some can't. You better check the portfolio of whoever promises you that they can to see if they can put their dough where their mouth is.

Look for a future post with my take on cake...I'll give you the run down on some things to expect and what to look for when cake shopping. Just think of it as one more piece of advice from one little cake designer to help you make your choices a bit easier. Everyone is different but having some basic info should prove helpful to your planning. The biggest tip I can give is to pick your priorities and do your research. You know...cake research...the kind of research where homework is doing a taste test! But really people, every wedding may need a cake, but not every wedding needs the most expensive cake. Find what you're comfortable with in your budget range, but know your range before you shop and know what your priorities really are.

Your guests will remember if you had a drop dead gorgeous cake that tasted like crap. They'll remember if you had an amazingly delicious cake that looked like crap. They'll remember an amazing cake that tasted as good as it looked every time but what you WANT them to remember is that the day was amazing and the food, including the cake, and company was great.

PS...my fondant is yummy.